When you live and sleep underground getting up when it's still dark is kind of relative. But when I rolled over and cracked my eyes open the first thing I noticed was that I was alone. Now I knew I'd went to bed with two other people with me, so the first question that came to my mind was.
"Where has he gone now?"
"I took Cynthia down to visit her mom. They have her sedated heavily right now. Your mother said that even with her gifts it was a five hour surgery to repair all the damage that thing did to her. If you hadn't found her she wouldn't have survived." Varden told me as he stepped in from the bathroom.
"Oh and the fact that you single handedly killed the werewolf that did all this damage of course had nothing to do with it, right?"
"Psstt, that, it was what just what anyone else here would have done." He waved my comment aside.
"Would have done and could have done are two very different things." I sat up in my bed, dragging the covers up with me. "You don't seem to understand, no one has ever gone one on one with an elder wolf and survived. You saw how the two most powerful women in our race were running out of options against just two of them before we arrived." I lowered my voice and looked right at him, holding his gaze. "I saw the carcass Varden, how did you kill that thing? It looked like something exploded inside it."
"Something kinda did," he dropped his head then continued. "I punched my blade into its guts and it exploded. I needed to end it as quickly as I could so when I hit it I wanted it to explode and it did. I was as surprised as anyone." He said, trying to brush it off as no big deal.
A feeling of pure joy and astonishment took hold of me. The legends were true, they were all ture.
"No one has been able to do something like that in since before Christ. The only thing any of us can shape are our blades. Sure we have every other ability but the only ones who were able to things like you do were the male shapers before you."
"And what does that mean?" He asked.
"I'm not sure, but in any event that's something for later. After what happened here Zhao is going to come down on the werewolf packs like a ten ton safe." I rolled out of bed and Varden quickly averted his eye, he was always so cute when he did that. You see, I like to sleep just the way I was created.
"Are you done?" He asked, his eyes still on the ground.
"Nope, I'm as naked as the day I was born." I whispered in his ear as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
"HELP!" He screamed, making me just hang on tighter. "A mad Shaper exbitionist is trying to force herself on my personage! Help!" He stood from the chair then before I was ready he grabbed me by my shoulders, bent forward and threw me over him, only this time much more gently then when we spar.
"How did you know I had my clothes on?" I asked looking up at him.
"I felt your clothes when you came up behind me, you got too close." He gathered me into his arms and smiled. "Besides, if you were still nude things could have gotten interesting." He winked then sat me on my feet.
"You mean, if I had, you, we would have." There have never been many times in my life when I've been completely flustered, but this was one of those time. "I can take all of my clothes back off it that would help."
"Too late now, we've got to get down to Damaris, don't we?"
"You did that on purpose didn't you?"
"Did what?" he replied, innocence dripped from ever word.
"You made me think you wanted me naked, that if I'd stayed naked you would have..." I growled. How could I let myself be played by him so easily.
"I would never do such a thing." With that he was out the door, leaving me in need of another cold shower. There were times I just wanted to throttle him.
Several minutes later we were walking into the remains of the high mothers receiving room, to be greeted to the sounds of a shouted argument.
"I don't care what you do with the packs in under your influence. But you will not indiscriminately attack any pack under mine." Damaris sat on her silver seat, glowering up at Zhao.
"You've always been weak. If news of this gets out there will be rebellion, you must show strength here, not weakness."
"You don't need to tell be about showing strength here Zhao. But I have always had a great relationship with Ezekiel and I will not risk damaging that. If you can't understand that you are free to leave my Sanctuary and return to your own." She looked from Zhao at our approach.
"Ah just who I wanted to see. I need you two to meet with Ezekiel. You know the questions to ask and anything else you don't already know will be sent to you on route. We need to know if he had anything to do with this attack, or if he knows who is responsible."
"As you wish high mother." I bowed at the waist spun on my heels and headed for the door.
"Is it wise to send him to the wolves? If they find out what he is they won't just be surprised, they'll be suspicious. Some of them are nearly as old as we are." I heard Zhao ask Damaris as we left the room.
"What does that mean?" Varden asked.
"You'll find out once we get there."
Werewolf hierarchy is kind of strange compared to what most human think it is. Most humans think the werewolves operate much like wolf packs, with one alpha for each pack and each pack keeping to itself.
Real werewolves are much more complex. Each of the five packs have an alpha, every ten years those alphas vote to elect a leader of all the packs. I've never seen one of the selection processes but I'm told they are bloody and fierce. Many of the times once the pack leader has been chosen several of the packs have to choose new alphas.
But for the last four hundred years there has been only one pack leader, Ezekiel Alexander Reese. I've met him a handful of times and lets just say I don't go out of my way to be around him, it's complicated.
"Are we using the helicopter for this one?" Varden asked as we exited the front door.
"Not this time, the mountain pack is all the way out in Wyoming, we use the jet this time."
"Oh right, we have a jet don't we."
"It's waiting at the airport right now with engines hot."
Striding across the front lawn towards the awaiting car Varden ran in front of me grabbed the door handle and with a flourish opened the door.
"Your majesty," he bowed as I approached.
"You didn't even let the driver get out of the car did you?"
"Nope, sure didn't. Besides aren't we in a hurry?" I ducked through the door and threw myself into the seat.
"That is not the point, oh never mind. We need to get our minds right before we meet the pack."
"Why?" He asked when he was in and the door was closed.
"Because dealing with a werewolf is different then dealing with any other race. They are very instinctive and have very little self control when it comes to something they want. The last time I was there every guy we came across hit on me, forcefully. It wasn't until I made it very clear that I wasn't interested that they backed off."
"I think I can handle myself. I've dealt pretty well around your kind haven't I?"
"HA, compared to werewolves we're school girls with innocent crushes. The women we're going to be around, well if they want you they'll do their best to take you. But if they find out you're a shaper it'll just make it worse."
"Why?"
"Because for some reason shapers smell desirable to a werewolf, very desirable, so just be careful, okay."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. But aren't you blowing this a little out of proportion?"
"Oh you'll see once we get there." The car started to roll so we both settled down for the short ride to the airport.
When we arrived at the small one strip airfield our twin engine jet was already ready for takeoff and in position. Sanderson field had a handful of tiny single engine prop driven crafts with ours being the only jet that frequented the area. But there is almost nothing that can't be ignored if enough money is involved. So no one has ever said a thing, even though they've seen the same plane land here on this tiny field for decades. But such is the way of humans.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCgB4IDAMR
