Chapter 24
GERRY
Since being back from the last recon mission, I’ve been feeling at a bit of a loss for a purpose. Not a feeling I’m used to, to be honest. Keeping myself occupied has always come easy to me. I can find tasks where others have already ticked them off their to do list. I don’t think of it as anything more than my perfectionist nature.
I have spent most mornings at the training area watching Roul put the pack members through their paces. Some have improved almost to warrior standard, others are struggling to become cannon fodder! That’s an odd term to remember, I think to myself. I picked that up from my military strategy studies many years ago.
Waiting for this morning's session to end, I catch Roul’s eye and point to the packhouse. We walk together and find a table in a quiet corner of the dining area.
“What’s on your mind, Gerry? I’d know that look anywhere. You’re bored and going to stick your nose into my business, aren’t you?” Roul gives me a grin.
“Yes, and no. You know me too well at times. Yes, I’m looking for things to keep me occupied, but I’m not trying to stick my nose in. I thought we could compare notes, on how you think the pack members are coming along with their training?” Raising my eyebrows at him in what I hope is my pleading look.
“It must be bad if you’re giving me that look. It is a good idea, and I’d be happy to have someone else's perspective. Let’s have some lunch and we can discuss it while we eat.”
Grinning like a man possessed, I follow Roul to the serving area where we fill our plates with a main meal, some snacks and a couple of bottles of water each.
Once our main meal has been devoured, there’s no other description for it, I pull a notebook from my back pocket and see the grimace on Roul’s face.
“I should have known you would have notes to refer back to!” Roul shakes his head and sits back in his chair, waiting for me to begin.
Going through each of the pack members one by one, we agree on the majority of our observations. Several pack members stand out, leading to some interesting difference of opinions.
Discussing some of the female’s progress has us at loggerheads for several minutes. Roul is convinced that we should just lock them away with the pups if things get serious, but this gives me an idea for motivating their training.
“Give them something to fight for! Instead of expecting them to follow the training like sheep, give them a goal. When they next have their training, take them outside the nursery and train them there. Have them defend the nursery from your male pack members or even a couple of female warriors. I will bet you a week's fresh meat that they will surprise you with the results.” Sitting back and looking smug because I believe I just nailed it for motivation for these females, Roul looks closely at me.
“No bets, I’m not that good a hunter. I do, however, think that’s utter genius. I wouldn’t have thought so far outside the box as that, but you have definitely made this discussion worthwhile. I’ll give that a go one morning and let you know how it goes.” Roul gives me a head nod and we call it a day on the discussions.
Leaving the dining area, Raina calls to me from the Alpha’s office door.
“Gerry! Can you step in the office for a moment, please?”
Walking by two guards at the door has me a little perplexed, but when I see two more guards inside, and a male bound and gagged in front of Alpha Aurora’s desk, I’m speechless. That’s not something I can easily admit too. Few things leave me with no words.
“Council Warrior Gerry. I was wondering if you could help me with a problem. I need this traitor transported to Councilman Flint at the first available opportunity. It also needs to be done with extreme secrecy. He has been given a dose of wolfsbane, something his rogue friends are willing to use quite freely, to prevent his wolf from helping him. He also has a sturdy silver bracelet to prevent him mind linking with anyone as to his current position or whereabouts.”
“Alpha Aurora, I am at your service. I presume Councilman Flint is awaiting ‘his guest’ and has all the relevant details?”
“He is aware that this traitor, a trusted pack member, was caught trying to contact a rogue at the border after having sneaked away from the packhouse. Unfortunately, the rogue was able to slip away. I need this one to discreetly disappear, with no witnesses, so that the shifter council can obtain as much knowledge from him as possible. On conclusion of that, I would like him returned just as discreetly. When he has returned to the pack, he will meet me in the training area, in full view of the pack, to answer for his crimes.” Alpha Aurora has a feral look to her that I have never seen before. It is plain to see how difficult it is for her to rein in her anger and disgust.
“I will make the necessary arrangements immediately, Alpha. To expedite his disappearance, may I have the use of one of the pack’s trucks? A pack truck leaving the area will generate far less interest than having a council vehicle arrive to collect him.”
“You may have the use of anything belonging to the pack at your disposal if it will get him away from me all the sooner. Thank you, Council Warrior Gerry. Your assistance in this matter will not go unappreciated.” Looking around the room, her eyes fall on everyone present. “I should not have to say this, but I will. Nothing that has been said in this room leaves this room. If so much as a whisper reaches me that anything has been mentioned outside these walls, you will pray for your death before I have finished with you.”
Leaving the Alpha’s office, I make my way to my room, where I contact Flint and make all the necessary arrangements. It will take twenty-four hours to be able to get this done, with no one being any the wiser.
Hearing my stomach grumble, I once again head for the dining area. A bowl of soup, a crusty bread bun and a couple of sandwiches later, my stomach quietens. Just as I empty my tray, all hell breaks loose.
Aurora and Raina rush past the dining area, and I hear Aurora shout, “Gerry! With Us!”
As I rush out and catch up, Raina spits out, “The border has been breached. Early reports suggest around twenty rogues. Two of our patrols have merged and are fighting a rearguard action. We have lost no one so far, but don’t know how long that will last.” With the warriors with us and the merged patrols, this should be an even match in term of numbers. The skill level, however, should weigh heavily in our favor.
Shifting to our wolves, we cover ground much faster and we soon hear the sounds of fighting ahead. Shifting back, we see that the rogues have penetrated deep into the pack territory. When we reach the patrol members, they look weary, but no one appears seriously injured.
Seeing their Alpha, one of the patrol members rushes over. “Alpha Aurora. I don’t understand what they are trying to achieve, other than penetrating the territory. They won’t stand and fight! They just keep pushing on. They will not come to battle. We have been outnumbered, but they haven’t used their numbers to their advantage. They are not trying to take prisoners. They don’t even appear to want to kill us! It makes no sense.”
“Thank you for your insight. Now let’s see what they do when the numbers are equal, shall we?” Gathering all the warriors together, Aurora leads a charge against the rogues. After a brief skirmish with no serious fighting, the rogues start to fall back.
I don’t like this, not one bit. This has all the signs of a baited trap. “Aurora! Raina! This is wrong! WAIT!” Rushing to where Raina is covering her Alpha’s back, I try to stop them from pushing further forward.
Hearing my calls, Raina grabs her Alpha and as she pulls her back, the rogues seem to disperse into the forest. A lone archer stands and, with his bow fully extended and aimed at Aurora, releases his arrow.
As Raina pulls at Aurora, she half turns and begins to fall. The arrow, meant for her heart, enters her shoulder. Taking all this in as I shift to Asher, I rush at the archer. Being no match, he tries to run when he sees he’s alone.
Leaping onto his back has him tumbling across the ground. Forcing Asher back into my mind, I spin the archer to his back and begin to punch him. Not knowing how many times I hit him, I struggle as someone tries to pull me off.
“GERRY! STOP!” Hearing the voice, more than the words, has me looking up. Two warriors are holding my arms, but the voice is Aurora from where she lays while Raina examines her wound.
Standing, I lift the archer to his feet and push him against the nearest tree trunk. “This whole thing was a set-up just to get Alpha Aurora in your sights. Why is Alpha Arric so desperate to kill her?” Shaking him by the throat does not illicit the response I expect. The archer looks at me and laughs.
“Arric? That fool? We don’t work for that idiot. The man who would be a ‘king’? He couldn’t afford the services of me and my men.” Wiping his hand across his face, he removes some of the blood from his lips and nose. “Allow me and my men to go free, and I’ll tell you who wants your precious Alpha dead. I’ll also give you my word that we won’t accept another contract on her or any of the Blood Pearl pack.”
“I’m not in the habit of making deals with mercenaries.”
“Perhaps not Council Warrior Gerry. Yes, I know who you are. If you don’t release me, my warriors will attack again, and this time there will be no ‘play fighting’ . It will be to the death. The Alpha will be one of the first to die.” Seeing the look in his eyes, I have no doubt that he believes the conviction in his words.
“You say this knowing that you would be dead before her?”
“I have accepted my death many times over in my profession, Council Warrior. I do not have the responsibility of my men's lives as you do. They are here for the money, the excitement of the battle and because it is what they do best. We fight beside each other, not for each other. I tire of this. Decide and we can be done with this stalemate, one way or another.”
“Council Warrior Gerry. Agree to his terms. I would know who thinks my death is worth the cost of twenty mercenaries. They would not come cheap, I imagine.” Alpha Aurora’s voice has an edge to it that I cannot ignore.
“Very well. As the Alpha wishes.” Releasing the archer, I step back and wait while he makes a drama of brushing himself down.
“Council Warrior Gerry, you should look closer to home for the one that wishes the death of an Alpha female. Your precious Shifter Council members are not so chivalrous or honorable as they seem. I was not supposed to know who was making the payment for the Alpha’s death, however, your Council Woman Eve Planter was not as careful, or as confidential as she believed herself to be. It was a simple matter to backtrack such a large amount as she paid.” The grin on his face tells me that the shock of his revelation has not been lost on me or those around me.
“Remember your oath, mercenary. You will not come against any of the Blood Pearl pack, ever. Forget this oath and I will find you, and next time there will be no negotiating your release.”
“Oh no, Council Warrior. Don’t you forget my oath. YOU are not a member of the Blood Pearl pack. You,” wiping more blood from his face, “I would kill for free.”
Turning, he walks into the forest. Sensing them, rather than seeing or hearing, I feel his men dissolve into the forest with him.
Gathering ourselves together, and after I check Alpha Aurora’s injury, much to Raina’s disgust, after she removed the arrow and dressed the wound, we head back to the packhouse.
Once back and Alpha Aurora gathers the pack to inform them of the border infringement, I contact Flint and give him the news of Eve Planter's latest ‘indiscretion’. To say he is astounded is an understatement.
His immediate reaction was to dispatch myself and Roul to apprehend Eve and take her before the Council. With the revelation by the mercenary that Eve Planter believed she was distanced from the contract killing she had paid for, I thought I knew where to find her and would be quite alright completing the task alone.
When the pack truck leaves for the council with the traitor aboard, I take the opportunity to hitch a lift. Nearing the Shifter Council lands, I take my leave of the truck and made my way to Eve’s new home after she was demoted from the council.
Approaching from the road, the front garden that had been in full bloom when she was given the property, looks dried up and dead. Flower beds, borders and pots all look to have been neglected. There is none of the beauty that had been here when she took it over. It is like her evil character has permeated everything until it shrivels and dies.
Walking to the rear of the house, it is a copy of the front. Where there had been herbs and vegetables, there is nothing living. In places, it looks like someone has ripped the plants out by the roots and left them to die, spread upon the dry ground.
Looking to the rear window, which I thought was the kitchen, I see an ugly, haggard face staring back at me. Surely this is not Eve? The face moves away, and the door flies open as she runs into the garden.
“Get away from here! You’re not welcome and not wanted. GO!” The voice that screeches at me could belong to some long-forgotten creature of a fantasy world.
“Eve Planter. You are summoned to appear before the Shifter Council for your payment of the contract involving the killing of Alpha Aurora by mercenary forces. I am here to take you into custody and to ensure that you answer to the Council for these allegations.”
Turning back to the house, she goes back into the kitchen, and I cautiously follow.
“At last, the bitch is dead. You have no idea how long I have waited for this news. It makes my heart sing to learn of this. For so long I have been jealous of her position. I should have been their Alpha, not her. She was nothing, not even of an Alpha bloodline. That pack should have belonged to me, do you hear? It should have been mine!”
“You could have challenged for it, but you chose not to.”
“I was never warrior enough to make the challenge. I would have died in the circle.”
“There are worse things than dying. You have spent years wasting a life in hatred and jealousy. If you had challenged, at least you would have died trying. Died for something.”
Taking a jug of liquid, she pours a tall glass and drinks half of it in one gulp. Refilling the glass, she looks at me with her empty eyes.
“My wolf left me. Did you know that? She wouldn’t stand by me when I needed her. Misty said she was disgusted with me and asked the Goddess to take her away from such loathing and hatred. Said it was too much to be a part of me. Ha! I showed her. I got rid of that jumped up Alpha who thought so highly of herself.” Drinking more from the glass, she refilled it again. “I will not be going before your precious Council, either. I shall die here knowing that in the end, I WON!”
“You haven’t won. You are charged with paying for the contract. The contract was never fulfilled. Your mercenaries failed. Alpha Aurora lives and is still the Alpha of the Blood Pearl pack. You will face the Council.” Stepping towards her, she shrieks and drinks directly from the jug, then throws it at me. Ducking the jug, I freeze as she shrieks again.
“I will stand before no council!” Watching her eyes begin to glaze over as she falls to the kitchen floor, I realize what she means. The jug contained a poison. Damn. It had not occurred to me she would take her own life. She was right about one thing. She would not stand before the Council.