Chapter 3
Austin
The shifters surrounded us, he could feel it. Alpha Ashvale had built a team with a healthy amount of power and a very loose hold on their aggression. These enforcers were used to violence and defending their territory, and they’d do so brutally.
Normally, that would be great news. Now, as they tightened around his people and his mate, it set his beast to thrumming for action.
“Alpha Steele, I presume,” Ashvale said, his voice a rough growl.
He was showing Austin respect by calling him alpha, but his beast sparkled in those slate gray eyes.
This man was having a hard time controlling his wild side, a sort of rolling darkness Austin was all too familiar with.
Austin had honed and sharpened his darkness to a fine point, and this alpha was still using it as a blunt tool.
He stopped ten feet away, probably closer than he wanted to, but too far for this to be a meeting of equals.
Drex Ashvale would not be able to stand in his beast’s way.
There was no doubt in Austin’s mind that the end of this meeting would result in a challenge.
Jess was about to get some practice as a referee.
“Yes,” Austin said, his own darkness rising in expectation. “And you must be Alpha Ashvale, original alpha of the Stonefang pack.”
Drex inclined his head. “You have every bit as much power as I have heard, but ten times more control. It’s a testament to your stature.”
Again, showing respect, alluding to Austin being an alpha worthy of high praise. Too bad their damned animals had to make things difficult.
He inclined his head in thanks. “I must confess, I haven’t heard a tremendous amount about you. What I have heard seems to be in line with your greeting.”
Drex didn’t balk at the small dig. “On purpose, yes. I wanted to see what manner of alpha you were. How you would react.” He paused for a moment. “We were setup to ambush you”—he turned and pointed farther up the road—“just over the berm there. You stopped early. How’d you know?”
Austin was silent for a beat, holding that weighted, aggressive, challenging stare.
“That is a question for my mate. Have a care how you speak to her,” Austin said, his voice laced with warning. “I have no control when it pertains to her.”
A rush of rage filled his bearing. He would burn down the world if anyone were to harm her, and it was imperative this alpha knew that. Ashvale’s people would not be safe if she were harmed. No one would.
Subtle movements flared along the alpha’s body. His head inclined slightly, almost imperceptibly. Respect.
“Understood,” Drex said. At least he had the same values where it concerned mates.
“Jess,” Austin said.
He felt her hand slip into his as she moved to his side.
She was giving him comfort, though she did not understand the root of the hostility.
She likely never would. It wasn’t how she or her beast worked, fighting those you hoped to align with.
She did, however, understand a threat to her people, and he could feel her swirling hostility and knew that she had a firm hold on her magic.
“Hello,” she said to Drex. Her tone was pleasant and light, accommodating, like this wasn’t a standoff and she wasn’t prepared to splatter his people across the dirt. The woman was perfect for her role as leader. “I’m Jessie Ironheart. You can call me Jessie. You are wearing the Ivy House uniform.”
As though pulled by a string, Drex’s bunched muscles smoothed, and his posture loosened, releasing his tension. Whatever issues his beast had with Austin, they did not extend to Jess.
“I am,” he said, less gruffly. “I like to keep abreast of the goings-on in the magical community, and I saw a random comment about the absurdity of your training outfits. I wondered if it bothered you.”
He paused for a reaction and was rewarded with an entire conversation in body language. First, Jess turned to give Sebastian a look, probably pertaining to the comment about Elliot Graves wearing something like that to get a rise out of her, and then she turned back in utter confusion.
“It’s a cover-up,” she said, crinkling her nose at him. “What are they looking for, a tux? Who wastes their time commenting on stuff like that?”
Drex’s eyes started to glitter. “True. And honestly, now that I am wearing one, I find it quite airy and nice.”
“That’s what our phoenix says,” she responded, displeased. “She could’ve told you herself, but you made her stay at the motel.”
Drex’s eyebrows pulled together marginally, and his lips tightened. Wariness.
“Yes,” he said, his tone even. “Given how we planned to test Alpha Steele, I had concerns about the more dangerous members of your pack—or convocation, if that is more apt. I now realize we still allowed you too much power for what we planned. I confess, I didn’t believe the rumors regarding your reputed might.
Not when slimmed down and in comparison to mine, I mean.
I’ve put together a solid team. A powerful team, filled with honed and trained fighters.
No one has ever topped their combined power.
I knew, with a phoenix, basajaunak, and battle-hardened fliers, you’d give me a run for my money.
I didn’t think, in my wildest dreams, this slimmed down version of your crew would cause me to fear for my people. ”
He paused, and for the first time, let his gaze slip beyond the line to the team with them.
“I didn’t believe the shifter beta was a past alpha,” he admitted.
“People tend to inflate a beta’s ability when they are above average.
His name didn’t register—I assume it has been changed and the past forgotten?
But yes, there he is, with power nearly equaling my own.
” He shook his head. “And the gargoyle, larger than life, with his shadows and his subtle challenges that most people won’t engage in.
He can plainly see that I am not one of those people.
I have a feeling I’ll only get such a challenge in a dark alley when we can fight dirty and no one will know. ”
Drex was certainly well informed. He’d gone past the rumors and done some serious research. Austin wondered what Niamh made of that.
His gaze came back to Jess. “I’ll be frank with you, Jessie, because you seem like an honest person, given you are advertising your every thought.
My first inclination is to be humbled, but I’m inspired.
More so because Alpha Steele doesn’t boast about his incredible power or the might of his team.
He doesn’t flaunt it, or swagger, even as I stand here, waiting to engage.
There is no ego in his posture or smug pride in his people.
He, and they, are calm, rational ruthlessness.
This wasn’t rumored. Not by anyone. People are too busy being wary about his wildness to take in his stoic efficiency, and that is a real shame. ”
Austin inclined his head again, accepting that great compliment with the pride for which it was meant. “Given what I’ve heard of your madness, that is all anyone sees in you, as well.”
Drex’s gaze slid back to Austin. “I’ve cultivated that persona, but yes, that is all they see. And that’s fine. It serves our purposes here. But should I leave the safe seclusion of these woods, I’ll use you as inspiration—as a model, perhaps—of a more dignified way of making people nervous.”
Austin nearly laughed. “High praise, though probably misguided.”
“Credit where credit is due, and yeah, probably. Doing things the traditional way is boring, as you seem to know.” He hesitated. “I must know, did you really best the phoenix? I know you have one, and legends say you must dominate them to earn their loyalty but…that is a little farfetched, no?”
“I did. I had no choice. Jess called in the phoenix with her magic, but she didn’t yet have enough power to take one on. There was no one else. It was kill the phoenix or get taken down by her and my mate along with me. Since then, Jess has fought her own battle with the phoenix and bested her.”
“Something I never want to do again,” Jess said, her hand still tucked into Austin’s. “Though now I have some very serious spells that might make it a bit easier. Maybe.”
Drex nodded and his power started to rise. The challenge would come soon. There would be no avoiding it.
“Please, Jessie, how did you know about our ambush?” Drex asked. He wanted the challenge, but he wanted information more. This alpha was highly intelligent. “I haven’t heard of that kind of magic.”
Jess tilted her head at him and then glanced back at Sebastian again. She was probably wondering what kind of shifter knew enough about magic to catalog spells. Even Austin didn’t know what was, and what was not, possible. He left that to Jess.
“I have a lot of power, as does my mage friend. We do have the magic to suss out hidden figures. Many powerful mages do—most, in fact, I’d wager. When I got closer, I would’ve known you were there.”
“But you didn’t get closer.”
“No, because I am also a gargoyle, and sometimes…” She glanced back the way they’d come. “I don’t know, I just get a feeling. There’s no explanation. I’d thought I was jumping at shadows there for a moment.”
Drex assessed her for a long moment. A grin played at his lips, the first break in his alpha persona since they’d met.
“Very honest, indeed,” he said. “I’d heard gargoyles were expressive.
You don’t disappoint. You’ll find my pack is, too, when we allow ourselves to be.
Please, Jessie, call me Drex.” His grin fell away.
“Listen, there is a reason we haven’t allowed strong shifters into our fold, why the people who enter these woods without permission disappear.
There is a reason we’re hidden away. And there are two reasons we admitted your faction, but before we discuss that, we should resolve the present issue. ”
“The overuse of eloquent linguistics in mundane conversations?” she said, probably without thinking.
His smile grew and faltered, and his gaze swung back to Austin. Drex’s beast nearly jumped out of his skin, and wildness swirled in his eyes.
“My people might not be able to pull us apart,” Drex said, glancing at Brochan and Tristan. Everyone discounted Jess, even people who had apparently done their homework. Then again, shifters discounted mages in general. It was why shifters were in this situation in the first place.
“Remember how we’ve practiced monitoring challenges?” Austin asked Jess, loud enough for Drex to hear.
“Wait…” She yanked his hand on impulse, her magic pulsing at her sudden confusion and unease.
“What do you mean? I thought we were all getting along fine. He complimented you. You’re not here for his pack or his people or to push your weight around.
Can’t we address this like we did with Kingsley and his friends? ”
He turned to face her. Leaning down into her space, he offered her confidence and comfort.
“This is a shifter thing. His beast won’t back down until he is forced to.
It’s built into him. Neither will mine. Even if he could control it, and I could ignore it, our situation will always have the push and pull of our beasts until we handle this.
You need to mitigate it. Remember what we’ve gone over?
Remember what you did for Aurora’s challenge? ”
Her brows knitted together, and determination steeled her expression. “I hate this.”
“I know. But you knew this would happen eventually. When you need to break us apart, do it. Do not give a warning, and do not try to coach either of us out of the darkness. You break it apart, hard and brutal, and start healing immediately, okay?”
The breath left her in a gush. “I really hate this.”
“I know.” He squeezed her upper arms as Tristan and Brochan stepped closer.
He lowered his voice, for their ears only, as Drex conferred with his people.
“I have more power, but he has a lot of access to his beast. He’ll lean in hard and lose himself quickly, but I won’t be far behind.
It’ll probably be a grisly battle. Jess, remember what we talked about.
You need to let it go long enough for there to be a victor but not until death.
This one might be close, and it is going to take all your power to tear us apart.
You need to allow enough time to do that. Remember?”
Her power started to pump, blanketing the wood and everyone in it.
The resident shifters all stiffened and looked over.
Jess didn’t notice. Her focus was on Austin.
She stepped back without a word and shifted into her gargoyle.
If she needed to get physical while she applied her magic, she’d be hardier in that form.
Austin turned and exploded into his polar bear form.