Chapter 15
Austin
Four fires glowed merrily within a large park just off the downtown strip. Smoke wafted from BBQs and people laughed and chatted. At every break in the cloud cover, a blanket of stars glimmered jovially.
This was their fifth evening in Drex’s pack and the fourth cook-out he’d organized for Austin and Jess’s people.
Most of the pack was in attendance, providing food and smiles, drinks and a good time.
The atmosphere was calm and relaxed in a way Austin could barely remember.
Most of these people had a comfortable life without experiencing a hint of danger and it showed.
Drex had provided exactly what he’d set out to, a safe haven where people could be free to live in peace.
Even as he was thinking it, Drex wandered over with a glass of something bubbly.
“Alpha,” Drex said by way of greeting.
Austin inclined his head in hello. Jess was across the way, chatting with Ulric and Jasper while Edgar stood to the side, wearing a strange smile while seemingly looking at nothing.
Austin wasn’t sure if he was trying to fit into the merriment or if his brain had randomly stopped while he was laughing at a joke.
“How goes it with the mages?” Drex asked, managing to hide his wariness at the thought. Mostly.
Niamh, Sebastian and Nessa had been working with the mages around the clock to gather information about the Guild and Momar.
Brochan and Aurora and Tristan all took turns helping out, the first two reading body language when the mages tried to hide information, and Tristan lending his nightmare magic to loosen lips when the mages got stubborn.
For the most part, though, the mages answered the questions willingly, knowing their only hope was in helping the convocation take down the Guild.
Their fates were less than certain. Had been, since before they’d walked out of the Guild’s doors.
“They’re staging the murders now,” Austin said, his hands in his pockets. “They’ll film it and post it to message boards and what not. It’s all politics at this point. They got the information they were after.”
Drex took a sip of his drink. “To be brutally honest, none of this sits right with me.”
“It didn’t with me in the beginning, either.
I was viewing them through a strictly shifter lens.
I’ve since learned more about the different magical cultures and some things aren’t a problem anymore.
Like breaking into someone’s place and stealing their spells.
That’s usual in the mage world. They expect it and prepare for it.
It’s like the gargoyles staging a mock battle to steal that cairn’s possessions. ”
“They do what?”
Austin chuckled and filled Drex in on the gargoyle raids.
“Huh. Whatever passes the time, I guess.” Drex’s eyebrows pulled together, but his movements suggested lightheartedness. He was a man eager to learn and with an open mind. That would serve him well. It certainly had helped Austin.
“Another thing mages do, apparently, is take trophies when they kill an enemy. Like a very rare and expensive sports car.”
“That right?”
“Yup. Sebastian and Nessa acquired one from a mage that helped plan the attack on my brother,” Austin said.
“They sent Kingsley the car. It took a little convincing to get him to take it, because mage antics don’t sit right with him, either, but he’s coming around.
Hard not to when you’re staring at a piece of automotive beauty and your passion is collecting cars. ”
Drex laughed, a deep, hearty sound. A few people looked his way, smiling. “I can see how that would be persuasive, especially when it belonged to someone like that.”
“The thing to remember is, we’re currently dealing with the drudgery of mages.
We’re dealing with the worst of the worst. They’re the ones in charge, and because of that, the honest mages—the ones who don’t want to engage in this sort of behavior—try to stay out of the way.
They try not to get caught in the crossfire, or make too many waves, because if they do, they’ll be killed or punished.
You heard Tilda. We’ve spoken to other mages who are doing everything in their power not to be noticed.
They want change, and they want peace and a fair governing body, but they are sorely outnumbered, and so they are quiet. ”
“You’re planning to seek out those mages and collect them up?” Drex asked.
“Yes. If we have any shot at winning this thing, we need mages on our side. We need more magic.”
“But first you are after the shifters,” he stated.
“The shifters, more gargoyles, more basajaunak…” It was overwhelming to think of how much effort they’d already put into this and how much further they still had to go.
Would they have what it took to reach the end?
“After we leave here we’re going to meet a new cairn leader.
We’re hoping to get his support, and if we do, we’re hopeful more will join up. ”
Drex took a sip and let silence filter in for a moment. Someone shrieked with laughter near one of the fires. An older man offered Jess a hotdog, reaching out to her as though offering her a bite.
A flash of rage boiled through Austin before he could tamp it down. His arms tensed but he resisted ripping his hands out of his pockets and running over there to make a show of possession. Hell, he wanted to beat the guy’s face in.
He trusted Jess to handle it, and she did. She shook her head and stepped back, lifting her hand in a stop motion. He could tell she was politely declining. Wave after wave of love and support rose through their bonds, reassuring him. Helping him clear the red tinging his vision.
Jasper put his hand out to keep the man away. Two of their shifters and a couple of Drex’s enforcers quickly drifted closer. Wrapping his arm around the man’s shoulders, Ulric grabbed the hotdog with his free hand, took a bite, laughed, and led him toward one of the fires, diffusing the situation.
“I apologize for Clark,” Drex said, his voice tight.
It took Austin a moment to realize the other alpha was tense, ready for action.
He’d seen what had happened. “He came to us from a life with Dicks to find his roots. A midlife crisis, I think. His dad was a shifter but took off when he was young. He wants to live amongst shifters but doesn’t seem to want to learn the culture.
He’s created a few problems because of it but he’s harmless.
We’ve let a lot go where it concerns him. ”
Austin sucked in a deep breath through his nose before letting it out again. He tried to will calm and release the need to go to Jess and wrap his arm around her shoulders.
“I have a tricky past,” he said, “where that sort of behavior would mark him as a dead man. I try very hard not to be that guy.”
“I thank you for that.” Drex took a deep breath, too.
He would’ve tried to diffuse the situation to save his pack member but obviously knew many alphas would kill anyone stuck in the way.
Austin had the power to do so. “You have unbelievable control. I have only loved once, and it was in my youth, but I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from handling that in a very violent way. ”
“Something mages and gargoyles would think was barbaric and ridiculous.”
Drex huffed. “I guess it is a little bit.” He tilted his head. “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t allow shifter delegations in here. Clark flirts with any pretty woman he sees. He’d probably be dead now if I operated this pack like a usual shifter pack.”
“Very likely.”
Silence passed between them for a moment. Jess glanced his way, her body language suggesting she wanted to close the distance between them. She glanced at Drex and hesitated, then turned away to give them a moment to talk.
As if on cue, Drex said, “There’s something I wanted to talk with you about.
” He paused and Austin waited. “I will join your convocation, if the offer still stands. I’ve already contacted a few of my closer friends about you and Jessie, and about your people.
I’ve told them about the mages and what went down here. One of them asked if it was a setup.”
Austin huffed, making Drex nod.
“I hadn’t even thought about the prospect, to be honest,” Drex said. “The notion is ludicrous to anyone who witnessed what went down, but it is quite a coincidence.”
“It is. And we’re thinking it was engineered, in a way, we just don’t know why. Niamh is working on it.”
“By Momar.”
“That’s the thought.”
“They want to meet you, and I think that is wise. I’ve validated all the rumors, plus given my own insights, but they want to see for themselves.
You were firmly established as something of a myth, mostly unbelievable.
Now the winds are changing as more people validate the rumors.
The myth is becoming a legend, and your mate is playing a part.
They want to see for themselves, and I have a feeling their excitement to be part of something bigger will ripple through the community.
It would be good for what you’re trying to do. ”
But to stay even a few more days would delay a visit to the new cairn leader who’d taken over Nikken. They’d already been here two days longer than expected.
Drex was right, though. If he could garner some excitement, and these other packs spread that around, he could secure the support of powerful original alphas.
That would go a long way to furthering the cause, not to mention they’d provide some muscle.
They’d also be easier to direct, with their openminded approach and good work ethic, attributes needed to start a new prosperous pack.
He’d ask Tristan how bad it would look if they were late for the cairn meeting. If Austin could make it work, he would.