Chapter 4 #2
“No, you won’t. There’s untapped strength in you that you’ll be needing soon enough.
Your father trusted you to lead this pack, and he was right to turn it over when he did.
Clear your mind and trust your instincts.
And if you ask me one more time if I’ll be okay watching that boy of yours, I’ll show you just how well I can use this spatula as a weapon. ”
She surprised a smile out of him. Gray knew he didn’t need to ask; Aunt Maggie had helped him with Garon from the beginning and had stepped up to help full time when Becky had left.
As she’d told him then, she was bored and needed something to do besides sit around and knit socks.
Gray didn’t know what he’d do without her.
“No need to get violent.” He grinned and backed away slowly. She huffed at him as he left to find the mage who had won his son’s trust so quickly and completely.
IT WAS easy enough to track Simon down. Liam had had the presence of mind to memorize Simon’s license plate number, and then all they needed was some quick maneuvering on the computer. Gray left the hows up to the more technically inclined members of the pack and focused on the results.
Gray would have missed the turn if his GPS hadn’t told him he’d arrived at his destination. The driveway was much like the one onto the pack lands, surrounded by trees and tucked into the landscape.
The similarities ended there, however. Simon’s home didn’t have a huge fence or a gate covering the drive. Carefully organized flowers and shrubs lined the path, and as Gray continued down the drive, he admired the time that must be spent maintaining so much landscaping.
The little cabin was also encircled with flowers, and Gray was left to wonder about this mage who appeared so different from everything he’d been taught in the past. The mages he’d heard of were dark and dangerous men, quick to kill anything that threatened them or stood in their way.
They didn’t live in an idyllic country cabin surrounded by beauty.
And they didn’t rescue werecubs who had been kidnapped.
Simon was clearly different, and as Gray stepped from his truck, his interest in the mage grew. This was not his enemy, but Simon wasn’t his friend.
Yet.
The thought gave him pause. Why would he even think about befriending a mage?
His father wouldn’t, Gray knew that, but his father wasn’t here, and Aunt Maggie had always told him to trust his instincts.
His instincts were telling him to keep Simon close, closer than he’d even considered before this very moment.
Before Gray reached the door, he heard a groan of frustration from the backyard and the quiet sounds of Simon mumbling to himself. Gray followed the sound of Simon’s voice, not quite able to pick up the words even with his enhanced hearing.
Rounding the back of the house, Gray found Simon sitting cross-legged on the grass. The sun turned the bare skin of his chest a golden brown and highlighted his chestnut-brown hair with a multitude of colors, from blond to the darkest of reds.
Simon looked a bit older in the morning light, closer to his midtwenties than Gray had first thought. He was slim, probably a little too thin for his size. Aunt Maggie would want to feed him a pound of bacon a day to put some meat on his bones.
Gray could feel the tingle of magic in the air, fluctuating wildly as Simon chanted quietly to himself. The power faded, and Simon slapped the grass at his side. Gray cleared his throat, and Simon’s head jerked up in surprise.
He scrambled to his feet, revealing long legs barely covered by the shortest red running shorts Gray had ever seen. Gray took in the view of long, lean muscles and attempted to curb his suddenly overactive hormones. This wasn’t the time to imagine those legs wrapped tightly around his waist.
“Alpha Gray, what are you doing here?”
He forced his eyes up to Simon’s face. “Hello, Simon. You can just call me Gray.”
Simon dropped his gaze to the ground. “Gray.”
A burst of arousal scented the air. Gray’s hormones weren’t the only ones playing havoc.
He stepped forward and raised Simon’s chin with his fingers. The urge to lean in and take a quick taste of Simon’s full lips consumed Gray. He leaned forward a bit before catching himself and taking a step back. Simon licked his lips, and Gray followed the motion of Simon’s tongue with his eyes.
“I…” Gray paused to clear his throat when his voice sounded huskier than he intended. “I have some questions about yesterday, if you have a few minutes.”
“Oh, well, hmm… of course. Sure.”
The sweet smell of desire twisted into the sour tang of fear. Gray growled in annoyance. If nothing else, he didn’t want this man afraid of him. “I won’t hurt you, Simon. I just need some answers.”
“I know,” Simon said, “but it really isn’t a good idea for you to be here. This is really frowned upon. I am going to be in so much trouble.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need to understand what happened to our cubs, and you’re the only mage I know.”
Simon took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. “I’m told there are good reasons for that.” The smell of fear faded, which pleased Gray more than he wanted to admit. “I’m not sure how well I can answer, but ask your questions, and I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Thank you. What do you know about the demon who had the cubs? It was gone by the time we got there, and we weren’t able to track it.”
Taking a moment, Simon seemed to think over what he’d been able to gain from his confrontation with the demon. “It was odd. At first, I thought the power I read signaled a low-level demon, but it broke free of my mind magic surprisingly fast.”
“Why is that weird? Aren’t all demons strong in magic?”
Simon’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head in surprise. “You really don’t know about this, do you?”
When Gray shook his head, Simon explained further.
“Think of magic like a triangle. At the top point is mind magic. That’s what mages use.
The next point is body magic, like you and the other were-creatures have.
The final point is soul magic, which is usually what demons are strongest in. Make sense?”
It did, but Gray really didn’t think what he could do was magic. “I’ve never really described what werewolves can do as some sort of body magic. We just are what we are,” Gray said.
“That’s true for most cases. A mage is a mage, and that means he’s strongest in mind magic. But then there’s someone like Garon—”
“Garon? What about him?”
“Well, Garon is sensitive to mind magic. He communicated with me mind to mind. But he must be able to do body magic as well, correct?”
“Do you mean can he shift? Yeah, he can shift. Only at the full moon, though. He’s not old enough yet to control the change at will.”
“Hmm, I’ve never considered that. My course of study hasn’t involved very much information on were-culture. I really haven’t had the opportunity to study anything outside of the mage’s realm of influence.”
Gray ran his fingers through his hair, wondering just how far he should push this. He needed to learn more about magic, especially if his son could do it. “And Garon can do this magic of the mages?”
“Some of it, yes. I don’t know how much, but I know he mind-talked to me with the ease of another mage.”
That didn’t really surprise Gray very much. “He’s used to that, Simon. I can talk mind to mind with the members of my pack.”
It was Simon’s turn to look surprised. “You can? But that’s mind magic!”
Gray shrugged. “All alphas can communicate directly with their packs. It’s always been that way. This demon did mind magic as well, but that really isn’t as unusual as you made it sound if we can do it too.”
“You’re right. This isn’t the way it was explained to me at all.” Simon paced around the small yard, shaking his head. “None of the books mention any of this, not that I’ve seen anyway.”
Gray wondered what else Simon’s books failed to mention, and how he was going to get the information he needed to not only protect his pack but to also help his son.