Chapter 6 #2
“Sebastian is working on it,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
“He’s the miracle maker. He and Nessa wouldn’t allow my dad to honor them, worried the mage world would find out about their involvement, but you saw how much he did.
You saw his genius. He’ll do it. He’ll unmask these people before they can spring whatever trap they are planning.
We can help by continuing to track these breaches.
By looking for that car. By figuring out who the hell is helping these mages break into our territory. ”
Because someone had brought that car out here.
Someone that no one would suspect of foul play, passing by watchful eyes who had no reason to check on them.
The enemy had an ally on the inside. Maybe they’d planted someone before Uncle Auzzie had battened down the hatches, or maybe they’d bought someone.
Maybe several people. However it happened, there were enemies within their midst, opening the doors for more to come through.
She swore again. “Sebastian can help us.” This time, she was reassuring herself. “Nessa can, too. She’s the sneaking queen. Pair her with Edgar, and I bet they’ll randomly find some clues that’ll help us. They just have to know to look.”
Sue put his hand on her shoulder for one solid beat, probably reading the same thing in her body that she’d read in his. He wasn’t as good with words, so he’d rely on actions. It probably helped just as little.
He turned away and she followed. He complimented the wolves on a job well done and told them to keep at it. He’d take it from here.
“I suppose you’re not going to raise the alarm,” she said, treating this like an exercise.
Given their different levels until recently, and now with her training lying elsewhere, she didn’t often get an opportunity to learn from him.
She’d be an idiot not to take advantage of it now.
“We don’t want the enemy knowing we’re onto them.
They don’t scent like we do. They won’t smell us following them. ”
“They came in at dusk. They’ll probably leave before dawn.
At Kingsley’s, that was their usual pattern for gathering information.
They likely won’t be able to see our tracks—if they even bothered looking.
They have a superiority complex. They’ll assume their magic was enough to thoroughly hide them. ”
He put the car in gear and started out.
“This one had soft-soled shoes, though. Dad also had that type of reconnaissance mage that was good at sneaking, remember? They might be better at tracking. But yeah, not in the dark. So no, we don’t want to alert them.
We don’t want to call the Commander of the Watch to put out a notice.
” She hesitated. “I mean you, obviously, not we. I’m just—”
“I know. Keep going.”
Grateful, her body said. “Nessa is our best bet. And Edgar. Although Edgar…might do something hasty, like dismember whomever he finds or something.”
“Jessie can rein him in. Mostly.”
She nodded. Truth. “But Nessa is attending the party at Jessie’s.
We’re headed there now. It’s wise to tell them in person, within Ivy House walls.
I doubt your cell phone is bugged, but…who knows.
Also, this is something they should weigh in on anyway.
And we’ll want to set up some sort of surveillance to see if that mage uses that area again.
Oh! And that mage seemed to know exactly where we patrolled, which is on the boundary line.
We always patrol on the boundary line, which is easy to pinpoint.
Because maps. We need to change it up. If we need to trespass on the neighbor’s property, we need to trespass.
We’ll send a gift basket in apology if we get caught.
” She paused, her fingers tapping on the armrest. “Did I miss anything?”
“One thing. These people think of shifters like animals and gargoyles like monsters. The reason we’re not crossing onto the neighbor’s land is out of respect for them.
We don’t want to drag them into the crossfire.
Mages don’t operate on respect. They probably think our patrol routes mimic that of a dog marking its territory, nothing more.
We need to lean into their misconceptions.
When we veer, we need to do so in secret.
We want them to keep underestimating our intelligence. ”
She nodded slowly. That was a very good point. “If they don’t notice any tracks, they won’t catch on that we’ve veered until we make a stink about it. Which goes back to not acknowledging the breach as a pack, and instead we send in a couple people to try to track them down.”
“Yes.” He tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel. “The details of sending in Nessa and Edgar will then be turned over to Austin and Jessie, making us the backup for when we’re needed. And we’ll wait to be told how we’re needed.”
He was still using we even though this was his function and not hers. She suppressed a thankful smile.
“This is how the convocation differs from a pack,” he said. “We have people with expertise well beyond our knowledge. We’ll need the rest of the team to come into this with their various skill sets.”
She showed her pride in her bearings. “And that makes us the best.” She twitched up a shoulder. “Well…except that the mages have a better potion than ours.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Except for that, yes. We’re lagging on the mage side of all this, but getting gargoyles and shifters in place was necessary. Once that is locked down, we can solidly enter this fight.”
A wave of shivers washed over her, and she looked out the side window. “I dread that,” she admitted.
His reply was soft. “Me too.”
They rode for a bit in silence, nearing downtown now and about to turn toward Ivy House.
“Dad never could’ve done this,” she said.
They’d both already shared uncomfortable truths.
Might as well go all in. “I never could understand why he didn’t push harder to bring the shifters together.
I get it now. He’s smart and an excellent alpha, but he doesn’t have the raw ruthlessness that’s needed to get this done.
He won’t sacrifice his standing within the alpha community because he worries it’ll trickle down to his family.
To Mac and me. He doesn’t want to do something that will inherently hurt our futures.
And so he plays by the rules and only pushes far enough not to break things. ”
“It’s an admirable trait. You shouldn’t fault him for it. A father’s top priority is protecting his children.”
His expression stayed stoic, but she heard the pain in his words. He hadn’t been able to, but, if given the choice, he’d do what Aurora’s dad had. He’d protect over pushing so hard that something broke.
She nodded, looking away again. “I don’t fault him. But to break through, someone needs to blow the rules and social customs to hell.”
“I’ve come to that realization as well. Austin has no problem taking that route.”
“No. And Jessie doesn’t know any better.”
“Even if she did, she’ll do whatever is necessary to protect her people. She doesn’t see rules. She sees results.”
“Hmm,” Aurora said as they got closer. She wondered where she fit in.
She wasn’t as buttoned up as her dad—Ulric and Jasper had painstakingly made sure of that.
She wasn’t hellbent on following the rules.
Nor was she totally raw ruthlessness. Sure, when she let herself go, even Aljoe sat back with widened eyes…
and then a grin, but she lived in her head as much as she relished feeling her beast.
She was realizing that she existed somewhere in the middle.
She loved the idea of throwing all this in Armendale’s face, but she also wanted rules and order.
There was a time for the sort of ruthlessness only a beast could inspire, and a time for words and talking things out.
She wasn’t quite sure how that would dictate her future.
Where she’d fit if this all worked out the way Uncle Auzzie and her dad wanted it to.
Would a generational pack be enough to appease her wildness? And if not…what would become of her?
“What?” Sue asked, crawling toward Ivy House now.
She didn’t comment, having thought she’d been perfectly still.
“What?” he pushed, echoing her from earlier in the day.
She sighed and then told him.
He parked in front of the house and sat for a minute.
“You are an incredible blend of two amazing alphas, Aurora. They are yin and yang, but they have blended in you. Aljoe saw that immediately. He is dedicating a lot of time to your training because he sees your limitless potential. If you trust nothing else in life, trust that. Trust in yourself. When it’s time to choose your placement, you will choose what fits you best, not the other way around. ”
She clasped her fingers in her lap, not knowing how to explain what his words meant to her. Not sure how to express her gratitude, knowing she’d repeat those words to herself over and over in times of doubt.
He inclined his head, and she knew she didn’t have to. He read it in her body language, and for once, she was thankful she couldn’t hide the finer details from him.
“How much do you bet Jessie is going to be underdressed?” he asked, opening his door.
And just like that, the heaviness of the previous moment evaporated. She smiled, thankful for that, too.
“Nessa talked to her. She said she was very specific. Jessie knows the dress code.”
“I know. Hundred bucks?”
“You’re on.”