Chapter Thirty-Five
They all stared back at me with different looks on their faces.
Alannah leaned closer to Ternen. “Will the vow hurt?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s just a vow to the Goddess to keep whatever we say here secret, even under threat of command or death.
” Alannah paled. I reached through the middle and held out my hand.
“Don’t be scared. It doesn’t mean you will face death.
It just means the Goddess recognizes your sincerity for secrecy and she makes it so that we can keep our secrets. ” I smiled back at her.
Ternen nodded. “I’m ready, but I don’t know what to say.”
I pulled my hand away and I turned in my seat, so that my back was pressed against the door.
“I, Amy Maclean, vow to keep your words from everyone except the Goddess. I swear that nothing you say that could be used against you to cause harm will leave my mouth. Only the Goddess will know our secrets and I beg her to keep them for us.” I felt the acceptance of my words settle in my chest. I nodded to Ternen, and he repeated my words.
“Holy Goddess, I felt this warmth hit my chest. What was it?” He looked at me.
I grinned. “That was the Goddess accepting your vow and agreeing to keep our secrets.”
Ternen rubbed his chest, awe still on my face. “That was…amazing.” He turned to Alannah. “It felt like total acceptance.”
Alannah looked amazed as she took her own vow. She ended up rubbing her chest too, tears brimming in her eyes. “I’ve never talked to the Goddess before.”
I leaned my face against the seat so I could meet her eyes. “Maybe it’s time you started.”
We all turned to Rick. “I don’t know.” He seemed hesitant.
“Why?”
He looked back at me, and I could see the need in his eyes.
The need to trust. The need to vent. He was a man full of need.
But he closed his eyes and pulled away. “Because what if we get questioned about what we talk about and instead of telling them about lunch, we just clam up?” He shook his head. “That would fuck us over even more.”
I tilted my head. “That’s not how this works.
” I looked out the window. “Say we go have lunch. We talk about all our secrets. But in between we have small talk, or the server asks us questions. If you are commanded to talk about the lunch, your vow will automatically select the innocuous random questions we discussed. Like the weather, or family issues. Say we talked about my family, in detail. If you were asked, you would just say we talked about my dad. That you remembered old stories about him.” I looked back at Rick.
“Innocent facts the Goddess selects so that nothing can be inferred or used against us.”
“Seriously?” I nodded.
“The Goddess will do whatever it takes to keep the oath.” I smiled.
Rick looked between me and the two in the back before he nodded. “Okay.” Then he said the oath. Once he was finished, his hand shot to the middle of his chest. “Holy hell.” He sighed as he sat back. Then he looked at me. “How do we discuss this in public?”
“Easy.” I winked. I stepped out of the truck and waited for them to follow.
“That doesn’t actually tell us anything.” Rick growled as he caught up with me.
I laughed. “It’s a long story. And it might make you look at me differently, and that’s okay. But I swear, I would never hurt you or any of your families.” Everyone just looked at me, slightly confused and very much on edge. I smiled. “Let’s sit down before I get into it.”
They followed me into the steak house. “Hi, is it just the four of you?” The hostess smiled and grabbed the menus.
“Yeah.” I nodded and looked back. “If it is at all possible, can we have a table away from everyone else? If not, it’s okay.”
“Of course. It’s our lunch, but it’s dead today. I’ll give you our back booth.” She turned and beckoned us to follow. We made our way through the restaurant until we ended up in the far back corner. “How’s this?”
“Perfect.” I slid into the booth, shifting inwards until I was near the back. Alannah slid on the other side, moving to sit next to me. With Rick and Ternen sliding in after us.
“Your server will be with you in a few minutes.” Then we were left alone.
I quickly sealed the area so that no one but us could hear what we were talking about until they came within the circle. Then I turned to everyone. “There we can talk without being heard.”
“How?” Rick leaned in and froze. “Hello?” Then he looked at me. “Why is there an echo?”
“How well did you know my father?” I countered.
“I mean…I want to say well, but you have me feeling like it’s not well at all.” He looked closer at me. “Now, why is there an echo?”
I leaned in. “How much do you all know about magic?”
Rick leaned back in his chair and laughed. “Like charms, voodoo, and Hollywood CGI?”
“Magic isn’t real, Amy.” Ternen smirked and shook his head.
But Alannah was quiet. She leaned in and looked at me. “There are witches that live in the woods near my old pack. They are real, and if you cross them, they will come after your family.” She looked away. “But the witches worked with our pack, and they saved us more times than I could count.”
“Really? Then what happened to your pack?” I sat back. But I held up my hand before she answered.
“Hi y’all. I’m Stephanie, your server. Can I get you started with something to drink?” She went around and got our drink orders, then she left us alone. I turned back to Alannah and nodded.
“Our Alpha’s son seduced the priestess’s daughter and then found his mate. It wouldn’t have been an issue, but the priestess’s daughter ended up pregnant.”
“Oh, no.” The server dropped off our drinks and grabbed our orders before retreating to the back.
Alannah took a sip of her drink. “Even that would have been fine. The witches would have understood. They were just happy for a child, but the Alpha son’s mate refused to accept it. Even if the witch’s babe would never be seen in the pack.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth because I knew what was going to happen. “No.”
She nodded. “The mate snuck into the coven and killed the daughter and her babe. The priestess, she was broken, but still she did not attack us.”
Rick leaned in, completely caught in the story. “Im confused. I know your pack was wiped out.”
Alannah nodded. “We were. I escaped because of one simple fact.”
“That is?” Ternen wrapped his hand around Alannah’s.
“I was close friends with the witch’s daughter.
When the rogues came and attacked, the witches came and watched.
The Alpha begged for their help, but the priestess shook her head.
She said she refused to save the murderer of her child and grandchild.
” She shook in her seat. “She gave us one shot. She said she would save us if we pushed out the girl. But the Alpha’s son refused, so they were left to fight for their lives.
I ran, and the witch saw me. She called me to her side and then brought me to the next pack, Vince’s. ”
“Witches are…real?” Ternen looked at his mate and we both just nodded.
“Very much so.” I agreed. Then I turned to Rick. He was staring at Alannah.
“The woman that dropped you outside my house…”
Alannah nodded. “She made sure I was somewhere she thought I would be safe.” Ternen snorted.
“She picked the wrong pack for safety.”
Alannah looked up at me. “I don’t know Ternen, I think we are right where we need to be.”
I smiled at her and grabbed her free hand. “You are.”
Rick looked at us. “Why did you bring up magic?”
“Because my family, my father, is descended from a witch.” I snapped my fingers, and a flame jumped to my finger. I watched it dance along my hand and then I pulled Alannah’s hand toward me and placed the flame in her palm. “And I have magic.”
Everyone was glued to the flame. It danced in Alannah’s hand, changing color, and never burning her. I snapped my fingers, and it disappeared right as the server came up with our meals. “Holy goddess.” Alannah took a long drink from her glass. “Why are you telling us?”
“That’s a fantastic question.” I took a sip of my own drink and cut into my steak. “I could go into detail about my life, my power, and what is happening. But we only have lunch, so let me hit the highlights.”
Rick nodded. “Sure.”
“Vince is almost definitely involved with the extermination of the lycans. He is also believed to be the driving force behind the eradication of the packs that were attacked by rogues. There is a group of wolves believed to be working with the rouges. Some go as far to say that the enormous pack of rogues that conveniently live in the haunted caves by my father’s pack aren't actually rogues at all, but men and women that left the packs of the Alphas involved to work behind the scenes.”
“What?” Ternen furrowed his brow. “Are you saying that certain Alphas, including Vince, are behind the rogue attacks? How?”
I nodded. “It’s believed that the Alphas got together behind the king’s back and selected men devoted to them, asked them to leave the pack, to become rogue, and then work together to bring down other packs.”
“Why would they do that?” Alannah asked.
Rick gripped his knife tightly as he wiped his mouth. “Because what happens to the wolves left over? What happens to their stockpiles of goods…their money?”
Ternen looked at me. “I don’t know what happens…”
I sighed. “The wolves are sent to stronger packs, beefing the numbers of the Alphas trying to take over. Same with their resources.”
“Wait.” Alannah shook her head. “How does that happen? Doesn’t the king have to make that decision?”
Rick’s knife dropped when the realization hit him. “No.”
I turned to him with a nod. “Yes.”
“What is it?” Ternen looked at Rick.
“The king usually makes the decision. Or he used to. But since the old king died, the council took over allocating resources.” Rick turned to me with dawning horror. “The council?”
“Yeah.” I lifted my shoulder. “Or we think the council.”
“We?” Rick forgot about his food. He was invested.