Chapter 4
4
M elvale awoke slowly, the voice calling his name familiar. He’d had the strangest dream and had a horrible headache. What in the Creator’s name had he been doing?
“Melvale!”
He sucked in some air and sat up. “What?!” Melvale looked around. “Oh, stab me! Please say I had a good time doing the Creator only knows what, to warrant waking up in a containment cell.”
Kitty’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, thank goodness it’s you.”
He frowned. “Who else would it be? And why am I locked up?”
Her jaw went slack. “Don’t you remember anything?”
He gave her a sheepish look. “Should I?”
Her mouth formed a perfect “O” before her hands covered it. “Gaaaawsh!”
“Gaaaaawwwwwsh,” he mimicked and tried to stand. He fell over instead.
“Ow.”
When he tried to climb to his feet, Kitty was at the bars. “Are you all right?”
He gingerly stood, his mind a blank. “What… happened to me?”
She whistled, long and low. “You don’t remember?”
He gave her a heartfelt look and shook his head.
She stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh, Melvale. You have to remember.”
He approached the bars, and she backed up a few steps. “Kitty?”
She closed her eyes a moment. “It’s cool, I’m… just being careful.”
“Of what?” He looked around the cell before he turned to her. “Of me?”
She nodded. “I’d better go find someone. Dallan or Kwaku.”
He gave her a sage nod, eyes wide. “That would be prudent.” He backed to a cot at the far wall as she disappeared from the cell area. There had to be guards posted on the other side of the door, and he thought of calling one, but sensed it might be a bad idea.
Melvale sat and tried to remember what happened. They were on assignment, searching for Princess Raina of Dalrovia and the captain of The Queen’s Royal Guard, Halden Kolbeck. They were supposed to have been brought to the Muiraran palace so they could bond and eventually join, but something had gone terribly wrong. Idrishana Shin, an aging Time Master sent to fetch the couple, had accidentally dropped them somewhere within a one-hundred-and-fifty-year period. They’d managed to narrow it down to New York City. Brooklyn to be precise. Not having an exact year or even decade to search, they had to make their way through the twentieth then into the twenty-first century to find them. And find them they did.
Melvale buried his face in his hands. Had they found something else? He sensed they had…
“Time Keeper…”
He let his hands drop as Kwaku approached the cell. “You are yourself again?”
Melvale left the cot and swayed. “Oh, stab me,” he said and righted himself. “When was I not? Why am I in here?” He studied Kwaku. He was a master at keeping information tucked away until it proved useful. One never knew what was going to come out of the man’s mouth. “Kwaku, what did I do? What happened?”
Zara entered the cell area. “Melvale, you are… back?”
He shrugged. “Where did I go?”
“His eyes, Pretty One,” Kwaku said. “Dis is Melvale.”
Melvale cocked an eyebrow. “As opposed to?” He let the last word hang.
Kwaku sighed. “You have no recollection?”
Melvale slowly approached the bars, a helpless look on his face. “Of what?”
Zara went to the bars and reached a hand through.
Melvale took it. “Tell me.”
Zara squeezed his hand and looked into his eyes. “Melvale, son of Zerbe and Tasniah Olwen. You are an Alpha.”
Melvale’s eyes rounded to saucers, and he backed away from the bars, pulling his hands from hers. “N-no. It can’t be.”
Kwaku joined his wife. “It is true.” He looked at Zara, then Melvale, and bowed. “You have been chosen by de Creator to save us.”
Melvale gave him a blank stare as a squeak of alarm escaped him. “N-no. Th-this can’t be. I would think Markhel would…”
“He is your Beta,” Kwaku interrupted.
Melvale backed to the cot and fell onto it. “My Beta…”
Kwaku went to the door of the containment block. “Unlock the cell.”
A guard entered, took one look at Melvale, and gulped.
“It is safe,” Zara said.
The guard glanced between her and Kwaku, then fixed his eyes on Melvale.
“His eyes,” Zara said in a low voice. “They are his normal color.”
The guard peered at Melvale, nodded, then unlocked the cell. “Forgive me, Time Keeper. But I had to be sure.”
Melvale looked at him with a small nod but didn’t bother leaving the cot. An Alpha? He knew the histories. An Alpha rose up when needed to unite the races and rule them. The last time there was an Alpha was when the Dissans happened upon his people and decided they were their new favorite food. It was a horrible time in their history. Brutal, savage, and his race along with the Noghard and Sarian almost didn’t escape. Dissans were terrifying creatures that destroyed entire cultures, races, and even planets. They cared only about themselves and would enslave anyone or anything they could as they continued their march of destruction through the universe.
Melvale stood. “Where is my brother?” He looked at Kwaku and Zara. “Does he… know?”
“He knows,” Kwaku said. “Come out, Alpha.”
“Don’t call me that,” he snapped. “I… I’m not…”
“You are,” Zara said gently. “You know you are. You must find balance now.”
He looked at her. “I’m in the first phase, aren’t I?” He took on a hopeful expression. “I… I found her?” He swallowed hard.
Zara smiled and put a hand on his arm. “You did.”
His hands flew to his mouth as he sank to his knees. “Praise the Creator.”
Kwaku smiled at Zara. “Balance,” he began and gave his attention to Melvale, “is key. You caught her scent, discovered she was in danger, and went to her rescue.”
Melvale’s hands dropped, and he climbed to his feet. “Did I save her?”
Zara and Kwaku exchanged a look. “You did,” Zara said. “But your Alpha was in control at the time.”
He blanched. “Did I… kill anyone?”
“No,” she said. “Kwaku, Dallan, and Markhel stopped you.”
His shoulders slumped in relief. “Thank the Creator for that. Did I touch her?”
“Sadly no,” Kwaku said. “Which is why we must act quickly.”
Melvale stared at the stone floor and nodded. “I’m going to vacillate back and forth, aren’t I?”
“Until she balances you, yes,” Kwaku said. “She must bring you balance, give the Alpha inside you time to merge with all that you are. Den she will become your heart.”
Melvale knew the process, he’d studied it when he studied his people’s history involving the Dissans. An Alpha was rising up inside of him. Once he had his mate at his side, he would change, like a caterpillar to a butterfly. He would still be himself, but there would be a side of him that would come out when needed, if his mate didn’t prompt a full merging. If that happened, he wasn’t sure what would happen. All he knew from studying the history, was that a full merging meant he could shift into anything. There was no fixed physical form his heart would take. His brother shifted into either a huge white lion or a black one, depending on whether he was to protect or mete out justice. But with an Alpha, he became whatever his mate needed him to be at the time.
“Did you see her?” he asked, voice soft.
“Yes,” Kwaku whispered back.
Melvale looked him in the eyes but wasn’t sure he should ask anything more. The fact Kwaku hadn’t laughed once since entering the cell area said a lot.
Melvale closed his eyes. “Is she… whole?”
Kwaku must have closed the distance between them. He put a hand on his shoulder. “She needs you.”
Melvale looked at him. “What’s wrong with her?”
Kwaku narrowed his eyes. “Would de Creator make a mistake?”
Melvale gasped. “Of course not.”
“Den do not question Him. She is your mate. You will find her, put your mark on her, den mate her. Den de two of you will be one for life.”
“Wait a minute. Find?” Melvale squeaked in alarm. “Oh, stab me, don’t tell me we lost her too!”
Kwaku exchanged a look with Zara. “We had to save you.”
Melvale stiffened. “Where is she?”
“Kawahnee,” Zara said with a hint of caution. “His eyes.”
Kwaku looked at Melvale and frowned. “De Alpha in you is coming to de surface. What do you feel?”
Melvale noticed he was agitated all of the sudden and had to move. Then it got worse.
“Kawahnee!”
In once swift move Kwaku shoved Melvale back into the cell and slammed the door shut, locking it.
Melvale growled in response.
“Wow,” Kitty said as she entered. “His eyes are turning bright blue.”
“Yes, little treasure. Dey are.” Kwaku looked intently at Melvale.
Melvale looked right back and tried to calm himself. It was hard. He had to get out, had to find her! Where was she? Why wasn’t she at his side?!
Melvale shut his eyes tight, went to the bars and beat his head against them a few times. It worked. He let out a breath, opened his eyes, and looked at the three people lined up in front of him, just out of reach. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. The Alpha side of me takes over…”
“We know,” Zara said. “We have been re-studying the histories.”
Melvale looked at them. “Am I… safe for you now?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Kitty said. “Your eyes are gray again. Normal.”
Kwaku nodded. “You must stay in control, Time Keeper, while we retrieve your…”
“Special someone?” Kitty offered.
Kwaku grinned. “Yes. Dat. Until den, stay calm. You do not want to frighten her when we bring her to you.”
Melvale gripped the bars. “No. Never.” He gave them a pleading look. “What did I do? Did she see me?”
“No,” Kwaku said. “She saw de Alpha, if she saw any ting at all.”
He closed his eyes. “Creator help me.”
When he opened them, Kwaku smiled. “I have no doubt He will.”
Melvale rested his forehead against the bars. “Promise me something.”
“What?” Kitty asked.
He looked at her, then Kwaku. “Don’t let me hurt anyone. I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting any of you.”
“We know,” Zara said. She closed the distance between them and put a hand over one of his. “You will have an easier time of it once you and the Alpha side of you are balanced.”
He sighed and looked at her. “You know I’ll kill anything that moves, even when I am balanced.”
“Only if your mate is threatened or injured,” she reminded him.
“Or sick,” he added, staring through the bars. “Don’t forget that part.”
“What?” Kitty said with wide eyes.
Zara gave her a sage nod. “An Alpha’s mate is everything to him. As it is with his Beta and Enforcer and their mates. Their mates are special. They balance them perfectly. But for a Muiraran Alpha, his mate becomes his heart.”
Kitty crossed her arms and rested her weight on her right foot. “I don’t get it. Won’t they have a shared heart like every Muiraran couple?”
“No, little treasure,” Kwaku said. “For an Alpha, his mate is a living heart.”
Kitty’s eyes went wide. “Oh. My. Gawwwsh. You mean… she is a physical form of his second heart? Sort of like when Markhel’s heart shifts into a lion? But… Maida doesn’t shift.”
“An Alpha’s mate controls the shift, not Melvale,” Zara said. “He will shift based on her.”
Kitty’s eyes widened further. “So, he’ll shift into whatever she thinks of?”
“It is more complicated than that,” Zara answered. “But that’s one way of putting it.”
“Wow,” Kitty breathed. “I hope she doesn’t watch a lot of monster movies or anything. I’d hate to see Melvale shift into Godzilla.”
One of Melvale’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t even suggest such a thing.”
Kwaku eyed Melvale and smiled. “We shall see what happens when we retrieve her. In de mean time, Time Keeper, accept our humble apologies for your accommodations. But de sooner we fetch her de better.”
Melvale nodded in understanding and waved them toward the door. “Hurry then. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to hold him back.”
Kwaku approached the bars. “Your Alpha is strong, but do not be afraid of him. He is a part of you dat has been dere all along.” He turned on his heel and left the room, Zara right behind him.
Kitty gave him one last look. “I’d better go see if they need me. Don’t worry, Kwaku and Dallan will bring her to you.”
He nodded. “Yes, and then what?”
She gave him a heartfelt look. “You fall in love, you big goof.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Kitty.”
She smiled back and left him to his thoughts.