Chapter 15
Ashton closed down his finished design project, opened his email and sent it off. He hoped they liked their new branding and that he had incorporated all the elements they had requested.
He loved his job as a graphic designer but wondered how much time in the future he would have for it, with all his new duties. He would just have to make time. He had worked too long and hard to build his reputation to stop now.
Ash also thought about the designs he had done for the Archangel Hotel Group, and how amazed he had been to learn that Paris owned that business. To know he had unknowingly designed something for his mate’s business was incredible.
He had also been playing around with different designs for the pack and for Blake to use on official royal stationery, and a design for the three kings.
He sent an email to Blake, attaching all the designs to see what he thought, then emailed Tudor and Puff with the three kings’ stationery design.
As his emails were open, he started reading through them.
As pack Beta, he had reports from the generals and team leaders, and Frederick with daily updates and any queries he needed to deal with.
As Regent to Blake, he had even more. He was sent things that weren’t important enough to be sent to Blake, which Ash was learning was a lot.
He was currently reading an email from the council when his phone pinged. He picked it up and saw it was a message from one of the gargoyle guards, who was patrolling the drive entrance, saying a man had arrived and was requesting sanctuary.
He shot back a reply saying he was on his way, and locking his laptop, went to see who wanted sanctuary.
He wouldn’t offer someone sanctuary without Blake, Puff or Tudor’s say-so, and Blake was still training, Tudor resting and Puff busy.
Ash arrived at the drive entrance and saw the dragon and gargoyle guards standing watching the newcomer, who was sat in his car, with the car door open. The car was a fancy black BMW; by the looks of the number plate, it was also less than a year old.
Ash walked to the guards’ side as the driver got out.
“Oh hell no,” Ash muttered, recognizing him.
“What’s wrong, Beta?” the gargoyle guard asked.
“He’s the Hayes Pack shaman,” Ash replied, with a small growl.
Ash had never liked the shaman. He had a creepy vibe and was only interested in sucking up to the Alpha.
He ignored the needs of the rest of the pack and made as much money as he could from the few pack members he actually helped.
His help always came at a steep price, which enabled him to get the best of everything.
The two guards gave low growls as well.
The shaman moved closer to the wards and stopped about a foot away.
Ash noted the shaman seemed to have aged considerably since he had last seen him. His dark brown hair was almost all grey; he looked like he had lost weight and had wrinkles all over his face, which for a wolf shifter was unheard of, and he seemed even creepier than before.
“Ashton,” the shaman said in greeting.
Ash crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s Beta Ashton to you, or Regent Ashton, I don’t mind which.”
The shaman scowled but said nothing.
“Why are you here?” Ash demanded.
“Like I told these two,” he said, waving his hand dismissively at them. “I’m here to request sanctuary.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why, Ashton?”
Ash glared at him.
“Beta,” the shaman hurriedly corrected.
“I mean, why are you requesting sanctuary here?”
“Everyone knows this pack is the safest place, probably in the whole country, and that Blake is offering sanctuary to those who need it.”
Ashton raised a brow. “Blake?”
The shaman rolled his eyes. “King Blake,” he spat out.
“I’m not sure being disrespectful is the best way to go when requesting sanctuary,” the dragon guard told him.
“Look, I’m requesting sanctuary. Are you letting me in or not?” the shaman demanded.
“I’m going to go with not. You worked with Alpha Tom to kidnap Henry.
You worked with Barnabus to infect Phil, causing his and Clara’s death.
You helped with getting dream walkers into our pack ground, killing innocent dragons and gargoyles, and I’m pretty sure you’ve used your healing abilities on Barnabus. ”
“Yes, well, I didn’t have a choice,” the shaman said, shifting his gaze away from them.
“You know we’re all shifters, right?” the gargoyle guard asked. “We can smell your lies.”
“Off you go, bye now,” Ash said, with a wave.
“But I can help you. I know things, important things,” the shaman said desperately.
“Like what?” Ash demanded.
“Things I will only tell Blake, especially about the Rising and a certain spear.”
Ash had no idea what he meant by a spear, but for all he knew, Blake could already know about it. But he had heard of The Rising.
“That’s King Blake to you, and we already know about them.”
“I bet you don’t know his shadow is already on the pack grounds, do you?” he sneered.
“I don’t understand, his shadow?” Ash said, sounding and looking confused.
“A demon’s shadow can work independently from their body. There is no way to track the shadow as it can slip in anywhere, without being seen, heard or felt,” the dragon guard explained.
“Well, isn’t that just perfect,” Ash said, running a hand down his face.
“Now will you let me in and give me sanctuary?” the shaman demanded.
Ash looked at the dragon guard. “Let him through,” he said, looking at the shaman. “Leave your car where it is.”
The shaman grinned. “I knew you would see sense.”
A doorway appeared in the ward, and the shaman walked through. As soon as he was on pack lands, the doorway closed.
“Now take me to see Blake,” he demanded.
Ashton laughed. “The only place you’re going is to our cells. And just so you know, they’re magic proof.”
The gargoyle guard walked behind him.
“Wait, you can’t do that,” he shouted as the gargoyle guard caught his arms and pulled them behind his back.
From somewhere, the dragon guard produced shifter-grade cuffs and put them around the shamans’ wrists.
“Stop. You can’t do this. You said you would give me sanctuary,” he protested.
Ashton laughed. “I never said I would give you sanctuary. I just let you through the wards. It will be up to the Kings to decide your fate.”
“No, stop.”
“I’ll take him to the cells, Beta,” the dragon guard said.
“Thanks, Corporal. I’ll stay here until you get back.”
The guard nodded and led the still shouting shaman away.
“Gah, like Blake would ever allow him sanctuary,” Ash said.
“I can imagine the kings and the generals will demand his life after what happened,” the gargoyle guard commented.
Ash nodded. “They would. We just need to find out everything he knows first.”
“Sergeant Cowall is the best gargoyle at integrations, and I’m sure the dragons will have one as well.”
“Very probably. Now all we need to do is figure out how we can find and stop a shadow.”
Puff was still in the library. Paris had gone off to have a Zoom meeting, but Atticus was still with him. They were both looking through the list of dragons his father had given rogue status to.
Atticus was researching each name to see if the status was justified and if not, Puff was unregistering their rogue status and sending them personal emails.
I can’t wait to meet your brothers. Puff suddenly said, looking up and smiling at Atticus.
“I should probably warn everyone about what they’re like.”
Don’t do that; let it be a surprise.
Atticus laughed. “And what a surprise. I’m expecting them to fly in.”
Would they really? Puff asked, crossing his arms and leaning on the desk.
“They would. I can just imagine them, flying with my things strapped to their backs or carried in their claws.”
“Done that often have they?” Mateo asked, walking into the library, carrying a tray of drinks, and closing the door behind him.
“They have. Not this far though.”
Mateo walked to the desk and put the tray down before he bent down and kissed Atticus. He pulled back, smiling. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself.”
Mateo laughed and walked around the table and kissed Puff. They pulled back and Puff touched his cheek. Hi.
Mateo turned and kissed his palm as he straightened. “What are you two doing?”
“Going through the list of dragons that Puff’s father made rogues,” Atticus told him. “How was training?”
“Martha is brutal but efficient. Blake was late, so Martha made him do push-ups . Nick filmed it and then had to join Blake doing them. They both cheated with the counting, so Martha made them start again,” as he spoke, he moved back around the desk and sat next to Atticus.
Puff and Atticus laughed.
Poor Blake and Nick. Puff said, grinning.
“Also, Frederick is now Alpha of the hell hounds, and Zeus called in some warrior angels to protect Battle.”
“Hell hounds, that’s… wow. I hope we get to meet some,” Atticus said.
“I think we all want to meet some. I ran into Delinga earlier,” Mateo said. “He reminded me that we have training with him this afternoon for the three of us working together.”
“I’ve blocked the afternoon out for the training. It would also be good to join Ares in his training sessions for more practice,” Atticus said.
I’m sure he won’t have a problem with that. Puff replied.
Mateo nodded to the computers. “What can I do to help?”
“You can help me research these names,” Atticus said, pushing the pad with the names on closer.
Mateo pulled out his phone. “I can do that, but first,” he handed the drinks out. “Special tea for you,” he said, handing Puff a travel mug. “And coffee for you.”
“Thanks,” Atticus said, taking the mug and having a sip.
Perfect, thanks Mateo.
Tudor was resting on the roof - he really should have taken time to properly rest before now, but they had been busy, plus he didn’t want to leave his Alex.
He sighed, thinking about how much his life had changed over the last few weeks.
Finding out he was actually a prince and not an adopted nobody was the first shock.
The second shock was finding his mate. The third shock was being made king.
Tudor internally shook his head. From thinking he was a nobody to finding out his adopted father was actually his uncle and that Dane was actually his cousin; yeah, that had been a big one.
Dane had never been that great of a ‘brother’ to him, but since being here, Dane had changed and Tudor found he liked his cousin/brother.
His father, Donovan, was also changing; before, when he was king, he was strict and Tudor thought he always looked a little stressed, but now Tudor could see his father relaxing, laughing more and enjoying himself.
He never realised until now how much pressure his father had been under.
If he had been a better person, he should have offered to help him more instead of trying to stay out of everyone’s way.
He momentarily thought of his adopted mum, sisters and other brother; they all hated him and shouted at him all the time; that’s when they weren’t ignoring him.
He was glad they had had their gargoyles taken away and were now wherever Ares had put them.
He should probably ask Ares where they were and have them sent to their estate in Romania - he hated to think what Maurice would have been like as the next gargoyle king; mind you, he didn’t have to think hard.
Maurice would have been terrible. Tudor internally sighed and took a mental breath - this was the last time he would think about them.
They didn’t deserve any headspace, well, once he spoke to Ares anyway.
Next, he thought of his wonderful mate Alex.
Was it sad he missed him already? It wasn’t even lunchtime on his first day of resting, and he missed Alex so much and was worried about him.
He wondered what Alex was doing. He didn’t want to message him, yet he wanted to prove to Alex he could cope with resting without pestering him.
He would just need to rest quickly so he could get back to his mate.
Then he thought about being king. He internally sighed again; never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would take the throne but here he was now he’d had a coronation and everything.
He thought about the explosions and those that had been killed, the pain after being attacked by that young man. He would have to remember to visit him and offer him a place here and a job; he just might have to convince Alex first.
With that thought, he fell into a deep sleep.
Alex and Donovan made it back to the pack house with two minutes to spare.
“So that was enlightening,” Donovan said, smiling.
“What? The number of times you were invited into the back rooms, or the information we found out?” Alex asked.
Donovan burst out laughing. “Both.”
“We can fill everyone in later. I’m going to check on Tudor.”
“And I need coffee,” Donovan said, walking over to the coffee maker.
“Be back soon,” Alex said, walking out of the kitchen and messaging Ares and Baylan, telling them both that they were back.
Alex looked up at his resting mate. He really was stunning in his gargoyle form. He thanked the fates yet again for the gift they had given him. He never knew he could be this happy.
Alex vanished and appeared on the roof next to Tudor and sat down beside him. “Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
He didn’t get a reply. Alex was actually glad Tudor didn’t reply, as it meant he was properly resting.
He heard beeps from Tudor’s other side and saw Bubo sitting there. “Sorry, Bubo, I didn’t see you there.”
Bubo beeped.
“I know I miss him too, but I’m glad he’s resting.”
Bubo beeped again.
“I will tell him about trying to find the island. As it was, we only went to a pub.”
Bubo beeped.
Alex laughed. “I can take you the next time I go. They want to meet Tudor. I’m sure they’d love to meet you as well.”
Bubo spun his head and flapped his wings.
“You’re welcome, my friend.”