Lucky motioned for her to go forward. The room was surprisingly tight and a part of her, an unknown part of her began to feel a little claustrophobic. With a little focus, Rebecca realized that part of her was the wolf. The feeling only got worse when the shop ended and Lucky and Rebecca found themselves squeezed together in a tiny space behind the register counter. Great! Not only did she have a wolf who kept secrets from her, but the wolf also gave her a new fear.
He punched in another code on another out of place key lock that was similar to the one on the door outside. Again she heard the locks release and a whooshing sound as a door opened, this time sliding up from the floor to the ceiling.
They were greeted with a darkened flight of stairs. There were torches lit on the side of the wall which created wicked looking shadows. They seemed oddly out of place after the keypad entry and the automatic doors. "Don't you think this 'Authority' group could've spent a little more on lighting?"
He chuckled, "I think they were going for the ambiance, but you are not the first one to comment on how out of place the torches are. I kind of like the eerie feeling they raise, don't you?"
"Not particularly. I have enough unsettling things going on in my life at the moment. Lucky for you I have good night vision." She wrinkled her nose as the sulfur from the fire lit torches mixed with the musky smell of the stairway cut from the earth.
He grinned. This time the lights set off a wicked glint in his eyes. Rebecca was beginning to like the different types of smiles and facial expressions he had. "Good, then you won't need me to hold your hands down the stairs. Come on, I’ll lead the way."
And with that he was headed down the stairs leaving Rebecca to follow in his wake before he disappeared into the dark shadows. She found herself thankful as her night vision quickly adjusted making the downward trek more inviting. With a sigh and a prayer she headed down the stairs; stumbling over a few rocks embedded into the stone stairs. It was only a few minutes before she caught up with Lucky. They finished their trip downward rather quickly; running into a few rodents scurrying around their feet along the way. He turned towards her and Rebecca almost fell into his arms. Instinctively she pushed off his solid chest and rocked back on the last step.
"Are you ready to be amazed?" He asked.
Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because tonight has been thrilling so far." As soon as she said it she realized it actually had been rather thrilling; a little dangerous, exciting, stimulating, and somewhat seductive.
The door opened to a large meeting room that resembled an auditorium with an equally large theater stage, the kind you would find on Broadway, not in Arizona. There were more people in the room than she could count. The key word was people; her wolf went on high alert as she realized that they were now surrounded by multiple supernatural beings; most of whom hid their identity in human form. She was drawn to the large conference table in the front of the room where twelve people sat.
The room was the size of at least two football fields. Apparently the Authority budgeted more funds for the meeting room than the décor in the hallway. “Oh, my! It’s interesting. How in the world did you get a room this size to fit into a basement?”
"Magic." He whispered with a grin.
“Ah our guest has arrived!” boomed a large voice from an equally large man in the front of the room. The man stood, but Rebecca’s focus was on another. Shock registered and curiosity sank in. The one person in the world she never expected to see in this room was starring at her with daggers. Her grandmother sat in one of the seats at the large table.
What in the world was she doing here? She glared at Lucky but the action was in vain, wondering if he set her up. Rebecca’s grandmother also recognized her which was apparent when she stood up. The rest of the group remained seated. “Are you Rebecca Elizabeth Winters from the Arizona wolf pack?”
“Yes.” Rebecca’s voice sounded weak against the large man’s strong one, so she cleared her throat and spoke louder. “Yes. I’m Becca.”
Chapter Seven
~“Eighty percent of all choices are based on fear. Most people don’t choose what they want; they choose what they think is safe."
~Phil McGraw
Rebecca
“Good. Well, you’re late, Becca. Please take your seat; we will worry about the formalities later.” The speaker of the room motioned towards an empty seat two spaces down from Rebecca’s grandmother. Rebecca wanted to tell them that she was not interested in being the Alpha wolf but decided this was not exactly the best place to have that conversation. Despite her growing fear that she was jumping into water far deeper than she could swim out of; she managed to find her seat and get comfortable.
On Rebecca’s left was a dragon who looked like she was from the Orient. Her wolf whispered the name “Windy”. Rebecca received knowledge from the wolf about all the others seated at the table as well. She didn’t know why, but she trusted the wolf. Perhaps the simple fact that she was part of her made giving the trust easier. Regardless, the information was important so Rebecca took note.
On Rebecca’s right sat a half-human half-demon necromancer; otherwise known as a guardian; guardian of the dead, her name was Echo.
The wolf informed her that the man with purple spiked hair in between her grandmother and Echo was “Rudy, the troll leader”. “Violet, the vampire queen,” sat next to Windy, looking regal and deadly. The redheaded leprechaun dressed in green named “Amelia” sat next to Violet. The black haired, pale skinned vampire queen looked icy and even whiter next to the freckled, peachy skinned leprechaun. “Serendipity, the fairy queen,” reminded Rebecca of autumn. Her amber hair, brown toned clothes, and sun kissed skin screamed fall. “Gregory, the head dream weavers,” sat next to her. His shock of black hair and steely blue eyes contrasted against his light sun-starved skin. The “banshee” that sat next to him was perhaps the scariest creature of all. Her silver hair fell straight past the seat of her chair. There were two streaks of black that framed her tiny face. Her body was long and lithe; her eyes were cold and empty. “Her name is Britain”. “Jericho” sat next to her, his silver white hair similar yet different because his hair looked alive, along with the rest of him. The golden hue to his skin and twinkle in his eyes proved that fact. The only things that gave away his identity as an elf were his silver eyes and his pointy ears. “Mystery” sat between Jericho and the head of the counsel, Francesco. She was a “siren” and the wolf warned Rebecca to “avoid her songs. Those melodies were as black as her oil-colored hair and as deadly as her violet eyes.”
The hours rolled on as Rebecca sat through multiple supernatural beings stating their grievances. Some looked as human as she was only days ago and others had a harder time hiding their supernatural DNA. It seemed the more innocent the supernatural being was the harder it was for them to blend in. The more deadly, the easier they could pass for human; guess that was an example of the “survival of the fittest” theory.
The vampire Rebecca saved from the compound smiled wickedly at her from the audience. A red glow seemed to radiate from behind her eyes. If the childlike vampire’s entourage and confidence were any indication she was high up in the power chain. She was also a member of the species that happened to be Rebecca’s biggest enemy, something she would do well not to forget. When their eyes locked Rebecca’s inner wolf snarled, ‘Katarina’. Outwardly, there was no indication of the intense emotions the girl vampire sparked in Rebecca’s body. Becca smiled, grateful the girl was okay and terrified of what she would do to Rebecca and perhaps what she may have already done to her pack.
Rebecca would not give the young looking vampire the pleasure of knowing she upset or made her nervous, however, smart animals know when to be wary around people they perceive as enemies and her wolf knew who the vampire was.
‘Killer, Killer, Killer’ Rebecca heard the wolf echo in her mind over and over again “Evil witch deserves to die!” If the wolf was standing in front of her, Rebecca would have slapped her back to her senses.
Rebecca didn’t want to be the first to look away but she wanted the wolf to stop chanting. She refocused her attention on the beaver, standing in front of the Authority, worrying his baseball cap in his hands as he told the story of how blood brokers were moving into his quiet suburb. Apparently one human teenager was killed from an overdose of the blood pills and now everyone he knew was frightened. He made a request for extra protectors in his neighborhood to move the undesired dealers out.
A woman dressed in golden armor over a white dress tilted her head at the beaver man and smiled politely when she stood from her seat in the front row of the auditorium. There was a level of compassion in her eyes that Rebecca had not seen from other members of the Authority yet. In fact, she seemed genuinely interested and concerned for the beaver man and his family. The more Rebecca focused on the woman the more she learned. “Nephilim” spoke the inner voice, “Josephine, head of the protectors”. Rebecca knew, instantly, Josephine was a good person and immediately decided she would be someone Becca would seek out to befriend.
“My generals will assign additional patrols to your neighborhood for a while to see if we can eliminate the new blood brokers. And on a personal note, I’m very sorry to hear about your son.”
The man that resembled a beaver burst into tears and told Josephine he was eternally grateful for her help. He walked backwards to his seat, bowing over and over again in the process. Rebecca didn't know what happened to his son, but she assumed it was a similar fate as the human teenager. Those giving grievances to the Authority seemed to point out how the issues they were bringing up affected the humans; as though supernatural beings were second class citizens. Dianna had once told Rebecca for every one supernatural there were ten humans. They outnumbered the supernatural beings which was why they were all tasked to do whatever they could to avoid hurting humans. Again, power in numbers. Rebecca had a sneaking suspicion the supernaturals wanted to avoid things like the witch trials from happening in modern day. The reality of what Dianna said began to hit home.
As Rebecca continued to sit through a few more complaints she realized this wasn’t any different than what Savannah did on the student government at school. She would have thrived in this world. As an alpha, her leadership skills would be a great help in this situation; only this time Rebecca had to do it on her own. It wasn’t like she could ask her sister how to handle pack issues. She had to rely on herself, her instinct, and her new companion, the wolf.
Personally, Rebecca would rather continue to drown her sorrows and grief while shredding her guitar in her room singing whatever new dark lyrics she had written this week in her diary. It was the only coping mechanism the counselor gave her that she could adapt to make work for her. While the songs were dark, they were necessary to keep the monsters in her soul under control.
Every once and a while Rebecca’s eyes would be forced to meet her grandmother’s angry glare. Each time Becca felt a piece of her soul wither because beneath those angry daggers lay disappointment and sadness. The only positive thing about this was that grandmother knew her secret now; however, Rebecca did not know hers.
Becca truly didn’t understand why she was so angry. She accepted her choices. She was okay with being a wolf; especially since it put her in a better place to find and punish her parents’ killer. Not to mention, grandmother has been living a secret life as well.
Besides, grandmother’s sadness didn’t hold a candle to Rebecca’s own. Becca held a secret, one that made her responsible for her parents’ deaths. That knowledge simply made her want to avenge their deaths even more. If it wasn’t for her they would not have been driving that night. If they were not driving that night they would not have had their car jacked. They would still be alive.
It was that single secret; one Rebecca hadn’t even shared with Savannah that put her on this path; a path that had her posing as a pack alpha.
“Gabriel Black is here to dissolve the Arizona Wolf Pack and create his own.” Francesco, the man who told Rebecca to take a seat earlier gave a small, almost unnoticeable chuckle as he spoke and everyone’s eyes in the room turned to Becca.
Rebecca’s eyes zeroed in on him. It was his looks that stopped her mid thought. The angry words she was about to speak dissolved on her tongue when his stunning green eyes locked on to hers. His tan skin showed his love of the sun. His shoulder length black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck with only a few strands that came loose in waves to frame his ruggedly handsome face. The fact that he was a werewolf who wanted her pack was the only thing that kept her from enjoying her attraction to him. If she was honest, most supernatural men were fairly good looking. That part the book writers got correct.
“Yes, that was our original request, however,” He grinned softly and bowed his head revealing his shoulder and neck to Rebecca. She admired his intricate tattoo of Japanese lettering. As she found herself wondering the meaning the wolf gave her the answer, “Honor, loyalty, and trust.” It became obvious very quickly the wolf trusted Gabriel, but Rebecca did not. “That request was made when I believed the entire pack had been massacred.”
“Massacred by you, perhaps?” Everyone in the room froze, it was one of those moments a person could hear a pin drop. Rebecca heard a few gasps of surprise echoing throughout the suddenly the quiet room. Like them, she couldn’t believe the words that flew out of her mouth so fast she was unable to catch them. Anger began to boil in her veins; she was really not enjoying this zero to angry reaction in seconds anymore, “Or are you just looking to capitalize on the tragedy?” Obviously her pack loyalty was stronger than she realized, it was like someone else took control, the wolf most likely. She was beginning to realize that the wolf had anger control issues. Along with this realization came the reminder that she had more than her parents’ deaths to avenge, but also the pack. He was as good a suspect as anyone else.