Bound by Pride Ch. 03

Nathanael turned to him to cut the legs out of this quickly as he knew Vivian could fry his brain if she actually decided to explain how or why an Ancient did what they did. "Ancient means complicated... so there really isn't any reason to question them or what they do or can do."

Electra snorted in amusement at Nathanael's intervention. Spoilsport.

*

Amy paced as the last few Alphas made it to their cameras; she stopped moving and faced the wall of screens. Wolfgang sat in a chair waiting. "Hi, everyone. Thank you for making it." She said in greeting.

"It's not often that you call these emergency meetings... and where is Darrel?" Ari asked having noticed his screen was blank.

"This concerns him, that's why he is not here." She answered, keeping her anger in check.

Shia sighed as realisation sunk in, "Mayhem has resurfaced." He stated he didn't need Amy to confirm it; it would be the only reason why Darrel would be kept out of the meeting. To keep him from acting before they had a chance to do something.

Amy nodded, "But the way she resurfaced is another reason for this."

"What happened?" Grey-hawk asked. A few years with Cass at his side had mellowed him out somewhat. It had given him the ability to get into the global politics his mate frequented often and see that wider picture which Amy was always talking about.

"Mayhem was found this morning by Electra in a cage, collared, chained, starved and injured." Amy said with as little emotion as possible as she sat. She then waited for the Alpha's to get over their shock at what she said, and then rage passed over many of the faces.

Cass pushed Grey-hawk aside so that she could be seen, "But I thought Electra was working on the abduction cases."

"They are one and the same, all the people who have been abducted over the last three months including the attempted abduction of my daughters... is all connected. It is slavery and slave trading." Amy explained.

"Why keep Darrel out?" An African Amy could never remember the name of or pronounce correctly asked.

Dayita growled at the stupidness of that question. "Stupid fool, he sold his daughter into slavery just to keep his precious little pride together." She was not the only one to have come to this conclusion and she wasn't the only one growling.

"She... was... twelve." Shia shook with rage; he had been that sympathetic Alpha who would have fostered her; taken her into his family as a daughter, trained her and protected her until she was old enough to protect herself and her people. He stood and left the screen, the sound of something breaking met their ears followed by a crash and something smashing as it struck a stone wall, a few moments after the noise stopped he was back in his chair and back in control of his anger.

Grey-hawk rested his head on Cass's, "Either way the pride is going to split; either way there is going to be a fight." He concluded having reached the same conclusion Amy had.

"Unless..." Joel slid in, "The fraction for Mayhem, the leader is Jesse, a good man, a good warrior and second, if he could just get them out and away... to just... disappear..." he said adding stress to the last word and letting the implication set in.

Amy shook her head. "No... he knows my scent. If I abduct his people he'll throw a fit."

"He may know your scent but does he know the scents of the other Ancients?" Joel slid in giving her another possible avenue for his plan.

"Rhiannon, Vivian, Mryddin and Taliesin are out." Wolfgang said seeing merit in Joel's plan, "They spend too much time around you. Boadicea would do it, as would Guinevere and Cleopatra, they've been dying for a chance to come over and involve themselves in your life." he reminded her; the three Ancients were incredibly interested in Amy but hadn't wanted to get under foot while she was learning about her powers.

"We need to do this quickly... I'm fighting to keep Mayhem's name from the press but I can't make any guarantees it'll stay that way." Amy muttered almost to herself but everyone could hear her.

"Shit is going to hit the fan tonight right?" Engel asked and she nodded. "Then do it tonight, we'll hold a formal trial in a few weeks once the dust settles."

"Where will they go?" Ari asked.

Wolfgang stood, "We've already considered this. There is unclaimed territory next to us, they can move there. It's small, semi isolated, I've already own a heap of land there and am willing to sell it to them."

Cass slapped something and glared at her mate for a moment before turning to the screen. "How is Mayhem? It's all well and good making the plans but if she dies, we're back at square one but with a vendetta on our hands. It will make a pack split seem insignificant." She slapped Grey-hawk again and levelled her best 'I-am-not-impressed' look at him. He smiled unabashed.

"She'll be fine with some good food and some TLC."

Cass shook her head, "Physically was not the only thing I was asking about. Being Alpha is mentally exhausting; compound that stress with someone who has been abused, who doesn't trust many people and could have a mental snap at a moments notice is not a good idea."

"Cass... she is traumatised... anyone who had lived through what she had would be. However, she has already learnt to trust someone, has already started to be strong. With understanding and time, she will be fine. Until then, she has us and her second to help her..." She groaned as her phone rang, wondering what new disaster was about to befall her, dug her phone out of her pocket, put it to her ear and held up her hand as she heard the collect call recording.

"Alanna?" Amy asked just to be sure.

"Ma, just a sec... waiting for Sage to figure out where the portal punched through." Was the reply from Alanna then some background noise before she came back, "Norris Avenue in... somewhere by the looks of it in the northern suburbs?" She explained.

"Okay, we have five cars in the area stay where you are. If you haven't been picked up in half an hour, call." Amy replied.

"Okay, talk to you soon." She hung up and crushed the phone in her hand in anger. When she realised what she had done, she threw the broken piece of technology across the room. "FUCK..." she swore when she realised that not only had she let her anger rule her again but that she had also destroyed yet another phone today. She clicked her fingers and Wolfgang tossed her his phone. She dialled and put the phone to her ear, "Gillian, Alanna and Sage just punch through on Norris Avenue in the northern suburbs, I want them here in twenty minutes and if so much as one of them goes missing again I will personally kill the fool who wasn't there in time."

She hung up and went to throw the phone in her hand but Wolfgang grabbed her wrist and quickly removed the fragile piece of technology from her grip before she crushed another one. "Amy, deep breath... calm down, everything will work out."

"Why aren't you stressed... we've just found out about a Were smuggling ring who want our daughter!" She complained.

"Because I have faith in those two, they survived the last situation. Together they will get out of any trouble that comes their way." He said soothingly as he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled at her throat, gently running his teeth over the column of her throat. He knew how to calm her down and get her mind off her daughters. Her body started to melt and her anger vanished, she was almost sure Wolfgang had some kind of special magic that could control her emotions.

"Can you call those... body guards?" She asked when he finally removed his lips from her skin.

He nodded, "Okay, but I don't want to be there when you tell them." He kissed her briefly before walking away.

"Okay, where were we?" She said to herself, with a tilt of her head.

"Figuring out what to do with Mayhem's pride." Joel reminded her.

She nodded. "Also I need all of your enforcers to put themselves at the FBI's disposal."

Terri sat forward, "You believe this is a global issue."

"Yes... Barry killed Susanna to get Electra and hand her over to the cartel; they learnt she was immortal from her father before he was overthrown. Your own equivalent organisations will be calling you soon. Please help them; if we can sweep in and cut the legs out of this, it'll free a lot of people, also they are going to sweep the human slave trade as well."

"Two bird's one massive stone." Ari said with a smile.

"Who will take care of the day to day running of the new pride?" Engel asked.

"We will advise Mayhem who will inform her second, for the moment we don't think it would be wise to let any of her pack see her. We are still debating whether or not to let her second know how bad she is." She tugged on her collar.

"How bad?" Roberto inquired.

She turned to him and took a deep breath, "In Nathanael's words... not as bad as Electra was."

Pain crossed his face as memories of the day they had pulled Electra from that cell filled his mind; she was all skin and bones without any muscle or will of her own. She had come a long way since that day but he would still wake at night after dreaming of what he had seen the day he freed her. The only way he could regain sleep was to slip out of bed and walk into the connecting room to gaze upon his own baby girl and promise her that he would die a thousand deaths before letting that befall her again. He would then return to his bed and his Shannon, who would always wake while he was gone, would be waiting with open arms, sympathy and a willingness to help him forget his worries within her body.

Joe walked in and handed Amy a new phone with the same number, she had a stockpile of phones, and all she had to do was activate the new phone and deactivate the broken one. Amy took the phone and jammed it into her pocket. Joe eyed her for a moment wondering if she was going to have to get another phone out. She turned and left: she would get a new phone ready just in case.

"Are we done?" Grey-Hawk asked.

She nodded, "For now... we'll need to have another one some time today, let's say... in four hours time."

Everyone nodded and the screens went blank. Her phone started to ring; she fished it out of her pocket and flicked it open holding it to her ear, "Hello."

"Ma, we've been picked up by Dan, we'll be with you soon." Sage told her quickly.

"Okay, stay safe." Amy hung up. She walked out of her conference room, pass her office and into Joe's. "Joe, I'm going to go and get Tarval, I shouldn't be long."

She glanced up from her typing and nodded. "I'll inform Wolfgang." She reached for the phone and tucked it under her left ear as she pressed the speed dial for Wolfgang's office phone, one level up. Four men and a group of FBI walked into the lobby.

Amy turned and focused on creating a portal to take her to Sogol. She walked through and smiled at Tarval who was waiting impatiently with both their things in trunks. Dominic smiled and gave Tarval a hug. "Don't forget to invite us to the binding ceremony." He reminded.

Tarval smiled, "Never. It wouldn't be the same without my friends."

Amy smiled as Tarval picked up the trunks and followed her through the portal. "Those can go in my office," she told him as she closed the portal. He followed her into the office and put them down.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Coming. I thought I would get you while I had a few spare moments as today is going to be an evil one." She explained.

He frowned, "Do I need to put on my armour?" He asked seriously, his body partially turned to his trunk where his armour and his sword were. He hadn't actually thought he would need to use it but he had packed it anyway as he hadn't known what he would need here; he had also packed Alanna's armour.

She smiled but shook her head, "No... we should be safe for now. We'll see how the backlash goes before I make any changes to security." She willed a small crystal ball into her hand, which was sitting with a bunch of others in a bowl on her desk; it was another piece of Atlantian technology that Ancients found highly useful. It was like an electronic message recorder but with the added benefit of being able to store thoughts, memories and even more importantly, allowed whatever was on the device to be transferred only to the intended person. Amy could tell the device to deliver only to one person and it would vanish to find whoever the message was for, wherever and whenever they were.

She gripped it tightly and focused on what she wanted to say. When she had it worded right she passed the message into the globe, she then told it whom it was meant to go to. She opened her hand and the globe rose into the air pulsing with blue light, after several moments it vanished with out a trace.

"Nifty... what was that?" Tarval asked as he had never seen it's like before.

"A message for Cleopatra, Boadicea and Guinevere. I need their help with something important." She explained.

He turned as he heard a disturbance; he smiled and hid behind the door moments before Alanna raced into the room.

"Ma, we have to get..." Alanna squealed in surprise as strong arms wrapped around her from behind and lifted her in the air. Tarval's lips brushed her neck.

"Your ma came and got me the moment she knew you were picked up." He said into her ear as he put her back on her feet. She turned in his arms and hugged him tight, glad to be back in his arms. She hadn't liked the fidgety feeling she got when she was away from her mate at all.

Amy smiled at them then sighed. "I'm sorry, girls, you will have to have a security detail from now onwards."

"Ma." They both whined at her with pleading looks.

"No... this is non negotiable, the secret service have been hounding me since you were taken. I finally agreed but on my terms. So no secret service or FBI: Enforcers are your security. Between Wolfgang and Shia, we have put together two teams of two guards." She gestured to the two teams. Both teams were dressed casually to fit in with the girls' lives.

"I will protect my mate." Tarval pulled Alanna tighter to his body. "They are not needed."

Amy smiled at the maleness of the statement, Wolfgang had used pretty much the same argument until he realised that their work would take them away from each other. "I know you want to protect her but this world is very different to the world you know and you will need help. Plus, you need a licence to carry a sword and that will take a few weeks to organise."

"What about Electra? Does she get a detail?" Sage snapped like a petulant child who knows that there is no getting around this no matter how much she complained or tried to ditch her detail.

"Electra is FBI," Amy responded.

Alanna rested her head against his chest before turning to her mother. "How is Electra doing?"

"She tracked the man who had died down to Vegas. She has, however, had to put that case on hold. In fact, we are going to have a houseguest so be nice. I have to go get her." Amy vanished.

Tarval's lips brushed Alanna's neck. Alanna groaned gently. He grinned and moved his lips to hers. He kissed her thoroughly, holding her tight to his body.

Sage turned to one of the enforcers. "I can't wait for them to become official." He chuckled for several moments before he tensed up, he could hear footsteps approaching them, fast. He frowned, as there was something weird about the sounds...

"Lana, Lana, Lana." Serenity raced to her sister as her siblings raced to Sage, with the owners of the footsteps identified, the bodyguards relaxed and smiled indulgently at the cubs as they raced to their siblings.

Alanna broke the kiss and scooped up Serenity. "Hey, Ren. What are you doing here?"

"Da." She declared and turned to the door where Wolfgang stood. He smiled at them as he walked in.

"Just came to tell Amy I'm taking the cub's home." He explained before giving each of his daughters a hug and Tarval an approving clap on the shoulder. He had mellowed somewhat towards Tarval over the last month and was actually pleased to see that he was here already.

"Ma went to pick up a guest." Sage explained as she held Temperance and Thais up side down.

"Okay, can you tell her instead?" He requested.

They nodded.

"Come on, runts." He said, using his nickname for the group. Sage let her two go, as did Alanna. They ran to their father and he scooped them up comfortably, having done it a million times already, one in each arm and one on his back. He walked out of the room that way, his 'runts' a wonderful additional weight that he did not even take notice.

Tarval scooped Alanna up and sat her in his lap as they waited for Amy to return with their guest.

****

Cleopatra frowned as she hovered over a large table, spread out over the table was Amy's markings, and she was still trying to make out some sense of them. She could see a pattern; it was a true language that much she could work out... only she had no idea how to crack it. She pushed herself up and ran her fingers through the long red trusses of her hair. She sighed and rubbed her neck, which was stiff from her curled over position. She both loved and hated these symbols, she loved the challenge of new knowledge of trying to work it out but she hated the fact that five and a half years on she still was no closer to even beginning to crack this.

Boadicea leant against the bench and lifted a picture, her brown hair was left long and loose as she had found that long hair was easier to fit into most if not all time lines. Her honey brown eyes were sharp, always looking for an attack; her turbulent life before she became Ancient had made her suspicious of everything around her. "Are you still trying to figure this out?"

Cleopatra glared at Boadicea, her green eyes sparkled, "It's not like I have a Rosetta stone to aid me, and I haven't a single clue, nothing that would unlock this language for me. I sit here, hour after hour staring at these, begging the fates, the universe for some hint that would unlock them."

Boadicea shrugged, "That is the reason why I prefer my sword over all this mind mumbo jumbo."

Cleopatra chuckled as they had had this conversation a few times over, she and Boadicea were quiet good friends, they had a heap in common and got along well, it helped that they had no conflicting history to pale their relationship.

"Do you think you'll ever figure this out?"

Cleopatra sighed wistfully, "By the Fates I hope so."

Guinevere raced into the room holding a message globe. "Guess what?"

Both women turned to her and waited for her to make her announcement.

Guinevere's shoulders slumped. "Come on... at least play the game."

Cleopatra rolled her eyes, "Okay... what?"

Guinevere smiled and walked forward setting the globe on the table. "Amy just invited us to her home... she wants our help."

Boadicea started to bounce, "Do you think she'll fence with me... I've been dying to test my skills against someone as naturally skilled as she is."

"Same," Guinevere added. "Mind you, I would love a shot at Sage."

Cleopatra piled up the pictures and put them back in her journal. "Okay, meet back here in half an hour with everything you want to take." They all nodded and went in separate directions to pack.

****

Amy appeared next to her daughter who was helping to organise the enforcers with the FBI. She glanced up, "Hi, ma."

"Hi, sorry I wasn't here sooner. Your sisters are home." She explained.

"They must be pissed." Electra commented, she knew that her mother had been pressured into getting her daughters around the clock security, something she knew would irk the crap out of her but lucky for her she wasn't required to have a detail.