Demon's Grace Ch. 32-37

I didn't know what my answers were to his question, so I changed directions. "Ezra, a lifetime of bitterness cannot feel very good."

He laughed. "There is no lifetime with this, Dove. This life is very different from the one I started out with, the one I was born into. As I am positive it was for Taurin and all our brothers."

"This is heavy conversation for just waking up." Taurin said blandly.

I looked up at the ceiling and then back at him, "Are you looking for answers from me, Ezra?"

"No. I want you to understand that when I talk about my spiritually that it has nothing to do with yours, Dove." He said my name very deliberately, knowing full well why I had it.

"Yeah, I understand. Very much now." I looked at him irritably and then looked down at Taurin who had his face against my bare skin that showed between my tank top and bottoms. He was gently biting my waist. "And you, Taurin?"

He gave a mock growl and then looked up at me serenely. "I agree with Ezra. I simply have turned more agnostic little by little over the centuries."

"Where were we?" I sighed.

Ezra tugged on my hair, "I know there is no mockery in you despite your sigh. Just know that I believe that you were sent to me, and I mean before Shorn ever found you."

I stared into his eyes again, this time they contained their galaxy. I nodded, saying nothing, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by the mystic expectations he seemed to have of me.

He nodded, "Taurin, I believe that you were going to discuss something before we all fell asleep again."

Taurin stretched and cracked his back. He flipped his body over so he was facing the ceiling. He talked around his yawn. "There is a full moon tonight. I know where the pack will be meeting."

I greeted this revelation with silence.

Taurin turned his head to look at me, "Are you ready to do what you said you would do?"

He got my full attention. "In front of his pack?!" I squeaked.

"Think of it as a security measure. He'll have to follow pack protocol. Whatever that may be."

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. It's like having to actually do CPR for the first time. As far as I'm concerned you're scared as hell and hoping that it will all come back to you and, in the end, you'll save a life. Sure adrenaline takes over, but the doubt still simmers below. Like, what if he just kills me right there with a swipe of his hand. Full moon. Shape shifters. Something to think about.

Ezra chuckled, "Where is our savior?" He tapped me on the forehead, "You in there?"

I tsked and forced bravado at the idea, "Of course I'll do it."

Taurin slowly gazed over at Ezra, who sighed.

"You don't want me to do it?" I said looking at Ezra.

"No."

"I do." Taurin interjected.

I put my head in my hands and rubbed my forehead. "Where are we going tonight?"

Taurin grinned. "Oregon."

"Oh, great. You wanna drive?"

"Yes!" Taurin said with excitement.

Ezra shook his head, "Why drive? We are not staying there."

I gave him a puzzled look, "How else are errrr... Oh. You want to make me sick." Ezra just looked at me like I was an idiot.

"He does have a point," Taurin interjected.

I moved my jaw back in forth in irritable contemplation, then clicked my teeth together. "Fine."

Taurin bit my waist again playfully, "It will be alright, Dove."

I snapped at his blasé tone. "You don't know that Taurin! What if you die? What if you are so injured you can't move yourself back here?!"

Taurin looked at me. His eyes turned into a solid block of ice. "I think you humanize us too much."

"I know you do," Ezra added.

His red skin glowed and his eyes flashed fire as I looked over at him. I pushed on Taurin, but he wouldn't move. Instead he pushed me under him and rolled on top. He stretched himself on me and clenched my wrists on either side. "If you don't get off me I'm gonna pee on you," I said angrily. Ezra snorted a humorous noise and Taurin lazily rolled his body off to the side.

That night we left. I held on tight to Ezra and closed my eyes against the vertigo. I don't know how they did it, but we ended up in a forest outside the boundaries of a circle consisting of a pack of predators.

CHAPTER 37

Ezra appeared in the shadows of trees and we stilled as I waited for the effects of demon traveling to disperse. Taurin stayed in plain view of dozens of eyes turned our way. A angry laugh travelled on the night air. I placed my forehead on Ezra's chest knowing I had to do my part soon. He placed his warm hand on the back of my head and then we moved simultaneously. I turned around and walked to the pack and never looked back as I felt Ezra merge farther into the dark.

So many were wearing loose clothing or nothing at all. I stood next to Taurin and listened to the warm summer breeze ruffle the leaves on the trees. An unfamiliar voice carried over the heads in front of us, "Have you brought us a snack before we kill you, Taurin?"

The circle opened and across from us stood the Alpha. There could be no one else, he practically glowed and all eyes constantly moved back to him. He looked muscular, but not as much as some of the other steroid looking shifters. He wore jeans and nothing else. His golden eyes stopped my breath and seemed to root me to the spot. I knew I didn't want to do this. I had to be the first to walk up to him without a single weapon. I couldn't look at Taurin, I had no idea what he would do if I hesitated. So, I didn't.

I immediately walked towards the circle with a chorus of growls and howls welcoming me as the prey I was. Just before I stepped into that circle I made a show of disarming myself. There were a pile of knives on the ground.

The Alpha started to laugh again. "Taurin," he barked, "Are you such a coward that you would offer a sacrifice in your steed?" The air dropped a noticeable several degrees cooler and I hurried into the circle to delay Taurin from acting impetuously.

"Taurin of the Sikushe clan of the Icelands claims challenge." Without warning I felt as if I was being filled with a force of nature. My chest arched back as the full weight of pack magic jumped into me. A breath was forced out and I looked at the pack through ancient eyes. The magic compelled me to keep speaking, giving me their words, and I gave over to it.

My voice lowered in tone and I whispered, "to Alan, Alpha of the Macha pack of Oregon." I continued walking to him, "By right you have all boundaries, but are compelled..."

Alan interrupted me and held up his hand, "Stop." The hush of the pack got even heavier with his words. "The Speaker of Peace traditionally comes to the challenged in complete trust. No weapons, no clothes."

I paused and breathed heavily, the magic harshly pushing me forward. I fought for self control and had to fortify my will against following the order of the Alpha. No way in hell was I getting naked in front of a pack of restless wolves. To show my good will I took off my shoes and socks and walked to him barefoot. My white t-shirt and jeans were staying on. He put his hand down and let me continue. Thankfully, it was good enough.

I barely had time to sense the demons before the magic rushed over me again and propelled me forward. I continued finishing the challenge, "...by the ancestors to make a decision in full consideration of the pack and open notice to the challenger."

When I stood toe to toe with him he smirked and looked down at me, his eyes so bright they seemed to have the light of the full moon behind them. To finish my part of the magic I had to demonstrate my favor of peace between the two parties by kissing his cheek. I wrestled the magic to a stop again as I noticed a naked mexican woman pacing behind him. She pierced me with a deep look of hatred and flicked her black hair over her shoulder. Uh oh, Lupa.

Her eyes glowed a warm amber. I had to complete or the challenge could be called void.

I closed my eyes and stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. He gripped my chin as I did and I had to catch myself on his shoulders. A growl of threat vibrated into my ears from the woman.

"You shouldn't close your eyes on the enemy," the Alpha stated angrily.

I lifted my eyelids and regarded him. Light brown bangs had fallen over one of his eyes.

Ancient wolves paced inside my spirit, looking out at him. "If I am peace then I have no enemies." I sounded a lot calmer out loud then I felt.

His voice came out gruff, "The soul of pack magic looks through your eyes." His pack stirred as they picked up on his puzzlement. He bent closer and inhaled, "But you don't smell like us." He harshly let go of my chin and pushed me into the arms of his Lupa. She gripped me hard, bruising my forearms. From here I was in the dark as to what to do next. I watched the Alpha move to the center of the circle.

"As you have given us your peace, I will take it. The Speaker of Peace stays with us. I shall give you my decision during the third night. Today is the first. Take her weapons and leave." I watched Taurin look at the Alpha with suspicion, but he said nothing as he picked up my weapons.

'That was unexpected,' he said in my mind.

'Just go. Call Zanzibar for me. Tell him I won't make it. Make sure Ezra doesn't do anything rash, all I feel is anger.' I watched him walk away from the circle into the woods, completely unconcerned.

Taurin laughed mockingly in my head, 'If he does anything rash it will be to me and this pack will not know peace at all if he takes over.'

'Yeah, he'll probably eat them,' I said seriously.

'Be safe, IshaDove,' I heard before he faded away.

"Yeah," I whispered to myself as I felt my hands being tightly bound. I jerked out of her grip and glared. "If I'm Speaker of Peace then why are you binding me?" I asked Alan.

He slowly directed his attention from the moon to me and smirked again. "You are, but you are also associated with a demon. And that makes me cautious. I have no idea if pack magic is strong enough to overwhelm the compulsion he has on you."

"Compulsion?! You think that he made me come here and do this?!"

He looked at me startled, "Of course. Unless you are his servant, but I don't think our magic would have entered you so freely and joyously if you were."

"Why?" I spit out. "Because I would be too evil if I was a servant to a demon?"

He smirked again, "Put her in my truck, Denny, and watch."

The woman pushed me into the arms of a waiting man. Alan held out his hand to her and they started running, the rest of the pack following. Soon howls and barks floated up in the summer air.

Denny looked at me with warning, "Come on." He pushed me forward until we got to a jumble of randomly parked cars. He pulled down the hatch to a cab in the back of a red pick up truck. "Up you go," he said as he lifted me effortlessly into the back.

"You've got to be kidding," I mumbled.

Denny said nothing as he slammed the hatch shut. I sat down in the front corner, behind the driver's seat. I looked up into the sky and sighed at the moon while I tried to wiggle my hands free. Denny came around to where I was sitting. He lifted my chin so that I looked straight into his green eyes, "Don't run." Then he abruptly ran through the maze of cars until I couldn't see him.

It took me a moment to digest that order. It wasn't until I heard the sounds of someone shifting that I truly understood what he meant. First and foremost, don't be prey. Not very peaceful. It only got worse when I realized that he wasn't going to leave. A huge black and silver wolf soared over the truck and skidded into the cab.

"Holy shit!" I bent my legs until my knees were touching my chin. My heart jack hammered into my chest as I remembered the last time I came across a shape shifter wolf. I swear he had to be over half the height I was. The wolves inside of me yawned and lay down fading from my notice. Denny mimicked their yawn and stretched out, his claws almost touching my feet. I giggled as I thought 'Downward facing dog.' The wolf cocked his head at me and lay down, his bright glowing eyes never straying from my own.

Halfway through the night I realized that I had fallen asleep because the rocking of the truck startled me. I lay on my side, my bound hands pillowing my head. Denny had jumped out.

Another weight jumped in and I found myself looking at a reddish colored wolf. This one slightly smaller than Denny. It studied me with angry intelligence in its eyes. I slid myself to a sitting position as this one slowly inched closer and closer to me. Again I was in the throws of fear as its lips curled and a growl trickled out.

"Oh, fuck this!" I pressed back as much as the cab would let me. With its hackles raised I was sure I was going to be eaten. My magic flared inside me and I had a second to decide to embrace my own or the pack magic still curled quietly inside of me. I grabbed the Speaker of Peace power and let if fill me. The air filled with soft caresses and I watched as the wolf whined in confusion. Inside of me, ears pricked up and I felt the tumble of wolves playing with one another.

Immediately the cab was filled with another wolf. This one so close that its fur rubbed the side of my face and my knees rested just under its belly. Its face turned to the other wolf and a growl sounded from its lowered head. The red colored one jumped out and I found myself staring into a pair of golden eyes in a white face. Fortunately, I still had pack magic running through me so I had no instinctual fear riding my blood. I took a deep breath and stretched out my legs. The wolf moved out of my way and turned around. When it lay down we touched side to side and I found myself being stared at throughout the rest of the night.

I started awake at dawn by sounds of a wolf turning human somewhere on the ground. I watched as a very naked Alan stood up and pulled out some clothes from inside the truck. After he dressed he leaned casually up against the truck to look at me. He cleared his throat and started talking.

"I can't very well leave you here. So you'll be staying with me for the next two nights. I can guarantee it will be more comfortable then sleeping in my truck."

I narrowed my eyes at him and held up my bound wrists.

He smiled and shook his head, "Not yet, Peacekeeper. Let's wait until we are at my house." He gently pushed my hands into my lap.

I was too agitated to say anything to him.

"Wolf got your tongue?"

Suddenly I had a snapping mouth in front of my face. It startled me and I shrank back and grimaced, "Fuck you!"

He laughed loudly. "That's the spirit! Now get in the front seat so we can go."

Alan's house was set back far from a small forested community. Similar to mine actually. It was a small ranch style with plenty of back lawn before the forest actually encroached on the land. He propelled me inside and took off the braided rope.

"How is it you had something handy to tie me with?"

"She speaks!" He mocked and then said dead pan, "We always have something handy to tie up prey."

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not so I just looked at him. He stared back at me, but never said anything more about the subject.

"So, feel free to raid the refrigerator. Use anything, whatever. Take the guest bedroom. Which is to your right, on the right. Don't be alarmed if members of the pack just walk in. Just don't leave or I'll be tempted to use the rope again." He twirled it as he walked into the kitchen.

"Come on. I'm starving, aren't you?" He asked. I hesitantly walked towards the kitchen.

"Sit, I'll fix you a sandwich." His words came out muffled since his head was in the refrigerator.

"Ok," I said slowly and sat at the circular dining table. There was something about this man that made me want to follow his every suggestion. First, he put down three glasses of water, then walked back into the kitchen. Next, he placed a plate with a sandwich and those little peeled carrots on it next to me. There were three sandwiches on his.

Alan sat next to me and immediately started eating. He waited until I had a bite a sandwich in my mouth before he asked me a question."Why are you with the demon?"

My eyes bugged out as I hurriedly tried to chew. When I was finally able to swallow I only said, "It's complicated."

He laughed around his food and mumbled, "Aren't we all." He swallowed and took a long drink of water.

"Listen, your not pack so it's not any of my business." He leaned in close to me invading my space, "But you see, you are pack until you are no longer Speaker of the Peace. That is partly why you are so complacent, it's the deference of the wolf pack in you and your need to be at and give peace. That won't happen once I officially accept Taurin's challenge. You did know that was his name didn't you?"

I shook my head yes as his gold eyes stared unwavering into mine. He went back to his sandwich and I followed his lead. He glanced over at me briefly. "As Speaker of the Peace, and I'm making the assumption that you don't know, you give me the time to think of the ramifications of the challenge, you give the pack a measure of peace just because you are here, and most importantly..." He stopped as he started on his third sandwich. "Most importantly, you give me an honorable way out of the challenge. That's your job, you see, to keep the peace for all parties." He shoved the last of his sandwich into his mouth. I finished my carrots and looked at him, knowing there was more.

"But, that's where you will fail. Because I will never know peace after what Taurin did to my family. I will accept the wolf to demon challenge, it's just a matter of how." He gave me a toothy grin and I pushed back into the chair. "There's a bathroom in my bedroom, so you can have the one down the hall. You'll find necessities in there. I have a lot of visitors. The way you act here will reflect on my decision, if he matters to you. Does he?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Alan laughed under his breath, "Absolutely."

"Yes. He does."

"Why?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Because we all need a chance to find our salvation," I said with belief.

Alan snorted, "I see why you were filled so easy with this magic. What's your name, Peacekeeper?" He picked up his water and started to take a swallow.

"Dove."

Alan sputtered and turned away from me as his water sprayed out of his mouth and onto the floor. He laughed heartily as he wiped his face.

"You're serious?!"

I smiled and shook my head at the irony, "Absolutely serious."

"Peacekeeper Dove." He studied me. "Go to bed, Dove. I expect you to sleep for awhile. I'm sure you weren't prepared for a night in the back of a truck. I'll be doing the same soon."

"No, I wasn't. Thank you for your hospitality." I rose to go. At the hallway Alan stopped me.

"Dove."

"Yes." I turned to look at him.

"The Speaker of the Peace accepts whatever the challenged determines as right and fair. Your position in this makes you part of the challenge."

I stared into his serious eyes, "I understand, Alpha."