Makara Ch. 05

"That's cheating," he grumbled, not opening his eyes.

"No it's not. It's your fault for not protecting against such an obvious weakness," remembering his words from a few weeks ago, I parroted them back to him, smiling as he opened his eyes to glare at me. He brought his hands up to my hips, the conflict in him obvious as he growled in frustration. Strong fingers dug into my skin as he squeezed before lifting me off of him and sitting up.

"I wasn't expecting that."

"That's kind of the point."

"Why should I take you anywhere when you cheated?"

"I told you, I didn't cheat. All I had to do was knock you down. You didn't set any conditions on how I was to go about doing that. Using the logic YOU taught me, I win, fair and square."

He turned my direction and I smiled sweetly at him, both of us still sitting in the dirt.

"Be ready at eight."

•°~~****~~°•

I admired my reflection in the mirror, turning to get a rear view of my jeans, happy with what I saw. I had been ready for nearly an hour, but it was almost eight and I wanted to have one last look before Cade picked me up. He had wrapped up training as soon as he agreed to take me out and I had spent the remainder of the day restlessly waiting.

"Come in," I shouted in response to the soft knock on my door.

Silas poked his head in the room.

"I was hoping to speak with you, if you've got a moment."

"Sure." Turning away from the mirror, I sat down on the bed, watching as he stepped fully into the room.

"As you know the committee meeting is in two days." I nodded my acknowledgement. The committee meeting had been looming over me, making me nervous as I knew it was only a matter of time before I would see Rodan again. "I would like you to attend with me."

"Is that okay? I'm not an Alpha, a Beta, or pack elder. Isn't that usually who attends these things?"

"Yes. But an Alpha can invite anyone they wish as long as they can justify their involvement in the meeting."

"And you can justify my involvement?"

"You deserve a seat at the meeting. Your parentage alone puts you right in the middle of our politics. You were the intended Alpha of your pack and even though that didn't work out, you still should have been entitled to a prominent role. You didn't get that there, but you will get it here."

He kept mentioning that, but had yet to tell me what it meant. Any questioning only resulted in 'that depends greatly on you' or 'in due time, Makara.'

"Besides, the committee should know that you've come to live with my pack."

"You mean I'll have to tell everyone what happened?" I blanched at the prospect of explaining what happened with Rodan to a room full of important werewolves and Vampire ambassadors.

"How you came to live here is your story to tell. You can provide as much or as little detail as you'd like, but they will question whether this change will have an effect on each pack's well being, as well as on the status of our treaties with the vampires. You'll have to assure them there's no threat."

The idea sunk in and I nodded, resigning to the fact I didn't have much of a choice.

"Do I have to be prepared for anything else?"

"No. They won't likely call on you for anything other than that."

Releasing my held breath, I sighed in relief.

For the first time since he had been in the room, he ran his eyes down my body. I was surprised he had managed to last so long, but chalked it up to him being distracted by the committee meeting issue.

"Where are you going looking like that?"

"I'm not sure, actually. Cade's taking me somewhere because I was able to knock him down."

"That's no small feat. This is the outfit you picked for this excursion? One that would make any man drool? Do I need to be worried that you're trying to seduce Cade?"

"Jealous of your son, Silas?" I avoided the question while failing to see how my jeans and casual, yet tight fitting t-shirt could have such an effect.

"Never. You'll still be coming home to me." He stated confidently before sliding back out the door.

My phone pinged before I had time to dwell on his statement.

"Meet me outside."

I ran off to do just that, shouting a quick 'see you later' to Silas as I headed out the door.

Cade was leaning against a modest SUV when I came outside.

"What, Henry was busy tonight?" I poked at him.

His eyes wandered across my body, although much more subtly than his father's had. Excitement rose up in me and I stamped it down, scolding myself yet again for the indulgence.

"Henry drives for my father for pack business. This isn't pack business."

"So it's personal then?"

He remained silent, answering my question with an awkward shrug, foretelling of how the drive would go. I tried to keep the casual chit chat going, refusing to let an uncomfortable silence settle over us. If Cade noticed my constant rambling, he didn't mention it, but kept up his side of things with well placed grunts and the occasional one or two word answers.

"So where are we going?" I asked excitedly, hoping to quell my curiosity.

"Wait and see."

"Oh, so it's a surprise? This really is a date then?"

"Your word, not mine."

"Actually it is yours. From earlier today, in training."

He spared me a fleeting sideways glance, but kept quiet, refusing to dignify my statement with a response.

"Am I at least dressed appropriately?" I knew I was, judging by his own outfit, but wanted to draw him out of his stubborn silence.

His eyes repeated their earlier inspection and I fought back a satisfied smirk, trying to convince myself I was uncomfortable under his scrutiny, failing terrifically.

"Yes," he murmured quietly as he pulled off the road.

I hurriedly watched out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of tonight's attraction. He parked amid a small sea of cars and ahead of us, I could see a glowing building, lights pointing in all directions, and music streaming audibly through the door as other patrons entered.

"A bar?"

He ignored the obvious question, and started towards the building leaving me to scramble after him.

A few gazes settled on us as we pushed through the door, some lingering longer than others, but eventually everyone turned back to what they were doing.

I gawked at the people before me, realizing almost instantly that this was an all species bar. Somewhere everyone was welcome, regardless of individual prejudices.

There were many wolves, and I pegged them right away as a wandering pack. I had heard my father talk about them before. They traveled a lot, never staying in one place for more than a few weeks. Their Alpha's were selected from among the smartest and strongest of their number, and they did not use heirs to determine succession. These packs were often dangerous as there were constant challenges for the superior status.

I found our own system as a settled pack to be much more civilized. An Alpha could only be challenged when their succession became inevitable, but before they took control and the Warriors swore their new oaths. Once this was completed, with the entire pack there to witness, any challenge was considered treason, a crime punishable by death. The only other way to issue a legal challenge was with the blessing of the pack elders, and only in extreme circumstances. But, it had been more than three hundred years since the elders had granted such permission.

I resolved to avoid the other wolves if I could. They were unpredictable.

"Cade, those are vampires!" I exclaimed as I caught sight of two women at a nearby table. "I've never met a vampire before!"

"And you won't. Not tonight. Those two keep to themselves and I've seen them draw blood from people who bother them."

"They're vampires, isn't drawing blood kind of what they do?"

"I don't mean with their fangs, for food. I mean with their spoon, for entertainment. Trust me, they're trouble, all of them."

Panic swelled in my chest for a moment as I realized something, pushing my pounding heart into my throat.

"Vampires can hear as well as wolves can't they?"

"Normally, yes." Cade chuckled as my eyes widened in fear and embarrassment. If their ears were as good as ours, they would have heard everything we just said. "Don't worry," he started, putting me out of my misery. "With all the noise, you'd basically have to be right beside someone to hear anything they said."

Sighing in relief, I understood that he was right. There was barely an inch between us and I still had to shout over the music and the droves of broken conversation that floated in the air.

"Come on," he urged, motioning me toward the bar. He ordered us each a drink and since I didn't normally partake, I didn't question his selection. We waited in an awkward silence as the bartender prepared our drinks.

Cade paid and the awkward wait became an awkward walk as we found a table at the back of the bar. The music was quieter here, but I was still confident we wouldn't be overheard.

My mind wandered to the events of the day. Silas admitted to having feelings for me and invited me to the committee meeting and I realized Cade wasn't as safe of fantasy as I had originally thought.

"You were right about Silas," I told him, suddenly feeling as though talking about anything else would be next to impossible. I took a swig of the brown liquid in my glass, wincing at its strength as it burned my throat.

"I know."

Words escaped me but I managed to offer him a straight lipped smile, knowing that I had failed in making it look sincere.

"Is that a problem for you?" He asked, noticing my expression.

"I just feel bad. He's done so much for me and I don't feel the same way."

"But you DO want to fuck him."

"Ugh, I should never have told you that," I complained in annoyance, losing control of my filter. "If I can't even control how I feel about Rodan, how can I be expected to control it for anyone else?"

"Rodan?" Cade questioned, eyeing me curiously.

Anxiety welled up in me at his reaction. I hadn't meant to say anything about Rodan and now Cade was probably horrified at my revelation. Panicking, I stuttered to explain before Cade could say anything else.

"Like I said, it's not like it's within my control, and nothing has happened with Rodan, but I keep dreaming about him, and Silas, and...well it doesn't matter, but I'm just really confused and overwhelmed about the whole thing, like I don't know what's wrong with me or why I want to bed the most inappropriate people in my life."

"So you want to fuck Rodan too?"

"No! I don't want that. There was an...incident with Rodan the night you guys came to get me, and ever since then, when I think about what happened...don't judge me!" I nearly shouted at him, his confused and surprised expression making me feel vulnerable and defensive.

"I'm not judging," he reassured me, and I felt oddly comforted. "What sort of incident do you mean?"

He listened quietly, tensing slightly as I told him.

"It's kind of the same situation as with Silas in that my body seems to want it, no matter how much my mind protests against the idea."

"You don't find that strange? You're inexplicably attracted to two Alphas, even though one's your brother and the other's twice your age."

He sipped at his drink.

"Of course I do," I didn't let on that I hadn't made the Alpha connection on my own. "But there's nothing I can do about it. My only options are to resist, or give in, and since I don't actually want to sleep with either of them..." I trailed off, thinking the ending was obvious.

"Does Rodan know? Is that why you left?"

"Silas seems to think he does and that's the reason he backed off, but I'm not sure. The incident is part of the reason I left, I really pissed him off and I didn't think I could come back from that. But I didn't realize my own feelings until Silas delightedly pointed them out to me. I guess I was in denial."

"At least you don't have to see him anymore."

"I'm still so mad at him for everything he and Rune kept from me and I can't help but feel like punching him right in his smug face, but I don't know, there's something else now too. Rune treated us both like shit, just differently, so we were really all each other had growing up. I almost miss him."

"What about your mother?"

"She died when I was a baby."

"What happened?"

"Rodan's mother challenged her for Rune when he broke it off with her. He had just found his mate, but she thought that because they had a baby son together he should be with her instead. My mother was already pregnant when she was challenged so she had to wait until I was born before she could accept. She killed Rodan's mother in the fight, but died of her own wounds not long after. They were too substantial to heal." The story came out robotically, rehearsed from dozens of accountings over the years.

"I'm sorry to hear that,"

I shrugged. I had been barely a month old when she died, I had no memories of her.

"What about your mom? She was Silas' true mate, wasn't she?" Since the first time he took me climbing he'd been more conversational, at least when I was the topic. I hoped to get him to open up more about himself.

"She was. But she also died when I was very young." He didn't wait for me to repeat his earlier question and delved right into what happened. "It was not long after my father had taken up the mantle of Alpha. My grandfather died the year before when a vampire clan raided. We were traveling to meet with the head of the clan who had offered us restitution, as well as the promise of a treaty. Silas was trying to prevent any raids from happening again. They were getting frequent and becoming a problem."

He finished his drink and it reminded me of my own chilled glass, clasped tightly in my hand.

"On our way, we were attacked by hunters, humans who think we're an abomination to whatever God they believe in. There was eight of them. They killed both Bash's parents and my mother before Silas realized what was happening. They managed to injure four of them before they went down though, severely enough that they weren't a threat anymore and Silas took one out as he attacked me, having already knocked out Bash. The other three ran off. Silas tracked them down and brought back their heads."

"Wow. That's intense." I mumbled quietly, feeling slightly guilty for bringing up something traumatic.

"It was wasteful killing filled with hate." He smiled solemnly.

"Did anything ever come out of it? With the humans, I mean."

I knew Silas had still managed to treat with the vampires. He was the reason a vampire ambassador sat in all our meetings and one of us in all of theirs. It comforted one species to know the other wasn't planning something nefarious on a large scale. To meet in any significant way required the presence of an ambassador. Failing to notify the other party of an intended meeting was considered an act of war.

"No. The humans are too numerous and disorganized to treat with. Most of them don't even know about us, and the ones who do are either indifferent or afraid. Silas got his justice that night and washed his hands of it. Hunters haven't been a problem since."

"Is that how you got your scar?"

"Yes."

"So that's why you didn't want to talk about it before?"

"You mean when I caught you staring?"

"I was not staring at your scar!"

"What WERE you staring at then?"

He chuckled as colour rushed to my face. However different he was from Silas, he was also much the same. He was playfully amused at my discomfort, enjoying having put me on the spot. I flicked my balled napkin at him in response and he laughed again.

I was glad to finally see another side of him. One that was more open and trusting. I felt proud to be able to put a smile on his face, and enjoyed the way it softened his features.

The conversation got lighter after that and his smile and laugh became almost permanent fixtures and I decided I liked spending time with Cade outside of training.

He showed me a pool table and I challenged him to a game. We had one at the estate and it was one of the few things Rune had actually let me do, so naturally, I destroyed him, leaving him pouting and rolling his eyes.

"Are you going to the committee meeting?" I asked him. Silas hadn't mentioned who else would be there.

He hesitated before answering, watching as a group of four young looking, male vampires took up cues at the table beside us. They glanced between us, and I smiled at them, trying to be friendly, hiding my excitement at being so close to meeting a vampire due to Cade's trepidation.

"Yes," Cade started, turning his attention back to me. "I am, why?"

"No reason. Just that Silas asked me to go to talk about the whole switching packs thing and I was wondering who else was going.

"Oh," he replied distractedly, looking back to the other table. I followed his gaze and saw the four guys talking in a circle, stealing glances at us and winking when I made eye contact with any of them.

Finally the boys separated, going about their game like nothing happened.

"Is Bash going?"

"Yes. And Bridger, Axis, and two of the elders from our pack," he answered, satisfied that the vamps had had their fill of whatever they thought was so interesting.

Since our first meeting outside of Silas' office, I had learned that Axis was Silas' lead enforcer. Elders were wolves over the age of eighty five. There weren't many of them, but they were revered as extremely wise and resilient. Their presence at the meeting would be accepted without question.

"That's quite a few people. Do you happen to know who will be there from Rodan's pack?" I asked shyly.

"You mean other than Rodan?" He bent down to take a shot.

"Yes, other than Rodan." It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if he's chosen a Beta yet, or if he's sticking with Rune's. If he's made a decision on that, he hasn't told anyone."

I was nervous of who would be there. Sure it was Rodan and Rune who had set me up, but at least some members of the pack had to be in on it for it to work. It was those pack members who were most likely to be in attendance and I wasn't sure how I was suppose to face anyone.

The table beside us burst into rambunctious laughter and all the guys looked over to us in turn. I jumped as Cade slammed his cue down on the soft felt of the table, coming to stand directly in front of me.

"We should go." His tone didn't leave any room for debate, and the way he twitched his ears and clenched his teeth told me he knew something that I didn't.

"Okay," I managed to stutter out, fear rising up slightly in my stomach. "Just let me use the bathroom, I'll be right back." I hadn't noticed my full bladder until the most inconvenient time, per usual. He didn't try to stop me, but I noticed that when he stepped aside, he placed himself between me and the vampires.

Hurriedly making my way to the bathroom, I made quick work of relieving myself and washing my hands before exiting again and scanning the room for Cade, becoming increasingly panicked the longer I went without finding him. It didn't escape me that the vampires were gone as well.

"You lookin' for that wolf you were with earlier?"

I turned to face the person who spoke, a husky, grey haired wolf with a beer in his hand.

"Yes, have you seen him?"

"Them vampires was askin' him about the cute shewolf he was with, trying to get him to introduce them. Then they were gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"Don't know. Them fuckers are fast."

I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he had implied he knew where they were. At least he had given me one piece of information, Cade was definitely with the vampires, or at least he was a minute ago.

I rattled off a thank you and bolted outside, hoping to find them there. It took me a moment to notice him standing by a storage building on the other side of the parking lot. Cade had his back to the building, not quite up against it, and the four vampires were standing around him.