Matefinder (17 page)

                Today was the grand opening for
the new Gresham location of Safe Haven. Now that we had the Portland territory,
it didn’t seem necessary, but Kai assured me he still wanted to invest the
money in the cause. I had hired my mother to manage the Portland location and
offered her a nice salary. This should get her out of that crappy trailer. Kai
was a genius when it came to running a business. He had paid for billboards to
attract donations and now we had blankets, clothing and water bottles flooding
our two sites. We also had large businesses donating money and volunteers. The
center was practically running itself on donations.

                As Kai exited the freeway to the
new Safe Haven location, I could see a line around the block. Woman and
children clutched pillow cases and teddy bears.

                “My God.” Kai breathed.

                My heart hammered in my chest.
There must be thirty families waiting on the street. A few were peering in the
glass doors. A large sign above the converted high school read, ‘Grand opening,
Safe Haven.’ There were news vans and reporters. Seeing the little girl with
her teddy bear brought back too many haunting memories. I shook them off. These
women and children needed us.

                A few cars full of pack members
followed us. I didn’t expect such a big turn out the first day. Before Kai had
put the car in park, I jumped out of the car and headed towards the door. Kai
was right behind me and some of the woman backed away and looked down, fearful
of his large stature.

                “Welcome to Safe Haven,
everyone!” I shouted to the crowd as a news camera was shoved in my face.

                “You are safe now. You may stay
here as long as you need to and there is no charge. Please come in.” Kai began
to open the doors.

                The camera went to capture a shot
of the crowd entering when Kai plucked the camera out of the man’s hand and
pointed it towards the floor.

                “Some of these women have left
abusive situations and that abusive person will be looking for them. You are
not to film the women and children’s faces, only the volunteers and the facility.
Do you understand me?”

                The reporter had caught up to the
camera man and they both nodded nervously to Kai.

                The pack helped the women and
children get settled into their rooms and began handing out water bottles,
hygiene kits and welcome packets. This was so much bigger than I had ever
imagined. I was overwhelmed with joy. This was good work.

                Kai had warned me that the upcoming
elder’s conference would be hard. There would be a lot of dominant males and
very few women. Also, I was technically unmated so that would play a part. But
today I didn’t care, in this moment, as I saw the little children jumping on
the bunk beds in their new rooms, the mothers trying to cover their bruises
with their hair, I knew I was doing good. If I died now, I would have left my positive
mark on the world.

                Logistics were set. The pack
would take shifts guarding Safe Haven from any abusive persons looking for
their family. We would all rotate teaching self-defense classes, to whoever
wanted them, in the multipurpose gym. Kai had also set up a job fair for once a
month for the jobless women to try to get back on their feet. It was more than
my mother and I had when we tried to leave my dad dozens of times. In the end,
it was death that parted us from my father. Luckily, not mine or my mother’s. I
shivered thinking of that night.

                “You okay?” Kai asked me. We had
been driving home in silence. I was reflecting on the day. I reached over to
grab his hand.

                “I’m more than okay. I’m happy,”
I assured him, smiling.

                He grinned. “Good.”

                He cleared his throat. “I knew
opening Safe Haven would bring in women and children that came from abuse but…
I don’t think I was prepared for what I saw today. I wanted to make them all a
part of our pack so that I could take care of them and protect them. That one
little girl had a bruise in the mark of a hand on her arm. Did you see that? I
could kill whoever did that to her!”

                I nodded. “That’s why I opened
Safe Haven in the first place. So many women are dreaming up the day they can
walk out of their abusive situations but they don’t have the money or the guts.
At least we can give them a place to stay and some food on their tables.” I
shrugged.

                “We will give them more than
that.” Kai turned to look at me. I held his gaze. “We will give them futures.”
That’s when I knew, without a doubt, this man was made for me and I for him.

                By the time we pulled up to the
house it was dark out. I jumped out of the car and was halfway to the door when
Kai spoke behind me.

                “Wanna go for a run?” he asked.

                I spun around grinning. “Yes.”

                Kai looked nervous. He was
fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

                “You okay?” I asked.

                “Yeah.” He brushed me off and
shifted quickly, dashing into the forest. Okay. Weirdo. I stripped down and
shifted, taking off after him. He had confided to me earlier that he was
nervous to take me to the council meeting. Hell, I was nervous myself! If my
suspicion was correct, I was going to have a pretty crazy time there having
visions of hundreds of mates and revealing my gift to the werewolf community.
But Kai had become my rock, not just my Alpha but my mate. I needed him not to
be weird. I needed him normal. To think of it, he had been weird all day.

                I couldn’t see him anywhere. I
picked up his scent near a cluster of pine trees and darted between them. I
went around the back side of our property near Emma and Devon’s house. None of
the pack members had backyard fences. We all roamed each other’s property
freely. I was about to call out for Kai when I came out into a clearing and saw
hundreds of tea lights. A soft blue blanket covered the ground and a picnic
dinner had been set up. Kai had shifted to human form and changed into clothes.
I gave him a wolfish grin. Music played softly from a cd player.

                “Shift and then change. I brought
you some clothes.” He had turned his back to give me privacy. This was super
romantic. I thought he was acting weird and he was trying to surprise me with a
picnic date. I shifted and slipped into the short red dress he had picked out
from my closet. I walked barefoot over to him and wrapped my arms around him
from behind. He spun around and I saw a small navy blue velvet box in his
hands. My heart started pulsing wildly. My breath hitched.

                “Aurora, that night that you got
into the car accident was the worst and best night of my life. When I saw you
lying there on the road bleeding out, you looked so innocent and beautiful. I
couldn’t imagine you dying. When I
changed
you, I feared you wouldn’t
survive. When you survived, I feared you would be someone else’s mate. I have
felt pulled to you since I first saw you and now I know why. You are my soul
mate. I know you haven’t had the best view of men but I will never hurt you. I
will always protect you. Your passions will become mine. I will support you in
whatever you do. I respect that you want to take things slowly but I will go
crazy if you don’t say you will marry me. Marry me now, marry me in ten years,
but please tell me you will marry me?”

                Tears were streaming down my
face. I looked down at his hands which held a large circle cut diamond ring.

                “Yes! I will marry you,” I croaked
out and then laughed. He picked me up and spun me around. He kissed me then sat
me down.

                “Not in ten years, right?” he prodded.

                I smiled. “How about three
months?”

                I woke up the day of the council
meeting and immediately my eyes flew to my left hand. There it was. Oh my God,
I was getting married. I heard a light snore next to me. Kai looked so calm
when he was asleep, almost submissive.

                His eyes opened. “Morning, fiancé.”
He smiled.

                “How did you sleep?” I queried.

                “Better than I have in decades.” He
rolled on top of me and we kissed.

                After a few minutes I pushed him
off. “We have a plane to catch.”

***

                “And don’t look the council
members in the eyes,” Kai drilled into me.

                “Okay.”

                “And don’t take your ring off.
You are mine,” he lightly chastised.

                I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay,
okay.” Kai had been drilling me with rules for the council meeting. We were 10,000
feet in the air and I was nervous enough. I hadn’t had any visions since Diya
and Trent’s mate vision. Still, the Shaman’s words echoed in my mind. Kai said
the council members were made up of the oldest, strongest, most dominant
werewolves in the world. Their word was law. Their packs were made up of
enforcers that could wipe you out of existence. I shuttered. They better not
come for me or my pack. My inner wolf agreed. Most nerve wracking of all, his
father was one of the council members.

***

                ‘NAWAC’ – the sign read. We were
standing at the entrance of a fancy four star hotel. Hundreds of werewolves
were pushing past us into the revolving doors.

                ‘North American Werewolf Alpha Council,’
Kai sent
to me. We entered the building and I noticed people started staring at me and
were breathing in deeply.

                “Shit, I forgot,” Kai swore and
put a protective hand on my lower back.

                “What?” I asked as more and more
people began to look my way.

                ‘You smell like a witch.
Werewolves don’t like witches.’

                Kai started walking faster until
we were at the doors of the large conference room. Two large men flanked each
side of the door. One inhaled deeply.

                “We don’t allow her kind in here,
brother, you know that,” the man told Kai.

                Kai’s face took on a menacing
look. I shifted part of my face to a werewolf and made a low growl.

                “She’s my mate,” Kai said with
Alpha infused magic.

                The man looked at me confused but
shook it off opening the door with his head bowed.

                The room was huge. Hundreds of
chairs had been set up, all facing a stage where the twelve council members
sat. Eleven were male and one was female. They all wore hardened expressions
and sat a few feet apart. They radiated power. I could see mist hovering just
above their skin like an aura. These were powerful wolves. As if they saw me
looking, they glanced my way. I picked out Kai’s father immediately. Was that
pride in his eyes? I quickly looked to the ground as I remembered Kai’s advice
not to make eye contact but I could feel their eyes on me.

                “Hey strangers.” A familiar voice
snapped me out of my trance.

Shamus and his second approached Kai and I. When
Shamus reached me he stopped.

                “Kai, with all due respect, why
does Aurora smell like a full-blown witch?” Shamus looked around the room and
almost every eye was on us.

                Kai started breathing heavy.
“This was a bad idea. We’re leaving.” He grabbed my arm to leave when a voice
boomed from the stage.

                “Kai, you dare bring a witch into
one of our sacred council meetings? You know better!”

                Kai spun around and faced the
council member. I stared at the man’s feet. “She is my mate!”

                “She smells like a witch. She has
you fooled. She’s done magic on you! Guards!” the man yelled. Kai and I must
have been thinking the same thing because we both shifted into our wolf form at
the same time. I shook my fur quickly to crawl out of my clothes. This was bad.
Why had I talked to Sylvia about unleashing my witch powers? Stupid. Now I
looked like some imposter. If these people wanted it done, we would be torn
apart right here.

                I could hear a gasp as people saw
my wolf form.

                The female council member stood.

                “She’s a werewolf? Why does she
smell of witch? She must have done a spell to take on a wolf’s form.”

                ‘Why isn’t your dad saying
anything?’
I asked Kai.

                ‘Because I made him take the
oath! He can’t talk about you without putting his whole pack at risk. We are on
our own.’

                Shamus approached the council and
bowed his head lightly. “She is a werewolf. One of Kai’s wolves, Sadie,
recently joined my pack and I have seen her thoughts. Sadie was there when
Aurora survived the
change
. Aurora has the protection of me and my pack.
Look for another explanation of why she smells of witch.” There was a subtle threat
laced into his voice. His second took up a stance in front of me as Shamus
flanked Kai’s right side. The guards had shifted and were surrounding us.

                “You think if we wanted her dead
that you four could stop it?” roared the female council woman.

                She began to walk towards me. Kai
growled and stood in front of me.  

                ‘If anyone makes a move against
us, I want you to run. You are fast, you can get out. They won’t expect it,’
he told me.

                ‘If anyone makes a move against
us, I’m going to rip their head off. I’m not leaving you,’
I sent back to him.

                The council member stood a few
feet from Kai.

                “Kai, I thought better of you.
You are such a wise and powerful wolf. We have asked you thrice to join the
council and thrice you have denied us. It would be a shame to dispose of you.”

                I growled deeply and prepared to
pounce. No one was disposing of my mate.

                Kai’s father stepped forward.
“She’s a werewolf!” he roared. I could feel power radiating off of him. Would
he fight for us?

                The council woman looked back
over her shoulder at him. “Don’t protect your son. Has she bewitched you, too?
I know what I smell! My nose does not lie.”

                I looked the council woman in the
eyes. I didn’t care if it was against the rules. This bitch needed to know she
wasn’t hurting my family; no one was. The second I locked eyes with her, her
face fell. She stumbled back in shock. That’s when the vision hit me.

                ‘
Oh shit, bad timing,
’ I
muttered before collapsing in weakness. The council woman’s name was Jane and
she was lonely. A lifetime of loneliness had made her bitter. When she rose to
a position of council woman, it had satisfied her to a certain degree but she
yearned for more. She yearned for a mate and children. She had many lovers but
nothing compared to the bond you had with a mate. She knew something was
missing and I knew where her mate was. And every other persons mate in this
room. It was painful. My visions had never hurt before. This one crippled me. My
head threatened to explode. I heard Kai whine.

                I was vaguely aware of Jane
approaching me and Kai growling.

                “At ease, wolf. She is one of us.
I see that now. What is happening to her?” she asked Kai. Was that concern in
her voice?

                Kai took a deep breath. “She’s a Matefinder,”
There was a collective gasp of the surrounding wolves, “And with all due
respect, if you touch her, I will kill you.”

                In my vision I could see the
councilwoman’s mate playing cards with his fellow pack members in a small pack
in Utah. He was a mid-level pack member with a nice smile. Then I saw her
wedding and later, her laughing children running through the snow. I became
aware of energy signatures. Each wolf in this building had different energy. I
was out of my body now. I could see my wolf lying on the floor shaking as Kai
whined. My soul walked around to each wolf and touched their face or looked into
their eyes. With each contact I was given the exact location of their mate. If
they were already mated, I moved on. Sometimes, I was given multiple people in
their pack’s mate location. An hour must have gone by. I made my way back to my
body. Kai was human and half dressed. My wolf form lay in his lap and he
stroked my fur. There was a crowd now. Jane sat patiently in human form a few
feet from my body. Just as I was going to fall back into my body, I heard a
wind chime behind me and I turned towards the noise.

                The Shaman Nahuel was standing a
few feet from me.

                “Trust your people with the truth.
It’s all you have to protect you. The war has begun. The future you see in your
visions can change. The future is always changing. Emma may not survive long
enough to see her pup born. You may not survive long enough to wed Kai. Now
more than ever, the wolves are on the brink of extinction. The vampires have
waged war.” He raised his hand and bowed his head and then he was gone.

                “Aurora! You come back to me this
instant!” Kai was screaming now. I fell into my body all at once and woke up. I
immediately began to shift into human form. Jane threw a tablecloth over me.

                I looked at Jane. “I know who
your mate is,” I told her and her hand flew to cover her mouth.

                “Is this a sick joke? The Matefinder
is dead. She’s a witch.” A council member screamed on the stage.

                Jane extended her hand and looked
at Kai. “Let me use my power on her. To make them see.”

                I looked at Kai confused.

                “She’s a Projector,” he told me.
“She can project your vision to anyone’s mind. She will be able to see inside
your head. You won’t be able to keep anything from her. Makes for a useful gift
when interrogating people.” Kai mumbled the last part.

                She would know I was part witch.
She would know there was a war starting with the vampires. She would know
everything about my past. I looked in her eyes and saw a kindness there. She
wanted to believe me, she wanted to find her mate. I had to trust her.

                I reached for her hand. The
second my skin touched hers, I felt her presence in my mind and that’s when it
became too much. My body became heavy and a blackness hit me as I crumbled into
Kai’s waiting arms.