Power of the Fae (2 page)

I
appeared
outside my father’s office door two seconds before my brother, laughing. Keegan rolls his eyes at me.

“What are you twelve?” he says chuckling, placing his hands in his slacks pockets.

“It got you to laugh! Don’t be mad that I beat you!” I joke with him. You have to find some fun in life. Our lives have become so dangerous and unpredictable that sometimes you just need to have a little fun.

I love making him smile and laugh. He doesn’t do it enough. He’s been through so much over the years since our mother’s death. He can be so serious. Most people are afraid of him because of how powerful he is. But to me, he’s still my big brother, my hero, and my protector. Even with a ten-year age difference, we are still as close as any brother and sister can be. We are both mixed with witch’s blood and Fae but his Fae powers are more dominant.

I knock on my father’s office door. I hear a muffled response and open the heavy door. We walk in and see my father sitting behind his colossal desk staring at his computer. His office is massive. It has vaulted ceilings. The ceiling is concave and has a blue sky with white clouds painted on it.

It looks so real, that if you stared at the ceiling long enough, you would think you were looking out a window. In the middle of the ceiling is an all gold chandelier with diamonds hanging from the light fixtures. The mauve colored walls are accented with dark mahogany wood. The office is oval in shape. Half of the walls are encased with dark mahogany wood bookcases with thousands of books. The other walls are ceiling to floor windows that let in a lot of natural light during the day.

You can tell he’s been in his office all day. There are papers strewn everywhere on his massive dark wood desk, a half bottle of Jack sitting on the desk and my father just looks tired. As a full-blooded Elf, my father is over five hundred years old and doesn’t look a day over forty. Elves can live to be over two thousand years old. He gets up and crushes me in a tight bear hug.

“Happy birthday, Lina. Having fun at the party?” he asks while assisting me to a chair. He points to the other chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat, Keegan. I’m sorry to pull you two away from the party but I need to speak to both of you.” He props himself on the edge of his desk, while Keegan sits in the chair next to me.

“Thanks, Dad. The party is great. What’s going on?” I ask, crossing my legs and leaning forward. I look over at Keegan and he has his Guardian leader face on. I look over at my father and give him my full attention. I immediately sober up, wishing now that I didn’t do that shot. What could be so important that he would call us to his office this late? It’s my birthday. I’m surprised that he just didn’t wait for tomorrow morning.

“There is some disturbing news coming from the human realm and this could not wait. Your grandmother Azura has contacted me. There seems to be some disappearances going on over in the human realm and they need help.” He pauses and shifts.

“Why are they contacting us?” I ask. My grandmother is a powerful witch in the human realm. Why would she need help from the Fae?

“Apparently, this has been going on for a while now. There are witches, faeries, shape shifters and vampires that are missing and it’s starting to be noticed. There is a lot of tension over there.”

“There have been a couple of Fae disappearances here in Faery as well. Could these be connected?” Keegan asks.

“We believe so.”

He passes us each a folder. Each folder contains the listing of the supernaturals that have disappeared and the circumstance around their disappearances. I look through the folder and count at least twenty victims. Each page has a picture of the person with their demographics, what they are, their profession and when they disappeared. The last page catches my attention. My head pops up instantly once I see who is on the last page.

“Why is Mom in here?” I exclaim! We both look to my dad. I look back down and stare at the picture of my mother. My finger absently traces her beautiful face. A sigh escapes. Over the years, there have been so many nights where I wished and prayed to have her hug me one last time.

“Most of the victims are assumed dead but we are not sure. Some of the circumstances surrounding some of those missing are close to what happened ten years ago when your mother died. We aren’t sure if they are related but it’s a start. I think Loredana’s death is related.” He stares off for few seconds. He appears sad, almost as if he’s reminiscing about my mother.

He may be the heir to the throne and known as the deadly Prince, but he has never kept his feelings about our mother from Keegan and me. My mother was his world and he has never gotten over her. After my mother’s death, my father’s focus was raising me and keeping me protected. Family is important to him and he would do anything to protect his.

Keegan and I visit my mother’s mother, Azura, every summer and whenever she requested us since our birth. My father knew how important it was for us to grow up knowing both sides of the family and learning our witch powers as well. The look of sadness quickly disappears. He looks over at me.

“Lina, I want you to go to your grandmother’s in the human realm. You will represent the Guardians and help where she needs you. We need to get to the bottom of this before treaties are broken and war is started. You are to leave first thing in the morning.” I stand up in shock that I’m being assigned a solo mission. Keegan follows.

“She’s going by herself? Let me send two Guardians with her.” Keegan moved to stand by the window behind my father’s desk. “She will need help.”

“No, she will need to go alone. I only want her to investigate. Be our ears to find out what is going on.” My father stands in front of me and brushes a strand of hair from my eyes. “Lina, you’ve been a Guardian for a year now. I think it’s time we send you on your first solo mission. Can you handle it?”

I nod my head. I’m torn between being excited at being trusted with my first solo mission and realizing that this will be my first solo mission. I’m used to having the other Guardians with me on missions. We work as a team. Occasionally someone is sent out on a solo mission, but it is usually one of the more experienced Guardians. It’s time to show them that I can handle myself without the other Guardians around.

“I don’t like sending her by herself.” Keegan turns to look at our father, scowling while crossing his arms against his chest. I walk over to him and look at him to assure him that I will be fine.

“I got this Kee, plus Grandmother will be there. Nothing will happen. If I run into trouble, you’ll be the first person I’ll call.” He doesn’t look happy at all. “You would even be able to do your big brother thing and swoop in to save the day.” I’m joking but he doesn’t crack a smile. We both turn as my father walks up to us.

“Azura wants you at the next Witches’ Council meeting. They will give you more information about the disappearances. She will also have you meet with the local werewolf Alpha and his pack to discuss the missing werewolves.”

“Dad! Lina will be meeting with the werewolves? She needs another Guardian with her! I don’t trust those wolves!” Keegan yells. My father glances sharply at my brother and my brother lowers his voice. He may be the leader of the Guardians but my father is still in charge.

“Father, please let me send someone with her,” Keegan pleads one final time. My father shakes his head.

“It’s time for her to branch out on her own. Keegan, you and the rest of your Guardians will start looking into the missing Fae here. We’ll need to find if there is a connection between your mother’s death and the missing Fae. We are walking on eggshells right now with everyone in a panic with the amount of victims increasing.” He looks at Keegan and then me. “I love you both and I need you to do what you do best.”

“Yes, father,” we say while nodding our heads to our father. Keegan and I look at each other and both flash out.

T
he full moon
is high in the sky. Not a cloud is in sight. The night air holds the scent of the approaching rain. The thick forest holds the songs of the nighttime. Running through the woods, I burst out of the brush into a small clearing that opens to a lake. I trot over to the lake and take a few sips of the cool water. To my left my brother Devyn, my Beta, walks out of the forest. He’s a large light grey wolf with a white patch of fur on his chest that resembles a diamond. His front right paw is white while all the other paws match his light grey fur.

My other brother Micheil jogs into the clearing. He’s a chestnut colored wolf with the same white diamond patch on his chest. He also comes over to the water. We’ve been out for a couple of hours running through the woods. It feels awesome to run with my brothers.

“Colin, are you ready to go back?”
Devyn asks me telepathically.

I shake my head. I want to run a little further. I’m not ready to go back to the compound. As werewolves, we have the ability to speak telepathically to other wolves that we share a bond with or our life mates. As brothers, we are born with the family bond and can freely speak to each other. My wolf catches the scent of a deer in the breeze coming down the hill across the lake.

“
I sense a deer up the hill. Let’s hunt!
” I say to both of them through our bond with a wolfish grin.

Micheil yips and takes off first towards the grassy hill on the other side of the lake. Devyn and I follow. Both of my brothers respect me for my position as Alpha of our pack, the Diamond Pack. The other position I hold is the Leader of the North American Legion.

I’m Colin MacKenzie, first-born son to Goraidh and Anna MacKenzie and oldest brother to Devyn and Micheil MacKenzie. My father was the previous Alpha of our pack. As was his father before him and his father before him. Our family has led the Diamond Pack for hundreds of years. Each male in our family has the same white patch in the shape of a diamond on our chest when we are in our wolf form.

My father was killed fifteen years ago by a silver bullet to the heart. He was leading a fight against another wolf pack, the Kingston pack, which was trying to take over our land and pack. The fight between Alphas got dirty and one of the wolves shot my father when they saw my father was winning and was going to kill their Alpha.

When he died, I naturally took over the pack being his first-born son. I was born and raised to be the next Alpha. My first duty as Alpha was to seek revenge on the pack that killed my father. We hunted down and killed all of the members of the pack that conspired against my father. There was no mercy for killing my father. Two members escaped that night. They can run but eventually I will find them.

My brother Devyn is my Beta, my second in command. I trust him with my life. He is a natural Beta. He helps run our pack and there is no other person that I would have as the Beta. He is also a member of the Legion.

The Legion is the enforcers of the werewolf laws. We do not answer to the human police or human laws. The Legion protects and serves the werewolf community across the human realm. When laws are broken, the werewolf in question will have to answer to the Legion.

Micheil, the youngest of the MacKenzie brothers stays far away from any and all forms of violence. It’s not that he cannot fight or defend himself. He can be a force all on his own. He just had a different calling in life. He is the healer in the family, a surgeon. He graduated from a human medical school, completed a surgical residency and now has a thriving practice in Langdale.

We run up the hill and separate automatically into a triangular formation to surround the deer. Our prey’s scent gets stronger as we get closer to it. We’ve hunted together since we were pups. I can sense my brothers exact locations. There is tall grass and wild flowers everywhere. The moonlight provides just enough light for us to hunt. At the top of the hill is a ninety-foot red maple tree on the other side of the high brush. The branches spread wide with the leaves still holding onto their dark green color.

During the day when the sun is the highest, it provides the best shade. It has the perfect view when you sit in front of it. It overlooks a cliff with a hundred-foot drop that shows off the beauty of the North Carolina mountaintops. The woods start at the base of the cliff and the view of the mountains are the perfect backdrop for a post card. You can see for miles around. It’s a place of serenity and I come here often to clear my head.

My wolf catches a new scent of sweet apricots and becomes distracted. The wolf in me wants to find the origin of the scent. I know I need to catch up with my brothers but my wolf is determined to find where this scent is coming from. My wolf is getting excited so we head towards the tree. As I come around near the edge of the tree there is a small figure sitting Indian style in front of it. One look at her and I forget how to breathe.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I’m frozen in place drinking in the sight of her. She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. My wolf is excited and the strong urge to walk over to her is compelling. He wants to run and rub himself against her to cover her with our scent. But I’m able to control myself. She lowers her head and tenses as if she realizes she’s no longer alone.

She has tanned skin, long dark hair that she has tied up in a messy bun at the top of her head. She has pointy ears that tell me she must have Fae blood in her. Her skin is flawless with her high cheekbones and small nose. She has on a black tank top, black cargo fatigue pants and knee-high black combat looking boots. She turns her head and looks directly at me. Her bright emerald green eyes blow me away. My wolf eyesight is perfect even at nighttime. She doesn’t say a word and stares right back at me. Her head cocks to the side.

“Hello,” she says not taking her eyes off of me.

A shimmer of light comes from her hand drawing my attention to the blade she is holding. Her hands are so small the knife almost doesn’t look right. I can tell by the way she is holding it that she knows that knife intimately and knows how to use it.

“Are you shy or just plain rude?” she says, standing up.

What the fuck?

In order to speak to her, I would have to shift back to my human form. My very
naked
human form, I might add. I stand up to my full height on all fours. We are the same height and I’m able to look her straight in the eye. She has to be no more than five foot three inches tall. I sniff the air noticing the smell of fear is not on her, just that delicious apricot scent. Most people who would come across a large wolf late at night would turn tail and run for the hills. Not her. She looks me dead in the eye, with her body loose and knife in her hand, as if waiting to see if I will attack her.

I step back from her to show that I’m not going to attack. My wolf would never hurt her. He wants to protect her. Her scent is too addicting. He wants to get closer to her. He is totally infatuated with her. Being this close to her makes me want to shift back to my human form, grab her and throw her up against the tree and fuck her senseless.
Mate
. A voice whispers. That one small word that could change my life forever. My eyes widen. No, it cannot be!

“I know that you’re a shifter and if you’re not going to shift to speak to me as a human, I’m going to go. Have a good night,” she says quickly, looking up from her watch.

She walks around the other side of the tree and vanishes into thin air. I run to where I last saw her and breathe in her scent. Yeah, she has to be part Fae. The Fae have the ability of teleportation. I don’t think she is full Fae. I have not seen many Fae with dark features, most are light in nature. As I’m breathing in her scent, Devyn comes out of the woods.

What the hell are you doing? I thought you wanted in on the deer?
He asks across our bond
.

I got distracted. I was checking something out,
I answer him, pawing the ground in the last spot the dark haired beauty stood.

Why do I smell apricots?
he asks looking around with a confused look on his face.

Don’t worry about it. Where’s Micheil?
I ask him trying to distract him from the apricot smell.

He’s with the deer. Let’s go before some coyotes pick up the scent of fresh blood.

Devyn turns and starts trotting into the forest.
I follow him, thinking of the beautiful little female that vanished into thin air. Hopefully, I won’t ever see her again. I can’t have a mate. There is too much happening to my people for the Gods to decide to finally show my mate.

Wolves mate for life. It is considered a blessing from the Gods to find your mate. Once a wolf finds his or her mate, they don’t ever look at another person. A mating is an eternal bond that can only be broken in death. I don’t have time to have a mate. I choose not to be in a relationship with anyone. One-night stands fit my lifestyle perfect. A night of pleasure with no strings attached is my way of life. Who wants to have a mate that is not only the Alpha of one of the oldest packs in the United States but leader of the Legion? There is always that chance that I will one day not come home. I can’t do that to anyone.

H
ot water has never felt so
good. I turn the shower water off and reach outside of the shower to grab a towel to dry off. Running always helps expel some of the tension in my body. I throw on a pair of clean shorts, grabbing a beer from my fridge in the corner of my room. Staring off at the beautiful view of the mountains, I take a long pull from the ice-cold beer. My thoughts keep going back to the little black haired female from the forest. Thoughts of her have plagued my mind. If only I could pursue someone like her.

Where are you?
Devyn says through our bond.

I’m on the patio, come on out,
I reply. A few seconds later he walks through the glass doors holding a beer and sits in the other patio chair.

“We received a message from Azura,” he states after taking a swallow of his beer.

Azura is the High Priestess of the Witches’ Council and the leader of the local witches’ coven. She is very old and the most powerful witch that I know of. We have a mutual respect for each other. I’ve known her since I was a pup. She was around when my father was Alpha of our pack. The witches and the wolves in our area have an unofficial agreement between each other. Occasionally we will work together. The witches have warded our compound against the strongest of evil. Only those who we want to come in our compound can come in.

“What does she want?” I glance over at him. If she is requesting to meet, it must be important.

“She wants to meet with you. I guess a meeting to share information about the disappearances.” He shrugs.

“When does she want to meet?”

“Tomorrow night at eight at her home.”

“That’s fine. Let her know we’ll be there.” Devyn nods, gets up and pats me on my shoulder and goes back inside.

Not wanting to go inside yet, I continue to sit outside on my patio. The fresh air and beautiful mountain view helps me get my thoughts together. The recent disappearances have been at the top of my agenda as the leader of the Legion. The Legion has been investigating werewolf disappearances for the last two years. There are no traces of the missing werewolves. There have been reports of about six wolves that have gone missing all over the country. Each Legion in the region that the wolves went missing has investigated the disappearances and come up with nothing.

One of the most recent wolves that went missing was from a southern pack. His name was Kevin Rhode. The thirty-year-old wolf had been seen leaving a bar late at night after having a few drinks with friends. He hasn’t been seen since. The alley off the side of the dilapidated building that housed the bar was covered in his blood. The only scents noted were his and a hint of brimstone. It is hard to believe that he could still be alive. Whoever attacked him took his body with them. If they had killed him in that alley in his wolf form his body would have been there. When a wolf dies in his animal form, his body will transform back to his human form.

The next wolf that went missing was female. Serah Daniel was last seen at her best friend’s apartment. She was a young pretty wolf in her mid-twenties. Her car was abandoned at a local nightclub. The car was trashed as if someone ransacked it. Like Kevin’s disappearance, there was blood everywhere in the car.

We’ll meet with Azura tomorrow and hopefully we can learn new information from each other. We need to find out what is happening to the missing supernaturals and put an end to the disappearances.