Trace: Follow His Destiny (3 page)

“Cami,” Shane said quietly. “Do your mates know where you are?” She looked at him and smiled. “Of course not, but Jo and Trinity are watching my back, so you can relax. See,” she said and pointed to the porch which held the other two Council members in their shifted forms. Jo was a rare White Wolf and looked mystical in her wolf form. Trinity, also a wolf, was smaller; he had no problem seeing all the animal symbols that ran over her coat with his keen eagle vision. He smiled when a tiger appeared around the corner with a roar, busted! Trinity’s mate, Blaze, had found her and he was not happy with her for being out in the open.

Cami laughed when the smaller wolf growled, turned her back on Blaze, lifting her tail and swishing it across his tiger’s face. She was taunting her mate. Cami loved how the once quiet and demure female had come into her own in the last few weeks. Their mates were all overprotective and at times overbearing. Cami turned to Shane and grinned.

“See, now Blaze is here. By the way, have you been watching like I asked you too?” She asked and Shane nodded.

“Of course, Cami, but there have been no other signs of dissention in the Pack. In fact, just the opposite. Everyone is pretty well pissed at Michael; I would hate to be that guy right about now. He’s staying in town, and no one will go near him. All of his friends have shunned him and as far as I know, he’s had no visitors, and no one to stand up for him at the challenge. Another part of it is, they are confused and no one can imagine why he would challenge an obviously superior wolf. He’s a gamma, not even beta material, and yet he challenged an Alpha,” Shane said and rubbed the back of his neck.

When a formal challenge was made to an Alpha, protocol was always followed. Each of the parties had a second; the second’s role was to watch for cheating. Someone who would stand in for them and be their back up if things went wrong, though more of a show of support than an actual back up. In Pack law, if the Alpha loses, then he is removed from his role as Alpha. Most challenges were over females or silly arguments; an Alpha challenge is much more formal. It was all very civilized, well all except for the fight to the death thing and the blood and gore that always accompanied a challenge.

But no one had stood up for Michael. He was on his own in the challenge. This meant that if he lost, Quin must kill him.

Cami was convinced that something else was going on, why would a low level wolf challenge an Alpha as powerful as Quin? It did not make sense. Cami had voiced her opinions to the Council, all had agreed, however the men had to concentrate on the fight. The females on the other hand worked the danger they could not see. The bad part was that no one really knew what Braden was after. So Cami paced, growled, and yelled. Everyone in the compound was aware of the little Alpha female.

Cami turned to him and smiled, Shane felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He hated it when she smiled like that, it meant that he was going to have to do something stupid and his Alphas would yell at him once again for being involved with one of her schemes. The last one had landed him in hot water. Cloe had been craving Mexican food from a place in Denver. They conned Shane into driving them all there in the Pack van, claiming that Darien and Teagan had okayed the outing with Quin. When he returned, he and the females had been met by severely pissed off mates.

“Shane?” Cami smiled.

Shane rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, Luna?” He knew that he was going to get in trouble for this.

“Could you please do me a favor? Do you see the wolf standing over there? He has the log in sheets for the upcoming challenge, everyone that is expected to be there. Could you go and get them for me?” She asked.

Shane frowned, that was not so bad. After all, she was the female Alpha; she probably had access to the list anyway. He nodded and walked over to where the Enforcer who was taking care of the people who requested to be present during the challenge. Shane knew most of the people, Quin’s parents, and the parents of most of the Chosen. Also, the Old Council would be arriving soon. Shane didn’t know much about who they were, other than the fact that Oliver was the Old Council Alpha and Braden had been the Beta, until he betrayed them.

The rest of the people would be the leaders of many of the Packs, Prides, Aries, and magical communities across the country. Everyone had a vested interest in the challenge, although most of them knew Quin would win, they still had to come and see who won. The outcome could change the path of the magical world.

Quin and Jaden had not been happy about all of the people coming to Milliken, it left them open to the Rogues slipping past security. They had established quite a security system. He had even been surprised when he saw the face recognition software that arrived a few days ago. No expense had been spared for the compound.

“Hey, Trip,” Shane said to the Enforcer who was counting the people on the list. They were working on how the people would enter the compound tomorrow to effectively make sure that no one snuck in. Shane had been privy to the meetings for security and he knew that it was going to be a long drawn out process. People had begun arriving in the area days after Quin accepted the challenge. He had never seen so many different kinds of shifters in his life. And with the new Chosen seemingly showing up out of thin air, the security was always hopping. “Can I see the final list of people who have been cleared for entrance tomorrow? The Luna would like to look it over again.” The tall muscular man snorted and looked at Cami who was looking at them with her eyes narrowed. “Really, Shane, do you even listen to the briefings in the morning?” Trip said and waved at the Alpha.

“Uh, well, yeah, but this morning I was escorting Jordan and her mates to meet with her parents. I missed most of the meeting,” Shane said, unsure of what he had missed.

Damnit, he should have asked, but he had been so busy with escorting the Chosen around that he had forgotten. He was too trusting, he knew it.

“That’s why she asked you, you are such a push over. Quin and Jaden specifically said that Cami was not allowed access to the list. Cami and the rest of the Chosen females and mates have been doing credit checks and background checks on the leaders of the magical community. The Enforcers had already done checks but the females said that they had hired a witch to do theirs. It would be fine, but apparently, one of the leaders of a Pack out east had some questionable associations with someone, and the witch had cast a spell on him to get the truth from him. It had been a shame really, because the questionable associate turned out to be harmless, elderly shifters who had connections with the mob in the fifties. It caused quite the uproar,” Trip stated and then laughed when Cami stomped her foot and marched back into the Bed and Breakfast.

Shane shook his head and said, “Thanks for saving me from that nightmare. I swear, she hones in on me all the time, I must have ‘naïve’ stamped to my forehead.”

“Yeah you do,” Trip said and turned around.

It was his downfall. Shane trusted his Alphas and New Council members to a fault. It was not like he shouldn’t give them his trust; it was just that Cami and the girls were known for manipulating the Enforcers. But he was an eagle, and in their Aeries the females were the leaders, Shane was not a push over if he knew that something was wrong, or if the females were in danger. He would be the first one there kicking ass and taking names.

He was an Enforcer, just one who preferred to follow his nature and be the guard to the females. The Alphas had seemed to appreciate that he liked being around them, most of the guards were too scared. This was how his parents had brought him up and he was glad to finally find Alphas who accepted his Aerie culture.

***

Cami walked into the hotel stomping her feet all the way. Good, they fell for it, she thought, she gave a slight nod to Kira who then stepped into the ladies room with the sat phone she never gave back to security. Now that the men thought they’d prevented her from getting the list, they could get it another way and the guys would think they gave up. She almost smiled but didn’t want to blow her big scene.

Chapter 2

Trace drove his Chevy Suburban into the town of Milliken, Colorado. His truck was full of all of his important family papers, mementos, and clothes. He used to have a full container of dog food too. Now he had enough for one or maybe two more meals, he’d have to find a store soon. He had called the number that Genaya had given him and was following the directions to the New Council compound, while trying to decide if he wanted to stop for dinner first or go straight to the compound. He hadn’t told the person he called that he was one of the chosen, preferring to let them think he was representing his aerie at the challenge. He wasn’t sure how secure their phones were and didn’t want any trouble on the road.

With the challenge tomorrow, getting in was going to be a long process. He didn’t think he’d be able to just walk up and say ‘Hi, I’m a Chosen One, let me in’. He glanced back at Lois and Clark. They were still napping but would most likely wake up soon. He flipped a mental coin and turned towards the compound. He had a habit taking care of business right away and not shirking his duties.

A few minutes later, he was approaching the gates when all of a sudden Clark got up and tried to climb in his lap. He obviously wanted to bark hello at the shifters he could smell through the open window. Unfortunately, it caused him to jerk the steering wheel just when another car was leaving through the gates. Of course he hit the fender of the guy’s car. Crap.

He opened the door to step out and Clark and Lois immediately jumped to the ground, gave hello barks, and walked up to be introduced. “I’m so sorry, he just woke up and wanted to say hello. Clark, Lois, go stretch your legs.” And the two dogs instantly ran off the side of the road and then ran over to the guards at the gate to say hello. “Are you all right?” Trace asked the tall man in front of him. The man had the look of an eagle and yet this was a compound of mostly wolves he thought.

“No harm done. You slammed your brakes before I got more than a little dent. We should pull over; we’re blocking the road in both directions.”

“Yes, of course. It’s been a long day, I just drove in from Montana,” Trace said as he pulled his truck off to the side. He saw the other guy pull his fender away from the wheel and then drive to the side. Getting back out of the truck, he crossed the road checking on the dogs as he did so. “Is the fender rubbing the tire?” He asked. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Trace Pete from my Aerie in Niarada, Montana.” He held out his hand.

Grasping his hand the other man answered, “Hello, Trace, it’s good to know you.

Welcome to Milliken New Council Pack, I’m Shane Arno. I’m also eagle, though we belong to the Pack and not an aerie, which is pretty cool because we hadn’t set out to belong to a pack and our family name means ‘eagle wolf’.” He said with a smile, “And yes, the fender is rubbing the wheel a little, I might need a tow.” They stared at each other intently for a moment. Both of them felt the zing that had gone up their arms. Trace and Shane didn’t feel attraction; it was more of a feeling of familiarity. Like they should know each other. Shane broke the contact first and smiled hesitantly. “That was weird, did you feel that?” He was not sure what was going on.

“Yeah, I wonder what it means. Does your aerie, I’m sorry, I mean pack, have a Seer?”

“Not an official Seer, we have Blaine and his mates, Dalton and Kira. We can ask them to touch us and ask if they see something later.”

Trace nodded to show he understood. “Well, I can pull my truck around and tow you where you need to go. I’m going to pay for the repairs anyway,” Trace said. “It was my fault after all.”

Shane nodded casually and then looked at the dogs that ran back to their master. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the shifter as if to say ‘really?’

Trace chuckled and said, “Hey, they make good companions. Besides, I’m not really a cat person if you know what I mean.”

Shane laughed at the joke, turned to the men standing at the gate, and waved.

“Yeah, and you named them Lois and Clark? What are they, super dogs?”

“I was going to get two males and call them after the explorers Lewis and Clark. But when I got to the breeders, these were the last two pups.” Trace laughed along with him.

The enforcers at the gate were a little suspicious of the stranger and didn’t know if they should intervene or not. They figured that Shane would ask for help if he needed it. But Shane knew how they thought; they would not back away until he gave them the okay.

The tallest of the guards nodded and then turned back to the gate and walked back inside, while the other waited and watched.

Shane should not have been surprised the man who waited was his friend Trip, he was in charge of gate security today and there was no way he would let the Alphas down.

Shane went to his friend to make sure that everything was good. As the two men talked, the tall cowboy in pressed worn jeans, snakeskin boots, western shirt, and a gray Resistol sauntered over, whistled to his dogs, and got back into his truck. He made a u-turn and then pulled his truck in front of Shane’s car, got out and began hooking it up to his tow rig.

“You good?” Trip asked and Shane looked at the guy who had just hit him and nodded.

“Yeah, do me a favor though, call Quin and let him know that there’ll be a visitor later. I have to check some things out and get the truck dropped off then I’ll be back.” Trip frowned and nodded. “Something we need to be worried about?”

“Nah, I think we’ll have something to celebrate if I’m right,” Shane said and left his friend at the gate and walked slowly to where the stranger stood. Shane was about the same height as the man. He had slightly longer hair though, and it shined from being in the sun so much. He loved the outdoors and preferred to be in the open, his eagle liked to know what was going on around him. His round face with deep dimples was more often referred to as cute rather than handsome. His eyes were very different and showed off his shifter side, his mother said. They were dark brown, almost black, and encircled by a thick gold rim, they were his best feature. Of course, she probably said that because his dad had the same eyes. It was freaking him out a little that he was worried about his appearance because he was in the man’s presence. Shane wore his normal well worn jeans that had holes in them, his colorful t-shirt which was one of his favorites; it had a wave and surfer on the front. Plus his standard Birkenstocks that the guys teased him about all the time.