Keith and Malik walked into Cullen’s office with smirks on their faces. Without a word Keith walked over to the nearest chair and plopped down then propped his feet on the edge of Cullen’s desk, right on top of some papers Sarah had been writing on. Sarah looked as though she might rip his head off.
Cadifor shook his head. Keith and his blatant lack of concern for superiors was interesting. Cadifor gave him credit for appearing to know when to turn it on and off, but this wasn’t one of those occasions.
Keith looked around at all the glaring people. Malik at least had the courtesy to wipe the smirk off his face. “Okay okay, I give in I’ll tell. Guess why I can’t find out when Jenna intends to attack.” There were more glares. “Alright I’ll give you a hint.”
“Keith,” Cullen growled. “Enough.”
Cadifor smirked this time. At Cullen’s tone the look on Keith’s face immediately vanished and he sat up in the chair. Sarah brushed the paperwork off and gave him the kind of amused look a big sister gets on her face when little brother is getting yelled at by dad.
“Sorry,” Keith said. “I just find it amusing. From what I just found out it seems that the reason I haven’t been able to track down when she intends to come over the border is because she’s trying to find out when the mating ceremony is. I think her plan is to hit the ceremony. Turn about being fair play so to speak. She’s pissed that you and her got interrupted so she’s looking for revenge. Actually when I stopped and thought about it I wondered why we hadn’t come up with it in the first place.”
Cullen sat back in his chair. “I wish I knew how to stop this. It’s pointless. I had really hoped, after Rafe was dealt with, that Jenna had gotten a grip and would back off.”
Keith shrugged. “Jenna’s too much like her mother. In any case the rest of what I found out is that she’s already started turning people. She’s got a number of families in the pack looking to find shelter somewhere. I thought I’d ask you before I suggested we could offer asylum.”
Cullen nodded. “We have too many ties with the Tairneach. Do we know how many of ours mated into their pack over the years?” Cullen looked at Sarah.
“I could find out. Do you really want to know,” she asked.
“No. It was just a thought. Anyway. Yeah, offer asylum. But on the off chance that it’s a trick keep them separate from our own for now. Anything else?”
Keith grinned again. “The best part. She knows we’re importing people for the mating. But it seems that she intends to go ahead with the attack anyway. So she’s either mad or stupid. At least that’s what the Tairneach are saying. So, pick a good day for a fight. I’ll leak the info. We’ll be set.”
Cadifor sat grumbling. “How did Brennus manage her?”
Malik cleared his throat. “I hate to point this out, but considering the information we were able to retrieve from the Tairneach and all the precautions I took with the information that left here with messengers and over the phones, I think it can be assumed that the Tairneach are getting their information from inside your pack.”
Cullen growled. “That’s why the elder were fed the story they were given. Keith, find out who. After all the caoch with Rafe I thought we had it taken care of.”
Sarah looked at Cullen sympathetically. If there was one thing that could piss Cullen off this was it. He’d had too many issues with loyalty lately. “Cullen, there’s a chance that the information wasn’t leaked to cause trouble. You didn’t tell anyone not to speak to the Tairneach about it. There are a lot of shared families, like you said. I could have just gotten out.”
“That’s what Keith is going to find out,” Cullen said with emphasis.
***
Aislinn and Makeda walked into the gym. They had managed to get and omega to produce sweatpants and t-shirts for them to wear. The two women walked around looking over the weights and other gym equipment. They decided they weren’t interested in that kind of work out. They found their way to the big open area that was used for drills and sparring matches. There were blue mats lining the floors and walls. In one section of the room there was a virtual obstacle course of bars to climb on and over, making a fight more difficult. In another section there were ropes to climb and a simulated rock wall. But it was mostly open space with padding.
Makeda sat down and took her shoes and socks off. The t-shirt and sweatpants would adjust if she chose to shift but the shoes would be a problem. Aislinn followed her lead. Makeda was smiling widely as she watched Aislinn. “Ready?”
Aislinn nodded. The two of them paced around each other. Aislinn thought back to some self defense classes she had taken. “Do you want to practice anything in particular?” She wasn’t exactly sure what she had intended now that they were in the middle of it.
Makeda’s eyes suddenly turned golden. “How about a game of dog and cat,” she growled through her accent as her body took on her hybrid form.
Aislinn stepped back and watched as the dark woman took on a form that was wolven but a great deal more lithe than the lycans she had met to date. Makeda’s form was lanky but graceful. Her ears were much longer and higher on her head than the others and her muzzle was more narrow and longer. As Makeda finished her shift Aislinn realized that she looked a bit like Anubis in sweatpants and a t-shirt.
As Aislinn completed the thought Makeda jumped at her. Aislinn was rolled onto her back. I thought you said that you weren’t that bad at this. I’m not really trying here.
“Sorry. I was staring and not paying attention at the same time. Gimme a chance.”
Makeda got up off of her and crouched for another lunge attack. Aislinn started her shift and this time it was Makeda’s turn to be fascinated. Makeda stared as Aislinn’s face took on an indescript cat-like appearance, but retained most of the human features as well. Her eyes shifted to molten amber with blue flecks that gave them an almost iridescent green hue at times. Her arms were covered in spots and Makeda could see the spots dip into the front of her t-shirt. Aislinn was quite proud of herself that she had managed to shift to her hybrid form with no trouble.
Makeda was not as easily knocked down as Aislinn had been however. Makeda stepped aside easily when Aislinn jumped at her. And so it begins, she said, her accent clear even in Aislinn’s mind.
Neither woman paid attention to the audience they had attracted. A majority of the pack had never seen Aislinn shift and was curious about that alone. When word spread that Makeda was involved as well, there was an additional group that made their way down to the gym to see if the rumors about the ancient lycan were true.