The magik paled slightly. “Well…”

But before he could argue, the noise of people standing from their seats drowned him out. Caia watched in amazement as Desi and Ophelia led eight other Travellers to her side. Michael Brown, the Head of the Second Unit of Vampyres, descended the stairs with most of his unit in tow. He smirked at Lyla, the Head of the Third Unit of lykans, as she came along the aisle to meet him, lykans trailing at her back. Others crossed the room, all faces she recognized as the people she had conversed with during her studies here at the Center. Altogether there stood at least sixty people at her back.

De Jong stared in utter shock.

Penelope smiled. “I think this is proof enough that Caia is trusted among many here at the Center and that many are looking for the promise of change. Which means the Council will take this to a vote. Excuse us while we convene in the chambers below.”

Silently they made their way downstairs.

“Well done, Caia.” Reuben grinned and drew her into a surprising hug. He pulled back and stroked her cheek affectionately. “Not just a pretty face.”

She rolled her eyes at him and turned to speak with Phoebe, thanking her for her support. The lykan stood vigilantly by her side as Caia conversed with everyone who had taken to the platform in favor of her plan. It was overwhelming and unbelievable and yet… undeniably wonderful. As Desi and Ophelia giggled and hugged her, a moving realization hit. It would appear she wasn’t quite so alone after all.

The crowd dispersed, everyone reluctantly finding their seats among the rows again as the Council entered the hall. Their combined power intrigued Caia, their energy announcing their arrival before she even saw them. Alfred nodded kindly at her as he took his seat and she took hope in the fact that Penelope seemed pleased with herself. Benedict stood up for the Council once more, his expression revealing little.

“Miss Ribeiro, the Council has voted. The outcome, although not unanimous-

Yeah, I’ll bet.

-is in your favor.”

She heard an outburst of hooting and clapping coming from the Travellers and was afraid to grin and look over in case it changed the Council’s mind.

“HOWEVER!” Benedict shouted over the noise, causing silence to descend along with Caia’s stomach. “You must agree to make a blood oath, promising to give up the trace to the gods, as you say is your intention, and not keep it for your own gain.”

She began to speak, to promise that of course she would, when Alfred interrupted quickly, “Caia, you should be made aware of what a blood oath entails first… before agreeing to anything.” He shot Benedict a dirty look if rebuke.

Benedict sneered. “Of course. Miss Ribeiro, a blood oath is made between yourself and the person you have sworn the promise to. In most cases this is merely one person. In this instance you will swear the blood oath to the nine members of this Council.”

OK, that didn’t sound so bad.

“The blood oath acts as a binding spell. If you break your oath to the person you swore it to, then part of your power transfers to that person.” He smiled wickedly now. “Usually, it is not that detrimental to a person. But for you, Miss Ribeiro, well… if you break your oath to the Council, then each of us will acquire some of your energy.”

Okkaay… she could see where he was going with this.

“Losing energy to nine people under a blood oath would mean the loss of all your magikal power, Miss Ribeiro.”

A tense silence filled the air. De Jong was smirking at her as if this was some form of torture for her. In fact, everyone seemed to be on tenterhooks waiting for her reply. Only her friends sat confidently in their seats because… they knew her. This wasn’t a problem for her.

She smiled slowly. “Mr. De Jong, I have no hesitation in agreeing to a blood oath, because I have every intention of giving up the trace.”

He lost the smirk as most of the Council relaxed in relief at her answer. Chatter bounced off the walls while Caia stood there. Finally, Penelope took to her feet. “If you will follow us, Caia, we will begin the ceremony for the blood oath immediately.”

20 – Save Me From Myself

Jaeden held her hand out towards the plate as it hovered in the air, kept under tight control with her telekinesis. With a wave of satisfaction she flicked her wrist, sending the china careening into the nearest tree. She smiled humorlessly as the shattered remnants found company with the five other pieces of china she had obliterated. Glancing down at the box filled with more expensive dinnerware, she tried not to feel impotent that this was her only act of revenge on Reuben.

Wow. Destroying his china pattern. What a kick to the cajonies.

After weeks of berating herself and the vampyre, Jaeden had finally dashed into the huge kitchen to look for something to train with out in the woods. Instead, she had stumbled across some really expensive china Reuben had locked in a closet at the back of the kitchen in boxes. She didn’t know for certain if the stuff was his, but she decided to use it for target practice on the off chance that it might be. Now she was far out into the woods away from the rest of the pack, doing just that. Ah, away from the rest of the pack, she mused. No change there then. For the week that Caia had been gone, Jaeden had avoided almost everyone. The only person she really spoke to was Alexa, and thus Mal and Finlay since they never left their sister’s side. It was beginning to drive Lex nuts and Jae’s company was always a welcome relief from her brothers. But as the weeks turned so did Jaeden’s heart. The immediate rage she had felt over her father’s death had calmed enough for her to begin to feel all kinds of guilty for what she had done to Caia. She actually couldn’t comprehend how she could have let Caia be kicked out of the pack. And all she wanted to do now was find her and fix it. But how could she fix it when she couldn’t even fix herself and her relationships with the pack? She hadn’t spoken to her mother, and ignored her when Julia tried to approach her. As for her relationship with Ryder it was pretty much over. Her heart flipped in her chest at the thought. Their meeting in the hall the day Caia left wasn’t to be their last. For two weeks Ryder cornered her whenever he got the chance, and all she did was insult and offend him… oh gods she had said some horrible things. She had told him she didn’t love him anymore. And Hades that wasn’t true. She loved him so much she was terrified of losing him too. So pushing him away… that had been a smart plan. Not. Now he could barely look at her. As for Lucien, he was trying his best to keep the pack together, insisting on weekly runs with one another and insisting they all ate together. At first those occasions had been blunted by grief and Jaeden’s animosity, but she had gradually been relegated to an outsider through her own means; the pack easing into casual conversations with each other, easing into playing and enjoying the euphoria and release of the pack run. With the exception of Alexa and herself, the pack grieved as one and were the better for it. Jaeden didn’t miss that Vil and Laila’s soothing presence helped. Especially little Laila; she had a gift for creating peace among them. Their other gifts had also come in handy when members of the pack went food shopping in the nearest town – Laila used her magik to glamour them so no one would begin to question the strangers that kept popping into town. Their other guest, Rose, was a different matter. As Jaeden’s guilt over what she had done to Caia began to grow unbearable, her misdirected anger at Rose grew as well. She snapped and snarled at the lykan any chance she got. Part of her knew it was psychological crap, but the other part of her knew, as she watched Rose with Lucien, that the female wolf was biding her time with their Alpha, awaiting the moment when he threw away Caia’s memory for good and made Rose his partner.

Dear goddess, it was all her fault.

She felt the box of dishes begin to shake and she clenched her fists, bringing her emotions back under control. It was all too late anyway. What was done was done and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t have the energy to do anything about it.

Frustrated as all Hades at herself, Jaeden began ripping her clothes off. Once naked, she crouched down on to all fours, luxuriating in the soft mud that seeped between her fingers and toes and cushioned the weight on her knees. She pushed the change, wincing in relief at the piercing of each hair through her skin, eyes burning taut as her ears transformed, her face shifting. Her jaw cracked as it elongated out, her teeth filling her mouth rapidly. The echoing snap of her bones as her spine, legs, and arms morphed sent a premature howl from between lips still formed from the median change. Jaeden gasped in satisfaction at the stinging pain of her claws lengthening, and concentrated on slowing the process to prolong the happy liberation the change wrought.

Finally, she lay in wolf-form, panting into the floor of the forest. She wondered if she would be happier as a wolf. And then she saw a rabbit dash from between a tree, it’s frightened eye catching sight of her before tearing off into the camouflage of the woods. A real wolf would see the rabbit and lick its lips at the thought of the hunt and kill, but a lykan like her still had ‘aw, a bunny’ thoughts running through her head. Probably wouldn’t be happier as just as a wolf then.

Ignoring the frightened lump of fur, Jae got to her fours and began to run in the opposite direction. Her mind cleared with the run, her muscles unknotted, her soul forgotten along with the time. She ran for hours, the fading light suggesting she head back and change into her clothes for dinner. With a huff through her snout, she raced back through the trees and skidded to a stop when she came to her clothes and the broken china. The change back was faster and the cold night air made her hurry back into her clothes. She was just pulling her t-shirt over her head when a familiar voice sucked the breath out of her body.

“You were gone a while.”

Jaeden finished dressing and spun around to find Ryder leaning against the tree she’d used as target practice. He gave the broken plates a pointed look but didn’t say anything.

She gulped as he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps rippling as he moved. Oh goddess, he looked good in those jeans and white t-shirt. Smelled good too, she thought longingly, as she caught his scent in the breeze.