Birthrights (13 page)

Caislyn took a deep breath and opened the door. "Can
I help you?"

The figure turned towards her. He was at least 6 foot
tall, maybe more, with shoulder length hair. His broad shoulders
took up the entire space of the doorway. He wore a leather sash
with markings of the local Lycan pack. "I am David, from the
Albemarle Pack. I come under the protection of Arkos, leader of our
pack. He has a message for your comrade."

Caislyn tensed. 'This can't be good' she thought.
"What comrade would you be referring too?"

Jaxon slowly took a few steps back into the shadows
of the store as she blew out her candle.

"Ms. DeLaney, we know she is here. We followed her
scent. I am ordered to deliver this message from Arkos." David
answered.

"Deliver your message then, I will make sure she gets
it." Caislyn said with a terrifyingly defiant look upon her
face.

"I know she is close by and can hear me, but if you
insist, then I will tell you as well. Arkos demands your presence
at the docks tomorrow night. He wants an explanation for the murder
of his pack members before he decides the punishment for such an
act of violence."

"Punishment? I was fighting for my life! And Rick
wasn't even from here! He was from Raleigh, so he's not part of any
pack!" Jax declared as she grabbed the door and opened it further,
pushing herself up beside Caislyn in the doorway.

Caislyn pushed back on Jax to make sure the Were
could not easily reach in and grab her. The wards would keep him
from being able to reach into the store without being asked in, but
Jax was teetering dangerously on the edge of the threshold and her
anger was keeping her from noticing. "You can let your leader know
that we will meet with him, but there will be no punishment handed
out and she will not be alone." She thought a moment, and then
continued, "You can also let him know that we want to know why he
can't keep his pack under control and why they're running around
attacking innocent, human, girls and that maybe the pack elders
should know about it. I am sure they would be more than happy to
replace an inept leader."

David looked closely at the girls and sighed. "Look,
I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I'm thinking you obviously
do not know much about Lycans. I'm going to give you some advice.
That message will result in a death sentence for you and your
friend. No one questions Arkos's authority. Maybe you'd like to
reword your reply."

"No, I don't think so. You can simply add that we
will see him at three o'clock this afternoon," Caislyn got ready to
turn away, then she looked back at the Were, "and don't leave out a
single detail, I am sure he will understand exactly what I am
saying, since he used to work with my dad at the O.T.H.S." She gave
him a very menacing grin and shut the door in his face. "Don't
worry," she said as she turned to Jax, "it pisses him off more than
it will Arkos."

"So we are going to meet him?" Jax said as her anger
started to subside.

"Unless you want to never again be able to leave my
apartment, I don't think we have a choice." Caislyn looked
very tired suddenly as she continued, "a Were death by the hands of
someone not in the pack is a challenge to the entire pack. I should
have thought of this sooner. Being as there were mitigating
circumstances and you acted simply in defense, I don't think this
will play out too bad. Arkos is not someone you want to mess with,
but the damage is already done. Now we need to work on damage
control. Believe it or not, the message I sent to him will help
calm him despite what his dimwit lackey has to say. Arkos sees
reason, and he knows I speak the truth. Speaking that truth is also
what will get us out of there alive tomorrow. He knows I wouldn't
go anywhere without telling someone what's going down."

Caislyn locked the door back up and began to walk
back upstairs as Jaxon retrieved her weapon bag. "We might as well
get started on our day, I have a feeling its going to be a long
one."

***

Give the Dog a Bone

Caislyn and Jaxon spent the rest of the morning with
a restless nervousness that showed whenever they dared speak to
each other. They had gone back to Jaxon's apartment to pack up as
many of her things as possible to bring back to Caislyn's place.
They were surprised by the cleanup that had been done to the place.
It still looked like a battle occurred, but the blood and bodies
were noticeably missing from the scene. The girls didn't really
have time to think about who or what had cleaned up, besides they
both assumed since they received a knock on the door from the local
pack last night that the werewolves had taken care of the mess.

By the time 2 o'clock rolled around, the girls had a
plan and were ready to head on over to the docks. The docks were
not far from them, but they wanted to take a slow route getting
there so that they could scout out the situation along the way.
Their biggest concern was that they would get stuck on the Camden
County side of the bridge if they couldn't make it back over before
4:30 pm. That gave them less than an hour and half to have this
talk with Arkos and get back over to the Elizabeth City side of the
bridge before it went up for waterway traffic. They were going to
have to keep an eye on their watches and hope for the best.

Caislyn and Jaxon reached the parking lot on the side
of the causeway park and noted immediately that there were two
werewolves in human form sitting there waiting to greet them. The
girls looked at each other and each mentally prepared for the task
at hand. Caislyn let herself go a little, relaxing, trying to feel
that usual prickling sensation she always got when confronted by a
were-creature. She saw the two in the parking lot, but to her it
felt like there were many more around somewhere.

"Be careful," she whispered quietly to Jax, "there
are more than two waiting here for us." She continued to scan the
area with her eyes, though at the moment they were not her
strongest sense.

"Are you sure we should do this?" Jax questioned, as
she hesitated slightly before continuing forward with Cais.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we have a welcoming
committee. There's no turning back now." Caislyn took the last
few steps up to where the two werewolves were waiting for them and
then she turned on her normal charm, "Aw, looky here Jax, the
seeing-eye dogs are going to show us how to walk down the pier.
Isn't that sweet?" She reached out like she was going to pet one of
them on the head when he grabbed her wrist and flung it back..

"Real funny, Caislyn!" He said with a gruff voice,
"You know, you used to be cool before your parents..." He let that
sentiment trail off and changed the subject. "I wouldn't be so
cocky this time kid, Arkos is not happy with your little friend
here, at all."

"Aw, John, you know I used to like you too before you
turned into a dog and became someone's muscle for hire!" Caislyn
glanced at the other Lycan standing beside John; he wasn't familiar
to her so she didn't bother with a quippy little message for him.
"Lead on doggy boy," Caislyn said. She had meant for both of the
werewolves to go ahead of them, but the nameless guy had other
plans and while he let John lead them to the pier, he hung behind
to follow up in the rear.

As they passed the first landing that was off to the
right Caislyn tensed, sensing more eyes on her than she could
account for. Jaxon, having felt the shift in Caislyn's mood that
put her even more on edge, began looking around too. While it was
still daylight out, the sky had been dull gray with only a few
breaks in the clouds. The breaks had lessened as the day waned on
and now there was even a slight drizzle beginning to fall from the
sky. The water beyond them was all brackish chop, not inviting in
the least.

The shrubbery and trees that edged the pier had
obviously not been pruned in years. Now the branches were partially
barren and wiry. Vines and other weeds had grown up around the
edges near the muck. Debris and litter lined the ground and the
water around the pier. There were boards missing in some spots and
ones that looked as if they would break just looking at them. The
pier creaked its complaints with every step the small group
made.

Jaxon wondered if someone had placed a "do not
disturb" spell on the once beautiful nature walk. The entire place
gave off a vibe that said "leave now." It would make sense,
especially if the pack leader was using it as a docking
station.

Jax leaned over towards Caislyn and whispered, "so
does this Arkos person, err, Were critter, err, wolf leader guy
always make this place so uninviting to guests? I mean I feel like
I'm trespassing or intruding or something."

"You're no guest" John spat back at her.

Jaxon gave him a silent snarly face behind his
back. 

"They have excellent hearing remember?" Caislyn
reminded her. "But I get that same sense from here too. I think
it’s a protective spell of some sort."

"Oh. Well, it’s working. I wouldn't come here at all
if not for being summoned." Jax retorted, still feeling edgy and
nervous. She tended to get sarcastic and chatty in those situations
and was trying to do neither.

John snorted as he led them further down the pier and
around a corner where the river came into full view. There had been
a time when this area had been used for small fishing boats to
dock. The remnants of that time lingered as stumps and pieces of
old docks stuck out of the water like stalagmites in a cave. Trees
that were barely alive still tried to reach for the skies above.
The water was choppy and with the drizzle and gray clouds looming
overhead, there would not be many boaters out. Arkos had picked
quite an isolated meeting place. 

The girls could see several werewolves now on the
other landings as they walked further along the pier. They were
positioned as Look-outs and guards. A few were even in their wolf
form and growled lowly as the girls passed by.   Caislyn
rolled her eyes "You can tell the younger wolves by how 'showy'
they are. Ignore them. They are just trying to scare you with their
bad teeth and horrible breath!"

Jaxon's eyes got wide, "Easy for you to say, you
aren't the one they're mad at."

Caislyn patted her friends shoulder trying to offer
some comfort as they arrived at the end of the platform and in
front of several werewolves. "Don't worry so much. Remember what we
talked about earlier? Just let me talk with Arkos and everything
will be fine."

At that moment, a stocky muscular Werewolf stepped up
to Caislyn and right in her face. "You should be more respectful,
witch. You shouldn't even be here. If Arkos didn't know your
father, you and your friend would have already been punished. You
should have been killed on the spot. I'd happily take care of your
insolence if I were..."

"Enough," came a deep, gravely voice from the back of
the group of werewolves.

The group parted and bowed letting their leader pass
through to face Caislyn and Jaxon. Arkos had been the pack leader
since Caislyn could remember. She didn't know how old he was, nor
how long he had been the leader his pack, but their loyalty to him
was unmistakable.

Arkos stood in front of Jaxon, looking at her with
suspicious eyes. His presence was almost overwhelming and Jaxon
felt very small standing in front of him. But she was not going to
back down.

"I know you think I've wronged you and your, um, pack
by my actions. However, I will have you know, I was defending my
life. Rick was trying to kidnap me or maybe just kill me, or both.
We have a history, one that's not so nice. I made a promise to
myself when he put me in the hospital and I left him in Raleigh
that I would never be his victim again. And I kept that promise. So
if you feel that I deserve to be punished because I justly defended
myself against a life threatening situation, then so be it."

Arkos stood silently staring at Jaxon, weighing her
words. “You have quiet a fiery friend here Caislyn. She seems
impulsive, naive, and stubborn."

Caislyn sighed as she shared a look with Jaxon. She
wasn't sure if Jaxon's outburst was a good thing or a bad thing
when it came to the pack laws. But she would give her credit for
standing up for herself. "Yes, I agree, but you heard her. She
didn't just kill him, Rick was attacking her. She defended herself,
and he wasn't from your pack. He was made in Raleigh. That means he
isn't under your rule."

"I am very aware of what the pack laws are Caislyn. I
also know that there were two other wolves that were murdered that
night. They were from my pack." Arkos stated.

Jaxon interrupted "Wait, I didn't even kill them!
Well, I may have killed one of them, but he was working with Rick.
He did not have friendly intentions towards me! He was going
to..."

"Enough!" Arkos demanded. "You have had your
say."

Jaxon rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front
of her. Things were not going well and she was starting to get
nervous.

"Arkos, we came here out of respect for you. I've
known you most of my life. You know my father. You know he taught
me to respect all life. I would not allow myself to befriend
someone who did not share those same values. Jaxon was defending
herself. She may not be aware of the ways of your pack, but she
does have a right to defend against the actions of those who have
gone against you. The world does not need another break in the
communications and the relations between species. We are witches,
and witches and Lycans have been peaceful for the most part for
years. Let us continue this trend, Arkos." Jaxon listened as her
friend defended her and decided that Caislyn would probably do a
better job than she at saving her butt. She looked out upon the
river, hoping that maybe the constant sloshing of the waves upon
the deck and the cool breeze would help her center her emotions. As
she tried to tune out the confrontation going on in front of her,
she noticed something shiny by the boat wreckage not far from the
dock. A single tree loomed from the edge of the boards that stuck
up out of the water from where the old boat had found its resting
place. The waves occasionally splashed up around the pieces and the
sparkles came from the surface of the water at the corner of what
used to be the bow. Jaxon squinted and started to take a step
closer to the edge to better see the sparkley shadow in the water.
There was definitely something or rather someone there. She could
feel it watching her.