Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (25 page)

She took a long drink and shook her
head. “We’ve pondered over the matter for some time now and we have
come to the conclusion that we can’t take that chance. The Majs
can’t be trusted. Forming an alliance would give them entirely too
much information on our strategies and defenses.”

Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “If Braw isn’t
stopped, you may not be around to worry about such
things.”

Melana smiled at him. “From what you’ve
told me, the only way he can manage to wipe us out is if he can get
a hold of Hayden. We just have to make sure that doesn’t
happen.”

“But what of the shifting
stones?”

“I’m not sure we need to worry about
those. Can there really be that many of them? Did your friend tell
you how many there were?”

I shook my head. “He just said he
wasn’t the first to use one.”

Large platters of food were brought out
and we filled our plates. I took a bite of deer steak smothered in
dark gravy and chewed thoughtfully.

“Is it really a chance you are willing
to take?”

I glanced at Jasper, a little shocked
at the tone of his voice. A few of the guards closest to us had
noticed as well and stopped eating.

“Until we have positive proof that we
are in danger, I refuse to send my men to their deaths. Rainen
won’t wait to hear what we have to say if we go knocking on her
door.”

“Positive proof?”

I could feel Jasper tensing beside me.
I put a hand on his leg.

“What more proof do you need? Hayden
was there. They used her to kill six shifters. Had Brice not helped
her escape, we wouldn’t even be here having this
conversation!”

“Jasper.” I said his name softly and
his glare honed in on me. He blinked.

“She doesn’t think you can do it.” He
looked at Melana and nodded to himself. “You don’t believe that
Hayden is powerful enough to do what Braw wants her to
do.”

Melana stared back at him. “You’re
right. It’s not that I don’t think she doesn’t have the magic or
the power. I don’t think she has the control.”

“That’s exactly why Braw will succeed
if he gets a hold of her. Because she is powerful enough to project
to as many beings as he sees fit and because she doesn’t have the
control she could have. When it starts to project from her, she
can’t stop it.”

Melana looked at me and frowned. This
was obviously an angle she hadn’t thought about.

I looked up at Jasper and, not for the
first time since we had met, thought it would be nice to be able to
feel what he was feeling. The muscles of his jaw were clenched, his
eyes slightly narrowed. He was staring out of the window. He looked
down at me and his eyes softened.

“A shlova yan,” he whispered before
kissing me softly.

“A shlova yan jer.”

My usual response was answered with a
sad smile.

I frowned. “Want to take a
walk?”

He took my hand and we left, much to
the shock of everyone in the hall. We walked in silence as Jasper
led me through one hallway, down a few more, until we came to a
solid wood door. He pushed it open and we stepped out into a
beautiful garden.

Still quiet, he walked down the path
until we reached a pond filled with large fish. He sat down,
pulling me down so that I was in front of him. I leaned back
against his chest, loving how safe it felt wrapped in his
arms.

He took a deep breath. “Why are we
doing this?” The question was just a whisper.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean why are we here, convincing
Melana to team up with Damian? Why are we going to Howel? If we
actually get to talk to Rainen, what happens if we can convince her
our plan is best for everyone? Do we just march up to the Northern
Regions and call Braw out? And if he does come out, then what? It
will be you and him, won’t it? There’s not much the rest of us can
do so long as that staff is around.”

“I…I guess I hadn’t thought that far
ahead, really,” I said, more than a little rattled. I had never
heard Jasper talk like this. To him, a fight was a fight and he
always went into it knowing he was going to win. “What’s going on?
This isn’t you. I have never seen you turn back from a fight. I’ve
seen you finish fights when others would have surrendered. I’ve
heard the stories, Jasper. You’re legendary.” I hugged his arms
tightly. “What’s wrong?”

He was quiet for a moment. “When they
killed my family, they may as well have killed me, Hayden. I was
fourteen when I killed my first man. I wasn’t even of age. All I
could think about was what he had done to my mother, my father, my
sister and my brother. That was all that I could see. Luke found
out who they were and we took care of them. I spent the next
sixteen years doing the same. I don’t think I was alive. I died
that night.

“I never worried going into battles. I
never cared what would happen if I jumped into an ambush. How could
I die if I was already dead?”

I reached a hand back and pulled his
head down so that it was against mine. His arms tightened around
me.

“But then one day, I looked down a hill
and saw this most beautiful woman. I looked into those unbelievable
eyes and my heart jumped. When you kissed me by the lake it started
to beat again. You’re the one who brought me back to life, Hayden,
and now that I’m alive again, I’m terrified.” He swallowed hard.
“If we crossed over, it would be done. The Majs and the Namaels
would still be fighting and the humans would be doing whatever it
is they do up there. No one can do anything drastic without
you.”

His hand found mine and started to play
with the gold band around my finger. “I want to know why I am about
to risk losing the only thing that matters to me for a bunch of
beings who only want you as a weapon.”

It was my turn to be quiet while I
arranged my thoughts. I turned so that I was kneeling between his
legs. He looked up at me. “I was born to do this, Jasper. I’m here
to take care of those who can’t do it for themselves. It’s them I’m
thinking about. Not Melana, or Rainen, or Braw. It’s that little
girl who was hiding behind her mother’s skirts when we got here. I
can end this war, and knowing that I can do that, I can’t very well
just leave. I’m doing this because every bone in my body is telling
me that it’s the right thing to do.”

I held his face in my hands. “More than
anything, I wish that we could run away and disappear. I’m just as
scared as you. The thought of losing you, of things ending badly,
it makes me want to throw up, to run away screaming. But I can’t
leave them. Luke, the twins, Tara…I can’t. How can I go hide and
leave them here to fight alone? I know you, Jasper. You can’t leave
them any more than I can.”

He rested his forehead on my chest and
wrapped his arms around me. After a few minutes he shook his head.
“We could bring them with us.”

I started to laugh. “Are you being
serious?”

He took a deep breath and looked up at
me. “A bit.” He kissed me softly. “How in the world did I end up
with such an amazing woman?”

“I ask myself the same thing about you
every day.”

Jasper smiled. “Well, that’s easy
enough to explain.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “You put a spell on
me.”

I snorted. “I don’t know any
spells.”

“I know.” He was laughing. “But let’s
fix that while we’re here. We’ll go see Marilynn
tomorrow.”

“Alright.” I played with a few stray
curls. “Are you alright?”

He nodded. “I guess I just needed to
get it off my chest. And you’re right, you know, about not being
able to leave them.”

“I know.”

He took a deep breath. “Let’s go raid
the kitchen. I’m starving.”

“Then, we can go back to our room and
you tell me again about how I brought you back to life.” I pulled
him up and kissed him.

He laughed. “You liked that, did
you?”

“Especially the part where I kiss you
and your heart starts to beat.” I pulled him down to me
again.

His tongue found mine and I melted
against him. When he pulled back, we were both breathing hard. He
smiled. “Happens every time.”

We started to laugh. Jasper took my
hand and we headed toward the kitchen.

“Captain?”

We turned to the grey haired man
standing in the doorway.

“The Queen wishes to hold an assembly
to discuss the matter of the humans further.”

Jasper nodded. “When?”

“Tomorrow morning. We are to meet in
the great hall.”

“Tell her we’ll be there.”

The man nodded and walked
away.

I put my arm around Jasper’s waist.
“Maybe this isn’t going to be a waste of a trip after
all.”

The only reply I got was a
grunt.

*****

The following morning we all met in the
great hall. It was packed.

“These are all the most experienced and
high ranking of the Namael guard that happen to be here today.”
Jasper was pointing out some of the men he thought we would need to
impress to get a vote in our favor.

“See the jaguar between the two
tigers?”

I nodded.

“That’s Troy of Bliar. He has the
biggest pack. The last time I ran into him he was up to two hundred
men.”

“How many did you have?”

“I had seventy-two as of a couple of
months before I found you.”

“What do you think happened to
them?”

“My guess is that they treated my pack
as if I had been killed. Matthew would have gotten a third of them,
Kendall a third, and Cole the other third. We were the second
shift, our four packs. Since my men were used to working with
theirs, they would have the option of staying under the new
captain, or moving to one of the other packs on our shift.” He
pointed to a dark haired man with light blue eyes. “That’s Taylor.
He was next in line to run my pack.”

I noticed how Taylor kept glancing at
Jasper and glaring. “He doesn’t seem to like you.”

Jasper grinned. “I’ll have to ask
Matthew, but I’m fairly sure it would be because none of my men
stayed to join his pack. Taylor is as by the book as they come. The
second shift is sort of the outcast shift. We’re patrollers for the
most part. We’re also the special operations men. Melana uses us
for the missions that require a bit more finesse. It helps to be
able to think for yourself when you’re split into pairs or small
groups and your commanding officer is two days travel away.
Matthew, Cole, Kendall and I give our men permission to change
plans on the fly. They are used to a bit of freedom. Taylor gives
orders and expects them to be followed whether it gets his men
killed or not. Anyway, the general consensus in the second shift
packs is that if one of the captains were to be killed, that pack
would split into three and join the others. Taylor would have to
supply his own men.”

“Why would he want your men so
badly?”

“Taylor has big ambitions to become
Melana’s head general. The second shift has a great track record
for most missions completed with least amount of casualties. It’s a
great way to get promoted quickly.”

“So why aren’t you a general yet?” I
glanced up at him and smiled. I was pretty sure I knew the
answer.

“Oh, the position has been offered to
me; as well as to Matthew, Cole and Kendall. None of us want the
responsibility or the hassle. I’d rather be out there doing
something as opposed to sitting around discussing
strategies.”

“Do you miss it?” It was hard to ignore
the passion in his voice as he explained what he had done before
meeting me.

“Shlova, I have my hands full keeping
you out of trouble.” He grinned at me. “I don’t have time to miss
it.” He laughed as I stuck my tongue out at him.

Everyone stood as Melana walked in and
sat at the wave of her hand. She addressed the whole
room.

“We are here to discuss the possibility
that humans have been infiltrating our army. If that is the case,
we may have to face the fact that forging an alliance with the Majs
may be beneficial, though it is my personal opinion that dogs
cannot be trusted.”

A murmur rose through the crowd and
everyone looked at the person standing next to him. I gazed around
at the Namael guard. Some of them were shifted and others
weren’t.

I noticed the female jaguar that
followed Melana watching us intently. She caught me looking at her
and met my gaze. I suddenly realized that I knew her and I tensed,
hoping I was wrong about what was about to happen.

Melana kept addressing the hall. “What
I think we need to do is listen to Jasper and Hayden. We will hear
their arguments, evidence and reasoning. Once they are done, we
will hold a vote.”

I saw the jaguar tense and she leapt at
me, mouth open, aiming for my throat. I dropped and rolled under
the table. I came up on the other side with my dagger ready,
mentally shaking my head at myself for leaving my swords in our
room.