Trinity: Heart of the Shifters (3 page)

Jordan, of course, would come to him first. She was the key to his plan. Oliver killed her parents after all. And when she found out she had been lied to her whole life by her adoptive family, she had all but shunned the shifters from her life. It was good; she would not even stay in the Pack house. Instead, she insisted on being with the cats in the bed and breakfast, guarded by their Enforcers. Soon, when she realized that none of the Council could be trusted, she would turn to him.

That day was coming soon he hoped. One last look and Braden got into his car and drove around the compound. He frowned when he saw the SUV sitting out in front of the stairs. No one ever parked there unless they were unannounced visitors. Braden drove and opened his computer that was on the seat beside him and punched in a few codes. He had the whole house wired, including the meeting room.

Braden howled in frustration when he heard Old Councilman Spencer begin to talk.

Chapter 3

Trinity sat in a chair in between her parents and looked at her hands. She had no business being at such an important meeting but since she was here, she was going to make her parents proud.

Mr. Spencer stood in front of the New Council and began speaking. “For those of you who don"t know me, I am Spencer, one of the Old Council members. This is Mr. and Mrs. Staller, and their daughter Trinity. I will explain why they are here in a moment.

Although I would suspect some of you already know. One of the women nodded and smiled at Trinity who looked up in confusion. She saw the rest of the members of the New Council frown a little. “I received a letter from Quin's father asking for people who had been in the Pack house the night of the murder of the humans. I realized that something was happening. A huge mistake. First, I have to tell you a little background.

When Oliver held meetings at the Pack house, everyone would arrive and be taken to their own rooms. It was such a time of celebration, with all the Chosen coming to the Pack house and meeting. I accompanied the Staller's to the Pack house. They were given a room in the same wing as Oliver. For weeks, we celebrated and planned. Those who arrived pledged their oath to the Council Pack, each of them taking a place in the house. Plans were being made for new houses to be built so everyone would be able to have privacy. Then the unthinkable happened. Oliver"s family was kidnapped. He was frantic to find his wife and child. It was days before they were sent the bloody clothes of the family. Oliver went wild, demanding the best of the Enforcers leave and search for his family. Of course, his daughter was one of the Chosen. We were all afraid of what that meant. The Prophesy was very specific. It was not like she could be replaced. The night that Oliver sunk into a depression affected us all. We were in the parlor having a night cap when he came down and began to really drink. Of course, we were surprised.

To get a shifter drunk was near to impossible. It seemed like Oliver was intent though.

Drink after drink, he took and cried. We felt helpless. Mr. Staller and I were the ones who took him upstairs to his rooms. He was unconscious. I was in shock. We laid him in the bed and that is when Mr. Staller smelled something off. He commented to me and I finally allowed myself to pay attention and not write it off to grief. There was a sweet taste in the air. Not alcohol, Mr. Staller said he was going to check the bottle that Oliver had been drinking out of. I retired to my room, telling him to come and speak to me when he got the bottle. What a stupid mistake we made. I should have stayed with Oliver and none of this would have happened.” The old man paused and then leaned against the chair. Her father stood to give him support.

He guided him to a chair and sat him down before leaning and whispering something in the old man"s ear. Whatever he said made Mr. Spencer nod and close his eyes. Trinity was confused and worried when she saw tears leak from the sides of his eyes. None of this really made any sense to her. Her parents were servants also, what were they doing spending time the Pack house, and in the same wing as the Alpha? It did not seem appropriate at all. Trinity kept her head down and listened when her father took over the story.

“Please allow me to finish this story. Spencer and I have anguished over this for years.

My name is Mitchell Staller. I was the Enforcer assigned to Spencer to guard.” Her father said and Trinity looked up in surprise. An Enforcer, her father? She never knew, why hadn"t they told her about this? She thought and then began to listen as her father continued. “That night I ran down to go and get the bottle, there were a lot of people in the Pack house. Many of them servants, but most of the Old Council was there. They were all helping to find Oliver"s family. I went back up to Spencer"s room and told him what I found. The bottle that Oliver had been drinking out of had been drugged. I was concerned about the effects it would have on his wolf. We have all heard the stories of shifters using drugs and then turning feral. Spencer agreed with me and asked me to personally guard Oliver until the morning when they would be able to investigate the situation fully. It was so late at night, and Spencer did not want to cause a ruckus until we could check into things. As I walked back to Oliver"s room, I stopped to tell my wife that I was not going to be back for the rest of the night. She insisted on leaving Trinity with a nanny and coming with me. She thought if Oliver had been sick, she could help clean him up without calling for help. We were trying to keep things quiet. As we neared the door to Oliver"s room, we heard screams. I thought that Oliver had shifted and was in pain. The growls and noises that came from inside were terrible. I asked my wife to stay behind the wall so I could deal with him by myself. I did not want her to get hurt. Once I reached the door, I could scent the blood. Human blood. The smell was overpowering. I knew before I entered that something terrible happened.” Her father paused and looked at Spencer who nodded. “This is where it gets a little tricky. Spencer and I have discussed this in great length over the years. I realize that keeping silent was the cowardly way out, but you have to understand he threatened us, told us that he would kill Trinity if we did not keep silent.”

Quin nodded slowly and then said, “I understand your situation. Please, tell us what exactly happened that night. Oliver is being held for killing the humans.” Spencer frowned and then spoke up. “Oliver, here?”

“Yes, he is downstairs in the cells. We are following protocol for this.” Quin said and looked around the table, his eyes settled on a female wolf that looked sick. She was underweight and had bags under her eyes. Trinity wanted to go and hug the woman who looked like she would fall apart at any moment, but she held on. She had no idea what was going on, and she did not want to over step her bounds.

Trinity looked at the rest of the people at the table. All of them had grim expressions on their faces, like they were going to be forced to do something they did not want to do.

Three shifters sat away from the rest. Trinity could tell the men were cats of some kind, and the woman was a human. She looked at her mother in surprise who smiled back softly. There was a human on the Council? Wow, she had really been in the dark about all this New Council business. Although the only thing she ever heard were whispers from the rest of the servants. She would think that a human on the New Council would have generated some gossip. Trinity looked back to her father who once again was whispering to Spencer.

“Uh, before I tell you the rest of the story, I have a request.” Her father said. “I need to know who is in the house right now from the Old Council.” Jaden frowned and looked at his mate then to the Pack Beta, Devon. “Who is here, Devon?”

“Well, Oliver is in jail, of course. And the only other one on the premises is Braden, the Beta from the Old Council. He is supposed to be leaving to find evidence of Oliver"s innocence. Why?”

Her father reacted quickly and turned to Spencer who nodded and she felt the tension in the air grow thick. “He needs to be taken into custody.” Quin froze and held up his hand. “Why?”

“Braden is the one who killed the humans that night and framed Oliver. My wife and I were the only ones who knew the full story and he threatened us. Spencer protected us all these years, hiding us at his retreat in the mountains.” Her father said urgently.

The sick looking woman gasped and held her hand to her mouth, in an attempt to keep her voice from screaming. The other woman who was human sat straight and looked forward without saying a word. Her mates took her hands and held on tightly. Trinity realized something huge was going on around her.

Devon and another man jumped up from the table and left the room quickly without saying another word. Her father came to where they were sitting and stood in front of her and her mother as if to protect them from some imaginary threat. No one spoke, instead apparently waiting to see what Devon and the other man had to say.

Trinity leaned around her father and watched a man take the frail looking woman into his arms and try to soothe her. She wondered why this woman had such a huge reaction. It seemed a little surreal. Trinity gathered her things assuming that they would be leaving now. Hopefully, they would at least feed them before they left. She was starving.

Devon reentered the room and said, “He"s gone. Left only minutes ago. I sent some Enforcers after him, but I really think he"s gone in the wind.”

“Fuck!” Quin yelled and ran his hands through his hair leaving it messy. Trinity looked at the female Alpha and smiled, she was staring at her mate like she wanted to drag him out of the room and have her way with him.

Jaden turned and looked at her father and said with frustration. “Tell us the rest.” Her father nodded and continued. “I walked into the room and saw the humans lying on the floor. I knew them because they were the head of the staff for Oliver"s household.

At first, I could not believe what I was seeing. I stepped to the side and hid in a closet while I watched a large wolf shift back. It was Braden. Oliver had a bunch of exits for emergencies and so I went back out into the hallway to tell my wife to go back to our rooms. Braden opened the door just as I had reached her. He smelled of death. And then he said the strangest thing. „Oliver has gone mad". I, of course, knew the truth but did not want to challenge him. My wife and I reacted like we believed him. He spun this tale about how we needed to protect the Alpha and we should hide the evidence. Oliver was in the room unconscious but just waking up when we got to his side. Braden told him the lie and Oliver was devastated. He wanted to tell the rest of the Council the truth. Braden talked him out of it. It was a mess. My wife and I helped cover it up, then went to Spencer and told him the truth. He told me to take our family and go to his Pack house in the mountains. We left and never looked back. Braden would have killed us if we had told the truth. He said as much that night.” The room was silent except for two women"s sobs. Trinity looked and the woman who had been so detached and calm before was now sobbing in her mates arms. She was so confused.

“Spencer, what else can you tell us?” Quin ordered.

Spencer once again rose on shaky legs and stepped forward. “Alpha, I did what was best for my wolves. You have to understand. Braden was the strongest of the New Council. I truly believe he would have killed us all. I have watched and waited all these years, but until recently, I knew nothing of Braden being involved here. I brought the only gift that I could as a peace offering. I have kept her secret and safe all these years with the hope that one day the New Council would return. Trinity is the child born in October. She is the Pack builder.”

Trinity gasped and looked around the room at the people suddenly staring at her.

“Spencer, stop telling them such lies.” Trinity said and turned to her mother. “Mother, please, what is going on?”

Her mother gently pushed the hair from her face and smiled gently. “Oh, my darling girl. I am so sorry for the life you have had to live until now. We could think of no other way, and we could not prepare you for what you needed to do. Your life would have been in too much danger. Remember the Prophesy?”

Trinity rolled her eyes and said, “Of course, what member of the shifter community doesn"t?”

“Let me give you a little lesson though, Trinity, while I introduce the members of our New Council.” Quin said softly and stepped forward.

“The spirits gave each of the Chosen a gift that coincided with the astrological signs they were born under. Something that would help them fulfill their position on the Council.

The Spirits assigned each of them with a specific job, which would ensure the New Council would succeed in their enormous task.” Quin started. Trinity nodded and once again rolled her eyes. This is what was written in the book that Spencer had brought with him. She had read it enough because he had insisted on it. She never understood why.

“I was born in January, which makes me the Alpha of the New Council. Being a Capricorn, I was regarded as the zodiac's leader. My gift was being in an Alpha Triad.

Thus, having stability and strength needed to lead the Pack and the Council at the same time. As well as being a stable influence for humans to see and would not fear the shifters would try to take over their realm. Because both jobs were of equal importance, the Gods gifted the Triad to help share the duties. Cami, the female Alpha, has a strong personality in her own right. Jaden, the other wolf in the Triad, was also an Alpha.

Before coming here, he had been planning on setting up his own Pack somewhere close.

When he arrived and discovered that he was mated to both Cami and me, he had been shocked and happy. We decided that Jaden would be the Denver Pack Alpha, while I would be the Council Pack Alpha. We would share the responsibilities, but it made it easier on both Packs to have one Alpha to go to. This is Jaden and Cami, my mates.” Quin said and smiled to his mates. “We have three children, two boys and a girl. They are the lights of our lives.”

Trinity nodded and smiled at the Alphas, she noticed how in love they were and wished she would find that with someone. Her mate had to be out there somewhere.