Trusting Love Ch 03

Here are some definitions:

Etlu ahu - Warrior brother

Cacama - Amen

Zianna - Heavenly life

Ilu - God

*

Trevyn sat holding Tara's hand for what seemed like hours, his mind far from all that was around him. He felt nothing, heard nothing, even the awareness of his people faded; he sensed their stillness, the shocked realization of what had happened and the implications. Without putting much thought to it he withdrew from them despite knowing the pain they would experience without the touch of an alpha. He could not summon the will to shoulder his people and did not want them to feel him meet his end. He knew the other Alphas would hold them up. Inside him, his wolf howled pitifully lying with its front paws covering its eyes as its mournful cries echoed through the realm only immortals could sense. Had Trevyn been able to feel anything, he would have been heartbroken by the cries but he felt numb.

She would not feel pain anymore, would never feel it again. Her hair, virtually untouched, fanned about her as it would if she were asleep and he buried his hand in it closing his eyes to savour the feel of it. The other traced over her face his eyes still closed as he remembered her as she had been. He traced her nose, from the rounded tip up the once straight line leading to her delicately rounded forehead. The gentle fingers traced her hairline down to the refined shell of her ear, outlined her high cheekbone down the curve of her cheek to her slightly square chin. As he outlined her lips he remembered the one time he had kissed her, the soft sensual feel of them on his. He lingered knowing he would never feel the sweet taste of them again. Anguish almost overwhelmed him but he put it aside and concentrated on his memories. The smile that had often graced these lips, open, confided and trusting, no one would have known she was abused, he hadn't, not really. And her eyes, those whiskey brown pools holding so much in their depths, an innocence inconsistent with her age and the times.

He loved her. Why had he never told her that simple fact?

It had all seemed logical at the time and yet now he could not recall much of his reasoning. It had to have been pride, the one thing known to break many great men and he was honest enough to acknowledge that he had more than his share. He had wanted her to be the first to admit her need for him, to be the first to bare herself whilst he would not have been as vulnerable. Only now he was more vulnerable than he had ever been, adrift with no anchor or hope. Dying with the knowledge he had doomed his people. Did he have the courage to tell them about it? He had always thought himself an honourable and courageous man but the temptation to just die and leave the telling to the one man he had ever told was strong. He felt a wave of indifference creep into his soul, a disregard for the people he had always put first.

He combed through her hair thinking of all the times she had tossed it, the light catching in it to bring out obscure highlights. She would always have these strands that fell into her eyes and a curious, sexy way of tossing it back. How he had yearned to sift through the long strands as he did now. She would not approve of his dereliction of duty he knew, and for her sake he would have to find the strength to care, the courage to face them with what would pain his people more than they already had been.

He only had to sit with her for a while longer, to touch her a bit more, kiss her one last time. He only had to breathe her scent for a minute, a second, a moment. Only to live one more moment before he let go and became a menace to his people, his wolf would not go quietly, they never did, and he was too powerful for any but his fellow princes to kill. Now his wolf was in morning and would be for a few days. That's all the time he had to set all things right, not that they would ever be right but he would mercifully be gone.

It was more of a shock for being unexpected. Power like nothing he had ever experienced slammed into her body. His hands touching her were fused to her so that he could not have let go had he wanted to. Sensations too intense to be pain or pleasure even as they were seared into him from her. Heat that should have immolated him emanated from her at the same time as a wave of pure energy slammed and broke everything within sight. An instant later it was all restored and the blood that had marred the floor was gone. Tara, his beloved mate was whole, more beautiful than she had been before, more beautiful than any woman had a right to be. A sob caught at his throat as he felt the faint pulse through her scalp and saw her chest rise.

She was alive! His soul, his heart was alive! He would do anything to keep it like that and no one was ever getting to her. He would kill anything that even thought of threatening her. Taking her into his arms he held her to him then turned as the others ran into the room. His eyes caught and held Niall's seeing the puzzled wonder in them. He knew there was a sheen of tears in his own but he felt no shame just the resolve, pain, hope and love he knew was also in his eyes.

Space, infinite, boundless space that was all there was. An existence peaceful orderly and tranquil where everything that happened had a purpose, all had been and would be as ordered. Light and darkness existed together, blended and yet separated in ways they never could be on the earthly plane. Love and hate, rage and calm, cowardice and bravery, generosity and greediness, shyness and boldness all were but there was peace in them. Time had no purpose or hold much or little of it passing with little change or awareness. And yet there was an awareness in the void, disembodied, the sense that it was separate came gradually until the knowledge that it was alien intruded. Nonetheless it was somewhat the same as all that was about it. Power about was quiescent, a sluggish flow rife with untold potential. The awareness rejoiced in the power, absorbed, released and changed its structure at will.

She, yes she was female, knew she did not belong here just as she knew here was an intrinsic part of her. Where she was and who she was were yet a mystery the knowledge would come in its own time, she was content. Like a barely there wisp, unacknowledged, time began to flow in her. Its birth, reason and breadth unfolded as it moved at a fore ordained pace, at the right moment the living things were. She watched as they developed, some becoming extinct as nature changed and some thriving as they adapted. The humanoid races fought their wars, loved and died as she watched dispassionately, their reasoning and weaknesses understood. She saw worlds begin and die in their time saw the races on them, those on earth had yet to know of if ever, live out their lives. Yes earth, that was her home and she saw the lives of every living thing as if it were her own. There were no secrets, nothing she could not know but she was too content to wonder at the fact or any of the others. In her apathy she nonetheless felt a thread of anguish beating through it all, one that was personal yet too faint to identify. It tugged her essence, demanded a response and threatened her complacency.

'What is this place?' she wondered. Her voice was soundless, a part of the here she dwelt in as she was. She did not expect an answer but she got one.

'Space.' The other voice was also soundless, apart from her and not.

'Space is everywhere.'

'Then we are everywhere.'

'That is impossible.' She stated with conviction. 'Are we... separate?' she asked the other.

'I think so.'

'Do we know each other?'

'We are sisters.' The other answered as if it should have been obvious.

Somehow that fit, a fact that transcended time and reality. 'Alright, what else are we?'

'I don't know'

Another voice, soundless and multi-toned answered, 'You are the souls of ether, set to govern and control its changes'

Silence reigned for a moment, time standing still again awaiting a moment ordained from its beginning, when the two who were meant to touch timelessness and time awoke to themselves.

'Who are you?' The second awareness asked.

'We are ether'

'And we are your soul?'

'Yes.'

'How then can you have a conversation with you if we are your soul, wouldn't that make you our body or something?

'We are energy, the power that enables all immortals to use their abilities and more than that. We create, destroy and program all that is as should be, as we were commanded from creation yet we had no voice or consciousness. You were born our voice and now come to be and through you we are conscious. Now we have the means to act between the times of our purpose.

'Does that make any sense to you?' her sister, the second awareness, asked.

'Nope'

'I always hated the esoteric.'

'Well you're part of this so you're just hating yourself.'

'Anyone called for some psychobabble?' her sister called out as if there was anyone other than the three of them, that is, if conscious energy could be counted as a being. Tara smiled at that, her sister could always be counted on for her sarcastic humour. Wait she had just remembered her name! Although all the other pertinent details like how old she was, where she lived, what she was doing here were still out of her reach, even her sister's name.

'You have taken the knowledge it is necessary for you to have at this time, now you must go. It is not advisable for even you to stay for long on your first trip. And your soulmates await you' the conscious energy advised.

'Wait, you haven't explained anything, what soulmates?' Tara protested but it was too late. As the presence faded or maybe as she faded a last thought reached her.

'The longer you wait, the closer your mate comes to his death.

Tara's heart twisted painfully at that, though she could not summon any knowledge of him she could not stand the thought of his death, he had to live.

Until a painful wrenching tore them apart she hadn't realized how connected she had been to her sister. An anguished protest rang through the empty space, the sound of a single voice, denial through the ages of time. But it was only a single moment of denial powered by two voices that in unison could speak anything to being. She was torn, to stay she would condemn her soulmate to death but to go meant a separation from one who was so much a part of her. The choice though was out of her hands.

Her being grew heavy or more likely the essence of earth was lighter than ether, which she was, her speed was phenomenally fast, daunting. She fell forever yet it was a mere nanosecond, her existence traveling faster than light, a mere thought transferred from ether to flesh. In that moment she saw him holding her hand and knew him. Lykan. Powerful. Her mate.

She crashed into her body, a useless mangled shell incapable of holding what she was and yet meant to suffice. Ether collided with everything, shattering it to its microscopic level then rebuilding it in less time than it took to blink. Her body was reformed as it was and yet not, now it was ancient, beyond age and yet only twenty five, a contradiction as she was, holding so much knowledge and yet knowing nothing.

"Camryn." She remembered her sister's name; it had been nagging at her that she had not remembered.

"Tara!" an emotion laden voice chocked as strong arms wrapped around her.

Something about the voice was familiar, Trevyn she thought, but why would he be so upset? Nothing could bring Trevyn to such a state. He was so strong and capable she could not bear to have anything upsetting him. She wanted to comfort him but she was so tired, weary in fact and wanted to sleep forever. Darkness overcame her and she lost all awareness.

* * * *

Agent Raphason looked around the property taking note of all exits and defensible position. As he did he issues instructions to his second who relayed them to the others to be swiftly carried out. He hoped it was just a case of stray wolves that had wandered into the neighborhood but he doubted it. When he had joined the paranormal control agency he had thought he would be dealing with hoaxes, psychics and fakes, normal stuff not real paranormal beings. The things he had come across in his three years on the job were enough to make the hair on any sane person stand. He wished he had never entered the agency or could leave but it was a thing you could not back out of, hotel California. If the pack that had been sighted were lycanthropic he was in for a dicey situation, considered friendlies they were however not to be trusted nor their friendliness taken for granted. He had never had to deal with them before but those who had had always advised to thread carefully but Raphason was not known for his subtlety.

There was a crowd around the house despite the efforts of his people to keep them away. It amazed him how many people had nothing to do, which raised a new problem, if they were lykan as he suspected how were they going to explain the absence of wolves to the crowd.

"How many were reported to be seen?" he asked his second.

"Nine, Twenty-four depending on who you asked."

"Which means six or seven. Okay get me nine closed dog cages and a van, no matter what we find we are going to need them." He noticed a camera crew unloading a few feet from the house and swore, the vultures were always looking for a story and this was not one of those he could bury, not unless he wanted to bring attention to the existence of their agency. The one thing they knew was never to draw attention to their presence. "And someone come up with a story for the media." More people were coming to watch as the story of what had been seen traveled with some exaggerations, if he did not get the situation under control soon he would have a disaster on his hands.

Wolves were regarded with much fear by most and judging by the restlessness of the growing crowd they would soon be taking matters into their own hands. As he cased the crowd for potential troublemakers he noticed a good number of extremely good-looking men, the kind of looks even male models did not have. The hair at the back of his neck rose as he caught the eye of one of them. His eyes were a common enough brown but something lurked in them that was more than common, the watchfulness of a predator, calm, patient and ready. In their depth was a message and understanding, the lykan knew what he was and was telling him no mistakes would be tolerated on his part.

One of the things they learned as PCA agents was the etiquette of dealing with lykae and their nonverbal communications as far as the humans could understand. He swallowed hard as he realized something more was happening here and he had stumbled into the midst of it. He wished someone could come and take over from him, the number of the human wolves was increasing with each minute and he was feeling out of his depths.

"Call it in Sanders." He told his second who seemed to be frozen by the eyes of another lykan, fear radiating from him. The man should know enough to keep his fear in check in the presence of wolves but it was also his first encounter. He nudged him to get his attention and the man nearly jumped out of his skin. "Call for backup and you might want to remember they can smell fear and isolate scent." Not to mention hear our conversation He added to himself. Sanders swallowed then nodded.

As Sanders put the call through, Raphason took a deep breath and walked through the broken door. The remains were scattered in the room with the main part halfway to the archway into the dining area where he could see extensive blood splatter. The wooden floor, the walls, even into the living room he was in had blood all over them. He had seen many unpleasant things but this was shocking moreso as none of the furniture in the house was disturbed in any way. The brutality the amount of blood testified to was sickening, someone had died in that room and from the looks of it that someone had been bludgeoned to death or maybe ravaged by a wolf. So much for their ascertainment they did not hurt any innocent.

He turned to go back out and wait for backup but instead he found he was not alone in the room. Six men who were, by their looks alone, the wolves he had come here for, lounged about the room poised as any group hanging out would, a group of muscular, tall, male models who oozed sex appeal, power and a bit of danger. It made for an unreal scene even had he not known they were supernatural beings, no humans had such flawless features nor would they hang together if they did, let alone a few feet from such a scene. The hairs at the back of his neck stood again as fear arose from the deep places most people never had the opportunity to realize they had. It was that ancient fear of the dark that never really went away, becoming pronounced for those who had the knowledge of what lurked in it. He knew, and now faced six of those beings who could tear his throat before he could blink but instead sat there looking at him, waiting, for what he had no idea. They smelled his fear he knew, even he could scent it, taste it as a coppery taint on his tongue, but there was nothing he could do to hold it back. Fear called to the predators in them, marked him as weak and to be hunted, would their human side reason out the consequences of attacking him?

Seconds turned into minutes in slow agonizing procession, the men before him sitting back as if nothing was amiss. It would seem the first move was his, they had violated the rules they had agreed to and he was here to enforce those rules. "What did you do to her?" he demanded in his most belligerent voice. The house was registered to a Miss TaraLynn Townsend and that was probably who was in the other room.

"You might want to revise your tone and consider asking instead of accusing." The lykan closer to him replied in a calm voice belied by his swirling luminous eyes.

Raphason knew when a lykan's wolf was close to taking over, their eyes became a glowing amber, green or grey depending on their wolfen heritage. He knew the Alpha princes' eyes had flecks of all three colours radiating from the dark iris to give their eyes the appearance of mini suns. None of the intel though had prepared him for the shimmering incandescence he was looking into. He felt small, insignificant, overpowered. Never had he experienced such an impact, no one should hold such power! He wanted to fall to his knees and give himself to the Alpha's mercy, needed to be protected by him and serve him for all his days. The knowledge in those eyes made his insides ache, made him want to weep and rejoice. Shame washed over him that he had doubted the Alpha's nobility that he had shown such disrespect. He was sinking in it, lost to all reason and feeling except for the shame.

"Alpha." He whispered in agony and the Alpha took his eyes away from his, releasing him. Raphason felt bereft, like he had been abandoned, cut off from his reason to live, the foundation of his existence. Was that how a lykan felt without an Alpha? Alone, unwanted, restless, desperate and uncertain. There was no point in going on, his life meaningless and better ended.

"Damn it Braeden, must you always show such anger, and to a mortal?" Raphason looked up to see another Alpha coming to stand before him, he flinched as the lykan reached out to him. "You have managed to infuse him with your displeasure and you know what that does to a lykan what more a human?"

The second Alpha touched his fingers to Raphason's forehead his eyes afire, just as incandescent as in the other's but somehow gentle. Soothing warmth calmed his raging thoughts and dispersed the hopelessness until he was as he had been, without the restless energy that characterized him. He could have wept with relief had he not been too proud a man or trying to find his balance from what had just happened.