Chapter 24

HUNTER We fill Christians common room and stare at Faith.

She sits playing with her fingers and chewing her top lip.

Jake has his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together on his mouth. He’s not looking at her and his brows are cinched up. His leg is thumping. I can tell he’s fighting his wolves from breaking out.

Zander is leaning against a shelf with his arm wrapped around him himself and his other hand rubbing his lips. He moves his hand and opens his mouth, but then closes it again and rubs his lips. He’s staring at Faith. It’s the fifth time he’s done that in ten minutes.

Faith sits up and rubs her palms on her jeans. “Ok. Well, I guess I’ll start.”

“Why?” Jake says. Not looking at her.

“Jake..I…” She starts.

He closes his eyes. “Why?!” He yells.

Zander walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. He leans down and whispers into Jake’s ear and Jake nods. My guess he told him to let her speak.

“I can’t take back leaving you, Jake. All I can do is apologize for it.” Faith leans on her knees and laces his fingers.

“Do you even care?” He asks as his eyes look like they’re heating up.

“Of course I do.” She says. “Jake, I hated leaving you.”

He jumps up. “Did you?! Did you really?! Because as I recall it was pretty goddamn easy for you!!” He leaned to her and glared.

Faith lowered her head.

“Do you fucking care that without you, I went fucking insane?!” He spit. “Without you, I KILLED MY OWN FATHER!!” A tear slipped out and he wiped it away. His chin quivered. “WITHOUT YOU, I WAS A FUCKING FREAK! I SUFFERED EVERY GODDAMN DAY AND IT WAS YOUR FUCKING FAULT! I NEEDED YOU! I NEED…”

He slammed himself back down on the couch and leaned on his knees. He rubbed his face and head. Zander rubbed his shoulder for support.

She raised her head. “Jake. I didn’t want to. I had to. It was choice I had to make to keep you safe.”

He looked at her. “Safe?! Keep me safe?” He thumped a finger in his chest. “I was the fucking monster, Mom! Me! I was the one people feared, Ok? You didn’t keep me safe from shit!!”

She put up her hand. “I know about your wolves. I know how hard it was for you. I’m so sorry you had to go through that and I thank God for your friends here that helped you separate them.”

“You know. You know. If you knew, WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!! You couldn’t even let me know you were fucking alive?! You couldn’t even show up for dad’s funeral or granddads? Yet, you’ve been here this whole fucking time?!” He yells and shoots her a look of death.

“There’s a very good reason for all of it, Jake. I can tell you some of it, but I can’t tell you everything.” Faith says.

“So, explain.” Zander says.

She swallowed. She stands and paces. “As you may know, The Shaman is a name. A title. It will never die as long as the legacy still lives.” She stops in the center of the floor between the couches.

“The position requires a neutral being. Someone who will use the power given in a fair and balanced manner. They also won’t use that power for personal gain.” She turns and looks at us all.

She walked to Jake and sat on the coffee table in front of him. “The few days before I left, I was approached by a man. His name was Hera. He told me I had a very important job to do. He touched my head and showed me what that was. Jake, he told me that in order for me to do this, I had to leave my life.” She tries to find jakes eyes as he looked away from her.

“I won’t lie and say the thought didn’t cross my mind. I couldn’t stand under the moon with your father. Every year was getting worse, Jake. My wolf’s drive to mate with your dad was tearing me apart. I couldn’t do it. I’d go insane.” She tilts her head.

“I thought at least I’d be doing something good. I’d bring you with me. Hera said no. I had to erase myself from existence.” Her eyes started to well. “Jake, I cried. I cried so hard for you. To leave you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

A tear rolls down Jake’s cheek.

She wipes her own cheeks. “But what Hera showed me, I couldn’t say no. He believed I was the world’s best choice.”

Mateo leaned forward. “Wait. I thought the previous Shaman chose the next one.”

Faith turned to him. “Yes. Previous ones were picked that way, but as you know, it didn’t end well. The Shaman strayed. Broke the rules. Hera was correcting that mistake.”

“So, whose Hera?” Zander asks.

Faith looks at him. “He calls himself the Guardian.”

Zander stands. “No. He’s not supposed to be involved.”

“Well, he is.” Faith says.

“Zander?” Peter questions.

“The Guardian. The watcher. All he’s supposed to do is watch and record. He’s not supposed to manipulate things. What did he tell you?” Zander looks at her.

She pressed her lips together. “Everything. Everything that’s passed. Everything that’s happening now…” She turned to Jake. “Everything that’s coming.” Jakes eyes met hers.

“When I saw the future Jake, I saw yours too. It doesn’t include me, but I do stand by you.”

“Why me?” Jake asks.

She shakes her head. “That I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” He sits up.

“Because it’s safer if you don’t know. You still have a lot to learn, Jake. I can guide you, but I can’t lead you. You have to get there yourself. With Zanders help.” She gives a small smile.

“Why him?” Jake asks.

“Yes, that seems a little specific.” Zander says.

“Because at one point, you both will need each other. All of you will need each other. Jake, I have to protect you. I will protect you, but I’m not allowed to help you.” She shakes her head.

Sawyer puts his hand out. “So you’re not allowed to pick a side, but you are picking a side?”

She nods. “With the exception of this, I can’t help unless there’s an imbalance. I am charged with keeping the balance of power equal.”

She stands and walks around. “The Alliance is trying to tip the scales by creating monsters. I can’t let that happen. I will help you fight.”

Darcy leans back. “Just to play devils advocate here…what if it works?” He looks around. “If the Alliance has a plan, unleash it on the vamps and this Lefu asshole. As far as I’m concerned, if they want to make an army to beat them, why aren’t we helping?”

I lean forward. “Because they’d turn Lainey into a sick experiment. Sorry, not happening.” I scowl.

“Not only that, you don’t introduce a created species to wipe out another or cycle continues. Once the war is over, do you think the Alliance will control what they make?” Faith says.

Graham nods. “She has a point. You heard Frederick’s. Mia, William, Simon and Lefu all made things that are proven to be harder to control by the day. If we don’t stop the experiments, the world will be flooded with Lycan vampire hybrids. Do we want that?” He looks around.

“What about Hera?” Zander asks.

“He can make a very small exception. I can provide you with some tools, but I can’t manipulate you in any way. As much as I would love to change the outcome, I can’t.” Faith informs.

Owen looks around the Alphas. “What do we do?”

“We split in two.” Lainey says coldly.

“What? No, Lainey. You can’t.” I say to her.

“It’s the only way. You take the labs, I’ll take the hives. We meet in the middle.” She looks at me.

“That’s suicide. Forget it.” I growl.

“Her hive is strong, Hunter and we’ll provide support to her. If we don’t do it this way, we'll be too late.” Zander says.

“You know I’m right.” She says softly.

“What if something happens to you?” I say, grabbing her hand.

“It won’t. My sisters will protect me.” She squeezes my hand.

“She’s right. She’s their Queen. They won’t let anything happen to her.” Faith says.

“Your hive is pretty badass.” I say. I smile and lean to her. “My little queen bee.”

She smirks. “Ok. So we are agreed?”

The Alphas and the sisters all nod.

“Good. Now, I’m coming with you to Phoenix. I can bring what I need from here, but you have a lot already.” Faith stands.

Jake looks up at her. “You’re coming back to Phoenix.”

She nods.

Jake nods. He sucks in a breath. “Stay away from me.” He says low and leaves. He walks out the front door, slamming it shut.

Peter stands. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I’m afraid it might not do any good. I’d hate me too.” Faith says.

Peter smiles. “He’s just in shock. I’m sure deep down he’s glad to see you.” He turns and leaves to join Jake outside.

Faith stands. “Now, this lab under us right now. Is not just a lab. It’s a central hub. It connects to all the others in this country and others. The information in this lab is valuable. Not just for experiments, but all those involved. These are people that you work with. Live with. Your friends, lovers and neighbors. I need you all to understand what that means.” She turns to Zander.

Zander lowers his head. “We will essentially be destroying everything.”

Faith nods and presses her lips together. “That’s right. Every one of you may find out things that you would have been better off not knowing. I need to make sure this is what you’re prepared to accept.”

Ash stands. “If it stops the war, I’m in.”

Sawyer, Owen and Brody stand. “Us too.” Owen says.

Mateo, Darcy, Graham and I stand. Lainey stands and I take her hand. “Us too.” I look at Lainey and smile.

“Me too.”

We turn and Jake is standing with Peter. Peter nods to Faith and she smiles.

Christian stands beside her. “You can count on our support.”

Zander nods. “Us against the world? What could go wrong?”

****

After, we all sort of mingled around talking about plans and with Faith.

I walked around with one thought on my mind. When the opportunity presented itself, I pulled Faith aside.

“Hey, I need to ask you something.” I say quietly.

She crosses her arms. “Sure.”

“I…I want a cure.” I sigh. I may have been sick when I had this first thought, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. If I wasn’t a shifter anymore, life for Lainey would be better and we wouldn’t face so much hate.

“Cure for what?” She looks confused.

“For me. For what I am. I don’t want to be a shifter anymore.” I look around to check if anyone’s listening.

She tilts her head and smiles. “Hunter. I can’t just cure you. You were born this way.”

I press my lips together. “Ok. What about Lainey? She wasn’t born that way.”

She shakes her head. “No. I’m sorry. She also is genetically fused. No potion or spell can undo that. Hunter.” She puts her hands on my shoulders. “I know things are hard. It’s not going to be easy, but trust me when I say, you and Lainey are going through all this for a reason. I can’t share with you what that is, but changing you or her will not help anything. Besides, you love her for her and she loves you for you. Why would you want to change that?”

I scratch my head. “You’re right.” I flop my hand at my side. “You’re right. I just…I don’t want her to feel bad.”

She smiles a gentle smile. “She doesn’t feel bad, Hunter. She feels stronger. With you by her side, you give her strength. You. The only way she could feel bad is if you give up and give in.” She stared into my eyes.

I glance at Lainey talking with Zander and Owen. She is strong. I’m not sure I did that, but I think I helped.

“Yeah…um…thanks.” I give a half smile.

“Just remember. No matter what anyone says, at the end of the day, your love is the only thing that matters.” She nods.

I nod back.

She leaves and I’m left with my thoughts. Twisting my lips, I kind of feel awful even thinking it. Faith is right. Lainey fell in love with me and my wolf. I don’t know what I was thinking wanting to take that away. It’s an easy out to avoid the haters, but I guess we need the haters to get to where we need to be. I shouldn’t have to change and neither should Lainey.

“Hey. You ok?” Lainey approaches me.

I hold her cheeks in my hands. I look into her eyes and smile. “I’m perfect and so are you.” I give her a soft kiss.

Christian stands in front of us and puts his hands up. “Ok guys. The mountains gotten worse, so I’m afraid you’re stuck here for the rest of the night. There’s plenty of room and we have Comms in the other room if you need to get calls out.”

I look at Lainey. “Snowy vacation?”

She smiles. “Sounds like fun.”