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“I am Alta, Rudlo’s mate and Darmon’s mother. We are the alphas and guardians of our pack and lands.”
“Right then,” Frankie said. “Forgive me if I stare, but I’ve never come across a Shapeshifter before. It is way cool. M’name is Frankie and I’m that pleased to meet ye, Alta. I have to tell ye, it isn’t me trespassing, well… I am now, yes, I can see that, but it is the Blue Demons that went through the portal and took me with them. This is where we landed, though I can’t prove it, as the portal is now gone.”
“It left a residue. We have been worried and discussing it at our meeting which we were holding here, where the portal had been, when you suddenly arrived,” Alta said softly. “Are you telling me that the Blue Demons used a portal to travel to and from your Realm, uninvited? Do I understand you clearly?”
“Aye, uninvited and with killing in mind. They used two bombs, one my very dear Prince Graely was able to…contain, the other killed and maimed so many people—too many innocent people. When we tracked them to the portal, a Daoine Prince, who is a blackguard and I suspect a traitor, pushed me into the portal. I got caught up, and whoosh, through it I went and then found myself here. I bumped into Graely’s evil brother, Pestale who then imprisoned me. I escaped, and have to get home to warn…”
Alta held up her hand, “This is most grievous, and a serious accusation. Are you saying that Prince Pestale is behind all of this, but that his brother, Graely, is not?”
“Ye are in the right of it. That is exactly what I’m saying,” Frankie huffed up.
“It is something we can believe of Pestale, but the accusation against the Blue Demons is not something we can take lightly. We do not know you, and cannot blindly take your word. We have lived with the Blue Demons in peace for hundreds of years.”
“That was before Pestale came to your realm,” Frankie said on a deadly serious note.
Alta regarded her, “Indeed, that is quite correct, and though we had thought he was content here, our son…has never thought so, and there is a faction of Blue Demon that has gone off on their own…”Alta said thoughtfully.
“Your son?” Frankie asked looking around.
However, there wasn’t time to go into this as a newcomer had loped into the pack’s circle and was greeted warmly by many before she came to sit at a distance from Frankie and regarded her with keen amber eyes.
Frankie studied the honey colored wolf. She was not quite as large as the others in the pack, and Frankie assumed this was because she was not a Beta/soldier wolf.
Alta greeted her, “Eslym. I am glad you have come. Have you had occasion to speak with Sventer?”
“Not in a couple of days,” Eslym said telepathically, but Frankie was able to hear it and wondered at it. The voice was soft and gentle, and reminded her of something or someone.
Alta turned to her mate, who had morphed and was now standing beside his mate in human form. He, like Alta was also quite tall, with a shock of long dark hair and sharp features. He reminded Frankie of an American Indian she had befriended at college.
Frankie felt an immediate liking of the alphas. They appeared what she would call; ‘steady’ and her father would call sage.
She was recalled out of her musings as she listened to the conversation of thoughts being passed before her. Did they know she heard them in her head?
“I believe, as I have tried to tell you, Alta that Darmon is quite correct and that Sventer and Pestale have joined forces,” Rudlo, Alta’s mate said on a hard angry note.
The pack at their backs broke the circle and some took on human form, others remained in wolfen, but all began making unintelligible sounds to one another. This time Frankie had no idea what they were saying. Her Fae mind was able to digest and translate many languages from many realms, so she began the process of working on her ‘wolf speak.’
Then another wolf arrived, the one she had seen leave the pack early on. He was a beautiful wolf, black with silver markings.
Frankie watched as the newcomer and Eslym exchanged glances. A great deal could be learned by holding one’s peace and watching as others carried the conversation. It was what she did now. She was in no immediate danger. She didn’t need to shift off, talk her way out of trouble, or defend herself. It was best to simply take it all in while her body healed.
“Eslym,” Alta said again after conferring with her mate, “Have you noticed any movement between the Blue Demons and Pestale?”
“No,” Eslym answered but Frankie was certain that the pretty wolf was lying. Something in her body language told her that Eslym had not been honest and was extremely uncomfortable with the lie.
Frankie inched closer to hear the wolf explain, “I went to the village looking for Darmon, and was told that the alphas led a Beta Scout group against an unwanted invasion. I came to help.”
Alta’s laugh was soft and Frankie thought warm and inviting. She said gently, as her hand moved toward Frankie, “Not exactly an invasion, as it turns out.”
Eslym started to move away and Alta looked from her to the silver streaked black wolf who was ‘dogging’ every move Eslym made. “Do you leave us?”
“If you do not need me,” Eslym answered.
The large black and silver wolf loped into the circle and bounced to a stop in front of Eslym. Their eyes met and Frankie was mesmerized as she watched. Something was going on here—but what?
The large black wolf morphed into a man, a tall good lookin
g man, even better looking than his striking father. She guessed him to look what would be in the equivalent of human years somewhere in his twenties. The honey colored wolf remained in wolf form and he frowned as he said her name, “Eslym?”
