Branches of the Willow 3 Read online

  “Except that you now have a baby growing inside you to worry over.” Serena interjected. A knowing smile swept across her face as I blanched a bit. “She is fine, by the way. The drugs had no effect on her. I’m sorry I couldn’t get back here sooner to ease those worries for you. If I knew you were holding back with the news because of that, I would have made it clear before I left. Your wolf was protecting her the whole time.”

  That did it. Tears broke free of the damn I’d built to keep them at bay. Everything that happened to me came flooding out, and I was thankful to have my family there to comfort me as it happened. I was even more thankful that Mikael hadn’t been there when all those emotions came pouring out, because he hurt when I hurt. I didn’t want him to have to live that kind of pain with me.

  ACT OF WAR

  Scouts were sent out with cameras, to record the goings on at Freedman’s pack. They never sent back any intel about Malachai being there, but a particular cabin received a lot of visitors, including John Freedman. Food was brought in, empty trays were seen leaving. Someone special was staying there, and they didn’t leave the cabin at all. Asi and my father determined that it was probably their best bet for Malachai’s location, and they finished up the plans to raid Freedman’s pack with that information in mind.

  The final cog in the wheel of our plan was to send out notice to all the packs that anyone caught harboring known fugitives, Malachai, Eleanna, and Clarissa would be given no quarter when punishments were handed down. It was also made known that Malachai was the illegitimate bastard of Antoine De’Lune and Eleanna before they were a mated pair, therefore relinquishing his title to the next eligible in the family line, Michael De’Lune.

  It only took one day after that message went out, and Jameson St. Marks got word from his scouts that they were picking up defectors from the Freedman Pack who confirmed that Malachai was living among them. My father, Evan, Mikael, Asriel, and a few of the pack’s best warriors, including Dimitri, the new Ancient to our pack, set out to bring Malachai to justice, and hopefully nab the two women as well.

  Since it had already been decided that I wouldn’t be able to go along, I was going to test out my white wolf skills, and chalk it up as a training exercise. It would take a little over three hours for our men to get to the Freedman Pack, and just before they were due to arrive, I was going to try to induce a vision so that I could watch first hand, even if I couldn’t be there. All I had to do was convince my mother it was a good idea.

  “Please!” I begged.

  “Jessica, it’s not going to be good for the baby for you to be so stressed out.”

  “I’m not going to be stressed. I’m going to be watching what happens, that’s all. We may need to know. What if something goes wrong, and we have no warning that we’re going to be invaded by Freedman?”

  “Then we will fight, just like we prepared to do with the dark ones and the Hunters.”

  “Mom, come on. I’m only asking that you put me to sleep. I mean, I need the rest anyway.” I poked my lip out in a pout. “Please! I will be more stressed out not knowing.”

  “Fine! I wish you hadn’t inherited your father’s stubborn streak. I don’t think you should be doing this, but I can’t disagree about the not knowing being any less stressful.”

  “Thank you!” I jumped up and kissed my mom, who followed me upstairs to the old bedroom I used to occupy in her house. It was weird to be here again. All of my personal things had long since made their way to Mikael’s house, but the old bed with its trundle was still there, and so was my trusty Papasan chair. I chose the chair to settle myself into so that I would be comfortable enough to drop off to sleep quicker.

  When the vision finally hit, and the fog lifted, I was a bit disappointed to be standing the cave where the white wolves always stayed. I noted that the little sapling in the dirt in front of the dais had grown a bit, a proud sprig of green burst forth from the damp earth, stretching to reach the little bit of light that filtered through from a tiny pinprick of light in the ceiling.

  “You have come to beg favors of the white wolves.” The voices echoed through the cavern.

  “No, actually, I was hoping to witness what takes place with my mate today.”

  “Behind you.” Their whispered voices wrapped me in chills, and when I turned the cave wall that had been behind me melted away, allowing me to walk out into a thick forest. Actually, I was at the edge of the forest, bordering a little pack town. It was set up a lot like the St. Marks’ pack, but the buildings were showing obvious neglect from lack of upkeep.

  “Where the bloody hell is he?” I heard Dimitri’s voice boom loud and obvious from off to the right somewhere, and I turned to see him holding a rather scraggly looking man up by the neck.

  “I swear it, I dunno.” The man managed to get out as he gasped for air. One swift motion from Dimitri, and the man’s neck cracked with that pop, and he went still, falling from Dimitri’s grasp to the ground at his feet.

  “You do know he’ll wake up from that later, right?” Asi had been watching the happenings from his perch in a nearby tree before he hopped down to come harass Dimitri. The man had been one of Freedman’s watch dogs, and he hadn’t been very good at it That only meant that they were bound to run into the stronger members of the pack the closer they got. I turned a full circle, trying to gage who all was with Asi and Dimitri. A little ways off to the right I saw Evan, and my father, but I didn’t see Mikael anywhere, and that’s when panic took hold of me.

  I turned a full 360 degrees looking for him, and still, he wasn’t there. “Asi, where’s Mikael? Asi?” It was no use. I knew from previous times I’d been somewhere in vision mode that they couldn’t hear me. I was a silent witness and nothing more. This certainly wasn’t like the time I took over Mikael’s unconscious body. I looked down real quick to be sure. The first thing I saw was the swell of my own chest. I was definitely riding in my own body, unless Mikael had some serious work done.

  “Where’s Mikael?” Asriel voiced his concern out loud, while also keeping his voice low. “Damn it. Tell me he didn’t head for the cabin we had under serveilence?” Asi looked around, and made sure all the other men were in the positions they were supposed to be in. “Stay here,” he commanded Dimitri. “Hold the ranks, I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

  I followed behind Asi as he made his way swiftly, and quietly toward the cabin. There, just up ahead, I saw the slightest hint of movement. The back door on the cabin cracked open, and a tall man slipped out, running quickly behind a tree. That’s when I noticed who else was behind the same tree, trying to get the lay of the land.

  “Mikael!” I yelled. Of course, no one heard me. Asi saw what was about to happen though, and he took off in a dead run. I was hot on his heels, wishing I could fly, since technically I was in a spirit realm. Sadly, the ability still alluded me. When I rounded the space that tree had been blocking my heart immediately lodged itself inside my throat, and threatened to spill right out of me. “Oh God, no!” Malachai was there, with a silver blade, and he had already pulled back, ready to deal a death blow to my mate’s neck.

  Asriel didn’t hesitate. He ran forward with greater speed than I thought possible of our kind, and dove for Malachai, tackling him before his blade had the chance to drop even an inch towards its destination. Sounds of a woman crying carried on the wind, and dulled the cracking sound I heard in the background. I saw just a little further off, a blond woman tied to a tree. At first, my heart went out to her, and I closed ranks on her position. I wasn’t sure what I could do to help since I was basically a spirit walking around, but I went anyway.

  I turned back long enough to see Asriel helping Mikael up off the ground. Malachai’s still form was next to them in the grass, and neither man seemed worried about it. I figured I knew what that meant. The blond woman was still crying, but she seemed relieved as she noticed that Malachai wasn’t getting back up. I heard skirmishes taking place a little ways off, but I didn’t bother payin
g attention to what was happening over there. There was something on the ground beside the girl who was tied to the tree. I moved a little closer, almost afraid of what I’d see. I was thankful that I was in the spirit realm as I glanced down and noticed the river I was standing in. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t a river, it was too dark, and thick for that. Blood. I was standing in someone’s blood, and the thing I had seen near the girl was another woman’s body. I bent down to take a closer look, and realized that there wasn’t a head attached to the body. There was only a stump of a neck with blood crusted bone sticking out of the top. The woman’s head had been severed clean from her body.

  “Please, help me.” The girl who was tied to the tree started calling out. At first, I thought she was talking to me, but then I turned to see Mikael walking up behind where I stood. He glanced down at me, and frowned. Of course, he could see that I was there. I wonder if he had heard me call out to him too?

  “I had to see that you were okay.” He didn’t seem to hear me, his attention was now on the woman at the tree. For the first time, I looked up and saw more than the blond hair that framed her face. It was a face I knew all too well.

  “Clarissa?” Evan’s question came from behind me. I turned to see the anger painted there, until he looked down and noticed the body I was kneeling beside. “Who was this?”

  “Leanna.” Clarissa sniffled. Malachai got so mad when the notice about us being fugitives, and him having no claim to his father’s throne, came out. He screamed and cursed at her, wanting Leanna to tell everyone that it was a lie, but she didn’t. She admitted that he was her son, and he…” Her eyes widened with shock as she looked back over her shoulder beyond the body, and the tree she was tied to. “Her head… it’s back there.”

  As morbid as it was, I had to see for myself, and make sure. Unfortunately for me, it was face down in the grass, so I couldn’t tell if Clarissa spoke the truth or not. Asriel walked over, and moved the head slightly with the tip of his boot. “It’s her.” He growled out.

  “My sister…” Clarissa was crying again. “He told me she ran off one night, but all I’ve thought about is, what if he did that to her too?”

  “Your sister is fine, for now.” Evan stated, keeping emotion from his voice, and his face neutral, despite the fact that he stood mere feet from his own mother’s dead body and severed head.

  “Please, take me to her.” Clarissa begged. Still, no one had bothered to untie her. I watched as the men seemed to all be having an internal debate about what to do with the woman.

  “Should we bring her back to her sister?” Mikael was the one to speak out loud, and he wasn’t looking at the others. He was watching me for my answer. I tipped my head down and back up again, deliberately signaling a yes to him. They could both rot together in the locks.

  My father, being the astute man that he was, looked at the void he must have seen where I stood, and back to Mikael again. “She’s here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Damn it, Jess.” My father growled out. “You shouldn’t have to see that.”

  “She wants us to bring Clarissa back too.”

  “Can you hear her?” Asi asked.

  “No. I can see her though.”

  “What of John Freedman?” Asi asked, looking between the void where I stood and Mikael.

  It was my father who answered. “He’s dead, as is his number two man. The rest of the pack can choose a new leader and fall in line, or we can come back and scatter them to the wind for their betrayal.”

  I nodded in agreement with my father. “Jess agrees with you.” My father smiled as Mikael told him that. Dimitri strolled up behind them with a man who was bound and gagged.

  “That’s my girl.” My father smiled slightly, before turning to face Dimitri. “What’s this?” He motioned towards the bound man.

  “Hunter.” Dimitri stated simply. “I thought you might want to have a word with him when I found him trying to slink off into the shadows over there.” My father looked towards Asi. “Can you take care of that until we get back?” Asi nodded while Jameson St. Marks put his command voice to use, and told what remained of the Freedman Pack, in no uncertain terms, that we’d be back to take care of business if they didn’t get themselves together, and fall in line. He then gathered his pack, and my mate, and they all got ready to come home with their prisoners.

  “Get some rest now, Jess.” Mikael said to me as they all started walking by. My vision dulled as the gray mist settled in, signifying the end of my vision. When I woke, I hadn’t expected anyone to be leaning over me, so when a face was within inches of my own, I let out a blood curdling scream.

  I was greeted with a similar scream in return as the face backed up. My eyes adjusted, and I realized it was Ashley. “Holy shit, Jessica!” Ashley was clutching her heart. “You almost gave me a god damn coronary.”

  “Me? Why in the hell were you all up in my face like that?”

  “I was making sure you were breathing, you idiot.” Ashley popped down to sit on the floor in front of my Papasan Chair as my mother came running in the room.

  “What is going on? Are they okay?”

  “They’re all on their way back, mom. Sorry, Ashley scared the crap out of me when I woke up.”

  “Likewise.” Ashley said without hesitation.

  I told them both what happened, and my mom went to alert the rear guard that they needed to have two cells readied. Truth be told, we only had four cells on pack lands. It was rare that we had a crime here worthy of needing to hold a werewolf captive, but once upon a time, when my grandfather ran things, he had needed the extra cells. I was thankful for his forethought, since we were about to have three occupied.

  I wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that a Hunter had been captured, or what it took to contain one. I figured we would need to double up on things if we were bringing the enemy home though. I was lost in thought, wondering what was going on with the Hunters, the dark ones, werewolves going crazy, witches meddling in affairs they should leave alone. It seemed odd to me that things had gotten so far out of whack from the norm for each of our groups.

  “Are you sure they’re all okay?” Ashley grilled me, touching my arm to pull my attention back to her. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  “They are all fine.”

  “You said you think Asriel killed Malachai. He didn’t get hurt, did he?”

  “Not a scratch on him, Ash, I promise.” I stood up on shaky legs. Staying in the vision had taken a toll on me. I wobbled off balance, but righted myself almost immediately.

  “You need to eat.” Ashley looked at the clock on the wall. “Mikael’s going to kill us if he finds out we let you stay knocked out so long.”

  “He didn’t seem thrilled about me being there,” I admitted. “I’m sure he’ll read me the riot act when he gets back.” We walked downstairs to the kitchen. “Mom, did you tell the guards that one of the prisoners is going to be a Hunter?”

  “Yes, I did. They’re going to put him in the reinforced witch cell instead of the normal ones.”

  “That’s good.

  THE LOCKS

  My father and Asi both went at the Hunter for three days straight. They grilled him, hurt him, played nice with him, and even called Serena to watch the proceedings and give her two cents on what was happening. The man would not talk. Clarissa and Annabelle were useless, and had to be kept separate from one another. Annabelle blamed Clarissa for running off with her mate, and him ultimately dying. Clarissa thought she was just being loyal to the true king. It was like turning on Lifetime and Spike Television all at once, and letting the network’s shows duke it out. Drama, action, drama. It was exhausting.

  “I’ve had enough. It’s time to take the women to the locks, at the very least.” I looked up at my weary father, who wasn’t getting near enough sleep, and my best friend’s mate. I had heard enough complaints from Ashley about Asi not making it to their bed with any energy to spare, and I was tired of our
people being exhausted by this mess. “In a way I feel like this was their plan all along. The joke is on us, because they’re making us all miserable, and a little crazier than normal.”

  “I second that motion.” My mother said, prompting some chuckles from around the table.

  “Beyond our little prison drama fest, we have seventeen former captives of the King to deal with, and that needs to be taken care of soon, or the meeting hall is never going to smell right again.”

  “That is no joke! We should burn it down, and start fresh. Some of those ladies are rank!” Ashley wrinkled up her nose. She looked around the table then, when no one spoke up. “Oh fine! I volunteer. You all owe me, so I’m collecting my debt now. I need Evan to stay behind with me to help out with transitioning the women.”

  “Why do I need to stay behind and help out with women things, exactly?” Evan piped up.

  Ashley rolled her eyes, and held up one finger. “Number one, you’re little lover girl in there will be devastated if I try to move her, and you aren’t there to hold her hand.” Evan huffed, Asi and Mikael laughed, and Ashley continued. “Number 2,” she held up another finger. “I don’t speak Romanian, Czech, Polish, or whatever the hell else you guys have to translate in there. I need someone to do that for me.” She held up one more finger. “Three, Evan is their hero for rescuing them in the first place, and he’s the only male they trust around here.” She smiled at him. “And four, I’m not doing this shit alone, and I know Jess is going to want to make the trip to the locks, which means Mikael’s going to go. Asi’s going to go, because Jameson is going to order him to, so that leaves you!”

  I smiled at Ashley, and then looked at Evan. “Okay, so, that’s settled. Sierra is all set to help out too. I had a talk with her, and she’s been going over and working with the women, trying to figure out what they want to do from here. Some are still in their mating prime, and will likely want to go to packs as part of the Immersion Program. I don’t think it matters if they’re Ancients or Lessers, either way it introduces new blood into the mix.