A Promise on White Wings (Wiccan-Were-Bear) (7 page)

Chapter 8

Chance stood with his pride in a large flower garden behind the house.  Jes was standing on a square hunk of marble that looked like an altar of some kind.  The nest had gathered – minus the children that they called
fledglings
– and waited to hear his announcement.  Chance and his pride were standing just to Jes’ left and Danika was next to Chance, gripping his arm.

“Don’t be nervous,
katja
,” Chance murmured into her ear.

“Can’t help it.  Some of them look pissed already.”

True.  “Doesn’t matter.  Jes is their leader, and you’ll be their Queen when you mate him.”

“What about you?”

He nipped her ear with his teeth, and she shivered.  “I’ll just spend all my days pleasuring the Queen.”

Ley cleared his throat loudly and gave Chance and Danika a stern look, and Chance bit back a laugh.  The old buzzard was a softy and was thrilled with the prospect of royal babies crawling all over the house.  And he adored Danika, who seemed to be charming everyone she met.  Chance could definitely understand that, because he was thoroughly charmed himself.

Jes clapped his hands together once, and the crowd quieted, looking at him expectantly.  He spoke with a loud, clear voice and told his people that he had mated a woman who he was going to share with Chance, and then he turned and gestured to the two of them.  Chance lifted Danika up on the altar and joined them, so the nest could see them.

“Danika is the mate of my prophecy, my salvation on white wings.  Through her, I am joining the nest with the white lion pride in a new alliance that will be mutually beneficial to both groups.  For now, the lions will be staying in my home until permanent housing can be arranged within our community.”

An unhappy murmur wove through the crowd, but Chance didn’t think it was more than a few of the more than one hundred falcons.  Jes put up his hand.

“Before we go any further, I need you to know this.  I am your Prince.  There are no laws for our people that say that I
must
mate with a falcon.  If any of you take issue with my choice of mate or our alliance, then you may leave the nest or challenge me for leadership of this nest tonight.  But I will remind all of you that challenges of leadership can – and often do – end in the death of the challenger.”

Chance thought that was a polite way of saying,
Come against me and I’ll kill you
, without actually saying it out loud.  Chance was bigger than Jes – taller and more muscular – but Jes had an inner strength that most likely came from his royal bloodline and made him a male Chance wouldn’t want to tangle with in a to-the-death sort of way.

“Who would challenge me this night?” Jes said.  The few murmurs quieted.  “Speak freely now or hold your peace for the remainder of your days.”

Then he asked who would secede from the nest.  Although Chance was certain that there were some who were not pleased that Jes had taken a non-falcon to mate, no one chose to leave.  Perhaps they trusted him as their leader.  Or perhaps they knew that within the community walls they were safe and they would be foolish to leave.

When several quiet minutes had passed, Jes’ brother Revere, his wings stretched behind his back, lifted his voice in a battle cry, and the entire nest fell to their knees.  Chance knew then that no one would leave as the nest proclaimed its allegiance to Jes.  Revere and Tonik turned and went to one knee, pressing their fists to their chests.  “Long live the Princes and Princess!” they shouted and the nest cheered, remaining on their knees but adding their voices to the proclamation.

Danika smiled and blinked tear-filled eyes at him.  He hadn’t expected the falcons to accept them, but Jes was clearly a leader who was respected.  He was humbled.

When the noise settled, Jes spoke about the potential danger from Danika’s former den and the need for vigilance.  Then he dismissed the crowd, and Chance leapt down from the altar and held out his arms for Danika.  She stepped off the altar and into his arms with a small laugh, hugging her arms around his neck.

As Danika slid down his body until her feet were on the ground, Jes came to stand next to them.  Danika took both of their hands in hers.  “Did that go as you expected?” she asked.

Jes smiled down at her.  “I thought that some might secede from the nest, but that none did means that they are willing to accept our mating and the addition of the lions.  It may not be an easy road ahead of us as we join the groups together, but as long as we’re together, we can accomplish anything.”

“Did you think you might lose some?” Chance asked.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  There are some older falcons who were not happy to have a Queen who is not a true falcon, so I thought some of them might leave.  I wasn’t sure about challengers, either.  Some of the younger ones would rather live in a nest that is democratically run rather than ruled by a royal couple, so I had thought one or two might challenge me and try to change the way the nest is led.”

Chance’s dad snorted as he, and the pride, came to stand near them.  “No shifter groups are run democratically.  That’s insane.”

“It’s progress,” Jes said, watching as the remaining members of the nest left the garden.  “A hundred years ago when our people were very closed-off to the humans, everyone felt safer in the nest, behind the walls.  Now, the fledglings sprout wings, and they want to turn the nest into a human city with no one in charge and everyone doing whatever they want.”

Danika frowned.  “When it comes to shifters, that’s a good way to get people killed.”

Which was very true.  If there were no laws, then shifters would hunt where they pleased instead of staying within safe boundaries.  Hunters would find them and kill or capture them.  That alone was enough to send a chill down Chance’s spine.  There was no place within shifter society for a democracy.  The best of each group was the leader, and the leaders did what was best for their people.

Tonik and Revere strode up to Jes and reported that a few falcons were complaining about joining with
cats
and some were questioning whether mating with a woman who was not a falcon was going to be the end of their people.  None of those people, though, wanted to leave the nest or wanted to give up Jes being the leader, so they were simply being vocal about their concerns.

Tonik looked past Chance to where his brother and friend were standing and said, “You two wanna go grab breakfast?”

Chance could hear the delight in Gamble’s voice.  “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Pyre slugged Gam in the shoulder.  “Watch your damn mouth.”

Danika laughed and shook her head at them.  “I’m starving.  Can you eat or are you still working?”  She looked up at Jes.

“I can eat.”

Chance’s dad said, “I’m going back to bed.  I told the tech-twins that I’d be back in the afternoon,” he said as he looked at Jes, “because I wanted to run safety drills.  If you don’t mind.”

Jes seemed relieved.  “Whatever you need is at your disposal.”

His dad said goodbye and the rest of the pride left, heading into the house through a different path.  Chance, Jes, and Danika began to walk back to the house.  Danika said, “I like this garden.  Do you always hold meetings out here?”

The garden was at least the size of a football field.  In the center was the marble altar with a clearing that was big enough for the falcons to stand.  Around the clearing were beds of flowers and shrubs, small trees, and statuary.  There were vibrant flowers colored orange, dark red, and gold, and their delicate scents filled the air.

“My grandmother started the garden with one planter.  She used to come out here and sit and enjoy the quiet.  My grandfather saw that she liked it so much, and he made a flowerbed for her birthday and filled it with tiger lilies, her favorite flower.  Each birthday after that, he made a new flowerbed, bought a statue, or planted trees and shrubs, until she died.  Then he had a craftsman carve a statue of her falcon’s likeness, which is at the back corner, where she liked to sit in the morning.”

“And the altar?” Chance asked, holding the back door open for Danika.

Jes shrugged.  “I’m not sure what it was supposed to be for, so I just stand on it.”  He glanced up at the sky and laughed.  “I haven’t gotten struck down by any vengeful falcon gods yet, so I guess it’s okay.”

The large kitchen had two tables.  One was rectangular and appeared very formal.  The other was square and nestled in a small windowed alcove.  It looked out over the garden, and Danika sat down and he and Jes joined her.  Ley began setting the table for them immediately, bustling about with a female falcon and two younger male falcons.  Within minutes, they had coffee and the table was set.

“Do falcons have vengeful gods?” Danika asked, stirring creamer into her coffee.

“I think every were-group has gods or spirits or whatever you wish to call them,” Jes said.  “I remember my grandmother praying in the garden to the great Falcon Spirit, and there is a lot of lore about where falcons came from.”

“Did she sit on her bench to pray?” Danika asked.

Jes nodded.  They were interrupted when Ley and his workers filled up the table with platters and bowls.  When their plates were filled, Ley left the coffee pot and shooed the workers out of the kitchen so they were alone.

Danika was frowning as she cut a sausage link apart and Chance asked what was on her mind.  “I don’t know what I am.”

Chance glanced at Jes, unsure what to say to that.

Jes squeezed her hand.  “After things are settled with your den and my nest, we can go visit the Wiccans and ask for their help.  One of the Corners studies were-groups very extensively and has a vast knowledge of the history of many species.  If she doesn’t know, they can perhaps do a reading or figure out a way to tell us what you are.  But honestly,” he said as he kissed her hand and released it, picking up his fork, “it doesn’t matter to me what you are called, because you’re my mate and Chance’s mate and anything else is just details.”

Chance echoed Jes’ statement.  It didn’t matter a bit what her shifted form was named.  All that really mattered was that she was with them and mated to them and they were keeping her safe.

Danika’s frown eased.  “I’d like to meet the Wiccans.  And maybe the girls from the bear den who helped me?  So I could say thank you?”

Jes nodded.  “I can make arrangements to visit the den in a few weeks.”

Breakfast continued and Chance’s mind wandered to what he was going to do to support his new mate.  Jes’ nest ran a home improvement store, but Jes was the owner and didn’t work there because he was too busy with nest business.  Before they’d left Washington, Chance had worked for a human male who owned a fix-it business, as had his brother and Pyre.  They did everything from painting fences to landscaping.  He’d never had a desire to go to college and had always been happy to just be busy.  Maybe he was feeling a little directionless at the moment, because Jes was important in his nest and also ran a business, and Chance wasn’t either of those things.

Danika elbowed him and Chance looked up from his empty plate.  “I’m sorry.  What?”

Jes said, “Danika wants to explore the garden.  I was hoping that you’d be willing to come up to the office and finish our conversation from before.”

Nodding, he kissed Danika goodbye and watched her walk out into the garden with a small smile on her face.  Chance followed Jes up to his office and sat down in the chair across from the desk.  It was a sturdy cherry chair with black leather cushions, matching the desk and the overstuffed chairs against the other wall.

Chance began to share his pride’s history with Jes, who took notes on a yellow legal pad with a shiny, black pen.  He liked that Jes was a traditional guy, who was embracing modern technology but only to a point.  Chance’s pride had left Washington because after awhile, it was just old memories holding them there.  There had been little space for them to roam in their forms the way they wanted to, so they chose instead to find a new place to live.

Michigan had been their first stop, but the only town that appeared shifter-friendly was run almost entirely by wolves who appeared to be welcoming, but were in reality not.  The place had set Chance’s teeth on edge, and he was glad when his father had chosen to move on.  Northern Ohio was very unique in the states, with so many different were-houses living together in one area.

Jes cleared his throat.  “The town of Bishop is twenty square miles.  The nest’s property is roughly five miles of that, all of it encompassed by the rock wall that is two hundred years old.  Ley and a few other house workers live in the servants’ wing.  Ley oversees all the household issues as well as basically being my assistant in all things related to the nest.  My brother Revere is the on-site manager at The Tool Box and Tonik is head of security for our territory.  As far as your pride goes, I have two thoughts and wanted to run them by you.”

Chance nodded, relaxing back in his chair slightly and folding his hands across his stomach.

“First, we could induct the pride into the nest as official members, and they would fall under our rule.  I haven’t spoken to your father about this yet, so I’m not sure what his feelings are.  The other option would be to have the pride live within the confines of the nest territory but remain apart from our rule.”

He looked thoughtful and Chance said, “You’re thinking that option two is the better choice because of the prophecy.”

Jes looked surprised and then nodded.  “Yeah.  I don’t necessarily think that merging our groups now is a good or bad thing, but I think that waiting until Danika and I have a child is the better choice.  It will ease things within the nest to have the lions separate from ruling.  They might worry that your dad or one of the other males might challenge me for rule and that would cause unnecessary stress.”

“We can speak to my dad later on today, but I have a feeling that he’ll be happy to be within the walls of the territory but apart from your day-to-day nest issues.”  He paused briefly and said, “You keep saying ‘our’ rule.  Do you mean yours and Danika’s?”