Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (26 page)

I saw Jasper ready himself to attack
her and I put my hand up to stop him.

Angry eyes flashed to him and back to
me.

I looked around quickly and noticed
that most people were too shocked to move. Melana was standing
alone, unprotected.

“Jasper, the queen.” I spoke
quietly.

“Luke, Kacey, Alex, Zane. Cover Melana.
No one and I mean no one, gets near her.”

The four of them shifted and stood
around her.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I
wondered if Melana found it ironic that after everything she had
just said about the Majs, she was being protected by a wolf and a
coyote.

Mel, Dawn, Tyler and Trent shifted as
well, all of them ready to do what was needed.

I did what I realized I should have
done the instant we had walked into the room. I pushed my magic
toward the jaguar and her lack of aura confirmed what I already
knew. She circled around me, her tail twitching.

“I should have recognized the eyes,” I
told her. “You don’t have to do this, Sonia. You haven’t done
anything wrong yet.”

Sonia shifted and spit at me. “It’s
your fault.” She reached down and pulled her dagger out.

“I tried to make him go home. I want
him to be alive just as much as you do.”

She shook her head. She held the dagger
loosely in her hand. “It’s your fault. You didn’t love him like I
did. You have no idea how I feel.” She shifted her weight from one
foot to the other. “But you will.” Sonia pivoted on the balls of
her feet and threw her dagger at Jasper.

Jasper had seen her tense and jumped
toward her to stop an attack on me. The dagger, which had been
aimed at his chest, missed its mark and slipped across his bicep
instead.

I threw myself at Sonia and drove my
shoulder into her midsection. My momentum sent us crashing over the
table. All I could see was red. I swung my arm down and heard a
loud crunch as the hilt of my dagger connected with her temple. She
jerked under me. I brought my arm up again only to have it grabbed
from behind.

“Hayden.”

Jasper’s voice stopped me. I closed my
eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When I opened them again,
not a soul was moving. Jasper dropped my arm and I looked
down.

“Oh, god.” My voice caught in my
throat.

Jasper pulled me up and turned me
away.

“I…oh, god…I just hit her. I didn’t
throw anything at her!” My stomach heaved and everything I had
eaten that morning came up. All I could see was the scorched side
of Sonia’s face, the epicenter of the burn where my dagger had hit
her. I had no idea what I had just done, but I knew that I wouldn’t
have to worry about her going after Jasper ever again.

“Her stone.” I wiped my arm across my
mouth and stood. “Find her stone. They have to see.”

Jasper searched her pockets and found
the shifting stone. My throat tightened at the sight of
it.

“That was Brice’s stone.”

Jasper held the stone up for everyone
to see. “When Braw separates a Namael or a Maj, he can catch the
animal in a stone.” His voice projected over the hall. “The humans
have been using these to infiltrate our keeps, to spy, to gain
information.” He turned to Melana. “We need to stop them before
they use what they know of us.” His blue eyes were narrowed, daring
anyone to try and contradict what he was saying. “They want Hayden
because she can project powers, can channel them through herself.
Braw wants to use her to project the power of his staff. If this
happens he will wipe us all out. This is no longer a war between
the Namaels and the Majs. If we are to survive, we will have to
forge an alliance with Damian and turn this into a war between
shifters of all kinds and the humans.”

“And you’re sure it’s the stone that
lets them shift?” A familiar face was making its way toward us.
Matthew smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek. “Hello,
Hayden.”

I nodded to him and gave him a hug. “Do
you doubt me?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Never.
But I have a feeling a few of the others might. Can you show
them?”

I was reaching for the stone when
someone in the back of the crowd spoke up. “How do we know she
can’t shift already?”

Jasper felt my annoyance and put a hand
on my shoulder. “He’s right, you know. They don’t know you can’t.
With everything you can do, it wouldn’t be a big shock if you
could.” He looked around and smiled. “Leslie.”

Her violet eyes widened.

He looked over the crowd. “Does
everyone agree that Fairends can’t shift?”

He was answered by murmured yeses and
nods.

She came to stand by us. “What do I
do?” She was shaking like a leaf. Not only was she in a keep,
surrounded by people, she was now the center of all their
attention.

Jasper handed her the stone.

“Brice said you just had to think about
the animal.”

Leslie closed her eyes and her form
wavered. Her eyes flew open and everyone heard her gasp.

Behind us, I heard a low growl. Jasper
looked back and nodded.

Alex shifted back and strode over to
Leslie. He held her to his chest and made reassuring noises while
he rubbed her back. Her shaking lessened. She looked at him and he
kissed her softly. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and
nodded.

He stepped away from her.

Leslie took one more deep breath; her
brows knitted together, her strange eyes staring toward the group
of watchers.

There were a few gasps as her form
wavered and her violet eyes turned into jaguar eyes. She stood on
all fours, her tail twitching, her fur standing on end.

Alex knelt beside her and put a hand on
her head. He continued to whisper things that were meant only for
her.

“Thank you, Leslie.” Jasper’s voice was
soft.

She shifted back and Alex pulled her
into his lap. “Good job, love. You did good.” He looked up at
Jasper. “I have to get her out of here.”

Jasper nodded and took the stone from
him. “I’ll send for you if needed. Stay with her.”

Alex stood with Leslie cradled in his
arms. Everyone moved to let them exit the room.

“Well, aren’t those handy little
things, then,” murmured Matthew. He looked at Jasper. “I imagine
whoever is using these doesn’t bear a shifter’s mark.”

Jasper shook his head.

“By the moons, it will take forever to
check everybody.”

I stood between the two of them. “There
are sixteen.” I kept my voice quiet so that only the two of them
could hear.

Matthew glanced down at me.
“How?”

“Auras.”

“Right. The dragons.”

Jasper put a hand on my shoulder and
addressed the crowd. “When Hayden points you out, step to the
front. Be aware you have done nothing wrong at this point. You will
be questioned here, together. When we are done, you will hand over
your stones and you will be released outside the keep.”

I pointed out the sixteen humans and
all of them came to stand before us. I was happy not to recognize
any of them. They looked amongst each other and a shiver ran up my
back. It seemed that surrender wasn’t a part of the human army
vocabulary. They shifted as one. Jasper and Matthew both pushed me
back before shifting.

All hell broke loose.

Two smaller grey wolves came to stand
in front of me. I looked around and found myself surrounded by
dogs. Mel growled low in her throat as a tiger made it past the
main fight and came toward us. Tyler and Trent were snarling, foam
forming at their mouths. The tiger leapt and Mel launched herself
at it. She managed to knock it off balance and it fell to its side
when it landed. Dawn lunged for its throat.

The tiger stood and swiped at her with
a huge paw. It connected and her yelp seemed to echo over the rest
of the fighting.

An unearthly roar shook the room. The
tiger’s eyes widened and it stood frozen as death came to it in the
form of a panther.

I heard snarls from behind us and I
looked back in time to see Luke and Kacey taking on a leopard.
Kacey circled around to the back. He lunged in and snapped his jaws
shut on the cat’s hind leg. The leopard turned back to fight him
off. Luke took the opportunity to lock his jaws on the back of its
neck. It reared its head up to shake him off and Kacey clamped onto
its exposed throat. He bit down as hard as he could and pulled with
jerky shakes of his head until the blood was flowing
freely.

“Hayden!” Zane’s voice was filled with
anguish.

I looked around wildly until I spotted
him.

His black eyes were locked on Dawn’s
pale face. Her eyes were closed but I could see that she was
breathing. Suddenly, her face twisted with pain.

“Hayden!”

I ran to them and knelt beside Dawn.
One quick glance at her was enough to confirm what the problem
was.

“Let’s get her to your room!” I looked
at the scene across the hall and was relieved to see that the
fighting was over. “Jasper!”

He was at our side in an instant. I
noticed he had blood running down his arm, courtesy of some
scratches that had been added to the dagger cut.

“We have to get her out of here. She’s
having the babies.”

His eyes widened. “But she still has a
month to go!”

“She got hit.”

Tara brought over a glass of water and
offered it to Dawn.

I looked up to Melana who had come to
see what was wrong.

“I hope this might help change your
mind. The humans are more of a threat than you think.” I glared at
her. “You can clean up the mess, I have to make sure my nieces or
nephews make it into this world alive and well.” I stood and our
whole group followed suit.

Zane had Dawn cradled in his arms.
Tears rolled down his face. She moaned and he kissed her hair.
“Shush, sweets. I’m here. Hayden is here.”

We quickly made our way out of the hall
and to their room.

Jasper pulled all of the covers off the
bed and Zane lay Dawn down gently.

“Luke, we’ll need a couple of tubs of
clean water, towels, more blankets.” Mel glanced at Dawn. “Boys, go
help your dad.”

Jasper’s eyes widened at the groan that
escaped Dawn’s throat.

Tara placed some pillows under her
back. She looked up. “Jasper, Ben, Kacey, out.”

Jasper looked at me and I nodded. “I’ll
call if we need anything.”

He kissed me softly then went to give
Zane’s arm a squeeze before leaving.

Once the men were out, Tara pulled
Dawn’s pants off and covered her with a blanket.

A few minutes later, Leslie walked in
carrying the things Mel had ordered. “We heard the commotion from
our room. What can I do to help?”

I showed her where to put the water so
I could heat it and Mel asked her to get the towels and blankets
ready. Once the water was warm I went to stand by Dawn. “I’m just
going to run a green wave over you to make sure everything is fine
with you, ok?”

She nodded and groaned as another
contraction hit her.

I pulled the green over her and checked
her from head to toe. I smiled and put a hand over Zane’s. “She’s
fine.”

Dawn’s voice was just a whisper. “What
about the babies?”

“I can’t tell. All I can feel is
energy. They’re alive. That I know.”

The next groan made Zane’s eyes widen
and the panicked look returned to his eyes. “Dawn?”

She took a deep breath. “I think I have
to push.”

Mel, being the one with the most
experience in this field, took over. “Zane, help her sit up.
Leslie, Tara, come hold her legs.” She knelt at the end of the bed
and pulled the blanket back. “Hayden.” She looked up at me. “Well,
here’s hoping we don’t need you.”

The next contraction hit and Dawn
pushed with all that she was worth. After five more massive pushes
Mel started to look a bit nervous. “Are you feeling it come down at
all, hon?”

Dawn nodded and pushed again. Her moan
echoed through the room.

Mel’s eyes lit up. “There! Almost
there, Dawn. Just a few more like that.”

I got some wet cloths ready and handed
them to Mel. My heart was in my throat.

One more push caused a little head to
appear.

“Just one small push, hon.” Mel got a
towel ready to catch the little being.

Dawn took a breath and the baby slipped
out of her and into Mel’s hands. The wailing was instantaneous and
we all smiled with relief.

Mel quickly wiped it down and washed it
with the cloths I had provided. She passed it to me and I ran a
green wave over it.

Everyone waited nervously.

I grinned. “Congratulations, guys.” I
walked over to them and lay the baby in Dawn’s arms. “You have a
beautiful baby girl.”