Cernunnos - 41. Chapter 41

Arric pressed the end-call button on his phone, "Wendel has the APB out on Eike's truck, but I imagine he'll be ditching it ASAP." He wanted to chuck the black rectangle across the bar parking lot. How could have we been faster? Should I have used my voice on Hauser and sent Shea towards the lake?

No, it wouldn't have done any good. Shelly found the camp in her report and went south. He was already gone then. His snarl echoed into the night as he kicked his Sierra. Another shout followed as he noticed the dent he left behind.

"Alpha!"

He spun and saw Shea with furrowed brows, "Respectfully, you need to calm down! We got him on the run. There isn't time to get angry."

Snorting, he agreed with his enforcer. It doesn't do any good to get pissed. "You’re right. I'll coordinate with the local pack leaders to remain vigilant. Have Shelly and Walt work directly with Wendel and do another full search of the forest. I won’t let him get away this time!”

“And for us, Alpha?”

“Kara goes with Shelly. Jaime, you go and talk to Hauser. Use any of your psychological stuff to get more out of him.” Arric glanced between Shea and Cyn, “You two are coming back with me.”

Shea’s brows furrowed, “To the manor? You don’t want us out here tracking him down?”

“No, I’d rather have my enforcer at my side.” Unsettlement rose in his mind, “Eike’s nearing his endgame. Either he runs or fights, and I’m not sure which he’ll choose. Hopefully, Hauser will have some insight. Cyn, I’d like you to work with Jaime. You connected with Hauser and I think you’ll get some answers out of him.”

The deer seemed sheepish, looking between Arric and Shea, “Y-yes, sir.”

Briefly widening his eyes in disbelief, the alpha smirked. He will be a fine pack member. “Good. I’ll arrange for Hauser to brought over in the morning. Until then, we’ll keep working from the phones.”

As Shea took Cyn in the Camry, Arric took the driver’s seat and started dialing the surrounding pack leaders. Some were not enthused about being woken up in the early morning, but were grateful of the warning. Ending the call with the Minneapolis alpha, he pulled into the attached garage. Arric opened the lower council group chat and informed them of the situation. Best to have them up to speed, especially Pierce. He can get another bulletin on TV for the humans.

Just as he put the phone away, he got a response, but not from the group. Kieran sent a separate text. Hey Alpha. Just want to make sure you’re okay. Need anything? Doughnuts, coffee?

Arric stared at the screen for a minute before typing back, Up to you. If you get some, bring enough for four. Farrens are staying with me for the time being.

Getting a thumbs-up emoji in response, the alpha smiled. Out of the few girlfriends he had, none of them bothered to offer pleasantries as such. They were just trying to get me in bed or abuse the lifestyle. They most certainly didn’t offer to bring doughnuts at five in the morning. His smile curled. We’ve been on one date. Hell, we didn’t even talk about us being boyfriends or whatever.

He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. Or whatever? Now I’m sounding like a teenager. Great! Arric stepped out of the garage door and let out a large whistle. Two wolves bounded from the treeline moments later and dipped their heads. “Shea and Cyn will be arriving shortly, as well as Kieran. I know it’s been a long shift, but your relief will be here in an hour.”

The guards retreated back to the forest at the same time Shea’s car parked in front of him. When the couple got out, Arric turned to go inside, “Kieran’s on the way with an early breakfast. When he gets here, you two can take a nap.”

Shea crossed his arms and grinned, “I meant to ask about that last night. You and Kieran?”

“Are you surprised?”

“Well, yeah! I had no clue either of you played for the home team.”

Arric shrugged, “I never tried dating a man before. My wolf likes his forwardness with me.” He walked away from them, entering the house. “C’mon, I’ll start a pot.” Shrugging his coat off, Arric aimed for the kitchen. “I’m putting my money on Hauser telling us more, but I can’t risk the thought of Eike coming here for a fight.”

“Makes sense. Bodyguard duty then?”

“Bingo.” He heard Shea snicker, “What’s so funny?”

“You’re using Kieran’s catchphrase. Bingo.”

Pausing, Arric realized what he had said. Huh… I did, didn’t I? I’m already talking like him. He chuckled, “Key’s grown on me.”

Cyn cocked his head, “Key? Is that your nickname for him? I think it’s cute.”

Arric grabbed three mugs from a cupboard. “Thanks. Glad I have everyone’s approval. You two want some coffee?”

Receiving nods, he grabbed the milk from the fridge. He watched as Shea doctored one of the cups of coffee and handed it to Cyn. The larger wolf lovingly embraced the deer from behind. Turning away, Arric smiled. Those two look so happy together. Is that my destiny with Key?

The sounds of a vehicle pulling in front of the house caught his attention. Arric’s smile widened. He couldn’t wait to see Kieran. The moment he heard the knock at the door, Arric hustled. He felt Shea and Cyn staring at him, but they were quickly ignored. Opening the door, he saw Kieran with full hands; one holding a box of doughnuts and the other with a cup carrier. “Hey, Alpha!”

The goofy smile was contagious and Arric smirked as he took the boxes, “Hey, good lookin’. Let me take those off your hands. Thanks for bringing all this.”

“Sure thing. You guys have been up for a little while and figured you would need the caffeine.” He followed Arric to the kitchen and set down the carrier. “It’s crappy we almost had him, but it’s only a matter of time now. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“At this point, we’re waiting on Shelly and the SFBI on their search of the forest. Walt sifted through the tracking team and found that Priscilla was feeding misinformation for the original report. She hasn't been seen since. Wendel and Kaminsky went ahead and added her to their manhunt.”

Kieran ran a hand through his messy hair, “Damn! We were down to one rogue, and now we’re back to two? Has anyone seen Cait? She was Marric’s girlfriend, right?”

Arric nodded, “She went to Walt and turned herself in. Marric wasn’t truthful with her about a lot of things. She was flustered and nearly belligerent, but she outed Priscilla as the tracking team’s mole.”

“What a bitch!” Shea snarled, “I’ll kill her.”

“Wait in line, Farren. I’m sure Kara’s had her pegged for a couple years now,” said Arric. “I’d keep your eyes on the prize.” With coffee in hand, he stepped closer to Kieran and gently nudged him, “Got any plans today?”

“Just a class in the afternoon at the library.”

“Mind staying here for a bit? The Farrens could use some rest before Jaime brings Hauser here.”

***

Shea and Cyn adjourned to a guest room for a nap, leaving Arric with Kieran. The idea of fifteen minutes of shut-eye sounds wonderful to the alpha, but being with the scribe sounded more appealing. “So… class in the afternoon? What’s the subject?”

Kieran took a seat on the couch, “Pre-algebra. Some of the students are falling behind and the middle school asked for me to be a tutor for slope-intercepts and graphing.”

“Glad you know it. I forgot everything about math. I preferred history class.”

“You seem like the history guy,” Kieran said as he patted the seat next to him. “History was way too easy. There’s no variables or alternatives. With math, numbers come out different, especially with equations. It’s almost like a game to me.”

Taking the offer, Arric sat. He draped his arm over Kieran’s head, resting the hand along the thin bicep. “Makes sense to me, but like math, history can help shape the future. Everything is documented and we can look back to see what worked and what didn’t.”

Kieran leaned into Arric’s body, landing his head on the shoulder, “If only it were that simple.” Arric watched as the wolf squirmed slightly and whispered, “You smell nice, Alph… Arric.”

“Hey now, where did this nervousness come from?” Arric asked.

“I don’t know. I realize I’m dating the pack’s alpha, but… I think it’s because we’re cuddling.”

He shifted in his seat, releasing Kieran from his grasp, “Am I moving too fast?”

“N-No! No, you’re not, Alpha. Well, I don’t think you are. My wolf likes being in your arms, but… It’s strange.”

Arric lowered his eyes, understanding the issue. Maire told me about this a long time ago, but I didn’t think about it until now. “Key, what do you know about alphas?”

Kieran’s confusion was apparent, “They’re our leaders, and the most flexible in terms of power and status. Alphas have a power in their voice to control other lower-statused shifters to do their bidding.”

“Have you heard of an alpha’s emotional power?” When Kieran shook his head, Arric sat straighter, distancing him from the scribe. “Our emotions leak out of our bodies. It’s painfully obvious when an alpha gets pissed off, but no matter the mood, it’s contagious. When you’re close to me, what do you feel?”

Staring at his feet, Kieran seemed like he was searching within himself. Silence took the room for nearly a minute. “I feel… happy. Safe, even.”

“That’s because I’m happy.” The two’s eyes met, causing Arric to smile, “My emotions spread to those near me, whether I like it or not. An alpha is close to their animal, so there are two sets of feelings coming from me. Between me and my wolf, I can’t stop the spread of my emotions outside my body. They’ll always affect you.

“I think this relationship is going to be a little harder than we both anticipated. If you don’t think you can handle it, I—”

“Arric.” Kieran whispered. His smile slowly changed into a grin, “I’m not going anywhere. If that means I’ll be feeling your emotions, then that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know about an alpha’s emotional power! Can you tell me more about it?”

The eagerness shocked him. He’s not concerned? My anger can cause him pain or fear. Is he even thinking about that? Arric snorted, That’s a stupid question. Of course he thought about it. The kid’s got a computer processor for a brain. Arric smiled and nodded. He spent the next several minutes explaining everything Alpha Maire taught him several years ago. Kieran’s questions seemed to never stop, but unlike during every prior pack meeting, Arric never tired from them.

“So… controlling your emotions is really important, huh? I guess I’ll have to be your voice of reason then.”

“Voice of reason?” The statement was laced with sarcasm, but Arric wanted to dive deeper, “You want to be inside my head, Key?”

“Sort of. I can make sure you don’t fly off the handle during stressful meetings by asking an off-topic question or something.”

Arric chuckled, “For a second there, I thought you were going to offer to kiss me at the meetings.”

“I guess I could do that too,” Kieran settled back into the alpha’s arms. “Is that something you want to do?”

“I mean, it’d be a little awkward to stop a meeting to—”

“No, not that. I meant kiss… here.”

Arric craned his head to see Kieran’s brown eyes staring at him. Kiss him? He wants a kiss? Blinking, he lowered and watched Kieran raise. Closing his eyes, his lips landed.

***

Panting, Shelly traversed the Kettle North Unit. Yipping to her subordinates, she ordered them to fan out. We need more coverage! Their next goal was the New Fane trails, one and a half miles north of her position.

This whole thing has been a mess! Eike… I still have trouble believing it. He was such a nice guy back in high school. She shook her head. That was then, and this is now. I trust the alpha and his judgement. Huffing, she barked, declaring her team to take a break. The other two trotted over, showing signs of exhaustion as well.

Spending ten minutes recuperating, Shelly signaled to continue. She had doubts Eike was in the forest, but it was her orders. Scan and report. Kill on sight. Barking, the wolves were sent out ahead. Their formation’s goal was for scouting; stay far enough away to keep an eye on one another and their surroundings.

Finding the empty camp irked her. The concept of being so close to finding Eike frustrated her. Looking off to the north-west, she saw Saige. Darting to the north-east, Clive was weaving between the trees. Dumbass! He’s not focusing. She barked once more, directing for him to be more vigilant.

The trek went by faster than anticipated. With the sun setting, she declared their mission accomplished and directed the group to turn back to go home. Three miles flew as they arrived at their parked vehicles. “Good work, team. Clive, you need to rein in your wolf. Anytime you’re playing in the trees, the enemy can take you out.”

Disappointment flooded his face, “Yes, Commander.” Clive shouldered his bag and brandished his keys. He walked away towards his car.

Saige unlocked her hatchback with a keyfob, “Rookies. Shea’s a good leader, but some of his tracking crew are very… inattentive.”

“They’re not bad but they could use some discipline. Harker’s team should be coming back as well. You down for a wine night?”

“I’m always down for wine! My cousin left me a bottle of Black and Bruised before heading back home.” The ladies high-fived and parted. Shelly opened her door and put one foot in when Saige yelled, “Commander!”

Coming out, Shelly watched Saige sprint towards the treeline. Following her, she saw the reason. Her heart pounded as a bloody Anton stumbled and fell to the snowy ground.