Spirit Wolves - 26. Chapter 26

In the nearly three months since the executions, the Sentinels managed to tie up a few of the loose ends, but they had their work cut out for them. Sebastian and Reilly were busy every waking minute of their day. Reilly was so grateful he had Sebastian beside him. His mate was the perfect balance which he needed, and more importantly, craved.

In the immediate hours after they successfully defeated Alberts, the top priority became discovering the whereabouts of the European facility, which they knew was operational.

Zev’s ciphering skills had been used and abused until the poor man was exhausted. He doggedly sifted through stack upon stack of notes, trying to figure out the complex patterns of letters, numbers and symbols. After an exhausting, nearly two day marathon of looking at encrypted and encoded text, Zev announced Alberts had tucked it away in an abandoned fish canning factory along the northern coast of Norway.

Moving swiftly, Sebastian, with Nat’s help, directed Pieter Schultz to assemble a well trained group of shifters to conduct a surprise raid. Without direction from Alberts or Belland the research lab succumbed with no immediate loss of life. They discovered a few dozen youngsters in captivity, several in various stages of hybridization. Those working at the facility who surrendered peacefully were given the opportunity to help right the wrongdoing they had participated in. Those that didn’t, met the same fate as Alberts and Belland.

Robert proved to be a loyal ally. He immediately flew to Norway, taking charge of caring for the scared pups that were held captive in the old factory. He researched continuously to find the families of the pups who weren’t stuck in hybrid form and reunite them. Three months later there were only three families he hadn’t been able to track down. Robert took those kids under his wing, and they started to heal, not just physically. Reilly spoke to him often, getting updates on how they were doing.

The Norway facility produced eight hybrids. All eight, on Sebastian’s orders, were flown to Idaho on the High Council’s private plane, so they could participate in discovering the reversal process. That was the goal, at least. Families were flown in as Robert identified the pups' relatives. So far, none of the pups had been rejected, something Reilly was grateful for.

It was a tragic shame that so many shifters lost their lives, but Sebastian had been adamant. Anyone involved in the trafficking operation who refused to change their ways, paid for their choice with their life. There were no prisons in the shifter world. Justice involved either death, or banishment. In many cases, banishing a wolf from his or her pack was equivalent to a death sentence, especially if they couldn’t find another pack willing to take them in. For that reason, crime among shifters was rare. Banishment was not an option Sebastian would consider for anyone involved and Reilly agreed. Those who chose to change were given no choice but to help right the wrongs they committed, or else they would die. What surprised Reilly and many others were how many chose death. It was discouraging and disappointing.

Nat Chusi was instrumental in sorting out the South American mess. She spent the last month back in South America. A call to Sebastian highlighted the extent of the situation, and with the phone on speaker, he and Sebastian listened to what Nat had to say.

“It’s a fucking mess down here. The location is an old oil field camp that’s currently in the process of being converted into a habitable facility. There are humans and shifters in this balls deep,” she explained.

“The head honcho on the human side is a major player in the Vasquez family drug cartel. The patriarch has a jaguar shifter as a mistress. His wife is raising their illegitimate daughter, also a jaguar shifter, as her own. I don't give a damn about their relationship bullshit, but knowing there are at least two humans with that much power and influence in the country is alarming.”

“So what do you suggest?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’ve already neutralized the situation. I’m sorry if I overstepped, but I felt that it was necessary to move quickly.”

“Did you kill them?” Reilly blurted out without thinking.

Nat laughed, the sound tinny through the tenuous connection. “No, Dear. But I like the way you think. I had to call in some major favors. I was able to convince Dante Berard to keep an eye on them.”

“Berard?” Sebastian questioned.

Reilly heard the soft snort that Nat let out.

“I keep forgetting you’re not familiar with most of the players in the supernatural world puzzle. Dante Berard is the head vampire of a major coven in Colombia. For a bloodsucker he’s remarkably well behaved and cultured. He’s agreed to keep an eye on the Vasquez family and keep them in line. Vasquez doesn’t like having a vampire on his front doorstep, but he’s agreed to our conditions. ”

Reilly thought he detected a hint of admiration, and maybe something else in Nat’s voice.

“Construction on the new facility has already come to a halt. They were nowhere near ready to start anything and we’ve managed to get the word out that if we find out pups are disappearing, there will be hell to pay. Also, they will not breathe a word about the existence of supernaturals if they want to actually keep breathing,” she assured them.

“We can trust this Mr. Berard?”

Nat laughed. “Yes, we can trust Dante.”

This time Reilly was sure he heard a hint of something in her voice as she said his name. He winked at Sebastian, who rolled his eyes in return.

Satisfied that Nat had everything in South America under control, they ended the call.

“Well, it certainly sounds like Nat has taken the bull by the horns in Colombia. One less thing we have to worry about.” Sebastian sounded relieved.

“I wish we could just get rid of the cartel completely,” Reilly said.

“Hmm, yes, but if we get rid of them, someone else would come along and take their place and we might not be able to control them. At least this way the vamps will keep them in line,” Sebastian countered.

“Reilly?”

“Reilly?”

“REILLY!” Sebastian raised his voice.

Reilly shook his head as his mate’s voice brought him back to the present. He’d been lost in his own little world.

“Where the hell did you just go?”

Reilly blushed. “Um, I was just thinking about everything that’s happened. I didn’t even realize I stopped walking.”

His mind had been so focused on the events of the past three months he hadn’t realized he stopped making his way to the bathroom where Sebastian waited. He was poised on the threshold staring off into space when Sebastian hollered his name.

The master bathroom was already steamy and Sebastian’s body was blurred behind the glass door of the shower. Just his head poked out of the small gap created when he slid the door open to get Reilly’s attention.

He stepped in and hissed as the hot water hit his skin. It was maybe a couple of degrees too hot for him. Sebastian liked the temperature just below scalding. Reilly hugged the big man and surreptitiously adjusted the temperature to a more comfortable level of not quite so hot.

“I know what you’re up to.”

“Yep, and you’re gonna let me get away with it too.”

Sebastian laughed, “And whatever makes you think that?”

“Because I’m the one who took your ass cherry and you loved it,” Reilly replied with a shit eating grin.

Sebastian swatted at him, but he ducked out of the way. He couldn’t go very far and Sebastian’s massive size quickly seized his smaller body and held him in a vice grip, skin on skin. One searing kiss was all it took for Reilly to give in.

Sebastian ended the kiss and Reilly enjoyed getting his body washed. He groaned when strong fingers massaged his scalp. Damn that felt good. All too soon though, the fun ended and Sebastian turned off the perfectly warmer than warm, but not too hot water.

They dried off and got dressed, leaving with just enough time to spare. They were getting together for a group lunch before they dealt with any more issues. The pack had been scattered the past few weeks and Sebastian decided it was time to slow down and touch base with each other.

It was a large group that gathered. Hunter and Kellan were there and a few minutes after they arrived, Zev and Ben came in. They were both flushed and still smelled of sex, despite still being damp from what must have been a hasty shower.

Kellan’s family arrived and Channon practically skipped as she darted across the room to hug Reilly. It had been wonderful having her back in his life. He was so thankful for Kellan’s family. Jack and Connie treated both of them as they did their biological kids. It gave Channon a sense of stability and Connie was the perfect role model for the young girl. She and Reilly had spent many hours catching up. Now that the weather was warmer he was hoping that they’d be able to get outside more and let their wolves roam the vast woods and mountains that surrounded them.

Silas and Rosalie had become inseparable. They weren’t mates, but at their ages, they enjoyed their deep-rooted friendship. Rosalie had moved into Silas’ house, but insisted on having her own bedroom. The boys spent an entire weekend painting, moving furniture and remodeling the guest bathroom for her. The two senior wolves were good for each other. Kellan’s brother Sean moved into the studio over the garage and kept an eye on the pair, helping out when needed.

Silas and Rosalie were deep in conversation with Wayne and Sandi. The couple had settled back into their normal routine after the ordeal in Idaho. Reilly’s brother Dylan held them hostage, guarding them, right up until all hell had broken loose. When Dylan abandoned them to join in the fighting, Wayne took advantage of the opportunity and, after realizing the door was still locked, saw Sandi pointing to the window. In a flash, they shifted and burst through the glass, rushing to help their friends.

Donovan was the last to arrive. Vann was with him. The boy had taken an interest in medicine and Donovan was letting him tag along during the day when he didn’t have school, either in the clinic he had established or out making house calls. It was a step in the right direction. He was a quiet and shy boy, the recent events making him more so. Being out and about, interacting with others and most importantly having a routine, was what he needed. He’d opened up a little bit to Reilly over the past couple of weeks. It was going to take time, patience and love and some professional therapy to help Vann process everything that happened. He finally agreed to speak with a therapist. Caleb’s original pack had two, both of whom Vann met with informally. Sebastian and Reilly let him decide who he wanted to see.

As soon as Vann spotted Reilly, he came over and gave him a hug. Reilly and Sebastian were happy they had taken over fostering Vann. The physical trauma that he had dealt with had long since healed, but the ordeal had left him with emotional and mental scars. He’d balked at going back with the family that had been fostering him. Donovan seemed to think that in Vann’s head, he believed that the family hadn’t been able to protect him so he no longer felt safe with them. Reilly and Sebastian had rescued him and he had transferred his perception of safety to them.

He still hadn’t shifted, and they were sure it was because his wolf was scared. Time would tell. For now they did the best they could for the boy. He was a smart kid and his dry sense of humor often took them by surprise.

Lunch was homemade pizza. Sandi made a variety of large pies, all different kinds. Reilly took two slices laden with meat. Pepperoni, bacon, sausage, ham and beef were perfectly blended with gooey fresh mozzarella. He added two slices of veggie, just to balance things out.

Once everyone was seated at the huge table, tucking into their favorite choices, Jack spoke up. “So how did things go in Maryland?” he asked.

Sebastian gave the group a rundown of the past few days. Reilly, Sebastian, Hunter, Kellan, Zev and Ben just spent a week at Sebastian’s old home, meeting with the rest of the High Council. Sebastian was formally named senior Alpha, Reilly officially recognized as his Kappa and mate, as well as Kellan’s status as Lambda acknowledged. It would mean a lot of changes to all of their lives.

During a marathon of meetings, they agreed upon a schedule for the rest of the year. All High Council business would be conducted from the Maryland McDen. Sebastian consented to serve as the main adjudicator twice a year for pack disputes that cropped up. Discussions centering around the Council’s businesses were held at length and it was going to take a few more meetings to determine exactly who was going to be in charge of what.

Reilly was trying to convince Robert to move to the States and help keep Council business running smoothly. Robert was almost onboard, tentatively agreeing to give it a trial run for a year. He was waiting for one of the pup’s family to make arrangements to be reunited with their son. As soon as the boy was safely back with his parents, Robert would fly to Maryland with the remaining two youngsters, both of whom had been taken from foster families who no longer were able to take them back. Despite a language barrier, Donovan believed that Milo and the two new arrivals would benefit from being near each other. It was also in the back of everyone’s mind that they would be closer if a cure was discovered.

Neither Sebastian nor Reilly wanted to be directly involved in running any of the companies that Alberts and Belland had been in charge of. For now they were leaving that in Nat Chusi’s capable hands. She, along with Diane Zimmerman and Andrew Faulkner had enough business acumen between them to make sound decisions. Some of the companies were lucrative and with the right management would be useful assets to the Council. A few were questionable and they decided that if they didn’t perform well in the next quarter, they would consider selling them. A few were complete train wrecks and had already been closed down or sold off.

Nat informed them that the researchers working on the hybrid cure had made some progress. They were able to reduce, but not eliminate the wolf traits in four of the pups that had been at the mine. Several of the pups brought over from the Norway facility had responded to the treatment too. The original drug was created without considering the full effects. Trying to work backwards was difficult and they were walking a fine line. On one side they wanted to reverse the effects of the original drug. On the other side, they didn’t want to eradicate the pup’s future shifting capabilities. Gary Powell wasn’t confident that a full cure could be found. It was a sobering thought.

A major part of the shitshow that was proving to be increasingly frustrating was the fact that Zev uncovered a longer list of names of pups who’d been sold off than they’d imagined. There were dozens out there, and trying to unravel who they’d been sold to was like trying to unravel a ball of twine that had been sitting in a junk drawer for years. The encryption that was used was more complicated than Zev wanted to admit, but he was doing the best he could. It was most likely going to take months, if not years to track down the dozens of youngsters who were in the grips of pedophiles. At this point they had no idea how many humans were involved.

They knew for a fact that there had to be someone else, somewhere, who knew where the hybrid pups were sold off to. Zev had come across vague references, but no solid leads.

When Sebastian finished giving the group the latest updates, conversation died while everyone focused on their food. Reilly finished up his pizza and helped himself to another slice, washing it down with water and then cleared his plate.

“Have you heard from Elijah lately?” he asked Ben, who was putting his plate into the dishwasher.

“No, Zev and I are getting a little worried. He sounded a little evasive when we last talked to him, and that was two weeks ago. We’ve only gotten a few sporadic texts and most of those were answers to our own.”

Reilly bit his lip. Two weeks was a long time to not hear from their friend.

Elijah had gone back to California as the dust was still settling from the raids. He felt that he’d done as much as he could. He’d also been anxious to get back home to his family and friends. Ben and Zev tried to convince him to stay, but Elijah missed his home. Sebastian bought a Nissan Rogue and gave it to the shapeshifter, a gift of gratitude. One look from the Alpha was all it took to squash the protest that Elijah tried to make.

“Let’s call him now!” Reilly suggested.

Ben closed the dishwasher and grinned.

They decided to go out onto the back deck. Zev followed when Ben told him what they were doing.

The day was mild, only a slight coolness in the air. A perfect early spring day. Snow still capped the mountains, but the field behind the house was starting to come to life, tentative buds ready to burst forth with wildflowers.

Ben hit Elijah’s contact and they were pleasantly surprised when they heard Elijah’s voice.

“Hi Ben,” Elijah sounded tired.

“Hi yourself. I’ve got Zev and Reilly with me. We’re worried about you, my friend.”

“Nothing like getting straight to the point is there?” Elijah retorted with a heavy sigh.

“Seriously, we haven’t heard from you in weeks. Are you alright?” Ben asked.

“I'm not exactly okay, but it’s nothing for you guys to worry about. I’m just stressed out, trying to deal with all the little details of the chaos my life is in right now. I have a friend helping me. We’ve just been really busy.”

“What kind of friend?” Reilly asked, suspiciously.

The other end of the line remained silent for a moment too long.

“Eliiijah?” Reilly nearly growled, drawing out the name for emphasis.

“A good friend. He’s helping me sort things out.” Elijah replied, evasively.

“Are you banging him?”

“BEN!” Zev chided.

“Well, we all want to know, and you guys are just beating around the damn bush.” Ben said accusingly.

They heard Elijah laughing.

“No, I’m not banging anyone at the moment,” Elijah replied.

“You know we’ll help you in any way we can? Even if that means we have to get our asses on a plane and fly out there,” Reilly assured him.

“Thanks, but I don’t think that will be necessary. Ka–My friend and I will handle things. I promise I’ll let you know if I need help with anything. Your friendship means the world to me and I’m glad I met you. I’m looking forward to getting together again when things calm down for everyone. You guys must still have your hands full.”

Reilly recognized a change in subject when he heard it, and for now he’d let it slide. They updated Elijah on what was happening on their end and made him promise not to let so much time go by between calls again before hanging up.

“He’s hiding something,” Ben declared.

“Yeah, but we can’t force him to tell us,” Reilly said.

“You noticed that he said he wasn’t banging anyone? Not someone else was banging him?” Zev remarked.

“He’s an adult Zev. Last we knew, he said he was still working on figuring out which letters landed on his spoon of alphabet soup,” Ben retorted.

“Let’s leave it for now. He knows we’re here for him,” Reilly reminded them as they went back inside.

Reilly glanced over into the common area, to the wall where the painting of the Spirit Wolves hung over the fireplace mantle. Silas insisted that it be moved to the Alpha’s house. It was where it belonged and it looked good there. It looked right.

He walked over to the painting and stared, admiring the details. He took the piece of quartz that his mom gave him out of his pocket and absentmindedly turned it over and over in his fingers as he stood there. Rosalie came over and stood next to him.

“What do you have there, Child?”

He mentally rolled his eyes at being called ‘child’. At over seven hundred years old, pretty much everyone was a child to her.

“It’s just a piece of quartz that my mom gave me when I was young,” he replied, opening his hand to reveal the piece of rock on his palm. The sunlight streaming in from the window caught the quartz and the crystals refracted the rays, dispersing them into a shimmery, sparkly stone that seemed to come alive.

“It’s beautiful. Do you know what kind of quartz it is?” she asked.

“Umm, no. I didn’t know there were different kinds.”

Rosalie smiled. By this time the light from the stone had attracted everyone’s attention and they all listened to hear what Rosalie had to say.

“It’s Spirit quartz,” she declared. “In the metaphysical world, it signifies harmony and alignment. Look how the crystals reflect the light back and forth amongst themselves. It’s believed that the energies of the individual crystals bounce the light back and forth between one another so that they can all bathe in the radiance of the whole.”

Reilly’s gaze flickered back and forth between the quartz and the painting. The Spirit wolves in the painting had brought their world back into alignment and created harmony four thousand years ago. Now it was his, Sebastian, Hunter, Kellan, Zev and Ben’s job to keep their world in alignment and continued harmony. The Veil remained in jeopardy as long as there were still pups out there in the grips of human predators.

It was an immense responsibility. Today’s world was vastly different from that of the original Sentinels. It was connected by technology and the population had increased to the billions. Keeping humans ignorant so that the Veil remained strong was going to be increasingly difficult, but Reilly knew that they were strong enough to tackle any obstacle that came their way. They were connected. United for a common goal. They were Spirit Wolves.

The End.

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Author’s Note.

Wow, it’s hard to believe that this is the last chapter of this story. It’s been a long time in the making. The first six chapters were written right after I finished A Tattoo for Lex. I started to combine two separate ideas, Reilly’s story and Ben’s. For whatever reason, they both stopped talking to me and the story stagnated until after When Opportunity Knocks was done. I revisited what I had written, let it brew a bit on my dog walks and finally let the story play out. Honestly, it went in a different direction completely from what my original ideas were.

I hesitated a bit, not sure if I really wanted to tackle the supernatural world. I got over the hesitation pretty quickly as I realized I didn’t have to adhere to the rules that applied to humans. It became fun and I’m so happy I did it. I love the fact that in literature there are so many versions of what shifters can and can’t do. I enjoyed creating my little version. Will I stick with the supernatural world? Yes, for the time being. I have ideas for other, non-shifter/supernatural stories that I’ve jotted down and will get to, eventually. I deliberately left this story hanging with unresolved issues. Elijah has been pretty busy inside my brain, dropping ideas and sketching out scenes. His will be the next story that I post.

Caleb has been pretty active inside my head too. As a matter of fact, he won’t shut up, sometimes pushing Elijah out of the way. He will have to wait his turn (sorry @Mrsgnomie). I’ll most likely write some of his story too, seeing how he’s so pushy. Both stories will address the issues that haven’t been resolved. Whether or not they get completely resolved is still to be seen. Who knows which other character(s) will decide they want a story of their own? The possibilities of the supernatural world are limitless.

This story would not have been possible without a lot of help. Massive thank yous to my beta reader @Danilo Syrtis. His honest feedback made this a better story. I know that he would have preferred it to be longer (and Alberts to have had more whacks to the knees), but I can only do what my characters tell me, and they emphatically indicated this needed to be a multi-story series. That ought to keep him happy.

It needs to be said that @Mrsgnomie has been instrumental when it comes to keeping me on track with grammar and spelling. Being able to bounce ideas back and forth was a huge help. She nearly killed some of the chapters with her green edits, but considering I ended up keeping most of them, she wins. I can’t wait for her reaction to some of the things I have planned for Caleb! I’ve gained a true friend, which I am grateful for. Thank you.

So, my dear readers, this ride has come to a stop for the moment while we unload the passengers and take on new riders. Plenty of more ups and downs, twists, turns, and yes, cliffhangers are in store for the future. Also, who knows? Maybe this gang will get in line and ride the rollercoaster again. Thank you for coming along.

If you really enjoyed this story please go back to the intro and recommend it. I’ll beg if I have to. The recommendations really help to keep us aspiring writers on the radar of potential readers (not to mention it strokes the ego). Reviews are truly appreciated as well.

So in the sage words of my favorite Winnie the Pooh character— TTFN! Ta-Ta For Now!

kbois