Warming The Cold One - 3. My Trophy Was Stolen

“Jay?”

“Yes Tala?”

“We have been in bed for like a week now. Are we going to get up for anything but going to the bathroom and eating pizza?”

I turn on my side to look at him. “What would you like to do?”

“I don't know. Just something. I love laying here with you but I'm kinda feeling the need to get up and move around.”

I kiss him and think for a moment. “We could take a tour of the grounds. I'm sure Toby has someone around that can show off the sights.”

“That sounds fun. My only concern is that we are supposed to be in hiding?”

“We can't hide forever. Pack lands are one of the safest places to be right now. Even now, there are still changes going on in your body that will protect you from danger. You may not feel it yet, but your senses are getting more sensitive. Smells are going to get really intense. Everything a wolf does involves what he or she smells. Your eyesight is also going to be better than ever before. You will see things move in the woods before even they know they are moving. It’s the predator nature that comes with being a wolf. Your hearing is also going to be deafening for a while.”

Tala looks over at Jay about to interrupt with a question in his mind.

Jay laughs a little bit. “Before you ask, no this is not the part of the movies you should believe in. You will not need to hunt or have a bloodlust. As I was saying, Toby had us use this room because it is highly insulated. I did not just keep you in bed because I loved you. Mostly, but a quiet room is just what every new pup needs in their first couple weeks.”

“I am safe to walk in the woods?”

“The packs land run for miles before you will even find as paved road. I promise I will keep you safe. In addition, Toby would never let us go alone in the woods. One of Toby's guards would always have to be with us. Let us go up and see if we can get you some sun.”

We get out of bed and get dressed. On the table I see a small box someone has left for us. I open it and pull out two pendants on chains. I put one over Tala's head that has his spirit name engraved on Toby's clan crest. I hand the other to him so he can see it. It is a matching chain to the one I gave him a week ago before I changed him. He quickly slips it over my head. We kiss again before we head upstairs.

“Look who the dogs drug in.” Toby smiles and ushers us over to a small table with coffee and rolls. “I didn't expect to see you two for another couple days.” He turns to Jay and puts on his serious face. “Has a mark shown up yet? I need to know where and what it is so I can add him to the clan documents.”

Jay frowns. “No. I was expecting to see one too. Maybe it takes longer in ancients. “

“Maybe. So, what are the two love birds up to?”

Tala answers this time. “I really wanted to see the grounds. Jay told me we will need a guard to be sure we're safe out there.”

“I would say so! I'll get two of my finest to give you a look around. I wouldn't try the horses yet though. They don't get along with new puppies very often.”

Tala looks confused. “Why would horses care if we're around?”

Jay spoke up to answer. “Well my love, in the past there have been some aggressive changers that scared our horses. I don't want you to get hurt.”

“I guess I didn't know I was that scary. I'd be scarier changed, wouldn't I?”

“As soon as you can change unaided, then the horses will actually like you better. They can feel your spirit speak to them even in your human form. Right now, though, your spirit is all messed up in the head. It may not be fully aligned for two full lunar cycles.”

“Will I change on full moons?”

Toby laughed. “No, that is a myth. We measure time in cycles because we live through so many of them. A cycle to us is like a week to humans. The next full moon is in 3 days. If you feel up to it, you can try to change then. The moon does give us some of our strength.”

“Okay. When can we go on this tour?”

In the back door, two beefy looking guys walk in. They head straight for Toby and bow when they are close. “You needed us?”

“Yes. Jay and Tala would like to walk around the grounds a bit. I need you two to keep an eye out to make sure nothing happens to Tala until he can change on his own.”

“Sure thing. We have heard a lot about Tala and would love to get to know our new brother.”

The four men walked all around the woods surrounding the main building. Jay pointed out all the things that he thought Tala would be interested in. Their guards got to chat with and introduce Tala to all the people that lived in the compound. They took a rest on some benches on the south side of the main building to chat some more.

“Well Tala, what do you think of the place?”

Tala turns toward Sam, the bodyguard. “I love it. The smell of the trees is so intense. I can really start to tell the difference between the just species of fir trees.”

The other guard, Michael, chimes in, “soon you will be able to smell the difference between animals and even humans. No one will ever smell the same as someone else. Even if they are wearing perfumes or colognes.”

“What do I smell like,” Tala asks.

“Tala, it doesn't work like that.” Jay shakes his head as he sees Tala sigh in defeat. “If you really what the truth, Sam and Michael can back me up on this, you smell different than any other lycan I have ever met. It's the ancient American blood in you.” The other two men nod in agreement. “We can't wait to see what you can do.”

“Me either. Let's go back inside though. My head is starting to pound from all the noise and smells.” Tala got up and the others followed. Once inside Tala and Jay went back down into the room they have been using.

“Better now that we are inside?”

“Much better. My head is feeling so much better in just a few seconds.” Tala lies down on the bed. Jay lies down beside him. “I just wish I knew what was in store for us. I'm nervous about changing and nervous what my mark will mean to Toby.”

“Shh. Do not worry Love. All in good time.” Jay kissed Tala on the forehead. “Let's rest for now. You look tired and that makes me tired.” They laughed a bit and fell asleep in each other's arms.

In a distant corner of Toby’s pack lands, one of Jake’s watchers pulls out a cell phone. “I found them on Toby’s land. It looks like Toby got his pet mutt to turn him and they are hiding him under the main pack building. I don’t know how they got him here off the main roads.”

“They are where? He what? How did that outcast turn an ancient? I don't care what you do but get both of them here now!” Jake hung up the phone with his senior watcher. How did they get him there? Talking out loud to himself, “They must have smuggled him in on one of Erik’s shipments but that would mean they took him on the forest trail. I hated that forest trail with its ups and downs in the oversize ATV. How has no one gotten hurt?”

Has he fumed he remembered that councilman assured him it was impossible for someone other than Toby, himself, or another of the mega-alphas. He had to have Oliver for himself. He claimed him and now some outcast stole his future omega out from under him.

Jay awoke to Tala shaking him violently. “Wake up Jay, please.”

“What's wrong?” Jay sat up and looked over at Tala. “You're white as a ghost and sweating a gallon a minute.”

“I don't know. It just hurts so much. All over my legs and under the skin of my hands. Is this normal?”

Jay pulled the blankets back and looked at Tala's legs and hands carefully. He got up and turned on the lamp next to the bed to get a better light that was not too bright. “Your legs are darker than they were. Can you move them?” After a few whimpers, Jay rubbed his hand on Tala's neck and lied a bit. “It is going to be okay. You slept again for a few days and I think the lunar phase is messing with your body a bit. Do you feel anything other than pain?”

Tala took a few breaths before he spoke. “I feel like I need to move but it hurts so much when I try. What do I do?”

“Look in my eyes. Whatever you do, don't look away.” Jay locked his gaze on the center of his lover's eyes. Deeper and deeper he felt himself peering into the new lycan's spirit. After a few minutes, he found it. He knew what was wrong and it scared him. “Stay here. I am going to get Toby.”

Jay ran up the stairs to find Toby. He was in his office and when he saw Jay running toward him, he came out asking what was wrong.

“It's like something is stuck in his spirit. Something that is powered by the lunar energy.”

“Damn it. I was afraid that Jake had slipped him something before we found him. We have to talk him through its removal or else he won't survive the full moon tonight.”

“He could die?” Jay started to weep a bit.

“No my pup.” Toby took Jay's head in his hands. “Dry your tears for a second. His change and markings will be blocked forever if we don't hurry.”

When the two got back down to Tala, they saw him in a full sweat. “Tala, I'm here now. I can talk you through this.” Toby got Tala to look at him. “Close your eyes and I want you to do exactly what I say.”

“I'll try.”

“Good. First, I need you to find where your spirit is in your mind. It will look either look like you or a wolf and may be as scared as you feel right now. When you find him, I need you to see if he has anything on his foot or hand.”

After about a minute, Tala speaks again. “He doesn't.”

“Okay, find out where he hurts. Where it hurts you will see something that doesn't belong.”

“On his right arm there is a strange eye symbol.”

Jay looked at Tala's right arm and sees only the armband that Tala has never taken off since the end of his last movie. He points to Toby and Toby nods for him to untie it.

“No! Don't! That was given to me by a good friend and I promised to never take it off. It was supposed to be a protection charm. I even shower with it on!” Tala screams as Jay takes the armband off him.

“I have to. You will feel better soon.”

As soon as the armband is off, Tala passes out. Toby inspects the armband and finds an eye symbol printed on the inside. “Upstairs there is a large fireplace. Put the armband on the logs and light them. It must be burned before Tala wakes up.”

Jake is sitting in a large council room. Before him are the five senior council members. The head of the council addresses Jake.

“Alpha Jake, you stand before us with a request for help.”

“Yes. A human was marked as a claim for my pack and someone stole him from me.”

“Did this human willingly accept the marking?”

“Yes. He was presented with an armband with my pack’s mark on it. He willingly put it on in my presence and thanked me for it.”

“Did the human know why the armband was given to him?”

“No, but that isn't the point. He was marked and someone took what was mine. We have marked humans we wanted for our packs for ages without them knowing why they were marked.”

The five council members looked at each other for a second. “I accept your claim request. Who was the mark and who was the thief?”

“My mark was Oliver Rex Taylor. Taken by the one known as Ros the thief.”

A second council member looks at a ledger for a moment. “Alpha Jake, is this the same human you assert is of ancient blood?”

“Yes. I made a formal request and was granted an assertion that this human was of ancient blood and I was free to add him to my pack.”

A third council member speaks up. “If I remember correctly, we ruled that this human in question had to agree verbally to you he wanted to join your pack. From your request today I am to understand you simply marked him.”

“I waited to approach him. He was not ready to hear the truth. When he was, my watchers were to inform me and I would have met with him. I would at that point have asked him to join me formally.”

“What proof then do you have that he was stolen?”

“The thief kidnapped him and took him to his alpha to be changed. They then removed my marked armband and burned it while the now changeling slept.”

“Very well. We have heard your request and we will rule shortly.”

Jake left the chambers and sat on a bench outside to wait. He waited only a few hours before he was summoned back in.

The senior council head called the meeting back to order. “Alpha Jake, after reviewing your claim, we have made a ruling. We on behalf of the full council of the elders proclaim your request was denied. Oliver Rex Taylor is no longer under your claim.”

“What? You cannot do that!” Jake starts to look extremely angry.

The second senior councilman spoke next. “You came to us and we made our ruling. That ruling stands. You did not follow through on the previous rule that you must ask said human to join your pack. All you did was mark him. You had no right to claim his as your own without follow all the rules given to you.”

“I demand a full council appeal!”

“Denied!” The council head proclaimed. “I am not going to call the full 750-member council to come to Ohio because of you. We know what you wanted to do to said human once you changed him. Our most powerful link to the past bloodlines does not take the role of omega.”

Jake raged out of the council room. “I will have my omega. The council can go fuck themselves.”