but that didn't mean there wasn't a kernel of
truth to what he'd just said. I'd been avoiding the call that I knew
I had to make next, but avoiding it wasn't going to make things any
easier.
I
took a couple of calming breaths and dialed the number that I'd
started seeing in my dreams.
"Bishop
residence, this is Shawn."
"Hi,
Shawn. It's Alec."
The
pause between my greeting and his response wasn't promising, but I
waited him out.
"Hey,
Alec. It's been a while. I thought maybe I'd get a call from you
after everything that went down with Agony, but you seem to be
playing your cards even more close to your chest than normal."
"Yeah,
I probably should have given you a call. Agony's visit was even worse
than I'd expected it to be. Right after he left...something else
happened that threw me for a loop. I guess I haven't been
myself lately."
Calling
another pack, even when I wasn't talking to the alpha, was always a
bit of a verbal sparring match. Shawn was a good sort, but the formal
communication between packs these days was so intermittent that
everyone was reluctant to give up too much information. The Coun'hij
tended to find ways to make all kinds of tidbits come back to bite
people later on.
"So
what really happened when Agony visited? I've heard the rumors, just
like everyone else. Agony's men came back looking like they'd been
through a meat grinder, but you lost some people. That's not how I
expected things to go down. I expected that either you'd unleash
whatever you used to take Brandon down or Agony would pretty
much wipe out your entire pack."
That
was the rub. If I was going to be able to recruit Shawn's help then I
was going to have to come clean and risk the information getting out
sooner rather than later.
"The
rumors are right; I manifested a power when I faced off against
Brandon. Not before the challenge, literally in the middle of the
fight. It was some kind of vortex. I pulled energy out of both packs
and essentially leveled everyone there."
Shawn
let out a low whistle. "That's a big deal, Alec. Agony and
Oblivion both have to touch someone to use their powers on them. This
puts you in a class above them. You'd be up there nearly with
Puppeteer."
"Maybe
not quite as high up there as you think. All of that power leveled
me, too. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I was the
first one to my feet afterwards."
"Is
that why you didn't use it to take Agony and the rest down?"
I
couldn't go back from here, but I needed Shawn's help. The pack
couldn't continue on like it was.
"No,
I didn't use it because, so far, it isn't something that comes when I
call it. Donovan thinks I just need more time for it to finish
developing."
I
could almost hear the cogs spinning inside Shawn's mind.
"You
don't have much time left, Alec. Only losing three people when Agony
came calling is probably holding some of the dispossessed back from
challenging, but you guys didn't make a very good showing on the
first guy who came through."
"I
know. Agony's visit did a real number on us. I've got people who are
one step away from cutting and running right now and it's all I can
do to hold things together."
"That's
not a good situation for you guys to be in, not with everything else
going on. The dispossessed are going to be lining up to take a shot
at you. How many challenges have you had so far? Two? Three?"
"Two
so far, but you're right; they are just going to come faster and
faster. Best-case scenario right now is that they'll wear us down.
Worst-case scenario is that somebody really nasty comes through and
rips through us sooner rather than later."
Shawn
sighed. "That about sums it up, but it doesn't explain why
you're calling me."
"We
need help. You guys have the largest pack in North America right now.
If you could loan me a couple of hybrids and a few wolves to help
even things out as far as the power structure inside of our pack, it
should go a long way towards deterring some of the challengers. I
just need
truth to what he'd just said. I'd been avoiding the call that I knew
I had to make next, but avoiding it wasn't going to make things any
easier.
I
took a couple of calming breaths and dialed the number that I'd
started seeing in my dreams.
"Bishop
residence, this is Shawn."
"Hi,
Shawn. It's Alec."
The
pause between my greeting and his response wasn't promising, but I
waited him out.
"Hey,
Alec. It's been a while. I thought maybe I'd get a call from you
after everything that went down with Agony, but you seem to be
playing your cards even more close to your chest than normal."
"Yeah,
I probably should have given you a call. Agony's visit was even worse
than I'd expected it to be. Right after he left...something else
happened that threw me for a loop. I guess I haven't been
myself lately."
Calling
another pack, even when I wasn't talking to the alpha, was always a
bit of a verbal sparring match. Shawn was a good sort, but the formal
communication between packs these days was so intermittent that
everyone was reluctant to give up too much information. The Coun'hij
tended to find ways to make all kinds of tidbits come back to bite
people later on.
"So
what really happened when Agony visited? I've heard the rumors, just
like everyone else. Agony's men came back looking like they'd been
through a meat grinder, but you lost some people. That's not how I
expected things to go down. I expected that either you'd unleash
whatever you used to take Brandon down or Agony would pretty
much wipe out your entire pack."
That
was the rub. If I was going to be able to recruit Shawn's help then I
was going to have to come clean and risk the information getting out
sooner rather than later.
"The
rumors are right; I manifested a power when I faced off against
Brandon. Not before the challenge, literally in the middle of the
fight. It was some kind of vortex. I pulled energy out of both packs
and essentially leveled everyone there."
Shawn
let out a low whistle. "That's a big deal, Alec. Agony and
Oblivion both have to touch someone to use their powers on them. This
puts you in a class above them. You'd be up there nearly with
Puppeteer."
"Maybe
not quite as high up there as you think. All of that power leveled
me, too. The only thing that saved me was the fact that I was the
first one to my feet afterwards."
"Is
that why you didn't use it to take Agony and the rest down?"
I
couldn't go back from here, but I needed Shawn's help. The pack
couldn't continue on like it was.
"No,
I didn't use it because, so far, it isn't something that comes when I
call it. Donovan thinks I just need more time for it to finish
developing."
I
could almost hear the cogs spinning inside Shawn's mind.
"You
don't have much time left, Alec. Only losing three people when Agony
came calling is probably holding some of the dispossessed back from
challenging, but you guys didn't make a very good showing on the
first guy who came through."
"I
know. Agony's visit did a real number on us. I've got people who are
one step away from cutting and running right now and it's all I can
do to hold things together."
"That's
not a good situation for you guys to be in, not with everything else
going on. The dispossessed are going to be lining up to take a shot
at you. How many challenges have you had so far? Two? Three?"
"Two
so far, but you're right; they are just going to come faster and
faster. Best-case scenario right now is that they'll wear us down.
Worst-case scenario is that somebody really nasty comes through and
rips through us sooner rather than later."
Shawn
sighed. "That about sums it up, but it doesn't explain why
you're calling me."
"We
need help. You guys have the largest pack in North America right now.
If you could loan me a couple of hybrids and a few wolves to help
even things out as far as the power structure inside of our pack, it
should go a long way towards deterring some of the challengers. I
just need
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