Leader of the Pack Ch. 09

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More answers, more secrets, more plotting.
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117.9k
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Part 9 of the 26 part series

Updated 10/20/2022
Created 11/16/2007
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secretme
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Cullen had to give Keith credit. He was nothing if not efficient. Cullen was looking over the pile of reports on his desk. It had only taken Keith 24 hours to produce a background report on Rafe Senach. Cullen was reading over the man's information. He looked relatively innocuous, if the reports were taken at face value. There really wasn't much more to it than what Aislinn had told him the other day, except some previous addresses that Keith already sent people to check out along with the address of the compound that Aislinn had been held at. The idea of what the man had done to her had Cullen contemplating the things he intended to do to Rafe.

Cullen also had a list of names. On the list were three bookshop owners, a couple collectors, and a librarian. All of whom shared the last name Senach with Rafe or, Keith had found out, were related to a Senach. Keith had done some digging and had pulled up some information on the family name. Apparently a lot of Senachs had been dying recently. They were a fairly normal family from public appearances. They didn't participate in politics. Most of them were teachers or writers. Cullen picked up a history book that Keith had provided with the report. It was written by a woman who called herself Alissa Morgan and covered information on ancient Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. That hit a cord with Cullen. Keith had found out that 'Morgan' was her pen name and she was one of these Senach. Keith was currently in the process of trying to find a couple of them. All of the unexplained deaths recently had Cullen wondering if the entire Circle was the problem or just this one member.

Cullen sat back in his chair and tried to remember what his father had told him about the Circle. Cullen hadn't thought about his father in a long time. Dyfan Arnauk had died long before Cullen had become strong enough to be an alpha. Cullen had always wished he'd been around to see the pack. The only thing Cullen knew was that the Circle had spent the last thousand years keeping their heads down and practicing pacifism to a fault. That was why the Pack Council and the Circle Council had parted company in the first place. The various pack leaders hadn't been willing to go quietly into the night, so to speak, and the Circle Council hadn't been willing to stand and fight. They wanted the Pack to play guard dog but avoid direct confrontation. It just went against Pack instinct and after a few hundred years the Pack left the Circle on its own. It wasn't a bad separation. Both sides of the issue agreed that they weren't compatible any longer. Like an amiable divorce. But that was what the Circle had been like. Live and let live.

After a dozen decades or so the Circle had been hidden for so long most of the people who had been a threat to them were either involved in different wars or dead. Another couple hundred years and even the lycans started to forget about them. By the time Cullen's father had told him the stories about the Circle they were legend and most lycans didn't even believe it any longer. The main legend being the one about the druids creating the first of the lycans. But that couldn't have been true could it? Lycans were born. Not created. All the ridiculous werewolf movies the humans liked to make up and the biting coach drove him nuts. Most lycans thought of that legend as similar to the Greek legends the humans had. No one really believed it. If you wanted to make a lycan, or any other were for that matter, two of them got together and had a good rut. Biting could be fun and with the human obsession to be more than a boring old human he could understand why they made that crap up. Everyone just assumed the druid stories were similar. Or the druids looking to give the lycans a god impression. He didn't even know if the stories were told to kids any more. But could there be something more to it?

Cullen was debating on what he should say to Aislinn about it. She seemed to have accepted that Rafe had done something to her. The way that it sounded, from her description of the compound he was calling the Circle, he was either recruiting weres or he might be creating them. If he was creating them who knows what he had done to Aislinn. But if he had been trying to turn her into something Cullen didn't understand why she couldn't change. Rafe couldn't make someone half into a were could he? It didn't make a lot of sense. Cullen pushed the thoughts out of his head and went back to the reports.

Keith hadn't been able to produce any concrete information on anyone in their pack causing trouble. But there was a list of tentative names of men who had been acting more agitated than usual and people who had been out of contact. That list included reasons for the inability to get a hold of them.

As far as the bonfires and Jenna went there wasn't anything new or helpful on that front either. Jenna was still missing and the Tairneach were threatening war. Cullen had even had a phone call from one of the feds who kept an eye on the pack interactions. He'd spent part of his afternoon reassuring the man that he had it all under control. He just wished he believed what he had told the fool on the phone.

The questions about the bonfires led to omegas who said that Jenna had made them do it and had told them where to get the stuff to do it. Cullen had been given a small pouch containing an assortment of plants that the omegas had put on the fire to turn it green. Apparently Jenna had said that it was for decorative purposes. Now half the omegas who had been at the reservation that night were panicking and thinking it was all their fault.

There was a knock on his door and Cullen groaned. He had too much information floating around his brain at the moment. He didn't want any more. When Aislinn popped her head in the door and smiled at him he couldn't help but smile back with relief. He waved her in and she closed the door behind herself.

"I was thinking about dinner. You interested?" she asked as she walked around his desk and stepped up to him.

Cullen grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto his lap so that she was straddling him, her hands were on his shoulders, and she was nose to nose with him. He nuzzled her playfully. Gods I got it bad, he thought. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're not Keith."

She smiled wickedly. She settled down onto the growing erection beneath her and chuckled. "I think I can guess how glad you are that I'm not Keith." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. This whole experience was scaring her. Not in any of the ways that Cullen thought it might. All she could think about each time he touched her was the idea that every time she had found something good in recent history, Rafe had shown up and destroyed it.

"How has your afternoon been?" Cullen pushed her hair away from her face. He was contemplating shoving the reports off of his desk and taking her on it.

Aislinn giggled at the look in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "Didn't you get enough last night and then this morning," she teased, knowing that if he wanted more she'd willingly give it and she hoped the smile on her face told him as much. "All the women are avoiding me," she responded to his question. "So it's been a pretty uneventful day. I guess Meredith told them all that I broke her arm. If I did," Aislinn looked skeptical, "I really didn't mean to. But she has it all wrapped up and keeps whining about it. There appear to be two groups of people."

While she was talking Cullen was running his hands under her shirt and heading for her breasts, causing her to smile through the annoying topic. She breathed out with an odd soft growling purr that had him more listening to her breath then her talking as he cupped her breasts and pushed his hardon against her. Aislinn tried to continue but was finding it more and more difficult. "Half the people I run into seem curious about me, amused for some reason, and inclined to sniff and move on. The other half, mostly women, are acting as if I insulted their mothers." If Cullen kept up his play then she'd never get to talk to him about what was going on.

"They'll get over it," Cullen said in dismissal and pinched her nipple, causing a delicious moan. He smiled and moved her off of his lap onto the desk. He sat her on the edge of the desk and nuzzled her nose with his angling her face up. He was pleased that she seemed to be taking this all with such acceptance. "As long as you think putting up with them is worth it."

Aislinn put her hands on either side of his face and stared into his eyes. "Tell me that you want me," she responded softly and with a seriousness that nearly drove Cullen back into the wall. Normally a woman speaking and acting like Aislinn would have him assigning her to some job as far from the den as possible. But Aislinn inspired him to want to do any number of things to her, most of which involved his bed and her on her hands and knees.

Cullen stared into her eyes. Emotions crashed over him like a tidal wave. "Aislinn, I-" A knock on the door interrupted him and Keith walked in without waiting for a response. When there was no smart ass comment about walking in on Cullen standing between Aislinn's legs with such obvious intent Cullen knew that something serious was happening.

Keith didn't wait for Cullen to ask what was wrong and only briefly considered suggesting that they send Aislinn out of the room. There were some things he wanted to know about Aislinn that Cullen didn't seem willing to broach with her and he figured that this would be as good a time as any. He had never seen his friend so obsessed with a woman. There wasn't a lycan in the pack that couldn't see where this was go. Hell, half the women who had been chasing him for decades had already given in and moved on to lesser targets. The only problem was that most of the elders were uncomfortable with Aislinn. She was too much of a mystery. And what was worse was that Cullen didn't seem to be in any hurry to figure it out. With all the time they had spent together, if Cullen had been talking to her, then he'd know her family life history by now. Keith stared at her contemplatively and Aislinn stared right back. Another reason to be nervous about her.

Keith didn't bother to wait for an invitation. He just started his latest resport. "Jenna has turned up. Apparently there's a mating about to take place. Brennus and Gregor are both dead and Rafe is to be the alpha of the Tairneach." Keith sat down in the chair across from Cullen's desk. He propped his feet up and waited for a response.

Cullen took a deep breath and stepped away from Aislinn. "When did this happen?"

"This morning I guess. Our contact in the Tairneach says that Rafe showed up with Jenna on his arm and a group of weres of all shapes and sizes backing him up. Odd weres too. A bunch of them were mix-breeds. Made some pretty speech that had everyone growling with approval and then Brennus promptly handed the pack over. Shortly there after Brennus's body was found along with Gregor's. The story is that the two men killed each other fighting over Brennus's decision. No one is contesting it. I wonder why. Who knows what Rafe's doing to their brains as we speak." Keith shifted uncomfortably and looked over at Aislinn. "You can't do that kind of coach can you?"

Aislinn looked confused. "What? Mind control? No. But Rafe seems to think I have the potential. He talked about teaching me. I think that it's part of the reason he won't back off and let me go. He keeps saying that I'm like him." Then she turned to Cullen. "But I'm not."

Cullen heard the tremor in her voice. He had been concerned that this might come up. He pulled her to himself and hugged her. "I know. Don't worry. I think Keith was more interested in the possibility that you might be able to do something to help the situation." He gave Keith a meaningful glare over Aislinn's head so that she wouldn't see it.

Keith wasn't sure he liked the way Cullen was coddling her. There were times that Aislinn appeared strong and intelligent. But all it took was mention of Rafe and she seemed to crumble. The guy had gotten to her badly and Cullen was dangerously protective of her. He only hoped that the situation would improve once they were mated and Cullen would be more able to keep track of her. "Yeah, that's what I meant," he said unconvincingly. "Look what we know is that we're about to be at war with a pack that was already our equal and has now added lions, tigers, bears, and the Gods know what else to their numbers. To make matters worse the new alpha has no trouble randomly killing anyone who might see reason and can play games with people's heads. I don't know about you but I'm scared shitless. You'll have to forgive me if I start grasping at straws and being suspicious." Keith's joking demeanor was completely gone and Cullen knew that the only thing keeping him from joining Keith in serious terror was Aislinn. It was impossible to think about anything unpleasant when she smiled at him.

Aislinn got down off of Cullen's desk. Keith was right. She knew how he felt or worse. Rafe terrified her. She thought back to the night at the mating ceremony, as much as she didn't like that. With a great deal of effort she pulled herself into the moment and tried to be as helpful as she could. She knew that if she was going to fit in around here then someone other than Cullen needed to trust her or they were all going to start thinking that the only reason Cullen liked her was because she was doing something to him when no one was looking. Well, beyond what she was doing. She smiled to herself. "I don't know what I'm capable of. I seem to be able to manage things when I put my mind to it. I'd never tried getting into other people's minds before that night at your ceremony but I managed a little. I don't know. Maybe if I put some effort into it I could do some of the things Rafe does. But it's more than just some mental ability he has. He uses something else too. He's always got a smell about him. That's part of his ability to mess with people. Maybe you could all wear gas masks or something."

Cullen considered that. "Maybe not gas masks, but I think that figuring out what was in those bonfires just became top priority." Keith nodded, impressed at Aislinn's thought process. Cullen figured that there were only two ways to figure out the herbs Rafe had used. Involve the feds, which he desperately didn't want to do, or find the druids. He looked at Keith. "Do you have any more word on the Senachs?"

Keith shook his head. "They've all disappeared. Every address we've found is abandoned."

Aislinn looked at them uncertainly. "Senach?"

"Yeah, that's the name of all the people who were involved with the book shops and such from your vision," Cullen said and pulled the report out of the pile on his desk. He looked at her with interest. "Mean something to you?" He half wondered about suggesting she touch it again, but she pulled back from it when he showed it to her so he set it back down.

"That was my grandmother's maiden name. Brinah Mong Senach," she said uneasily. "Do you think I could use your phone?"

Keith sat forward in his chair and cocked his head at Cullen with a look as if to say, 'see she's trouble'. Cullen ignored Keith and reached across his desk, picked up his phone and handed it to Aislinn. She stared at it a moment, the old familiar number from her childhood running through her head. She hadn't spoken to any of her family in so long. "When you say they've all disappeared. Do you mean in a bad way," she asked with fear tinting her voice.

"We don't know," Keith said suddenly sympathetic. "Some are dead," he said slowly and Aislinn winced at the phone. "But most are just gone. No trace. They could have left on their own."

Aislinn nodded and dialed the number. With each ring her heart sank a bit. As the fifth ring cut off and an elderly female voice said "Hello?" Aislinn was so relieved she almost jumped for joy. "Grandma?"

"Who is this," Brinah asked not wanting to hope.

"Grandma this Aislinn," she said sofly. "How are you?"

There was dead silence on the other end of the line for a moment and Aislinn could hear a soft sob. "How am I? Child how…where are you?"

"Grandma, a lot has happened. Uh, I don't think that the whole story should be said over the phone. But I have to ask you something strange," she paused and tried to think of what exactly to say. "Do you know anything about a Circle?"

There was dead silence. "Aislinn," she said seriously with the authoritative tone that can only come from a person's grandparent. "If someone has approached you saying things about that then you need to get away from them. Do you understand me?"

"Grandma I wish that I could. I'm not with them but I guess a lot of people with the last name Senach have been disappearing and I was worried about you. Has anyone been bothering you?"

There was some more silence as Brinah tried to figure out what to say to her granddaughter. "All these years and now this. Sweetheart are you in trouble? Have you been in trouble? Is someone making you call me?"

"Yes and no. I'm okay grandma."

There was a heavy sigh. "I left all of that a long time ago. I don't use the name and I didn't think that I can be tracked down easily. When Fearguis called and warned me that we were being hunted I didn't take it seriously. You tell whoever is bothering you that if they let you go I'll not fight them."

"Grandma I don't really know exactly what you mean. I'm okay. I'm safe. I'm not with them or the people hunting them."

Brinah sighed with relief. "Then where are you child and how do you know about this?"

"I'm sorry about everything grandma. I wish I could explain."

"Just tell me that you aren't involved with the Senach."

"I'm not." She could see Cullen and Keith staring at her. She knew they needed information. From the way her grandmother was talking Aislinn knew that her grandmother could give them information that they needed. "But one of them is after me. I'm safe. Don't worry. I'm with some people now who are protecting me. But I can't come home. I just called to see if you were safe and because maybe you could tell me something about what's going on."

Brinah was getting nervous. "I don't know what I can tell you child. I haven't associated with them a long time. I left when I married your grandfather."

"So tell me what you can. I mean anything might help. The man who's after me. He does strange things. I need to know if there's a way to stop him from doing them."

"That depends on what he's doing Aislinn. You're scaring me. It doesn't sound as though you're safe. Who is this man who's after you."

"His name is Rafe."

Brinah nearly dropped the phone. But she caught herself and tried to stay calm. She knew that she needed to get to Aislinn as quickly as possible now. "Okay, I can tell you that he is not someone to play games with. If he completed the training that he had been chosen for then he's an alchemist."

"I don't understand what that is. Alchemy went out in the dark ages. Isn't that turning lead to gold and nonsense like that?"

Brinah smiled into the phone. She had always been very proud of her granddaughter. She was impressed that Brinah knew even that much. "There's a great deal more to it than that. Wasn't your thesis on the fact behind myths child?"

Brinah thought about that a minute. "Okay, so what kind of alchemy makes someone able to control someone else's mind?" She said it before thinking. She was getting caught up in learning something new. Her brain had been hungry for learning for so long now. It was part of why the pack wasn't bothering her. She felt like she was back in school again and absorbing new information. But the kind of thing her grandmother was now suggesting fascinated her even more than pack dynamic.

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