Split in Time Ch. 13

When Ash finished telling Susan and Destiny he blushed as he remembered that Susan probably knew all this already as once upon a time she had been a Merk.

Susan shook her head sensing the reason for his hesitation, "no... I wasn't really front line, a medic only, I was always kept back until all the danger was over then brought in to patch people up." She told him.

He nodded seeing the logic in that as medics... trained ones at least were as important as doctors and herb men and women. They were guarded and protected if they went out into the field and if one was lost due to carelessness... it would mean the execution of the one responsible, at least that is what happened to the last second in charge in his group.

"Any questions?" Amy asked.

Susan and Destiny shook their heads.

"Then go... report to Bastion, he has food packs for you and Ghan will show you the plants you need to mask your scents." Amy told them, they bowed and left. Amy glanced to Ash, "That was the last group, Sammy is waiting for you." She told him before she gave him a quick hug and kiss before letting him go.

Ash nodded and left leaving Amy to wonder if what she was doing was going to help, and how many people were going to die in the attempt.

****

Crystal ran into Ghan's room, she glanced off to the side so that she didn't have to see Ghan and Keira wrapped up in a passionate embrace. She cleared her throat to gain their attention. It had only been a week since the patrols were started, they hadn't expected the Merks to return so soon or to have them slip through virtually unnoticed.

"What?" Ghan growled as he turned to Crystal.

"Merks have slipped through, they are less than an hour from the settlement." Crystal rushed out.

Ghan cursed and crawled off Keira, "has Amy been informed."

"Keira has the message globes but Destiny has gone to inform her as well." Crystal explained. Ghan tugged his clothes on, Keira got to her feet and started pulling on her own clothes. "What do you think you're doing?" Ghan demanded to know.

Keira rolled her eyes as she tugged on her boots. "Whether you like it or not I am involved in this. I will be there and I will fight if I must."

Ghan growled and went to grab her but she ducked out of his grip. "Ghan... I am immortal... I cannot die and you are taking this protecting your mate thing to a whole new level, you are acting pre-historic." She told him as she moved away.

"Keira... I am pre-historic..." he argued.

"And it's time you stopped, I love you but we no longer live in that time and if you continue to push this I will leave you." She told him firmly.

"You wouldn't!" He exclaimed.

"Try me." She snapped. "Equality or nothing Ghan, make up your mind."

Crystal slowly tried to back out of the room, "you know we really don't have time for this." She told the bickering pair. Both growled at her for interrupting but it didn't stop them from continuing.

"I am just trying to protect you." He continued.

"From what?" She demanded, "I can't die. I am immortal."

"Guys... really..." Crystal said trying to edge her way out but Keira was before the door.

"Stay out of this," both growled at her. Crystal raised her arms and wondered for a brief moment if she should have waited for them to finish before walking in. However, this had been building since Ghan found Keira and she knew it had to run its course.

"Keira... you are my mate... it is my duty..."

"It is your duty to support and protect our cubs... not to wrap me in cotton wool." She stated. "Even back when you were born it was not the practise to keep your mates out of danger. Males and females worked together to protect the pack and to hunt."

"Do you know how long I have waited for you? how many times I've lost you?" He asked and she shook her head. "Seven." He stated, "I have loved and lost you seven times. Forgive me for being a little paranoid. It's been seven hundred years since I last held you in my arms."

"But you still want me to stay here?" Keira asked and he nodded. She grabbed a dagger out of a sheath that was hanging off a wall. Before either Ghan or Crystal could stop her, Keira slammed the dagger into her chest, through her heart and prayed Amy was right about her being immortal.

She winced in pain but the pain vanished quickly only to be replaced with a feeling of nothingness. Ghan was suddenly before her and reached for the dagger, she caught his wrist and stood tall, it was an interesting feeling, she reached her free hand up and checked her pulse. Her heart wasn't beating and she found it a little hard to breathe but she wasn't dying.

Her eyes locked with Ghan's, "see I can't die." She grabbed his hand and put it on her pulse point to prove her heart wasn't beating.

Ghan's eyes closed in relief, he had been frightened when she grabbed the dagger and slammed it into her chest. Afraid that he would lose her again, in theory he knew she was immortal but in practise it was different, seeing her alive and whole with a dagger in her chest, piercing her heart, proved she was indeed immortal and he was stupid to wrap her in cotton wool when she couldn't die.

"I'm sorry." He told her and carefully pulled the dagger free, pressing his other hand to the wound to seal it while it healed. She winced a little as her heart jolted after a few moments then started to beat.

"That is a really interesting sensation." She told him.

"You should try getting your head chopped off." Crystal said. "That... was an interesting sensation."

"I remember, you spent almost an hour kicking your own head around before you finally caught it." Ghan said in amusement he remembered laughing himself silly for days after the event.

"You are never going to let me forget that." Crystal said, it had actually been a sparring accident, Ghan had accidentally decapitated her when she ducked instead of weaved.

"You brought it up." Ghan answered as he released pressure on Keira's chest. The wound had sealed leaving a red welt.

"Guys... merks going to the settlement." Keira said as she knew they would start to bicker and they had already wasted enough time doing that. She wanted to get this over with so she and Ghan could get around to the pleasure of makeup sex, as this was the first time they had fought since they mated.

Both nodded and together they left Keira and Ghan's room. "Hammer, Hawk..." Ghan called out, "our strongest fighters, gather them now, the human settlement is going to be attacked."

Both men nodded, split up and ran to do as they ordered.

"Mark go and get Blast and Eva, tell them to prepare for the worst." Keira added and Mark nodded before he too raced off.

"What happened to you?" Susan asked with a slight pant, she had run here to warn the nearest pack of the merks while Destiny had raced the further distance to tell Amy as she knew she would get there before Susan got here.

Keira glanced down to the hole in her shirt. "I stabbed myself." She answered. "It was the only way to make lug head over here realise that I am indeed immortal and do not need to be protected."

Susan chuckled then took the offered water skin to drink deeply. She could run faster and longer than she thought possible, she wasn't even tired in fact just the opposite, she was excited and edgy. She knew a battle was coming and her beast was anxious for it.

Amy appeared and with her was every immortal who could fight, that she could lay her hands on, she was going to do her best not to lose anyone and if that meant putting immortals between the two factions then so be it. With her daughters, their mates, Dominic, Gabrielle, Michelle, Nathanael, Maddie, Jesse, Nancy, Bastion, Vivian, Rhun, Boadicea, Cleopatra, Guinevere, D'Artagnan, Cass, Ghost, Wolfgang and herself, plus the six immortals here, Keira, Ghan, Destiny, Susan, Vlha and Crystal that made 29 immortals. She personally thought it was overkill to have so many immortals here but she could live with it.

"How are we doing this?" Ghan asked his alphas.

"Amy would like to reason with them, or try to." Wolfgang answered.

A woman ran up. "Ghan, Piper and two others took the children to the human settlement to take some cough syrup for the young ones."

Ghan growled, "how long ago?" He demanded.

"Two hours... they shouldn't have made it there yet." She explained.

"Crystal..." He started to say as he turned to her but she was already gone.

"I didn't think..." the woman began to say.

"Don't... we didn't know," Ghan said instantly dismissing her guilt. "How are we tackling this?" He asked Amy.

"Ash?" Amy said turning to the young man who took a deep breath and stepped forward. It had been a pure accident that he had been present when Destiny appeared to tell Amy and Wolfgang that the humans were in danger. He was still present when Sammy, Sienna and several other high ranking warriors came in to discuss tactics.

He had listened as they discussed how they were going to act. Each suggestion grated on him, they just seemed so... complicated. Without thinking he cleared his throat and offered a suggestion. They all stared at him, some grinning others annoyed. Sammy winked at him and focused as Amy and Wolfgang considered his suggestion.

And now he was here, outlining his plan to a group of seasoned warriors who were many years his senior with experience to back them up. "This is my plan..." he began, hiding his trepidation, this was his idea and lives depended on him and his knowledge.