Abriya
I focus on the road as I drive towards Hold Two, but I also listen to Clarence’s angry thoughts. ‘They have her kids, B,’ I remind him, trying to calm him down.
‘I don't give a fuck. If he wanted to know when you’d given birth, then he must’ve been planning something for when you did. I don't like this shit. You never should’ve gone.’
I grip the steering wheel tighter, feeling my own stress as well as Clarence’s. ‘Yes, I should have. You’re no less important than I am. How's our son?’
‘Missing his mother, and yes you—’
‘Don’t even start with that shit, Clarence. Have you suddenly forgotten that we can’t die? Huh? Even if he took me, you’d find me.’
‘Damn right I would, but he has that tranquiliser.’
‘And I will make sure I howl long before he has a chance to use it.’
He growls with frustration. ‘You search the other two holds and then get your ass back home ASAP, Abriya. I mean it.’
He's calling me by my name, so I know he's pissed. ‘I have every intention to. Kiss Amarey for me.’
“What we gonna do, Mom?”
I take a quick glance at Ariella beside me. “Find anyone else who might be informing. Your dad will decide what to do with them next.”
“I think she was telling the truth…”
“So do I, Sweetheart, but that changes nothing. There could be hundreds of wares at risk, and no matter how much your father and I don't wish to see her children harmed, the many must always come before the few.”
I catch sight of my Dad’s sombre expression in my rear-view but quickly look away.
Ariella sighs as she looks out the window. “I don't know how you and dad do it, but I guess I better start gettin’ used to this. I mean, this is my life now, too.”
I close my eyes briefly as I finally get off the dirt track to join the main road north to the next hold. I hate that she's gonna be responsible for our kind. I feel stressed enough with the role I carry, but to be an Elder? Having to decide what’s best for people, deciding what to allow to happen and what to make happen?
It isn't the life I envisioned for her.
“Don't worry about that now. You just focus on learning your magic.”
“It's all good sayin’ that, Mom, but I feel it already. I feel the magic inside me all the time, rushing through my veins, desperate to show me all. I wanna find that ware so badly, I can't even explain it.”
“We'll find him. Don't you worry about that.”
“No,” my Dad tells her from the back seat. “You don’t worry. Maximus will be stopped. No matter what.”
***
We get to the next hold and find another woman who acts suspicious when approached. She remains silent, though.
Clarence and I discus the rising problems in the holds while we make our way to the biggest and last of them. Hold Three.
Clarence is fuming. ‘Fucking traitors.’
I don't know the story of the latest woman, but the betrayal cuts deep. We take care of all wares in our pack. The holds, to me, are an extension of our home. We make sure everyone is fed, clothed, and protected. So when we find out that one of them has done something like this, it hurts.
‘I've just given Amarey his last bottle, Baby. You’re gonna have to be quick at this last one.’
‘And it's the biggest hold?’ I sigh with unease. It’s already five in the evening now. This last hold is gonna take an hour to get to and at least two hours to search through. Amarey’s feeding every three, and Hold Three is two hours north of home... ‘If anything, I'll run back. It will be quicker.’
I can feel that he disapproves. ‘You ain't going anywhere on your own, Abriya,’ he warns.
Ariella sighs and I remember what she said earlier. ‘Ariella said she's got a plan. Maybe she'll teleport me home,’ I say, trying to lighten his mood.
He chuckles but soon stops. ‘Just hurry.’
‘I will, and you gather your most trusted men to surround the house for the foreseeable. We not only have our son’s safety to worry about, but our daughter’s mate’s, too.’
‘I already have. I sense them positioning around the house.’
‘How did I miss that?’
‘I did it as soon as you found that second ware.’
‘Alright. Have you checked on Davonyé?’
‘Yeah. No surprises. He's still knocked out. Smelling offensive as fuck in there, too.’
‘How is that gonna play out?’
‘It shouldn’t be too bad, once I’ve trained him. I’ll have to assert dominance over him temporarily, but once I make him understand why, all should be good. Him in his human form is fine, but once he begins to embrace his ware, and when he’s in that state, he will want to be the one in control. He’ll eventually need his own pack, too. He’ll need wares to assert his dominance over.’
Davonyé’s the first dominant change I’ve witnessed. They don’t happen that often, but I did have a feeling he’d be different.
“Davonyé’s fine,” I tell Ariella.
Seeing her like that last night was awful. She was crying one minute and in pain the next. To say Clarence and I are relieved that she can’t die is an understatement, but we both know that her magical abilities ain’t no joke and that the more she learns, the more surprises are in store for all of us.
I feel her look at me. “Good. Tell Dad, thanks.”
‘She's welcome.’
“You're welcome.”
She suddenly holds out a whiteboard in my line of sight with writing on. I could hear Davonyé’s thoughts when he changed.
I thought she might. They really should be able to, especially with her eventually travelling all over the place like Aura does.
‘True,’ Clarence agrees.
“Wow,” Junia says from the back of the car, but she doesn’t say anything else. It’s obvious Ariella’s trusting only us with this information at the moment.
I take a quick look at her and she makes the board disappear. “So is your sensing the emotions just a part of your magic, or can you do it as a ware, too.”
I know what I’ve said is random, but I’m hoping she understands what I’m asking.
She holds out a board again. He heard me.
“Aura feels all, doesn’t she? So potentially, so will you.”
“I know.” She falls silent for a moment. “With all the things I can do already, I'm kinda nervous to see what she's gonna let me do next.”
“How do you feel about that?” I ask, realising she’s okay to talk about this with the rest of our family that follow in the cars behind us.
“I dunno. I know I'll have to start making decisions and all that soon... That's what makes me most nervous. The whole ‘having to let things happen and knowing when not to get involved’, y’know?”
‘Princess...’
“I understand that.”
“Don't start worrying, Mom. I told you, I'm good with it and still am.”
I nod, but my job as a mother is to worry about my children, and I always will.
***
We find another two traitorous wares at Hold Three, which brings our total to four. Dante offers to take charge of watching them because of his mate Xara being here, which Clarence and I are both happy about. I’m desperate to question them now, but Amarey will need feeding soon. It took us almost three hours to work our way through all the residents.
I close the door to the hold and then walk quickly back towards the cars. All four of the wares are here now, so it will be up to Clarence to get what we need from them.
“When will Clarence come?” Demetrius asks from behind me.
“As soon as he can. Probably tomorrow. He’ll let you all know.”
We get into the cars and I drive off before my dad’s even closed his door.
“Sorry, Dad. I just miss Amarey, that’s all.”
“You don’t have to apologise, Darling. He’s mere days old. Of course you wish to get back to him. It’s been a long day.”
“Yeah.”
I press gas along the dirt track and hear Amarey crying in Clarence’s arms. I knew I should’ve tried harder to express more milk… Oh, God… I can feel the breast pads in my bra weighing down the fabric, too. My breasts are so full.
‘Calm down,’ Clarence says. ‘I’ll try him with some water.’
I feel Ariella looking at me. “What's wrong? How’s Amarey, Mom?”
I bite my lip as I feel the tears pooling in my eyes. “He’s hungry, Sweetheart.”
“Mom! Why didn't you tell me?”
We suddenly appear on the driveway that leads up to home. I grip the steering wheel tighter as I round the bend to the house, and I smell the same scent I smell when Aura’s around.
I frown. “Ariella?” I look in the rear-view and see the other cars behind us.
“Yeah. Surprise. I can port.”
My God…
“I didn’t know I could do that, though…”
She’s been able to port? How long for?
‘The fuck?’ I hear Clarence. ‘Where else has she been…’
I suddenly feel uneasy. ‘I don’t know…’