Rolling his eyes, Tristan muttered, “How the hell do I know?”
“Oh…OH, so that’s why you asked about…”
“Yes…an oracle told me some fanciful tale about the Fates demanding the goddess of the moon give a gift to the ‘Chosen One’…which, as it turns out, is apparently me…at least according to the oracle.”
“Holy. Fucking. Shit!” Heath muttered, staring at his mate in awe. “I can’t believe…”
“Neither do I,” scoffed Tristan. “Absolute Courage…what bullshit.”
Shaking his head slowly, Heath murmured, “Don’t say that.”
“Why? Isn’t it what you were going to say.”
“No, you’re wrong,” Heath replied. “Absolute Courage is one of the rarest gifts shifters can receive because it bestows unlimited power on them. And in the wrong hands, it can be a weapon of destruction.”
“How? Oracle told me I can only remove courage from someone who poses an immediate threat to me.”
“That’s true, but I bet there were no restrictions on giving courage to someone.”
Tristan thought for a moment, before saying, “None that I can recall.”
“So…that would mean you could…what?”
“I don’t know,” snapped Tristan, now confused.
Heath looked intently at his frustrated mate before saying, “Courage helps to override fear, but too much courage can become a drug, triggering recklessness that can prevent rational thought about a situation. So it could give you the power to build an undefeatable army that would not only fight in the face of great odds, but even when faced with certain death. Think about it, Tris…an army with so much courage they would do anything you ask—even if it meant killing those they loved—just to get more of the high the drug of excess courage gives them.”
Appalled at the imagery his mate had painted, Tristan said, so softly his voice was barely above a whisper, “No…you’re wrong…that’s not courage, not at all.”
“Really? Then what is it?”
“Courage is putting yourself between danger and others who can’t protect themselves…it’s thinking of others before you think of yourself…it’s laying your life on the line to save another…that’s what courage means to me. Not a tool to be used against people but to be used for them.”
Nodding slowly, Heath smiled at his mate. “And that’s why the goddess of the moon gave you this gift. She knew you would use it for good…not to give yourself power but to give power to those who lack it…to give strength to the weak…to give faith to those who need it most.
“The bestowing of this gift on you shows the trust the goddess has in you and now I understand why your pack has been so quick to support and accept you as their new Alpha. Their wolves could sense her approval and because of that, they bonded quickly with your wolf. Those ties that bind your pack to you are strong and unbreakable. And that’s why so many of your members refused to leave, but instead, willingly risked their lives to stand by your side.”
“I didn’t want them to do that,” protested Tristan. “I don’t want anyone to die for me.”
“I know that, Tris, but to them, it’s an honor to fight for their Alpha…the one who cares so much for them he’s willing to die for them. It’s been a long time since this pack had an Alpha they could look up to and who put them first.” Grasping his mate’s shoulders, Heath murmured, “I haven’t met anyone who’s more worthy of this gift than you…and I’m truly humbled to be your mate.”
So touched was he by Heath’s declaration, Tristan could only stand there in silence. Any doubts he may have had that his mate really felt that way were erased by the love shining in Heath’s eyes. A love so bright and pure that it filled the many cracks in his heart that had formed when his mother died. Leaning forward until their lips touched, Tristan whispered, “Thank you, my love.” Then, he kissed Heath, lightly at first but soon the need for more had him increasing its intensity until everything faded away and there were only the two of them in their own private world.
~/~/~/~/~
Standing in the shadows, Bruno studied four of the surrounding buildings overlooking the location of the meeting Rudy had set up with Yuri. Quickly eliminating three of them as unsuitable, he settled on the fourth which had a clear view of the street corner. It wasn’t as high as he’d have liked, but it would do.
Leaving the alleyway, Bruno pulled his hood forward, concealing as much of his face he could from any security cameras humans liked to used. Little did they know how useless they were against the likes of shifters. In a split second, he could shift and tear out the throat of any human who dared to challenge him and by the time someone noticed the corpse lying in the street, he’d be long gone.
Grinning to himself at the thought of a taste of Yuri’s blood on his tongue, Bruno hesitated for a moment, then decided it wasn’t worth the risk of pissing Rudy off. Ignoring the urge, he walked down the alleyway leading to the back of the building he’d selected. Gripping his equipment case tightly, he stayed in the shadows while surveying the area. When he was satisfied that it was deserted, he hurried to the backdoor and grabbed the locked doorknob. Using his shifter strength, he twisted it until it gave way, allowing him to open the door, slip inside, and flick off the night lights in the staircase leading up to the roof.
The darkness didn’t faze him; his wolf vision would spot anyone coming down the stairs and his keen sense of hearing would pick up their footsteps. A sudden whiff of rotting garbage and stale urine spurred him on to begin his ascent.
It took Bruno a good fifteen minutes before he reached the last step, but at least the five flights of stairs had been deserted. Opening the door, he took a deep breath,glad to be rid of the lingering smell of days-old piss. He paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the roof top, but when he found it deserted, he stepped onto it.
Walking over to the middle of the roof, he crouched down and made his way to a spot that gave him a clean line of sight to his intended target. Once there, Bruno raised his head slightly and peered over the edge of the roof, grunting with satisfaction. It was perfect. Rolling to his side, he clicked open his case and slowly removed the different parts of his rifle, assembling them quickly before resting his weapon on its bipod to stabilize it. Then, rolling onto his belly, he positioned the gun to give himself a clear shot at Yuri. Satisfied, Bruno stretched out and slowed his breathing before placing his cheek against the gun stock and looking through the scope. Now it was just a matter of time until his prey arrived. He was ready.
~/~/~/~/~
