“Did you go back with Kingsley?” Austin asked.
“No. My mother took us to her cousin’s pack. It had always been the plan, and with help from Alpha Barazza, she was able to get us there and get us settled. And that was fine…for a while.”
“But you had too much power.”
“Yes, and soon I was too good at this shifter business.” He faintly smiled again. “That pack alpha never challenged me, and I didn’t plan on challenging him for the pack. I know the result when a pack is taken by force, and I didn’t want that. He didn’t believe me. After three years, he handed me my hat. This time, my mother didn’t go with me, at my request. It was time to establish a new pack.”
“At fifteen?”
“One month shy of sixteen.” He shrugged. “I felt a lot older than my years at that point. I’d had to grow up fast. But first, I learned what it is like for a high-powered rogue.”
Austin snorted. “I know something of that, too. So does my beta. No one rolls out the welcome mat.”
“No. But strangely, people followed me. I honestly have no idea why. I didn’t promote or ask or have much of a plan, but people kept following me until I established a small pack down the way.”
He pointed in an arbitrary direction that I assumed was the town we’d stayed in.
“In the town of three morgues?” I asked.
Drex laughed, a hearty, joyous sound. “Those came later. That town is the first line of defense—mental warfare. It unnerves people. They’re already spooked by the time they get to me.”
Niamh had been right, and now I was thankful she’d been taking notes.
His smile slipped. “We had the hobby alphas come knocking first. They saw a teenager and thought he was easy pickin’s. I was sport. They had no idea how I’d grown up. Many of them didn’t walk away after the challenge. I made a statement. But it was exhausting and took time and effort when I needed to focus on establishing the pack, not to mention Iwasyoung and hadn’t grown into my full power. I worried someone would inevitably come through that I couldn’t handle. So, I moved the pack into this area to give us a little peace while we set things up.”
“And did it?” Austin asked.
“Yes. Hobby alphas are lazy. They either didn’t want to come all the way up here or didn’t put much effort into fighting me when they did.”
“But you still allowed in shifters to check the status of the pack.”
“Of course.” Drex frowned at him, not thinking much of the question. It’s a reaction I would’ve given. “Above all, I want my people happy and prosperous. This was always about providing a good life for a pack.”
“You still didn’t let in powerful shifters.”
Drex tensed. “No, for two reasons. One was that this town grew quickly, peacefully, and became prosperous despite the remote location. We’ve had a lot of wealthy shifters move in for one reason or another, and they give heavily into the community. Allow in delegations, and now, instead of hobby alphas, you have more established alphas wanting to take their shot. At a certain point, I had no worries about holding my own, but I remembered how Alpha Barazza had led his enforcers. An organized alpha and his or her enforcers would tear me down and change the way of life for these people. I couldn’t have that. So, I created a madman type persona and played it up for theshifters checking the pack’s status. I displayed my power and beat the drum, as it were, and the rumors spread. More serious and powerful shifters came, curious about the pack. I met one and all in the woods, and after they were dominated, accepted them into the pack. That’s how I started building my might. We train constantly. We stay honed. They’ve told friends, and the pack continues to grow. It’s a nice place to live, honestly. Quiet and friendly. It’s a tight community where everyone helps everyone else. We usually don’t have any problems. But then, the reason for not allowing in powerful shifters changed…”
13
Austin
Jess tensed at his side.Goosebumps spread across her bare arms. “The mages,” she surmised.
Drex put down his drink and leaned back, suddenly wary. “The mages,” he confirmed. “Now we reach the second reason I allowed you in. You have experience with mages. You are advocating creating an organization thatincludesthem. I thought you’d be open to mages in a pack. Many shifters aren’t. I wasn’t aware how ignorant I am about their magical culture. I’m not sure what I’m dealing with. They were utterly truthful in their representation of their plight. Mages aren’t subtle in their movements, like Jessie. But…it sounds like I’m only getting a slice of the reality?”
“Tip of the iceberg.” Jess nodded slowly. “But who knows. Maybe they did see the error of the Guild’s way, have wanted to leave for some time, but haven’t been able to. I guess the Guild doesn’t like losing some people, and so they make sure those people don’t or can’t leave. Maybe these mageswerescared Sebastian planned to kill them or take them in or whatever. Idon’t know. We need to hear their stories with people who know more about the situation than we do. Our mages can help there.”
Drex faintly smiled. “You’re the good cop, I see.”
She shrugged. “Not always, but I do like to give people the benefit of the doubt. My gargoyle, however…” She trailed away.
“How’d they come to be here?” Austin asked.
“Two years ago, our sentries were doing a random sweep and found the mages five miles from here, half dead. They were starved, terrified, and desperate. Usually, when we find Dicks and Janes, lost for whatever reason, we give them money and return them to town. They find their way. These mages had nowhere to go. They were being pursued by the Mages Guild. They would have been killed or worse if they were found, and had no plan.”
“Did they warn you that you’d be in danger?” Jess asked, crossing one leg over the other with wary patience.
“They said the Guild was hunting them. That implied the danger. I took them in, anyway.”
