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  “Eww,” Shane said and dropped his mother’s hand. She frowned and slapped him on the back of the head.

  “Boy, don’t make me mad. What your father means is that only a female eagle has the correct abilities to connect you. If I were the leader of the Peck, oh wait, I am because we’re the only eagles here right now. I have the ability to connect you,” his mother said and put her hands on her hips. “Have I taught you nothing?” Shane looked at his mother sheepishly and then said, “Sorry, ma, I forgot.” Trace finally said, “So what you are saying is that Shane and I have to find our mate now, together. I mean there are no other eagles here, where are we supposed to look?”

  “If I were you I would go to the New Council and see if Blaine and his mates can see her.

  And it’s really okay that you didn’t remember Shane. This type of mating is rare among eagles. You should feel blessed,” Willow said and patted their hands. “Now, I will pack your lunch and you need to get moving. Cami will be hunting you down soon if you don’t hurry.” She sniffled a few more times into her handkerchief. “Oh and tell her that I have the stuff she and the other females ordered from my website.” Shane groaned and put his hands over his face. Trace looked at him and said, “What?”

  “My mom sells lingerie on the side. The females on the Council discovered her website and they have gone nuts,” he said and groaned. “I refuse to deliver that message.” His mother hit him on the back of the head again and said, “Cami and Jo have been calling me for the last few days wanting to know when their stuff would arrive. They bought something for Skye; just tell them to call me,” she said with an exasperated tone.

  “Ma’am, I guess I’m made of stronger stuff than Shane.” He gave his new brother a wink. “We’re going to the compound anyway, if you have the ladies things ready, I don’t mind making the delivery.”

  “Thank you, Trace, wait just a moment, I’ll go get the package. They paid online so you just need to give it to them.” And she rushed out of the room.

  Shane nodded and sighed. When Trace and he walked out the door, he said, “Shit, I love my mom, don’t get me wrong, but that is just weird having her sell that stuff. And you’re such a suck-up telling her you’ll bring the packages.” Trace laughed and said, “Well, yeah I get that, I just want to make sure I have an in with a woman that cooks that good.” And Shane laughed again. “So, mates?” Shane looked at the tall man and said, “Sounds like it, at least we met before we found our female. We can get a few things straight before she comes. I mean, eagle women are really strong willed. I think we are gonna have to be set before we find her in order to be able to handle her. If she is anything like the other women on the Council, we are totally in trouble. Between you and me though, I say brothers sharing a woman, it’s less weirded out that way, to me at least, don’t tell mom.” Trace smiled and said, “Bring it on. I think that’s why we have two male mates in this triad, to help keep her in line. We both know what eagle females are like, but we have the upper hand, there are two of us, and there is one thing I know for sure. She may be bigger than either of us, but we’re a team; she’ll have to come to terms with that.” Shane laughed and said, “I agree. I just hope she will too.”

  ***

  Bama arrived for her appointment and was being given a tour. She gave herself a smile when she noticed her previous night’s handiwork had not been discovered. In her Harpy form she could fly while carrying up to fifty pounds though that was only for short distances, thirty was more manageable, so she’d brought some listening devices in, too bad about the cameras, judiciously placed them in various offices and what looked like meeting rooms, hopefully she’d find out exactly what was causing her eagle to be so nervous. Her mother would approve of how she handled this. She had already decided that she would politely listen to Braden, then plead a headache, and ask to be excused until the morning. She would call her mother and explain her misgivings and why she thought something was not quite right with this set up. So far, she had kept her eyes and ears open, and not one of the people she had been introduced to, worked for, or talked about the Chosen.

  She got up early for her hair and nails appointment, and missed another call from her mother. Then she was running late and forgot to take her cell. Nojoda! She was always doing that. Maybe she should get one of those ear things. Only she’d probably forget she was wearing it and shift. Poof, no phone! No, wait a minute, she did have her cell, yes, here it was. She put it in her purse last night! Finally, I remembered, mama will be so happy.

  She had assumed that at least a few of the workers here would be directly involved with the New Council and the Chosen. But what she saw was a shell of a company, and it seemed like they were putting on a show for her.

  She had arrived at the building and taken the tour of the facility. The wolf who accompanied her explained that after her tour of the building she would be shown to Braden’s office. He would tell her where she would have her offices for working with the New Council. She had sensed the wolf was lying to her but she was unable to tell lies from truth, she would think over everything she heard later, right now she was trying to act like a spoiled debutante, as if the reason she got the ambassadorship was nepotism and not an appointment for skills.

  Bama asked questions about Quin and Jaden and the she-wolf seemed to gloss over her answers and show her another empty conference room. Then they walked into a room where people actually appeared to be working or meeting. She had been very impressed at first, until she saw a whiteboard at the far end of the room. It had outlined some kind of plan for tomorrow. From her position near the door, she could read it quite clearly with her eagle sight. She was shocked and must have looked too long or too intently as she’d been quickly hustled out and into the elevator.

  All of a sudden, she became uneasy; the wolf had pulled out a phone and typed in a message then smiled a creepy smile at her, and then finally brought her to Braden’s office.

  Braden stood before her and was explaining that she would be meeting the Alphas soon.

  Bama’s eagle was hyper again and not getting a good feeling from the man and so she sat in silence.

  “We have a meeting in the morning tomorrow with the New Council, and I will set your appointment then. Until then, Roarke will be your immediate boss. He will be here shortly. I am so happy to have you here, with your family’s support we’ll be a fearsome Pack,” he said and she imagined him rubbing his hands together greedily, and did not care for the word ‘fearsome’ in his description; leaders should not be feared. She did not like the impression he gave; something seemed a little off about his attitude. He seemed excited, not calm or commanding, his actions did not seem like the controlled power of a Beta wolf.

  “Pardon me, Señor Braden, I must interrupt, you say Señor Roarke will be my boss?

  What does this mean? Boss? I thought my presence was to be appointed as the South American liaison to the New Council,” Bama said slowly.

  “Oh, of course, that will be your job. However, until things are set up, you will be answering to Roarke. We have a lot of things to work out, beginning tomorrow. Now when will your mother be sending more eagles?” Braden said.

  “I think we have what you would call a communication issue. I am here, this is all my mother is sending. I don’t think we set up a consulate, I need no staff. What more could you possibly need to be a liaison? If I need a secretary or an assistant, I could hire one locally, could I not?” she asked smoothly.

  Braden frowned and turned around and faced her. She didn’t like the wild look in the man’s eye. “Wait, what? Your mother said she would support me, I mean the New Council in its future endeavors. I can’t possibly guarantee that your interests will be secure unless we have eagles under my command.”

  Bama stood up and was about ready to tell the man where he could take his endeavor when the door opened and a tall, too smooth looking man came in.

  “Master,” the man said and Bama’s eyes widened. Why would this wolf call Bra
den Master? He was only the Beta of the Old Council, he was no leader.

  “Roarke, this is Blanca Arjelia Matilde Aguilar, our new member and representative from the South. I was just explaining to her that she will be falling under you,” Braden said a little too loudly.

  Roarke smiled and held out his hand. “Of course, Miss Aguilar, pleased to meet you. I have an office set up for you. The next few weeks are going to be very busy.”

  “Encantado,” Bama shook the man’s hand and then fought the urge to wipe it off on her pant suit. She knew it was rude, but she could not give him the normal greeting for business associates of a kiss on the cheek. It was easy to avoid Braden, as he’d never had the courtesy to come out from behind his desk. This Roarke though, he was slimy; she knew her mother should never have agreed to send her here. Something was really wrong; she needed to play into these men until she could talk to her mother. She smiled her most disarming smile and said, “Of course, Señor Roarke, I am very excited to begin making our friendship strong. However, right now, I’m feeling a little unwell; my rest was disturbed last night. I should go home and return tomorrow.”

  “Roarke, why don’t you go and get our new guest settled and then come back to my office directly; there is a lot we have to discuss before tomorrow,” Braden said and sat down.

  Her phone began to vibrate and she could hear the buzzing sound it made. He actually dismissed her, she thought as she pulled her cell from her purse. What was going on here? He did not deserve polite behavior, she would take the call. She looked at the phone and saw the call was from her mother. “Mi Madre is calling now, Señor, I will put your question to her.” She pressed the answer button, “ Buenos tardes, Matilde.” Roarke struck the phone from her hand. He picked it up, pulled out the battery and sim card, and broke the phone into pieces.

  She turned and saw two large men in the doorway; this was not going to proceed as she thought.

  “Señor?” She said quietly, appearing to be afraid.

  Roarke stepped forward and took her hand. “We seem to have a little misunderstanding. You see, we need supporters, your mother had declined every request we made to her under the Supreme Council’s name, I’m sorry we had to resort to such deception. But look at the bright side. According to our sources, your mother would do anything to make sure you’re safe.”

  Bama felt her eyes widen and worked hard not to let her hair go flat to her skull, a sure sign of anger. “What do you mean?”

  Braden laughed and said, “Really? I thought you were more intelligent than that. What a pity, Roarke, it seems that our little bird needs to have a picture drawn out for her. Let me explain this real slowly so you can understand. I am not a part of that weak group of shifters called the Old Council, or the New Council, or anything to do with the supposed Chosen ones. We are the New Supreme Council. We are the future leaders of the shifter world. By this time tomorrow, the weakling Quin will be dead and while their precious Chosen Council is in disarray, I will swoop in and retrieve what is rightfully mine. When my mates are by my side, then the Supreme Council will be ready. With Roarke at my side as Beta, and the others I have found, we will crush the notion of revealing ourselves to the humans, and proceed to use every one of our resources to place shifters in positions of leadership. When everything is in place, we will control the humans and they will never even know it.”

  Bama shivered, her mother was going to be very, very angry. They had agreed with the philosophy of the New Council, and many of their members were looking forward to coming out into the open. They hoped that humans and shifters living in peace would bring the world into a new era of enlightenment. The wild look in the man’s eyes made her uneasy. He was close to the edge, she thought, and Roarke knew it. She saw the calculating way the Beta looked at his ‘Master’. There was so much more going on here than what Braden knew.

  “You are going to be the key to bringing Central and South America into line. We need more Warriors and eagles would be the perfect addition to our Pack. While we hold you, your mother will do anything we ask. You were a fool to come here. I was too smart for your supposedly intelligent mother. This is what happens when you hire relatives. Now I have you in my power, you will go along with my plans or you will die. Don’t even try shifting.” Braden said and snapped his fingers at the two wolves in the doorway. “It seems our guest is going to need round the clock supervision. Take her to the warehouse and have Lola and Barbara attend to her. Don’t let her out of your sight, and do not under any circumstances allow her to get to a phone.” The men nodded and came to Bama and surrounded her. She pulled her arm away when one of them reached for her. “This will not do at all. I demand you allow me to call my mother immediately and talk to her.”

  “I’m sorry, little bird. You see, I’ll be calling her and cementing her support for the Supreme Council’s attack tomorrow on the New Council during the challenge. She should be able to send a few hundred eagles up here fast enough to help us with the fall out. When the rest of the Chosen find out that we have the support of all of South America, they will have no choice but to surrender to me.” Braden crowed.

  “My mother will never agree to this.” Bama stated in a calm voice.

  “I beg to differ. I know exactly how your mother will react. She will be terrified her precious, little bird will be in danger. Why the eagles would allow a woman to lead them is beyond me. They are so easily manipulated. Look how you came running when I called.” Braden laughed.

  Bama held back from telling him exactly what she was going to do when she was free.

  He obviously knew nothing about her training or her mother’s training. They were both forces to be reckoned with. She would take great pleasure in gutting this wolf. But for now, she must play the part. She sniffed and held her head up. Regardless of the roles she had to play, she would never bow to them.

  “Señor, I implore you one more time to allow me to call my mother.” She said and swallowed when one of the men reached out to take her arm. He held her firmly and then Braden laughed.

  “Chain her.”

  She gasped and allowed herself to be taken from the room. If she acted scared enough hopefully they wouldn’t search her. Her wardrobe was more than a fashion statement; she had a number of tools concealed within her clothing and jewelry. She only hoped they would take her right where she wanted to be, the warehouse. She was happy she was able to send the coded message to her mother. The same way her mother called her Arjelia, when she wanted something, she called her Matilde when she sent her on a dangerous, covert mission. She would now be alerted and set plans in motion.

  Chapter 5

  Shane and Trace pulled up to the gate. Trip walked out and smiled, “They’re waiting for you in the temporary council chambers.”

  Shane nodded and drove through the gates and smiled at his mate before saying,

  “Ready?”

  Trace pushed back his hat and said with a drawl, “Lead on, Bro.” Shane laughed and slid out of the truck his father had lent him. His was not going to be ready for a few days. Trace wanted to bring his truck, but his parents convinced him to leave it at their house along with the dogs until things were discussed. The Alphas would insist on him staying here and Shane also, when they found out they were mates.

  But until they found their third mate, it seemed a little silly to bring all of his belongings.

  So instead, Trace had packed a bag of clothes and his electronics, and then they stopped on the way at Shane’s modest house. Trace had liked the place, but from what Shane explained, he would have to sell. Shane didn’t seem to be upset at all, and said that it was just a house, he wanted a home. Trace understood that comment and related the story of his old house that had gone from a short term loan to a gift to the tribe in under a day, they both laughed knowing how the Matriarchal Pecks worked.

  Trace slid from the truck and took a deep breath. He looked at the large Bed and Breakfast and walked behind Shane who led him into the front entrance. There
was a lot of commotion. He could hear females laughing and he caught sight of one female who was obviously pregnant, led by another one who looked even farther along. They paused at the bottom of the stairs and laughed when they were out of breath. Trace, ever the gentlemen, raced forward and said, “Do you ladies need a hand?”

  “Oh shit, a cowboy. Hot damn, Cami is gonna love this,” the taller woman said. Trace just stepped back and looked confused. She was pretty and obviously a wolf. The height alone would have clued him into that. But what drew his attention was the fact that she was pregnant and still wore leggings and combat boots. A stethoscope hung around her neck and he could not figure out who she was. She looked like a cross between a biker and a doctor, maybe she was a biker playing doctor, he thought and laughed.

  Shane stepped forward and said, “Cloe, this is Trace. Trace, this is Cloe; she’s one of the Chosen. The medical advisor, her mates are Darien and Teagan; they should be around here somewhere. And this very pregnant one is Ruby; she is Levi and Reggie’s mate.” Ruby smiled and said, “Thanks, Shane, and only a few more weeks. I am so glad that I am a wolf and not a human, I would never survive 9 months of this.” Cloe laughed and said, “Yeah, well I am right behind you, if I could find a way to hurry it along I would.”

  Trace laughed with the women. “Do you need some help into the conference room?” Cloe shook her head and smiled. “No, but thanks. We have to raid the kitchen first.” Ruby laughed and rubbed her stomach. “Yeah, some jalapeño poppers are calling me.” The women laughed together and walked in the opposite direction from the conference room Shane had pointed out to him when they entered the building. Four men appeared at the top of the stairs frowning. Trace looked at them and automatically pointed in the direction that the women were headed, he recognized the worried spouse look they all wore. He smiled when they jogged down the stairs.