Stepping forward I rapped on the door, taking deep breaths and trying to alleviate some of the tension that was building up inside me - I didn't want Tyler privy to my fears, I was supposed to be the strong one after all but it didn't feel like it most of the time.
After a minute nothing happened so I raised my hand to knock again when the old door creaked open and a guy stood there. He was probably a little older than my dad. He looked me over slowly, before dragging his eyes to Tyler and looking at her in the same manner. I fidgeted and tried my hardest not to step in front of her so he couldn't look at her, I needed to relax and get this done. This was no time for being jealous about someone looking at my mate.
"Yeah?" the guy grunted finally.
I frowned. Yeah? That wasn't exactly a council greeting, surely. "Hi. I'm Sean Houston and this is my wife, Tyler. I was told to come here at four, by Ryce Thompson. We're here to see Roland Thompson," I said, smiling politely.
He cocked his head to the side and nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Right, of course, sorry. Come on in. Sorry about that, we get a lot of people selling stuff door to door," he said, waving us through.
I laughed nervously and gripped Tyler's hand, pulling her close to my back as I walked through, bringing her with me. I accidently let my free hand brush over the guy's forearm as I moved past him. Instantly from the touch I knew that this guy was a shifter so we had to be in the right place.
The place was just as bad inside as what I thought it would be. It was like some kind of abandoned warehouse. Dust settled on everything, old pieces of furniture and boxes littered the floor. Cobwebs hung off of every surface.
'What do you think, baby? Are we in the right place?' I sent to Tyler through our mind connection.
Her hand tightened on mine and she pressed into me as a mouse scuttled across the floor in front of us. 'No idea, lover boy, but I really don't like it here so let's leave as soon as we're done, okay?' she replied, whimpering quietly.
I eyed the guy that was with us as we walked across the empty warehouse. If he was going to hurt my girl then I was going to kill him without hesitation. I could feel the apprehension building in the pit of my stomach; it was made worse because I could feel Tyler's unease building there too. I squeezed her hand reassuringly and clutched the envelope tightly in my other hand.
"So, this is a nice place," I said to the guy, laughing quietly.
He smiled but didn't say anything.
"Where is everyone? I thought the place would be a little grander than this," I said, motioning to the room with my head. In Tyler's vision the room that we spoke to the council in, was grand but fairly dark, no windows but big chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, stone floors, expensive looking velvet material had hung from the walls. We had to be in the wrong place.
Again, the guy didn't respond. He stopped at another rotting looking door and pulled out a key, unlocking the padlock and pushing it open. Before letting Tyler walk in, I flicked my eyes around, it was just another old looking dusty room, one other guy was standing in there looking at us nervously.
'Stay close to me, if I have to shift then you get out of the way, quickly. If there's trouble then you close your eyes, don't watch. Understand?' I instructed Tyler through our mind link. She nodded slightly so I walked in, keeping her close to my back just in case. These guys were no threat really, I could kill them in seconds but I didn’t really want her to have to see it.
"Before I can let you enter, I need to search you both," the new guy said, coming forward with his hands outstretched.
I felt the frown slip onto my face but I tried my hardest to keep my annoyance off of my face, I really didn't want this guy's hands anywhere near my wife. I stepped in front of her and nodded, signalling that he should do me first.
He eyed me curiously before pulling out one of those scanner things and nodding to the brown envelope in my hands. "What's in there?" he asked.
I shrugged and threw it on the table as if it wasn't important, when in reality we needed that, it was our only hope on convincing them. "Papers, letters. It can't be opened but there's nothing in there that can harm anyone. Scan it if you want," I suggested casually. He nodded, picking it up and running the scanner over it cautiously. Drugs and things like that didn't have any effect on shifters so they needn't worry about us slipping some kind of poison like anthrax or anything. He was probably worried about me taking in some kind of explosive device disguised as a button or something.
When he was satisfied, he ran the scanner over me while the other guy stood there next to him, eyeing me worriedly. Maybe they got a lot of threats to the council or something, there had to be a reason he was so worried. I'd specifically asked Ryce not to tell his grandfather why we were coming today, so this guy couldn't be worried about my extra abilities.
When the scanner showed no metal he did a pat down search too. When he did the same to Tyler, I bit back a growl as his hands skimmed over her chest, checking for anything she was hiding in her bra.
"I think that's enough," I hissed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to me.
Tyler giggled and rolled her eyes but shrank into my side at the same time.
The guy nodded to her. "You can go in, but your wife will have to wait outside," he said, shrugging and putting the scanner back down. He turned to the other guy and nodded. "You can take him down, she can wait here."
I snorted. "That's not happening at all. She comes too," I stated sternly.
He shook his head. "Human's aren’t allowed down into the chambers," he countered.
"Tyler is not a human. She's my bond mate," I corrected. Half of that statement was true, she was my mate, it's just that she was human too but I wasn't explaining that to this guy.
He frowned and looked at her curiously. "Where is her mark?" he asked. I sucked in a deep breath and nodded to Tyler who immediately unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt and pulled it to one side exposing her mark. The guy's frown deepened. "It's silver," he muttered.
The other guy scoffed and walked from my side to the front, obviously wanting to see her mark too.
When he saw it he recoiled slightly, his eyes shooting up to me as his mouth dropped open. "Why is it silver?" he asked, looking confused.
I shrugged pretending that I didn't know. "That's just one of the things that I need to meet with the council about. We're both going in, she stays with me and that's final," I stated, gripping her hand and picking up the envelope from the table. "Where are we headed?" I asked, looking around the dingy room, there was only one other door and that looked like it led outside.
The one that searched us sighed and nodded to the other. "Let them through. Mr Thompson said that his grandson vouches for these two so I guess we just do as he asked." The other guy immediately walked over to a heavy looking bookcase. He grabbed it and pulled it to one side, exposing a door that was hidden from view before. He waved us forward and I instantly knew we were in the right place.
The new room was cleaner than the last, but sill nothing like what Tyler had seen in her visions. He walked into the room over to some sort of trap door looking thing in the floor. Pulling out another set of keys, he got to work on the four locks that were securing it. Tyler gulped and pressed into me harder.
'It's okay, baby. Nothing will hurt you,' I assured her.
She nodded but I could still feel her worry. The funny thing about it is that she wasn't worried about herself, she was worried about me. She knew that I had basically died at the hands of her stepfather, I had come back from the brink of death, twice, but yet she was still terrified of me getting hurt. I guess it was just the bond that made this fear happen, we were both more worried about the other person than ourselves, it was a little crazy.
The trap door swung open exposing a set of well-lit stone stairs. I followed behind him, leading Tyler along behind me. When four other shifters walked towards us, I tried not to give off any challenging hormones or anything. I actually hated this situation.
They were obviously some sort of guards or something, my dad had told me to expect security, but I hated having five shifters around my girl. My protective instincts were going crazy, my wolf really didn't like having this many unknown threats around Tyler.
They exchanged whisperers then we started walking again. The four new guys fell into a secure square formation around us. The hallway was clean, stone and had lots of overhead lights showing how long it was. With my gifted eyesight I could see the huge mahogany oval doors at the end, the little gold handles. This was it, this was the room. I was certain this would be the room that Tyler had seen.
It took another few minutes of walking down the fairly narrow hallway before we got to the doors.
The guy that had been with us from the start, knocked on the door and waited until someone opened it from the other side.
As soon as the doors opened Tyler gasped. It was exactly like we were expecting. The low ceiling of the hallway gave way to a beautiful, high, painted ceiling. My eyes flicked over the painting in the middle of the ceiling and I felt the smile creep onto my lips - I'd seen that before. There were stone pillars extending from floor to the beautiful ceiling. Parts of the walls were draped in beautiful heavy looking red velvet. In the centre of the room was the huge mahogany desk that was big enough to accommodate the seven shifter council members that were sat around it. All eyes were on us and I felt Tyler tremble against my back.
'All's fine, baby,' I sent to her as we stepped into the room.
'I can't wait to get this over and done with so we can go home,' she replied.
"Mr and Mrs Houston, come on in. I'm Roland Thompson. What can we do for you today? This is all a bit unorthodox but my grandson assures me that this is important," one guy said standing up and smiling curiously.
My eyes slid over him, he looked a little like Ryce, but older, much older. "Thank you for seeing us, I appreciate you taking the time to convene to meet us," I said politely. I knew I had to respect these people. They were the most important shifters in the world, one wrong move, one threat against them, one thing they didn't like, and Tyler and I would be dead before we even knew what happened. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't stand a chance against the twelve guards and seven council members that were in this room. My extra abilities wouldn't give me that much of an advantage I didn't think.
Roland nodded and gestured for us to come into the room. There were two chairs opposite their desk that they were all sat at. "Come on in, let's get this meeting started we don't want to be here all night, do we?" he said.
I pulled Tyler forward and nodded to one of the chairs. She immediately sat down, looking nervous.
Okay, first things first, I needed to get the insurance out of the way. "Before we say what we came to say, I have a request," I stated, holding up the envelope. "There are things in this envelope that are important and they back up what we have to say. I want to hand this envelope to you. I would like four of you to sign along the sealed edge to verify that it hasn't been tampered with. Then I would like another person to hold onto it until the end of the meeting."
Murmurs started amongst the council members. Roland Thompson laughed. "And what is that to achieve? Why don't we just open it now and cut the cryptic nonsense?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, looking at me with interest.
I licked my lips before speaking. "You won't believe what we have to say. The contents of this envelope may change your minds but it can't be opened until the right time otherwise it will have no use at all," I assured him. I held it out to him but I would have to walk forward to give it to him, I just wanted to make sure he wouldn't open it before I gave away our only leverage.
He nodded, looking down to the guy on his right who just shrugged pulling out a pen. "I'll sign it.
I'm curious as to see where this is going," he stated. I smiled. I was pretty sure that this guy was the one that held the most power because as soon as he spoke, the rest of the people sitting at the desk nodded in agreement and one of the guards stepped forward and took the envelope off of me, walking it over to the desk.
"Thank you. If four of you would just sign across the seal, and then one other person will keep it safe until the time comes," I requested. I smiled at Tyler as I sat down in my seat while they did as I
asked. The envelope was then passed to the one on the end and he put it on the desk in front of him and leant forward, linking his hands over the top of it.
"So, now that's done are you ready to explain why we've all been requested to come and meet a teenage shifter from America and his human wife?" Roland asked sceptically.
I nodded, gripping Tyler's hand as I launched into everything. I told them how we met, that we didn't bond because she was human, how we waited almost two weeks before we bonded. I told them about our marks changing; I showed them the new marks on our wrists and showed them my mark on my chest. I told them about my abilities, healing, the sight and hearing improvements. I told them about Tyler and I being linked and that I could feel her feelings. I told them about us being able to speak to each other through our link.
The whole time that I spoke, they sat there with blank faces. Only one thing got a reaction - when I mentioned the prophesy.
"You seriously expect us to believe that you are the one that the prophesy is about?" the one in the middle asked, raising one eyebrow in disbelief.
"That's why we're here, sir. It seems that way to us, as much as I don't want it to be true because that would mean that my mate was in danger, I have a strong belief that that prophesy was written about us, yes," I answered, nodding.
Tyler hadn't said a word. She was just sat there, taking everything in, her eyes flitting from one council member to the next as I did all the talking.
"The prophesy was written almost two thousand years ago. As time has gone by it has been widely discredited by most elder shifters. For years people have held no regard to its wording. As time passes the likelihood of any of it being relevant fade into insignificance. The shifter race is in no danger because we are too large a community. Humans and shifters already have a good relationship that works well; we do not need any bridges to be built to ensure our survival. Shifters will continue to triumph, and the prophesy will continue to remain the ramblings of an old blind man thousands of years ago," one of the council members stated, waving his hand dismissively.
Murmurs of agreement settled amongst the seven of them as they all nodded and spoke about how it was irrelevant to our time.
I sighed, I was expecting this to happen, but it was still frustrating. "I appreciate that. But then how do you explain the gifts that my bond-mate and I have?" I asked, raising one eyebrow curiously.
The one in the middle, the more important one, laughed. "And how do we know that you have these gifts you speak of? Let's get one thing straight here, you are merely a child in years, you have no worth here. My guess is that you have found an elder handbook, and made up such things to make yourself seem more important. It's very cleaver thinking of things that cannot be proven or shown.
Congratulations on getting in here and to meet with the full council board, not many people achieve that task. I suggest you leave now," he stated, nodding to one of the guards.
Immediately, a group of six guards stepped forward towards where we were sitting. I stood up and shook my head. "I think maybe it's time for the envelope now. Remember I said that you wouldn't believe us? Well open the envelope that you have held in your possession this whole time, and look at what's inside before you throw us out of here. If you still don't believe us after that then we'll leave immediately and go about our lives. I'll live my days out being blissfully happy safe in the knowledge that my mate isn't in constant danger."
"We have no more time for your ludicrous claims," the middle one said, shaking his head dismissively and pushing himself up from the table. Three others stood too, so I looked at Roland for help. The guards surged forwards, two of them immediately grabbing at my arms to secure me.
My eyes flicked to Tyler, if they touched her too I was going to have trouble controlling my wolf.
Lucky for me, or maybe lucky for them, no one touched her.
"Mr Thompson, your grandson thought it was important enough for you to hear us out. Would he have called you and asked to meet with us if we were making these things up?" I asked, looking at him pleadingly.
He frowned and held my gaze for a few seconds before he turned to the guy who had dismissed us in the first place. "I would like to see in the envelope, Colin. I am curious as to why my eldest grandson would call me at ridiculous hours of the night and ask me to arrange this meeting. If he believes it, I would like to know why," he said.
The first guy turned back and studied him for a few seconds before nodding and slumping back into his seat, looking bored. "Fine. Open it quickly, I have a charity dinner to attend tonight so I would like to be home in time to change for that," he instructed, waving at the guy who was sat at the end of the table.
The guy that was guarding the envelope picked it up cautiously and passed it down the council members, handing it to Roland who weighed it in his hands, checking the signatures on the back before opening it.
I held my breath and mentally crossed my fingers.
'Here we go, baby. I guess now we see what you couldn't see in your vision. Now we'll see if they believe us or not,' I sent to Tyler silently.
Chapter 30: Proof
I watched as he ripped open the envelope, pulling out the stack of papers that Tyler and I had been working on since before the wedding. We'd been planning this for a long time, just waiting for the time when this meeting took place. His eyes flicked up to me as he frowned.