Who is Magpie?

Ezekiel did the same thing when they arrived, slinging Azural over his shoulder and dumping him in a medical bed. The rest of his team followed behind him with the others on stretchers and put them on beds in the same room.

He whistled sharply and the room was full of guards, one to each bed. “Regardless of any note from my mate, we are still rebuilding from the fires set, and we had to burry more than a dozen people. These men and women will be your shadows while you are here. When Mina came she was already given the offer to relocate anyone here, any further messages outside of the pack grounds will go through me.”

“What, don’t trust us?” Azural asked sarcastically, but Ezekiel’s lip curled up. “Kidding, obviously. Me and Jessa spoke extensively, during the small amount of time she was actually awake. I’m not surprised you don’t trust us, but I was never looking to challenge your pack. We’ve been trying to get her away from the Fae since she got in, and I had been informed that they were going to have your traitors set fires that night to cause a distraction and they would drug the dinner.

All we did was have Jessa’s Fae friend lie about a time change to beat the Fae, and blow up the kitchen. Wouldn’t you have done the same? It was my last chance to get her back before she would be back in that fucking Garden. Just like you, I would do anything for Jessa”

“That’s three fucking strikes!” A startling voice came from the other room, but no one was more surprised to hear it then Ezekiel. “Call her Jessa one more fucking time, like you didn’t cause the pain I felt from her and saw in her eyes.”

Bronx stood in the doorway, dried blood running down his arm from where he’d removed his IV not too kindly. Ezekiel went towards him excited and redirected him from the room.

“Doctors, I leave them in your expert care. Keep them in line… Bronx we have some catch up to do.”

He dragged his brother, snarling, from the room, and though he wanted to put up a fight he was still out of it. Bronx’s eyes bore holes through Azural, who waved him off with mock sorrow for the loss of conversation.

….

Bronx read Jessamine’s note for the fifth time before sitting back in the chair and wincing at the pain in his stomach.

“So… what? We’re letting them off with a warning because he was doing it for Jessa?” Bronx asked, all tired feelings had vanished when he was told Jessamine sent a letter by rogue.

“There’s a lot to this, I took Azural in a RAV alone on the way back and questioned him severely.” Ezekiel rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.” The Fae… how do I put this so you won’t pull your stitches… they took a teenager who was looking for help, and made her into a weapon to eradicate her own species. They’re going to test on her to try and find a cure for shifters.”

Bronx grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a book, and tossed it into the wall. “There is no cure, they’re treating Jessa like a Guinea pig.”

“Kai is with her, I’m sure he will be their first test subject when they think they have it,” Ezekiel added, watching his brother, normally the calm one, toss another book into a different wall.

Bronx growled lowly. “How the fuck did they get Kai?”

Ezekiel sighed before replying calmly, “he and Delano followed the beta, Kizer, through the mountain to where he was stationed, but he was with only the warriors and fighters from their pack. Azural took Jessamine to a secret location where the women, children, and a select few were camping, everyone else went to a different location in case they were followed.

They staked out their camp from a distance all week, and this morning some of them packed up to go, Kizer among them, so they took a risk and followed him. They found her, she was with Azural and Kizer at this warehouse.”

He summarized the conversation they had seen and how they had waited for her to return.

“They heard fighting and went around the building to check it out. When they got there they saw a bunch of Fae.. And a big guy was dragging someone kicking and cursing in a body bag…”

Ezekiel moved his laptop just in time as Bronx grabbed the next nearest thing and smashed it. He knew as it was said that it was Jessamine in that bag and Ezekiel paused, tension in his own chest at the mental picture that gave.

“Delano and Kai trailed them, trying to head them off, but not make them crash… Kai saw what was coming and gunned it for the gate at the last minute. Delano couldn’t stop him.” Ezekiel sighed, remembering Chey’s face when he went with Delano to tell her the news.

With this Bronx couldn’t bring himself to hit anything, also thinking of Chey and how she must be feeling. “Did he say anything in the mindlink?”

“. ‘I won’t let our Luna be alone this time.’ And then he mapped out the area as best as he could to Delano until the plants restricted his breathing enough that he had to shift back.” Ezekiel picked up a paper and tossed it to Bronx with the layout described, garage on the end, large main doors, and all the plants that affect wolven were concentrated around the outer edge.

Bronx liked the sentiment more than he should knowing what they were likely going through. “Okay, so they have Jessa and Kai, how long?”

Ezekiel lifted his wrist to check his watch where a timer ticked away. “Four hours, 35 minutes, and 56 seconds.”

“Fuck.” Bronx muttered, rubbing his face. A lot could happen in four hours.

Ezekiel sighed, seeing his brother was already exhausted from just waking up and the news, but… “There’s more.”

He told him about his condition. All about the surgeries he’d undergone and the treatment, and how Jessamine had been giving him her strength even from so far away through the connection she made before she left. Telling him about how she couldn’t eat and had slept almost as long as he had built a well of guilt in his stomach that was capped by finding out that Azural had also relit an old, partially formed bond to give her his strength.

“I’ll Fucking kill him,” Bronx boomed.

Ezekiel slid the note back over to him. “She wouldn’t have done it if it could have been avoided, and you’ll put her through more pain now that their linked.” He went into his desk drawer and tossed the folded second note to him. “Might as well open this note while your at it, because if she feels that pain on top of whatever they’re putting her through… not to mention that she would know it happened under our care. What the fuck do you think that tidbit would do to her. So back off you selfish prick, because while you’ve been laid up in a hospital bed the world continued to spin and we all had to deal without you!”

Bronx paused in his anger over Jessamine and looked at his brother. A man who had spent the last week giving again and again. He gave him his understanding and acceptance with Jessamine, and then had to clean up all the messes and damage without his mate and beta beside him. He looked tired and worn to the bone, and Bronx felt selfish.

He rounded the desk and clasped the back of his head and pulled their foreheads together. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

Ezekiel’s hand that clasped around his head felt thinner than usual. “I’m glad you’re back. There’s someone you need to meet.”

The two walked to their parents room, untouched by the fires. The only damage that had been done in the main house was to the kitchen, medical storage reserves and the counsel room, leaving the bedrooms and training rooms usable.

Ezekiel knocked softly on the door and their father opened the door slowly. At seeing Bronx he called out his name loudly and their was an immediate cry from within the room.

“Sorry honey,” Tidas said regretfully, inviting them in.

Bronx entered to see their mother in a rocking chair with a small blue bundle in her arms. They entered quietly but the damage had been done and Amelia was wide awake. Still, Talia and Willow had grins as wide as their faces to see them enter, each waiting for their hug from Bronx.

“When did you wake up?” Willow asked as she let go.

“About an hour ago, we had some things to catch up on,” Bronx returned, eyeing the baby as he went to hug his mother.

“This is Amelia, born during all the chaos,” Talia informed.

Bronx moved toward the bundle, smiling warmly, but he couldn’t help thinking about Jessamine. The last time he’d seen her, Leti was talking about pups and a few hours later she was gone. What if they had risked it and she was pregnant, trapped with the Fae through all of her symptoms, and their drugs and testing….

Amelia looked so much like a baby Ezekiel. They were both glad they didn’t risk it, selfishly wanting to be with her through every moment.

The family, though happy to be reunited, was still one short and they couldn’t relax. Ezekiel and Bronx headed back to the medical room, and looked over the new additions now that they had all been treated.

Bronx’s eyes moved directly to the mark on Azural’s arm, and the other man put his hand over it possessively. “For what it’s worth your alpha there already strung me out for it, so I feel like you don’t have to.”

Azural stood and his guard grabbed his arm. “Doctor said bed rest, 12 hours. You’ve healed more than your men, but your burns are still severe.”

Azural pat the hand. “Rest is for those who have time for that…. Don’t look at me like that mate number two, that wasn’t a slight at your eternal slumber, but I bet you don’t know half of what the Fae have done. Right now I know more about both of them then either of you.”

“I could just kill him a little, right?” Bronx muttered, hands shaking only a little this time.

Ezekiel chuckled ironically. “I’m not anymore pleased about this than you are, but he’s got seven years of failures to share with us. The least he can do is tell us what not to do.”

“Alright alright, that was a pretty deep dig. Can we get on with it?” Azural smirked sarcastically. “By now they have her in the kennels underground and, from what the Martin said, …” He looked Bronx up and down. “.. you’re not stable enough to hear what he threatened.” Bronx grabbed his throat and Azural garbled a chuckle as his hand closed around his wrist. “I meant emotionally big guy, I know, yes, you are very strong.”

Ezekiel rolled his eyes and headed off toward his office. Bronx turned to follow behind but Azural darted passed him.

“Everybody watch out, he’s awake! Big man on campus coming through!” Azural called, running down the hall.

Bronx stopped in his frustration and took a calming breath before he heard tired half-hearted chuckles behind him.

“Try not to take him too seriously, beta Ashford.” One of the men said. “He’s really distraught, honestly.”

“He jokes like that when he’s stressed or worried. For the month after he killed his father, it was non stop.” Another spoke up.

Bronx realized his face must have looked confused or surprised because Keizer spoke from the corner. “He came back from a ‘meeting’ with the Fae with Jessamine’s blood on his shirt. Turns out he had been seeing her in the kennels and attending some of her training.” He chuckled unfortunately. “She managed to land a solid hit on him, and he didn’t take it well. Azural challenged him for the pack after that.”

Bronx nodded in understanding, knowing that even if it was Tidas, a father figure that he loved and respected dearly, if he had found out that he was abusing Jessamine he would do the same.

“She’s not Luna to you then?” Bronx asked suddenly, catching Keizer off guard.

“It’s a long story,” he muttered in return, making it clear he wasn’t going to share it.

Bronx turned and left, walking in to the office to see Azural sitting astutely in front of the desk and drawing a map.

“As I was just telling your strong, forgiving, just Alpha here,” Azural sassed clearly, but this time Bronx felt the pain in his chest the way Ezekiel did. “Anything short of full respiratory protection above ground would fail.”

Ezekiel considered doing just that then sighed deeply. “But you’re sure there are tunnels that run underground and go inside?”

“Jessa told me…” Bronx and Azural said at the same time.

“Jinx you owe me some drinks,” Azural drawled. “Yea, I bet they have hidden entrances in the forest around them, but I’m sure they connect to their main house from the kennels. I can call one of my old contacts, see when their next auction is.”

“Will they put her in it?” Ezekiel questioned.

Azural grimaced, not willing to make a joke. “It depends on a lot of things, if they have a buyer interested, if they can control her,.. hell if she pisses them off. The Fae are fickle and their whims change minute to second.” He was getting loud and standing out of frustration at feeling like he couldn’t ever do enough for her when he sat down again. “I’d say chances are good that she’ll be in it… but that could be good for us.”

“Good, how?” Bronx muttered, now that he was aware of the other emotions to be sensed in the room he was feeling even more overwhelmed.

This time Ezekiel smirked as he understood first. “We could be the buyer. We just need to bait the lure that there’s a high roller looking for fun with a wolven girl and we can get the invite.”

Bronx smirked as well. “I bet you security is spread thin up top on their auction nights.”

They began planning out every step, calling contacts, dropping misleading information to people with big mouths who didn’t side with either kind. Azural drew up map after map of the areas he’d seen, and dropping any piece of information he could. They had everything at their disposal that he always lacked in his plans; man power, sway, money, and supplies.

Everything they were planning all hedged on one thing, the date of the next auction. Azural would go personally to his source’s front door to get it, that wasn’t the biggest concern. More than that they hated to wish that there was an auction held at all, so they settled on hoping that it was soon.