Her Pact

Part 10

Chapter 10

Zeke smiled at the determined look on Charlie’s face.  The woman only had a sniff of the action, and she was already ready to sink her teeth into it.  He had to admire her for that personality trait, but it didn’t change the fact that they had five days, and she was still standing there, with that stubborn look on her face, as if she had not a care in the world.

“Charlie,” he said, keeping his voice clear of the irritation he was feeling, “we have five days; we need to go.”

She shook her head at him, and he took a step in her direction, ready to pull her from the room if that was what was needed.  Didn’t she understand that they no longer needed her protection?  Ally had cleared them; she let everyone know how much these leopards had helped her growing up.  So, why was Charlie still standing there, looking as if she wasn’t going to move from her spot?

“Wait,” she said, holding her hand out as if to make him stop moving towards her.  “Here’s the thing, the fact that you can’t hear my mind is becoming a little annoying.”

A surprised smile crossed his face.  “What do you mean?”

“I have a plan,” she whispered, as if the shifters were not inches away from her.

His smile widened.  “Oh, and you can’t tell me what that plan is?”

“No,” she said with a sigh before shrugging.  “I guess I can’t, without giving it away.  How about this, let’s start in this room and branch off.”

Her eyes cut around the room, settling on certain people.  This time, he let out a chuckle at her movements.  Just because he couldn’t read her mind that didn’t mean he couldn’t notice her body language.  There was no need to be that obvious.  “We start with interviewing the people in here.”  He moved his eyes in their direction.  “Males on one side, females on the other.  Charlie, you talk to the girls; I can handle the guys.”

They stood still.  “Now,” he growled, making them all jump into action.  Strolling towards the males lined against the wall, he smiled at the two of them.  “Now-”

“Forgot about me,” a voice called out, the door slamming behind him.  Peyton crossed the room, smiling as he settled back onto the wall.  “That was pretty scary a while ago, wasn’t it?”

“That was Ally,” Zeke answered with a shrug.  “She’s grown up.”

Peyton shook his head at Zeke.  “Nah, she’s always been like that.  She’s always had this inner strength that no one could break down.  I think that’s why they were all scared of her as she grew up.”

Zeke nodded at him, but didn’t comment further.  He had work to do, work fit for the second-in-command.  “Tell me about the relationships between the people here,” Zeke started.

Peyton smiled at him.  “Don’t you know already?”  He tapped the side of his head, making it clear what he meant.

“Humor me.”

“Fine, I’m not related to any of them,” Peyton answered with a shrug.

Zeke turned to the other two males.  One was the same age, if not older than Peyton, while the other looked to be twelve, thirteen.

The youngest one kept his eyes on the ground while the older one answered.  “They’re our sisters.”

“All of them?” Zeke said with a smile.

The boy looked up, rolling his eyes in the process.  “Unfortunately.”

“I heard that!” one of the girls from across the room yelled.

“If I didn’t want you to hear it, I wouldn’t have said it!”

“Owen,” the girl yelled, “tell him to stop!”

The male standing beside Peyton growled under his breath, making them both snap their mouths shut.  Zeke smiled; it was what he was waiting for. He was waiting for whoever the real leader was to show themselves.  Reaching out to shake hands with the man, Zeke was surprised when he was thrown against the wall. 

Peyton let go of one of his arms while Owen let go of the other.  “Sorry,” Peyton said with a small, nervous laugh, “force of habit.”

“I was going to shake his hand,” Zeke said.

Zeke turned, locking eyes with Owen, who shrugged.  “You would have found out eventually.”

“You want to know what gave you away?”

“Yes.”

Zeke motioned towards Peyton.  “He’s to forward.  Look at Ally.  She gets what she needs to get done, she’s forward, but she doesn’t keep talking when there is nothing to say.  You understand that?”

Owen nodded, before turning his eyes towards the boy beside him.  “This is Parker.”  He pointed across the room.  “You know Camryn.”  He pointed at the little girl who was yelling earlier.  “That’s Olivia; she’s seven.”  He motioned towards the last girl, who stared at Zeke.  “Gabby.”

He nodded at them before turning back towards Owen.  “Tell me what you know.”

“I know as much as Peyton has told you.”

Zeke growled.  “That is not a good enough answer.”

“It’s the only answer I have,” Owen said with a shrug.

Narrowing his eyes at the man, Zeke opened his mind, ready to find out all their secrets, only to be hit with a wall.  Owen had a wall up, a strong wall at that.  Turning to Peyton, he found the boy’s thoughts going wild, just as the other leopard’s thoughts.  The only ones he could not hear were Charlie’s and Owen’s, the two people’s he wanted to listen in on.

“That’s inconvenient,” Zeke mumbled, while Owen shrugged. 

“Marcus is planning something, and you can’t be in the way of that.  He has a plan, and I can tell you this much, his plan revolves around the Queen.  She’ll be safer if you stay out of it.”

Zeke took a step closer Owen, and was surprisingly relieved when he didn’t back down.  “In five days, Ally is going in and she is killing them all.  Tell me; wouldn’t that put a foil into your plans?”

Owen tilted his head to side.  “Will it?  How do you know that isn’t exactly what Marcus wants?”

“We’re not getting anywhere here,” Zeke growled, taking a step away from him.  Turning towards Charlie, he motioned towards her.  “Come on, I have a plan.”

She followed behind him.  “That’s good, seeing as mine didn’t work out.”

He smiled at her.  “Believe me, it did.  I found out a lot just now.” 

As he walked out of the door, he stopped and looked towards Owen.  He met the man’s eyes.  “Find Ally; tell her what you need for your stay.”  Owen nodded as Zeke let an evil smile cross his face.  “And thanks for the help.”