Because she wanted to.
It was the easy answer.
Because it made her heart hurt to see him so pale and to know that it was partially her fault. Because despite the heartache he'd caused, she couldn't help being attracted to him. Because she did want to give him a second chance, but she was scared. Kissing him while he was sleeping was safe.
"It is very strange zat Alpha Tamhas has been zo quiet. I don't believe I've ever been in a meeting where he's withheld his opinion for zo long."
Aiyana smiled up politely at the tall, slim German. "Is it? Excuse me." She side-stepped the man to move toward the kitchen where a few of the cookies Mimi had made still remained on the counter.
The thicker, shorter Italian representative sidled up beside her. "Hello. I'm Beta Medoro. You have de most beautiful eyes. I noticed them as soon as you entered the room."
Beta Medoro wasn't bad-looking but he was a least ten years older than her. Was he really hitting on her?
"Thank you?"
"I have never seen Alpha Tamhas so weak. Did you use wolfsbane on him?"
"No."
He artfully slid his hand over hers as she reached for a cookie. His light touch sent tingles up her arm. He was using coercion on her in a room full of wolves? Didn't he care that they would probably sense it?
"Someone did though?" he led.
She jerked her hand away from his. "No."
His eyes roamed down her front, then back up to her face before he gave her what he probably thought was a sexy smirk but just made him look like a sleaze. "It's not just your eyes."
Her wolf growled. Aiyana turned away, looking for an escape. Alpha Miguel caught her eye. She gave him a nod and quickly moved to the back of the room. It would be harder for Tamhas to vent his spleen on her if she was behind everyone, they hoped. Alpha Miguel waited until the eight - eight! - European representatives had taken their seats along with the three representatives from the American council, one of whom was Nate's mother, before moving in front of Tamhas and giving the command.
"Speak!"
It was sweet of Alpha Miguel to try and protect her by hiding the full extent of her coercion, although she doubted their little ruse would fool anyone. Alpha Miguel, as generous and kind as he was, was one of the weaker wolves in the room. Still, his coercion was enough to overcome the minimally powered command she'd used to replace the much stronger one on Tamhas as they were crossing the driveway.
All the words Tamhas had been forced to withhold for the last couple of hours burst forth like water from a broken dam. She couldn't understand most of what he said, but from the rapt attention of everyone around her, she was apparently the only one. Then he pointed her way and this time she did understand.
"She is a thief an' a liar an' deserves execution!"
He stood glaring at her with his fat finger poking toward her as if his accusation alone could convince everyone to carry her out and burn her immediately at the stake. Maybe at another time it would have, but without his coercion, he only managed to convince a few people to look her way.
The German, Alpha Nils Werich, looked almost amused. "Execution Alpha Tamhas? If what zie say ist true, zie have already done that, and on American soil too. Did zie order the girl's parents to be killed? Tell the truth!"
His power rippled throughout the room. For a moment, it looked like Tamhas might succeed in holding his mouth shut, but then a lone "Aye" escaped his lips, followed quickly by a tirade of how it was well within his rights.
"That may be zo, but ze girl didn't take it - sie wasn't even born at the time."
"She refuses tae give it back!" Tamhas argued.
"Ist this true, Aiyana? Come up here where we can all see you."
Nate squeezed her fingers as she left his side and she gave him a thankful smile. Walking to the front of a room full of humans was nothing like walking through a room full of powerful alphas and betas. Their powers buffeted her like random waves on an ocean shore. Could they tell what she was? Were they extending their powers on purpose to test her own? She knew she couldn't hide that she had power - no wolf could - but how much a wolf had wasn't always obvious. She did her best to make her powers seem as small as possible. She didn't want to risk another headache from some of the inflated egos around her deciding to test her strength.
"Ist what he says true, Aiyana?" Alpha Nils prompted once she was facing everyone.
"May I explain?"
"Just answer ze question."
Since she clearly hadn't given it back, there was only one way to answer. "Yes."
"Why?"
"At first I didn't believe him. I thought the dagger was a letter opener and it was the only thing I have of my father's. They didn't even bother to ask - Colum just showed up one day and tore up my aunt's house and beat her, then..."
Alipha Nils held up his hand. "Alpha Miguel already explained."
She nodded and took a long breath to think of what she wanted to say. "I have since learned that my father did steal the dagger, but he had a good reason."
"Und that was?"
"Tamhas uses the silver to enhance his power. My father witnessed him forcing a woman to forget everything and believe she was a slave. I think my father stole the dagger to keep him from using it again."
Alpha Nils was shaking his head. "Silver leaches a wolf's powers, not enhances it. You are old enough to know zat."
"It enhances Tamhas'."
"Nein, it ist impossible und besides the point. If ze woman belonged to his pack, he had every right to punish her as he wished."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "The European Council condones such treatment as punishment?"
"Of course not. The council would have looked into it if ze woman had filed a complaint."
Her wolf growled in her head. "How could she if she couldn't even remember her name?"
"Both points are beside the point," another of the council members said. Aiyana thought he might be from Norway but his accent was barely noticeable. "You have asked us here to ascertain how to address the matters of vandalism, assault, battery, kidnapping, and breaking and entering. I suppose we can also add murder since Alpha Tamhas has admitted to as much. Do either of you deny these charges?"
Colum bowed his head. "N..."
"Haud yer weesht ye glaikit rockit," his father yelled at him. "We deny everythin'."
"Everything?" Alpha Nils asked.
"Everythin'! Ah caa fur th' vote."
"You realize you are not leading the meeting, correct?"
"Aye, but it is mah reit tae ask fur th' vote."
"But if you deny the charges, we must go over the evidence. The onus is on the Americans to prove you are guilty, but if they aren't allowed to show their evidence, guilt is assumed," the Norwegian said.
"Unless ye ken we are innocent, which ye do," Tamhas argued.
"We must do as he asks," Alpha Nils said.
Tamhas crossed his arms as much as he could with his wrists tied together and leaned back with a smirk.
The Norwegian shrugged. "I vote guilty."
By the third guilty, Tamhas' smirk had disappeared. By the fifth one, his face was red. By the eighth one, it was purple and he was sputtering like an enraged Donald Duck.
He focused his beady eyes on Aiyana and pointed both index fingers at her. "She's usin' th' blade! She's coerced every one tae vote against us!"
"Da' calm down."
"Ah willnae calm doon! Whaur is it? Gie it tae me!" He lurched at her. Someone pulled her to the side at the same time Alpha Nils stepped in front of Tamhas.
"Alpha Tamhas, calm down or you will be removed."
She gathered her power as Tamhas jerked his arm from the guard holding him and drove himself toward her and into Alpha Nils, but despite his more slender build, the German did not give way.
"Search 'er! She has th' dagger on 'er body next tae 'er skin." Tamhas' voice had gotten so high, it sounded more like a scream.
"She is not using her power. In fact, just now ist the first time I've felt it. Maybe you need a reminder of what true power feels like?" The air grew dense between her and Alpha Nils as he focused his Alpha power on the Scot. "You will sit down and be quiet until I tell you zu speak."
Tamhas dropped down into the seat he'd just vacated. She could hear his teeth grinding as he glared as her.
"Aiyana. Do you have the dagger on your person?" Alpha Nils asked.
"No. I..."
"I have it," Alpha Miguel interrupted. "I suppose it's time to show everyone what all the fuss is about. Mimi, will you lay it on the table please?"
Aiyana could smell Mimi's nervousness as she came around the counter, but a human wouldn't have been able to tell. She spread a blue cloth on the middle of the table and stepped away, back toward the kitchen. All the council members, both European and American shifted closer to the table. The blade looked like it was on display in a museum on the blue cloth under the light that hung over the middle of the table.
Alpha Nils turned his head to address Tamhas who was still sitting near the kitchen counter. "Alpha Tamhas ist that ze dagger you seek? Speak!"
Tamhas looked nonchalant, but she could sense his excitement. "Ah cannae see it frae haur."
"You may step closer."
"Don't let him..." Aiyana started.
It was too late. Tamhas dove onto the table and grabbed the blade. He sat up in triumph in the middle of the table, the blade tight in his hand.
"This ends haur. Ye will find me innocent an' ye will return th' blade tae me an' execute th' lassie."
She could feel the power pouring off him, but it was still weak, even with the blade. Too weak, she realized thankfully as she hastily looked around, to influence anyone here. Anyone except Alpha Miguel she thought as he started toward her.
"No!" She caught his hands just before they touched her neck and pulled at the coercion directing him. Tamhas' evil cackle was the only sound she heard as Alpha Miguel pushed past her weak physical defense and pressed his hands against her windpipe.
"Let go of de girl!" someone said, maybe Beta Medoro, and abruptly, she could breath again.
"Nae! Ah said she mus' die!"
"Nae Da'!"
She was still recovering from nearly being strangled, so when a heavy body fell against her, they both went down. Pain in her elbow from hitting a chair on the way down made it difficult to push herself out from under the body on top of her. "Colum?"
She wasn't expecting it to be him. The silver dagger jutted from his chest. He'd saved her from the blade.
"Mah bhanrigh."
It didn't look lethal, but it could be if she left the silver blade in. "Someone get Doc! Luna Mimi, throw me a clean towel."
She grabbed the towel out of the air, jerked the blade out, and pressed the towel to the hole where it quickly began to turn red.
"The good news," she smiled at Colum trying to exude calm, "is that with all the blood, any small pieces of silver should be washed out."
He had to be in pain, but Colum returned her smile. "Ah am nae worried. Ah am strong."
"Aiyana! What have you done this time?"
"It wasn't me," she told Doc. "His dad used my letter opener on his chest." She looked back toward Tamhas for the first time. The guards flanking him had pulled him off the table and away from her, but the snarl on his face was clear even if she couldn't hear it through the muttering around them.
"The silver one?" Doc asked, his tone now serious.
"Yes, but I pulled it out as soon as I could and it's still bleeding."
"Inspect the blade and make sure no pieces broke off. I'll take over here. As soon as it's stopped bleeding we'll get an X-ray too, just to be sure."
After Doc took her place beside Colum, she picked up the dagger from where she'd laid it on the floor. It amused her how the representatives backed away as she carried it through them and toward the sink. Of course, if it had been a peanut, she probably would have acted the same way. She washed her hands and the dagger at the same time, then ran her finger along the edge of the blade to check for nicks and held it up under the light over the sink to check for breaks or cracks in the intricate carvings along the blade and handle.
"You can touch it?" Alpha Nils asked right behind her ear.
She jumped and nearly dropped the knife.
"Yes."
"May I?"
She held the knife up. Alpha Nils reached over her shoulder and pressed his fingertip to the blade. After a moment he pulled back with a hiss like he'd touched a hot pan."
How ist that possible?"
She pulled a paper towel off the rack to dry the knife. "I'm not allergic to silver."
She distinctly heard him sniff the air above her.
"But you are a wolf. All wolves are allergic to silver."
"Not me."
"How does it look, Aiyana?" Doc called from behind the counter.
"I don't see anything missing."
"Good. Our patient here is already healing."
"Ah am strong," Colum declared again.
"Why did he call you queen?" Alpha Nils asked. She really wished he'd back away a few feet. She tossed the paper towel in the trash and moved around the counter to stand with it against her back and Mimi to one side. She didn't mean to brandish the dagger like a weapon, but she didn't know what else to do with it.
"I don't know."
"Because she is the queen." Salma declared, coming to stand before her with a beaming smile. "The last queen of the Scottish or Picti pack was killed over a thousand years ago, but it was foretold there would one day be another. That is why she can wield the dagger. Only the true ruler of the Scots has such as power."
"Lies!" Tamhas yelled.
"Isn't that 'ow you pass down the alpha title?" one of the other council members asked. "You see 'ow long someone can grip the silver dagger?" His voice had a hint of Irish lilt.
"Shut yer gob-hole!"
"She's held it a lot longer than you did."
"Haud yer sheesht or Ah will destroy yer pack when ay git home."
"With the concurrence of the European council, you will not be going back to Scotland. You've admitted to ordering two deaths on American soil and just attempted another murder. For that, you have earned a lifetime on American soil," the alpha of the Portland pack declared.
"She's making him say that!" Tamhas yelled, struggling to break free of the two guards holding his arms.
The alpha snorted. "I'm sure that if there was enough power rolling off of her to control me everyone would feel it. Irish, you say holding that blade is how they determine the next Alpha?"
"Aye."
"Then, queen or alpha, it's clear we are in the midst of the new leader of the Scottish pack. I vote we let Alpha Aiyana decide the fate of the rest of her new pack members."
"But...," she tried to protest.
"Aiyana." Alpha Miguel touched her shoulder, and then sadly brushed his thumb against her neck where he'd tried to strangle her. "It will be okay. You don't have to make any decisions right now. This will give you time to think about the best way to resolve things."
She nodded, then looked down to hide the water welling up in her eyes. She didn't want to rule anyone. She just wanted to go to school.
"Do nae cry, mah bhanrigh," Colum said from the floor where he was watching her upside-down. "We are nae monsters."
Was that a joke? He delivered it like one. She sniff-snorted and quickly wiped away her tears. "I know you're not. Thank you for protecting me."
"It was mah pleasure."
It was amazing how much a smile transformed his face.
"Colum, is what Alpha Zenan says true, that Aiyana is qualified to become the new Alpha by holding the blade?" Alpha Nils asked.
"Aye."
"And would your pack accept her?"
"Aye."
"Really? You Scots are a hard-headed lot. I cannot believe a young woman such as Aiyana would last long in ze midst of your, how shall I say, brutalism."
"She is the queen. Mah wolf recognizes her as will the others in our pack."
"Your father doesn't."
"He does. He just doesnae want tae admit it."
"It would be better if she has a mate. My son ..."
"Your son?" Beta Medoro protested. "He's nothing but a pup. I am more qualified to help her lead a pack."
"She already has a mate," Salma cut in, "my son Nate." She nodded proudly toward the kitchen wall where Nate had moved from the back of the room when Aiyana went to clean the knife.
"But they are not mated," Alpha Nils pointed out.
Sometimes being a wolf was embarrassing. Everyone could tell everything about you just by smell.
"They just recently found each other," Salma smiled. Aiyana suspected it was through gritted teeth.
"Still, I am concerned for her safety. Her blood would be on us if we allow this und ze pack doesn't accept her," Alpha Nils said.
"She is the queen. She has already passed the test. If someone wants tae challenge, they must hold the blade longer than she." Colum declared from the floor.
If he hadn't just jumped in front of a silver dagger for her, she'd be concerned he was just trying to lure her back to Scotland to kill her.
"She won't be alone," Alpha Miguel said. "She already has alliances with at least two other packs. We will ensure her safety."
"Then I think we are done here."
"Nae! Ah willnae let ye tak' over mah pack!" Tamhas screeched. The ropes that bound him were simply ropes - they weren't laced with silver which some packs used as a precaution to keeps wolves from phasing. They probably wouldn't have worked on him anyway. He phased into a large black wolf and leaped onto the middle of the table then toward her neck. Her first reaction was to command him to stop, which was impossible since he was already flying through the air, but it meant he didn't twist to follow her as she stepped to the side. She touched him as he flew headfirst into the counter and sent a second command, sleep. He bounced off the counter and onto his son, his eyes firmly closed.
She could feel everyone's eyes on her. So much for not showing her power, but really, it hadn't been that much, had it?
"Oof, Da! Budge off!"
It really wasn't the place to laugh, but she giggled at the look on Colum's face as he pushed his dad's belly off his forehead. Doc gave her a disgruntled look. He had fallen back onto his rear, but he was still applying pressure to Colum's wound.
Her wolf growled under her breath as the level of power ratcheted up. Apparently she had shown a lot of power and now all the alpha wolves needed to assert their dominance. She looked up and the first eyes she found were Alpha Nils. His face betrayed nothing, but she knew instinctively that some of the power was his.
"Your powers don't affect me, but they do make it awful uncomfortable in here. I will put you all to sleep if you don't behave."
The powers pushing against her grew stronger.
"Fine." She guessed he probably wouldn't let her touch him, so she focused on Alpha Nils, and only him. "Sleep."
One by one, she focused on the source of the powers. Five Europeans went down, then she turned to the Alpha Draven from Portland and raised an eyebrow.
He raised his hands and the power immediately lessened. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."
"Oh my gosh!" Mimi said, wringing her hands. "What are we going to do? We've got five of the most powerful wolves in the world laying about in our dining room."
"This is wonderful!" Salma gushed. "Now they'll all recognize you as queen."
"That's not really something I wanted," Aiyana protested, swallowing down the cookie she'd eaten earlier as the headache from coercing six alphas made her stomach rebel.
"Don't worry about it. They'll all appreciate a nice sleep - what with the jet lag and all," the Irish Alpha said. "Just take dem outside and lay dem out on de grass before you wake dem. It is a bit crowded in here and some o' dem do not wake friendly."
"Right," Alpha Miguel said abruptly. "Aiyana, why don't you and Doc take Colum for his X-ray. Guards, start carrying out the representatives as Alpha Senan suggested. Make sure to put plenty of space between them. Aiyana can you make sure Tamhas doesn't wake on accident?"
She gulped. More coercion, but it would be bad to show weakness in front of the remaining European council members, not to mention the Americans. "Sure. I'll make it so that only you can wake him."
"Include me in that Bhanrigh," Alpha Draven said. "I'll be delivering him to his new home. It will be easier to transport him this way."
She frowned at the Portland Alpha. "Bhanrigh?" The alpha shrugged. "You might as well get used to it. Besides, I'd say you earned it after surviving an assassination attempt by Penelope."
"What happened to her?" Aiyana asked curiously.
"She received a long, relaxing stay at a remote island with other wolves of her ilk. Tamhas will be joining her shortly."
"An island?" Mimi asked. From her tone, she was imagining a sandy beach and palm trees and was not pleased.
"A cold, desolate island. As long as they stay in wolf form they won't freeze, and there is plenty of prey. They get five years for every death they've caused or attempted. It's usually the human side that gets corrupted. This helps them get in touch with their wolf."
"So my da' will come home?" Colum asked.
"After fifteen years if he doesn't kill anyone else."
Something in Colum's tone tugged at her heart. Yeah, he was big and muscular and brutish, but beneath all that she could sense the boy he once was. It couldn't have been easy growing up with a father like Tamhas. She stepped over the wolf that was his dad to squat by his side and take his hand. It was covered in callouses, making her wonder what he did when he wasn't rifling through people's belongings. "A lot can happen in fifteen years."
"He'll be even meaner."
"You'll be ready for him."
She could feel his wolf bowing to her even as he was waving his tail in excitement. Her own wolf spared him a glance down her long nose. His hand tightened around hers and she saw both humor and longing in his eyes. "If ye were my mate, Ah wouldn't be worried."
"I don't think your real mate would like that too much." She closed her eyes and saw sunshine, bright blue water and a waterfall of colorful buildings spilling toward a narrow beach. A very tan girl with dark hair and thick lashes was leaning over the edge of the boat, a drink in her hand. She looked a vaguely familiar. Aiyana opened eyes to find Colum watching her curiously. Should she say anything? He had beaten her aunt and she didn't want the same thing to happen to some unsuspecting girl.
"What did ye see?" Colum asked.
"Your mate."
His eyes grew wide and she saw glimmers of longing and hope. The number of wolves who found their true mates was less than half. Many never mated at all.
"What did she look like? Where is she?"
"She's beautiful and she's on a boat somewhere."
"Where?" he begged after she didn't say anything for several moments.
She shook her head, then stood. "It was sunny and the buildings were colorful. Can you stand? I don't think Doc and I can carry you."
He sat up and put his hand over the towel on his chest at Doc's urging. "Please tell me."
Maybe she shouldn't have said anything, but it felt wrong not to tell him now that she knew. Mates were precious. "I am concerned for her safety."
His demeanor immediately changed to something much scarier. Her wolf stiffened, but didn't growl. "She's in danger?!"
"I don't know. Will she be if I tell you? You have a history of beating women."
He opened his mouth, then his shoulders dropped. "Ye are smart to protect her from me, although," he raised his head. "Ah did nae touch yer aunt. That was Eileen - my Beta."
"But you didn't stop her."
"Nae," he sighed.
Her conscience prodded her. She should let the girl make her own decisions. Who knew, maybe finding a mate would curb Colum's rougher tendencies. Praying she wasn't making a mistake, she said. "Ask Beta Medoro if he has a sister."