---Previously---
Rory stared into the trees looking at the blue jay that sat on a branch, unafraid of the larger predators. Tilting her head to the side she stared down the blue jay, positioning herself in front of Ian.
She bared her teeth, but the blue jay was unwavering. After at least a three minute staring contest, the blue jay shifted and spread its wings.
She watched as the bird transformed before her very eyes, and in the blue jay's place sat a young women with silver hair and a single streak of blue. After a moment of silence the woman smiled.
"We've been looking for you Aurora."
------
"You've been looking for me?" Rory spoke, shifting to her skin. She was so confused by the bird woman, she wasn't bothered that she was standing nude before her.
"I can explain, if you want to dress." The woman smiled, her eyes flickering to Ian, who stood at alert by her side. The woman took a step forward only to be growled at by Ian and wisely decided to keep her distance.
"It's ok." Rory whispered to Ian, holding her hand out to stop him from scaring away the woman who seemed to be a shifter like herself. Rory and Ian were tight and she had no doubt that Ian would attack anyone who looked at her the wrong way.
"Explain." Rory said, reaching to pull on the dress that was stashed by the creak due to the frequent trips the pack made to the location.
"My name is Blue-and no the irony is not lost on me. I was sent by the council looking for Shifters, we received word about you from whispers, and also Edna sent us a letter." Blue smiled at the mention of they batty woman.
"Council? From the Old Kingdom?" Rory frowned, remembering the book Edna gave her many moons ago. "I didn't realize that was still around. The book said you guys were hunted into extinction."
"There are very few of us left, and the hunters have joined forces with Rogues."
"Rogues?" Rory said surprised, rogues weren't known for joining forces.
"Have you noticed the increase in sightings? I can see you are becoming uneasy, how about we take this somewhere else." Blue suggested.
"That sounds good." Rory nodded in agreement, as she motioned for Blue to follow her.
Rory lead her to the house, Ian following behind Blue to keep an eye on her. The trio walked in silence and before they were even at the house Rory could tell Kole wasn't home.
'Kole?' Rory reached out through their mate link.
'What's wrong?' Kole asked immediately jumping to the worst conclusion because Rory didn't tend to reach out in this way.
'I don't think anything, but a woman is coming home with me. Says she knows about the Old Kingdom and has been looking for me.'
'What! Is anyone with you?'
'Ian.' She could practically feel Kole wince, not trusting the young pup to protect me, but I didn't have any doubts in Ian's ability or loyalty.
'Shit, I'll be there soon. I'm already heading in your direction.'
Rory nodded, knowing that Kole wouldn't see her but to give herself reassurance.
"I know you must have tons of questions." Blue spoke softly.
"I do. Please, have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?" Rory asked gesturing to the couch as soon as they entered the living room.
"Tea would be great, thank you." Blue responded with a smile on her face as she took a seat and looked around the room.
"I'll go put the kettle on," Ian said slowly looking back and forth between the two, clearly not sure if it was safe and if the other woman could be trusted.
"So you are a bird." Rory said shifting awkwardly in his seat.
"And you're a fox." Blue smiled.
"Aurora?" Kole called hurriedly, his heavy foot steps making his way through the house, the door slamming behind him.
"In the living room." She called out.
"Who are you?" Kole demanded coming to a stop in front of the duo, the silver in his eyes showing that his wolf was controlling most of his mind.
"Blue Amour, I am from the council." Blue wasn't spooked by the agitated Alpha standing in front of her, she had came face to face with many beasts scarier than the wolf before her, so it would take a lot more to rattle her.
"What council?" Kole demanded his eyes narrowing.
"Alright, here is the tea." Ian came back into the room, four coffee cups in his hand and started to pour the tea.
"The council of the Old Kingdom. I was telling Aurora that they had sent me to look for her; especially after Edna sent us a letter about your previous pack." Blue explained pausing as Kole let out a growl from the mention from her old treatment. "They were especially curious to find out why you were in a pack of wolves?"
"I don't know, I've just aways been there." Rory shrugged not sure what the correct answer was. She felt Kole wrap an arm around her in comfort.
"What about your parents?"
"I don't know who they are." Rory shifted uncomfortably. Her parents used to be a touchy topic but when she was younger she had just came to accept that they weren't going to come to her rescue, so there was no point in thinking of them. Having Blue mention them and the whole situation of the Council and Old Kingdom, Rory began to grow uneasy. If Blue was really apart of the Old Kingdom, she may know of her parents. It was at that thought that Rory took Kole's hand needing his comfort.
"I know this is hard for you Aurora, and nothing has to be decided right now, but we may be able to find your parents." Blue said softly seeing that this was an uncomfortable topic.
"How?" Kole asked not wanting the woman to be spreading false hope if this was something that his mate wanted to pursue.
"The Council keeps journals and records for all families of the Kingdom. They also have the collections of previous families that have gone extinct." Blue explained.
"I don't know what to say." Rory frowned as she took in all the new information.
"It's a lot to take in, and you don't have to decide right now. I need to let the Council know that I found you but I can stick around for a little, incase you have any questions."
"Thank you," Rory nodded.
"Well I will leave you guys to talk." Blue said before making her way out of the home, leaving the remaining three to talk.
"That's so weird." Ian spoke as he watched Blue leave the porch and transform back into the blue jay. Ian moved away from the window and turned back to his Luna.
"What are you thinking?" Kole asked brushing some of her hair away from her eyes, searching them for the truth.
"I don't know." She shrugged, "I used to wonder who my family was, and why I was the only fox in a pack of wolves, but I moved on from wondering who my parents are and what happened to make them leave me."
"I don't know the situation, but there is no way that they would leave you on purpose. No way." Kole said.
"I don't know what to think, I just need to process it a little more." Rory said, before getting up and making her way to the kitchen. She needed to think about this, but more than anything she just wanted a distraction.
Kole watched as she walked around the kitchen pulling out all the ingredients she needed to make brownies. He watched in silent as she worked, before finally breaking out of his own thoughts.
"Are you ok?" He questioned walking behind her, wrapping his arms around her and leaning over her shoulder to see what she was doing.
"Yeah, I just need to think." She nodded relishing his closeness.
"Well there is no rush, it seemed like she was really willing to stick around. So just think about it and then decide." Kole said before letting the topic drop. He was sure she would come around if she wanted to talk about it with him.
Rory was lost in thought as she continued to make brownies, she was on her fourth batch but wasn't too worried about them going to waste once the pack found out about them. Hearing footsteps coming in her direction she glanced up and smiled at Ian as he walked in and sat at the island.
"Smells delish in here." He spoke with a smile, taking a long sniff of the air.
"Good you're just in time. I need someone to taste a brownie, or two."
"I think I can handle the task." Ian happily took the plate she passed over.
"So... do you think your going to talk to the bird lady?" He asked breaking the silence, glancing up at her with a worried frown all while munching on the brownies.
"I don't know. It would be nice to have answers but I don't know if I'm ready for those answers." Rory poured the last of the batter into the pan and put it in the oven before looking at the young boy in front of her.
"I don't want you to worry about this though." She said moving over to hug him, knowing exactly where his mind was going. "Now, don't you have some duties to attend to?"
"Yeah, I do." Ian frowned before slowly pulling his body out of the chair.
Rory smiled as she watched him go, before busying herself with housework. No matter how long they had lived in the house, Rory still found it hard to believe that Kole put all this work into making her a home. She couldn't begin to measure how much she loved her mate.