Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 1 - Auden

Thursday 7 January

~*Auden*~

“We found the death notices, Nat.”

I watched Nat closely as Takeshi delivered the news that she had no doubt been expecting. I had approached her earlier this morning to join us in Takeshi’s office to go over some things she had told us on Monday. Her parents were one such topic.

She had joined me at Takeshi’s desk and had been sitting on the edge of her seat, eager to hear what he had to say. Takeshi sat in his office chair behind his desk but had leaned forward to hand her the copy of the news article we had found Tuesday night.

“I’m so sorry,” Takeshi said softly as she carefully took the page from his hands. “We found an article about a fatal car accident that occurred the night you left Kinglake. It listed both of your parents as having died instantly from the impact. Once we knew who to look for, it was easy to come up with results.”

I could almost hear her grinding her teeth as she read through the start of the article. “So, Mum died too,” she muttered to herself, her eyes locked on the picture in the article of the red car lying between two large trees, crumpled to the point where it was difficult to determine the front of the vehicle from the rear.

“According to the article, yes,” said Takeshi. He placed some more copies of local newspaper clippings we had found on the desk in front of her. “Here are the obituaries, and the funeral notices. You’ll notice that it mentioned you in the news article as having left the country the afternoon of the crash, apparently to backpack across Europe and Asia for a year.”

I watched her eyes flick over the article until she found the paragraph Takeshi was referencing. She frowned as the words took hold. “This is saying that my parents were on their way back from the airport when they had the accident.” The paper crinkled as her fingers clenched in anger. “I’m being blamed for their deaths,” she said slowly. She shakily placed the article down on the desk and picked up the obituaries. Her jaw ticked as she read, then threw the paper back down in disgust. “And I’m not even mentioned in the obituaries.”

She put both hands on Takeshi’s desk and pushed herself to her feet. She began pacing the office to let off some steam. “It’s like I’m being written out of existence.”

“No, Nat. They’re just trying to cover their arses,” I said, sympathy flooding my system at her words. “If everyone believes the lies, no-one will go looking for you.”

“And it gives Alpha James more time to find me and finish what he started,” she said before coming to a stop and eyeing Takeshi. “Tell it to me straight, Takeshi. How much danger am I putting you all in by being here?”

Takeshi tipped his head to one side and steepled his fingers in front of his chin as he thought about what she asked. “None more today than yesterday.”

Nat scowled. “That’s not an answer, Takeshi.”

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, before placing his palms on the edge of the tabletop and pushed himself away from the desk. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, then placed his interlocked fingers on his knee, projecting the cool, calm, and collected stance I had seen so often when he was trying to calm the person he was talking to. “I’m not saying that there isn’t a threat from the Kinglake pack, because there is.” He paused as Nat huffed and started pacing again. “But there is always risk when it comes to them and their interactions with us. There is no more danger from you being here than we would normally have.”

“You’re a member of our pack now, Nat,” I said calmly. “We look after our pack.”

Her frown didn’t lift from her forehead, though the anger did, with sadness descending to replace it. Her shoulders slumped as she slowed her pacing, then made her way back to her seat. “You still want me here? Even after everything I told you on Monday?” The hesitation in her voice was heartbreaking.

I reached over and placed my hand on her forearm. “Now more than ever,” I said with utter conviction, seeing Takeshi nodding emphatically out of the corner of my eye. “You always have a place here.”

“Thank you.” Nat gave us both a small smile that was tinged with relief before her eyes widened with concern once again. “What about the girls in Kinglake? Alpha James isn’t going to stop.”

The smile dropped from Takeshi’s face as he leaned forward again, becoming incredibly serious. “You don’t need to worry about that. We’ve started the ball rolling on getting a case before the Australian Justice League. If they need anything from you, we’ll let you know.”

A hopeful look crossed over Nat’s face. “They’ll stop him?”

“That’s the plan,” said Takeshi as I nodded in support. “There is something more we needed to talk to you about.” He collected the pages from his desk, placed them in a folder, then got more paperwork out. “Auden has a contact in the education sector who was able to get us copies of your final year transcripts.”

She picked up the paperwork that Takeshi slid across the desk, her eyes darting over the pages.

“There looks like there were two exams you failed—physical education and global politics,” I said hesitantly. “I looked up the exam timetables for those subjects and it looks like—”

“Yeah, they were due to be held late in the exam period. I was supposed to sit them in the first week of December,” Nat said, staring at the paperwork she had in her hand, cutting me off. She placed the pages down on the desk again and sighed. “I guess that means I have to re-sit the classes this year, right? Does that mean I’ve got to drop out of the Warrior Training course and go back to high school?” She chewed her bottom lip nervously.

“Not necessarily,” I said, looking over at Takeshi, who nodded encouragingly. “I might be able to call in a favour to get you to sit the missed exams in the next week or so. I’ll find copies of the textbooks you need so you can study. If we can set you up with the exams, you won’t need to worry about going back to high school.”

Nat nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“That does beg the question,” said Takeshi, a slight worry in his voice. “You applied for the Warrior Training course when you were still suffering from amnesia. Is that something you still want to do?”

She tilted her head to one side, thinking things through before she answered. “I applied to study Sport Science at Fed University in Churchill, but after all of this…” she trailed off as she waved her hands in the air. “Maybe it’d be better if I took a gap year and reapplied again later.” She faced Takeshi. “Would that be okay? If I only did the first year of Warrior Training?”

He nodded. “Our numbers always drop at the end of the first year for a variety of reasons. You earned a spot in the first year. We’d be happy to have you, even if it is only for half the course.”

Nat let out a deep sigh of relief. “Good. It’ll give me a chance to find my feet again and get settled.”

“Don’t forget about your Bunyip friend,” I said to Takeshi, thinking of Nahi. Nat looked curiously at me, then at Takeshi.

“Ah, yes.” Takeshi leaned forward and turned his laptop on. “Nahi wants to train with you and Cody next week, and then for a few hours every week thereafter.”

I raised an eyebrow at his use of Nahi’s name. We were always careful not to speak it out loud unless we wanted to call her. I only assumed that he wanted to speak to her, and this made things easier. I activated my phone to check the time. It’d be interesting to see how long it would take for her to show up.

“She’ll be staying in Building Two while she trains Cody. I figured you’d want to have the same living arrangements with Cody as you did the past month?” He tapped away at the keys, then looked at Nat with a raised eyebrow to confirm.

“Really?” Nat asked, hope rising in her voice. “Even though she’s not part of the Warrior Training course? You’d let us continue living together?”

“All the Warrior students live in Building Two for the two years the course takes. With her trainer living in Building Two, it only makes sense to have Cody stay there, too.”

A broad smile spread across Nat’s face. “Of course! Does Cody know?”

“Cody knows about her training, but she doesn’t know about the change of venue.” Nahi’s voice drifted into the office from the open courtyard doors. “Good afternoon, Takeshi. Auden. Nat.” She nodded at each of us as she walked into the office.

I checked my phone. Barely two minutes had passed since Takeshi had said her name. She was either getting quicker at responding or was in the neighbourhood. I nodded back at her. “Nahi.”

Nahi tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes, studying me. She drifted her eyes up and down my form, then looked me square in the eyes as a tiny smile appeared on her face. Her grey eyes flashed purple before she blinked and focused on Takeshi. “I assume the apartment is almost ready?”

He nodded. “That’s why I called you.”

She inclined her head in acknowledgement.

“The Carmichael’s told me this morning that they should be done with the major works by tomorrow afternoon.” Takeshi leaned back in his chair again as he spoke. “They haven’t touched the master bedroom, so you can move in anytime over the weekend, and one of the other bedrooms has already been converted to a classroom, so you can start training on Monday as you requested. That being said, McIntyre has requested access on Monday morning to finish the installation of the other two bedrooms. Would that be acceptable?”

Nahi’s eyes drifted from Takeshi to Nat, where she gave her the same strange once over she had given me. “Yes, that would be perfect,” she said as her eyes once again flashed purple for a moment before returning to her typical grey.

“Takeshi said you wanted to train me next week?” asked Nat. “And more during the Warrior Training course?”

“Yes.” Nahi stood next to Takeshi’s desk; her hands clasped in front of her. “I’ll come upstairs to talk to you and Cody about it soon. I need to talk to Takeshi and Auden first.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, but remained quiet. Here I was thinking it was Takeshi that had things to tell Nahi, not the other way around.

“Of course,” said Nat, rising from her seat. “Thank you, Auden, and Takeshi. For everything, as usual.” She stood in front of me with her arms out.

I groaned quietly but got up for the hug she obviously wanted to give me. Once she was done with me, she went around to Takeshi and took hold of his hands to pull him up for a hug. She immediately stopped when Takeshi stiffened when Nat touched him, before relaxing a couple of seconds later.

“Bloody hell, Nat,” he said as he shook his hands to get rid of the jolt of electricity I knew he had felt. “That early warning system sure packs a punch.”

Nat looked confused for a moment, then grinned. “Sorry Takeshi. Alex tells me it should only happen once. He says if you’d meant me harm, you’d be screaming from the pain right now.”

“It’s just like static electricity, isn’t it?” I asked Takeshi with a smile.

“A bit stronger, but yeah,” he said, still trying to shake the feeling off. He carefully placed a finger on Nat’s arm, then heaved a sigh of relief when he felt nothing.

Nat laughed as she embraced him. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back affectionately before she pulled away.

“I’ll see you in a few minutes, Nahi?” She put her right hand out in offering. Nahi nodded, smiled, and gladly took it, their hands reaching near to each other’s elbows. Both women lit up with vibrant markings, Nahi in her white lines and dots, Nat in her light blue lines and tribal designs. They grabbed each other’s shoulders with their free hands and touched foreheads, making their lines pulse with energy, before they pulled apart, and Nat left the office.

We all sat down once Nat shut the door behind her. Takeshi and I looked at Nahi, curiously expectant to see what she had to say.

She shifted in her seat to place her full attention on me. “I see I can extend my congratulations to you now.”

Ah. I sat back in my seat while Takeshi chuckled. “How long have you known?”

“Since our session,” she replied with a coy smile on her face.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Is that what you meant when you talked about my youngest and eldest?” It would be just like her to give cryptic clues like that.

She laughed. “Actually, no. Your youngest was Cody, who was keeping what was going on with Tatum from you, and your eldest was Nat, who had misplaced her knowledge of what James was doing. It truly wasn’t until our session was in motion that I felt another presence. It was too early for me to pick up without touch helping me. You were only twelve days along at the time.”

I grimaced. “True.”

Takeshi sat back and raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to explain.

I sighed in annoyance. “It was the night of Cody’s birthday. Jackie forced himself on me.”

Takeshi growled, a deep rumble that reverberated around the room.

“It’s fine, Takeshi,” I reached over and placed my hand palm up on his desk for him to take. “It would only happen two or three times a year—”

“You should have told me, Auden,” Takeshi cut me off, leaning forward to take my hand. “You told me about the beatings. Why didn’t you tell me he was r****g you?”

“Because I knew how you felt about the beatings,” I replied with a sigh. “And he was my husband—”

He cut me off again. “It doesn’t matter, Auden. You should have reported it. I would have stopped it—”

It was my turn to cut him off. “You wouldn’t have been able to do anything. We were fated and marked. In the eyes of the council, that overrules everything else.”

“It’s not right,” he muttered as he shook his head, bringing my hand up to his lips to kiss, then placing it against his cheek. His eyes were full of sadness as he watched me carefully. “It’s not right.”

“It’s okay,” I said softly. “I’m not mated to him anymore.” I turned my attention to Nahi. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

Nahi shook her head. “Don’t thank me; thank your daughter.” She reached over and stroked my cheek, her markings pulsing from the contact. “Although I must admit, I’m glad I could do it for you after everything that’s happened.”

I smiled at her warmly for the first time in what seemed like forever. It had always felt like Nahi had abused me magically just as much as Jackie had done so physically, but maybe, just maybe, things had ended up exactly the way they were supposed to.

“I’d appreciate it if we could keep the news between us?” I asked both Takeshi and Nahi. “I’m not young and it’s very early days. There’s a huge chance that I could miscarry, so let’s not go telling everyone, okay? Plus, it would complicate things if Jackie found out…”

“Of course,” said Takeshi, kissing my hand once more before letting it go. “Whatever you need.”

Nahi nodded. “Certainly.” She tilted her head to one side as she stroked her thumb over my cheek. “Do you mind if I touch your stomach? I need to confirm something.”

I frowned at her, immediately suspicious. “Only if you tell me why.”

“I think you might be carrying a mystic.”

I chuckled to myself when I heard Takeshi gasp. “That’s right, you don’t know.” I’d forgotten he didn’t know about my new abilities. It made sense if my baby was a mystic, considering I was one, although I did find it amusing that I hadn’t thought about the ramifications until Nahi had said something. I lifted my shirt for her as I turned in my seat to face Takeshi.

“Know what?” he asked carefully, frowning.

“Nahi’s last tune up flicked a switch,” I explained as Nahi placed a palm against my skin below my belly button. “My eyes glow purple now sometimes. Only Cody knows. Oh, and Tatum. But I made it so no-one will believe him if he tries to say anything.” I snickered at the memory.

Takeshi’s eyebrows furrowed together as his forehead crinkled in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Yes, you’re carrying a mystic,” Nahi confirmed, letting me pull my shirt back down. “A pretty powerful one at that.” She sat back and looked at me curiously. “First Cody, now this little one. There’s something about you, Auden. If only you applied yourself—”

“Nope, not going there,” I said, cutting her off with a raised finger. “I’m busy enough, without worrying about mystic training.”

She laughed. “I had to try.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “I know.”

Takeshi let go of my hand and sat back in his chair, chuckling to himself. I looked over to see him shaking his head. “You two are more alike than you realise.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, but couldn’t stop the grin that spread over my face. Nor could Nahi, apparently, as her laughter filled the air again.

“Will carrying this baby be any different from carrying a regular baby?” I asked. “Do I need to be prepared for anything different?”

Nahi nodded slowly. “You’ll find your powers will progressively get stronger over the course of the pregnancy, because you’ll get a boost from your little one. Once they’re born, your powers will revert to what they’re normally like.”

“Okay. What about once they’re born? Will I need to install bubble wrap on the ceiling fans or anything like that?” I laughed as I thought of the most outlandish thing a baby could do, but the laughter quickly fell away when I saw how seriously Nahi was taking the question. “Oh, Goddess. Really?”

Nahi tilted her head as she thought. “It’s impossible to predict at this early stage. Born mystics are rare these days. I haven’t seen one in over fifty years.” Her eyes opened wide as a thought struck her. “If you’re open to it, I could set up a meeting with Tuka. She was a born mystic. She could talk to you about what her mother went through.”

Takeshi coughed awkwardly and avoided my gaze when I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t worry, Takeshi. You’re safe here,” Nahi said, amusement dripping from her voice. “Tuka prefers to stay in Bunyip territory.” She turned to me. “If you decide to meet her, it would be best if you could travel to her.”

“Shouldn’t be an issue.” I was still watching Takeshi with interest as he fidgeted. I would need to press him further on this topic later. It wasn’t often that I saw him unnerved.

“I understand that I’m here to train Cody and to help Nat, but I’d like to be here for you too, Auden.” Nahi reached out and placed her hand on my knee, her skin glowing softly. “The next few months will be testing for you.”

I shifted my attention from Takeshi to Nahi, feeling myself get suspicious again. “In what ways, Nahi?”

Her eyes glowed purple for half a second as she stared at me. “Isn’t carrying a mystic baby enough of a test?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. She had a habit of being very cryptic about things when all you wanted was a straight answer. “It would be, if that’s all I thought you meant.”

She grinned at me somewhat sheepishly and shrugged. “Isn’t it?”