My father turned to me with his eyebrows raised expectantly.
I told my side of the story. I recounted to the Circle everything that had happened to me over the past few days, up until James busted through my door last night. James picked up the thread after that, and then my brother followed.
Nothing was mentioned about our brief interlude. Neither James nor I would be expected to share our coupling. Some things were private, even for werewolves.
My being a possible Lycan was also not specifically mentioned by name either, but it was implied. James told the room I had begun to change, but never finished. When Tyler finished describing the scene there was a long silence.
“What do you mean she started to change?” Hank, not surprisingly, asked first. “Did she finish, or did she get locked?” He looked at me hopefully. Getting locked or stalling partway through the change was typical with newborns, and extremely painful. Or so I’d heard.
I deferred to my father with a glance. I didn’t feel it was my information to share; I barely understood what was going on my own self, much less trying to explain it to a group of wolves.
Callum McClain peered seriously around the table at his inner Circle. The anxiety in the room had amped up a few degrees. I suddenly felt light-headed. I had no idea what everyone was going to do when they found out. It couldn’t possibly be good.
“What I am about to tell you will stay in this room until I deem it Pack business. Vow it.”
Around the table a chorus of voices chimed, “I vow it.”
14
A pulse of power flowed through the room as my father accepted an oath from each wolf. If they broke their vow he’d know it. Vows were binding in our world. The link from an Alpha to his wolf was a physical one, and when it came to a vow, it manifested between them in a tangible way.
“I have not seen this for myself, but it has been witnessed by my son and my second.” He met the curious stares of his Council straight on. “It seems Jessica was able to change partway and hold that form for a considerable amount of time. She fought the rogue that way … and won.” He lifted his eyebrow slightly, challenging his wolves to say otherwise. “She did not get locked. She did not stall. She was able to function with complete control.”
There was dead silence.
Some of the wolves darted looks at each other. I wiggled in my seat, uncomfortable now that my secret was out. Receiving the news I was a Lycan had to be the equivalent of proving the Cain Myth true for these wolves. I knew my father had to address it, there was no other way around it, but I just wished I’d had a few more days to digest everything first before it all came crashing down around me.
The soft clacks of the computer keys came to a halt. “Lycan,” Devon breathed. “You’re talking about a Lycan, right? I didn’t think that was even possible. I mean, there’s plenty of legend surrounding it, but no one in the last thousand years has ever witnessed one.”
Everyone held perfectly still.
Emotions passed over each wolf’s face as they grappled with the news.
A hesitant cough came from across the table. “But, Callum, if you didn’t personally see it, they may have been mistaken,” Rich said calmly. “No one has ever seen a true Lycan. How could it be accurately judged so quickly? It’s possible that a female werewolf can’t even change fully to begin with. Changing partway may be the only thing she can manage.”
He had a point. If I hadn’t made a full change my first night I would be questioning it as well.
“I would agree with you, Rich. Caution would be the right way to tread with this,” my father said. “This is not information I share lightly with all of you. Jace did a full blood workup on Jessica when she came back, and her chemistry has completely changed. I received the results before I left the Compound. He is still working on isolating the gene, but according to her blood, at this time, she is full wolf and that’s confirmation enough.” He let his voice trail off as he gazed around the room. It was still absolutely quiet. He continued, “There have also been a few other indicators pointing to Lycan, which have made me solidify my judgment.”
Cliff Delano, a steady wolf with chocolate skin and serious eyes, stared at me in open wonder. “What other indicators?” he asked my father in a sedate tone, which underscored the fear quietly emanating from him.
In fact, the stink of fear began to fill the air from several directions. That wasn’t good.
“Jessica, it seems,” my father told his Circle, “is able to block me from her thoughts unconsciously. I am unable to reach her. I cannot break through her barrier, though I have tried to do repeatedly.”