Chapter 31

Blake felt himself calming as Zeke talked to him, but the confusion made his decision.  Shifting back to his human form came easily.  For him, the shift back was simple.  Standing there, he raised an eyebrow at Zeke and then smiled as he thought of the fact that he was using Zeke’s trademark expression.

“What do you mean?  I have white spots.”

Zeke shrugged without looking at him.  The entire time, his eyes stayed on his father.  “Your parents were mated?”

“Yes,” Blake answered.  “I know that for a fact.  She had a bite mark on her neck, and my father had the same.  They were mated.”

“Hmm,” Barron mumbled.  “Who was the black leopard?”

“My father,” Blake answered, “but I never saw my mother shift.  She couldn’t.”

Zeke nodded.  “It was her price for going against the course of nature.  Snow leopards and black leopards are not meant to mix.  The outcome becomes unpredictable.”

“Like you,” Barron finished.  “Your mother was a snow leopard and your father a black leopard.  We have no idea how much power you have, but at least you seem to finally get in control of it.”

“Guys!” Amaya yelled from the forest.  “Can I leave my tree?”

“No,” they all yelled back at the same time.  They glanced at one another with a shrug.  None of them wanted Amaya close to the danger, and Blake did not want her around Zeke’s father.  The man had already cost her enough harm, Blake wouldn’t allow him to inflict more.

Turning towards the man in question, Blake asked, “What’s his name?”

“He doesn’t deserve one,” Zeke answered.  “He hasn’t since he was banished.”

Blake nodded before studying the man.  The expression on his face was neutral as if he thought whatever was going to happen wouldn’t affect him in the least.  He was wrong.  Blake planned to do whatever he could in order to make sure the man lived the rest of his days out in misery.

“What do I do?”

Barron spoke up.  “This sounds completely stupid, but you have to let go. You’ve blocked your true power your entire life.  Now, it’s time for you to ignore the people who told you your power was bad.  You have to embrace it.  You have to let go and let it flow through you.  Only then will you know what exactly you can do.”

Blake’s eyes flickered towards Zeke.  “You know what I can do?”

“We both have an idea,” Zeke mumbled, including Barron into his answer, “but if you want me to piss you off again to get you started, I will.”

“No thanks,” Blake mumbled while rolling his eyes. Taking a step towards the man, he was surprised when he stood still.  Why didn’t he try to run or at least defend himself?

“It looks like your mother was right,” Zeke’s father mumbled towards Zeke.  “Dark and light in one will make everything you worked for undone.  Hated how she had to rhyme all the time.”

Nobody said a word as Blake took another footstep closer.  Remembering Barron’s words, he tried to relax.  He tried to let his worries slip away, to let his past rules fall apart, but he couldn’t.  He couldn’t go against everything he had ever learned so easily.  A soft hand touched his arm.  Looking over, he smiled at Amaya.  “Just can’t listen, can you?”

She shook her head.  “Not when you need my help.”

Her hand trailed down his arm until she gripped hands with him.  Blake smiled.  It was enough.  It was enough to make him want to end this man in front of him.  She was blind because of him, she had a hard life because of him, but here she was, standing in front of the man with her chin tilted up in defiance.  Blake could do this for her.  Even if it were the last time he was around her, he could at least do this for her.

Closing his eyes, he blanked his mind.  He didn’t forget his worries nor the rules he had grown up with, he just pushed them away, made it to where they weren’t so dominate in his mind.  Slowly, he could feel the air change around him.  It sparked with an unseen power, but Blake knew this was his.  This flicker of warmth that coursed through him was because this was what he was meant to do.  He did not need to be afraid of what he could do.  This was him.  He could do anything he set his mind too.

Opening his eyes, he knew they would be glowing in shifter power.  He had tapped into something that came within him.  It wasn’t borrowed power from Ally.  This was his, all him.  He pictured his magic floating towards the man and was surprised when a dark purple light branched out towards Zeke’s father.

“Should have thought you would be purple,” Zeke mumbled in amusement, but Blake didn’t allow it to break his concentration. 

He pictured the man’s power, imagining that it was a tangible source inside him.  Blake was surprised when he saw the gold light surrounded by black smut.  The man had used his power for bad, and it was Blake’s job to make sure he never did so again.  Wrapping his light around it, he pulled.  The gold light snapped from the man’s chest, leaving the smut behind.  Blake could feel it.  The power wanted a host, but he couldn’t be that host.  It wasn’t his choice where the power went.  It was fate.  The power would go where it wished.

He released the gold light and they all watched as it zapped away through the forest.  “That was odd,” Blake mumbled.

Zeke’s dad dropped to the ground, his chest heaving, tears clouding his eyes.  “Oh, God, it’s gone.  It’s gone.”

“It is what you deserve.  Who would have thought that we’ve found a true one after all this time,” Zeke said in an amused tone.

Blake turned towards him with a questioning glance while keeping his grip on Amaya’s hand.  “What am I?”

“A true enforcer,” Barron answered.  “You have the power to take away what is the most important to snow leopards, but you still have enough will to kill them if it comes to that.  You are a true enforcer.  It only happens when a true queen rises in power.”

“Ally,” Blake mumbled.

Zeke nodded.  “Which means that I’m out of a job,” he said while letting out a laugh.

Blake shook his head in denial.  “I could never take that away from you.  I can’t do that.”

He stepped towards Blake.  Punching his arm in a friendly way, Zeke smiled.  “Someone needs to take over where you left off.  I need a break from it all.  I think being second in command would be good for a while.  If that isn’t enough, I’ll become Ally’s close guard again.”

“I’m not being over her guards,” Blake stated, knowing that he could never take that from Zeke. 

“Zeke will keep that part of his job,” Barron answered.  “We work for him anyway.”

Zeke turned towards him, a sour expression on his face.  “Thanks,” he blurted.

“What about me?” Amaya whispered.

Blake smiled toward her.  “You have any idea who you would want your replacement to be?”

She pulled her hand away from him.  “I can’t,” she whispered.  “This is my home.  I’m sorry, but I just can’t leave it.”

Disappointment crashed through him, but he kept the smile on his face.  Was it a good thing that he never let himself fall completely in love with her?  He was used to rejection when it came to women, but he had never thought that it would happen twice.  “It’s okay,” he said with a clear voice.  “We all have our preferences.”

“Blake,” she whispered before standing on her toes to press a soft kiss to his lips.  “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll take care of my father,” Zeke mumbled, walking away to give them a moment alone. 

Their moment was interrupted though when Sydney came crashing through the woods with dirt covering her face.  Her breathing was erratic as she gazed at them.  “We can’t find Ally.  There was fog, and Andrew left us.  Everything happened so fast,” she gasped.

Blake took a step towards her, but Zeke’s voice rang out.  “No, I’ll go, and you stay.  You have other things to do.  Go back to the village and deal with your problems.  I have Ally.”

“I’m going with you,” Barron said as he took a step towards Zeke.  “Sydney can stay with Blake as an extra measure of protection.”

Zeke nodded.  “Okay.”  He turned towards Blake with a smile.  “Looks like I’ll have to take a rain check on that fight.”

“Rain check,” Blake called out as Zeke ran from the woods.  “I’m taking you up on that.”

Barron followed behind Zeke, and soon, the three of them were standing awkwardly in the woods with Zeke’s unconscious father.  “What now?” Sydney asked.

Blake looked towards the man.  “We handle him and then we head back to the village.  Zeke is right; I have something that I need to do, and this time, no one is going to stop me from getting what I want.”

Sydney smiled at him.  “About time.”

He nodded back.  It was about time, about time he realized who he was, a powerful shifter who was a force to be reckoned with.