Ravers Chapter 14 Once a Raver

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Saul and Will had come back to Jake's house as soon as the sun started rising. Shalom was always an early riser. They had all felt the shift in the air; one moment contentment, then panic and fear, followed by rage. Richard had roared a challenge as Will and Saul rushed into Jake's house to find Shalom terrified and Jake shifting into his Raver.

Saul almost had to close his eyes to to hold back the things he felt at seeing her like that, and hearing the sound of her screaming. Cowering against the wall, reeking of fear, she ready to fight to the death against the one she feared most in the world. Will had gone straight to Jake as Saul had pulled her against my back as she clutched Justice.

"I got you, Shalom, he won't hurt you. Don't look at him, just look at my shoulder and we getting you out, it's okay just a few steps, he won't hurt you," Saul promised as calmly as he could. Saul had seen guys in the war get like the way Shalom was in that moment. Those men had been terrified to the point of irrationality, and ready to fight to the death against the people who weren't their enemy. Shalom was in that place now.

"He... he ... he's a...a... raver... he... he'll k-kill us, he'll k-kill J-Justice," she whisper-sobbed.

"No, he won't. He's just a little upset, okay? We're going to go out the door, you're fine, Justice is fine. Jake won't hurt you, he's your mate. Keep moving Shalom, just a little further. He won't hurt either of you, he loves you both."

"H-he looked at... at me th-the w-way he d-did that n-night. H-he's g-going to h-hurt me a-again," she choked out. Her claws dug painfully into his bicep as she hid behind him.

Saul's heart had cracked at those words. How could I reassure her? How could I help her feel safe after what she had gone through?

As Saul and Shalom stepped out the door onto the porch, Richard scooped her and Justice up into his arms and bolted away at incredible speed. Grandpa Joshua just looked at Saul and flipped his paw for Saul to follow, but Saul was already stripping out of his clothes. Then his wolf was running to catch up. Half the Ravers met them at Richard's house, Shalom was sobbing in Richard's arms as he crouched on the porch rocking her.

"Send someone to get the fae doctor, Shalom needs her," Saul barked out. Two of the Ravers turned and ran toward the clinic. Saul had shifted back to his skin and held the door as Richard carried her inside. "Shalom, you need to breathe, slow deep breaths. Nic is coming."

"H-he looked a-at m-me th-that... w-way..." she sobbed out to as Richard laid her on the bed she had been sleeping in. She was rocking a crying Justice back and forth.

Richard whined and crouched beside the bed as the fae pushed past the giant red raver. Nic jerked her head for Saul to go get dressed so he grabbed a pair of Richard's shorts and rushed back into Shalom's room.

Nicolea was shushing her, "It is okay, Shalom. You're safe, no one is going to let Jacob hurt you ever again. Shhhhhh, breathe. My name is Dr. Nicolea Trinity, I am a fae healer, do you remember me from the hospital?"

Shalom looked broken as she nodded. Nicolea continued talking in the same tone Saul had heard Greyson use with Shalom and the Ravers. It was the tone he used with Will, Jake, Mark, and Rand when they had the Rage. It was even making Saul feel calm and at that moment all Saul wanted to do was go back and beat the crap out of Jake. For pushing Shalom into a panic attack.

Nicolea held her gently, and continued calming her. "Good... good. I need you to try to take deep breaths and why don't you let Saul hold your baby... I am sure he would take good care of him."

Justice had stopped crying and was staring at the softly glowing fae.

"Please Saul, can't we just go?" Shalom begged. "Leave now?"

Richard rumbled out a deep growl.

"I'm sorry Shalom but we can't, it will only make him worse. Just be patient a little while," Saul promised as he carefully took Justice from Shalom's shaking arms. Jake wouldn't let anyone hold him when they arrived last night.

She cried softly, apologizing. "I'm sorry I'm such a coward. I... I just don't think I can b-be near him. Please, can we go?"

Saul kissed her forehead, "Not yet, but soon. You're not a coward, you are the bravest person I know. He's beautiful, Shalom. You named him after your brother?"

Shalom sniffed, then revealed, "And Richard's son. Justice Julian Van Gaurd. We can call him J.J."

Saul could only nod. Richard made a sad whine, sniffing the infant, then he licked Shalom on the temples and left the house remarkably quietly for a beast his size.

Looking out the window a moment later, Richard was making a wide circle around the house, guarding it. Saul's heart aching for his cousin-by-mating. Another raver passed and Saul saw that most of them were in various places between Jake's house and Richard's home. If Jake's Raver came for Shalom, it would have to go through an army of fangs and claws to get to her.

Nicolea eased Shalom up, "Let's get you in the shower, I'll check you over make sure you're fine. And then I'll check our Justice. You did very well having him without help."

"Jake helped," Shalom whispered so softly we almost didn't hear her.

Nicolea's tone didn't waver, but she flashed Saul a look that expressed his own gut wrenching reaction, "And it was very good that he did, and you were very brave to let him. It must have been very hard but you did it, and that proves how strong you are."

"Have a bath, Shalom, I got J.J., nothing can get past Richard and his boys. You're safe," Saul reassured her.

While he listened to the water running, Saul heard Nicolea's constant soothing monologue and Shalom's occasional crying. Saul felt Will nudge the family link and opened up to him. Saul could feel Will's worry about Shalom and sent back the impression that she was overwhelmed, terrified, and to keep Jake away because of Richard. Saul could also feel as Jake nudged him but he pushed back hard with anger. He wished the thing in Shalom's books about the pack link being a form of telepathy was true so he could rant at Jake. But in reality, it was more of impression and empathy for another wolf's feelings. He had just changed Justice's diaper when Nic came out of the bathroom and grabbed a robe out of the closet. She gave Justice a quick exam.

"He's in excellent shape, just perfect," she whispered, "I may have to sedate her, she's too upset and isn't thinking clearly. She is sure Jake is going to come here and hurt her and the baby. I am afraid she might try to take off like she did in Oklahoma City."

"Do what you have to," Saul answered in a low voice. "He's just acting on his nature. But if we try to take her away, he will get violent, and I have no doubt that Richard will kill him for threatening her."

"Richard and the others seem very hostile toward Jake," Nic sighed before going back to the bathroom. She glanced back at him, "I might help him if Jake shows up right now. Once a Raver, always a Raver."

"Will's on his way, I'll send a message to keep Jake away." Saul assured her. He felt his cousin coming closer and carried the baby securely in his arms to face off with his family.

Saul stepped out on the porch holding the baby. "Keep him away for now, Will. She said he looked at her like he did that night. Nic says we're going to have to sedate her. Shalom wants to leave. You know what she's like, you know what she fears."

"Okay, but he needs her as much as she fears him, Saul. She can't leave, he's barely holding on. That night broke both of them, not just her." Will shifted back to his wolf and sprinted for Jake's house.

Once and awhile, Richard or another Raver would pass the window. J.J. laid in Saul's arms, looking at him with curious eyes. Saul was amazed at how much Jake's son looked like Will as a baby except he had Shalom's curly dark hair. He was going to be a strong wolf, Saul could already feel it.

Nicolae helped Shalom into bed and smiled apologetically as she gave Shalom a shot.

Shalom looked exhausted. "I need to feed him before the medicine hits my milk."

"Don't worry, it won't taint your milk. You're a wolf now, it won't affect Justice. It isn't like when you were donating breast milk for premies. I'll make you some tea." Nic went out to the kitchen. Shalom looked after the fae like she didn't believe her.

"Nic says he's perfect. I have never seen a pup this strong. I can already tell he's going to be ornery," Saul said as he handed the baby back to her. He didn't want to look at her while she was breastfeeding. Wolves didn't care about such things but Shalom was human only eight months ago and he was trying to be respectful.

"You can turn around, I'm covered." Her voice had an amused tone, "I didn't think breastfeeding would bother a wolf."

Saul laughed slightly, "It doesn't." Then his voice became serious. "I just didn't want to disrespect you, Shalom."

She looked at him with large dark hazel eyes that were very sad and regretful. "I'm sorry I didn't send you a message sooner. I was afraid the Ravers would hurt anyone who came here. Then they brought Jake and I took a chance."

"Tell me what happened. We found your jeep crashed, dead elk on the hood. And no trace of you, not even your scent. Where did you go, Shalom? How did you get here?" Saul wasn't hurt that she left him behind when the attack came, he was more curious about who took her. Nic came in with a cup of tea, she didn't say anything, just listens.

"I was kind of kidnapped..." Shalom started, and what she told them over the next few hours was amazing but terrifying. Nic and Saul shared worried looks when Shalom was looking out the window at a raver passing by or down at Justice. Somewhere there was a dark fae who was hunting Shalom and her pup.

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Saul watched the afternoon fade over the place where he was born, lived, and had died many small deaths. Going in the kitchen, Saul poured himself another bourbon and scowled thinking about this morning and what happened, and about what Shalom told he and Nic. He needed to tell Jake and Will. Silently, he trod through the house. Shalom was asleep with Justice tucked in beside her. Nic used some kind of Fae magic to make her rest when she refused more medicine, and was sitting with her. Saul chewed the end of a new cigar he took from Richard's desk, it was the box Richard and Julia had always kept for him.

Richard's home reminded him of Julia, who brought him back to life from the shell of a broken wolf who had returned from the Vietnam war. He could almost see her sitting at the kitchen island, holding his hand as the walls of his pain came tumbling down. His quirky cousin with her annoying sense of humor and infinite capacity to love and laugh. Her golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes made her seem like the incarnation of a perfect sunny day. She would have loved Shalom and he was so sad Julia didn't make it, part of him felt like it died with her. As Richard stomped around the house again, like a devoted guard dog wearing a path along a fence, Saul ached for him.

All of the survivors of Monarch Mountain had surrounded the house today. Saul's mouth was set in a hard line, they still didn't know how the Ravers communicated but they seem to. And to Saul it seemed that they were all willing to protect Shalom and Justice, even from Jake. Will came over for a while then went back to deal with Jake. Ryan was lying in his wolf on the porch. He had shifted to his raver for a while then back to his wolf. Saul patted him on the head as he went down the steps. Richard raised a lip to bare his teeth as Saul approached.

"How did you know about the Demonus and where to find Shalom?"

Saliva dripped from canine fangs too large to be concealed. Bending, Richard scratched on ground. 'JOSHUA FREND'

"Grandpa Joshua's friend wouldn't happen to be a cursed fae named Galen Morganason?" Saul demanded hotly. He really hated feeling like a pawn.

White-veiled green eyes regarded Saul with unreadable emotions then Richard nodded once before turning away and stalking down his worn patrol path.

VvvvvV

Saul walked into Jake's house without knocking, Jake was on the SatPhone, Will was scowling. Saul listened with him.

Jake's voice was calm but his free hand was balled into a shaking fist.

"We have no choice. The Ravers are dangerous, we have tens of thousands who can't go home until they are dealt with," James retorted just as calmly.

"James, give us time, give her time." Saul watched Jake pinch the bridge of his nose, it was a gesture that meant he was at the edge of his patience. Jake was starting to sound angry as they continued.

Then there was silence between them, Saul and Will glanced at each other as they waited. Their grandfather had taught them to wait out the desire to lose one's temper and say nothing. Both knew the brothers were doing exactly that.

"You have a year," James finally announced. "Take care of them. Good bye, Jacob."

"James." Jake responded and hung up. Will took the SatPhone from his hand before he crushed it .

"That stupid, arrogant.... if he wasn't my brother, I'd rip his throat out!" Jake growled, pacing with a heavy step. If the floor boards weren't made of six-inch-thick, cured hard wood, he'd be stomping holes in it.

"He's lying," Saul stated quietly. "There is no way James will allow J.J. to stay here without protection for a year. We need to move them."

"No." Jake snarled.

"Jake..." Will was interrupted.

"NO! Quinn is mine, Justice is mine. I will not let them go again." He stopped suddenly taking several slow deep breaths, finally he confessed, pained in a low voice, "I need them."

"Then you may need to let them go," Saul started slowly. Jake's eyes flashed rage as he glared at Saul so he rushed to finish, "Just for a time, Jake. I would never dream of taking your family from you unless it was absolutely necessary."

Will's eyes narrowed as he shifted his attention from Jake to Saul, "What do you mean 'absolutely necessary'?"

"Jake, did Shalom tell you where she's been, what happened to her before she came here?" Saul asked.

Jake shook his head, his tone was filled with shame, "She's terrified to be near me."

"After she escaped from the Ravers at the school and wrecked, she was held prisoner by a dark fae, a true demonus, somewhere in the mountains near Maroon Bells. From her description I think she was near Seiver's Mountain. There was a butler there who took care of her, she thinks she was there for several weeks. She said it was like the castle from Beauty and the Beast. One morning, she found a book under her pillow about the types of fae and tried to escape, but the butler wouldn't let her. She found the butler in the book. She said she had weird dreams the whole time she was there and that one morning, another dark fae came through a mirror and told her to stop drinking the tea the butler was giving her."

Saul paused and shook his head, "They were drugging her and her wolf. She did and she began to remember things and then a week later Grandpa and the Ravers attacked the house. Mr. Black as she called him went out to fight them, but not before he told her that when his master came she needed to go with him and then find a way to escape, and not to feed him or give him her child. He died after the attack, but before he did, he made her a red hooded cloak of protection. A real one, I saw it in her closet." Saul's voice held a tone of awe.

His lips pursed as he revealed. "She said it took all the ravers to pull down Mr. Black and if he was beholding to another demonus, then we have a much bigger problem that James being overprotective. Somewhere there is a very powerful dark fae looking for Shalom and J.J.. A clan leader and if he finds out they are here, we won't be able to protect them."

Will gasped, but Jake just shook his head slowly, eyes squeezed shut, his breathing ragged. "I... I dreamed about it... about the demonus dying. The morning I had the rage the first time, I woke up angry because she could care about a demonus and hate me. I watched her comfort him as' he died, he put marks on her cloak and... and she screamed at me, at whoever, that we didn't have to kill him. She cared about him, even though he was holding her prisoner. She didn't want him to die that way."

"Duuuude." Will breathed out, "What the hell are we going to do? A high demonus. We can't... I mean... daaaamnnnn... If it finds us, it will kill us all and it will just take them."

"Not as long as she has that cloak, I didn't even think those things were real until I saw it in her closet. Nic told her to never leave it behind, it would hide her from all fae. I still can't believe it gave her that. Nic told me no fae on the planet can find her as long as she is within a mile of it. I didn't say anything to Shalom about what Nic and I think, but this changes everything," Saul finished. "She isn't safe anywhere."

Jake was staring out the window at the growing darkness, the first stars were just peeking through the trees. He was trembling. "I... I can't lose her again." was all he repeated.

"Saul's right. We have to keep her and J.J. safe, and you know James already as a committee convened to draft a security plan for Monarch Mountain territory. That means where she is isn't a secret anymore. We know there are spies in the Monarchy, high up spies. Paul may be dead but that doesn't mean the ones he was talking to don't still have their people in place." Will pleaded, "Dammit Jake, be reasonable. We have to hide her and J.J."

"And send Grandpa and the Ravers with her," Saul added. They both turned and look at him oddly. "The dark fae who told her to stop drinking the tea, also told her she would be the one to remind them of who they were, to help them heal. I... I think I know him. He's a cursed fae named Galen, a friend of Bianca's." Saul added, "He is the one who sent me to find her. Heck, Jake, he gave you a message for me. There is more going on here than it being about who is the heir to the monarchy."

"But what?" Will demanded. "Why all that fuss over one she-wolf and pup? No one but us knew she was Jake's mate."

"We don't know who else Paul told," Saul reminded.

"It's about war," Jake declared quietly, "It's about ending or subduing the Monarchy. And not just the Werewolf Monarchy, but the Covenant Vampires too."

Jake slumped into a chair, his hands clenched tightly in front of him. "No one knows this, but three years ago, the Consort Princess of the Covenant Rosesea King vanished a month before she was due to deliver their next queen. She was found torn to pieces, the child was missing, and presumed dead. The vampires freaked out, but James was able to convince them we had nothing to do with it. If the same dark fae who has the little princess gets J.J., it will have the power to force the surrender of both species. And I am willing to bet my own life that whoever is after Quinn is the same being who created the Elm chemical weapon and caused the Revelation Night to turn the humans against us. Just in case his plan to subdue the Kingdoms failed. He wants to rule over us and the humans."

Will and Saul just stared at him. If his crazy theory was true, none of them were safe. No one in the world was safe. Saul looked down at the chewed cigar, he had removed from his mouth to keep from dropping. He realized it was worse than he imagined, because Jake wasn't given to flights of fantasy. He was a general and had been raised to be one since he was a pup. Jake's sole purpose as the Alpha Commander was to protect the Monarchy.

Jake laughed tiredly, his shoulders sagged as though he was giving up. "You're right, both of you. We need to be ready in a moment's notice to get them to safety. If I want to save her, I have to let her go."

Walking back toward Richard's in the darkness, Saul's brain was going in circles, like a merry-go-round. The thing is the more he thought about Jake's conclusion, the less crazy it sounded. Someone did this to them, to their kind and it wasn't the humans, they were just pawns. Somewhere out there was a dark fae and his clan who want to rule the world.