Leaders of the Pack Ch. 04

Sarah gave Aislinn a measuring look and slowly nodded. She knew it had to be pretty important for Aislinn to take it this far. "He'll kill me."

"So tell him that your choice was to either help me or deal with the possibility that I would take off when you least expected it and disappear by myself."

"You don't need to threaten me. I get it. I'm not in charge anymore." Sarah and Aislinn shared the upset ball in the pits of their stomachs. "I knew it would go that way eventually."

"That's not what I'm after here, Sarah. I can't handle things around here without you. It's too soon and especially with the babies, I have enough to figure out. The last thing I want is to have to try and do your job on my own. I need you. But I also know that I need to go to see my grandmother. Hey, if we do it quick I could maybe be back before he gets home. Then neither of us would be in trouble," she suggested optimistically.

"I highly doubt that there is any way we can send you to the reservation and back and not get in trouble, no matter how uneventful the trip may be. And since we never manage anything uneventfully I doubt that there's any possibility of it working to start with. But if it's what you want I'll set it up for morning. The sooner you go and get back, the less chance there is that the twins will be born somewhere other than your room. That would really get me killed."

"Thank you," Aislinn said with relieved emphasis.

"We both know you weren't really giving me a choice here," Sarah groused.

"I'm thanking you more for not turning it into a war than anything else," Aislinn replied with the same grateful tone.

Nodding understanding, Sarah picked up the phone on the desk. "Let's see who we can spare. You're not going unguarded." Sarah made a series of calls to get several betas ready to leave in the morning. "I'll send Drake with you too," she said unhappily. "I don't want to, but I don't know that you won't need him."

"Thanks. And I'm bringing Rissa too." When Sarah shot her a confused look, she added, "I may need the emotional support more than the muscle." Sarah nodded her understanding.

Aislinn smiled, realizing that Sarah was more of a friend than she seemed. Sarah was always so abrupt and businesslike. But every so often Aislinn got glimpses of a truly caring person underneath. "I'm going to owe you big for this one. I can already tell."

"Hopefully it won't be too big. For both our sakes..."

* * * *

The Council meetings eventually closed for the evening and the men and women were encouraged to get something to eat and get some sleep. The meetings would reconvene the instant word arrived from the men who were sent to the Circle to get details on the pages. More than one alpha was concerned that it was taking so long to get any concrete information.

Cullen's biggest concern was that Cadifor had tabled the possibility that they should send one of their own to look into it. Unfortunately Cullen would be the best candidate due at least in part to his connection to the Circle. More and more people were looking at him as if he should be able to produce some information that they didn't have. He hadn't been in a position of feeling so inadequate in a very long time.

Finally sitting down on the bed in his room he had the opportunity to reach out to Aislinn. Although the link was strong enough to sense her and get the impression that she was feeling relieved about something. It wasn't quite strong enough for conversation.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket he pressed the button that dialed her number. After only a momentary ring he heard her sweet voice in his ear.

"Mo gra, I was starting to wonder if I would ever hear from you," she purred.

"Say it again," he responded softly.

"What?"

"Mo gra," he said.

"Ah," Aislinn could hear the tired need in his voice. "Tá grá agam duit. I wish I could be there and hold you."

Cullen closed his eyes and let her voice comfort him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. The visions have become more intense and frightening. But I'm getting used to it." She could feel his upset through they're connection. "Don't worry. I have Sarah and Rissa. I'm okay."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true. How are you?"

"I'll be okay when I get back to you. The meeting is still on hold. We have no real word as to what has actually happened at the Circle. They all keep expecting me to produce some kind of magic intuition on the problem."

"Did you intend to put it that way?"

"No," Cullen said in exasperation, realizing what he had said. "But your visions haven't told you anything else useful have they?"

"I think Jacob is dead. He appeared in my latest vision and told me to find someone named Mira. Does that help?"

Cullen racked his brain for the names of people he had been introduced to. "No. I don't think so. But I'll ask around in the morning. You never know." He sighed heavily. "Was Jacob the only one who you could talk with in visions? I'm sorry I have to ask. I'm getting a lot of pressure."

"I'm sorry Cullen. I don't have any way that I know of to find out what happened at the Circle. If the phone number you have isn't working then the one I have won't work either."

"No. The Circle isn't responding to conventional means of communication. I don't want to think about this any longer. Tell me something pleasant. Have you been to see Rhona. How are the babies?" Cullen could feel her sudden concern again.

"I don't want you to worry. Rhona says that they are fine. Right on schedule."

"Then why are you so worried? The visions?"

"I saw Jenna holding one of them."

"Mo grá, I won't let that happen," he responded almost vehemently enough to convince Aislinn that he could stop it.

"I wish I truly believed you were capable. I need to know more about what that meant. I won't feel safe until I do."

Cullen didn't know what else to say to her. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

"I'll be waiting."