Chapter 3 Free Fall The Society Book 2

Chapter 3

As Ivy drove back to Wildwood, she found she had more questions circling in her brain than she had when she left. "And I foolishly thought I'd actually get some answers, " Ivy said to herself as she drove, no longer noticing the bumps in the road as she tried to sort out her thoughts. "What was I thinking?"

Ivy arrived at Wildwood and parked, relieved to be going back indoors and not having to go back out again. "And I can get out of these long johns." She reminded herself, knowing that if she started unpacking boxes of books while wearing the thermals indoors, she would be a sweaty mess in under an hour.

She slid out of the truck and looked at the large trunk in the bed. Even though Jerome hefted it with ease, she knew it would be beyond her strength. Wolves, even older ones, tended to have a denser musculature than mere mages. They liked to point out that they were stronger and faster than any mage or norm; Often repeatedly and in a loud voice.

"And mages like to point out that we are smarter, " Ivy said to herself. "Still, " she continued, eyeing the box. "A little more muscle wouldn't be amiss."

"Please tell me you aren't trying to lift that on your own?"

Ivy turned and found her brother Max approaching. An earth mage by birth and a veterinarian by training, Ivy was fairly certain her brother could actually hear the thoughts of animals. She suspected that he could also communicate with Shifters when they weren't wearing their human form, but she never asked him about it. Somehow she had the feeling it would come up sooner or later though with so many shifters running around.

'I wonder if it's related to William's blood?' she thought.

"Earth to Ivy, come in Ivy, " Max said snapping his fingers.

Ivy shook her head. "Sorry just thinking. I don't suppose you could give me a hand getting this inside?"

"Sure, " he said with a shrug. "How heavy is it?"

"Not sure, " she replied. "Jerome Finch put it in the truck for me."

"You finally managed to track him down?" Max said climbing into the truck bed.

"I did." Ivy lowered the back gate of the truck.

"Well, if an elderly wolf can move it, I'm sure the two of us should have no problems, " Max said. He pushed the trunk to the edge of the truck bed with a grunt. Ivy grabbed the handle on the free end and with great effort they managed to get it out of the truck. Together they struggled to get the trunk up to the house, managing to keep it off of the wet ground. Once inside they set it down on the marble tiles of the front lobby.

As they stopped to catch their breath before continuing, Ivy marveled again that she was now living in what looked like a high end ski lodge. No matter how many times she went in and out the front doors, it still seemed vaguely unreal. The sound of men having a loud and somewhat angry sounding discussion echoed through the large space. She looked at Max who shrugged.

"Some sort of shifter thing sounds like, " he said.

"Yeah, " she replied. Ivy looked down at the trunk. Not knowing what it contained, Ivy wasn't ready to share the contents with the bulk of the shifter pack. In fact, knowing how the pack felt about William, she wasn't certain she wanted to tell them where the trunk came from. At least not yet.

"Think we can move this off to the side before figuring out that mess?" She asked her brother. Max nodded and again they hefted the trunk a few inches off of the ground. Together they half walked, half waddled to the corner where they deposited the trunk.

"Not ready to share?" Max guessed, seeing that the trunk was now in a shadowy corner and unlikely to be noticed by people passing through the space.

"Not until after our family meeting, " she told him.

"The one without extra pack members?"

"That's the one."

The sound of shouting seemed to grow louder. "Do we want to see what that's about or should we just say 'shifter thing' and let it be?" Max asked.

"It could be important, " Ivy said. She took off her gloves and hat and stuffed them in the pocket holding the large metal key. Curiosity filled her and she looked at the trunk.

"It could be, " Max agreed, both of them still standing by the trunk.

"Of course last week they used pretty much the same tone of voice when arguing over the last cookie in the jar."

"Didn't you end the argument by breaking the cookie in half, " Max asked, grinning.

"Yeah, it was a regular King Solomon moment." Ivy said unbuttoning her coat and loosening her scarf so it hung in looser loops around her neck. The argument didn't seem to be dying down. She decided to give in to the inevitable, leaving the trunk for later. "I guess I'd better go."

"Good luck, " Max said.

"You aren't coming?"

"Nope, " he replied. "I am only in charge of keeping the barnyard animals healthy and happy until you cook them up for dinner. This is all you." He turned and walked back to the door.

"Thanks, " she said to his back. Without turning or breaking stride, he waved his hand in the air and continued out of the door. Ivy couldn't blame him. Most of the family had introvert tendencies and like her, Max spent all of his adult life living alone. They were all adjusting, but sometimes it was harder to take than others.

"And I'm stalling, " Ivy reminded herself. She forced herself to walk towards the cluster of arguing shifters. She was surprised to see Russell and Eric mixed into the knot of angry men as she tended to count the two of them as among the more level headed of the bunch. Ivy frowned and moved closer wondering what the argument was about. To her surprise as she neared, she saw two very unexpected people sitting on one of the couches watching the shifters.

Both of the people were norms, Nikos, or Nick as he was now called, was a friend she made while at University. Most of the mages she knew were baffled as to why she would bother going to a norm university in the first place, believing there was nothing she could possibly learn from them. As those same mages tended to view norms as though they were still medieval peasants, Ivy didn't take their jibes personally. It did lead her to make more friends in the norm world than was typical, especially for a fire mage. Nick was one of the first she made outside of the insular mage world when she was still reeling from the forced separation of her family by the Shadow Council.

As Nick was a brilliant introvert who was hiding with his grandmother from his organized crime boss of a father, Ivy knew she was one of his few friends as well. She helped him out by using her magic to help hide them further from his father's attempts to find him and as he could do virtually anything on the computer, he occasionally helped her out.

At the moment he was sitting on the couch, a blank expression on his face as his eyes moved from one shifter face to another, a large file folder in his lap. Sitting next to him, a look of amusement on her lined face was his grandmother Irina. Born in the modern village of Delphi, Irina liked to play the fortune teller by reading the tea leaves. Her predictions were always vague enough to have the semblance of truth and the inability to be disproven. She wasn't a mage, but Ivy long suspected she was more than she seemed.

'And clearly able to get through my shields, ' Ivy thought, guessing that this was the reason for the argument.

One of the men arguing with Russell was Frank Ross. As Frank and his wife, Beth had five sons, all strong enough to grow to be alphas, his house was one of the first she shielded. As she drew closer, Ivy realized there was fear as much as anger on his face. She listened to a few of the sentences being hurled about as she crossed the open expanse of floor and formed her responses, seeing where his major concern lay. When they paused to take a breath, she seized the opportunity.

"They didn't break the shields, " she said loudly. Everyone turned to her in surprise. Ivy thought it might be the sound of a female voice throwing them off stride as she and Irina were the only women present. As they remained silent, she continued, driving to the heart of the matter quicker than she would with a mage discussion. This was not the time for deliberation and subtlety.

"The shields around Wildwood are designed to allow family and trusted friends through without breaking. Otherwise the pack would be required to request entrance before setting foot on the property. The shields on your homes must be disengaged to allow passage. They are just locks and not responsive as it was felt you couldn't live with the responsive shields. Nick and Irina are both trusted enough by me to allow them passage while the shields remain active."

Frank blinked as though the fight was just knocked out of him. "Really, " he asked as though unsure he wanted to believe her.

"Really, " she replied.

"Oh, " he said. Those who were on his side in the argument backed down, looking a bit sheepish as the discussion came to an end. "I apologize, " he told Russell. He looked to Ivy. "To you as well." He looked over to the seated Irina and Nick. "And to you."

"It has been a long time since I have had a group of handsome men fighting over me, " Irina told him with a grin. "It made me feel like I was sixty again."

"Sixty, " Frank repeated slowly.

"Oh yes, " Irina replied. "The fights that happened when I was younger all ended in bloodshed and are less amusing to think about."

Frank looked as though he was unsure how to reply. Ivy could see the shifters all sniffing the air, trying to taste the words to see if they were true or not. To her surprise, they seemed to find her words true.

"Oh, " Frank finally said. He blinked, but stood there as though uncertain of the proper response to such a statement.

"Perhaps you two would like to join me in the kitchen for tea?" Ivy said into the silence. Nick nodded and even though his expression changed little, she saw the tension leave his shoulders. While Nick was not a small man, his strength lay more in his mind than his body. His lanky frame added a slight paunch over the years and there were stands of gray mixed into his shaggy black hair. His olive skin looked a little sallow from far too much time away from the sun as he worked in his clean computer lab. Ivy knew he was not up to a physical fight with a group of shifters. She also knew if any of them made a move towards his grandmother, he would do his best to fight anyway.

He stood and offered his grandmother his free hand to help her rise from the low slung couch, the file held in his other. The men started to disperse, continuing with whatever they were doing before they joined the argument. Ivy shook her head, envying the way they could completely dismiss an argument the moment it was settled. While she knew she wasn't as bad as some of the other mages she knew, Ivy still held on to her anger and grudges longer then the wolves.

Ivy grabbed Russell's arm before he could leave. "I placed a trunk in the corner, " Ivy told him inclining her head towards the trunk she and Max brought in. "Could you get it to somewhere less public?"

Knowing where she went and where the trunk more than likely came from, Russell's eyebrows lifted in surprise. He looked towards the trunk in the corner.

"It's heavy, Max had to help me get it inside."

Russell nodded. "We'll take care of it." He told her. He walked over and said a few words to Eric. As Ivy led Irina and Nick towards the kitchen she saw the two of them pick up the trunk as though it weighed nothing. They moved easily across the lobby towards the area currently being used for personal storage.

'Wolves, ' she thought with a sigh.

"Let's get some tea, " she said to her guests as they continued back to the kitchen.