Who is Magpie?

Bronx didn’t want to leave his brother alone with Magpie. Regardless of who she was to him, he didn’t know who he was to her. But when Ezekiel asked him if he could cover for him around the pack house so he could watch over Magpie he found himself unable to refuse.

Ezekiel’s biggest concern was her being influenced by anyone with them now giving her the tea. There was so much they didn’t know about her, her training, and what they had done to her. Beyond that, the wolven had suffered many losses by the Fae and, though they trusted their pack, it was best not to put temptation easily in the hands of those scorn.

They agreed to wait until after the meeting with the council to tell anyone else any details. They didn’t want anything to get to the them before Ezekiel could tell them himself, so they made up a story as to why he was with her all day. They told any who asked, that she was heavily drugged and would only answer their questions if it was Ezekiel. The truth would all come out in time.

Bronx went to find Tidas after leaving the medical bay, needing a hand taking care of everything he promised to. After a quick knock, his surrogate father stood before him at his guest room.

“Bronx, come on in. How’s it going?” Tidas moved aside, closed the door tightly and then regarded Bronx more closely. “What’s the matter?”

Bronx shook his head in frustration, not knowing where to start. Tidas moved forward and wrapped his arms around the man he had raised alongside his own. When it had come to passing the Alpha title to the next generation, Ezekiel had never assumed it would go to him as the blood heir, insisting that they both go through the trials, but Bronx had never wanted to be Alpha.

He hadn’t even really wanted to be Beta, initially refusing the position, but upon seeing the other applicants picked up the gauntlet. They felt more like twins at times, their mothers being sent into labour together during the same dinner party, and then becoming adopted brothers at three. They didn’t remember a life apart.

Bronx summarized the note and told him that Ezekiel would be staying with her in the medical bay. Tidas had to admit he felt useless just sitting in his room and was all to happy to help.

She drifted in and out of sleep, always waking up surprised but grateful that he was still there. Numerous times he had to reassure her that he would still be there the next time she woke up, and she had a hard time believing him no matter how many times he was.

Ezekiel stayed vigilant by her side with a cold compress and only woke her when it was time for more tea.

She sat up, moving to lay on his chest despite already over heating. “Oh.” She said sadly as Ezekiel moved to stand.

“I’m just going to the bathroom.” He replied, handing her the tea and kissing the top of her head.

The twinge she felt like he had gotten up because she did something wrong remained. She was having trouble expressing her emotions again, but this time she remembered why. She wanted to scream, feeling like she was a pop can someone had shook but refused to, but it was so much worse now with understanding.

She stared into the dark liquid, longing to dump it down the drain.

The door scraped against the frame lightly as it opened and Magpie put her cup down quickly, sloshing some of the tea on the table. She backed up on the bed as far as she could, ready to launch herself if needed.

Bronx appeared in the doorway, taking note of her position. “Jumpy?”

She eased herself back to a proper sit, but didn’t relax entirely. “Jumpy keeps you alive.” She hesitated, wondering if she should finish her thought and caved. “Besides, it was rare anyone ever entered my room. Aside from the boy who brought my tea, if anyone entered without knocking it was because I had done something wrong.”

Bronx winced at the thought. Though she put him on edge he hadn’t meant to do that to her. “I’m sorry, I should have knocked. I thought you might be sleeping and didn’t want to…”

“…What would they do?” Ezekiel interrupted with a low growl.

“What Alpha?” Bronx asked, recognizing his tone and dropping his head before he realized that he wasn’t talking to him.

“Magpie,” Ezekiel encouraged, “what did they do?”

She didn’t move, feeling the shame that paired so well with the judgement she usually received while waiting for punishment. If she cried out it would be worse, so she would bite her lips until they were bloody.

“Show him,” Bronx muttered, and she looked at him like he betrayed her. “He needs to go to bat for you with the council now.”

The words remained unspoken. The more evidence they had that she was used, that her actions weren’t her own, the better their odds of getting her off a death sentence.

She pinched under the armpit of her shirt, sliding one arm out and then pulling it over her head before letting it slide over the hand she used to pull it off with, unveiling her scarred back smoothly. Ezekiel began trembling with anger, Magpie could feel it radiating through the floor and into the bed frame, and she braced herself for that rage. She felt his footsteps, then a cool hand slide across her shoulder blades before his other arm wrap across her chest, and pulled her close against him.

“No one will ever harm you again, as long as I breathe, you will be safe with me.” Ezekiel kissed the top of her head twice before holding her tighter, breathing in the smell that smelt less of lemons than it used to.

She wanted to believe him, almost as much as she wished that him and Kay had never seen her scars. Now, even only one day on a smaller cup of slightly diluted tea, she could feel the thoughts that she had felt bouncing around after she started her friendship with Kay finally connecting to something.

“They told me I was a slow learner, and I was the example of what could happen if they were displeased.” When she already thought Ezekiel’s hold couldn’t be snugger he moved up onto the bed beside her and brought her to his lap.

Bronx had no words to say, feeling like he was intruding on yet another moment between them. “Ezekiel,” he said finally. “The council is almost here. You need to be there to greet them.”

“Alright. Magpie?” He pulled away to look at her. “I have business to attend to. Bronx will stay with you while I greet the council, but when the meeting begins he will need to join me.” He hesitated, wondering who to trust with her. “I will have my father and grandmother, Willow, replace him to watch over you. They can be trusted, and you don’t need to worry about them.”

Magpie nodded but spoke her thoughts regardless. “You know I don’t need watching over if you return me to the cells. I am putting you out by being here, and I don’t want to cause….”

He silenced her with another kiss against her forehead. “You are never putting me out, and I will worry about everything else.”

“Why!?” She demanded. “Just because my previous keepers didn’t value my life, does not explain why you are taking care of me. I tried to kill you!”

She didn’t miss the cringe from either man at her words, but Ezekiel felt another pang in his chest. He couldn’t hold back the words he wanted so badly to speak any longer, brushing the hair gently back and holding her head in his hand. She leant into him, holding his hand there around her crown, with her eyes pleading for this answer more than any question she had ever asked.

He let a quiet breath go and then smiled. “Because you are my mate. And, regardless of if you ever want to be with me, your happiness is my happiness.” Magpie was left frozen, eyes wide as she look back at him. “I’ll be back as quick as I can.” With one last kiss on the top of her head, Ezekiel left the room and the silence stretched on.

Bronx was surprised he told her, if not also a little worried that she would use this information against him. Magpie was stunned, she didn’t know how to feel about such a claim but that word, mate, played over and over in her head like it was begging to connect to something. This feeling in her head made her uncomfortable, and uneasy, and her heart began to race again. Bronx closed the distance between them as he saw this change and pressed the mug into her hands.

She just stared at it again. “I don’t want to understand these feelings less than I already do.”

Bronx nudged her hands. “If your heart, liver, or kidneys give out from the shock you’ll never get a chance to try.”

Bronx sighed with relief when she finally took the tea, moving to the window to balance herself, half-assed, on the sill. He could almost see the changes in her as the tea took up most of her personality, and as much as he wanted to just sit in silence and please his Alpha, his worry for him won out.

“If I ask you some questions, will you answer truthfully?”

Her head looked at him lazily, the line between who she was and who the tree reminded her she was blurring as her temperature increased. “First ask, how will you know if I’m telling the truth.” She shook her head lightly from side to side, trying to keep her focus from slipping. “And you won’t, because I’ve been lying all my life. But I know the good doctor has picked out the biggest Mensdillia leaves before steeping this batch. You could use them now, or add them to my tea tomorrow before the council demands their audience. It all depends on who you want answers for and what questions you have.”

‘Me.’ He wanted to say. ‘Ezekiel?’ He saw her point. He could be selfish, use the herb and ask just to know the answer, or wait until tomorrow and ask those questions for her, for them, in a setting where complete trust in her answers was the most important.

“Tomorrow then.” He said finally, and she nodded in return in a way that said she would have accepted any answer he gave, because she accepted she had no choice.

“Ezekiel won’t like the idea after two days of weaning down, so I suggest you not tell him.” Magpie returned cooly, looking back out the window where she could see several guards patrolling in their large wolven forms.

Bronx scoffed, “not even married and already willing to lie to him.”

She whipped her head back towards him with that, almost snarling despite everything that should have prevented that. “You and I both know he’s already going to be in shit for not keeping me in a cell or at least in chains; I’m a threat. He’s not thinking clearly, and, if your counsel is as old and prudish as the one I’m used to, that puts me at a disadvantage before the trial’s begun, no matter who I am to him.” She hesitated for only a second before she forced herself to finish her thought. “I need to live if I’m ever going to find out who he is to me.”

Most attempts for them to talk after that fell short. Magpie was barely listening as she stared out the window, continuing to watch the wolves pace back and forth, switching positions after every third pass. She began counting their rotations, and the number of times one of them noticed her sitting there, and after an hour of this she dozed off and Bronx transferred her to the bed, raising the sides and tucking her in.

Doctor Pon couldn’t figure out why she was constantly so exhausted. She ate every meal almost ravenously, but soon after would be tired again, and the tea seemed to only make it worse. Knowing this couldn’t be a common problem for her, he continued to monitor her as much as his limited resources allowed.

It wasn’t long before there was a light knock on the door, signalling that it was time for Bronx to go and Tidas and Willow had arrived.

“You’re needed in the large meeting room.” Tidas gleamed, pushing his way in passed Bronx.

“She’s sleeping.” Bronx told him firmly. “You won’t be privy to some of her dazzling personality for a bit.”

Tidas forced himself to contain the booming laugh pressing at his lips. “You think so highly of her?” He asked sarcastically, clapping the man on the back and pushing

him from the room. “You better hurry, Ezekiel gave them all one hour from when they arrived to bring their things to the guest wing and freshen up before the meeting.”

Bronx nodded, giving a quick greeting and a hug to Willow before darting down the halls to the meeting room.

“Sorry mom, looks like you’re going to have to wait a little longer for your conversation.” Tidas chuckled.

Willow took the spot Bronx had been sitting in. “That’s alright, I’ve got nothing but time.”