Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter. Also, a big thanks to djkauf, who's edits are always awesome.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please comment on this, I enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely. Also, a big apology to everyone who waited for the continuation of this tale. Real life hammered me hard for quite a while, and I finally managed to get the ball rolling on this again.

Chapter 22

November 14, 2011
It had been a couple of days since I met with some of the members in the upper levels of the Locke clan. I hadn't heard anything back from them, which was to be expected. Tobias was out of town, and his brother did tell me that it would take a while to get a message to him. Tracy did come into the comic book shop yesterday; she didn't make any purchases, but also told me that she would help keep the pressure up on her family.

At the moment, I was lounging on my couch in my apartment, studying for the upcoming midterms right before the Thanksgiving break. Mom flew back home to go back to work and catch up with everything out there, since she had used up most of her preferred time off from work to help me adjust. She did leave me a couple of sets of plane tickets though. One set for going home for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas. However, both holidays were far off in my mind at the moment.

My mind kept wandering to Alex and Justin. I could tell that I had feelings for the both of them. But, they wouldn't sort themselves out neatly. They kept mixing with each other. Was it my dual nature playing havoc with my feelings? Or did I actually have those kind of feelings for both of them?

As I sighed deeply, I heard a knock on my door.

'That's odd,' I thought. 'I don't think I was expecting any one.'

I left my couch and peeped out into the hallway through the peephole. Alex stood out there, looking a bit nervous. I felt my heart pang against my insides. I guess I didn't have the luxury of time to deal with my feelings.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Alex, hi,” I greeted her, “what brings you by?”

“Hi, Mikaela,” she answered, wearing a smile that melted my heart. “Can I come in?”

“Uh, yes. Yeah, sure. Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

She walked into my apartment and took a seat on my couch. I quickly walked to my textbooks which were sprawled out on it, and set them on the coffee table.

“Would you like something to drink?” I offered.

“No thank you.”

“Okay,” I answered, sitting down on the couch. “So, what brings you by?”

“Well, I wanted to see how you were doing. And to find out how the meeting with the Lockes went. Where's your mother anyway?”

She looked around for her, expecting her to pop out of the hall at any minute.

“She went back home,” I answered. “She used up most of her time off coming out here to help me. Even though she managed to get some of it classified as a family emergency.”

Alex giggled at that bit. “Well, it kind of was.”

“Yup,” I agreed, with a smile.

“So....,” she started, “how did it go with the Lockes? Was their bark worse than their bite?”

“Oh, that was bad,” I groaned. “But, everything went alright. They seem reluctant to make a stand against the rule of Tobias. But, they did say they would try to get me to talk to him. I also got the impression that Tracy doesn't really like the way her father's been treating her as well.”

“Hmm..., interesting.”

“Indeed.”

“So...,” Alex began again, eager to steer the conversation in a direction that she desired, “how have you been?”

“Alright, I guess,” I answered with a shrug.

“Just alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, nothing really,” she answered, looking down at her lap.

“What is it, Alex?” C'mon, spit it out!”

“Well, I think you might've noticed that I have feelings for you.”

“Like a best friend? Or something more?”

“Umm... a little bit of both?”

“Really?” I answered, with a note of surprise.

She got up from her seat in a huff. “I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have told you.”

She started heading for the door, half-mumbling to herself and half-mumbling to me, “I should never have let my mother talk me into telling you my feelings. Now I've ruined everything between us.”

She almost turned the doorknob to my front door when I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“Alex, please don't go. You didn't screw anything up.”

“What?” she said, turning around, a couple of tears on her face.

“I said you didn't screw anything up. In fact, I...,” I stuttered. Why did this seem so much harder than when I thought it out in my head?

“I..., I also have the same feelings about you,” I blurted out.

“You... you do?”

“Yes,” I nodded.
With that, Alex leaped into my arms, even though she stood right next to me, and enveloped me in a large, loving hug. What really stuck me by surprise was the kiss she gave me next. It tasted so good that I could feel my insides get squeamish. I definitely haven't felt that way before, but it did feel so good. Almost like some kind of drug.

It didn't take much more before the two of us flopped down on to my couch and proceeded to do some more kissing. But, I'm going to keep those details to myself. After what seemed like forever and a second, I asked her, “So, do you want to go see a movie or go out to dinner?”

Alex looked up at me, and smiled, “Sure thing. Although, I think we both might need to get cleaned up a bit.”

“Yeah,” I replied, with a mischievous smile. “I'll be right back, don't go anywhere.”

“Oh, I wouldn't dream of it,” she smiled back.

The two of us headed out for the movie and dinner where more fun soon ensued. It felt good to just have fun and not worry about anything, if only for a moment.

November 16, 2011
Rummaging through a dimly lit underground secret lair was not all it was cracked up to be. You would think that someone doing that would be up to something nefarious, exciting, or just plain cool. Nope, not really. Especially since the condition of the room was still a mess leftover from the previous owner.

I grumbled as I tried to bring some semblance of order to this place, while looking for anything that might give me some kind of edge over Tobias. If he was an information gatherer, and the Ravens helped him out in that endeavour, then there should be a little black book somewhere, or some kind of file with all the dirt on the other Were clans that one would need.

I didn't know the first thing about contacting the Ravens. Well, no, that wasn't completely true. My father did give me their phone number. But other than that, they were extremely cryptic when it came to getting in contact with them. Only that they said they would be watching. I grunted in frustration at that part.

I threw another book on to the shelf and saw a map of the country flutter down onto the ground. Or rather one badly folded up. Picking it up, I saw that California was face up at me. That brought a rush of feelings to the surface that I had been burying.

Aside from feeling homesick, and wondering about the wolf clan that I belonged to back home, what was I actually doing out here? Why should I even be concerned with having this job in the first place? Who was I to get involved in these family feuds? I was a stranger to this area. Someone who just wanted to go to school here and then move on. I didn't even feel like I had a stake in all of this.

I leaned back against the wall and slumped down to the ground, my side sliding down the bookcase. Bracing my head against my knee, I just sat there, in thought. The questions that I raised made good sense. Why get involved in this town? I didn't have anything of value in this area.

Wait a second... Alex. I cared about her, and she's a native of this area. The other Weres, if they wanted to start something, could use her as leverage. Although, I got the feeling that the Weres generally didn't want to mess around with the Witches. To me, those two groups felt like an alliance of convenience. Only to be called upon when things get rough.

Still, Alex was close to me. It was one of the things that I did like about this town. She had been with me during the time my life got turned upside down and inside out.

I slammed my hand against the bookshelf that I slumped down next to in frustration. I could hear something fall off the shelf as a result. I just kept thinking to myself how everything seemed to be so complicated. I could feel the tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I tried to figure everything out.

I didn't know how long I cried for, but it must've been a good long while when I glanced at my phone clock. I tried my best to pull myself back together, and reached for the book that fell from the shelf.

It had landed with the covers up, leaving a specific page open. Curious, I flipped it over and looked at it. It looked like a page of journal entries.

The first entry read:
Noticed young Tobias out with a woman that I haven't noticed before. From what I could tell, she's also a Wolf. Although, not from around here. I will observe and record my findings.

The next one:
It appears this young woman is from California and her last name is Vance. I wonder if Tobias is trying to court her for some reason. Possibly to help repair the damage to the Locke clan? Chiron has dispatched one of his to help me with my information gathering.
Wait a second. Mom? She was in a relationship with Tobias Locke? The very person who was blocking my path for the Lorekeeper position? What was going on here?

The final entry:
Seems that Chiron's plan worked too well. His person seems to have gathered the attention of young Miss Vance. Tobias didn't look too happy about that, when she rebuffed his advances. Hopefully, Davidson keeps up his ruse and gets me more information about that Wolf.

Was that how my parents met? Were they college lovers and my father's guilty conscience won out in the end?

But, the fact that the man that blocked my moves dated my mother. That definitely was earthshaking.

'Wait a sec,' I thought, as I quickly reread a passage.

“Damage to the Locke clan? What happened there?” I said aloud. I definitely needed to do some more research to find out what that meant. The information that I had on the Locke clan already showed that Tobias had multiple wives. Was his courting of my mother something important?

I just had to know. Now. I think I might've found something that could prove valuable. And given that I had someone involved around here, I just think I found my motive for sticking around and going after them. I quickly climbed back to my feet, threw the book into my pack, and headed out of the archive. I just had to figure this all out.

Once I found a secluded corner in the library, I reached for my phone in my pocket and quickly dialed Mom. She had some serious explaining to do. She answered on the third ring, “Hey sweetie. I thought I wouldn't hear from you until tomorrow?”

“Hi, mom,” I answered tersely, trying not to sound angry. “Can you talk for a while?”

“Uhm...,” she said, probably glancing at the time. “Yeah. I've got some time right now. What's up?”

“Why didn't you tell me about you and Tobias Locke in college?” I angrily asked her. Okay, so my temper was getting the best of me at the moment.

I heard her sigh deeply and she replied, “I..., I..., I didn't think it was important or you should know about it. How did you find out?”

“The previous lorekeeper had you under his gaze and wrote it down in a notebook. Now, are you going to explain this to me or not?”

I could have sworn that I heard my mom gulp across the phone line.

“Before I transferred to a school out west, my parents sent me to Ravencrest to go to school there, since it did have the major I was interested in. What I didn't know a the time, was that my father made a deal to the Locke clan.”

“Go on...,” I prodded.

“My father essentially did a modern-day version of selling his daughter off to be wed to a powerful family. Except that it all fell on Tobias Locke to make me fall for him.”

“Say what?”

“My father was a proud man. He respected my decisions and if Tobias was a jerk, and he was to me, I could break it off.”

“Okay....”

“So, when your father entered the scene, I had no problem leaving Tobias. Something which I believe is still a sore spot for him. After that, I had no problem putting in the paperwork to transfer to a school out west. Your father followed me back, and then, well, you know the rest.”

I sat at the table and tried to mull it over for a second. This could be something that I could use to my advantage, if I could only figure out how.
“Wait a second,” I said, with a strange idea popping into my head. “You didn't sell me out to Justin Locke like your father did to you?”

“No way, sweetie,” my mom staunchly defended. “I wouldn't even dream of doing something like that to you, having been through it myself.”

“Okay,” I answered, some calmness returning to my voice. “Thanks for the clarification, Mom.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. I'm still going to see you come Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yes, Mom. Provided nothing crazy pops up. You know I still have those people who are still after me to deal with.”

“I know. And I didn't want to head back home and go to work with them still after you. But, if I didn't trust you to handle it, I wouldn't have left.”

“Thanks, Mom. Did someone come and talk to you before you left for home?”

“No,” she answered, confusion in her tone. “Should someone have?”

I grunted in frustration. Apparently my father was more of a coward than I thought. “No,” I lied, disappointed in him. “I just thought someone might've talked to you about all of this, since you did earlier on.”

“Ah, okay,” she replied, not sounding too convinced.

I noticed a figure walking in my direction and quickly finished, “Listen, Mom, I've got to get going now, talk to you later, kay?”

“Okay, bye for now.”

She hung up and I put my phone away, seeing that it was Iris walking over to me. I sighed in relief as she was right on time for our meeting, assuming that I would find anything down in that archive. Although, I think she looked a little confused to why I asked her here. I quickly brought my temper under control so I could deal with her. I didn't want to lose any respect with her by being a hothead over what Tobias Locke did to my mother.

“Mikaela,” Iris started, taking a seat at my table, “an interesting place you chose for us to meet.”

“How so?”

“Public, yet private,” she simply stated.

I wondered what she meant by that, but it was probably just her training talking. She fascinated me. Someone who could use deadly force when needed, but extremely discreet when it came to using it.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her, bluntly.

She looked a little surprised when I said that. “Somewhat, to be honest. Why?”

I pulled out the book that had fallen and set it on the table. “I need you to hold onto this for me for a while.”

“Why?” she asked, looking a bit surprised.

“I can't really trust anyone around here. Everyone seems to have some kind of stake in what's going on. I need an outsider to guard this for me, and then to use it if something happens to me. Can I trust you to do this for me?”

“I could do this. The question is, why should I? What's in it for me?”

“You said that you were here to deal with the goons following me?”

She nodded.

“Then, this could be leverage to get some of the clans to help in that. One of them may be behind this in some kind of power grab scheme.”
Iris sat there and thought it over for a bit.

“Alright,” she answered carefully, “I'll hold on to this for you. But, you better still uphold the other terms of our agreement.”

“I haven't forgotten about any of that.”

“Good. I'll see you around.”

With that, she grabbed the journal, and headed out the library front door. I waited for a few minutes, and then left the library myself, heading back for my apartment. Pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place in my mind, as I made the walk home. Tobias will pay for disrespecting my mother. But, if what was forming in my mind was true, I think he would deal because he didn't want the rest of the Weres to know his family's dirty little secret.

November 19, 2011
Work went about like it usually did, as it had for the past few days. The usual customers came in and made their purchases, mostly for the next issue in their favorite titles. I had just finished completing a purchase of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Wars comics, among some others, for Takeshi Saito, who looked a little worse for wear. I could only guess of what he was experiencing at high school.

Although, I did know that teenagers could treat each other roughly, from the first-hand experience I received back at Calaveras High.
I glanced at the clock and noticed that my shift was almost over. I just took note of that, thinking about the midterms that loomed on my horizon. As he headed out the door, with a couple of his friends, Tracy Locke walked in. I hadn't seen her in a while, although I still kept her usual order on standby. Old habits did have a tendency to die hard.

I smiled as I made eye contact with her, something that I usually did with any potential customer to make them feel welcome. Although, in addition to that, I think I had something to use against her father, assuming that I had pieced it together in the right way. Another good reason to smile, in my honest opinion. Also, I wanted to make Tobias suffer for what he did to my mother. Disrespecting her like that was not something to go unpunished.

“Ah, Miss Locke,” I greeted her in a very cordial manner, “and what could I do for you this afternoon? Here to pick up your usual order?”

“Sure,” Tracy replied, fumbling around for the money.
“That'll be ten dollars and fifty-two cents,” I commented, ringing up the purchase.

She handed me eleven dollars and I made her change for her. As I handed her the bag full of comic books, she leaned over and whispered, “Do you have some time to talk about things?”

I glanced back over at the clock and replied, “In a few minutes. I'm almost done with work for the day.”

She nodded, gestured over to the aisles, and replied, “I'll just be browsing the aisles then. See if there might be anything else I'm interested in.”

“Feel free to browse,” I answered, before dealing with the person waiting behind her.

About fifteen minutes later, I clocked out and walked over to Tracy, with my bag slung over my shoulder.

“Ready to go?” I asked her.
She nodded and the two of us headed out the door. Tracy and I turned down the street and began walking in the direction of the university.
“So,” I started, “what news do you have?”

“You know, you really stirred up a hornet's nest when you dropped off that message.”

“What message?” I replied, feigning innocence.

“You damn well know which one,” Tracy replied, clearly not happy about this.

“Oh. You mean the fact that I know your family's dirty little secret and that I'm not afraid to tell the other four families?”

I heard her growl at that. “Yes. My father's not too happy. In fact, he's abbreviating his business trip because of this.”

“Good. About time for his cage to be rattled.”

“You know you're playing with a serious bonfire here. My father doesn't mess around or take prisoners. He will slam you down, rip your heart out, force feed it to you, and then make you beg for mercy before he puts you out of your miserable existence.”

“Good,” I smiled. “That's exactly what I want. I have to get back to my apartment to study for my midterms. Let me know when you have some more news or your father is ready to talk. I'm through with beating around the bush.”

Tracy sighed and nodded. She turned and headed up a different street, as I continued along my way.

As I continued along the street, I heard a car peeling out as I got closer to my building. Looking back, I saw a dark looking truck head back the way I came in a hurry. I was wondering if those were those goons that decided to make my life hell. They definitely liked to keep up surveillance on me.

Hopefully, if I could get more of the Weres in town on my side, I could get rid of these goons once and for all. But, first thing's first; get the others on my side. With my little plan, maybe I'd get the Wolves or get them to let up on the others.