The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 44

IZZY

Puna and I let go of the man’s neck, and the body falls on the floor beside me.

I close my eyes, trying to get Puna to calm down, which was hard, but taking deep breaths slowly in and out helped Puna to retreat, but she stays close by, still trying to figure out about the counselor.

When I open my eyes, a hand touches mine, which sends tingles through us. “Izzy, it’s ok,” Blake says in a whisper. He slowly moves closer and places his hand on my cheek to make me look at him. “Izzy, you’re ok,” he says as I look back at him.

I nod, too afraid to say anything. I turn around to look at Alpha Derek, Alpha Dawson, and the counselor. She has her eyes on the dead body by the side of me, but she looks up at me and smiles. “Luna Lauren was right. You are one powerful young lady,” she says.

I can’t help but feel slightly confused and look at her. “What do you mean? I thought Blake said...” I said, but Alpha Derek shook his head and smiles at me. “We planned a little roe as the counselor thought someone was in with Elder Johnson a while back. She wanted to flush him out. Jim was a new assistant that was assigned to her, but when she asked if the others knew of him, one came forward and told her he has been working with the Elder,” he said.

“Child,” says the counselor, “I made sure I told Jim where I was going today and even told him I was going to meet you. Luna Lauren informed all three alphas of the story we were going to do; I am sorry we couldn’t tell you anything, we needed you to be all raw emotions, but I didn’t realize how amazing your panther is. Elder Johnson is going to be so dead when you both get him,” she says.

She turns her head to look at Blake. “Well, young alpha, I think all three of you can leave me and Izzy to speak. Also, take care of that body,” she says, looking back down at it.

Blake tenses; I know he doesn’t want to leave me; the counselor can sense it too; she smiles at him. “It’s ok young alpha Blake. I want to talk to Izzy about a few things and make sure she has everything she needs.”

Blake says nothing or leaves. I look over at him and wrap my hand in his. “Blake, I will be fine, I promise,” I said, and I went on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek, but I stay close to his ear. “I always replace being with Allie calming, and she can sense when someone needs a cuddle,” I say while moving away from him, and he looks at me.

He smiles and nods. “Yeah, that sounds like a lovely idea,” he says, turning to the other two alphas in the room. “Dad, Uncle, we should see how everybody is doing, and we can get a guard in here to move the dead body,” he says.

All three alphas nod and leave the office slowly. One by one, they leave, Blake being the last one as a guard comes to get the body. Blake closes the door, and it was just me and the old lady.

She takes her seat and looks at me with a smile. “You can sit, Izzy, and before we start, please call me Tilly,” she says. I can’t help but look at her, but I move to the chair I was sitting on before.

Tilly looks at me. “You must have so many questions, but I want to ask you about something,” she says. “When I was a young wolf, there used to be a prophecy; it is of a shifter who could manifest power just by emotions and would conquer a war and guide others to believing in the same natural life.”

“I’ve never heard of such a prophecy,” I said, sounding confused.

Tilly looks at me and smiles. “Few people know about the prophecy, but the shifter in question can be of any kind. It could even be a tiger or a wolf, but in this case, I believe it is in you,” she says. “I think you are the one who is to store the balance of the supernaturals.”

I look back at her, stunned, but I shake my head. “I don’t think so. My mother mentioned nothing like that to me or any other family member.”

Tilly looks at me. “What does your panther think?” she asks.

I can feel Puna being close. She has been listening in on the conversation. “Puna, do you believe her?” I ask.

Puna looks back at me. “I think we are special, but I don’t think it is to do with any prophecy, but I don’t know,” she says.

I can sense she is trying to figure it out as well.

Tilly has been watching and smiles when I look back at her. “She doesn’t know,” I say to her.

Tilly nods. “That’s fine, but we have one situation,” she says. “I know what Elder Johnson’s daughter did to your mother, but we need to get more information out of her, evidence that will stick if Elder Johnson shows his face again.”

I look at her with a smirk. “I don’t think he will go anywhere in public for a long time, not until I replace him,” I said. Tilly looks at me, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

I sigh and explained to her what happened in the office yesterday. Once I finished telling her, she laughs. “So he has a big black mark which will either kill him or you will do it.”

I nod at her, and she laughs even more.

After she calms down, she looks back at me. “I think Izzy, Linda needs to spill her guts, and I believe she will talk to you as she will replace you to be a threat to her family.”

I say nothing for a little while, but then. “I will get it out of her, but I want to talk to my father first, as some people around here believe he was under a spell. I need to confirm before I can deal with Linda. He might even slip up without realizing but not only that we need to separate them both and I can talk individually to them, I think my father needs to hear it all as well, and he needs to hear everything from Linda too especially if he doesn’t believe me.”

Tilly nods her head. “I agree with that; maybe it will be beneficial if she is confronted not only by you but by her family as well I have heard that she was never nice to Dale or Kacey, she was using them to gain more power,” she says.

I nod. “We should do this as soon as possible, as we don’t know when they are going to attack,” I said, thinking back to what Jim had said.

Tilly looks at me with a blank expression on her face, but suddenly, she looks at me with a smile. “I have asked Alpha Derek and Alpha Dawson through mind link to make sure there is footage of the whole interrogation of Linda. I can then show all the other counselors and elders what has been going on,” she says.

I nod, but there is one question I want answered.

Tilly looks at me and smiles. “Ask Izzy?” she says.

“What is Linda’s punishment?” I ask her.

Tilly looks at me for a while before she speaks to me. “Well, I believe if you have been charged with treason in this pack, the punishment is death,” she says and looks at me. “I think it is only fitting that you do the deed, but if not, Blake or someone else can.”

I can’t help but smile. “My hands will do it,” I said.