Chapter 57

Oliver’s POV
“Thank you for contacting me, Raquel” I say answering my phone. “A witch by the name of Sariah said you needed to talk to me about an ancestor of mine; Joseph Sterling” she answers. I look over at Sariah; “I should have known; Sariah was one step ahead of me. Yes, what do you know about him?” I asked.
“Only he was one of the first bear shifters in existence and one of Goddess Artio’s chosen. Why do you ask?” she answers me. “We were wondering if you and your mate could visit me at the castle. We will be able to explain more to what is happening, when you get here” I tell her. “I will have to organise a sitter for my children…” “Bring them with you” I inform her.
“We can come, by the end of the week; if that suffices?” she agrees. “I will make the necessary arrangements for you. Thank you, Raquel,” I tell her. “I will see you then” she says before hanging up.
“You contacted Raquel and Phyliss?” I ask Sariah. “Yes, Hecate asked me to contact them to let them know you will be talking to them about Joseph and Lucas” she explains, looking bewildered why this was a problem. “She also told me to bring the cat and bear shifter books; I am assuming they are to know what happened previously. I had to place a spell on the books for them to see it” she announces.
“It would have been nice to know this information before taking Raquel’s call” I state, looking at Danny and Claudia who are trying not to laugh. “Sorry; I thought you already knew Hecate asked me to contact them” she explains, blushing. “No harm done” I smile at her.
“Raquel, her mate and children will be coming at the end of the week. I am still waiting to hear back from Phyliss” I tell Danny, Claudia and Sariah in my office. “She is who exactly?” Claudia asks Sariah and I. “The great, great, great, great granddaughter of Joseph, I believe” Sariah answers. “I may be one or two greats out; either side” she includes.
“And Lucas is Phyliss’ ancestor?” Danny asks us. “Yes, apparently so” I answer him. “And they are now; Bastet’s and Artio’s chosen?” Claudia asks.
“I can’t answer if they are or are not their chosen. I can only go by what Hecate asked me to do. She said Bastet and Artio spoke with Apollo and told them about descendants of Lucas and Joseph. We are to get hold of them and ask them if they mind helping us as their goddess did not think there was a threat to cat and bear shifters and we are finding out there are. Further; if they decline; we are to not pursue them to help” Sariah explains.
I look over at Claudia and Danny; their eyes are glazed over. “Care to inform us of your conversation?” I ask them. “We were spit balling” Danny says. “And I was asking Mandy, how Bastet and Artio didn’t know Callum and Michael were involving werebears and werecats” “I asked Apollo the same question” I tell them.
“Apollo is angry with himself for not seeing what Callum did to my father. Gods are supposed to know what each of their children do on earth; he covered the accident very well. It’s not as if he pushed a car off the side of a cliff or accidently shot him like you see on the reality human television crime shows. He was able to fool a God and that is scary” I tell them.
“What happened to your father?” Danny asks me and I stare away from him. I knew this question was going to be asked. “Father and Callum were visiting a nearby werewolf pack; they were having trouble with rouges and father was offering assistance. According to Apollo; Callum never went to see any of the rouges or even speak with them” I begin, turning my head to face them again.
“When father arrived, rogues began attacking. Callum pushed father, behind him to protect him; directly into a tree with a pointed branch. It went straight through his heart. Father wasn’t dead as the rogues dispersed. Callum went to father’s aid; as he pulled father away from the tree branch, he ripped his heart out of his body” I tell them, wiping a tear from my eye.
“It does sound like it was an accident and can be easily missed; even from a God” Sariah says, moving from her chair to give me a hug.
“Yes; it does. When Callum sided with Marcus, Apollo started having suspicions. He knew about Callum and Marcus’ business deal. He was paid a lot of money and back in those days $300,000 was the equivalent of billions of dollars today; to have Patrick be caught up in the blizzard. When he was disposed of; Marcus was going to reject his mate and mate with Heather. It didn’t pan out and Marcus demanded the money back. Callum told you where he was” I tell Danny.
“Still only shows he was greedy, like you told us” Danny replies. “Yes, Apollo started looking at what Callum did before Father’s death. He went to the pack territory a few days before father arrived. He needed to make sure father was safe to come and help. He was looking around the trees in the territory, stopping at the very tree father was killed on. It looked innocent but Callum scouted the group of trees to kill father. He moved from tree to tree, moving branches to a specific height, each having a pointed end. Father would have been killed at any of the trees in the one area” I inform them.
“The sneaky son of a bitch” Claudia gasps. “What gave it away to Apollo?” Sariah asks. “The branch height was at the height of father’s heart. Every single one of them” I answer her.
“You are quiet, Danny” Sariah points out. “Huh; yeah, I was wondering why Apollo didn’t notice it at the time of Ronald’s death” he says. “There was nothing out of the ordinary at the time. Protocol calls for a member of the council to scout out an area and pick the best position for him to help. Callum was the council member, appointed at the time. He didn’t even volunteer. It was only when Tracey was seen at the age of 4, he got sloppy. He challenged me with a vote to become king. It was 16-4 in my favour. He was enraged and sort Tracey out. Apollo had to look back at everything that happened and discovered the consistency of it all” I conclude, sighing.
I look around the room as they contemplate what I told them and continue; “Callum has lived in and around the castle for many years. He has had his views but at the end of the day was always there to help whenever asked. I don’t know what changed in him and why he thinks he could get away with it. Except for Michael, he never asked for help and that is if he even asked for Michael’s help. He was always friendly to anyone who came through the castle and introducing himself, your mother can adhere to this, Danny. He knows Matthew and Penelope and sounds as though he has played on Penelope’s weaknesses. He is a very good manipulator. He has manipulated everyone” I explain.
“According to my conversations with Dad; Michael was the same until he was 14. He does not know what changed in Michael or know why he has turned out the way he turned out. Dad always said he was never this way until he left the territory. He put it down to genes as his father was always racist towards other shifters, witches and vampires. It sounds to me; both men changed at some point” Claudia includes.
“I have been doing my own investigations regarding any witches or warlocks who may be going the way of Nesbeth. It is a taboo subject; no-one is talking and no-one seems to be initiating this kind of behaviour” Sariah injects into the conversation.
“Whatever has happened; we know Michael and Callum are involved now. We know they are plotting to kill you and Callum will try to become king of the vampires. We also know Michael wants to become king of werewolves and it is looking at Penelope to become queen of werecats. We can’t focus on what they were like in the past; we need to focus on what is happening today” Danny announces, looking at me and I nod my head in agreeance.
“Danny is right; we need to focus on the information we know to be true. The main fact we need to rely on; if we stick together, we will be able to defeat them” I add to Danny’s comment.
“Exactly” Claudia chimes in. “Let’s wait and see if Phyliss and Raquel are willing to help. If they are; I will show them their perspective books. Between us all; we will be able to come up with a way to find Michael, Callum or anyone else we need to find” Sariah includes.
“I agree, let’s call it a day and we will meet back here at the end of the week when Raquel comes” I tell everyone as Daniel, Claudia and Sariah get out of their chairs. “If Phyliss calls, let us know” Claudia says walking out the door. “I will” I call out to her.