A New Destiny

AN4: This is going to go into OOC for Richard from this point on. I
liked the Richard that Laurell gave us in the beginning and I want
him back. He will be the man Anita first fell in love with. The
Triumvirate will become a foursome, for real.




Chapter 4: New Friends


Andrew, meanwhile, was looking at the vampire and werewolf; he wore
the same expression on his face that Xander wore. The four girls
nudged one another and grinned wickedly. “Xander and Andrew sitting
in a tree, making a threesome and getting kinky,” Dawn sing-songed.
The group of powerful children burst into laughter and Xander tickled
Dawn in reatioation. Raphael was among those in the club that had
been watching. There was to be a meeting among the shifters of St.
Louis that evening. Unfortunately it seemed to be side-lined by Anita
and Richard's display of antagonism. Raphael shared a look with
Christine; the weretiger seemed as unnerved as he himself was.

Raphael looked at his First-in-Command and was surprised to see that
Lillian looked furious. Her angry gaze was on Richard and Anita. He
had a bad feeling thhinghings were about to get worse, especially
when Lillian stood and made her way over to the group of children.
“Excuse me, Xander, Dawn,” Lillian said respectfully. The attention
of everyone in the room was drawn by their doctor asking for the
children respectfully.

“Hey Doc, how are you, beautiful?” Xander asked with a smile.

Lillian giggled and Anita gaped. Raphael reached over and closed
Christine’s mouth, though he was certain he was gaping as well. “You
charmer, I’m well, thank you. I just wanted to apologize for the
Ulfric and the Council Head's behavior.”

“Nonsense, Doc, you have nothing to apologize for, though since you
are here I was wondering if I could talk to you about the two
pregnant shifters that you were telling me about. I found a couple of
potions that we could use for them, and both Dawn and Willow have
created a spell that will make it possible for them to carry their
babies to term and to shift when they need to,” Xander told her.

Lillian looked at them in shock, and then looked over to where Joseph
sat. The young man had already jumped to his feet and was running
across the room. “You can save my child?” he asked tensely.

“Yeah, we think we can. It’s a new spell so it may not work, but if
you can bring Amber to us tomorrow we’ll perform the spell and give
you enough of the potion to last until the babies are old enough that
they can be taken by cesarean,” Willow told the anxious man.

“Where do I need to bring her and when?” Joseph asked.

“Shifting Dreams, we open at eight a.m., but if you want you can call
us at this number when you wake up and we’ll meet you there to
perform the spell. Amber needs to have eaten before she comes, and
have had a couple of glasses of juice,” Dawn told him. Joseph nodded.
This was the first good news that they had received since finding out
that Amber was pregnant again.

“Wait, did you say Shifting Dreams?” Jason asked.

“Yeah,” Dawn answered.

“You’re the group that’s been getting shifters free of the clinics
and helping them?” Merle asked from his place at Micah’s side.

“Yeah,” Dawn answered again.

They were all surprised when Richard thumped his head against the
table in front of him and Anita swore roundly. Jamil and Shang-Da
shared a look; they were both certain that their Ulfric had cost the
pack a valuable ally. Micah sighed, also figuring that they had lost
an ally for the pard.

“Did you guys need something from us also? If it’s an emergency we
can handle it now, if not we’re open at eight every day,” Buffy told
them calmly. Anita blinked and Edward raised an eyebrow. Willow
meanwhile was eyeing Richard. There was something wrong with the
Ulfric and it was bothering her. Looking at him, she could swear
there was something influencing his aura. “Wills?” Xander asked.

Willow merely waved at him and walked over to Richard. She gently
reached out and touched Richard’s forehead. She whimpered as she felt
the evil that was pushing at his mind. Lifting her other hand, she
cupped his face in her palms. Very softly she began to chant. When
she finished, Richard slumped forward into her waitinms. ms. Faith
rushed forward and took the werewolf from Willow, while Buffy caught
Willow up into her arms.

“What the hell was that?” Richard asked weakly. He was trying to
orient himself, but it was hard. A part of him remembered the last
few months, but another part of him was confused by what was going
on. How could he have acted the way that he had?

“A spell, you had a spell on you. It was making you become someone
else. Unchecked you would have killed yourself in another few
months.” Willow told him as she straightened away from Buffy.

Richard took a deep breath and sat up. Looking at Anita, he smiled
gently. Anita felt her breath catch and for the first ti me she saw
the she she had fallen in love with when she had first met Richard.
“Richard?” she asked softly, fear of him making her hesitant.

Richard opened his links to both Anita and Jean-Claude. They both
gasped at the feelings that he was projecting. It was love and
comfort, acceptance and hope. It was Richard, the Richard that they
all knew. The man who had become their Ulfric and their lover. Anita
let herself be pulled around the table and into Richard’s arms. She
shuddered with emotion; for the first time in over a year, she was
safe and truly warm.

Jean-Claude turned to look at Willow and smiled at her. “You and
yours have the protection of the Master of the City. You have saved
us in a way you cannot begin to realize.”

“The Thornos Rokke clan is in your debt as well,” Richard told them.

“The Blood Drinker’s Clan is at your disposal should you need us,”
Micah told him and Anita nodded her acceptance. They had no idea who
had cast the spell on Richard, but they did know that they had
returned Richard and saved several people in the process. If things
had gone on as they were, the Triumvirate would have destroyed one
another and more than likely a war would have broken out between the
vampires, that pack and the pard.

“We are at your service as well,” Joseph tolem. em.