Disclaimer: I don't own Mastiff and I'm so very glad of that, because I'd have never written a book like that.
A/N: I didn't read Mastiff all the way through, but I read most of it, I jumped through parts where not much was happening at the start. For people who love Farmer, this story is not for you. I didn't like him that much. He was basically Dom and Neal mashed together, which made him worse in my opinion. So Farmer lovers turn back now. You've been warned. This is also my first foray into the Beka Cooper section and it's based around Farmer's pov but in Third person.
Magic
Magic has its uses, especially when one is a powerful mage. It allows you to turn people to your way of thinking without them being none the wiser about it. In Farmer's Case it had netted him Beka Cooper, the most famed dog and puppy of Corus and possibly the realm of Tortall. All it took was some patience.
When Farmer got his first look at Beka she was still just a puppy but she had power rolling off her in waves along with determination. What had caught his attention wasn't so much the power as the type of power, it was unlike any gift he'd come across before. He'd come across the occasional unique gift, but never one so powerful and the girl seemed to be unaware of the power flowing through her. He could use that to his advantage.
"Otterkin, who's that girl with Tunstall and Goodwin? Surely she can't be their puppy. They don't get puppies." No one at Jane Street knew of his powers and he had always planned to keep it that way. Things might have to change with the new girl though.
"Her name's Beka Cooper and she is their puppy. Apparently she's Lord Gershom's Foster Daughter and rumor has it even a favorite of Ahuda and that's why she got paired with those two. She's not a normal puppy that's for sure. Cooper is already being called Terrier, she dragged in that Ashmiller woman that clobbered Goodwin with the hilt of a knife." His partner could always be relied on to tell him what he wanted. Farmer had magicked her long ago.
As he learned more about the puppy and her powers, Farmer knew he had to have her. The only problem was, she was too well watched and protected. She also had the eye of the new Rogue, so Farmer would watch and wait. He resigned his position as a Dog in Corus and moved to Blue Harbor and began to be known for his Mage Work. It was what would help him snare Beka Cooper, she would be his, whether she knew it or not.
When the Crown Prince was kidnapped and he was called to the Hunt, Farmer was beyond pleased to find things going in the direction he'd wanted. All it had taken was a few years of patience and some whispering in the right ears to start things along.
Beka believed him to be a softhearted friendly man, who was all for the king's justice. He let her continue to see him that way, as she was more willing to allow him to do spells on her that way. Every time he cast a spell on Beka she fell a little more under his charm and power. He had to go slow otherwise that Constellation cat of hers would get suspicious. It had been hard enough setting things up for her partner to fall from grace. It made her more vulnerable.
When Beka proposed to him in the Jail Cell and willingly climbed into his lap, Farmer had to restrain himself from showing exactly how pleased he was. She was a pretty enough mot, and her eyes were beautiful, just not for the reasons she assumed he thought them beautiful. He thought her eyes beautiful because they were a sign of her power. She was all his, and once they got back to Corus he would bind her to him with marriage. No one would interfere as according to his sources the Rogue had backed off in his pursuit of Beka. Farmer did wonder if the man had anything to do with her fiancée's death. The man would have been a minor annoyance to get rid of but he was gone before Farmer had to worry about getting rid of him.
Not even his teacher Cassine knew the truth of his ambitions or she'd have never taken him on. He had taken his teacher's gift for himself constantly when she was teaching him, and she was never the wiser. Cassine also thought him a fool who was besotted with a pretty young Dog. It suited him to allow everyone to think that, he had a feeling the Rogue wasn't so sure of him, but that's why he was moving Beka away from the Rogue.
After the Hunt was over and he had moved in with Beka, he kept her under his power and thinking she was in love with him by constantly magicking her and spoiling her with jewels that held his power. They were also designed to sway her to continue seeing him as the softhearted man she thought she'd met and fallen in love with on the case. He was pushing for a wedding, as soon, as could be so she couldn't get away from him, and the constellation would be leaving, so he wouldn't have to worry about her cat. Once they were married and out of the boarding house he would be able to control Beka better. She wouldn't be around the Rogue and her low life friends. He would have a better influence over her and in time when she was no longer of use to him he would move on to another target.
He would remain married to her of course, she held too many connections to get rid of and too many people would come after him if he just dropped her. He would simply leave her to her Lower City and would have his fun on the side when she wasn't any more use to him.
Magic had many uses after all and it had won him Beka Cooper, and he wasn't about to let anyone else have his prize.