Savage Heart

by J. E. Cluney

  It was amazing what witch-spelled things could do, and I still had much to learn. I’d only ever known weaker witches growing up, as they were the ones who hunters liaised with. Witches who were distant relatives to stronger, powerful ones, like Dominic.

  He used magic to aid in cooking, hence why he was able to do so much in such a small amount of time.

  He’d even made some macarons for dessert to go with Nate’s ones he’d made, and he’d done it in a fraction of the time with less effort to Nate’s dismay.

  “They’ve got Melinda too,” Damien smirked. “That’ll be interesting.”

  “I like her, she’s real. No fake personality or sweetness,” I stated. Melinda was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to put you in your place or tell you something bluntly. Do you look fat in that outfit? Fuck yes, you do!

  The thought made me snort with soft laughter.

  “They’ll have a fun time with her,” Tristan agreed with a lopsided smile.

  We fell silent as Mr Oxley joined us, his cane clicking on the floor as he strode over.

  Those golden eyes scanned over us as he came to a standstill before us, resting both his hands on the carved dragon head of his cane.

  “The children seem to be accepting of this change. However, I’ve asked Melinda to spell your hall so that they cannot enter. The children are recovering from a life of soldier upbringing, conditioned to be warriors and assassins from my understanding. Even as toddlers, they were being groomed and warped in their mindsets, so despite the Council’s best efforts, some of them are still confused, their minds twisting what they’ve been brought up with, and what they’re being rewired to be like.

  ‘I believe it is safe for them to be here, but some of the boys are still struggling with letting go of their past training and beliefs. It has been so ingrained in them that it’s practically a part of their core being. Not an easy thing to remove, but because they’re so young, we will have more luck getting it sorted in a timely manner.

  ‘For now, I think perhaps you should avoid the boys as best you can. The two girls have adapted well, and I don’t doubt that they are well on the mend and are not a threat. Derek, the youngest, is still struggling a bit. He’s having troubles relating to his own mother.

  ‘So Melinda has warded your halls to give you better peace of mind in regards to them. I’ll be bringing on another witch to help begin classes for them. A routine and some structure would be good for them,” he explained as he gazed at us.

  “You think they might try to kill us in our sleep?” Tristan scoffed.

  “I can’t say what these children are and aren’t capable of. All I can say is that the two girls appear to be almost fully reformed, all the boys are a little tougher, mainly the youngest and the eldest,” Mr Oxley sighed.

  I pursed my lips at this.

  I could understand what he was saying. We couldn’t blame the children for having their minds twisted. Their recovery wouldn’t be immediate.

  But if Mr Oxley believed that our hall had to be warded, then I understood. Although that didn’t make me feel a whole lot better. Sure, we’d be safe, but knowing they were still uncertain on how to behave with us made me uneasy.

  But it wouldn’t be forever. They’d learn to live with us, and I trusted Mr Oxley.

  “So, just avoid them? In the entire institute?” Wes murmured.

  “They’ll be limited to the west wing mostly during the day, except for mealtimes, so there won’t be any troubles there,” Mr Oxley said. “Now, I must speak with Melinda on finding another witch to assist with classes. Let me know if you have any problems with them. I don’t think you will, but such an upbringing as theirs will leave lingering wounds, which we are only now helping heal for them. The right treatment and environment will give them the best chance.”

  He gave us a farewell nod and headed out, leaving us in silence.

  “Maybe we should go away for a little while?” Wes suggested. “I know Melinda warded our hall, but maybe we should give them some time and space as they recover, not act as potential triggers. With all the magic in this house, and with Mr Oxley, they’ll recover faster. I’m sure Mr Oxley intends to use his magic to help fix their minds along with some psychology stuff.”

  “Psychology stuff,” Tristan snorted. “He’ll have witch shrinks work on them, using his magic to enhance their abilities. They’ll be fine in no time.”

  I didn’t doubt that. Mr Oxley knew what he was doing, and I trusted him.

  “This will be the norm now, they’ll be living here until they’re old enough to decide if they want to stay or leave,” Damien grumbled. “Not going to lie, not a fan of having such volatile children living with us.”

  “They won’t be like that for long. Mr Oxley thinks they’ll be fine in the next few months. Completely adjusted and able to be normal kids, the scars of their past covered up and healed as best as possible,” Leon said firmly as he stood from the couch beside me.

  He was right, but so was Wes. We were triggers for them, which was understandable. Especially me. I knew that.

  Damien glanced at me tenderly before looking to his brother.

  “Maybe it’s time Sav caught up with her family. As good a time as any,” he said as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his side.

  I smiled as I looked at him.

  “I’m not afraid of those kids. I beat them once, I could do it again if I had to, but I’d rather let them heal. And I have been wanting to visit my family,” I admitted as I glanced around at my mates.

  Nate had been awfully quiet the entire time as he stood by the window, but he turned and stepped forward.

  “Guess it’s settled then. We’ll visit your family for a while, find out if they’re okay with us all visiting,” Nate said as he gave me a soft half-smile.

  God, I was so lucky to have found all of them.

  Ha! To think I was going to kill them all when we first met too, save for Nate.

  “Yep, that would’ve been awesome,” Tristan said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

  “Shut up, it couldn’t be helped. At least I didn’t,” I smirked.

  “Well, not quite,” Wes jumped in. “I do remember dying.”

  “You’ll never let that go, will you?” I snorted.

  “No way. How else does a perfect love story start apart from murder?” Wes gave me a wicked smile.

  A perfect love story.

  Not how I’d describe my whirlwind mate-ship with them.

  But I wouldn’t change it if I could.

  14

  I sat in the backseat with Tristan as Leon drove and Damien took up the passenger seat.

  Nate and Wes were following behind us in the sedan.

  “You’re so accepting of this whole mate thing now, it still surprises me, considering how against it you were in the beginning,” Tristan drawled as he lounged against the window, gazing at me with a glimmer of fascination.

  It reminded me of how he looked at me the last few times he’d cuffed me to his sweet velvety bed in his dungeon before having his wicked way with me.

  His mouth quirked up at this thought, and he winked at me before blowing me a kiss.

  “There was no fighting it, once I accepted it, the feelings and emotions grew stronger. Now it’s hard to imagine I was so against it,” I said as I tossed a chip at him.

  We’d stopped on the way to stretch our legs and grab some snacks for the road. We’d spoken to Mr Oxley before leaving, and he thought it was good to get away for awhile. He’d work hard with the main few boys who he thought posed a potential problem for us.

  So we’d left in the early hours of the morning to make good time.

  “So, Izzy said it was fine for us to stay at her place with your brothers?” Damien said gruffly as he rolled his window down for some fresh air.

  It was becoming obvious that long road trips jammed in the car with others was not his thing, and he was growing frustrated with being cooped up.

  “
Yep, she said it’s fine,” I sighed, drawing in the aromas of the country from Damien’s window.

  The smell of wheat and assorted flowers tickled my nose, and I relaxed. I’d always enjoyed the open country, and finding out that my parents had lived on a farm that backed onto a huge forest was something I’d adored.

  “We better get our own room,” Damien grumbled.

  God, he sure was grouchy today. Then again, we’d been in the car for hours already.

  “Why? Not a fan of hearing Izzy having sex with her mates?” Tristan snorted.

  “Hey, they’re my brothers, so I’d rather not think of that,” I barked before Damien could respond. Tristan just laughed as he made a grabby hand for my chips.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, not trusting his innocent look, but allowed him to take a handful. He just smirked before tossing a few back and crunching away.

  “You didn’t want to stay with your dads?” Leon mused as he checked his gps to make sure we were still on the right track. It had lost signal a few times out here now.

  “Nah, they live on the property too, so it’s not like they’re far anyway, but I feel it’d be a little weird, y’know, having my mates under their roof for a while. Because, let’s be honest, we’re going to do stuff at some point,” I said, letting out a dramatic sigh.

  “I mean, we don’t have to if it’s such a drag,” Tristan said as he threw a chip at me.

  I caught it with one hand, winking before eating it.

  “Never, but doing the deed in the same house as my dads, that’s a little weird. They might not like it,” I chuckled.

  “Just what we need, a kitsune father ripping into us for touching his daughter. Do you think they’d be like that?” Leon frowned in the rearview mirror at me.

  “I don’t think so, but Lionel could probably be a bit overbearing I think. He’s got the personality for it,” I said, giving the back of Damien’s seat a pointed look, and Tristan snorted.

  “We’re not alike,” Damien grumbled.

  “Sure you ain’t.” I rolled my eyes.

  “We’re nearly there,” Leon said, and I gazed out the window as we passed farmland. I could see the forest past the land on our right, pine covered mountains in the distance making me smile softly.

  I wished I could’ve grown up here. How different my life could’ve been.

  Then again, they’d moved here after my mother and David had died. Still, how different could my life have been if I’d grown up with my real family?

  “Don’t think about the what-ifs,” Leon murmured as he glanced back at me.

  “I know I can’t change the past. And maybe, if I had grown up here, I might not have met you guys,” I murmured.

  “There are beliefs that the mates a kitsune chooses are fated, so maybe you still would’ve met us, just in a different way,” Tristan said as he stretched and flicked his eyes out the window.

  “Maybe.”

  “This is it,” Leon stated as we came upon a dirt drive with a cute little letterbox that was made to look like a fox. It was perched on the wooden post, with an opening in its chest for mail.

  Soren had told me that was their mailbox, something Lionel had made. Soren said it was meant to represent my mother, Renee.

  I smiled softly as we drove past it, and I spied the carefully carved moon-crescent on the head of the fox.

  My mother’s kitsune line. So I bore her marking. I liked that. It made me feel like she was still with me, in a way.

  We followed the dirt drive past the various fields of cows and horses.

  Soren said they owned the land but leased most of it out now, save for the land closer to the homes. They didn’t want to run a farm, but they still liked for the land to be in use.

  We reached a fork in the drive, and we took the left road, which led to Izzy’s house with her mates.

  I stared out the window, loving how the drive was lined with oak trees on either side.

  Such a gorgeous place to live.

  The drive was a straight run after two turns, and I could see ahead to the stunning Colonial style home, painted white with a slate grey roof.

  It was a gorgeous sight, and I spied Samson exiting the house with Izzy to welcome us.

  We drew up at the end of the drive, and Samson pointed to the right, where the gravel drive had some parking.

  Leon did as instructed and slotted into a park before shutting the engine off.

  I climbed out, heading straight over to Samson and Izzy and hugging them both.

  “Good to see you again,” Izzy sighed, giving me a sweet smile as Samson eyed me over.

  “Still struggling to believe you’re alive some days, it’s amazing,” he admitted as I looked at him.

  I focused back on Izzy, biting my cheek as I gave her a once over. Something was different about the mousy-hair woman I’d met in the cells. And it wasn’t just the content look in her eyes.

  To think they’d once been filled with worry and guilt. I knew she would’ve struggled to move past what had happened to her there, the forced matings, but being with her own mates would’ve helped her.

  Still, I couldn’t put my finger on what was different, and I focused on her aura.

  She was watching me with a slightly amused smile as I did this.

  I saw her aura swirling around her, but it was predominantly swirling around her abdomen.

  “Wait… are you?” I shot a look to Samson, whose smile broke into a wide grin.

  “Yes, Samson’s daughter,” Izzy said as excitement split across her face with a broad grin.

  The guys had come up behind me now, and were just as surprised as I was.

  “Wow, that’s incredible, congratulations,” I said, unable to keep from smiling.

  I knew it was something she’d so desperately wanted, especially with Samson.

  “Thanks! Chris started working on fertility potions for me, so I think they helped,” Izzy bounced on her toes, and I could see she’d been trying to play it cool while secretly wanting to tell me so badly.

  I’d been texting with her since they’d left, and I was quite surprised she’d been able to refrain from telling me in a text.

  “We were wanting to keep it secret until you visited, so visiting even earlier was good, since I’m not sure Izzy could’ve held out much longer,” Samson laughed as Izzy smacked his arm lightly.

  “Sav is one of my friends, I hated not telling her,” Izzy said as she turned those doe eyes on me. “But I thought we’d surprise you.”

  “Well, color me surprised,” I laughed softly. “You know it’s a girl?”

  “Yep, Soren had a witch friend come over who can read that sort of thing to let us know early. Lachlan has been building things for the baby room. I know it’s only early days, but once a kitsune is pregnant, miscarriages are quite rare, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” she grinned.

  I just smiled at the pair, happy for them.

  Why they’d wanted to surprise me with it was odd. I was not a huge kid person. Although, Damien had made it clear he thought I was growing on the idea.

  Maybe he wasn’t wrong. But I still wanted to have my life first. Continue bounty hunting with them for a while.

  “Come, I’ll show the nursery, we’ve been working on it all week!” Izzy said enthusiastically, grabbing my hand.

  Samson rolled his eyes at me, but smiled as I just shrugged and allowed Izzy to lead me into the house.

  She clearly had been dying to show me, and I wasn’t going to spoil her excitement.

  Seeing her like this, it was a huge change to the Izzy I’d met. The quiet, reserved, worried Izzy.

  This Izzy had renewed life and purpose, and she’d clearly beat her demons in regards to the time with the Collector.

  “Chris is getting some lunch prepared, I’m sure you guys are hungry, while Benny is still at work with his dad. Your dad,” she corrected herself. “And Lachlan is working on a few things out back in the shed.”

  T
hat explained why our greeting party was small.

  Izzy dragged me up the stairs, and I only got a glance into the dining area and kitchen. There looked to be a living room past the dining area, but I didn’t get a good look.

  Upstairs were a number of rooms, and Izzy took me to the second one on the left, and I paused at the door.

  In pink letters on the door, surrounded by little flowers, was the name ‘Renee’.

  My mom’s name.

  “I thought it was a good name for our first girl,” Izzy said quietly.

  I smiled softly at the gesture. A pang hit me in the chest, and I blinked back the sudden tears that stung my eyes.

  I was never so easily emotional, and I scolded myself inwardly.

  Why was this affecting me so much?

  “It’s a beautiful name,” I said softly, my voice level as I won the battle against the sudden emotions that had hit me.

  “I hoped you’d be okay with it, I didn’t know if you wanted to use her name,” Izzy said, giving me a concerned look, like she thought I was going to get upset with her.

  “No, it’s perfect. All your mates are her sons, it’s fitting,” I said. And I meant it.

  Besides, I wasn’t sure on the whole kid thing yet. The idea still made me scrunch up my nose at times, but other times, I found it oddly welcomed.

  Having my last mate bonded to me really had changed me.

  Izzy opened the door, and I found myself smiling as I stepped inside.

  The cot was carefully made, the name ‘Renee’ carved into the head of it, and a wooden change table had been made, also sporting her name and painted pink and white.

  “Lachy made everything in here, even the mobile,” Izzy murmured, a tender smile on her face as she touched the mobile over the cot.

  I stepped up beside her, loving the pink foxes that hung from it. There was also a wolf and panther, and I chuckled lightly as I saw the last one. A man on all fours, with a wizards hat on.

  “Yeah, Lachy and his humor,” Izzy smirked and rolled her eyes.

  “I love it,” I smiled.

  “Yeah, well, I’m glad they all wanted to do something to help. Chris got the baby books sorted,” Izzy said as she pointed to the reading corner with an armchair and small bookcase. “He set the whole thing up. Benny did a lot of clothes shopping with Samson, and he’s working on a special little electric unicorn car for her. Samson has already hand-carved a small bow and arrow set for her, and he helped me paint the entire room and decorate the walls,” Izzy smiled as she eyed the various butterfly and flower designs on the walls.