by G. Bailey
“Alright, Jax,” he chuckles and runs off.
“I’m proud of you, Jaxson. If nothing else, know that, laddie,” she tells me as we walk on.
Everything has been fucked up since the night I lost Fergus and nearly Winter. I had to find a witch quickly to make the pack safe, bury my brother, and look after his pack. The ceremony tonight will finally bond me with the whole pack, and I wish Winter could be here. I still have no fucking idea who killed my brother. It was someone in the pack. I'm sure of it. I was with Freddy inside the house when it happened, so I'm not sure who was missing. It pisses me off that I don’t have a clue who managed to stab my brother in the heart.
I see Esta walk past the garages at the side, and she waves at me. I don’t bother looking at her. Esta has been playing a fucked-up game from the beginning. I never lied to Esta or dragged her along. I told her when we were eighteen that I wouldn’t mate with her. I only wanted a friend. She said to me that the prophecy must be fake, and she still wanted to wait. I let her keep telling people we would mate eventually because Fergus asked me to. He didn’t want everyone to know about my friendship with the other princes, and the fact that he was aware I believed in the goddess. It’s hard not to believe in someone that predicted your birth. I never wanted a relationship with the girl from the prophecy. I convinced myself I would kill her and get rid of the threat straight away. God knows I have no love for humans.
Then Winter slammed into my life and into my heart.
I couldn’t walk away, instead, I got as close as I could.
She is my queen, and I want her at my side; I knew that from the moment my lips touched hers.
I fucking hate that she’s in the middle of all my enemies right now.
"I smell vampire on you, please say you haven't chosen a vampire as a mate," she says. She must be smelling Winter. Her scent does feel a little like a vampire now, but it's different, like she is. An image of her standing in the middle of her living room comes into my mind. I remember her eyes glowing silver as a blue wave flows out of her chest and hits everything in the room, including me, who flew into the wall and landed on my ass. Whatever she is now, she isn’t just a vampire. She is so much more.
"No, well not exactly. We have a lot to discuss," I say eventually as I hold the front door open. The two wolves guarding it look at me briefly before focusing on something behind me. I had to replace five guards after the attack, the ones that we lost. The two new ones are Suzy and Malic. Those are the two guarding the cabin and me now, and the rest are patrolling the edges of the ward. My brother used to only let one woman in his ten guards. I chose the best at fighting, and that’s Suzy. She has power to stop her enemies with one touch. Her seven mates were not happy, but they wouldn’t try to stop me.
"We do," my aunt says. The house feels a little colder without Fergus. We may not have agreed or believed the same things, but he was my brother.
"Uncle J!" Freddy runs up to me, looking flustered.
"What's going on?" I ask him.
"Frederick! Where are you, my wee one?" my great aunt from my father’s side calls from the kitchen. She is a bigger woman who just loves children and smothers them. I remember her as a child, and I understand Freddy’s panicked look. I used to hide when I knew she was coming over, I’m sure I still have the itchy jumper she knitted me once. She forced me to wear it all Christmas day when I was fifteen. It has a reindeer with a light-up nose–if you squeezed the fucking nose, it played a song. Atti saw me in it when he came to get me at midnight to see the others.
He wound me up for a year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tells Winter about it. I fucking hope he doesn’t.
"Save me," he pleads, and Lucinda starts laughing next to me.
"Freddy, this is my Aunt Lucinda." I introduce him.
"Why don't you go and help some of the wolves into the old cabins?" she suggests, and he grins. A grin that reminds me of Wyatt. A lot of Freddy reminds me of Wyatt as he gets older. I just hope his vampire side doesn’t come out anytime soon. It’s not the right time.
"Yes, I can do that, and hello!" he says before running out of the room.
"He reminds me of you as a child," Lucinda says watching him fly out the door.
"Hmm, perhaps. Let's go to my new office," I tell her, and she nods, all business now. My aunt has four brothers-in-law, all of them are bringing wolves here from their different packs. We are grouping, and they will all be here today. The first time the whole wolf population will be together in many years.
We walk into Fergus’s old office, my new one, and it still faintly smells of him. I miss him, I remember holding him against the wall as he threatened Winter. I wouldn’t change it, but I hate that we spent the last few months of his life arguing. The last day was the only time we had agreed that I wouldn’t leave Winter, that I wanted her as a mate. When I told him that I had already called the engagement with Esta off because I'm in love with Winter, he asked me to stay for the wedding and then go to get her.
I never expected Esta to kiss me. She’d never tried before, and I thought she fucking understood after our many talks about being friends. She told me that pretending to plan to mate with me kept her away from the other wolves’ pressure to choose a partner. I understood in a way until she attacked Winter. I knew something was up then, and she hasn't come near me since the party.
"I have found the girl from the prophecy. I love her, and she will be my queen," I get straight to the point, no point fucking about.
"Where is she, then?" Lucinda asks.
"With her other mate or her other soon-to-be mates," I reply. I don’t care about having to share her, I never did. Jealousy will be something we can work on, but my wolf is bonded to the guys anyway. I couldn’t challenge them without expecting a bad fight. We are too evenly matched with each other.
"Which prince?" Lucinda asks me. I guess she expected this, too, because her expression isn’t one of shock. My aunt always believed in the prophecy. Our culture finds it common to share, it’s just unheard of between different races.
"Vampire," I reply.
"Have you lost your mind to let her go there?" she asks, her hands on her hips.
"We have little choice. Winter is stronger than she looks and a little bit vampire now," I tell her.
"Is she just human?" she asks me.
"No, when I first met her, I started training her in defence. She was very strong for a human and hits targets dead centre with no training. When she gets mad, she can move very fast. I'm not sure what she is," I reply. Lucinda doesn’t say anything for a while, just looks out the small window in the room. I look where she is watching as three wolves walk with a young child on one of their backs. Two wolves in human form are following those, carrying bags, their laughter I can pick up with my hearing.
"I can look into this. We have some old books from the times the goddess and her sister were alive. They might have something in them about these kinds of powers," she finally replies and faces me.
"Thank you," I say simply.
"Your mother always wanted you to fulfill the prophecy, but it was the vampire king that killed her. He will do anything to stop it and get his way. She is not safe there. No matter who she is with," Lucinda warns.
"I trust Wyatt and Atti. They will keep her safe," I say.
"Perhaps, but she needs more protection," she shakes her head slightly.
"Yes, I'm working on it. Our world is not going to be happy about her existence," I say and lean back in the brown-leather chair.
"It's finally some proof that our goddess hasn't left us," she says.
"She never did. Aunt Lucinda, I have to tell you something else, it’s about Freddy," I say, knowing I can trust her.
"What about him?" she asks.
"He is a half breed—half vampire and half wolf. He’s different, and I'm worried because his father is going to find out about him soon. I've kept him a secret for so long, to keep him safe." I say, the words feeling strange to say now that t
he blood bond is broken. I felt it break when Winter guessed; it was like being free.
"It's not as surprising as you think, but I'm a little surprised there is a hybrid so close to us. We must keep this to ourselves until the boy is older. Who knows what powers he might have," she says finally. I’m glad about her reaction, not everyone will feel the same way.
"Agreed. I want to assign Katy as his protector for now," I say, thinking of the young girl. Since she was shot, she has become dedicated to her training, to building on her power and maturing in general.
"I remember you telling me about that lass who was shot and recovered well, any reason why?" my aunt inquires.
"Harris is going to be announced as my only beta tonight. I only trust him. Katy has an ability to hide her scent, she could protect Freddy’s if need be," I say, and she nods.
"I trust your judgment, alpha."
"It’s weird hearing you call me that when I remember you chasing my ass around the pack when I drank your whisky," I say, and she laughs. I was thirteen at the time and wanted to impress the two girls my age in the pack—it didn’t work.
"You were always my alpha, you only had to grow up and realise it. I'm glad some girl has given you the kick up the backside that you needed," she says, making me laugh.
"You have no idea, the woman is more stubborn and headstrong than I am," I mutter.
"I can’t wait to meet her," Lucinda grins.
"Soon, I swear it." I nod.
"Another thing. You know my power is to talk to the trees and plants. The earth is worried, keeps telling me about demons," she says, a slight shiver of fear passing over her eyes.
"Like what?" I ask her.
"That they are coming, the demon king is coming back," she says. As far as I know, demons are fairy tales, told to scare little children. I only know of mini-demons, but they aren’t a threat. A demon king doesn’t sound right.
"Back?"
"Aye. They say he once lived on earth, but a goddess’s death locked him away. I don't understand everything they say, but they are clear. War is coming. That's why I'm here, my bonny little prince," she says. Lucinda walks over to me and places her hand on mine on my desk. "We need a king."
Thirty-Two
Winter
My eyes threaten to close as I read a chapter in the old book. The women is describing how some lord is throwing a dance, and everyone has to attend. Nothing about the goddess in this one. I have decided I don’t like the castle, most of the vampires don’t speak a word of English, and the ones that might do tend to ignore me. They just bow and wait for me to go away. The humans, well normal people, just run away from me or bend so low I’m sure their backs are going to break. Neither is any good for them or me. I should have realised that we are in France, so not everyone is going to speak English. Apparently, Wyatt can speak a couple of languages, who knew speaking in French is sexy? Wyatt is very hot when he talks away in French.
"Anything?" I ask Alex who shakes her head at me, her long, red hair shines from the dull strands of light coming through the library's tall windows. We are sitting on one of the sofas, both of us have books in our laps and a pile of them on the floor next to us. Leigha is watching us from a chair near the window. She won’t help because, apparently, she doesn’t like dust or old books. She also informed us that we wouldn’t find anything other than old wives’ tales in here. I’m starting to believe she’s right, but we have to try. I haven’t had any dreams in a while, and I’m starting to think Elissa has left me to it. If she was Demtra, the goddess’s sister, then wouldn’t she have been a goddess too?
"It would help if they wrote these books better, it's like reading a child's diary," she says and closes the leather-bound book.
"And you’ve read a lot of those?" I chuckle as I push my own book closed, and dust flies everywhere, making me cough.
"I used to read your diaries all the time, who knew you liked Travis in year six?" she says and grins at me.
"Bitch, those aren't meant to be read by anyone, and he had lovely hair," I mutter.
"Don’t worry, I never told him," she laughs as I throw one of the pencils I have near me at her, and she catches it.
I glance back at the pile of ten books I've read through in the last week on the goddess. Most of it is made up, and not one of them describes how she looks and gets it right. I've told Alex, Drake, and Wyatt about what she looks like so they can help search. Leigha listened but still just told us we’re wasting time and should be doing more training.
It's been a long month with two weeks of training in the morning for three hours. Then I enjoy reading for the rest of the day. I haven't seen Wyatt much, other than at night and in the morning. I had to force myself to drink two mugs of blood last night because I was so hungry. I want to say it was gross, but it wasn't. It so wasn't, and it reminds me of chocolate, melted chocolate.
"Mr. Sexy Witch is coming your way," Alex says and nods behind me. Sure enough, Atti is walking straight towards me. I don't recognise him like this, his usual carefree face is gone and replaced with a stern look that matches his massive build. The five vampires that are in the room with us all stand to watch as he stops in front of me. I get up from my chair, so we are facing each other.
"You are requested in the prince's room. I offered to take you, so I might meet the princess properly," Atti bows slightly and winks at me as he straightens.
"Of course, let’s go," I say, and he takes my hand gently and links it into his arm. I glance back at Alex to see her grin at me.
I feel Atti's magic sweep over as he moves us to God knows where. When I finally feel my feet hit the ground, I open my eyes and see the inside of Jaxson’s cabin. Freddy sees Atti and me first because he jumps up and throws himself into my arms. Jaxson is sitting with a younger woman, who looks at me with curiosity.
"Whoa, hi, little wolf," I say and tighten my arms around Freddy. The soothing earth smell of the wolves calms me. I missed Freddy so much.
"I missed you, and Uncle J is miserable without you here. All he does is mope around," Freddy tells me. Freddy has gotten taller since I last saw him, he reaches my chin now. I know he’s going to be taller than me when he’s done growing up. I hope I get to see it.
"Does he?" I ask Freddy.
Jaxson answers, "Yes, lass. Now, come here," he demands. Part of me wants to jump into his lap, but my stubbornness takes over.
I let go of Freddy, to stand straight with my hands on my hips.
"I don't believe you asked nicely," I say, holding in the urge to smile.
Jaxson grins, "I don't ask anything nicely."
"If I say please, do I get a hug?" Atti asks next to me, a slight joking smirk on his face.
"You don't have to say please, only the jackass over there," I point a thumb in Jaxson’s direction as I speak. Everyone in the room laughs as Jaxson gets up and stalks over to me. I duck behind Atti to hide, and Atti disappears on me.
"Damn witch," I mutter as Jaxson picks me up and kisses me. His lips move softly against mine like he is reminding himself I'm real. I sigh and run my hands into his hair.
"That's gross, they always do this, Aunt Lucinda. At first, it was just weird looks between them, now it's always kissing," Freddy says, and I break away from Jaxson with a grin.
"Remind me when he gets a girlfriend to be this annoying to him," Jaxson says.
"Will do," I giggle.
"Winter," Dabriel’s voice comes from behind me, and I turn in time to see him walking into the cabin. I let go of Jaxson to run to Dabriel, who pulls me into a hug the moment I get close. I pull back slightly to look at him.
He is just stunning. Long, white hair is tied at the back of his head with many braids running throughout it. His purple eyes watch mine, and he’s wearing the white tunic and trousers I saw him in the first time we met. It must be an angel thing to wear all white. His wings are folded at the sides, and I stare at how soft they look. All white feathers with silver strands just like his hair.
"Mostly boring," I reply.
"I'm glad of it," he responds and kisses my forehead. I turn around as Jaxson comes to my side and takes my hand. Dabriel walks over to Freddy, and Freddy hugs him.
"We must get on with the ceremony, the wolves are waiting, my alpha," Lucinda says as she watches me.
"I need a second alone with Winter," Jaxson tells her.
"Yes, my alpha," Lucinda bows and walks over to me. Jaxson stays close to my side. I feel like I’m going through some test.
"I am honoured to meet you, Winter. My name is Lucinda," she offers her hand to me, her strong, Scottish accent flowing through her words. She sounds a little like Jaxson, but Jaxson’s accent isn’t as pronounced as Lucinda’s is.
I take her hand as Jaxson winds his arm around my shoulders.
"This is my aunt that I told you about once, she is like a mother to me," Jaxson says. It’s clear from his words how much she means to him.
"I remember," I mumble as she stares at me.
"Atti, why do you have pictures of like a million cats on your phone?" Freddy asks, and Atti looks over from where he’s sitting on the other sofa.
"They’re my kitties," he replies.
"Crazy cat man," Freddy mumbles.
"Your right, I do have an addiction to puss–" Atti replies, and I glare at him before he ends that sentence.
He coughs out, “I mean I have an addiction to cats.”
I think he forgets that Freddy is nine.
"You do," Freddy replies, not getting the joke.
"Sorry, I meant to say cats when I realised who I was talking to," Atti says into my mind with a slight sheepish expression when he sees me glaring at him.
"Bad influence," Jaxson says to me, and I nod. I guess Atti doesn’t have much experience with kids. I don’t have a lot other than when I used to babysit the neighborhood kids for pocket money growing up.
