They all looked at the baby, who was currently in her human form and securely buckled into her car seat, which was fastened to the sofa with a long strap Brodey and the other men had rigged. Still, she wore the elasticized harness, just in case.
No one would take any chances with BettLynn in Yellowstone. She was now way too fast in four-legged mode for any of the humans to catch up with in two-legged form. One time she accidentally got out the back door in Arcadia when Brodey didn’t realize she was shifted, and Mai had to shift herself to catch her. There were too many potential hazards in the park should she get loose. Not just from bio-animals like bison, bears, and wolves, but from the thermal features as well.
She might be a precocious shifter, but she was still just a baby.
The Beasts were also strapped into their own car seats, on either side of BettLynn on the couch. It was the only way any of the adults got a moment’s peace while the babies were awake.
Mai had wanted to stay behind in Florida, but Micah and Jim overruled her. For starters, because they were proud of their daughter’s ability to shift so young. Also, logically, they hoped they might find sage advice from one of the elder shifters in attendance. They’d made her go with the others. Unable to leave their business that long, they’d arranged to fly out with Ain and the others.
“And, I have good news,” Lina announced. “Uncle Andel told me that Arnost is going to be here at the Gathering. It might be the last one he gets to.”
“Who’s he?” Mai asked.
“He’s a Seer. And, more importantly, he’s Bertholde’s brother. This will be the first time I’ve ever met him. He wanted to meet the two of you.”
“Do you think he can give us any help?” Elain pointed at BettLynn.
“Who knows. But I think we really need to sit down and talk with him. No telling how much longer he’ll be around.”
“Why haven’t we met him before?”
“He’s sort of a recluse. Doesn’t even have a phone. He lives in Europe and doesn’t like to travel. But he told Andel he wanted to be here to meet with us.”
“When’s that happening?” Elain asked. Frankly, she wanted to get the situation with Callie’s curse handled once and for all. She hated it hanging over their heads the way it was and knew Callie wasn’t very happy about it, either.
“Probably day after tomorrow. He gets in tomorrow, and I’m sure he’ll need to rest. Besides.” She let out a nervous cough. “I’ll be busy tomorrow.”
Elain tried changing the subject. “Okay, Goddess,” she said to Lina. “We’re here. When are you going to spill the deets about breaking Callie’s curse?” Despite repeatedly asking Lina since they’d discovered it, the Goddess had remained steadfastly closemouthed about the topic.
“We’re going to do it tomorrow night. She and Blackie will get here today. That will give us time to get settled in and prepare. The meetings don’t start until the day after that.”
“What do we need to do to prepare?” Elain asked her.
“I can tell you I need to do a little scouting so I can find the right location. Hopefully, someplace close by.”
“That’s all you’ll tell us?” Mai asked.
“For right now, yes.”
Elain snorted. “I’m starting to think you don’t trust us.”
“No, not at all. It’s not that. I just don’t want to attract a shit-ton of attention before the fact.”
Mai looked hurt. “You don’t think we can keep a secret?”
“No! Again, not the issue. See? This is why I wanted to keep everything under wraps until time to actually do it.” She grabbed the other two women and pulled them close in a two-armed bear hug. “I love you two. You’re my sisters. It’s just I’m really nervous and stressed out about this, and I don’t want you two feeling that.”
“Doesn’t make sense,” Elain said. “We can help.”
“And you’ll help by just showing up when and where I say and doing what I tell you to do.”
Ain opened the door to the RV and stepped in. “Everyone still alive?”
Elain forgot her irritation at her friend and threw her arms around his neck. “Hey, Prime.” She nearly lost herself in his embrace when she realized Cail was standing just outside the door, patiently waiting. She released Ain and slipped past him to give Cail a hello kiss.
“Glad you didn’t forget me, babe.”
“Never.”
“If you guys check in right now, we can make Old Faithful’s next eruption,” Ain said.
Nearly thirty minutes later, they were all gathered at the basin, watching the geyser blow. They weren’t alone, however. They were surrounded by other shifters also there for the Gathering, adults and children alike. As Elain turned, she had to grab hold of Cail for support.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She continued her slow turn, taking in the full view in all directions. In shock, she stared at Lina and Mai. “We’re here. In Yellowstone.”
“Um, yeah,” Lina said, looking amused. “We drove here, sweetie.”
“You all right?” Mai asked.
“You don’t get it. We’re here. Exactly here. Just like I saw in my vision a couple of months ago.”
* * * *
No one was quite sure what that meant. Since Elain’s vision hadn’t included anything but Old Faithful, Lina posited it didn’t mean much. Once they had the RVs unloaded and had unpacked, the three women sat on the Old Faithful Lodge porch to talk in private.
“A lot of my visions are benign,” Lina told her. “They’re not all doom and gloom, or even happy. They’re just little snippets.”
Mai nodded. “I have a lot of dreams like that. Sometimes I don’t know if they’re visions or just regular dreams.”
It still unsettled Elain. It had been more than just simple déjà vu. And it only added to her stress. “I just have a bad feeling.”
Lina frowned. “Bad as in you know something’s going to happen, or bad that you’re still freaked out?”
“I—” Her mouth snapped shut. After a moment’s contemplation, she shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Mai shrugged. “Well, let’s not let it ruin the trip for you. You’ve had bad visions.”
“True.” Elain didn’t want to think about the one from just before Christmas, about a gory birth, a baby ripped from the womb. She blinked to clear the memory from her mind.
Lacey approached from the cabins. “Do you need to be alone, or may I join you?”
“Pull up a chair,” Elain said. “Maybe you can help.”
“I’ll try.”
“We’re trying,” Lina said, “to convince Elain that sometimes our visions don’t mean much, if anything. They’re just boring, not good or bad.”
Lacey slowly nodded. “That’s true.”
“Ha!” Lina said with a grin. “See?”
“In my early days, once it was revealed to me that I was a Seer, I had a lot of difficulty picking out what was important versus what was trivial. It took time and experience to learn what to ignore and what to pay attention to.”
Lina poked Elain in the shoulder. “Told you.”
Elain watched Lacey struggle to hold her smile in. “I don’t blame you for feeling nervous about it, but if you are feeling something, I’m willing to bet it stems from something else, not the vision you had about Old Faithful.”
Elain didn’t want to admit about the other vision, about the baby being ripped from someone’s womb. More accurately, the circumstances under which she’d had it. She also felt certain she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about it. That part confused and confounded her, but trusting her instincts, in this case, felt right.
That particular vision would stay her private matter for the time being.
Brodey spared her having to answer. He stuck his head out the door. “Dinner’s being served. Who’s hungry?”
Elain sprang to her feet and rushed to join him. “Me, that’s for sure.”
When she was in line getting her food
, Lacey got in line behind her. The old Seer tapped Elain on the shoulder.
When Elain leaned in, Lacey kept her voice low. “It’s all right if you need to keep things to yourself. Sometimes, that’s what the Universe wants. Trust your instincts.”
Elain nodded and straightened without replying. She’s a Seer, too, duh. But that Lacey had echoed her own instincts helped relieve her a little.
It didn’t, however, lift the feeling of impending trouble that refused to go away.
* * * *
Elain’s hopes for desperately needed alone time with all three of her men were quickly dashed. Brodey had gone with Ain to a confab with Blackie, Jocko, Mark, and a few others. That left Cail and Elain alone in the cabin.
“You look wiped out,” he said. “Want a back rub?”
She smiled as she draped her arms around his neck. “Maybe a front rub, too.”
She felt him harden through his jeans. “I figured you’d be too worn out for that.”
“I am worn out, but I saved a little energy.”
“Ooh, I’m a lucky man.”
“Yeah, the other two will just have to wait until morning. I suspect I’ll be sound asleep by the time we’re done.” She laughed. “Sorry, guess that’s not very romantic.”
“Sounds romantic to me,” he teased, helping her get her shirt off. The rest of her clothes, and his, soon joined her shirt on the floor.
Stretched out in bed together, he kissed her slowly, sweetly, tenderly, making her sigh. “It’s nice being alone with one of you sometimes.”
He grinned. “You don’t have to convince me.”
“You guys don’t get jealous of each other, do you?” That was something she always worried about no matter how many times they reassured her.
His expression softened. “No, babe. Not jealous. We know you try to give us each alone time. It doesn’t always work out that way.” He kissed her again, his tongue lightly tracing her lips. “I just love seeing you happy. It’s what I live for.”
“Okay.” She arched her back, pressing the length of her body against him. His stiff cock rubbed between her legs, her own desire making her clit throb and her pussy wet.
Being ready for them never seemed to be a problem.
He reached between them and rubbed the head of his cock back and forth through her pussy lips, along her clit and back again. “I know where you want this.”
She nodded, trying to position her hips to coax him to do it.
Cail kissed her again, teasing, tasting, and flicking his tongue against hers, making her want him even more. All three brothers had unique styles. Left alone with Cail, he would take forever and make her beg him to fuck her if they had the time to draw it out.
Not that she was complaining.
He rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed and still not giving her what she craved. “My sweet, beautiful mate,” he whispered. “Maybe we need to take individual vacations with you. Get some alone time.”
“The other two would fuck my brains out every time I got back.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He slid his cock back and forth along her clit, teasing her, making her gasp. Every stroke along her sensitive nub stirred her passion even more. Her nipples pleasantly rubbed against his chest, turning into hard peaks that added to the sensation.
Finally, he reached between them again, this time positioning his cock so the head was lined up with her drenched cunt. “Want it?”
Her lower lip caught under her teeth and she nodded.
Slowly, still teasing her, he worked his cock deeper inside her until he was buried to his balls inside her pussy. “Better?”
She smiled. “It will be when you start moving.”
“Ah. You’re greedy today.”
“Just a little.”
He laughed and took a slow stroke, turning her giggles into moans. “Please, don’t tease me,” she begged.
“Aw, poor sweetheart. I’ll take pity on you.” He started moving, harder, faster, still that perfect angle to brush against her swollen and sensitive clit with every stroke.
She held on to his arms, their gazes locked. Just when she wasn’t sure she’d be able to come like that after all, she felt the familiar tingle start.
He sensed it. “There’s my girl. Come for me, baby.”
The tingle quickly exploded into pleasure as her orgasm swelled and burst inside her. The walls of her pussy contracted around his cock, adding to the sweet release.
Cail moved faster, fucking her hard now, trying to catch up as she rode wave after wave of pleasure until she felt him coming. His body went rigid, head falling to rest on her chest as he caught his breath, his balls emptying inside her.
She wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t want him to move, to leave her. Finally, he relaxed, settling on top of her. “Love you, baby.”
She tangled her fingers in his hair. “Love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lina felt bad that she had to stay closemouthed about the ceremony. She didn’t even want others knowing it was going to happen at all, except for the ones who’d be involved. When Elain asked her about it, Lina told her she didn’t want gawkers.
She also didn’t want Callie or Blackie stressing out over what would have to be done.
Not to mention, she didn’t want to freak anyone out, or word accidentally getting to one of the park rangers, who might disagree with them deliberately slaughtering one of their prize attractions.
Based on the moon phase, she opted to do it close to sundown instead of at night. The sun hung low in the sky, making a rapid descent toward the mountains to the west as Lina and the others walked along a path leading north away from the bridge crossing the Firehole River, to a field large enough to do the ritual. During the earlier scouting run, she’d spotted a small herd of bison along the edges of the clearing.
Hopefully, they’d still be there. If not, they’d have to wait to start until the shifter predators could coax one close enough to them for the spell banishment to work. Oscar, Doug, and Wally were ready to finish off the chosen beast as soon as the ritual ended. Jan, Rick, and Kael were standing by as aerial backup, in case the bison got loose.
“Do you really think this is going to work?” Callie asked.
“Do you really have another choice?” Gigi shot back.
Blackie laid a hand on Callie’s shoulder. “Easy, pet,” he softly said. “We know you’re nervous, but don’t take it out on them.” Callie scowled at her older sister but didn’t reply.
“Look,” Lina reminded her, “all our research points to this being the best choice. Bison are huge, they’re plentiful, they qualify as an innocent. And once the curse is transferred, we’ll kill the bison and effectively destroy what’s left of the curse.”
“What if it jumps into someone else?” Callie quietly asked. She stopped dead, Blackie almost walking into her, and turned around to look at everyone. “What if it jumps into someone innocent when they kill it?”
“That won’t happen,” Lina said. “We’re strong. We got this.” She offered up a smile she hoped her friend believed. “We’ll form a strong circle. We’re going to channel it into the bison.” She turned Callie around by the shoulders and gave her a friendly shove in the right direction.
Lina desperately hoped Blackie didn’t back out when she popped the last surprise on them, that he’d have to be down for a little bit of exhibitionism to make the ritual work.
Sex magick was the strongest kind of magick, and it’d be necessary to keep the curse from slamming back into Callie in the middle of the ritual before they got the damn thing securely planted inside the bison.
They reached the clearing and Lina felt relief at the sight of several bison grazing on the far side. No impromptu rodeo would be necessary.
“Is everyone in place?” Lina asked Gigi.
The redhead closed her eyes, slowly nodding after a moment. “Oscar is direct
ly to our north, closest to the bison and just inside the treeline. He’s not shifted, so as not to spook the bison. Wally is…” She pointed toward the west. “Over there. Shifted, because he’s downwind and the bison are not unaccustomed to bears. Doug is to the east, unshifted, because cougars are not as common in this area and he’s upwind.” She opened her eyes. “They’re ready when we are.”
Mai looked nervous. “I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to do. I don’t want to screw this up.”
“You just follow along with what Elain and I do,” Lina assured her. “Say what we say, do what we do.”
“Why do I suspect it’s not that simple?” Mai asked.
“It really is,” Gigi said. She grinned at Callie. “Tell her. Babs was always the brains.”
Callie stuck her tongue out at her older sister.
Lina looked at the three dragons. “You guys get ready. Strip. but don’t shift yet.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we were already airborne and in position?” Rick asked.
“Nope. Because bison aren’t used to smelling dragons. You might spook them.” She pointed.
They looked. One of the bison, a bull larger than the others, had taken an interest in what they were doing. He slowly approached them, head up and alert at first as he stopped about fifty yards away. Then he dropped his head and began grazing when he realized they weren’t doing anything but standing there.
“That’s our guy,” Lina whispered.
“How do we know?” Callie asked.
“Because he’s closest. He’s also the biggest.”
“Um, guys?” Blackie asked, his voice low. “What if he frigging charges us?”
Lina shrugged. “Won’t be an issue once the ritual starts.”
Jan, Rick, and Kael stepped off to the side and began stripping.
“What am I supposed to do?” Blackie asked.
Lina grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. “You’re going to do what we tell you to do, Alpha dude. You want Callie to get rid of this curse for good, right?”
His brow furrowed. “What is going on?”
She took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to…you know…as part of the ritual.”
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