by Quinn Loftis
Chapter 2
“Flying around with a penis for a nose is bad enough. But it’s really bad when the organ works as intended. Imagine my embarrassment when a hot woman walks by. All of a sudden, I’m like a pixie Pinocchio. And sneezing is an experience I’d never like to repeat.” ~Ciesel
Ciesel shuffled his feet. He was stalling. Plain and simple. The pixie took two steps forward, then one step backward. Clenching and unclench his fists, he jumped into the air and spun in a circle a couple of times, then landed again. He kicked at a stone and sent it rocketing forward. It crossed effortlessly into the fae realm. Ciesel was loathe to follow, though he knew he must.
When Ciesel had first been commanded by Volcan to spy on the healers, he’d been happy to do it. After all, the dark fae had fixed his nose. That was worth quite a bit, especially a little bit of snooping. It was the perfect way to get back at them for refusing to change his nose back to a non-phallic shape. He subconsciously placed his hand upon his proboscis, silently thanking his gods Volcan had been able to return it to its regular form. Now, however, the full weight of what he was about to do descended upon him. If Perizada of the fae caught him, she would kill him … quickly. He was certain of that.
But if he didn’t do what the dark fae asked, Volcan would also kill him. And Ciesel was sure Volcan wouldn’t do it quickly. Ciesel shuddered. He didn’t want to die screaming in agony. The only way to survive this was to do what Volcan asked. He’d just have to be careful not to get caught.
He cast every cloaking spell he knew on himself. Then, the pixie stepped slowly forward and passed into the fae realm. No alarms sounded announcing his presence. So far, so good.
Now, Ciesel just had to make his way to Peri’s home undetected. He went slowly, skipping from one branch to another, pausing and listening carefully at each tree before moving to another. Volcan had commanded the pixie to hurry, but he liked being alive and was in no particular rush to get caught. Volcan might be irritated if Ciesel took his time, but he’d be a lot angrier if Ciesel got caught and didn’t come back at all.
Hours later, Ciesel finally spied Peri’s home through the foliage. He took a breath. Now came the tricky part. He had to sneak up without alerting anyone. Ciesel flitted to the ground and found a rotting log covered with moss. Rolling it over, he dug out some of the soft dirt underneath and spat on it. Working the mixture over in his hands, Ciesel created a sticky mud paste and then covered his entire body with it. He also mixed in some of the moss to the concoction. Ciesel knew there were Canis lupus present, and he wasn’t going to take any chances. After he was sure he wouldn’t be detected, at least by scent, the pixie climbed back into the trees and sat to watch. The sun was high in the sky, the worst possible time to try and sneak up on one as powerful as Perizada, but it couldn’t be helped. An hour passed and Ciesel saw no one come or go.
Growing impatient, the pixie decided to make his move. Being of royal pixie blood he was able to sprout wings at a whim. He began flying from tree to tree, slowly closing in on Peri’s home. He wished there was a tree right up against the house, but the closest was about ten yards away, a towering oak. Lucky for Ciesel, the foliage was dense. He rested on a thick branch close to the top. It wasn’t perfect cover, but someone would have to look almost directly up to see him. Even then, they’d have to see through his cloaking spells. While he was confident Peri could see through them as easily as breathing, he figured the magic would fool wolves. Again, the pixie sat, watched, and waited. Another half-hour passed and still no one emerged. Ciesel rose to a crouch. He was just about to make his riskiest maneuver yet—a quick flight to the roof of the house—when the front door to Peri’s home swung open, and three wolves in their human form emerged.
Ciesel sucked in a breath. That was almost disastrous. Had he jumped, they might have heard him or seen an unnatural shaking of the tree branches. Then they’d have surely called the cavalry, which would include a high fae with a penchant for vaporizing beings that got on her nerves. Something told Ciesel that spies were definitely something that got on Peri’s nerves.
The pixie watched as the wolves walked to a clearing. Two of the wolves began sparring. The other looked on, calling out to them periodically. The ones who were fighting were also speaking to one another. They must have been joking because their faces continually switched from laughter to concentration and back to laughter again.
The pixie plucked a leaf from one of the trees. He whispered some words over the leaf, casting one of his favorite spells. He rolled the leaf into a tube shape and held it up to his ear, pointing it in the direction of the three men. Their words came to him on the wind, and Ciesel could hear them as if they were up in the tree next to him. What they were saying didn’t make a lot of sense, but he was sure it was exactly the kind of information Volcan had sent him to gather. The wolves were talking about some spell their mates wanted to perform and bemoaning the fact that because of the spell, they couldn’t perform the Blood Rites ceremony. Ciesel wasn’t completely familiar with the Blood Rites, but he knew it was some kind of Canis lupus mating ritual. There was also talk of a sacrifice, and each of the wolves declared they would be the sacrifice for their respective mates.
Ciesel guessed the mates in question must be somewhere in the house. He needed to try and find them so he could determine if they, too, had any important information Volcan might want. The wolves were some distance away and probably wouldn’t see him leave his perch and fly to the house, but still, Ciesel couldn’t take any chances. Clutching his enchanted leaf, the pixie waited until one of them landed a particularly nasty blow and sent the other sprawling, which earned a catcall from the wolf watching. As quietly and quickly as he could, Ciesel leaped into the air and flew to the other side of the house, shielding himself from the wolves’ view. He landed deftly, sure that no one within would have heard him. He crept quietly to the apex of the roof and peered over, checking to see if he’d drawn the attention of the three wolves. Apparently, they hadn’t noticed him as they were still punching and kicking one another.
Retreating back down the roof a few steps, Ciesel saw that there were two gables, one on each side of him. He crept to one of them and slowly peered around it into the window. There was an empty bedroom. Curses. He flitted to the other gable and looked into it. Jackpot. Three female humans sat on a bed speaking to one another. He could just make them out through the curtains. Two of them rose and went to the opposite side of the room, turning their backs to him. A window there faced out into the front lawn and they stared out of it, apparently watching the wolves spar. The third woman stayed put. Ciesel pulled his head back out of sight, took his leaf, and held it against the roof. They were a bit muffled, but Ciesel could hear the words the women were saying.
“Look at those idiots out there, fighting like a bunch of children,” said one of the women.
“Not your mate,” said another. “He’s watching. Probably telling them what they’re doing wrong.”
“Fighting? Oh, I wish I could see it. Describe every detail,” said the third woman. “Do they have their shirts off?”
Ciesel scratched his head. Why would she need the scene described to her? Then he remembered one of the healers had no vision. This must be the blind one.
“I’m afraid they do,” said the second woman. The third one groaned.
“And they’re sweaty,” said the first woman. “Glistening.”
“Don’t say glistening. I’ve never seen something glisten. I can’t even begin to imagine what that means, but it sounds sexy as hell.”
“It is,” assured the first healer.
Ciesel furrowed his brow. This was ridiculous. Did Volcan really need these women?
“Ooh,” came the second healer.
“What happened?” asked the third.
“Nick just knocked your man on his ass,” said the first woman.
The third one gasped. “No! Is he okay?”
“Yep, he’s back up,”
said the second healer. “Oh, he just tackled Nick. Now, they’re rolling around and hitting each other. Ouch!”
There were several more oohs and ahhs from the first two girls and more growls from the third and a declaration that the universe was a cruel bitch because it caused her to be born blind and miss this fight.
All of a sudden, the first two girls burst out into a fit of giggling. “What? What?” asked the third.
“Nick just knocked Kale down,” said the first woman. “Now, he’s actually flexing his muscles at the window.”
“You’re kidding,” said Heather. “Are they impressive?”
The second healer made a sound halfway between a moan and squeak. “Kara says yes, they are definitely impressive.” Ciesel rolled his eyes and looked down at his own diminutive body. Stupid wolves.
“Oh, wait,” said the first woman. “Now, your mate has knocked down Nick. You’ve got to be joking!”
“What?” yelled the blind woman.
“Kale is flexing now.” Kara laughed. “This is too much.”
“How does he look?” asked the third girl. “Lie to me if you have to.”
“Well,” said the first healer, “if you like broad shoulders, large arms, and washboard abs, then I’d say he looks pretty good.”
“Are those things good? Do I like those things?”
“Let me put it to you this way,” said the first woman. “You see with your hands. I don’t think you’re ever going to get tired of exploring the chiseled parts of that poor boy’s body.”
“Ooh,” said the blind one. Though Ciesel couldn’t see it, he could imagine the woman shuddering as she made the noise.
“And they’re back to fighting again,” said the second healer.
“C’mon, ladies,” said the first healer. “Let’s go downstairs and get some coffee. If they don’t come inside soon, we may have to go out and drag them in.”
“I’m all for that,” said the third healer. “The quicker Kale gets in here, the quicker I can start exploring.”
Ciesel heard the girls exit the room. The pixie shook his head. He’d gotten nothing useful out of the healers. He crept back down to the eave of the roof and pointed himself toward the closest spot of dense forest. Without looking back, he launched himself into the air and flew quickly into the cover of the trees, anxious to get back to Volcan and report what he’d learned and the fact he’d not seen Perizada of the fae anywhere on the premises.
***
Kale did feel like an adolescent pup. He hadn’t felt this good in decades, and it was all because of a sharp-tongued little female. She was beyond anything he could have imagined for his mate, and he was thankful the Great Luna had blessed him so profoundly.
Heedless of the mixture of dirt and sweat he was leaving on Peri’s sitting room floor, Kale stepped lightly into the room, followed by Nick and Ciro. The three females they had just been discussing were sitting, dressed, each drinking coffee and staring at them. Well, his mate was simply looking in the direction of the door, as she couldn’t actually see him. But the looks on all the girls’ faces made it clear they, too, had been discussing their mates. Unlike the males, however, it was obvious the females’ discussion wasn’t so positive.
“You’re looking lovely, lass,” Kale said to Heather, a slight growl of appreciation in his voice as his wolf took in their mate’s beautiful form.
“And you smell anything but. You all smell like you’ve been rolling in a field of manure. And if you think flattery is going to get you out of trouble, pal, you’ve got another thing coming,” she said.
“She’s right,” added Stella. “I don’t even have her super-nose and I can smell you three.”
“Make that two,” said Ciro gesturing to the shirtless, dirt-covered Nick and Kale. “As you can see, I didn’t engage with these two pups.”
“Guilt by association,” said Stella.
“Trubul?” Kale asked Heather loudly. His eyebrows rose to the top of his head. He let his accent thicken. He rarely spoke this way anymore, but he could lapse into the old tongue at any time, and he thought his mate might get a kick out it. “What ya mean, mot? I’ve only been tinkin’ about how tha lilies of the field cannut compare to your beauty.”
Heather made a gagging sound in her throat. “I don’t know what a mot is, but you can stow the pretty words, Irishman. You’re going to tell me right now why you’ve had our bond closed down tight all morning if you want to get back into my good graces. That or your mouth is going to have to do a lot more to me than talking.”
The girls laughed. Nick coughed and Ciro cleared his throat.
Kale blanched for a second, then recovered himself, grinning. “You might not want to draw that particular line in the sand just yet, mot. Not unless you’re ready for me to cross it.”
“You keep calling me that,” said Heather. “What does it mean?”
“Mot is an old Dublin word,” interjected Ciro. “Originally derived from the word maith, meaning good. It’s morphed into an endearment meaning girlfriend.”
Everyone turned to give Ciro a questioning look. He shrugged. “What? You live as long as I have, you pick up on a few things. I’ve hunted with the Irish pack several times over the centuries. I’ve become familiar with their vernacular.”
“Aye, what he said,” said Kale, jerking his head at Ciro.
“Regardless,” said Heather, “pet names will not excuse you. I want answers or I want action. Now. Give it up, wolf. And I mean that however you want to take it.”
Kale’s wolf practically jumped out in response to her teasing. It was all Kale could do to contain the beast. Heather did something to him he didn’t think possible. She made him lose all control. Ciro was right. It was going to be hard not to lose his head around her. A high-pitched sound escaped his throat before he stifled his wolf and tried to cover the noise with a cough.
“Did he just yip?” asked Stella.
Kale tried to plaster a look of dignified offense on his face. “I did no such thing.” He’d wanted to tease his mate, to make her uncomfortable in front of the others. His wolf had wanted to play with her, to watch her squirm. Instead, she’d instantly turned the tables on him. And that playfulness was just one of the reasons why he adored her so much.
“He did,” said Heather, smiling. “He just yipped. I made my wolf yip.”
“I didn’t—” Kale began.
“I’ve never heard one of them yip before,” said Kara.
“That was so cute,” crooned Stella. She turned to Ciro. “Are you going to yip for me?”
Now it was Ciro’s turn to look affronted. “I do not yip. Only pups yip.” He gave Kale a pointed look and Kale quickly looked away. “I am an Alpha. I am a Canis lupus. I may growl. I may snarl. I may even bark on occasion. But I will never, ever yip.”
“Yep, he’ll yip for you, Stella,” said Heather. “I can tell by his voice. He might act all serious now, but get him alone and he’ll roll over and yip as much as you want him to.”
Ciro cleared his throat and ignored the comment. “Ladies, if you would allow us fifteen minutes to get cleaned up, then we can discuss matters,” His calm, diplomatic manner had returned. Kale had to admit he admired the way Ciro handled himself. Kale’s temperament was a bit more volatile. The fieriness of his temper was matched only by the color of his hair.
“By all means,” Heather said. “Wash off the stench so we can focus on more important things … like your hot accents … I mean … whatever important matters are weighing on your minds.”
Stella sighed. “How did you become the spokesperson for us today?”
Kale’s mate shrugged. “I’m just going with what feels right. I’m doing me. Isn’t that the modern-day lingo of being yourself? Be a unicorn and all that jazz?”
Stella groaned. “Please, for the love of all things ridiculous, don’t latch on to the unicorn fad. I’ve had all the sparkling farts and rainbow manes I can handle.”
“You’re just a little ball of sunshine.” Kara laughed.
As Kale walked past her, he paused next to Heather and leaned down. “Good morning, love,” he said and then pressed a kiss to her neck just below her ear. She sighed and tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to her throat. Kale chuckled. “Are you trying to tell me something?” he asked through their bond, letting go of the tight reign he’d had on it while he’d been talking with the other two males.
“I just don’t want the rest of my neck to feel neglected. If you’re going to kiss my neck, then you need to be an equal-opportunity neck kisser,” she replied.
Kale pressed another kiss to her neck and then another. Then he whispered in her ear, “I’ll have to take care of the rest of your neck at a later time.”
“I suppose I can wait.” She sighed. Kale could feel her mirth coming through their bond, though she was doing her best to sound disappointed. “Go wash your stink off,” she added, making him want to kiss that smart mouth of hers. Kale stood up and continued past her. He needed to get away before he swept her up in his arms and took her somewhere more private. Damn Peri for declaring the Blood Rites off-limits. The ceremony needed to be performed now.
Ciro couldn’t take his eyes off of Stella. She was simply a vision to him. Her skin was a lovely shade of brown that reminded him of smooth, melted chocolate. It was flawless. Her eyes were light brown, crystal clear, and turned up slightly at the outer points, giving her an exotic look. She had full, plump, lips and high cheekbones.
“I could take a picture of her for you,” Kara said, breaking into Ciro’s thoughts.
Ciro smiled as he watched Stella nudge Kara and mutter something along the lines of ‘Shut it, little healer.’ “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t plan to have her out of my sight much so I don’t think a picture will be necessary.” Ciro didn’t want to intimidate or scare Stella by being too forward, but he wouldn’t lie to her. Now that he’d found her, he’d be as patient as she needed him to be, but that didn’t mean he planned on allowing any distance between them.
