Keeper (Matefinder Next Generation Book 1)

by Leia Stone

  I mustered up a weak smile and nodded so he wouldn’t feel bad, but I knew now that this was what my mother saw. My death, not his.

  Nahuel had shaken off whatever emotions had cemented him and now he was moving. “It’s time to tell stories.”

  He walked to the group of tall warriors that had stood vigil off to the side of our little display.

  Lina followed the shaman, leaving Jaxon, Gavin, and I to chat.

  Jaxon closed in the space to my right so we were standing in a small circle.

  “Lina’s hot. I’m just throwing that out there. Don’t tell Avery,” my brother joked and it actually got a smile out of me and Gavin. He was great in times like these, inappropriately funny. It was annoying, but it broke the tension.

  “Are you okay?” I focused my attention on my mate.

  He looked lost, eyes empty, hair tousled like a little boy. “Not really. I want more answers.”

  Nodding, I understood and was grateful for his honest reply.

  “What did she do when she grabbed your head?” Jaxon asked and I was grateful because I wanted to know, too.

  Gavin looked completely spooked. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it, then opened it again. “I can’t really explain it. She … looked into my soul.”

  My eyes widened but before I could respond, the steady beating of drums behind me pulled at my attention. Turning, I saw that a circle had gathered. The warriors, Nahuel, and Lina stood around a raging fire as the sun began to set. The warriors beat on drums strapped to their waists.

  “Let’s get our answers,” I told the boys and walked over to the gathering. The group parted to allow us entry and I could see Lina was fanning the circle with sage smoke as a magic mist formed a protective barrier. My eyebrow quirked up, curious as to why protection was needed. My wolf itched to break free. Two large fallen logs served as benches and we took a seat as Nahuel indicated we do so. Gavin sat on my left, Jaxon on my right. Scanning the faces of the warriors, I could see now that they were all over six feet tall, carved from stone with rock hard muscles, and had a fierceness in their gaze that told me they were the bad-ass muthas of the shaman world.

  Lina grabbed a decorated stick, an eagle feather hanging from it, and stood facing us.

  “I will honor you now with a story of the great Light Keeper.” She flicked her eyes for a second to Nahuel who bowed deeply. Light Keeper. They called Gavin that. Was Nahuel a Light Keeper, too?

  “Since the creation of man, Great Sky Father and Great Earth Mother have blessed the earth with Light Keepers. Beings with such great power, they can stop time, control the elements, even bring back the dead.”

  My eyes were wide as I stared at Nahuel, my heart hammering in my chest. Was she talking about him? I knew he was a badass and special, but holy shit. Did my mother know this?

  “But … in keeping with the Great Balance, an opposite to the Light Keeper came into creation.”

  The drumming stopped and Lina grimaced. “Skin Walkers.”

  At the words ‘Skin Walkers,’ the sage in Lina’s hands burst into flames. Suddenly, the warriors beat the drums loudly and thunder cracked overhead.

  But Lina continued. “Some fear to even speak the name Skin Walker! But fear is what their evil magic feeds on, and so I say the name with ease.”

  The firelight was dancing in her eyes and she looked absolutely stunning, fearless, an Alpha for sure. I was lying if I said this shit wasn’t freaking me out.

  Nahuel stood and took the decorated stick from Lina. “Around the time that my people cursed the werewolves with infertility, there was a great war between the Light Keepers and the Skin Walkers. Such a catastrophic war it was, that today, only one of each remain. One Walker. One Keeper,” Nahuel stated and the flames danced higher. I slipped my hand into Gavin’s and squeezed, seeking his warmth and comfort.

  Nahuel squatted in front of Gavin, meeting his steady gaze. “Until you.”

  Gavin’s chest was rising and falling but he stayed completely silent. I was burning with questions, but this was my mate’s journey and I didn’t want to intervene. So of course Jaxon did.

  “So, which is he? Walker or Keeper? Because if you say Walker, I’m sleeping with one eye open tonight,” Jax joked.

  ‘Inappropriate timing, brother,’ I scolded.

  ‘Well, this silent stare down shit isn’t getting answers,’ Jax told me.

  Nahuel looked sad for a moment. “Both.”

  My blood chilled and I nearly pulled my hand out of Gavin’s but forced myself not to. Finally, Gavin let go of my hand, and stood.

  “Explain everything now or I’ll go mad,” he instructed.

  My heart ached for him then and I was about to stand and demand the same when Nahuel nodded and spoke.

  “Many, many years ago, I fell in love with a human. She had hair the color of corn silk, eyes the color of the sky. She bore me my first and only child, Haseya, a daughter. A Light Keeper like myself and my heart had never been so full. Light Keepers do not age unless we want to. I chose to age with my wife … until she was killed by Mukesh, Skin Walker.”

  My hand flew to my mouth as my heart hurt for Nahuel. Gavin’s features immediately softened. Nahuel continued as Lina fanned the smoke in the circle.

  “Shortly after my wife’s death, Haseya turned thirteen and went on her vision quest to claim her power and meet her animal. She was sent alone, with no food as all young Light Keepers are.”

  No. I had a bad feeling about how this story was going to end. Gavin just stood there, facing Nahuel, taking it all in. Nahuel’s face suddenly constricted with emotion as he held out the stick to Lina and turned away. Lina nodded and took the stick from Nahuel, trying not to show emotion but her voice wavered.

  “Haseya returned from her vision quest with her full power and a child in her belly. The Skin Walker followed her and raped her, then left her alive.”

  “No!” I stood as tears lined my eyes. This was majorly fricked up storytelling and I had a feeling we were talking about my mate’s mother. My mate’s evil father. I wanted to protect him from this shit. I didn’t want him to hear the rest. Raped and pregnant at thirteen? Jesus.

  Gavin stared at his feet and then Lina said what I expected. “Haseya, carried the baby to term but the night before her labor began, she ran away. Used her powers to cloak herself from Nahuel and everyone trying to help her. She killed herself. We later found her body and the baby was gone.”

  Gavin took off running and burst through the warriors holding the circle tight, knocking one of them clean over. He ran, full speed into the forest as thunder shook the sky and rain fell down in clumps.

  “Gavin!” I tore off after him, but Lina caught my upper arm. “Some things need to be worked out alone.”

  My wolf rose to the surface then and a growl ripped from my throat. Lina smirked, letting me go. I liked the bitch, but if she ever laid a hand on me to stop me again, we were going to have big problems. My feet pounded the ground, smashing through the muddy water-logged forest floor as I searched for him. Darkness had fallen and the rain was messing with his scent trail. Then I heard a twig snap and altered my direction to follow the sound.

  Soaking wet, standing like a broken child staring at his feet, was Gavin. Part of me didn’t want to deal with this shit. This was serious and heavy, and I didn’t want to grow up this fast. But this was my mate and the tumult of emotions that were coursing through the matebond scared me to my core. I barely knew him, kissed him once and here I was in his darkest hour just as I should be.

  The right thing to say just fell from my lips. “None of this changes how I feel about you. How anyone will feel about you.”

  He looked up and met my gaze, his eyes glowing an eerie shade of yellowish red. “I’m part evil, a product of rape. She should have killed me, too.”

  No! I crossed the distance between us in record time but he flinched.

  “Don’t touch me.” His voice cracked with vulnerability. “I’m sorry I
got you into this mess.”

  I barked out a sarcastic laugh and the rain lessened, with it Gavin’s eyes threaded back to their normal green. The fever was raging inside of me, but I ignored it.

  “Got me into this mess? As if either of us had a choice. Gavin, you’re my mate. My True Mate. I’ve seen it, I feel it, I want it.” I growled the last part because my wolf was angry that he wasn’t happy.

  The slightest smile twitched Gavin’s lips. “You look pretty cute soaking wet.” He reached out and touched my left ear. “You have little mouse ears.”

  My jaw dropped. “Oh. No. You. Didn’t. just make fun of my ears.” I smiled as he pulled me into a soaking wet, bone-crushing hug. Seriously though, I did have big ears and when my hair was wet they poked out.

  ‘We’ll figure this out,’ I told him using the bond mostly to remind myself that it was there. That we were this close. That the guy I had been dreaming of for months was holding me against his rock hard chest right now. He broke away and placed a sweet kiss on my lips.

  “I yelled at Nahuel. Now I feel bad,” he stated.

  I nodded. “You had every right to be confused and angry. He will understand.”

  The drums started up again and Gavin looked out onto the forest before turning to face me with wild emotion. “If it comes to ending your life or mine. I chose mine.” Then he walked back to the fire leaving me to contemplate the shitty turn of events my life had taken. I don’t think we had a choice; that was the problem.

  ‘What’s going on? Your emotions are all over the place,’ my father bellowed in my head.

  I sighed. ‘Nothing I can’t handle, Pops.’

  Bring on the serious shit because if I ever came face to face with this teen-raping Skin Walker, it was game on, I would rip his face off and tear him limb from limb.

  Chapter Six

  We were all back around the fireplace, Gavin had stepped up and taken the lead. “What’s a Skin Walker?”

  Nahuel nodded. “Each culture has their own stories about Mukesh: the devil, dark witch, monster. He can take the form of any animal and also the form of a human. He can kill a human with one touch, make your relive your worst memories inside your head for eternity, and he can compel you to do things against your will.”

  Oh, shit balls. The hairs on my arms stood up as Jaxon looked at me wide eyed.

  ‘I want my mommy,’ Jaxon joked and I ignored him, standing.

  “How do we kill him?” I growled. Because in my humble opinion that was the important question here. Let’s go out on a hunting party and gut this monster.

  Lina laughed. “Mukesh cannot be killed easily, just as Nahuel cannot.”

  Okay, interesting. “But, if one wanted to castrate this bastard …” I mused aloud.

  Lina grinned and nodded. “Legend says that only a Skin Walker can kill another Skin Walker.”

  Argh! But he was the only one left! Wait … except he wasn’t. Our gaze fell upon Gavin.

  Gavin straightened, gritting his teeth. “I’m not like him.”

  Nahuel placed a warm hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “No, grandson, you’re not. You have the love of many people inside your heart. But you do carry the lineage and it may be enough to kill him, one day.”

  I huffed. “One day! We have three!” Or was it two? Shit. The moon looked pretty full.

  Jaxon stood. “You have three days, sister.”

  Oh, yeah. Shit. I was dying, not Gavin. Nahuel bent down and grabbed a burnt chunk of wood from the fire, making his hands ashy. Stepping in front of me, he smudged my forehead and my cheeks.

  “Little wolf. I pledge to do everything in my power to save you,” he declared and suddenly my throat clenched with emotion. I nodded.

  Lina and Nahuel shared a look and she nodded.

  “That’s why tomorrow, you must go on a vision quest, not Gavin.” My brain scrambled in confusion at his words.

  “Me?” Umm, hello? I’m a white girl.

  He nodded. “Gavin’s soul is using the matebond to take from you what he needs to survive and you will be left with nothing.”

  Gavin looked enraged. “Well, stop it! I don’t want to hurt her! Let me go.”

  Nahuel opened his arms. “I would if I could, but you’re True Mates. It’s something you agreed upon before you came here, it’s been happening slowly for months.”

  I growled. Not this reincarnation crap my mom always talked about. I hated the idea that I wasn’t in charge of my destiny. But what he said felt right, and if it would help both of us, I would do anything. “I’ll go. Tell me what to do.”

  Jaxon and Gavin both tried to interrupt, but Lina stopped them. “She must go alone or Spirit will not approach her.”

  Jaxon, eyes yellow, had a rumbling in his throat. “The Skin Walker better not approach her either. Or I’m going to kill all of you.”

  Lina raised one eyebrow as if she didn’t think that was possible but nodded. “The warriors will stand guard on the peripherals.”

  My stomach growled. “Please tell me I get dinner.”

  Nahuel shook his head. “You must give up all earthly things in order to walk on the spirit plane.”

  Tomorrow I was going to be one hangry bitch.

  *

  After a sweat lodge ceremony where I basically sweat my ass off and apparently all of my impurities, I went to shower in a cute little bath house. No running water but it had a bucket of hot water and a cup next to an old clawfoot tub. Good enough for me. How long had it been since I checked my cell phone? This whole living off the grid thing was kind of cool. If my mate hadn’t just learned that his thirteen-year-old mother was raped by evil incarnate and now I was dying, then I might actually be enjoying my little camp out right now. I let the water pour down my body as my thoughts bounced around in my brain. Gavin was part Skin Walker. Jesus. How did I even feel about that? It wasn’t his fault … but it was a little scary if I was being honest. I finished my shower, threw on baggy sweats and a hoodie and exited the little hand-built bathhouse cottage.

  “Little wolf,” Nahuel whispered behind me. I froze before turning to face the shaman. It was pitch black out and after the nightmarish stories of the Skin Walker, I was more than a little spooked.

  He was leaning against a tree, carving something from a large hunk of wood. I took a few steps closer to him and his gaze fell to my mother’s protection pouch around my neck and he smiled.

  “There’s more I should tell you. Gavin isn’t ready to hear it all,” he stated.

  Oh, shit. Seriously. What more could there be? Was I ready to hear it all? Channeling my bad-ass mother, I simply nodded. Bring it on.

  Nahuel pointed to the protection pouch around my neck. “I’ve watched you grow up in a loving home with a wonderful childhood. There isn’t much the Skin Walker could do that would bring you mental agony, but Gavin–”

  Icing on the cake right there. What did he say earlier? The Skin Walker could replay your nightmares over and over. Nahuel was right. I suddenly felt very spoiled that I didn’t have any awful traumatic experiences. But Gavin … Oh God. If the Walker got near him, he could trap him in a cage of his own demons for eternity.

  “Why tell me?” Because I was beginning to see the shaman had a plan. Always thinking two steps ahead.

  Nahuel winked. “You’re True Mates. You’re linked. If the time comes than you may be able to free him from a mental Skin Walker prison.”

  Fabulous. “What else?” Because I knew there was more. This was just one of those epic shit days that kept dumping on you.

  Nahuel looked uncomfortable then. “It’s a theory,” he finally said after a pause.

  I groaned. “Out with it.”

  He nodded. “If you survive tomorrow, you may not come back a werewolf, a Matefinder, or a witch. You may be … something else entirely.”

  WTF? And that’s when my breathing stopped, and dots of black blurred my vision. Panic attack in 3, 2, 1. …

  Hunched over on the forest floor, I panted as t
he anxiety of what he said rocked my world. Nahuel crouched down beside me, humming a slow tune, a lullaby, and suddenly the anxiety left me. I looked up at him.

  “Why? Why is this happening?” Because I realized that’s what I really wanted to know. Couldn’t I meet my mate and live happily ever after like in the movies?

  Nahuel sighed, suddenly looking older than his supposed forty years. “Because we’ve created it. But that’s a lesson for another day.”

  My brow furrowed in frustration, but I finally took a deep breath and stood feeling stronger.

  “Tell me about tomorrow. I want to be prepared.” My voice was strong because I wouldn’t let this crap get to me and make me weak. If tomorrow was going to be some spiritual fight for my life, I needed to be the daughter of the Alpha and not some fearsome little girl. Nahuel began to walk and I slid into a pace beside him.

  “If Gavin was born without a True Mate, he would have perished shortly after his fourteenth birthday. A shaman cannot live long after missing the calling.”

  I nodded. Kind of like when a human was bitten and made the change into a werewolf. There was a point in the change where you could tell if they would survive or not. Gavin should have perished, but somehow–

  “But because of your unique pairing, Gavin has been siphoning power from you to survive until you two could find each other.”

  My eyes widened. Whoa. Heavy. “So I’m the one getting sick and he’s …”

  Nahuel stopped and faced me. “He’s stealing your wolf form. After tomorrow, Gavin will have taken your wolf in order to survive and you must find your own power animal in order to fill the hole he leaves behind.”

  What the frick? “How?”

  Nahuel chuckled. “Perfect Mates are the rarest pairing and hard to understand. You and Gavin have a great purpose together. Without each other, you would both have succumbed to death.”

  Okay, it was at this point that I realized I wasn’t going off to college. Shit just got real, and life had a bigger plan.