Lily's Trust

by Lilli Carlisle

  “Oh, there’s still some fight in you, sister. Let’s see how much is left.” Vengier raised his hands and a glow enveloped the area. When the light cleared, Lily found herself inside a dome of sorts with Jensgar lying unconscious beside her. Inside the dome with them were Net and Vengier. “So we have no more interruptions.”

  Release them. Net ordered as she neared. Lily could feel the pull as she closed in.

  Net retreated to the farthest side of the dome but Lily knew it wasn’t going to help in an enclosed space. Warriors clawed and stabbed at the barrier but nothing made it through. Lily kneeled close to Jensgar, having already noted he was breathing. She knew her mate was alive, but he wouldn’t wake up.

  “And why would I do that? You worried you’ll suck the life out of your new friends like Beth.” Vengier’s laugh was hideous. “If you want them freed you have to defeat me.”

  Net roared as she charged Vengier and the fight was on. Lily dragged Jensgar as close to the edge of the dome as possible. She raised her hand to touch it but was unceremoniously jolted by a bolt of electricity. It was then that she realized the warriors, the king and Bain were all being shocked every time they attacked the dome.

  She tried to tell them to stop because they were only hurting themselves, but no one could hear over the sounds of fighting coming from behind her. The siblings traded blows but it quickly became apparent that Net was too weak to carry on much longer. Suddenly, Lily’s ears began ringing as something much louder hit the outside of the dome.

  Ceva, her black wings wide, eyes glowing and fangs bared chopped at the barrier with an axe Lily had never seen before. Small cracks began to appear on the surface where the white witch was aiming every shot. A scream drew Lily’s attention back to the fight only to find Net attempting to stand. What she could see of Net underneath the shadow was bloody and torn, but Net stood tall and looked at Lily with such sadness before charging Vengier once again.

  Lily looked down at Jensgar and she knew what she had to do. She lowered her head and kissed her mate for what would surely be the last time. “I love you, Jensgar, never forget that.”

  “Don’t you dare, young lady,” Ceva bellowed from the other side of the barrier. There were spider webs of cracks all over now, thanks to Ceva’s axe.

  “Promise me you’ll pull him out of here,” Lily demanded of Ceva. “Swear it.”

  Ceva stopped hammering for the briefest of seconds. “I swear.”

  Lily let her shift overtake her as her clothing tore away from her much bigger wolf form. With a final lick to Jensgar’s arm, she turned and dove headfirst into the battle. If she could buy Ceva more time to break through, her mate might have a chance of surviving.

  While Vengier was distracted by Net, Lily raked her claws down his back, pleased by the bloody trail she’d left behind. Vengier’s cry of pain spurred her on as her jaws clamped down on the back of his head, taking chunks of flesh and hair with her as she dodged a blow directed at her face. Unfortunately, Lily didn’t see the second one before she was knocked off her feet.

  She could taste her own blood and the pull of energy from being too close to Net, but she clawed her way back to her four feet and went for Vengier’s throat. Inches from her target, Net’s body crashed into hers, sending both into the barrier. The electrical shock didn’t even faze her as Lily tried to stand, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t make her muscles respond. Net was too close to her.

  “This is where it ends, sister. With you dead alongside the mongrels you love so much, and this time I’ll make sure your favorite pet stays dead.” Vengier spat as he neared the two of them. Net wasn’t moving.

  Lily tried to push harder to get to her feet but it was no use. This was where she would die. She only hoped that Jensgar had been rescued. She was about to look over to where she’d left him when a flash of gold blurred her vision and Vengier was suddenly gone.

  For a moment she wondered if he’d taken off, which made no sense, until she heard a battle raging somewhere behind her. Lily dug her claws into the ground. If she could move her head a bit she’d be able to see what was happening. It felt like it was taking so much longer than she’d hoped but she did manage to turn enough to watch her worst nightmare come true.

  Everything seemed to play out in slow motion. Warriors continued to attack the barrier as Ceva hacked at it with the axe. Jensgar in his wolf form now stood as tall as Vengier, and her mate’s tattoos were glowing red through his thick golden coat of fur. He was breathtaking. She hadn’t seen him in his wolf form since he’d woken as an alpha.

  “You think to challenge me, dog,” Vengier bellowed but Lily could sense his apprehension. “Your worthless god won’t be able to save any of you this time.”

  Jensgar growled and bared his long, sharp teeth in response before charging Vengier and taking the evil man off his feet. Claws and teeth flashed as flesh was ripped from bone. Vengier’s shouts slowed as Lily concentrated on trying to get to Net. Her pull of energy was waning, meaning Net was weakening.

  Lily shifted and felt each and every wound as she fought through the waves of pain to crawl to the goddess’s side. Net’s entire body had returned to a physical form, all traces of the shadow gone. Her eyes no longer glowed bright, the light fading quickly. Lily reached for Net’s hand knowing it could mean her own death but the goddess deserved comfort before she died.

  She realized the fighting had ceased and looked over to find Jensgar standing in the midst of what remained of Vengier. Lily couldn’t help but send him all her love through their link but it was cut short when her mind became fuzzy.

  Net squeezed Lily’s hand but remained silent, her eyes growing even dimmer. Jensgar came over to her side. Lily could see the damage he’d sustained, but he was alive and that was all that mattered.

  “Net,” Lily called as she squeezed her hand. “Thank you for protecting the people and this land for as long as you have. You can rest now. We promise to take good care of it for you.”

  Moments later, the light in her eyes faded, and Net’s hand went limp. The pull on Lily’s life force stopped. The goddess Net was dead. Jensgar shifted and took Lily into his bloody, healing arms and there was no other place she wanted to be.

  The tears started slowly but quickly turned into a flood. Sadness at the pain Net had suffered simply because she loved the wrong person was a little too close to home for her. Lily wiped the tears from her wet cheek before touching Net’s unmoving hand.

  The dome shattered as Ceva and everyone else rushed in, but Lily’s body and soul had been through enough. This time, when blessed darkness took her under, she welcomed it like an old friend.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lily was tired of being on bedrest waiting for her legs to heal. If she could have borne weight on them at all, she would have been out of this bedroom days ago when she’d woken up. Apparently, when Vengier threw her into the barrier, she’d broken the femur in the left leg and the tibia in the right. At the time, she’d lumped it in with the other pain she’d suffered without knowing the extent of the damage. Even with her accelerated healing, it was going to take weeks to repair, which she wasn’t looking forward to. The casts were driving her insane and she’d had to cut her favorite pair of track pants to fit over them. She jammed the end of an unraveled coat hanger down between her skin and the cast in search of peace from the incessant itches.

  She’d been told Net’s body disappeared after Lily had passed out, and Vengier’s remains had been cremated. Lily’s heart still ached for the goddess and everything she’d gone through. Lily hoped Net was at peace now.

  From pack member reports, Lily had learned that the forests and farmlands were recovering quickly, but as of yet she’d not been outside to see any of it. Of course, Jensgar had decked out their bedroom with anything he could get his hands on that he thought she would like. Lily understood he was trying to distract her from her imprisonment, but it would take a band of ogres rampaging through her room to accomplish that.<
br />
  As she was about to scream in frustration Jensgar came sailing through the door with an odd look on his face.

  “Everything okay?” Lily asked as her mate walked over to their bed and sat down.

  “I believe so. Not sure,” Jensgar answered.

  “Well, isn’t that ominous. What’s going on?” Lily teased thinking this was another attempt to distract her.

  “We have visitors.” He laughed softly before lifting Lily into his arms and heading for the bedroom door.

  “Wait, you don’t allow me to move for days and now we’re going to go out and meet people? I haven’t even had a bath today. Who are they? Can’t I get cleaned up first?”

  “This won’t wait, love,” Jensgar said as he shook his head and continued down the hall, out of their private quarters, and up to the front door.

  “They’re outside?” Lily was becoming more concerned and alarmed by the second. “Jensgar, stop.”

  Her mate did exactly as she requested before whispering, “Trust me,” into her ear while nuzzling the side of her neck.

  “Of course.” She would never deny that.

  Jensgar began walking again and as they neared the front double doors, they opened all by themselves. Warm sunlight streamed in and Lily was momentarily blinded and left wondering if she were dreaming all this.

  “You’re not dreaming. This is as real as it gets,” Jensgar replied, having heard the unspoken question through their bond.

  Once her eyes adjusted Lily was shocked to find her pack on their knees and baring their throats toward the square in front of the pack house. She looked up to find a large black wolf she recognized—Fenrir, and beside him Net, whole and complete, without injuries. Lily couldn’t help the small cry when she realized the goddess was alive.

  Jensgar carried her down the steps and up to their two visitors. “Net, how…I saw you die.”

  Net smiled and took Lily’s hand. “Your tears. I did not know before the curse was broken.”

  “What?”

  “The tears you cried for Net proved that her love was not misplaced.” Fenrir’s deep voice filled the area, as his piercing eyes seemed to look into her soul. “Vengier believed that wolf shifters were unable to truly care for Net, and he made that part of the curse.”

  “Part of the curse?” Jensgar asked, since Lily was still in complete shock and unable to form sentences.

  “Yes, my brother thought it was the perfect way to ensure I was never freed. With Beth dead and Bain reborn, that left no shifter who cared for me. However, even that wasn’t enough for him. He added one final step: there had to be two wolves of different station within the Evergreen pack. Vengier worried that somehow, I could possibly sway one shifter, but two of different station would be impossible. Add in that the moment I neared any living being I risked killing them, and again, I was merely a shadow.”

  “Okay, but who else shed a tear?” Lily asked looking up at Jensgar who was shaking his head.

  “You alone shed the tears required. Omega and Alpha.”

  “But you accepted my omega gifts in exchange for Jensgar’s life. I am no longer omega nor was I born alpha.” Lily was getting more confused by the minute.

  “Does the land not respond to you or the blooms shy away? Do these members of the Evergreen pack not consider you their co-alpha?”

  Lily was starting to put two and two together, and she didn’t like what it was adding up to. “Did you plan this all along?”

  Fenrir stepped a few feet closer and suddenly Lily was regretting her question.

  “What I believe you’re trying to ask is whether I manipulated you and Jensgar to suit my own needs.”

  “I wouldn’t have put it that way,” Lily grumbled under her breath. Jensgar’s hold tightened as he went on alert. She was digging herself a bigger hole.

  Then the god Fenrir did the one thing she had never expected, he began to laugh. It was a deep, rich laugh that made others want to smile from hearing it.

  “You are one of a kind, and just so you know, you had free will the entire time. I did not influence Jensgar, he made his own choices. You freely offered your omega gifts and your life, of which I accepted only one. Your sacrifice caused the former alpha’s powers to be transferred to Jensgar as he was healed. You decided to go ahead with the mating. You’re the one that got this ball rolling. In the end, you, Lily, have chosen your own path.”

  She knew her mouth was hanging open, but damned if she could shut it as the realization dawned. Fenrir was right. The times she’d blamed the god for taking her choices away were really her decisions. Lily remembered when she thought she was dead after she’d tore her jewel from her forehead. She’d hoped to be a normal wolf shifter if she were reborn. He took nothing she did not offer and gave her her wish to be normal.

  “Wait, what about the tattoo on Jensgar’s arm? The one that is identical to part of a building here in Evergreen?” Lily asked, knowing she had nothing to do with that.

  “That was not my doing. Yes, I am the god of our people and care for all but there is more than my hand at work in these matters,” Fenrir explained, which only brought up more questions. “I owe you both a debt of gratitude for what you and your mate were able to do for this pack and Net.”

  Fenrir’s wolf slowly faded away as Net approached them. Lily looked up at her mate, the man she’d chosen and fought for. “I have everything I’ve ever wanted right here.”

  “Yes, I see that you do,” Net said as she looked between the two of them then out onto the crowd gathered. “But please accept this gift from me.”

  Net placed her hands on Lily’s arm and a warmth rushed through her body. Her casts crumbled and fell from her now healed legs, and her left arm burned. Net pulled away and smiled at Lily before looking down at her arm.

  What was once a lone vine circling her arm was now a riot of colors. Flowers of all size and shape cascaded from her shoulder to her wrist. However, one design caught both her and Jensgar’s attention. On the inside of her elbow lay four small buds yet to bloom.

  “Net? What does this mean?” Lily’s voice shook as she tried not to let her excitement get away from her. This could mean nothing. After all, facts were facts. The natural world may still respond to her as an omega, but she wasn’t one, and thus could not have children with Jensgar.

  Net smiled wide before saying, “They don’t call me the Divine Mother for no reason.”

  Come along, Net. Fenrir’s voice echoed through the area though he was nowhere in sight.

  Net winked at Lily before vanishing.

  The pack began to rise. Their stunned expressions probably mirrored Lily’s but for entirely different reasons.

  “Do you think…that…means?” Jensgar asked as he stared down at the buds.

  “Only one way to find out, my mate.” Lily’s voice sounded like a purr and surprised her.

  Without preamble, Jensgar threw Lily over his shoulder and made a run for the pack house as if the hounds of hell were on their heels.

  Their laughter floated throughout the courtyard as birds once again sang in the trees and children played in the shade underneath them.

  Evergreen once more.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lilli Carlisle lives outside Toronto, Canada. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter, Toronto Romance Writers. Lilli is a mother of two wonderful girls, wife to an amazing man, and servant to the pets in her life. Lilli writes contemporary and paranormal romance, and believes love should be celebrated and shared. After all, everybody needs a little romance, excitement, intrigue, and passion in their lives.

  Connect with Lilli:

  facebook.com/lillicarlisleauthor

  twitter.com/LilliCarlisle

  instagram.com/lillicarlisle

  If you enjoyed this book, please write a review. Our authors appreciate the feedback, and it helps future readers find books they love. We welcome your comments and invite you to send them to info@boroughspublishinggroup.
com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for surprises and new releases from your favorite authors.

  Are you an aspiring writer? Check out www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/submit and see if we can help you make your dreams come true.