It was up to him to protect them and keep everyone safe. He was a dragon. He was the most powerful and yet, according to his mate he put them at the most risk. Shifting was so dangerous because he was so large. He couldn’t chance being seen by anyone. Neither could Naomi.
He had unknowingly changed her into a Reylean dragon during their mating. He’d bitten her. Given her his venom to bond them, but it had done so much more. She was like him now. She shared her mind and body with a beast.
“Is it true?” Tara said, between sobs. “Katherine said that you helped me. Did you protect me?”
Col focused his attention on the quiet male, rocking Katherine back and forth in his lap. He’d bitten her. The fang marks on her neck were seeping just a little.
Knox answered, his tone low and hushed, “Yes. Raish would’ve done worse. Had I not intervened, he would have killed you immediately.”
“I owe you a debt, wolf,” Owen said, his voice deep and gravelly. “I give you my thanks and my eternal gratitude for saving my shuarra.”
Knox shook his head. “My brother was mad with grief and just…mad. He had others whispering in his ear to do things I knew nothing about until it was too late. My cousin, Tai, the other white wolf you saw. He was banished from the pack years ago. His father was a murderer and he helped. I didn’t know he’d come through the portal, surviving the destruction of Reylea.”
Katherine moaned in Knox’s arms. He nuzzled her face and cooed that he loved her. That he needed her to fight and be strong. That he needed her to forgive him for what he’d done.
Her heartbeat had ceased to grow weaker, in fact, to Col’s surprise it was leveling out and growing stronger.
“Who are you?” Col asked.
“Knox Li’Vas.”
Col’s brows knit together. That was it. Why hadn’t he realized it before? “You are of royal descent. Your bloodline is of the House of Li’Vas. I remember my grandfather telling stories of the great Li’Vas wolves before they were driven out of the valley.”
“Perhaps. I don’t know much of my family except what my father told me, and we didn’t talk much. The pack stayed in beast form most of the time.”
Col nodded. “I know.” He glanced at Katherine. “Her heart isn’t fading any longer. It is possible she will survive. Which leaves us with the problem of your existence in Mystery.”
“Col, please. Do you have to do this now,” Tara said, her voice a strange mixture of annoyance and sorrow.
“I would ask for time, dragon,” Knox spoke, his voice soft and submissive. “I would ask for permission to stay until I lose her, or she is healed. Then I will leave.”
Col canted his head to the side. “You do not intend to take your mate with you?”
“She won’t leave, Mystery. She has suffered much in her life and grown close with the people of this town. It would kill a part of her soul to leave it. I cannot ask that of her or allow it.” He caressed Katherine’s cheek and nuzzled her neck again, licking gently over the bite he’d inflicted.
“Wait, you’re saying the biting and turning,” Tara said, her voice high with surprise. “It’s because you’re some kind of prince? Royal blood from your world.” Tara wriggled within Owen’s grasp and he slowly allowed her freedom. “So that’s why Owen’s bite didn’t turn me. And Kann’s bite didn’t turn Penny?”
Col swung his gaze down to Owen’s little human. “Yes. I do believe that is the explanation we have been seeking. There are old legends about the original houses of Reylea. Each Royal House had a temple and a court of magick-benders under their protection. In return for this protection, the houses were made stronger. There are stories of bigger beasts with more magick than other families. I would assume our bite carries something a little extra.”
He turned his attention back to Knox. “You may have the time you seek. In fact, I will extend the agreement I made with Ava and Ryder to you. You may stay in Mystery, but you are not welcome on this side of the river and you will not be considered part of this Tribe.”
“What of my pack? Will you extend this same agreement to them? I have found several survivors. They are young and were easily influenced by Raish.”
“You would forgive the one who hurt your mate?”
Knox’s eyes flashed bright and his fangs descended. “I will hunt Tai until I personally rip his throat from his body and stain the ground with his entrails. He is not pack, but the younger wolves you were tracking. The ones your tiger almost killed. I claim them. I take responsibility for them.”
“Very well. But if they cross the line into our territory, I will not hesitate to end their lives. Or yours.”
Knox
The dragon granting him permission to stay in Mystery had never once crossed his mind. He hadn’t allowed himself to think it was possible. And now that it was real, he didn’t know what to say except. “Thank you, Vraka.” He used the title he’d heard the Tiger say earlier. The alpha in him now didn’t like submitting to another, but he would do anything for Katherine.
The dragon male tipped his chin ever so slightly, acknowledging his submission and accepting it.
Knox gathered his mate into his arms, tucking her close to his chest. Her wounds had finally stopped seeping. Her heart was growing stronger. He could hear the steady thunk thunk and it gave hope to his desperate soul. His bite was working. Knox dreaded her realization that he had gone against her wishes, but like Tara, in the end he’d live with the consequences verses not having Katherine at all.
He motioned toward one of the parked trucks. “Will you help me get her back to her house?”
“Owen and Tara will take you.”
20
Owen
Callum was standing on Katherine’s porch when they pulled into her driveway.
“This one of yours?” Owen said, the growl in his voice very unfriendly. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t like wolves. Wolves had attacked Tara. He still didn’t like Ava’s mate. Now there were more canines in town. The only wolf that didn’t bother him was the female he slept with. She was beautiful and kind and loyal and he didn’t care a wit that she was a lupine.
“Yes, he’s the one that chased off Tai. We need to find out which way the bastard went.”
“I’ll talk to him. You get your mate settled.” Owen grunted and got out of the truck.
Knox carried Katherine to the house.
Callum opened the door for Knox and moved out of the way. “I killed him for you. He’s dead.” The young wolf puffed out his chest expecting Knox to congratulate him or something. Owen grabbed the man by the arm and yanked him off the porch.
“His mate nearly died. He has no interest in speaking with you.” Owen tipped his head toward Knox. The wolf made eye contact and then disappeared into Katherine’s house, shutting the door behind him.
“What? I helped. He should be grateful. Who are you anyway?”
Owen bared his fangs and growled down at the younger man.
“Remember you can’t hurt them,” Tara said, her voice calling from the truck.
“I’m not going to kill him, but Col said nothing about hurting,” he said, shouting toward the truck, enjoying the paleness spreading across the young wolf’s face.
“I killed Tai.”
“You knew who the other wolf was?” Owen said, directing his attention back to the scrawny wolf he so wanted to take a bite out of. Pardoned or not. Agreement or not. This wolf was part of the pack that had harassed and kidnapped Tara.
“He tried to recruit me at one point.”
Owen stared, waiting for more. This was an interesting development.
“I’m loyal to my alpha.”
Owen still remained silent. Staring. Waiting.
“He’s dead. Gone.” The wolf took a step back, his heart speeding in his chest. “You’re Tribe, aren’t you? I’m not with Raish anymore. I’m loyal to my new alpha.”
So many words. This youngling just kept spouting more and more, but nothing that made Owen trust hi
m. He still wanted to bite him. Shake him. Rip him apart.
Ugh. Wolves.
How was he ever going to be able to speak to his sister’s mate without baring his fangs. At least Knox had tried to protect Tara, making him slightly easier to tolerate, Ryder could make no such claim.
“You’re not to cross the bridge out of town. Stay in Mystery or east of Mystery. The river is the boundary. If you cross it, the Tribe will take great pleasure in ending your life.”
“You mean you will.”
Owen smiled, letting his fangs descend even further. “Yes.”
The wolf made a small gulping sound in the back of his throat and took another step backward. “River. Border. No problem.”
“Owen.” Tara’s voice called out from the end of the driveway. “Owen.” There was more urgency the second time.
Owen pulled his focus from the retreating wolf and turned to face his mate. He withdrew his fangs immediately and frowned at the approaching human male. The rifle slung over one shoulder of the human made his skin itch. The last thing they needed right now was nosy neighbors. Nosy neighbors with rifles were worse. And this guy looked pissed.
“Do I need to call the sheriff? Where’s my girl? What the hell happened?”
His girl? This guy looked much too old to be interested in Katherine that way, which meant family. Dalmeck.
“Sir. She’s being taken care of.”
“Get off her property.” He pulled the rifle off his shoulder and glared at Owen with the righteous wrath only a father could possess. “Now.”
“Harrison,” Tara said, climbing out of the truck. The old man turned, his features softening immediately.
“Tara, hon. Who are these people? Where’s Katherine?”
“We’re friends, Harrison. I promise. Katherine was hurt, but she’s being cared for.”
“That damned animal man did it, didn’t he? Where is he?” He stomped up the porch.
Tara ran forward. “Harrison. Wait. Please.”
The man paused and turned back at Tara’s plea. “What’s going on Tara? You know there’s something wrong with that boy.”
“With Knox? You know he’s—”
“Not human? Yes. I gathered that.”
Dalmeck. Another human with more knowledge than necessary. This tight circle was continuing to grow. Naomi would not be pleased. “Sir. Knox should be alone with his mate right now.”
“Mate? What the fuck you talking about?”
“Owen, just let me talk to him.” Tara closed the distance between them, taking her place at his side. She turned back to the old man. “Harrison, he’s right. Knox is a mess right now. He’s taking care of Katherine, I promise. Just. I need you to trust me.”
“You’re mixed up in this too, hon, aren’t you?”
Tara nodded slowly.
Harrison frowned and then met Owen’s gaze head on. “Are you like Knox? You’re not from Mystery. You’re one of the strangers that moved in this year. One of them with weird last names. Katherine was always talking about the names and how they didn’t originate from any language she could find.”
“She never told me she was researching the newcomers,” Tara said, the hurt in her voice plainly heard by her mate.
Owen slipped an arm around her waist. “You were both trying to protect each other.”
“I know,” Tara said, her tone hushed.
“Sir, I would prefer not to speak in detail about myself or anyone else.”
“Fine, but I need to see her for myself. I’m not leaving without checking on my girl.”
The front door swung open, revealing a bare-chested, but free-from-blood Knox. He was wearing a clean pair of sweatpants and nothing else. “Come in, Harrison. She’s in bed.”
Harrison gave a grunt of annoyance and hurried up the porch steps. He slipped past Knox and disappeared into the house.
“How is she?”
“Breathing. Her wound is closing slowly, but it is healing. The wolf is working hard.”
“Thank God.” Tara released a long sigh and leaned her head against Owen’s arm.
“Thank you for helping me get her home. And thank you for telling Col what you did. I never expected to be granted permission to stay in town. I am eternally grateful.”
“That wolf that was here left. Owen kinda scared him off.”
Knox shrugged. “I’ll deal with them later.”
“He said he killed the one you were fighting with.”
Knox straightened. His muscles bunched and his postured hardened. He was a warrior and Owen recognized training when he saw it. “Callum isn’t strong enough to have killed Tai. Unless—”
“Unless what?” Owen asked.
“Unless he was weakened enough from our fight and just made a mistake.” Knox shook his head. “Still…”
Owen huffed out a breath. The wolf had sounded like a liar. Now he knew he probably was. “We won’t believe it until a body is produced.”
“I wouldn’t either, though Callum has no reason to lie.”
“There are many reasons to do many things. Be careful.”
“I’ll be by tomorrow to check on her,” Tara said.
“The other wolves need to be informed of the boundary line. Will you be able to contact them?” Owen asked, even though he wished the others would cross so he could exact more vengeance on the pack for their participation in hurting Tara. But Col had granted them a reprieve as long as they followed the rules. “I will enforce the rules.”
Knox’s eyes flashed gold for a second. “I have no doubt about that.” He turned and went back into the house without answering Owen.
Owen’s lip curled up in irritation. Damn wolf.
“We can do this. It’s okay. Peace is better than more bloodshed.”
“They hurt you. They nearly cost you your life.”
Tara shrugged. “It’s over now. At least, I’d rather it be over. I’d rather us move forward. Nobody else has to die. Not if they follow the rules, right?”
His mate had a heart bigger than his would ever be. He admired her ability to move forward. Perhaps Reylea would’ve been a better world if there had been more forgiveness in it.
This world had offered him a second chance. Col himself had taken away his outcast status. Maybe he really was being too hard. Maybe he needed to give some second chances to truly be worthy of his.
21
A couple days later…
No matter what he said, people kept coming to Katherine’s house. She had friends from the MCC. He knew Carol and Shirley. He liked them. They brought lots of food. Since he really couldn’t leave Katherine to hunt and he didn’t know much about cooking, they had saved him over the last couple of days. They’d even stuck around and shown him how to warm up the meals in Katherine’s oven.
Tara had come by the house too, not alone. Her big bear mate was always within arm’s length. Owen didn’t trust Knox to be alone with Tara. That was fine with Knox, he didn’t trust the bear either.
They hadn’t stayed long.
Katherine had opened her eyes a couple of times and had even mumbled a few words to him twice over the last couple days, but she still hadn’t come out of the deep healing rest she’d been in since being injured—gutted by a tree branch. He shivered just thinking about how much worse it could’ve been.
And it could’ve been so much worse.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Hairs bristled on the back of Knox’s neck. He left the bedroom. Left Katherine sleeping soundly, curled and tucked safely beneath several blankets. She was so beautiful. Her dark hair spread out across her pillows like a shimmering waterfall. He wanted nothing more than to lie next to her, but he worried that any extra contact or movement would aggravate her injury. For her to stay asleep this long, her internal injuries had been severe.
Knox opened the door and bared his fangs, a growl rumbling in the back of his throat.
“I thought you might have died. It’s been three days.”
“No
, I killed him for you.”
The muscles in Knox’s face flexed. Tai. Dead? He’d known Callum chased Tai off that day, but killing Tai was an entirely different matter completely. “How?” The question left his lips before he could stop it. Callum wasn’t near the warrior Tai was. Even wounded, Knox’s cousin would have been a formidable adversary. “Where have you been?”
“I was with the others. They are restless and hungry. We had to hunt.”
“Tai is really dead?” Knox said, trying to keep his tone on an even keel so Callum didn’t hear his disbelief.
The younger warrior nodded enthusiastically.
“What about Tai’s body?” He wanted to see the head of that traitor torn from his carcass. He wanted dishonor on that bastard for hurting his mate. Just death was too good for him.
“It’s gone. I went back to where he fell. There were bear tracks. He’s gone.”
Likely lie. Knox snarled angrily but didn’t say anything out loud.
Callum backed up a few quick steps. “I killed him. Your mate is safe.”
Lies. His wolf clawed at the line between their shared consciousnesses.
Just the possibility that Tai lived and wasn’t really dead meant that Knox would never be able to let his guard down. Hell, just the doubt about Callum’s claim kept him wondering constantly. And now here he was like a little youngling wanting a pat on the head for a job well done.
But a job he couldn’t prove he’d done. Not really.
Dalmeck.
“Stay hidden. I’m not coming out of this house until Katherine is well. Don’t come back here. And don’t go toward the mountain. The dragon has granted peace as long as you don’t go into his territory across the river.”
Callum nodded his head. “I’ll tell the others.” He backed off the porch and down the steps.
Knox closed the front door and leaned his head against the solid wood. Frustration teased at his insides, pulling them taut and hard until he felt as though pieces of him were ready to snap off at any moment.
Wolf At The Door: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 5) Page 17
