I laughed as Trent shifted into a grey wolf and ran out along with the dog. Tyler shut the door and we soon heard playful barks and yips coming from the three of them.
I leaned back in my chair and smiled to myself. It was nice to be home. After a bit everyone but Jasper and I made their way back to the clearing or Sageden.
We talked, ate, and had a few more drinks with Luke and Mel. I leaned back against Jasper’s chest. He leaned back against the sofa and ran his fingers through my hair. I felt him sigh and let him feel how content I was feeling. His arms wrapped around me.
Tyler peeked into the den. “Mom, can we go to Sageden? Brent is going and says he’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Is he going by himself?” Luke looked serious enough until I saw the side of his mouth twitch with the effort to hide a smile.
Tyler turned red. “Well, no. He’s taking Brynn and Bree with him.”
Mel frowned. “Where are their mom and dad?”
“Geez, mom. Brent is of age. He’s old enough to go to town if he feels like it.”
“But supper’s almost ready.”
“We’ll grab something in town.”
“Go ahead.” Luke looked at Mel and shrugged away her frown. “Make sure to stay at Tara’s, though.”
“Thanks, Dad!” Tyler quickly shut the door, probably to try and avoid an argument from his mother.
“What was that all about?” laughed Jasper.
Luke smiled. “Oh, your nephew has fallen head over heels for a certain young woman named Bree.”
“Really?” I smiled. “Man, they grow up too fast.” I saw Luke’s questioning look to my belly and I shook my head sadly. I had noticed that Mel hadn’t mentioned becoming an aunt and assumed that Luke hadn’t told her in case something was to happen. I decided now wasn’t the time to tell her.
The front door opened again and this time Trent walked in. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a piece of bread off of the counter and sat on the floor beside me.
“You’re not going to Sageden with your brother?” I gave his short hair a ruffle.
He shook his head. “No. It would be fun. I heard a few of the others talking today and Jein is having a bonfire tonight.”
“So why don’t you go?”
He gave a shrug. “When we go to town, all Tyler wants to do is hang around Bree.”
“So he’s no fun anymore?”
“No. That’s not it. I couldn’t care less if he wants to be with her. She’s a nice girl. The problem is her sister, Brynn. They’re twins, see, and a year older than us. They’ll become of age next year. Since Tyler and Bree have started hanging out, Brynn has decided that the two of us should be together. I mean, she’s a nice girl, too, don’t get me wrong, and beautiful. I mean, wow…but…”
I waited for him to go on and decided to pry a little when he didn’t. “Are they cats? Is that the problem?”
His dark brown eyes widened and he looked at me, shocked. “By the moons, Aunty! What do you think of me? You’re half human, half Wedelve and Uncle Jasper is a cat. Uncle Zane is a cat and Aunty Dawn is a dog. Uncle Alex is a cat and Aunt Leslie is a Fairend. I think I’ve seen enough to know that it doesn’t matter what we are, we can love someone of a different kind. But no, she’s not a cat, she’s a wolf, like me.”
After spending a year with my thirteen year old cousin in the Other World it was shocking to be reminded of how mature children were here. In two years, Tyler and Trent would turn fifteen and become of age, at which point they would be considered adults. At the age of thirteen they were actually more like seventeen or eighteen year olds back home. Not only were they more mature mentally, but they also matured faster physically. Most shifters fated between the ages of thirteen and twenty-two and if they were lucky enough to find their fated one could have their first batch of pups or cubs by the age of nineteen. If you actually sat down and thought of it, it made sense. Cats and dogs where I had grown up matured more quickly than humans. What was different was that once a shifter turned eighteen or nineteen the aging process slowed and the being started to age more like a human.
He sighed. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better, but there’s really no point to it. I dreamt of her.”
“So if you dreamed of her…”
He glanced at me and smiled at my confusion. He shook his head. “I didn’t dream of her. Not Brynn. I dreamed of Her.”
I glanced at Mel and it was clear that this was news to both her and Luke.
Trent looked to his mom and dad and shrugged. “I didn’t recognize her so I didn’t see the point in telling anyone.”
I gave him a hug. “So what does she look like?”
He blushed and I knew that he was remembering the dreams. Fated dreams were extremely intimate. He cleared his throat. “Well, she’s got long dark brown hair. It’s wavy, but not curly.” He looked at me. “Almost like yours, but maybe a bit darker. And her eyes, well…” He closed his and all of us knew what he was feeling. The pull of your fated one’s eyes was shockingly impossible to resist. He smiled and looked at me. “Grey; this unbelievable light grey color.” He shrugged. “She’s small, I think. It’s hard to tell…” He blushed again. “But she seems smaller than me.”
“Have you told Brynn?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t even told Tyler. I don’t see the point until all of this is over. I mean, we’ll be going to war in a few weeks.” He shrugged. “Who’s to say who will come back and who won’t.” He looked at Mel. “And don’t you start. If you think all of you are going and leaving Tyler and I here, you’re crazy. We might not be of age yet, but we can fight just as well if not better than most beings who are. We’re coming and that’s all there is to it. I mean, really, if something goes wrong and Braw manages to touch Aunt Hayden with his staff we’ll all be dead anyway. I’d rather be there trying to make sure that doesn’t happen as opposed to sitting here waiting and wondering if I’m about to die without a fight.”
It might have been the speech he had just given or the fact that she had just learned that her son was fated, but either way, my sister-in-law was speechless.
Luke smiled proudly and went to the kitchen to grab another mug of sloan. He handed it to Trent. “With all the new beings coming into town everyday, here’s hoping you find her sooner than later.” He touched his mug to his son’s.
Trent nodded. “Thanks, Dad.” He took a small sip of his sloan, nodded and took another. “This stuff’s not bad.”
“Just stick to that one mugful for tonight. Trust me,” warned Jasper, “you’ll regret it in the morning if you don’t.”
Luke started to laugh. “I still wonder what Dad was thinking that night.”
Jasper groaned. “My head still hurts just thinking about it. When Luke had his first dream of Mel, he told Dad about it. He was a few days away from turning of age at the time.”
Luke chuckled. “Dad decided that Jasper and I could have a few mugs of sloan and a shot of jeckden to celebrate both occasions.”
“I imagine he knew you would be leaving and that this would be his only opportunity to have a drink with you.”
Both brothers were suddenly quiet. I reached back, ran a hand through Jasper’s curls and pulled his head forward so that it was against mine. Mel moved to Luke’s side and wrapped her arms around him.
Luke took a drink from his mug. “It’s too bad Hayden hadn’t crossed back then. All of this useless bond nonsense would have been done and over with.” He smiled sadly. “I could have been home instead of a month’s travel away.”
“At least you have an excuse,” mumbled Jasper. “I was ten minutes away and couldn’t stop it.” He took a deep breath and I knew he was remembering how he had come home from hunting and found his mother and father as well as his twin sister and two year old brother slain in their house. He had been fourteen at the time. I turned so that I could wrap my arms around him.
“Are you ok?”
He nodded and hugged me tightly.
/> “It wasn’t your fault, Jasper.”
My mate looked up at his brother and shrugged.
“Let’s think of something happy,” suggested Mel.
“Like what?” Luke was frowning.
“Well, how about the fact that we are sitting in the same room as your brother and don’t have to hide to do it. How about the fact that Jasper found Hayden. How about the fact that Trent is now fated and we all have to keep an eye out for this dark haired, grey eyed girl.”
I smiled. “Those are great things to think about.”
Jasper kissed me softly. “I agree.”
Luke chuckled and shook his head. “Always the optimist.” He gave Mel a squeeze and smiled.
Kip gave a low growl from outside the front door and I got up to see what he might be guarding against.
“By the moons, Kip, you’ve met me before. Enough of that.”
I smiled at the sound of Alex’s voice. “I’ll be back.”
Jasper nodded and I left the den. Alex’s gaze left Kip and his light blue eyes met mine. They were bloodshot and had dark circles around them. His blond hair was shaggier than usual and his face sported a good three weeks’ worth of beard which was odd for him. He was always clean shaven.
“Is everything alright?” He frowned and looked me over. “You felt off. Like something had happened to someone.”
I nodded and closed the distance between us. I wrapped my arms around him. “Are you alright?”
He took a deep breath and swallowed hard then shook his head.
“Come on.” I took his hand. “Let’s take a walk.” Neither one of us said anything for a while. I led the way to my favourite spot by the creek a short walk from the clearing. I sat on the ground and motioned for him to do the same. He put his head in his arms.
I decided that small talk was out of the question. “How long has she been gone?”
“About two months.” He took a deep breath and looked at me.
“And you don’t know where the meeting was?”
“No. That’s just it. If something happened to her on her way back… I mean, look at all the extra beings there are traveling around…” He put his head back into his arms. “I don’t even know where to start looking.”
“She didn’t say anything to anyone?”
“She left me a note. It said that she couldn’t fight it, she was sorry, that she would be back, and that she loved me.” His voice cracked at the ‘loved me’ part. I knew that they had never told each other that they loved each other simply because of the fact that if he were to fate, he would have to leave. This was probably the first time Leslie had ever told him directly that she did feel that way.
I tried to think of anything I could to make him feel better. I hugged him tightly.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Alex. She was getting very good at sparring. She’s not the helpless Fairend you found at the mercy of a pack anymore.”
He nodded.
“Maybe the meeting was really far away. Or maybe it lasts longer than we thought.”
He groaned like he was in pain.
“Sorry. I guess you don’t want to think about that part of it.” I stood and pulled him up. “When’s the last time you ate?”
“A couple of days ago, I think.”
“Come on. Mel made stew for supper. When you’re done eating you can get cleaned up and I’ll give you a haircut. You don’t really want Leslie to see you looking like this when she gets back, do you?”
He shook his head. “She’d feel terrible if she knew how miserable I was.”
“Alright. Let’s go, then. I’ll tell you all about how Jasper almost got killed.”
“You got abducted again, didn’t you?” A bit of the regular sparkle was back in his eyes as he glanced down at me.
I nodded and he started to laugh. He lifted me off the ground with a hug and kissed my forehead.
“I’m glad your home, Hayden.”
“Me too.”
He held me at arms’ length and looked me over. He pulled me to his chest. “I’m sorry about…well…” He rubbed my back. “I felt it when you realized it hadn’t made it.”
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed hard. “It was probably for the best,” I managed to whisper. He didn’t say anything; simply held my face in his hands, brushed the tears away with his thumb and kissed me softly before holding me again. When he finally felt me get a hold of myself he took my hand and started back toward Mel and Luke’s den.
Mel’s eyes widened at the sight of our friend as we entered the room. “By the moons, Alex! Straight to the bath for you. Get Hayden to heat it up for you, it will go faster. You are not sitting at the table looking like that! Luke, get the man a razor and some clothes.”
Alex smiled. “Hello to you too, Mel.”
She laughed and gave him a hug. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Hun. Now, I wasn’t joking. There’s a few minutes before the stew is ready. Get cleaned up. Leslie will have a conniption if she comes back and sees you looking like this.”
Alex chuckled all the way to the bathroom.
Chapter Seven
I took a deep breath and didn’t know if I should be scared, angry, or annoyed. What had started off as a very good day was quickly turning into a terrible one. I pulled at the ropes that held my wrists together behind my back and sighed. I mean, how many times in a lifetime can a girl get kidnapped? I could just imagine Jasper when he’d felt the pain and fear when my abductor had hit me on the head.
I had decided to go pick herbs in the forest to stock up my healing pack. I had also assumed that with over two hundred cats and dogs in the surrounding area that I wouldn’t have to worry about anything like this. I had given Jasper a long kiss goodbye and gone to enjoy some time alone. By the look of the moons that were starting to show over the tree tops, that had to have been about fifteen hours ago.
“Good God, Hayden, you’ll never live this one down,” I mumbled to myself. I heard voices ahead of us and I peered through the darkness to see where we were.
“It’s us.” One of the two men who had captured me got off of his horse and handed the reins to the man who had emerged from the trees. “We got another one. If we can get one more tomorrow we’ll start heading back.”
“Is this one pretty?”
“Yeah. Nice and petite. The only thing is the weird tattoo on her face. Maybe we can hide it somehow at the sale.”
The man who had appeared came to look at me and turned back to my captor. “Are you daft? That’s a healer’s tattoo! She’s worth at least three times what the other four are worth put together!”
I tried to keep the surprise off of my face. They didn’t recognize me! They hadn’t captured me because of who I was. I felt my magic wielder’s amulet against my back and was glad I had turned it around so it wouldn’t get in the way while I picked the herbs I needed.
“Alright, get her in the tent with the others.”
One of my captors pulled me off of my horse and pushed me into a clearing that held two large tents.
“Get in there.” He opened the one and pushed me in roughly. I stood in the darkness and waited for my eyes to adjust. My first thought was that it was empty.
“Hayden? Is that you?” The whisper was so soft I almost didn’t hear it. I looked to the corner of the tent and saw the dark forms of people huddled together. The one body stood and took a step toward me and even though I had met her a day before, the long blond hair was impossible to mistake for another’s.
“Brynn? What the hell is going on? Is Bree here too? What about Brooke and Blayre?” It turned out that the blond sisters had a set of older sisters who were also twins. They were nineteen and simply older versions of Bree and Brynn.
Instead of answering my questions the young girl broke down. I knelt beside her where she had fallen to the ground. I looked up to the others who had left the huddle.
“Bree? Are you here too?”
No one answered.
“Does anyone know what happened to Brynn’s twin? They’re identical only Bree’s hair is shoulder length.”
“Brynn came in alone.”
“How many are here?” I asked the dark haired girl who had answered.
“Five now that you’re here. I’m Jenna. That’s Nadine and Clara.”
“So do we know what’s going on?”
Jenna nodded. “From the sounds of it, these guys are planning on selling us as slaves. To hear them talk I’m sure they’re human.”
“How many men?”
“Six. There are two who stay in camp and four who go out to capture the girls. They go out in pairs. There doesn’t seem to be any particular one who’s in charge. There are six horses. My guess is that each man plans to have one girl to bring back with them.”
I nodded, impressed with all of the information she was giving me. “How long have you been here?”
“Two days. They got Brynn this morning and Nadine and Clara three and four days ago.”
My eyes were adjusting to the dark. Of the four girls, only Jenna seemed to be holding herself together nicely. Brynn, Clara and Nadine had tear streaked dirty faces. Other than Brynn, I didn’t recognize any of therm.
“How old are you girls?”
“Fourteen,” answered Jenna. When the other two didn’t answer, she did for them. “Clara is nineteen and Nadine is thirteen.”
“Are you guys from around here?”
Clara and Nadine shook their heads.
“I’m from Bliar. My mate is part of the second shift. We came with them.” Clara’s eyes teared up.
“I’m from Pinsaber. My parents came to join the Chosen One’s pack.” Nadine’s voice shook.
Brynn seemed about to say something and stopped when I gave a quick shake of my head. No one needed to know who I was at the moment.
“My brother and I came from Graulen.” Jenna swallowed hard. “It’s just me now.”
“Where’s Graulen.” I hadn’t heard of that particular town yet.
“About a day’s travel west of Howel.”
The tent opened again and a tall blond man walked in. “Enough talking.” Brynn, Clara and Nadine jumped and huddled together. Jenna stood.
Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) Page 16
