The Mating Season: Werewolves of Montana Book 6

by Bonnie Vanak

The Mitchell alpha tugged his mate out of the ruined kitchen.

  Tristan held Nikita close as he rocked her in his arms, singing softly to her as he brushed back her hair. He put a hand on the slight swell of her belly, the tiny life inside slowly perishing.

  His song turned into a moan as he clutched her. So many regrets. Should never have released her. Why had he let her go? He could not foresee her future, for it was too intrinsic to his own. Too interwoven with his.

  Tristan lay Nikita down and wiped his eyes.

  Call upon me in your greatest hour of need. The words Drust spoke to him echoed in his mind.

  He started to, and hesitated. Drust was a new wizard by now, but he could not save Nikita. Only he, Tristan, had that power.

  Do not interfere in Nikita’s fate, Danu had warned. Those were the rules, the absolute truth that governed his power.

  Fuck the rules.

  Nikita came first. He promised to protect her with his body and his magick. His chest tightened. One last kiss, my love. One last kiss before I lose you forever and I turn to shadow.

  He knew what he must do. Bending over, he gave her one last, sweet kiss.

  I love you. I shall love you through all eternity. You will live forever in my cold, dead heart, my dearest love, though I shall never see you again.

  Summoning all his magick, he closed his eyes and made a fist with his right hand. Power hummed and sang in the air like an electrical line. Tristan flicked a finger and the knife Nikita had used to stab Camilla sailed into his left hand. With his magick, he purified the blade. No demon blood must touch it in the face of what he was about to do.

  Tristan looked skyward. “I, Tristan Kearny, the Silver Wizard, guardian and judge of all shifter OtherWorlders, do this of my own free will, as wizard of the Brehon.”

  He stabbed Nikita in the heart.

  Tristan did not hesitate, for Niki’s light was fading quickly. He summoned all his powers, his aura pulsing in a silver-white glow. Blinding white light filled the room.

  Tristan forced his powers into his right hand, and then placed his palm over the bleeding wound in Nikita’s chest. A brilliant, luminescent, silvery-white glow encased her body. Her chest began to rise and fall once more, and the wound sealed shut.

  Dropping his hand, he sat back on his haunches.

  It is done.

  His aura faded. A terrible pain seized his chest and he gasped.

  The back door opened and Aiden and Nia rushed into the kitchen. Nia ran to her twin. By now the glow surrounding Nikita’s body was fading.

  “Niki! Niki!” Her blue eyes wild with grief and hope, she looked at Tristan. “She’s alive, isn’t she?”

  Beyond weary, he nodded. “She lives. She will take a moment…or five or fifteen, to awaken.”

  Ah, at least he still had a sense of humor. Perhaps it would sustain him in the shadowy world he was now cursed to live in for eternity.

  I wonder if they have cable in the Shadow Lands?

  He smiled, but even that gesture proved too taxing, and he let his mouth go lax.

  Aiden crouched down next to him. “Tristan, you’re looking bad. What the hell did you do?”

  He gave a little laugh. Typical Mitchell. Always direct. One reason he liked the fierce alpha Lupine.

  “I gave Nikita my powers. My immortality. She can never die now, and the babe she carries in her womb will never die, either. My love, and my legacy, will live on.”

  He started to stand and then collapsed.

  He knew it was the end for him. But Nikita would live.

  She would live.

  He himself would be banished to a living hell—as a ghost damned to walk the Shadow Lands forever.

  It was so quiet, peaceful and lovely in this transition place. Niki blinked and looked around, seeing nothing but grayish fog. Yet she had no fear. Someone whispered to her, words of such deep love she felt immediately secure.

  And then she began walking toward a brilliant yellow-white light that her spirit recognized from her time with Tristan.

  Tristan! Where was he?

  Barely had she time to contemplate that question when suddenly the light in front of her winked out and she felt herself lying on a soft surface.

  Niki opened her eyes.

  She was on a wide bed, several of the ranch Lupines surrounding her. She recognized Darius, Kyle and Dale, and their mates. Aiden stood by the bed, looking grief-stricken. Nia sat beside her, holding her hand. Her twin gasped and hugged her tight.

  “It worked! You’re alive!”

  Confused, she blinked. “What happened? It felt as if I died and was entering Tir Na-nog.”

  Immediately she placed a palm on her belly, fearing the worst. But the very faint heartbeat she’d felt before still pulsed with life. Her baby lived!

  But Aiden and the others shuffled their feet and would not answer. Aiden’s jaw tensed as he jammed his hands into his jeans pockets.

  “Tristan saved you,” Aiden finally said. “He saved you and then we brought you in here to the guest room so you could recover…and he could…he could…be with you.”

  Sitting up, she realized the wizard was on the bed next to her. But Tristan was pale and he seemed to be fading…turning insubstantial as mist.

  “Tristan!” She went to clasp his hand, but her hand went through his as if he were spirit, not flesh.

  “Nikita,” he rasped. “I love you. Always remember this…”

  Her twin began to weep, and Darius, Kyle and the others looked stricken.

  “What happened?” she demanded.

  Aiden shook his head. “You were dying. He gave you his powers to save you.”

  “All of them,” Darius added, with none of his usual joviality. “He sacrificed his immortality to save you.”

  No! She gathered Tristan in her arms, feeling his life force ebb. Nikita looked around wildly. “You have to save him! Someone!”

  “We can’t,” Kyle said brokenly. “We don’t have the power. Gods, if I could, I would, because he’s saved me so many times before.”

  Sorrow pierced her, making her chest hollow. She glared at them. “Get out. All of you, get out except Nia and Aiden. Now!”

  The Lupines scurried away.

  She screamed and looked skyward. “Gideon! Xavier! Caedyrn! Tristan is dying! Please, damnit, listen to me and come here NOW!!”

  The three wizards appeared in the bedroom, standing near the bed.

  “Help him, please,” she begged. “He’s fading from me. He gave me his powers.”

  Gideon paled. “All of them?”

  She nodded.

  “Damn,” Xavier muttered.

  “He was warned against this. He was warned to not fall in love with you again,” Caderyn said in a deep, ominous voice.

  “He’s not dying, for he cannot die. He is immortal, like us,” Gideon said solemnly. “He’s turning into a spirit, damned to the Shadow Lands forever.”

  Oh gods. The Shadow Lands, the worst fate for Tristan. To become a ghost, forever wandering that place that caused him so much grief.

  “It will be hell for him if this happens. So many bad memories will haunt him for eternity. This can’t happen!” She looked at the kind Xavier, who seemed the most approachable. “Please, please, do something! I beg you, or I’ll die with him. He is my heart and my soul. I have his powers, surely I can help him.”

  “You are far too weak and it will do no good,” Xavier said gently. He looked at the others. “Call Danu. We must ask permission to share our powers. It is the only way.”

  All three vanished. In a few moments, they returned. By now Tristan’s lower limbs were nothing but shadows on the bed.

  “Well?” she demanded.

  “The goddess cannot be reached and it takes a full day to request a formal petition of her,” Caderyn finally said.

  Niki began to sob. “Please, save him. Please.”

  Xavier made an impatient sound and climbed onto the bed.

  “No, X!” Cader
yn tried to pull him back, but the Crystal Wizard shrugged him off. Xavier sliced his wrist and dripped white blood into Tristan’s gasping mouth. Tristan became slightly more substantial.

  “It’s not enough.” The Crystal Wizard looked at the two others.

  “We are forbidden to share our powers with each other. We had to gain special permission from Danu to make the potion that saved your life. This goes beyond a mere droplet of our blood,” Gideon said solemnly.

  “The consequences can be dreadful.” Caderyn looked deeply troubled.

  “And if you lose him, it will be worse! All of you need him! You saw what happened with that demon! You need him as a wizard, need his strength and his courage. Save him!” she screamed.

  The walls trembled and the pictures on the nightstand beside her rattled with the force of her voice. Nia and Aiden stepped back, their faces filled with awe.

  Rage consumed her, a terrible rage she’d never before felt. She was losing the one male who truly cared about her, whose tremendous sacrifice was done in love, not duty. And he’d be damned forever for it.

  He deserved to live.

  She flung out her hands and tiny silver energy balls cascaded from her palms, slamming into the walls and denting them. One nearly hit Aiden and he yelped.

  “Save him, now!” she roared. “Or I’ll use my powers and destroy everything in sight.”

  Tristan offered a smile, his mouth barely visible now. “My warrior Nikita,” he whispered. “Do not be so angry. It was…worth it to save you and our babe.”

  “We must do this and damn the consequences,” Xavier finally said. “We can’t afford to lose him. I will not allow that to happen. I need your help, now! Are we in agreement to aid our friend?”

  Finally, they nodded. Xavier waved a hand and a table filled with vials and jars appeared beneath the window.

  They made a potion of their blood and forced Tristan to drink it. His color returned and his body became corporeal.

  He opened his eyes and then closed them again. Niki cried out and hugged him, only to find him solid, but seemingly dead. His chest did not rise and fall and his face remained pale, oh so pale.

  “What’s wrong with him?” she cried out. “Is he dead?”

  “He is deep in Anamsha,” Xavier told her. “All of us went through this after we were anointed as wizards by Danu. Anamsha lasts but a day for us after we become wizards, but for him, under these circumstances, I know not how long.”

  “The sleep of the immortals,” Caedryn said. “We use it on occasion when we are weary of the world and need to recharge from dispensing with evil. It is a cleansing rest. He will be like that for twenty-four hours, perhaps less, while his body adjusts to becoming immortal again. It is natural.”

  “But he will be quite vulnerable at this time.” Gideon sighed. “Now is the time when his enemies can easily destroy him. He will need constant protection.”

  “And we cannot do it.” Xavier examined his hand with a rueful look. “We have weakened ourselves to save him, and our magick has waned. It will be restored with the next sun, but until then we must conserve our strength.”

  “That is why it is forbidden to do what we have done. We lack sufficient magick to administer to all our charges.” Caderyn growled.

  Aiden straightened. “He won’t be alone, and neither will Niki.”

  He went to the door and called Darius, Kyle and Dale.

  When the Lupines entered the room, Aiden pointed at Darius. “Gather the entire pack. Everyone. Assign chores, and as for those who aren’t assigned chores, they’re sleeping here tonight. Men, women, children. No exceptions. Post guards around the lodge. No one but pack gets in or out.”

  He gestured to the slumbering Tristan. “This is your wizard, your guardian, and he’s faithfully protected us. Now it’s our turn to watch over him. Got it?”

  “I’ll set guards around the perimeter,” Darius assured Aiden.

  The three wizards nodded. “Tristan is fortunate to have such loyal subjects,” Cadeyrn mused. He glanced at Xavier. “Remain here, and teach the mate of Tristan how to deal with the power she has been given. And her…emotions. They are quite raw and she could accidently hurt someone. Watch over her. Gideon and I shall deal with Danu and what we have done.”

  Throat tight with emotion, she could only whisper her thanks to the wizards. With a nod, Cadeyrn and Gideon vanished.

  She turned her attention to Xavier. In his black T-shirt, faded jeans and boots, he looked like a cowhand, but for his black beard and curly hair with crystals on each tip. “Come, Nikita. Let Tristan sleep. I must show you how to control this new power of yours. We need to go outside to practice, far from anything you might injure.”

  “I don’t want to leave him,” she said, her throat tight. “He might wake up and need me.”

  “And if you do not accompany me now, you could hurt him with your powers. Do you wish that?” Xavier asked.

  Aiden pulled up a chair and her twin sat on his lap. “We’ll watch over him, Niki. Go,” Aiden said gently. “Nothing’s going to get past us.”

  Taking Xavier’s hand, she closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were standing outside, on the bank of the river cutting the Mitchell Ranch into half.

  “Lupines are loyal and fierce, but you have more power to protect your mate.” Xavier gave her a level look, and she shuddered.

  Such power. How could she possess such power? She didn’t even know the extent of it. Or how to use it.

  “We’re still on Mitchell territory, so you’re safe here and so am I. But here you can practice using your new power. And then when he awakens, you both will be a formidable force.” The Crystal Wizard gave a rueful smile. “The two of you shall be even stronger than the rest of us.”

  Then he took her hands into his. She gazed at him, trusting this wizard who had sacrificed much to save his friend and her love.

  “Teach me how to use my powers.”

  “It will take many days for Tristan to teach you. But I can teach you how to control your emotions so you do not destroy those who anger you. It is the first lesson of the Brehon. Close your eyes.”

  She did.

  “Breathe deeply and slowly, and imagine the happiest scene from your life. Engage all your senses and place yourself there in your mind.”

  She thought of how she and Tristan made love, how tender and passion-filled his gaze had been.

  “Good,” Xavier’s deep voice droned.

  She felt a sharp pinch on her arm and yelped. The vision shattered. She opened her eyes and saw him holding a small crystal dagger, the point indenting her forearm. He removed it.

  “Close your eyes and focus,” he scolded. “If you do not have control, you will be dangerous!”

  And then she realized the tight control Tristan had held over his emotions, and why he’d been so remote at times.

  She did as he asked, and let herself go. This time another sharp pinch of dagger’s tip did not phase her.

  “Good. We will practice more later, but for now, I must teach you to dematerialize, taking him with you in case you are endangered and need to make an emergency exit. Just be warned that these things I will teach you, they are sacred to us and it is forbidden for you to share them with mortals.”

  He clasped her hand. “Close your eyes, think of the person whose hand you hold, and wish a place where you want to be. Not someplace far for your first try.”

  She found herself on the other side of the creek, without Xavier.

  “Not bad,” he called out. “Now bring yourself back to me.”

  She did so.

  Xavier raised a dark eyebrow. “Are you certain you’ve never done this?”

  “Never.”

  “Odd,” he mused. “It’s almost as if you had these powers all along. Perhaps your bloodline is more pure than I realized. Then again, you are a Lupine twin, and they are special.”

  Only one place she wanted to be more than any other. She closed her eyes and imagine
d herself back in the guest bedroom where Tristan slumbered.

  Niki materialized on the bed… Tristan still slumbered. Aiden sat in the wing chair by the window, Nia in his lap.

  “Niki, are you okay?” her twin asked. “I’ve never seen you so…upset.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She looked down at Tristan. “As long as he is fine.”

  Xavier materialized on the bed opposite Tristan and sighed. “True love. Who am I to try to keep you from your mate? I must leave you anyway. I have my duties, and besides, if he awakens now and finds me in bed with him, he will be most displeased.”

  “Will he know me?” she asked.

  “Not at first. It is like awakening from a deep coma. He will be temporarily confused.” The wizard’s face darkened. “It is one reason I seldom use this sleep to recover. I fear losing my memories and to lose one’s memories can make you quite insane.”

  “Thank you, Xavier,” Niki told him, liking this wizard more than the other two. “You are a true friend.”

  He gave her a brief smile, then waved a hand and vanished. Still Tristan slept, as if dead. But his chest rose and fell with reassuring regularity.

  In his black tunic and black leather pants, he looked as regal as when she’d known him nine hundred years ago. Tristan was handsome and noble. She wondered what he would look like in a kilt. Niki closed her eyes. When she opened them, Tristan was bare-chested, bare-legged, wearing a red and black kilt.

  “Wow.” Nia whistled. “Did you do that?”

  “I guess so.” Niki stared at her mate.

  “Oh my,” Nia said softly. “So rugged. I wonder what Aiden would look like in one of those?”

  “Oh no.” The Lupine held out his hands. “Niki, don’t you dare…”

  Grinning, she flicked a finger and the big alpha found himself in the same attire. Nia whistled. “Thanks, sis! Nice legs, Mitchell. You look sex-y. Yum!”

  Aiden looked down at the kilt, rubbing the blue and green checked material. “Feels odd. Nothing underneath.”

  “I bet it’s very convenient for sex. Hey Mitchell, this is your official new uniform. Don’t you dare remove it.”

  “Nia, I’m a rancher, not a Scot!”

  “Learn to ride a horse in it.”