by Marla Monroe
“Please come in, Sienna. We were hoping you would be able to help us. Why don’t you have a seat on the bed while we wait for Ariel and her sisters to get here,” Levi suggested.
“I’d rather sit on the floor, if you don’t mind,” she said.
Levi shrugged, and the little female eased down to the floor with her back resting against the wall across from them. She appeared as tired as Gabby felt. Maybe carrying around the iron around her neck and wrists had a similar effect on her as the loss of her wolf had on Gabby. The iron was supposed to keep her from being able to use her magic or escape from where someone placed her. That had to be wearing on her emotions as well as her body.
The door opened again and Aaron walked in carrying a large tray filled with cheese and crackers along with glasses of what Gabby assumed was lemonade. More than likely his mom had made it. The pack’s Alpha female had been there since before the sun had fully risen, obviously worried about Gabby. She hated that she’d disrupted so many of her friends’ lives with her weakness. She loved her mates’ mother like her own.
When Aaron handed some of the cheese and crackers to Levi, she knew that he would try and force them on her. She sighed and resigned herself to trying to eat them. She didn’t have the energy it took to chew them, and her stomach already rebelled at the thought of trying to swallow them.
“The Sylphies are on their way. They should be here soon,” Aaron finally told them. “I figured we needed to eat something.”
“Thanks, Aaron,” she said. She only managed a small smile, but it obviously pleased him, so it had been worth the extra effort.
She could feel the tension between Aaron and Levi. She knew that Aaron felt that Levi had pushed things and should have waited until the Sylphies had tried again to figure out what was going on. Gabby had tried to explain that she’d pushed him into having sex and claiming her, but Aaron seemed to think that Levi could have still said no. Maybe he could have, but was it fair to blame him alone?
She was so tired. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She just wanted to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was her wolf lying on her side panting too fast with her eyes glazed over. It scared her more than a little bit. She was sure if her wolf died, so would she.
The sound of the outer door opening then closing followed by multiple sets of feet crossing the floor let her know that Ariel and her sisters were there. She had no idea if there was anything the females could do, but she prayed there was. Even before they could knock on the door, Aaron was letting them in.
“Thank you for coming so fast,” he said. “We’re desperate, Ariel. Gabby is very weak.”
“I pray there is something we can do.” She looked at Gabby with such sadness that she knew there would be nothing. Ariel just didn’t want the men to lose hope. She already knew there was nothing they could do.
The three women walked over to where Levi held her on his lap in the chair. They knelt down, forming a semi-circle around the chair and joined hands. Oddly enough, Gabby felt a warm breeze caressing her skin as they closed their eyes. They didn’t say anything, but the air around them seemed to heat slightly then fade. It felt as if every molecule around her shifted slightly. It didn’t hurt so much as tickle. Then all was still again.
The women opened their eyes. Tears were evident, foretelling their inability to sense anything they could affect. Gabby smiled at them anyway. They’d tried. She knew they had given it their best, but if there was nothing there for them to fix, they couldn’t be expected to work a miracle.
“We’re sorry, Gabby. We sense no magic or ill-aligned elements surrounding you,” Ariel said in a sad voice. “There is nothing we can do.”
Levi cursed and buried his face against her neck. She reached up and ran her hand down his hair in a soothing motion. He blamed himself, and that wasn’t fair. She was the one to blame for forcing him to take her.
Aaron inched down to sit on the arm of the chair, pulling both of them against his side. This had to be killing him just as much as it was her. He had fully mated with her, and she wasn’t able to fully be his mate with part of her dying. Why had this happened? What had gone wrong in the first place?
Levi jerked his head up from her body and growled. The Sylphies slowly stood up and stepped back.
“Levi. No. It isn’t their fault,” she whispered.
“Sienna. Come here,” he growled.
Chapter Sixteen
Gabrielle stiffened in Levi’s arms when he bellowed out Sienna’s name. He hadn’t meant to scare her, or anyone for that matter. His wolf was agitated, and the human part of him already grieved for his mate as if she were already gone from him.
The small witch actually crawled toward him with her head down until she crouched at their feet. He realized for the first time that her iron shackles had to be heavy and uncomfortable. As long as she had them on, she couldn’t leave them and she couldn’t harm herself, but neither could she do anything to help his mate.
“Aaron, remove the iron from Sienna’s body. Free her,” he said.
Aaron didn’t question him or even hesitate. He eased off the chair and crouched next to the trembling female and gently lifted her hair from her neck so he could unlock the simple clasp that held the clunky iron collar closed around her neck. The moment it left her skin, she sighed with relief. She lifted her head and smiled at Aaron. When she lifted her wrists to him, he removed the bracelets as well.
Sienna immediately crawled over to them and knelt up at their feet. She reached out and laid a hand on Gabrielle’s cheek, then did the same to Levi. Her palms were oddly cool to the touch, but that didn’t last long. Soon her hand grew hot as her magic flared to life. She moved her hand from his cheek down to his chest where she laid it lightly over where his heart lay beating erratically in his chest.
“Will you open your shirt for me? I need skin contact,” she said softly.
Levi immediately jerked open his shirt, sending buttons flying since he wasn’t willing to let go of Gabby to unbutton it. Sienna slipped her hand beneath the gaping fabric to press her palm over his heart once again without the material between them any longer. Instantly, heat burned his skin where she touched him.
Gabby growled at the other woman, then moaned. Levi knew having another female of any species touching him would bother her. The fact that she’d growled gave him hope that her wolf was still clinging to her.
“Levi, the magic that surrounded you is gone, but it fundamentally changed you before it was removed. It was placed to prevent this mating,” Sienna told them.
There were gasps from the Sylphies, and Levi wanted to howl his frustration at not knowing this before or knowing who had done it. He looked down into the female’s glowing eyes.
“Who?” he rasped out.
“I don’t recognize the thread that is left. It is not Sylphie, Fae, or my kind. It is an elemental magic, though. It would also spread to more of you through contact with you. You will need to cleanse your pack. It will prevent conceptions and other matings,” she said.
Aaron growled. “The cats!”
“We picked it up there when we were there. That’s been fucking years ago. It’s been on me all this time,” Levi said with a sigh.
“Can you help Levi in some way?” Aaron asked Sienna. “Can you help cleanse our pack?”
Sienna didn’t hesitate. “I would be honored to help you in any way I can. You saved me from doing more harm and damning my soul. I will do anything I can to help you and your wolves,” she said.
Levi looked at her. “But can you help me?”
“Yes. I can. You are not going to like how you feel afterward, though. You must remember that this was done to you. You had no control over it and could not have stopped its destruction.” Sienna turned to the Sylphies. “I will need your help. What I will do will disrupt the natural order of things, and you will need to put it back as I undo what was done to him. If you don’t, it could cause more harm to him, Aaron, a
nd Gabby.”
Ariel nodded. She and her sisters joined hands and stood as close to the four of them as possible. Levi looked down at Gabrielle and noticed that her eyes were closed and she felt heavy in his arms. He panicked and lowered his face to hers to listen for her heart beat and feel her breath against his cheek. It was there but very weak. He growled and tightened his grip on her.
“Hurry. She is fading from us,” he said.
Aaron reached over and pulled her hands into his, giving Sienna a pleading look. She nodded.
“We need to hurry. Levi, no matter what, don’t let go of her, and don’t allow your own feelings of guilt and pain to overwhelm you. Gabby needs you to be strong for her, or she will not make it.” Sienna drew in a deep breath before she replaced her hand on Levi’s chest. This time, though, she didn’t touch Gabrielle.
At first, Levi felt nothing, but that soon changed. Seconds later, every fiber in his body seemed to unravel. It wasn’t exactly painful as much as it was uncomfortable. He could easily imagine her pulling threads out that didn’t belong with the sensations that filtered through his body. She said whatever had been clinging to him had fundamentally changed him. That meant she had to go deep to right his altered essence.
He looked over her shoulder to see the Sylphies swaying slightly as they held hands, eyes wide but unseeing. They appeared almost in a trance. They desperately needed these females in their pack to help them protect themselves from the evils of those who wanted to harm them. He would beg them and work hard to convince them to stay with them. He couldn’t help but feel a smug satisfaction that Kindle and Galen might help him in the long run. They wouldn’t be happy about it, but to protect the pack, they would step up. The fact that Levi felt it was the right thing for them as well helped.
He noticed that his wolf was beginning to object to Sienna’s touch now. He snarled inside of him, pacing up and down his body in agitation. Levi smiled. It was working. If his wolf didn’t like the other female touching him, it meant he considered Gabby to be their mate. He thanked God that they had found this female and brought her back with them. Gabby had been right. She had been important to them.
“Do not eat me, wolf. I’m helping you,” Sienna warned, a slight tremble to her voice.
“I won’t let him hurt you. The fact that he is disturbed by your touch is a good sign,” he said with a smile.
“It’s a great sign!” Aaron corrected.
“Hold on,” Sienna said. “This last part is going to be much more difficult.”
Levi wasn’t sure what she meant until he felt as if his brain exploded inside his skull. He did let go of Gabby this time to grab his head. What the hell was she doing to him? He growled at her, at one with his wolf on this.
“Calm down. If I don’t set your basic beliefs back to normal, you will eventually talk yourself back into denying everything. I’m sorry for hurting you, but it must be done or you will eventually have this mess again.” Sienna looked up at Aaron where he’d perched on the chair arm again. “Hold him, bond mate. He will need your strength to remain still.”
Aaron’s hands rested lightly on his shoulders, but his fingers curled over them. Should he need to, his brother would be able to restrain him to a certain degree. As the future Alpha, Levi would be stronger, though. He hoped Aaron managed to keep everyone around them safe if he needed to be held down. Coming back into himself to find that he’d harmed any of the females around him, or even Aaron, would haunt him.
“Do we need someone else to help hold me? I don’t want to harm anyone,” Levi said.
“I believe that your bond mate will be able to hold you down. Don’t forget you hold your mate in your lap. She depends on you to keep her safe, wolf.” Sienna closed her eyes, and it all started again.
Levi concentrated on the feel of Gabrielle in his arms, curled on his lap. Even as pain lanced through his head, he reminded himself that she was much more important and depended on him. His wolf wholeheartedly agreed, gripping the human side of him with his claws and fangs to keep him in the chair, protecting his mate.
Feelings of betrayal bombarded him as he struggled against Aaron’s hold on him. His bond mate spoke in his ear from behind him.
“Hold on, Levi. Gabby depends on you to take care of her. You’re doing fine. We’ve got you.”
His wolf growled as the female added a second hand to his chest and pressed on him. The human side of him could see that she was trying to help him, but his wolf didn’t agree. Sweat beaded on her forehead and upper lip as she focused all of her concentration on whatever she was doing. He wanted to push her away, make the pain stop, and take his mate to bed. Curling up around her seemed like the best thing for both of them right then, but Levi kept reminding himself that he wasn’t thinking rationally. They would not steer him wrong, despite the whispers in his head that said otherwise.
Pressure built in his skull with each passing second. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take before he exploded. Why was it hurting so badly? What had she said? Something about redirecting his thought patterns or something. Maybe he shouldn’t have let her mess with his head. His wolf had accepted their mate, why did it matter if he had some odd thoughts occasionally?
Just when he had decided to make her stop, the room around him went dark, and Levi felt himself sinking into nothingness.
* * * *
Aaron grabbed his brother as his head fell forward and his body began to sink into the chair. He scooted around to grab him and Gabby before they could fall from the chair. He saw the Sylphies catch Sienna as she started to fall as well. They eased her to the floor. Yvette placed the woman’s head in her lap and gently stroked her hair.
“Is she okay?” he asked as he lifted his mates in his arms.
“She will be fine after she rests,” Ariel said. “Once she wakes back up, we’ll help her to the other room and leave you to care for your mates. They will be fine now.”
“That’s it? Everything is back like it is supposed to be?” he asked.
“Yes. She unraveled the thread that had woven itself into your brother’s psyche until it blended in so well we did not see or feel it. It had taken on many of his natural characteristics so that it wouldn’t be discovered. Whoever created this level of deceit is very dangerous. They must be stopped,” she said.
“We’ll talk more about this when everyone has recovered. Thank you all for what you have done for us. Be sure that Sienna knows we are eternally grateful and that we still need her help. She can’t leave or harm herself while she helps us right so many wrongs,” he said.
“Shouldn’t we put the iron back on her?” Yvette asked.
“No. Do not do that to her again. While I don’t want anything to happen to her, I’m not willing to subject her to that again.” Aaron carried Levi and Gabby over to the bed where he gently laid them down.
He removed Levi’s shoes and settled him farther on the bed before removing his own shoes and climbing up to curl around Gabby on the opposite side. He could hear the females murmuring at the foot of the bed, and then they all stood up, Sienna among them.
“Thank you, Sienna. Thank you with all of my heart. We need to talk with you later about what was done to Levi. Rest for now,” Aaron said.
He saw her nod wearily before the other females helped her walk across the floor and out the door. Krista closed the door gently behind them. Aaron closed his eyes and thanked the good Lord for sending them to help. His brother and their mate meant more to him than anything. He hated to admit that if he had to choose between them and his pack, it would be no choice for him. They were his very breath, and living without them would have been tantamount to cutting off his hands or gouging out his eyes. He would have been helpless without them at his side.
He dozed off and on for over an hour before first Levi, then Gabby, stirred. His brother opened his eyes and groaned softly.
“Headache?” he asked with a smile.
“A little, but my entire body feels like I went
a couple of rounds with a bear shifter. Every muscle aches,” he said.
“How does your wolf feel?” Aaron asked.
“He’s anxious about Gabrielle. He wants to wake her and be sure she is okay now. I won’t let him, though. She needs to rest.”
“She’s awake now,” Gabby said in a husky voice. “Someone has a loud voice.”
“Sorry, baby. How do you feel?” Levi asked.
Aaron watched as she stretched, then groaned. “I’m sore as well. Why am I sore?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron said. He licked his lips, afraid to ask about her wolf, but he needed to know. “How is your wolf, honey? Is she settled?”
Gabby didn’t say anything for a very long time. Aaron wasn’t going to rush her as she seemed to be searching inside of herself. If her wolf was gone, Gabby wouldn’t be out of the woods yet. The wolf was a very large part of her, and losing it would splinter her into pieces.
“She’s very weak and agitated, but she is here with me.” Gabby turned to look more fully at Levi. “You smell of another female, and she’s angry.”
Levi’s broad smile filled Aaron with joy to see. It wasn’t forced or manufactured to fit the moment. It was real, genuine.
“There is no other female for me but you, Gabrielle. You’re my mate, and I would never touch another female willingly again. You smell Sienna on me. She had to touch me in order to create the connection she needed to fix me. Why don’t you climb on my chest and cover me with your scent. My wolf wants her scent off of him as well.” Levi opened his arms wide for her to climb up on his chest.
Aaron helped her settle down on Levi’s body, her head lay over his brother’s left shoulder so that he and Aaron could see each other. He smiled and squeezed the man’s shoulder.
“I’m glad to have you both back. I never realized how much I missed your good moods and frequent laughter until now. The change in you was so gradual that it seemed natural, and I didn’t question it. I’m sorry, brother,” he said.
