by Shea Balik
When Edrick still sat there, Kellach dropped his arms in a huff and shook his head in disgust. “Fine. You sit here and dissect the traitor while I help get our men ready to fight an entire pack of wolves. The same wolves, I might add, who tore my sister apar…” a sob cut him off as Kellach struggled to find air to breathe as he thought of his sweet sister being killed by those animals.
His mate took a step toward him. Rage surged through Kellach making him far stronger than he probably was at the moment. “Don’t come near me, dog.” If he had a gun on him, Kellach would have shot Trygg in his traitorous heart for what he’d done. “After I’ve killed every last one of those murderers, I will come for you. Do us both a favor and don’t be here when I do.”
With that, Kellach turned on his heel and strode from the kitchen. He refused to stop long enough to pick up the pieces of his broken heart. How it had gotten broken to begin with wasn’t something Kellach was ready to face. It seemed once more fate had decided to laugh at his expense.
***
“Mind telling me what made you invite Snow Creek here?” Edrick asked when the front door slammed behind Kellach.
Trygg closed and sighed. He just prayed Kellach would find a way to purge all the hatred he had in his heart or they would never find any kind of peace. “Kellach’s father lied about what happened to Carolina.”
Edrick stared at him for a moment. Then he gave a nod. “I hope, for your sake, he doesn’t kill them all before they have a chance to explain.”
Trygg made a sound between a snort and a laugh. “Will he ever be able to trust me?” He hadn’t meant to ask the question but suddenly Trygg found himself desperately wanting to know the answer.
“You’re his mate,” Nole answered as if that explained everything.
Trygg had always believed mates could get through anything but the Council had taught him that wasn’t necessarily true. Just because fate put two people together didn’t mean they would find their happily ever after. The hundreds of people he’d killed over the years for just loving someone of the same sex was proof of that.
“Kellach’s family life wasn’t easy. His sister was the only one who loved him,” Edrick said after a few minutes. “It won’t be easy to get him to let his guard down, but I promise you, when you do, it will be well worth it.” As if to add truth to his words, Edrick smiled at Nole as if the sun rose and set on his mate.
Trygg just prayed he and Kellach would one day be able to look at each other with that much love.
CHAPTER 12
It had taken less than an hour to get everyone in position. Clearly they had spent more time rebuilding the town than on defense. They would definitely need to work on their readiness in the future but since this had been the first time getting the entire town prepared to fight, it wasn’t bad.
All that mattered to Kellach was that they were ready for the wolves before they had arrived. It wasn’t until he was standing on the porch waiting for the wolf pack to arrive that Kellach realized he probably should have found out how far out they were from Trygg before mobilizing everyone.
Not that he could have trusted the traitorous wolf, but it would have been better than the possibility of making everyone sit for the entire day and find out the Snow Creek pack wouldn’t be there until tomorrow. Since Trygg had insisted on getting everyone up in the predawn hours, Kellach had to assume his mate thought the wolves would be in Miracle that day.
Then again, what in the hell did he know about what his mate thought? He never would have imagined Trygg would endanger his mate by bringing a pack of wolves into their midst. Nothing about Trygg made any sense.
Trygg stepped out onto the porch looking defeated as he stepped up next to him. “Kellach, I need to tell you something before Snow Creek arrives.”
“Save it,” Kellach said, ignoring the need he suddenly had to take his mate into his arms and assure him everything would be alright. Defeat wasn’t a good look on Trygg. It just didn’t belong. He nearly turned to do just that when the low rumble of engines reached his ears alerting him to the wolves’ arrival.
His heart hardened at the reminder of what was about to happen. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
He heard Trygg sigh, but Kellach ignored him as he barked out orders to the men closest to him. He was ready to demolish the pack before they ever got close enough to start a war. But Edrick stopped him when he walked out onto the porch and gave his own orders. “No one fires until I give the order, is that clear?”
The wave of power those words created had every man there tilting his head in submission. Kellach was pretty sure even those that could only hear their Alpha over the earpiece they were all wearing for the possibility of battle, had tilted their heads.
Edrick might not have wanted the role of Alpha, but he was a born leader. No one who met the man could deny it.
The advantage to having grown up with Edrick his whole life, Kellach wasn’t as quick to just follow orders. Oh, he had still tilted his head in submission, but when the effect wore off, he opened his mouth to argue.
“Don’t bother, Kellach. You may not be able to trust your mate yet, but I do.” Edrick’s gaze didn’t give Kellach any room to believe he might win if he tried to fight Edrick on this. “Whether you want to admit it or not, Trygg is your mate.” His friend’s blue eyes softened a bit as he said, “He would never betray you.”
Kellach knew that wasn’t true. His own parents had turned against him. Why would a mate be any different? But he also knew there was no point in trying to convince Edrick of that. “Fine, but when they attack I’m going to tell you ‘I told you so.’”
Edrick chuckled. “Fine. And when they don’t, expect me to do the same.”
A snort of derision exploded from Kellach. “Right. Like that’s going to happen.”
“Actually…” Trygg started to say, but three large black SUVs pulled up at that moment.
“I guess we’re about to find out who’s right,” Kellach said, once more ignoring Trygg as if he didn’t exist. Except that wasn’t exactly true. Even as he wanted to kill his mate for bringing the wolves to Miracle, Kellach was running through every scenario he could to save his mate when they attacked.
Confused as the contradicting emotions coursed through him, Kellach did his best to push them down when the doors of two of the SUVs opened. It was the back door of the middle SUV that held his attention as a man who screamed Alpha stepped from the back. But it wasn’t demeanor that had grabbed Kellach’s attention. It was his looks that had Kellach staring at him in horror.
There were subtle differences, but the man who now stood next to the SUV, could be Trygg’s twin. “He’s your brother, isn’t he” Kellach whispered. “You betrayed me for your family.” The second wasn’t a question but a statement.
At least it made some sort of sense. Not that mattered. But at least Trygg was loyal to his family. Kellach just wished, for once, someone would put him first. “Please tell me you didn’t know about my sister’s death,” he begged.
“That’s not what…” Trygg started but Kellach was beyond listening at that point. He honestly didn’t think he could handle it if Trygg had known.
“You killed my sister,” Kellach called out to the man who had the same smile his mate had.
The back door to the third SUV opened. Kellach didn’t pay too much attention to it as he stared daggers at Trygg’s brother. So when he heard a voice call out to him, it took Kellach several minutes to believe what he was seeing. “Kellach, no one killed me.” There standing next to the open door of the third SUV was his sister Carolina.
Kellach blinked. He couldn’t possibly be seeing what her. It had to be a hallucination. Nothing else made any sense. He had mourned her. His own alpha had said the wolves had called to report her death.
His vision swam as he tried to focus. No matter what he did, how many times he blinked, he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Did Trygg drug him? Was he having a nightmare? Was
he dead?
There was no way Carolina could be standing in front of him any other way, could she? “Carolina?” he asked in wonder.
Tears streamed down her face as she started walking his way with another man right beside her, who looked like he’d rip anyone in half if they harmed a hair on her head. She had taken a half dozen steps before Kellach had been able to make his own legs work.
When he did, he didn’t walk, he ran to the one person who had always loved him, even when she had overheard him tell their mother he liked boys. No matter how his mother had treated him, or their father for that matter, Carolina always had a hug for him and told him how much she would always love him.
He stumbled on the last step but Carolina was right there, her arms wrapping around him, stopping him from falling as she had done so often in the past. “Is it really you?” he whispered into her long chestnut colored hair, exactly the same shade as his.
“It’s me, Kellach,” Carolina whispered fiercely in his ear even as she held him tightly to her.
It was like a dream. One he’d had every night for years after she had died. He feared he would wake up as he had each and every time her arms would hold him close in those nighttime visions. “Please tell me this is real,” he begged, his own hold on her as tight as he dared without crushing her.
“I’m real, Kellach. I promise,” she told him. “I’m so sorry you believed I was dead.”
Great sobs finally broke free as the years of believing the only person who had ever loved him was dead really hit him. Even as he cried like a baby, he could hear his father’s angry voice telling him that real men don’t shed tears each time he’d caught Kellach mourning for his sister. There was a part of him that tried to stop, but he was just too relieved to have his sister back to be able to do so.
It that made him less of a man, so be it. At that moment, with Carolina in his arms, alive and well, Kellach was happy not to be considered his father’s version of a man. His eyes went up to thank the Gods for giving him his sister back when they landed on Trygg.
Tears traced a path down his mate’s cheeks as he watched Kellach and Carolina. Suddenly it struck Kellach that it was his mate he had to thank for giving him back his sister. His mate had brought her here, to Miracle just for him.
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
Trygg’s lips lifted up into a smile before he mouthed, “You’re welcome,” back to him.
That flame of hope that had been snuffed out a short time ago, suddenly flared back to life, burning brighter than ever.
CHAPTER 13
“Not that I’m not glad to find you are alive, Carolina but do you mind telling us why?” Edrick asked as they all sat in the diner, the Mousetrap. It was the only place big enough to fit everyone involved comfortably. Well, his bar, The End of the World, would, but since they had only just finished it and it didn’t have furniture yet, the diner would have to do.
Kellach sat next to his sister, while her mate, Conrad sat on her other side. But it was their alpha, Brecken Snow, who answered. “We were dealing with Carolina’s father to buy weapons when my second, Conrad met Carolina. They had managed to talk privately for a few minutes and she warned him that her father would never accept their mating and he would try to double cross us in the deal.”
Conrad gave his mate a kiss on the forehead. “She was right on both counts.”
Carolina blushed but smiled at her mate like some lovesick fool. Kellach would have gagged but the feelings he was having toward his own mate stopped him. He couldn’t explain it but when Trygg had sat down next to him as close as Conrad was sitting to Carolina, warmth seeped into Kellach body.
Then when his mate had put his arm on the back of Kellach’s hair, his fingers just short of touching his shoulder, Kellach found himself leaning back the slight amount required to complete the connection. The shiver of delight at feeling his mate touching him wasn’t supposed to be there. Kellach had fought it tooth and nail, yet it shook his body just the same.
“Prepared for the double cross, we managed to catch your father red handed,” Brecken told Kellach. “I threatened to turn him over to the Council for his dirty dealings unless he turned his daughter over to us.”
“The bastard thought we would just use her and throw her away like garbage,” Conrad told them with a snarl.
Brecken shrugged. “That was his fault. I never once said we would give her back. But when he threatened to start a war claiming we kidnapped her, I went to his alpha.” Brecken’s amber eyes landed on Edrick. “Your father, I assume.”
Edrick nodded his agreement.
“I explained what Carolina’s father had done and that Carolina was now mated to my second and would not be returned.” Brecken’s gaze then went to Kellach with a touch of remorse. “Your old alpha said he would declare Carolina dead and she wouldn’t be allowed to return to home. I didn’t know at the time about you or I might have tried to broker another deal.”
Carolina took Kellach’s hand in hers. “It never occurred to me they would declare me dead, or that they would tell you I was…” she gave an audible swallowed, “killed in such a manner. I had always planned on trying to get word to you, but…” her voice trailed off. “I guess I just lost track of time.”
It hurt to know his sister had forgotten about him, but Kellach understood. If he’d been freed from the hell of their home, he would have never looked back either. “It’s okay,” he told her. “I’m just glad I know now.”
He had his mate to thank for that. Just that thought had his lips curving upward and his body pressing into those fingers a little harder. As if knowing what he was doing and why, Trygg moved his hand to the back of Kellach’s neck. His thumb stroked Kellach’s nape, soothing his rioting emotions.
Carolina squeezed his hand. “No, it isn’t okay, but thank you for understanding.” That sweet smile he always remembered lit up her face. “You have a niece and nephew.”
Kellach felt his jaw drop as he stared at his sister in wonder. “You have kids?” He didn’t know why he was so surprised. Carolina was an amazing mother figure to him so it stood to reason she’d make an excellent mother.
His sister laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised.”
“I’m not. I just…” Tears sprang to his eyes once more. “I guess I’m just still trying to come to grips with you being alive.”
Carolina leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry little brother.”
Kellach concentrated on the way Trygg’s thumb continued to stroke his nape as he struggled to gain control over the emotions that continued to swirl through him. It was crazy. From the moment he’d met Trygg, life had been a never ending whirlwind of chaotic feelings that he didn’t know what to do with. Yet, when things were at their most turbulent, it was Trygg who centered him.
A man who seemed to be standing guard over Brecken and was every bit as big as Kirill, leaned down and whispered something into the Alpha’s ear. Brecken was suddenly on alert. “As much as I hate to break up this reunion, we do have more pressing matters that we need to discuss.”
Trygg stiffened, his hand stilling on Kellach’s neck. When his mate leaned closer as if wanting to protect him, Kellach went on alert.
“I officially quit the Council and they didn’t take it well, especially when I told them why,” Trygg said. His gaze searched Kellach’s as if waiting to see anger or hatred.
But Kellach wasn’t upset. If anything, he was relieved to know his mate no longer worked for the group responsible for the laws that made mating the same sex illegal. “What did you tell them?”
“That you are my mate and I wasn’t about to give you up because they had their heads up their asses with their bigoted laws.” Trygg said it so matter-of-factly that Kellach had no doubt he said just that, not caring that he was talking to the Council of paranormal world.
“I bet that went over well,” Hudson drawled.
“And let me guess,” Edrick said as he tugged Nole onto his lap. “
The Council has now sent someone else to kill us?”
Chadwick grunted and nodded his head toward Brecken. “Based on his reaction to whatever gigantor over there said, more than one person is coming.”
The big guy gave Chadwick a toothy grin, “Jealous, pussy cat?”
Chadwick rolled his eyes. “Of you? Please. Like I really want to be so big I could double as a mountain. Then again, I hear you wolves have rocks in your head.”
Gigantor flipped Chadwick off but before they could get into a heated verbal battle, Brecken held up his hand to stop his bodyguard from saying anything else. “Alright, this isn’t the time for that. According to my sources the Council has decided to make an example out of you and have amassed an army to destroy Miracle and all who live here.”
“You know I’m getting really sick of people thinking they can destroy this town,” Chadwick said. “I’ve spent way too much energy rebuilding for someone to come in here and tear it back down.”
“What are you talking about?” Hudson asked incredulously. “You love tearing things down as much as you love building them.”
Clearly not happy with Hudson pointing that out, Chadwick stuck his tongue out at his friend. “Yeah but that’s only me that gets to tear things down. Not other people.”
“The point is,” Edrick interrupted before Hudson could say anything more. “We need to come up with a plan to not only stop the Council from destroying Miracle but to leave us alone.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Kellach asked. He was sick and tired of constantly looking over his shoulder. Growing up he had to make sure everything he did wasn’t considered weak and girly according to his parents. When he was older, he was constantly having to worry about someone finding out he was gay.
He’d finally gotten free of every move he made being watched but it didn’t stop having to fear someone finding them and trying to kill them for their “sin” of being gay. It wasn’t fair and Kellach was tired of it. “We are gay.” Agitated, Kellach stood up and slammed his hand onto the table. “That isn’t going to change. So unless the Council suddenly realizes they are bigoted assholes, we will always have to worry about someone finding us and trying to kill us.”
