by Casey Lane
Wren made a frustrated noise, hands flying up in exasperation. “Only if I choose to take advantage of the claim. Which I won’t! I don’t want to be alpha, Isa. Not to the Black Thorne pack, not to the Belladonna pack. I’m a soldier. I don’t want to lead. How can I make you understand this? You’re the knight. I’m your sword. I was never meant to rule my pack or yours. That was my brother Dylan’s job; now it can be my sister Bronwyn’s job, at least until my father finds some bonehead for her to marry and takes it away from her.”
Isa crossed her arms. “You say that now.”
He turned, and Isa didn’t know if it was to pace or walk away, but suddenly he was turning back around, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “Look, you’re just having a meltdown because you woke up this morning and everything we did yesterday came crashing down on your head, and now you’re panicking.
She refused to admit he was right. “You think you know me so well after four days.” It sounded childish even to her ears.
He ignored her comment, wrapping his arms around her, leaning to rest his chin on the top of her head. She stiffened in his arms, not returning his embrace, waiting for whatever came next. “Dammit, you make me feel like a crazy person,” he said, sounding faintly amused. “I thought with everything that happened last night; we’d settled this.” Isa flushed, skin feeling hot at his acknowledgment of what they’d done. “I’m not hiding anything. I’m not trying to trick you. I’m exactly who you think I am. Are you going to fight me for the rest of our lives?”
She deflated against him then, letting her head rest over his heart, eyes drifting closed. He was warm, and his arms were strong. When he spoke, the words reverberated through his chest. “Last night wasn’t some trick, and it wasn’t an accident. I meant what I said. I love you.”
She concentrated, listening for the lie in his words. His heartbeat was steady, but still, she doubted his words…how could he not want to lead? It was all Isa had ever wanted, to prove she could be as good an alpha as her mother had been. He leaned back, cupping her face, gazing at her like she was the only thing in the universe. “Tell me you believe me.”
* * *
Her hands flailed in a useless gesture, her chest tight. “I want to believe you.”
“And I want to kiss you,” he said, tone conversational.
She could feel her cheeks going hot, her hand drifting to the spot where she’d bit him the night before. Finally, she gave a great, heaving sigh, like his request was a huge imposition. “Fine, whatever,” she said, mimicking her brother’s earlier words.
He laughed, and her stomach dipped, body tingling like his voice was connected to some string deep inside her, tugging a response against her will. She sucked in a breath as he lifted her off her feet, kissing her gently, once, twice. It wasn’t enough. Each time his lips left hers, she pulled him back, unable to stop herself, her mouth chasing his until he gave her what she wanted, his tongue slipping inside, deepening the kiss. Kissing him was intoxicating, addictive. “Are you going to pick me up every time you kiss me, Wren Davies?” she asked, sounding a little breathless.
He pulled back, pressing his lips against the scar on her shoulder, not bothering to lift his head as he asked, “Do you plan to get any taller, Isa McGowan?”
She glowered at the amusement in his tone. “No, I’m almost positive that’s not an option,” she snarked.
He chuckled low, his mouth finding hers again. “Then get used to being kissed without your feet on the ground,” he said between kisses.
She shivered at his words, her body fully on board with all the things Wren might do to her without her feet on the ground. He groaned against her lips, and she cursed his werewolf senses for the thousandth time. There were no secrets among wolves. She consoled herself with the knowledge that he clearly wanted her too. She didn’t need to be a werewolf to know that, but it helped. “What are you thinking about right now?” he asked, dragging his mouth along her jaw to nibble at her earlobe. “Could it be you and me in that big bed of yours upstairs?”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning, as his tongue slid over the sensitive skin just behind her ear. “I’m thinking that we are making out in the backyard where anybody could see us,” she countered, pushing against him so he’d release her. He dropped her to her feet, and she turned to go back into the house.
He swatted her butt. “Liar.”
She gave him a tight smile over her shoulder, hoping she looked steadier than she felt. “You’ll never know.”
Chapter Thirty
Rhys
“Let me do the talking,” Rhys reminded them.
They were all standing in the hallway just outside Isa's bedroom door. Wren and Isa’s bedroom now, Rhys reminded himself. He pulled a face, mentally cringing. He so did not want to think about Wren and his sister biting each other...or anything else they’d done to seal their magical union. He wasn't really in the mood to see either of them, his pride still stinging from his training that morning, but he didn’t have any choice. Genevieve had given him an ultimatum. Tell or be told on.
She would rat them out as soon as they arrived for Neoma’s next session, which was in just a few hours. Besides, it was time to come clean about everything. Just because they knew how to kill the draugen, it didn’t mean they could. Plus, Rhys was pretty sure none of them knew how to send their red-eyed deer back to wherever it belonged.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tristin asked. “You’re more the point and grunt type.”
Rhys huffed out a breath. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m the one who made the decision to take you guys out there; I’m the one who should tell them.”
Kai fidgeted. “You asked me to come. I’m the one who brought the others. I should be the one to tell Isa. She never gets mad at me.”
“I’ll do it,” Neoma volunteered. “I’m the reason this is all happening in the first place.”
Quinn fixed his glasses. "I'm not telling anybody, anything. Just so we're clear."
“Somebody better get in here and tell us something now,” Isa called through the door. “I don’t care which one of you wants to fall on their sword.”
Rhys gave another long-suffering sigh. Maybe the omega wolves had it right. Solitude sounded awesome right now. He pushed open his sister’s bedroom door and stepped inside. Isa sat at her vanity table, perched on one of Wren’s knees as she put her makeup on. Rhys flushed at the strange intimacy of it. He’d never seen his sister so much as look in a man’s direction, and now there she was mated in less than a week. Thinking about it made it hard to breathe, so he just stuffed it down.
Isa didn’t stop doing her makeup, but she did meet her brother’s gaze in the mirror. “What’s going on,” she asked, arching one perfect brow, her mouth already a flat line of disapproval.
Rhys cleared his throat but kept looking her in the eye. “We need to talk to you about Neoma. We think we know what’s hurting her.”
Wren and Isa exchanged curious glances. “We’re listening,” Wren said, voice guarded.
Rhys crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you know what a draugen is?”
Wren cocked his head to the side, a small smile playing at his lips. “A dragon?”
Tristin rolled her eyes like she was so above this conversation. “No. Not a dragon. A draugen. It’s like a vampire but not a vampire.”
Isa opened a long, black tube and began to cake the stuff on her lashes. “And why do you think this draugen is the creature after Neoma?”
They looked to Quinn, but he shook his head quickly.
Rhys stifled his urge to growl at the smaller boy. "In Neoma's memory, Ezri's mom said she first saw this thing in her village in Norway, right? A draugen is a Norse vampire. Plus, this thing can conjure...like a witch. It's a vampire that can conjure and Ezri's mother's zompire was a witch before she died and became a monster."
Wren's smile disappeared, his brows dropping. "Wait, so you don't think it's a draugen, you think it
's the draugen? The same one from Ezri's mother's village? That would have been years ago."
Rhys shook his head. "No. We think it's another draugen from the same bloodline. We think the draugen is Magna."
Wren's mouth fell open. "Magna? Why? Why would Magna hurt Neoma?"
Neoma moved in front of Rhys. "I don't know why. But Dylan didn't start hurting me until after Magna died. Wouldn't it sort of make sense that Ezri would try to protect her mother by taking my memories but still try to protect me by warding her room from Dylan?"
Isa was no longer doing her makeup, but she still hadn't turned around. "You think Magna and the original draugen are...related?"
Rhys nodded, frustrated that this was so hard to explain but relieved that his sister believed him. “We think that when Magna was talking about the two sisters, the younger sister was her, that she left Norway because she had to kill her sister. Same bloodline. Same curse."
Wren looked to Isa, who shrugged but turned so that she could face Rhys. "Okay, you're making sense. So, let's talk this out. Magna dies, inherits the curse and then starts drinking Neoma's blood...why? The other draugen or zompire...whatever we're calling this thing. It didn't feed off the supernatural. So why did it choose Neoma?"
"Dylan gave her my blood. She said it was supposed to make her better, but it made her worse.”
Wren growled low, eyes flashing. “How do you know that?”
Neoma’s cheeks flushed and she dropped her gaze to her bare feet. “She told me.”
Isa’s eyes shimmered gold, finally turning to face them. “Who told you?”
“The draugen,” Neoma all but whispered.
Rhys could smell Wren’s fear and frustration. “When? When did she tell you this?”
Tears welled in Neoma’s eyes, and Wren looked gutted. She didn’t answer Wren’s question directly. "She said Dylan had tricked her. That my blood made her sick somehow...but that my sacrifice was the only offering, he would accept."
“He, who?” Wren asked, carefully displacing Isa to kneel before Neoma. "Is that how you got that cut on your face? Is that how you hurt your ankle? You said you twisted it playing outside."
"I did...sort of," Neoma said, looking away from Wren again, tears trailing down her cheeks.
Wren wiped at Neoma’s tears, pulling the little girl into a hug. "When did this happen? Why didn't you get me and Isa or Gen or Hadley? Why didn’t you say anything?"
Neoma looked miserable. "I couldn't."
Wren looked stricken. "You can tell me anything."
"I couldn't tell you because it happened in my dream."
Wren ran both his hands over his face before rubbing the back of his neck. "What do you mean, it happened in your dream. She hurt you while you were sleeping?"
Neoma nodded. "The draugen...she's been talking to me...in here." She pointed to her head. "I hear her a lot since we got to Belle Haven."
Wren looked horrified. "Why didn't you say anything?" Neoma only began to cry harder. "Don't cry. Just...why wouldn't you tell me she was talking to you?"
Rhys shifted uncomfortably, noting tears were starting to well in Tristin’s eyes as well. Oh, God. Kai would probably start crying next. Neoma was full on wailing. "Because she said she would hurt you...she would hurt all of you."
Isa was on her knees then, too. "Oh, sweetheart. You never have to worry about protecting us. We're the adults. It's our job to protect you."
Wren frowned. "Who long? How long has she been hurting you like this?"
Neoma moved closer to Rhys, and Rhys put a protective hand on her shoulder. This was the part where the adults were going to lose their minds. Neoma took a deep breath, her voice sounding stronger than just moments ago. "Only last night. She said that the more I remember, the deeper her connection to me gets and the easier it is for her to get me. She said she'll be able to pluck me right out from under your nose and you'll never even know she was there. She wanted me to go to her on my own. She said I owed her because my blood made her sick. When I told her no, that’s when she told me she would hurt the others.”
Isa's gaze skittered to each of them before looking to Rhys. "What do you mean, the others?"
Tristin looked to Neoma. Kai and Quinn looked at Rhys. None of them spoke. Finally, Rhys said, "She pulled us all in."
Isa covered her mouth with her hand. "What does that mean? Pulled you into Neoma's dream...?"
Rhys nodded. "Yes."
“But we used magic to push ourselves back out,” Tristin said.
Wren frowned. “Magic? Who’s magic?”
Again, Neoma refused to look at Wren. “I channeled Kai and Tristin’s magic, combined it with my own.”
Tristin nodded. “Neoma saved us. She made lightning arch from Rhys’s hand.”
“How?” Wren asked, sounding exhausted. “How did you do that?”
“Because I can do that. I can pull energy from the ground, from the sky.”
Wren looked shocked; he shook his head like he was trying to put it all together. “Since when?”
“Since always,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip.
Rhys stepped closer to Neoma. “Don’t be mad at her. It’s not her fault. Magna bound her magic and Cain told her she wasn’t allowed to tell anybody.”
Wren’s nostrils flared, and a low growl erupted, cutting off only when Neoma looked at him with wide eyes. “I’m not mad at you sweetheart. I’m mad at Cain.” Wren dug his fingers into his eyes. "I just don't understand. You saw the creature in your dream, right? Does she look like Magna?"
Neoma shivered as she pictured the woman. "I don't know. She's so thin and…hollow. She looks sick. She doesn't look human."
"So why do you think it's Magna? Just because she's seen one of these things before and the draugen from her village conjured?"
This time it was Quinn who spoke, his voice hurried like he wanted to get the words out before he chickened out. "There's other things. Neoma said in her memory; the draugen left tokens for the children she fed on. She left dolls made of sticks and twine...we've seen those. Plus, somebody created a witch trap to summon a demon or a god, and they are doing blood magic to make it happen. Lots and lots of blood magic. The curse follows a bloodline and if draugen are rare than witch draugen have to be super rare. How many can there possibly be?"
Isa's gaze sharpened. "Where did you see these things," she asked, voice dripping with suspicion.
Rhys looked away. "In the forest."
"When?" Isa said, her words wooden.
Rhys licked his lower lip. "The first time I saw them was when I skipped school. The first day that Wren and Neoma came to the diner."
Isa made a distressed noise. "Why didn't you say anything then?"
"I didn't know it was important," Rhys said, hoping his heartbeat wouldn't give away the lie.
"What do you mean, the first time?" Wren asked.
Rhys's pulse beat wild against his throat. This was going to be the part that hurt. "We saw them again."
There was a long moment of silence, and then Wren asked, "When?"
Isa looked at each of them in turn as if she was trying to sniff out the weakest gazelle in the herd. Her gaze fell on Kai. His shoulders sagged. "Last night?"
Isa's voice was eerily calm. "Are you asking me or telling me?"
"Telling you," Kai said, barely registering above a whisper.
"In your dream?" Wren asked, clearly trying to offer them a lifeline.
Rhys shook his head.
A low growl emanated from Isa. "Where, Rhys. Where did you see these dolls?"
"In the woods, just off of Old Mill Road. Covered in blood. In the middle of a witch trap."
Once again there was a yawning silence, then Isa was shouting, "You were out in the woods in the middle of the night? With that creature running around? What the hell were you thinking? What-"
Wren held up a hand, and his sister fell silent, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth like she was trying to stop hers
elf from shifting. Rhys wished they could have had this conversation on any day other than the day before the full moon.
"Who's we?" Wren finally asked, picking up on Rhys's words.
Rhys wanted to look away from his sister—his alpha—and the hostility with which she was looking at him. But it was almost impossible. After a minute, he managed to drag his gaze to Wren, deciding he was the more rational of the two. "I asked Kai to come see the stones."
Isa made a distressed sound and Wren's eyes glowed blue, but his voice remained calm. "Why, Rhys?"
Rhys shrugged. "Because he'd dreamed about them. He'd dreamed about the draugen, had seen it hurting Neoma. I needed to know if what I saw in the woods was the same thing he'd seen in his dream."
"Was it?" Wren asked Kai. Kai nodded. "The stones were the same, but in my dream, they were in a corn maze like the one the draugen took us to last night."
Isa scrapped her hands through her hair. "The two of you decided to go traipsing through the woods in the middle of the night, to see if this bloody pit was the same one from your dream? Are you two crazy?"
"I brought Tristin and Quinn," Kai confessed, voice barely a whisper.
Isa's eyes glowed red, her teeth sharpening. "Are you kidding me, right now? Rhys," she groaned. "You've got to be smarter than this."
"I didn't ask them to come. I could've protected myself and Kai. I didn't think we'd run into anything in the woods. I just thought we'd look at the stones and go home." As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he'd made a mistake.
Wren flinched. "Wait. What? You ran into something in the woods?"
Rhys nodded. "A deer."
Wren and Isa both seemed to freeze, before looking at each other. "A deer?"
Rhys flailed his hands. "A stag, really, but it was enormous...easily the size of an elk or a moose even."
Tristin swallowed hard. "And it had glowing red eyes."
"And black fur," Kai said, suppressing a shudder.
"And sharp antlers, this wide," Quinn said, holding his arms far apart.
"I know it sounds like we're making it up-" Tristin started, but Wren cut her off.
