THE MATING CLAIM: Werewolves of Montana Book 14

by Vanak, Bonnie

  “A wife always puts herself second to her devoted husband. He is the head of the family and the ultimate authority whom she must obey,” Tristan read aloud.

  Xavier grinned and placed another block on the pile for Sonia to knock over. The baby burbled and waved a hand, and the block tumbled downward. Truly Sonia was a child of immense power. He wondered when his own twins would manifest magick, but right now his family was not his concern.

  Drust was. Any time now…

  Nikita, his loving mate, came into the living room and perched on the armrest. “The twins are finally asleep. What are you two reading, my love?”

  He lifted his cheek for her kiss. “A book called How to please your mate.”

  Showing her the cover of a woman in a white apron and a dress placing slippers on the feet of a reclining man, he watched his mate’s smile drop.

  Clearing his throat, he continued to read aloud as Xavier glanced up.

  “A mate should always desire to please her man, ensuring his happiness. Having a clean house for him to come home to at the end of a hard day’s work is essential.”

  Xavier nodded. “Definitely.”

  Niki stiffened. “And why are you reading this book?”

  “We are trying to give Drust marriage advice for when he finally brings his mate home here to Tir Na-nog,” Xavier told her.

  “This looked like a good book,” Tristan added. He read the next passage. “A good mate will fetch her man’s slippers, prepare a hot meal each night, making sure he eats first, and does not eat until he is finished. She does the dishes, leaving a spotless kitchen, cares for the children and lets the man rest as he should, enjoying his favorite entertainment on television…’

  He glanced up. Nicki’s face had gone from a lovely flush to a deeper crimson. Biting back a grin, he continued. “Most of all a good mate ensures she is always ready for sex whenever her man desires it. Whatever pleases him is the order of the day.”

  Xavier looked up with interest and clapped his hands over the baby’s ears. “Does that include doing it in the kitchen? After the kitchen is clean, of course. The counter should be spotless before the woman sits on it.”

  “Enough, before you pollute your darling baby, Xavier.” Niki tore the dust jacket off the book and sputtered. “How to weld machine parts?”

  “Welding is like marriage, my love. One does need a spark and fire and the right tools.” Tristan kissed her hand.

  Niki narrowed her eyes. “I suppose this is funny to you? And you, the expert on marriage, is going to give this to Drust as advice? Without letting him discover the journey for himself? He was married, twice, in his mortal life, Tristan.”

  “Oh boy,” Xavier muttered. “Sonia, maybe we should leave…”

  Red started creeping up his mate’s neck. He pulled Niki into the armchair and settled her on his lap, the answer that usually worked when she grew infuriated with him. “My darling, a little humor goes a long way with that dragon. He is far too serious and needs to know life can be fun. Drust needs our help. I know you have a soft spot for him, and I am his mentor, so we are going aid him. Just a little.”

  Niki slid her arms around his neck, but she continued to frown. “What kind of advice? Telling him his mate should fetch his slippers like a dog?”

  “You know I have the greatest respect for dogs.” He tossed the book aside and cupped her cheek. “Being a wolf myself.”

  Niki bared her own wolf fangs. Damn, he loved it when she did that.

  Tristan nuzzled his cheek against hers as she bent down. So damn lucky to have found her after all these long centuries. He would fight to the death for Niki and their twins. Love had a way of softening an immortal, but he desired the same for Drust. His old friend needed to love and feel loved in turn.

  The goddess Danu had revealed the truth to Tristan, who informed the other wizards. Lacey McGuire was critical to their friend Drust. So critical she bent the rules for the Coldfire Wizard.

  “Forgive me, my love, for teasing you. I’ll massage your back later when the twins are asleep,” he whispered in her ear.

  “They’re asleep now.” Niki brushed a kiss against his neck and he shivered with need.

  With tremendous reluctance, he shook his head. “Business first. The others are arriving.”

  And for what he desired to do to his mate, he wanted privacy and time. Lots of delicious, stolen time with Niki naked in bed…

  A soft pop of air signaled the arrival of Caderyn, the Shadow Wizard, and Gideon, the Crimson Wizard. Caderyn, the oldest among them, leaned against the hearth while Gideon sat on the carpet next to Xavier and cooed at Sonia.

  “Has she manifested any additional signs of power other than levitating objects?” Gideon asked Xavier. Guardian and judge of Fae, Gideon was mated and had yet to sire children, though judging from Gideon’s fascination with the Brehon children, Tristan suspected his old friend would soon impregnate his much-loved mate.

  “Each day is different.” Xavier tossed a building block to Sonia, who caught it in her chubby hands and put it in her mouth. She made a face.

  “No, sweetie, don’t eat it,” he implored and Sonia threw it across the room. It struck Caderyn in the cheek. He winced and scowled.

  Xavier looked sheepish. “Sorry. But good aim, eh? She has a strong arm.”

  Caderyn strode across the living room. Tristan watched with interest. The eldest wizard had been somewhat aloof with the others since three of them had found their mates. Perhaps it was from a distant longing himself to have a mate and a family, but Tristan sensed otherwise. Caderyn had never shared much about himself.

  The Shadow Wizard scooped up Sonia and cradled her in his huge arms. “No throwing blocks, little one. Understand? It’s not polite and you could hurt someone.”

  Sonia burbled and touched his cheek where the block had hit it, as if she understood.

  Caderyn stared solemnly at her for a moment, his gaze riveted to the baby’s blonde curls. “So innocent,” he murmured.

  For a moment they stared at each other and then Sonia touched his cheek again. “Hurt.”

  Xavier beamed, but Tristan watched Caderyn blink as if surprised. He suspected what the Shadow Wizard’s thoughtful expression indicated – not that Sonia had physically hurt the Caderyn, but the little girl talked of a deeper, more hidden pain buried inside the wizard.

  Then she began babbling again and clapping her hands. Caderyn handed her over to Xavier as a puff of cobalt blue smoke filled the air.

  When it cleared, Drust stood by the window, regarding them all. In his usual cobalt blue tunic, trousers and soft doeskin boots, the dragon looked flummoxed. Tristan recognized the look on Drust’s bearded face, having seen it in the mirror when he first courted his lovely Nikita.

  Ah, and so it begins. Women will do that to you. He nodded to Niki, who squeezed his hand.

  Sonia reached out her arms. “Dragon!” she cried out.

  The stricken look dropped from Drust’s face as he spotted the child. Beaming, Drust picked her up, and cuddled her. “Hello, little one. Miss me?”

  “I miss you,” she sang out.

  Xavier looked astonished. “Are you secretly teaching my little girl to mimic you?”

  Drust shook his head and kissed the top of Sonia’s blonde, curly head. “No. She is a fast learner. Sonia, can you say dragon for Uncle Drust?”

  “Dragon,” the toddler yelled out.

  “And what else can you tell your papa?” he inquired.

  Then she put a finger in her mouth. “I luv daddy and mama.”

  As Xavier grinned, Sonia added. “But Iz luv dragons too. Dragons rule.”

  Her father frowned. “You swear you’re not teaching her secretly, Drust?”

  “No. Someone else who likes dragons may be. Ask your mate.”

  Tristan bit back a laugh as Xavier looked even more stunned. Drust handed the baby over to Xavier.

  “I’m here…” Drust folded his arms, but his voice fell off.
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br />   “To watch a movie. Very well. Let’s watch,” Tristan suggested. He did adore a good movie.

  Tristan flicked a hand and the wide screen television above the hearth began playing The Princess Bride. He flicked another hand and a striped bag of popcorn appeared in Drust’s hands.

  “For guidance,” Drust finally said.

  “I know.” Tristan considered. “Buttered or is anyone on a diet?”

  “I’ll take mine buttered,” Gideon said, patting his flat stomach.

  “Buttered all around,” he decided, zapping popcorn into everyone’s hands.

  Niki bent down and whispered into his ear. “Save the butter for later, wolf, when we are alone in bed.”

  “I promise,” he murmured.

  With considerable effort, Tristan controlled his rising desire. He thought of the grim consequences for the dragon if Drust did not get his hands, or dragon claws, on the Book of Shadows.

  Drust blinked. “I come to you for guidance and you give me entertainment?”

  “Watch.” Tristan settled back into his chair.

  “I hope there is at least a dragon in it,” Drust muttered.

  “Sonia loves this one. I believe we have watched it three hundred times,” Xavier murmured, settling his daughter into his lap.

  Fast-forwarding with a flick of his finger, Tristan finally came to the scene he needed – the famous sword fight with Inigo Montoya.

  “Oh, this is the good part,” Gideon said, settling back against the coffee table and munching his popcorn.

  “Great action,” Xavier murmured.

  “A little rustic, using foils, though,” added Caderyn, who touched a hilt to one of the twin blades strapped to his back.

  “But effective.” Tristan kissed Niki’s neck and she shivered with pleasure.

  Drust blinked and continued standing. “Is there a point to this?”

  “Certainly is,” Niki told him. “Inigo is showing it to Count Rugen. See the sword and its point?”

  Tristan smirked.

  “You have been married too long to Tristan. You are parroting his sarcastic streak,” Drust told her, shaking his head.

  Niki smiled. “No, I’ve always had this. Tristan has helped me refine it. Now quiet, and watch the scene.”

  When it was over, Tristan flicked a hand and the screen went dark.

  And Drust went quiet. Too quiet. The dragon was smart. He might have been confined to the afterworld of the Shadow Lands for nearly a thousand years, and still had to catch up on some technology, but he understand nuance.

  As his mentor, Tristan wanted him to also appreciate life was not black and white. Sometimes you had to immerse yourself into the gray area, especially as a powerful wizard of the Brehon.

  “You know what happened in Lacey’s shop?”

  “No. We do not spy on you, Drust. But I did a little checking and discovered what happened with her father.”

  Drust laughed, a brittle sound, and Tristan felt bad for the dragon. He knew how it felt, the guilt and the helplessness.

  “My name is Lacey McGuire. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” Tristan told the dragon.

  Drust shook his head. “Not the same! I had good reason to execute him.”

  But his voice faltered and he refused to meet Tristan’s gaze.

  “Yes, your actions were quite justified… but good reason is no excuse to a grieving dragon who lost a parent she’d searched for her entire life.” Tristan left the armchair and put a hand on Drust’s shoulder. “Lacey is hurting, and hurting badly. She will no longer listen to you because of this. You destroyed her hopes.”

  “Fathers are quite important to daughters.” Xavier picked up his daughter, who giggled as he tossed her into the air.

  “You know this, Drust. You fathered five daughters in your mortal life,” Caderyn said in his baritone voice.

  “I did my duty to produce offspring to carry on after I died. I did not spend much time with them,” Drust retorted.

  Because you were not in love with either of your wives, the first one who was mild as milk whom you married out of duty or the second, who turned out to be a real… witch, Tristan thought.

  “We are not condemning your actions, Drust,” Gideon cut in. “We have also made errors in judgement when we were new wizards. Having this immortality and power makes for a tough balance at times.”

  The Crimson Wizard sprang to his feet, his long blond hair swaying with the action. Gideon walked over to the mantle, picked up a whimsical unicorn he’d carved as a gift for Niki. “We are charged with protecting our mortal people, and keeping the world of Others secret from Skins. And yet with these duties comes tremendous responsibility and the requirement to make sometimes quick judgments. No, you did not err in killing her father, for in doing so, you spared many innocent lives in Florida. And yet, had you consulted with Tristan first, perhaps another solution could have been found.”

  Drust stroked his bearded chin, seemingly lost in thought. Then he glanced at Tristan, his gaze filled with torment. “You could have spared him?”

  “No.” Tristan didn’t want his friend filled with any more doubts and anguish than he already felt. “He would have died anyway. But our powers are considerable and we could have caged him long enough to coax out information from him…”

  Understanding dawned on the dragon’s face. “Long enough for Lacey to finally meet him, and see for herself the monster he’d become.”

  He threw out his hands. “What’s done is done. How do I make amends and start over?”

  “You don’t.” Caderyn strode over to the fireplace and threw his bag of popcorn into it. It snapped and crackled, flames casting a ghostly reflection on the Shadow Wizard’s handsome, but grim face. “You can’t. You have to move past and do what is right for the common good. So more of your people do not die.”

  Again, Tristan wondered about the eldest amongst them. Best to leave that remark alone.

  Gently, he turned Drust toward the window, so the dragon could see the majestic sweep of rolling hillsides and verdant forest that had reminded Tristan of his mortal home. He had created this castle and adjacent scenery to remind him of his mortal life.

  “You are living as an immortal now, Drust, and we wizards like to think ourselves impervious to mortal feelings. However…” he glanced over his shoulder at Nikita, who smiled lovingly at him. “You will find that the more time you spend amongst mortals, the more you will feel. The more… mortal you will become. You lose a part of yourself, but in a way, you gain the true spirit of being a wizard.”

  “Tis only in understanding what our charges feel, and experience, that we can truly judge them,” Gideon added.

  Drust stared out the window, lost in thought. Then he turned, went to Xavier and held out his arms. “May I?”

  Without words, Xavier handed the toddler over to the dragon. Drust bounced her in his arms, cradling her with the expert ease of a father.

  Even though hundreds of years had passed since he’d had children.

  “What do you think, little Sonia? Is it better to feel mortal emotions so I can understand dragons, or should I proceed as I think best?”

  Sonia patted his bearded cheek. “Dragon dangerous. Dragon fire. Dragon roar. Dragon destroy all life.”

  “You taught her those words?” Xavier looked outraged.

  Drust shook his head. “No. Upon my immortality, I did not.”

  His stomach tightened into knots. Tristan had the feeling Sonia spoke prophetically. He had started this, now he must finish.

  “The child is right.” He laced his hands behind his back. “We are speaking from our experiences, but our charges do not breathe fire, nor are they capable of widespread destruction. Lacey is. Our goddess Danu made Drust the Coldfire Wizard for a good reason. We cannot control the dragons. He can. We must trust his decisions, not question them.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Caderyn drawled. “You rule over shifters, Tristan, and Gideon over the Fae and Xavier over
nymphs, trolls and ogres. My charges are witches. Have you ever seen the kind of destruction they can cause?”

  “But your charges do not possess a book that is dangerous and should have been destroyed long ago, before someone could find and use it,” Niki burst out. She rose off the chair, each move filled with a Lupine grace, and headed straight for the Shadow Wizard.

  Silence draped the air for a moment. Pride filled Tristan, along with fierce love for Niki. She had the courage to voice aloud what the rest of them could not – their deepest fears Lacey would use the book and all the spells within in.

  And yet Caderyn, instead of his usual scowl, looked away, as if not wishing to admit the truth of Niki’s words. Again, Tristan wondered about the Shadow Wizard.

  But his primary concern was Drust.

  The dragon’s eyes glowed an eerie blue, signaling the rise of his power.

  “I do not know much of this book, only what you have told me, Tristan. But I do know Lacey is a mere mortal, albeit a fierce, intelligent dragon, and she cannot read the spells hidden in the book’s end.”

  Tristan wondered if Drust was aware his voice dropped to a deep growl, as if protective of Lacey. Probably not. The dragon had yet to discover his deep and quite personal connection to Lacey McGuire.

  “Lacey understands the ancient writings. The memory and knowledge is buried in her blood and bones.” Tristan massaged the back of his tight neck muscles. “This is why the book is so damn dangerous in her hands, Drust. In the hands of her father, it was as dangerous as an unloaded weapon. Unless one has the bullets, it cannot do much harm.”

  “And now the gun is loaded because of Lacey,” Drust mused. His gaze sharpened. “Where did she get this power to understand?”

  He could not answer that, for each of the wizards had their own journey.

  Tristan squeezed his friend’s shoulder again, signaling the bonds of friendship and former mortal warriors. “You will find out, my friend. For now, you must find the Book of Shadows and make amends with Lacey. She will not be quick to forgive what you did to her father.”

  “I will apologize,” he mused. “But I will not be soft on her.”

  Knowing how Drust and Lacey’s fates were tied together, Tristan could not help a smirk at the unintentional double entendre. “You will never be soft around her, trust me. But do me a favor and be gentle.”