‘I know.’
They searched for a few hours. Her eyes were exhausted, and when Kori said it was time to go, she offered up no argument. All of them headed outside, only to find Herald Siencyn waiting.
“Valera Grace Sidorov of the Haikon,” he said, addressing her.
“Herald. Please, call me Lera. What can I do for you?”
“May I touch you?”
His question took her by surprise. Beside her, Kori tensed and a nearly unheard growl emerged from him.
“Excuse me?”
“No,” Kori said at the same time, his voice vibrating with danger.
Herald Siencyn didn’t spare him a glance. His green eyes remained focused on her. Lera swallowed and peered at Kori. He could have been carved from granite for all the warmth in his posture. From Kori, she looked to her dad, who didn’t appear surprised. There was mild concern on his face, and that gave her more pause.
She met the herald’s unwavering stare and reached out with her left hand. He never moved. On impulse, she tugged off her leather glove and offered her hand a second time. His touch was feather light. Beside her, she could feel Kori’s dislike of this situation. The herald held his left under hers and put the palm of his right against hers. She couldn’t stop the small gasp at the power which flared and flowed between them.
‘Open your mind to me, Lera.’ The voice threaded through her mind, gentle and kind.
‘Herald?’
‘There isn’t much time. Even now, there are assassins being dispatched to kill you. I can sense your distrust, so follow my voice and enter my mind.’
She trembled from the force of his order and fought it. She hated compulsion being pressed upon her.
‘Please, Valera Grace. This is the only way.’
His hand clamped on her wrist, his thumb pressed hard on her pulse, and she was flooded with sensations and blinding light. All function was sucked from her, and she collapsed. Kori’s arms saved her from hitting the ground. Every sound was amplified, especially the growling. It took her a moment to realize why. Her father, Kori, and Adric all rumbled deep in their throats.
She struggled to focus, and when she accomplished that, it was to see Herald Siencyn on the ground before her, on all fours. The hood from his cloak hid his face.
“Lera, are you okay?” Kori asked in a concerned tone.
“I’m…I’m fine.” Her mind whirled with information it couldn’t quite process and make sense of. Swallowing to get moisture back in her throat, she felt the numbness lingering in her legs. “Herald?” She struggled to get closer. “Herald Siencyn, are you okay?”
“Lera,” Kori muttered.
She ignored him and reached out to touch the man before her. With her hand upon his shoulder, he lifted his head and she barely contained her shock. Where once a youthful and extremely handsome man had been lingered, now was one whose gaunt face showcased the sharp bones. Tanned skin had become pearly white, green eyes the color of the forests were opaque. Hollowed out cheeks and reed-thin lips completed the man staring back at her.
What the hell?
Dane dropped to the ground beside him and said, “Herald Siencyn, let me help you.”
“No, not this time, Enforcer. This is my last sun.” Siencyn reached for her with a hand more resembling a skeleton’s than anything. She met him halfway, Kori’s strong hand anchoring her and filling her with confidence she didn’t necessarily feel. And yet, she could sense his sadness.
‘Kori, what’s happening? What happened to him?’
‘He’s about to pass onto the next world.’
‘But…he was so young before.’ And he’d touched her before this happened. She tugged on the hand Kori held, determined to do whatever it took to keep him safe. ‘Let go. I don’t want it to happen to you.’
‘No.’ His grip tightened, and she knew to continue to struggle would be futile.
“The truth, Valera Grace, is within you,” Siencyn rasped.
She stretched out her fingers and finished joining them. The skin resembled old paper to her, like any sudden movement would tear it. “Why?”
“I dreamed of meeting a Haikon. I’ve lived long and well, Lera. Don’t worry for me. Go reunite the Haikon, convince them to rise from where they’ve hid.”
Adric rose and walked to the man where he gently rested his head upon his shoulder and gave him an embrace the only way a wolf could someone in his position. The herald’s other hand settled into the plush coat of her vaj, sinking deep.
Tears she didn’t understand gathered on her lashes. This man she barely knew. Why would he draw such a reaction from her?
“Dane?”
“Yes, Herald?”
She swore there was sadness in her father’s tone.
“I have a favor to beg of you.”
“Ask, Herald Siencyn, and if it within my power, it will be done.”
“Carry me to my trees?”
Dane bowed his head. “It would be my honor, Herald Siencyn.”
Before her, her father lifted the frail man into his arms. She was forced to release his hand.
“Take care of her, Cormac MacLochlainne.”
“Yes, Herald.” Kori’s voice was somber. He had risen and gently encouraged her to do the same.
“A sincere pleasure, Valera Grace Sidorov of the Haikon. Adric. My sincerest pleasure.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Her dad’s gaze skimmed hers before he turned and strode off into the trees, his steps determined. She didn’t move until they vanished from sight.
“Kori?”
“Come, mo ghrá, we’ll await your father at his cabin.”
“I…I don’t understand. What happened?”
“His time was over here.” He brushed his lips along her cheek.
Kori faced them in a different direction and, with a hand at the small of her back, encouraged Lera to go. Once outside The Medius, they shifted and headed to the home she’d grown up in on her visits to Savoy Valley.
He ran beside Lera, Adric on her other side. Lera’s coat was a stunning reddish color. Beautiful. She moved with the grace of a pure wolf, not a shifter who was just learning how to utilize her other shape. They followed her lead. He knew a much shorter way back to Dane’s, but much like in Washington, he could feel her need to run and allow something else to take center stage. In tandem, they streaked through the Panteras. Animals ran or hid at the appearance of three large predators.
Had he not been mated to Lera, he would be with Dane and some others attending to Herald Siencyn’s burial. As it was all he could do was send another in his family to represent the MacLochlainne Clan. His duty, first and foremost, was to his mate and keeping her safe.
They stopped upon an outcropping and overlooked the seemingly endless wilderness. Warm air flowed over them, and he watched Lera stand there, nose lifted to the wind. He reached out and used his wolf’s sharper senses to seek information. Nothing out of the ordinary came to him.
Within himself, he could feel Lera’s struggle to keep her fear and confusion of the unknown under wraps. He was so proud of her. Never cowering, no backing down. She’d stepped up to this mission without hesitation. He wanted to hold her. To allow her curves to melt into him. Smell the softness she emanated. Lose himself in her, be so close their hearts beat as one.
‘Getting sentimental on me, Kori?’
Her warm voice skated along their link and, as always, did more than simply fill his mind. He never only heard her voice; he felt it deep within. It plucked on him like a harpist played on their instrument. She had become so interwoven within him he couldn’t explain it. Much less how he’d managed without her.
Turning his head, he cast a baleful eye at her. She stood there, tongue lolling.
‘Sentimental? No. Horny. I want you naked and in my arms, Lera. Let’s go.’
Her own desire flared, and she turned around without a word. This time he led, using the shortcuts he knew. Beneath the raw joy of running
free in their current form lay their desire for one another. At the tree line before the cabin, he stopped and shifted. At full height, he stared down at the two wolves who stood hip to hip, panting. One solid black and one ruddy. He couldn’t help but lift his lip in a silent warning when the male nudged the female. Adric may not be her mate but he was an alpha wolf, and Lera was his.
Adric lifted his head, and for a brief time, black and gray orbs clashed. One second, he was there, and the next, Adric had vanished. Kori waited for Lera to shift. He kept his eyes on her and marveled over the transformation. In the space of a breath, the beautiful wolf became Valera Grace. A woman who could stop and start his heart with nothing more than a look.
She brushed over him and focused on something else. He turned to see Adric there. She shared a look with her vaj and didn’t tear her gaze away until the ebony wolf sprang away and blended into the forests shadows. Then, she faced Kori, and he felt heat course through him. The wind increased, and Lera lifted her head. Her locks flowed around her face, the sun gleaming off the black and copper strands. She stood proud, her athletic yet feminine body clad in her usual attire. Her leather pants were molded to her legs and a tight t-shirt. No jacket right now, which pleased him. He loved the way her shirt conformed to her, showing off firm breasts and a flat belly, all the while highlighting curvy hips.
Her shirt was white with the picture of an angel on it. The caption on the back read “I’m wearing an angel; don’t expect me to act like one.”
Her hands were adorned with her silver rings, and she wore his necklace. He knew she was armed, and such knowledge only increased his admiration and desire. Within his mind, he could feel her confusion, and with difficultly, he left lustful thoughts in the back. She remained facing into the wind, but she’d slipped on her shades. Between her brows sat a small furrow. Her fingers flexed like she did when she about drew her weapon. Kori turned and reached out with his senses, testing the air currents. Nothing out of the ordinary which he could pick up on.
‘What’s wrong, Lera?’
‘Something feels different to me.’
He cast a wider search, drawing upon the power within him. Nothing. It frustrated him; he had no recourse to her experience. He stepped close and settled his palm along the small of her back. Her tension seemed to ebb away, and he remained in contact up to the porch. There, he dropped his hand and scooped her up, loving the feel of her in his arms.
“What are you doing, Kori?” she asked even while she rested against him. “I’m fully capable of walking on my own.”
He didn’t speak. Instead, he tightened his hold and hurried them up to her bedroom. The second the door closed behind them, she became a wildcat in his arms. A low growl of approval ripped up from his gut as their clothes fell away, and he slid his hard length deep within her in a single stroke.
She screamed into his mouth as he kissed her with almost brutal force. He could feel his wolf pushing through. When she bit at his invading tongue, he gave in and took her hard and fast. There were no tender words shared, no gentle looks. It was primitive, feral. It was perfect. Her nails ripped the skin from his back, and her legs, strong and around his waist, clamped hard as she met his final thrusts. They came within moments of one another.
He collapsed onto her, their sweaty bodies lying slick against one another. Her heart pounded hard against his chest. She smelled like sweat, sex, and him. He loved it. When he moved, she grabbed him hard along where she’d shredded his flesh. The hiss could barely be restrained, Lera was a lot stronger than she knew.
“Don’t go,” she murmured into his neck.
“I’m heavy, mo anam.”
He shuddered when her tongue snuck out and licked along his carotid. An act followed by a light nip with her straight white teeth. All over again, he felt himself grow hard.
“Being as it’s my body you’re currently on, don’t you think I can determine what’s too heavy and what’s fine?”
He could detect a thread of jealousy in her words. Digging deep for energy he wasn’t positive he had, Kori rose up so he could into her eyes. “Currently, mo anam? Yours is the only body mine belongs on. Forever.” Her smile at that statement could be felt deep within. Kori lowered his head and kissed the tip of her nose. Before she could say anything, he’d pulled out and dressed them. Then, he tucked her tight against him. “Now we rest, mo ghrá.”
She cuddled against him, and he relaxed even more. Her head on his shoulder, she trailed idyllic patterns on his bare chest with her left hand.
“If I wasn’t here, would you be with my father?”
“Yes.”
His gut clenched as her nail circled his nipple. Then ached for more when the motion ceased. Her soft lips pressed along his collarbone.
“Go, Kori.”
“What?”
Lera sat up. His shirt hung off her body. He’d done it on purpose; the idea of her in his clothing held great appeal. Lifted up on his elbows, he stared at her with the afternoon sun framing her in its golden glow.
A soft expression filled her face. “I can feel it in you, Kori. You wish to be there. Go.”
He did wish. Herald Siencyn was an important man to him. “Cavan is there in my stead.”
“Your brother isn’t you, Kori. This Herald Siencyn is…was an important being. You should go.”
“You’re my mate.”
She smiled and chuckled lightly before lying back down, facing away from him. “And I reckon that will still be the same upon your return.”
He stretched out a hand toward her.
‘Go, Kori. I’m tired. Go pay your final respects.’
‘Will you be okay?’
‘I’ve managed to stay alive for twenty-five years, Kori. I think I can handle sleeping without screwing it up too bad. Now, will you go please so I can rest?’
Kori climbed out of bed and dressed in black. Striding around to the side of the bed she lay on, he found her eyes opened and filled with pride. Her line of thought was obvious, and he smirked before dropping in a smooth motion to one knee beside her.
“I’ll be back soon, mo ghrá.”
“Tuck me in, kiss me, and get going, Cormac MacLochlainne.”
The rough affection warmed him, and he followed her directives. On the porch, he found Adric waiting and felt better when the wolf entered the house.
‘Mo ghrá?’
‘Kori?’
‘I just wanted to hear you again.’
‘Go do what you have to and come back to me.’
‘As soon as possible.’
He stepped off the porch and began to move toward the center area which would be the Herald’s final resting place. Alerting his brother he was on his way, Kori did his best to not think of the woman back at Dane’s cabin.
By the time he entered the glen, his face had been composed into the unreadable mask his reputation had called for. Lera had been right, he belonged here, while shifters his family also carried the blood of Druids within them, Herald Siencyn helped with his training. The chanting in the air faded but didn’t falter as he strode through those gathered. He halted across from Dane and beside Pol Tynrine of the Tynrine Clan. Not long after he took his place, Priestess Hayli walked into view.
The priestess of the Druids wore her simple ceremonial dress, which the light from the torches and the setting sun gleamed off of. Her thick golden hair, in a single braid, hung down her back. She spun and met the gazes of those there. He was the last she stared at.
She withdrew an ornate silver dagger from her belt and stood before him. He—or his emissary in his absence—would have been chosen for this because of his clans tie to Herald Siencyn. Without blinking, he held out his hand and did not flinch when she drew the blade down his palm, drawing blood. Silence descended when she raised her arms, even the forest seemed to know.
The lit torches flared as she began chanting, even more so when she began to dance. The flames rose higher and arched from all their poles, which surrounded the pyr
e upon which the herald’s prepared body laid, to ignite the wood beneath him.
Hayli’s chants were echoed by those there. Kori remained silent, his blood dripping into the earth while the tattoo on his chest burned. However, he never moved. He stayed until the sun had set and the moon had risen to bathe the land in its silvery glow. All that remained of Herald Siencyn was embered coals.
The priestess stood before Kori, and he offered her his hand one more time. She took it and turned it palm up. No wound remained and no blood. She looked as if dusted by moonbeams. No words were exchanged but he read her sorrow in her large eyes. Only once she left did he leave from his spot. And headed back to where he knew the pain would be lessened.
Chapter Thirteen
Lera sat up with a yawn. Without opening her eyes, she knew Kori had yet to return. Unhurried, she opened her eyes. Her left palm ached a bit but she flexed it and the pain left. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she discovered Adric laid out below the window, facing the door.
“Adric?”
‘Yes, vaj?’
She reached out and turned on a bedside lamp. The room filled with a warm amber glow.
“You never told me if you had siblings.”
His sigh was easily experienced along the link.
‘I have littermates, yes. No, we are not all born to be a vaj.’
Lower lip in her teeth, she got out of bed and opened a drawer to withdraw some of her own clothes. “That must be difficult.”
‘We are wolves, vaj.’ He leapt up on her bed with ease and lay there.
“Have you been in the caves?”
‘No. But I would suggest something warm.’
“Why?”
‘It’s winter where we’re headed.’
“Are you scared?”
‘No. I have no doubt this won’t be easy but I am not scared.’
She wished she wasn’t. Lera moved to her closet and began to pull things from it and toss them on the bed. Soon, there was a pile of things beside the large wolf who lay as if he slept. She sorted through them and packed her bag with what she considered to be necessities.
“How do I overcome my fear?” she asked before she stiffened. Adric’s head popped up, and seconds later, a knock sounded on the front door.
A Love For Lera (Haikon) Page 17
