by Hazel Gower
Griffen closed his eyes and concentrated on his link to Ava and followed that link to Logan. Lust and desire flowed off Logan in waves toward his sister. Shivering, Griffen growled at him. “Ew, thanks for that…not. Ava is my sister. That is just gross to feel.”
Logan’s laugh was deep and shook his frame. The women turned around to look at him, and Ava raised her brow at Logan. “What are you doing to my brother now?”
Logan tried for an innocent look, but he couldn’t pull that off if his life depended on it. He batted his eyelids, hunched his shoulders, and pouted his lips. Sara and Pet broke out into a fit of laughter, and Griffen basked in the happy sound.
“It’s time to go, Pet.” Griffen thought it best to leave on a good note before anything started with the pack.
We take mate home. We mate her. Make her ours fully. His wolf howled in his head.
Pet walked over to him, and he threaded his fingers through hers. It was time to stop caring how the pack felt about Pet and to stop scrutinizing everything she did and start acting like her mate. He needed to let his wolf take over more.
* * * *
Holding hands was the first step to getting more intimate with his mate. It had been several weeks since he’d found her, and they barely touched, unless he was in his wolf form. With her history, he was cautious of how to be intimate with her.
Pet had been quiet since they arrived home, but he could tell she was thinking. She was still, inhumanly still. When she thawed she would always talk or say something that was important. So, he waited.
It was hours later—longer than she’d ever been still for before—when she came undone. This time was different too, she came out of her trance with a jolt, jumped up from the lounge, and came to him so they were face to face. “I want to meet Faith.” She ran her fingers through her hair.
Griffen shook his head before Pet had even finished talking. There was no way anyone would let Pet near Faith, mate of his or not. They didn’t trust her.
“I’d let you, but my family won’t.” Kane definitely wouldn’t. He was annoyed with Griffen, and he could feel that afternoon that Kane was more stressed than usual with his son and being the alpha of the pack, or that was what it felt like. Now wasn’t the time to try to get Pet to meet Faith.
Yes, she must meet Faith. We take her. His wolf growled in his head and begged to be set free. But the time wasn’t right for his wolf to come out.
Pet’s face fell, her shoulders drooped, and her lips turned down in a huge frown. He felt sick for denying her, especially when she never asked for anything, but what she asked for right now wasn’t something he could give her. Faith was the most protected and loved woman in the pack. Not only would Kane not let Pet see Faith, but the pack wouldn’t either.
His heart broke when she didn’t argue, just nodded her head and went to her room.
Fuck, so much for wanting to take it further with her.
* * * *
Kane needed him. Griffen could feel his frustration and a sense of helplessness. He hesitated as Pet hadn’t left her room since she asked to see Faith—well, except to go to the bathroom—and he was hesitant to leave her, but he knew she would be okay for a couple of hours. His brother needed him, so he changed to his wolf and ran to Kane’s house. He was out front pacing back and forth in his wolf form. The stress flowed off him in waves. Griffen didn’t need to feel it through the pack bond to know.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kane growled as he changed back to human form, and Griffen followed suit.
“I’ve kept away long enough. Your anger and frustration is eating at me, and this is unfair as it’s affecting my own relationship.”
“Ha, your mate. Do you know the problem your mate has been causing me? So much hate. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it.” Kane ran his fingers through his hair, and it looked like he was about to pull it out.
“I feel it. I’m not here about her though. I’m here for you.” Griffen studied his brother. He looked like shit: black, heavy bags under his eyes, his skin pale, and he’d lost weight. “Kane, I’m here for you.” He gathered his brother close to him and hugged him.
“She’s starting to get bad again. Our son…” he groaned. “Faith’s not here anymore. She doesn’t know what day it is. I don’t know what to do,” he mumbled against Griffen.
Faith was the only person who could block Griffen, and lately she had been doing that. Maybe Pet did need to see Faith.
Chapter 2
Pet
It had been a couple of months and Pet was still sleeping alone. Every night she felt Griffen come in and just stare at her. He kept his boundaries. Pet was sure by now he would have noticed their differences, like her pointed ears, her eyes that changed colors, and her skin. She tried to keep her skin looking human and her eyes either brown or hazel. Her natural yellow gold eyes and her shimmery rainbow, almost translucent, skin kept coming through, and she had to hide and gather herself. She’d never had to keep up her chameleon state for as long as she had since being with Griffen. She knew if she did what she needed to do and gave Faith what she deserved, then she wouldn’t be able to hold human form for long at all.
She turned the volume up on the romance audiobook and wished Griffen saw her the way the hero in the novel did. Sure, she was his mate, but he’d never even kissed her like she’d seen the other males do to their mates. Some nights lately she dreamed of kissing him. She imagined all the different ways he gave her the first kiss she wanted. Ever since she started dreaming of Griffen and seeing all the possible outcomes she daydreamed, wished, and hoped for the best, or in other words, the outcome that would get her her heart’s desire.
The voice in her ears announced the next chapter, and she turned it off and listened to the quiet house, making sure Griffen was asleep. Sitting up in bed, she got out from underneath the covers and stripped out of her nightgown. It was time. Pet knew she couldn’t put off seeing Faith any longer. From what Remy and Ava had told her, Faith’s sanity was almost gone and she couldn’t control what fate she ‘saw’ or how far into the future she ‘saw’ or how many different outcomes.
Pet allowed her skin to become translucent. It was the skin she was the most comfortable in. Opening the window, she climbed out and ran to the forest, climbing the first tree and camouflaging with it as she swung from tree to tree, making her way to Faith and Kane’s house. In this form she had suction grips on her fingers and her body was covered in a protective, rough hair. Her people were chameleons and were meant to be in nature and blend with it. She felt like she was home. Pet took her time, enjoying the free feeling.
With the strong noses of the shifters, her scent was the hardest thing to hide. Her scent had changed; before Griffen had bitten her, she could have hidden her scent, but his bite changed her a little. It made it easy for Pet to stay in human form, and it gave her a scent as she didn’t really have one before she mated Griffen.
Two look-out wolves caught her scent, but with her camouflage she stayed safe. What would have taken fifteen to twenty minutes, if she was a friend and could have walked and been invited in, took her over an hour and a half. It was better safe than sorry, and right now she was already betraying her mate’s trust by going behind his back to do this.
It wasn’t easy for Pet to get in the house. She used her skills and had never been more grateful in her life for being an Enewu. Faith was in a room, sitting at a table and staring at a camera that was recording everything she said. Faith looked a wreck. Her brownish red hair was in a messy mass of knots around her face, and her skin looked a sickly white. Gazing around the place, Pet saw that no one else was in the room, but it was covered with discs, papers, and white boards. It was worse than anything Pet could have imagined or thought she could have ‘seen’.
Pet came away from the wall slowly and became a human with creamy white skin. She made her way to Faith with her hands raised. “You have to stop, Faith. If this world is to win the fight, you need my help. You need to b
ecome what you’re prophesized to be, and for that to happen, I have to help by giving you something.” Pet repeated this a couple of times quietly and then got louder.
Faith didn’t seem to notice her at first. Once she did, she blinked rapidly and then her eyes went wide. She stared for a moment before her mouth fell open for just a second, then she blinked again and snapped it shut. “You’re not human,” she mumbled.
Moving closer, keeping her hands raised, Pet showed her the suckers on her hands and toes. She lowered one hand down and tucked her hair behind her ear, and lastly Pet changed her eyes to a gold color. Faith didn’t scream or move from her, and Pet took that as a good sign.
“I’m Enewu. I only know what I’ve seen and what little my mother told me in visions and what I’ve seen of my people, but I’m from a planet the demons destroyed.”
Faith shook her head and stood, coming to Pet. “How? Who else knows this?”
“You are the only one.” Pet sighed. “I don’t have much time before someone checks on you. So I need to do what I came to do and tell you what you need to know.”
Faith stared at her for a long time, not saying anything. Then she cried out, “Why have I known from the start that you are good? Why did I ask Remy to help you? Why? What have you done to me?” She whispered the last question.
With her yell, Pet knew she didn’t have much time, so she ran to Faith and grabbed her in an embrace. “I am sorry, Faith. You need more power to help control your own, and I need—no, I want less.” Closing her eyes, Pet dug deep and said in her own language, “E ianoto senoro quiente frio weelono assna beensa. I give you freely some of my strength and gift. Klenzo rexno senoro aalonp. Take what you must.” Pet let her grip loosen and felt her gift and strength seep out of her. Opening her eyes, she smiled at Faith. “This will help you gain control. You need to stop seeing visions and live in the here and now too. You are important, not just to this world, but you have a family you deserve to love and enjoy.”
Faith screamed, but before the noise even left her mouth the door was flung open and Kane stormed in with a white wolf following. Pet watched as they stared in shock at what they were seeing—Pet in her true form, her golden eyes, snow-white hair, pointed ears, and skin that went translucent and then tried to go chameleon.
“Holy fucking shit! What is it?” Kane yelled as he ran to Faith and tried to yank them apart.
The white wolf knew who Pet was, he and Kane just didn’t know what Pet was.
Faith gasped, and together they had a vision of Pet’s home world, of her mother pregnant with her and being taken. It was then of the demons destroying Pet’s world. The vision showed the lush paradise her world had been before the demons, and her people and their abilities, then it showed them what the demons had done to her mother and what they’d then done to Pet. It revealed what was done when she didn’t obey. It displayed when she tried to help another world, not so different from this one, but still ended up with the same destruction. It revealed that shifters weren’t originally from this world. It showed that the shifters were an ancient race that became protectors against the demons when they defeated them from their world. The vision stopped on the many visions she’d seen of Faith and the shifters of this world and two others defeat the demons. When they came out of it, Pet let go and so did Faith. Pet dropped to the ground, drained.
With very little energy left, Pet gazed up at Faith and smiled. “Remember what I said. I have given you the power to control what you see so you don’t see a bunch of maybes, you will only see the right one, and you can control who and what you want to see. The prophecy is fulfilled. You need to start living now, not just for everyone in the world, but for your family, because when you win the war, and I believe and have faith that you will.” She smiled wide at the irony. “Your name is so appropriate. Because you are worth everyone’s faith.” Pet let Faith take what she needed because Pet had more faith in her than anyone. “You need to live your life and have the love and memories that you’re missing out on now.”
Darting her gaze over to the white wolf, Pet frowned and shivered with a cold that seemed to seep into her bones. For the first time in weeks, she felt alone.
“I’m sorry. I don’t deserve you, Griffen, but I have loved you from the first vision I saw of you. I’m going to be out for a while. My body will recharge, and I will go into a coma-like state for a week or so, but I will wake.” To Kane, Pet said the only thing she could, “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused. Faith will be better now. Make sure she does what I advised. Take ca—”
The blackness took over and she let herself fall.
* * * *
Griffen
Running to Pet, Griffen shifted as fast as he could, drawing strength from the pack, and caught his alien mate. Holy shit! His mate wasn’t human.
As he stared down at her, her skin turned from translucent to matching his for a moment and then went clear again, and then it changed like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to stay with. Her eyes were closed, but her hair was falling back away from her face, and for the first time he noticed that her ears were pointy, like a fantasy elf or fairy. How on earth had he missed those? Well, clearly she wasn’t from Earth.
“She’s Enewu,” Faith whispered.
Griffen’s gaze darted from his mate to his sister-in-law. She looked different, but the same. She looked replenished and more with the here and now than she had in almost a year. She looked good.
Kane held Faith to him and rained kisses over her.
“She’s not from this world,” Faith mumbled. “We know the demons come from another world through the portals. There are hundreds, if not thousands of worlds. I only got a glimpse at some.” She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them. “She is from a world the demons conquered and destroyed.” Faith sighed and leaned back against Kane and patted him to stop him from smothering her with kisses. “She is innocent, or as innocent as someone can be when you’ve been tortured for almost a century. The things she endured, no one...” Faith shook her head. “Her people wanted her killed. She was a prophecy that they didn’t want to come true. Her mother hid, but the demons found her. She is the destroyer of worlds.” Faith grunted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to call her that terrible name they gave her. After seeing what she’s been through, I never will.”
Griffen stared at Faith, shocked at what she’d just revealed. His mate was a century old, she’d been tortured, and she was an alien from another world, a prophecy like Faith’s, but not with the happiness. Did he care that she wasn’t human? Was she really his mate or had she used some alien mumbo jumbo on him? He’d always thought shapeshifters were immune to any type of magic or paranormal influence.
Faith punched his arm. “Stop. I can see the wheels in your brain turning. Don’t condemn her. She is your mate.” She raised her brow. “In case that was one of the things you’re questioning. Yes, she’s your mate, but…” She nibbled on her lip and looked down at Pet in his embrace. “You have a human one too. I think. Well, I think from what I got. I could probably focus and find out more. She has given me a huge boost. I can feel power flowing through my veins, and I know she just gave me a gift. I can focus now. I can choose what I see. I will see only one future now, not a bunch of different visions that could come true. It’s like she gave me a machine inside that will control my power.”
“What do you mean by you will only see one future now?” Kane asked.
Faith turned so her back was to Griffen, but she faced Kane. “Fate can change, so I can see a bunch of different outcomes, but there is always one or two of those that are the most probable, like one is ninety-five percent, but the other is ninety-nine point nine. That’s the one I want to see every time, and if fate changes, I want to see the outcome to the change asap. It has never worked like that for me. I see what the fates allow me to see, but what she...” Faith jerked her head at Pet. “...gave me, is like I am fate, or more like, I am there watching the fates weave t
heir threads.” She sighed loudly. “Does that make sense?”
It sounded complicated, and Griffen thought he got it, but his head felt like it was on overload from everything he’d learned. He nodded and answered for Kane. “Yep.”
Looking at his brother and then Faith, he brought his mate against his chest and snuggled her. She didn’t make a sound, but her body instinctively curled against him. As much as he wanted answers to some much needed questions, Griffen knew now wasn’t the time he was going to get them.
He looked down at his mate and then back up at Kane and Faith. “Do I take her back to my...er, our house, or do you want her here?”
Faith placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. She seemed to be back to her old self. “If you’re going to be a douche to her, she can stay here.”
He wasn’t being a douche. He was frustrated and angry that his mate had kept so much from him. He’d had a stranger living with him for weeks. He’d stuck up for, and threatened friends, for someone he knew nothing about. He was the omega and knew most things about everyone in the pack, and yet he knew nothing about his own mate.
Staring at her, everything sank in, and he suddenly felt the need for air, the need to think. He darted his gaze around the room and spotted the bed and went to it and gently placed his mate down. He turned to Faith and Kane. “I need a moment. I’ll be back.”
He didn’t wait for a response. Griffen would be back, he just didn’t know when, and his ‘moment’ might last a while.
* * * *
Griffen was furious with Pet for keeping so much from him. She’d slept for a week, and he couldn’t even bring himself to stay and watch over her. He couldn’t even look at her. He felt so alone and betrayed. They already slept in different bedrooms before he’d found out and seen what she really was, but now she that was awake he didn’t even go into her room. He heard her crying, but couldn’t bring himself to go to her.
