by Kimber White
Something went through my mother’s eyes. She was, at her core, a predator. Her wolf simmered just beneath her skin. Her eyes went pure silver.
“Mom!” I yelled. She may think this was her only chance, but I knew what dragons could do. One on one, nothing could defeat Avelina.
“Stand down, wolf,” Avelina said. “Listen to your daughter. For my son’s sake I’ll let you both live.”
“Lucia, go!” Dad yelled. “Get Ash out of here!”
My mother moved past Avelina. Xander took a ready stance as she got near me. Then, I caught Loch’s eyes.
“No,” I whispered. “I’m not leaving them.”
Loch put a hand on my shoulder. “Take your mother and go topside. This is between my mother and us now.”
“What?” I jerked away from him. “That is my father and brother she wants to incinerate.”
“Trust me,” he mouthed the words and gestured upward with his eyes.
I didn’t want to leave. My mother stood her ground. “If you think I’m leaving my husband and son to all of you…”
“Ash,” Loch said. “Tell her everything. Tell Finn and Gideon too. Go!”
“Go!” My father shouted in unison with Loch.
I saw the anguish in my mother’s face. The choice. In her mind, she was deciding whether to save her husband and son over her daughter. As much as it tore me in half, I knew Loch was right. And I trusted that he’d keep his word. He would not let his mother carry out her threats.
“Come on,” I said, keeping my eyes locked with my mate’s. “Well go up, but we’re not leaving.”
I took my mother’s hand and we walked up and out of the cave together. As soon as the sunlight hit her face, she dropped to her knees. I went to her.
“We have to call the others,” she said. “They’re not far. That crazy woman didn’t think I could sense direction while she...flew. My God, Ash she’s...they’re…”
“Dragons,” I said. My mother got to her feet. “Yes. They’re dragons. Loch too. Brandhart. Avelina is their mother. Loch is one of her five sons. She thinks Dad’s ancestor murdered their father. She thinks he’s bound by some family oath to kill her off.”
My mother started to pace. Connected to Loch now, I could sense his brother Kian still near the stream. He wasn’t alone. Finn and Gideon were out there, though they were giving us a wide berth. I wondered if that was Loch’s doing too.
“She’s mad!” my mother said. “She’s a lunatic.”
On the surface, it sure looked that way. But, because of Loch, I could feel something else driving her. Avelina was terrified. Traumatized. Whatever she said had happened to her in the past, I believed it. I just had to figure out a way to help Loch talk her down. Part of me wanted to hate the woman. And yet...there was no mistaking her motivation. She thought she was fighting to protect the man I loved, her son.
“Mom,” I said. “Look at me. You have to know. You have to understand. Loch is…”
“Don’t!” she said, her eyes going wild. “I don’t want to hear it.”
She knew. Of course she already knew. I was her daughter. She was a shifter. I said it anyway.
“Loch is mine,” I said. “We’re mated.”
She put a hand up as if she could ward off my words with it. “No. Not him. Not...he’s a dragon?”
“Yes,” I said. “And I trust him. You of all people should know why.”
“You don’t have to be. He can’t force you.”
My mother was glorious. Tall, regal. She fought for her family with every ounce of fierceness that Avelina had. And like Avelina, she couldn’t deny what was right in front of her face.
“It’s no different than what happened with you and Dad,” I said. My mother and I had always been close, but now I understood her in a deeper way. The story...the legend the Blackfoot shifters liked to tell was how my mother made the ultimate, romantic sacrifice to be with my father. She’d gone up against the Wild Lake packs and risked her brother’s wrath. Now, I knew it was no sacrifice at all. It was simply fate and love.
She turned, tears spilling from her eyes. “Ash…”
“I love him,” I said. “And it’s already happened. Loch claimed me. I claimed him. I love him. And we have to figure out a way to make this all right. No matter what his mother thinks, Loch isn’t going to let her kill Dad and Will.”
“You said there were five of them,” she said. There was movement through the trees. The rest of the Brandhart brothers were listening. I just hoped Loch had managed to get a message to them.
One of the brothers came through the clearing. He looked so much like Loch it startled me and stoked my heart. He was different enough though as he drew near. Where Loch’s hair was light brown, his brother’s was almost black. His brother’s eyes were a brilliant hazel. I felt Loch’s presence and knew I was about to meet his brother, Gideon.
My mother had no such familiarity. She acted on instinct, dropping low to the ground. She shifted. Her silvery tail went up. Her fangs came out.
“Easy, wolf,” Gideon said. “I’m not here to hurt you. I uh...I think I’m actually here to help.”
I put a hand on my mother’s back, sinking my fingers into her coarse fur. She snapped her jaw, not wanting Gideon to come any closer. Behind him, Kian and Finn stayed close but hidden. If my mother in her wolf got a whiff of Kian’s dragon, I wasn’t sure she could keep from attacking. And he would likely kill her. Gideon seemed to understand the danger. He kept a deliberate distance, halfway between me and my mother, and his brothers behind him.
“I’m Ash,” I said. “And I hope you’re not too late.”
Gideon’s shoulders dropped. He knew. Of course he knew. “Well, hell,” he said. “I guess we’re all in for a fight.”
“Can you help?” I asked. “Can you get your mother to listen to reason?”
“A Jeger,” Gideon said. “My brother has gone and mated with a Jeger.”
Another growl cut through the air. Gideon’s eyes went wide. Two wolves burst through the tree line. They were enormous. An easy match for my mother. Two Alphas.
“Andre!” Gideon said. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Saliva dripped from my mother’s fangs. She stalked them, circling around me. One of the other wolves snapped the air. God, he was big. Silver with streaks of white. Siberian.
My mother sniffed the air. Time froze. Then, my mother sat back on her haunches and let out a keening whine. Shit. She knew him.
The silver and white wolf howled. He nudged his companion. The two of them dropped back to the cover of the trees.
My mother shifted. The dress she’d been wearing had fallen to the ground when her wolf came out. I tossed it to her. As soon as she covered herself, the two wolves came back, shifted to human. It was an older and younger man. A father and son.
“Andre,” Mom said, her expression flat.
Andre was the older of the two. He was handsome, tall, formidable with thick white hair. He had just a few streaks of black left in it.
“Hello, Lucia,” Andre said, his eyes sparking with mischief. “You remember my son Milo.”
“I didn’t think anyone heard me,” Mom said.
Gideon’s expression changed. His face fell. “Heard you?”
My mother straightened your back. “I’m not without allies, Brandhart. The Kalenkov wolves and I go way back. I don’t want a war with you. As far as I’m concerned, you and your brothers can go back into hiding. As long as you leave my family alone. If you don’t, every shifter in Blackfoot will know what you are. I’ll share your secret.”
“Uh...Lucia...you should,” Andre Kalenkov stepped forward. Gideon had a smirk on his face.
“Lucia,” Andre said. “My daughter Grace...she’s Gideon Brandhart’s mate.”
My mother reeled with the news. She took a step toward me. “You knew. Andre? You knew there were dragons? You didn’t…”
“It’s a long story,” he said. “But yes. My daughter is mated t
o Gideon. And yes, I did hear your call. Others did too. We have a problem, Gideon. A big one.”
“Oh, God,” I said. “Mom...you didn’t…” The ramifications of what she’d done washed over me. My mother may not have been part of a pack anymore, but she had enough pack allies through the Yukon, Alaska, and Russia to send a signal if she wanted. She’d done it. She’d sent a message asking for help.
“How many?” Gideon turned to Andre, realizing the same thing I did. “How many are coming?”
“I’m not sure,” Andre said. “I’ve called off the Russian packs. But Avelina’s underestimated Lucia. I’ve gotten word there are three Canadian packs on their way. It’s bad, Gideon. Very bad.”
Gideon doubled over. Finn came through the trees. He’d heard it all.
“Mom, what did you do?” I asked, except I already knew. My mother had sent out a call. There were plenty of shifters out there who heard. One word from her and every wolf shifter in the western hemisphere would know that dragons were real and she knew exactly where to find them.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Loch
“Loch, we’ve got a problem.”
Gideon’s voice slammed into my brain. Xander heard it too. We exchanged a look. We’d reached a stalemate with my mother. She hadn’t tried to kill the Yeagers yet, but neither would she agree to let them go.
Before I could send a message to Gideon asking what in God’s name had possibly gone wrong now, I got my answer in the form of one keyed up Alpha wolf named Andre Kalenkov. As he emerged through the darkness, I thought for an instant my mother might blast him to ash too. Then, I’d have a family war on two fronts. Andre was Gideon’s father-in-law and Alpha to one of the most important alliances we had. The Kalenkov wolves were the only other shifters on the planet who knew our secret. With Andre’s presence, my heart turned cold as I began to understand what had Gideon alarmed.
“Avelina!” Andre shouted. His voice cut through to her at the last second. She turned, sending her blast of flame harmlessly to the roof of the cavern.
“What are you doing here?” Avelina said. “Andre, this is a family matter.”
Andre raised a brow. “And aren’t we all family now too, Ave?” Ave? I’d never heard anyone call my mother by any kind of nickname. Xander caught my eye. Christ. That was a mystery I’d have to unravel some other day.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Avelina said. “Unless Grace sent you. Is she well? She’s supposed to stay with Gemma until I get back.”
My mother’s face paled. Gemma, Finn’s wife, was due to deliver their baby any day now. Andre put a hand up. “Enough. Come of out the darkness, Avelina. You need to know why I’m here. And you should have sought my counsel on this before you locked Clint Yeager in a cage. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Nobody but nobody spoke to my mother that way. I braced myself for another column of flame from her. Instead, there were tears in my mother’s eyes. God. I’d prepared myself for her fire and fury. I hadn’t counted on her powerful sadness.
Andre went to her. For a moment, it looked like he might embrace her. But, he surprised me by moving past her and heading straight for Clint.
“Lucia’s safe,” Andre said. It was the exact right thing to say. Clint Yeager visibly relaxed. For the first time since I came down here, he seemed more in control of his tiger. Will, of course, wasn’t.
“Get her far away from here,” Clint said. “I entrust her to you. Get her back to her brother’s pack.”
Andre titled his head. His face broke into a smile. “And if you think she’d go, you don’t know your wife very well.”
“Avelina,” Andre said. “Did you not understand what this man’s wife was before you threw her family in cages?”
Avelina was dumbstruck.
“I know what he is,” she said. “And you’re the last person I should have to explain it to. You know the history as well as I.”
Ash came back into the cavern, followed by Finn and Gideon. Lucia wisely stayed out of sight. Kian likely had a close eye on her.
Andre let out a sigh. “Clint, Avelina has a grievance.”
“Wait a minute,” Ash said. I put a gentle hand on her arm. No way was I going to let her walk in between my mother and her father. Andre saw me react. He gave me a nod, his message clear. He wanted me to leave it to him to try and diffuse this particular bomb.
Clint clenched his teeth. “I’ve had it up to here with this psychopath’s grievance.”
The next growl came from me. Again, Andre put up a hand.
“Christoph Jeger was butcher,” Andre said. “His sons and grandsons and grandsons after that. They single-handedly wiped out three of the greatest dragon houses, including the Vales. That was Avelina’s family name before she married into the House of Brandhart. He thought they’d taken out the Brandharts, but as you can see, that’s not true.”
“These are stories, legends,” Clint said. “I never even knew my father, let alone my grandfather. I wasn’t raised by Yeagers. It’s just a name. I have no quarrel with Brandharts. At least, I didn’t until today. Now, I’m beginning to understand what my ancestor’s point was.”
Avelina blasted fire. It danced around Clint’s feet. Will charged the cage bars.
“Let them free,” Andre said. “The cages are pointless. Everyone here knows if you wanted to take him out, you could do it with one breath. You’re no match for her, Clint. Neither am I.”
It was an ingenious challenge, aimed right at my mother’s ego. It was true. My mother could handle a pair of tiger shifters with her eyes closed. The cages had just been so she could prove a point.
My mother didn’t stop Andre when he came to her. She didn’t stop him when he took the keys from her hand. And she didn’t stop him when he unlocked Clint Yeager’s cage. Yeager came out, walking slowly. He jerked his chin toward Will. Andre unlocked his cage next.
Will lunged at my mother. Andre shouted. Clint tried to grab his son by the scruff of his neck. Ash screamed. Gideon, Xander, Finn, and I acted in unison. We blasted a wall of fire between Will’s tiger and Avelina.
“Loch!” Ash yelled. “Don’t hurt him.”
Will Yeager got the message. Tail down, he moved to stand beside his father.
“Loch,” Ash said. “Do something!”
I did. As soon as the flames burned out, I went to my mother. Sweat poured from her brow. Her chest heaved as she tried to draw air. Grief colored her eyes and seared through my heart.
“Mother,” I said. “It has to end. Today.”
“You’ll understand when it’s your own children at risk,” she said.
“Then you understand that what I do, I do for mine!”
Lucia had crept quietly back into the cavern. She stood at the mouth of the cave, a soft wind lifted her hair. Her eyes glinted silver.
“Kalenkov asked you if you understood who my mother was,” Ash said to Avelina. I held her against me. I wanted the message clear. Avelina would literally have to go through me to get to her.
“And I told you, I have no quarrel with the McGraw wolves,” my mother said. “If you leave quietly.”
“That’s just the thing, Avelina,” Lucia said. “There’s nothing quiet about me.”
Clint let out a low, rumbling growl. He sensed his mate’s danger. We were inside a powder keg. One wrong move, the whole cavern would ignite.
“She-wolves aren’t like their mates,” Andre said. “Lucia can send a telepathic message to any wolf pack she chooses, no matter where they are. She’s done exactly that. She had no way to know our connection. But, her words reached me, Avelina. They reached others too.”
“If you want me to keep your secret,” Lucia said, “you let my family go.”
“Christ,” I muttered as her meaning became clear. It turned out my mother had let the wrong member of the Yeager family go. Lucia was more powerful than them all. One moment. One message and every shifter in the world would know about us.
“No!
” Ash said. “Mom, you can’t do that. You know what dragons can do. Avelina’s wrong about Dad, but she’s right about everything else.”
Lucia and Avelina moved, standing on opposite sides of the circle. Clint and Will stood beside Lucia. My brothers and I closed ranks around Avelina.
Avelina’s fire. Lucia’s mind. Two shifter mothers ready to protect their own. Each one could bring about mutually assured destruction.
Then, there was Ash. She peeled herself out from under my arm. I made a move toward her. She locked eyes with me. She said the thing I’d been telling her since pretty much the day I met her.
“Trust me.”
“Mom,” Ash said. “I told you the truth. You know it in your heart. Dad? Loch and I are mated. We’re fated. It’s not random. It’s bigger than the two of us, and now I understand why. It was for this. This exact moment.”
“Alecia, get behind me,” Clint said. He couldn’t accept it. His fury clouded what his eyes could see.
“Avelina,” Ash said. I reached for her. My dragon simmered. She held up a hand, warding me back.
“Avelina,” Ash whispered. My mother’s eyes burned ice blue. “Look at me. You can see what I am. You can feel it.”
Silver tears fell from my mother’s face. Ash was brave. I felt my fire rising.
My mate stood before my mother. Slowly, she reached out. She took Avelina’s hands in hers. She brought them to her own face.
Something happened. It was as if the air were sucked from the room. My vision spun. Avelina’s hair rose on a breeze although we were deep underground.
My mother’s mouth dropped open. Ash’s eyes filled with tears. Avelina was seeing something. One of her visions.
Lucia’s wolf growled. Will’s roar echoed through the cave. But, in the center of it all, my mother and my mate were the eye of the storm.
“Is it real?” Ash cried. “Did you do that?”
Avelina jerked her hands away from Ash. She staggered backward. Finn was closest. He caught my mother before she crumpled to the ground.
“Magnus,” she cried. “Oh my God. Magnus!”
