by Leia Stone
Kai was right. Tara would have to suffer so Max could live in peace.
“Max, please leave, this is a personal matter between Tara and I,” I told him.
Max looked skeptically at me. “Okay, but she should be offered a safe pack.”
Kai nodded. “I will call Shamus.”
Max frowned. He nodded to Tara and walked off.
When he was out of earshot Tara began to cry. “I’m sorry, I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about him. About my life, my future. I have no future. If he is my mate, but he won’t recognize it, then I will always be alone. I will never bear children. My life. My happiness. It won’t come.”
Kai looked at her sadly.
“No, it’s just going to take some time for us to figure out how to tell him.” I told her.
Kai looked at me. How did you tell a werewolf that he actually had two mates and his previous wife wasn’t ‘the one.’
Kai placed a hand on her shoulder. “I have a good friend who is the Alpha of the Seattle pack. It’s a three-hour drive. You will be safe with him. He treats females with respect. He took in another one of our females a few months ago.”
I had to suppress a growl. That female, Sadie, was Kai’s ex-girlfriend of five years. We didn’t exactly get along, but I did find her mate for her.
Tara lowered her head in submission and nodded.
“You sure you don’t want to go back to India?” he asked her a final time.
She tipped her head up this time, defiantly. “No, I want to be near him.”
Oh my God. My heart hurt for her. There had to be a way to help her. To make Max see that you could have two mates.
‘Kai, this is sad.’
‘I know,’ he agreed.
“Well, get settled with Shamus’ pack and we will see you in two months. The Seattle pack is invited to our mating ceremony.” Kai offered.
She looked a little happier at that.
Kai put in a call to Shamus and told him of the situation. He happily agreed to take her in. Caring for a female was a great honor in werewolf society.
“Does my father know you came here?” Kai asked her.
She nodded. “Why do you think I look like this? He nearly caged me. I had to force a break in the bond.”
Kai winced. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged and held her arms to her chest.
“Shamus is coming to get you. He will be here in a couple of hours. Until then, you can lie down inside.” He gestured to our house. She thanked him and walked away, making her way inside with her head hung low.
“What’s forcing the bond?” I asked Kai in a whisper. Werewolf culture was still new to me. I was learning as I went.
“You saw what happened when I cast Sadie out?” he asked.
I nodded at the memory. He had swiped her belly with his wolf paw and cast her out. I had felt her energy leave the pack bonds.
“Well, that was me willingly letting her leave the pack. If an Alpha is unwilling, she must force it. It’s painful and hard to rip your energy away from an Alpha, especially an Alpha as strong as my father. She must be very strong. She will feel depression and physical pain until Shamus takes her into his pack and fills the holes my father left. The only thing more painful is the feeling you get when your mate dies.”
I shuddered at that last thought. I didn’t want to think of Kai dying. Ever. Kai didn’t have the greatest feelings for his father, but I saw a different side of him. His father had spoken privately to me and talked about how proud of Kai he was. He wanted nothing but the best for him, but would never tell him so. Werewolf Alpha pride.
“Well, women in love will do crazy things and can be stronger than you think. Listen, I need to pack some things for my trip with Nahuel. Will you be okay to sort this thing out with Tara?”
“If I say no, will you stay?” He rubbed circles on my arm with this thumb. The sensual touch gave me chills.
I gave him a look that said no.
He sighed. “Of course I’ll be fine. Go on your spiritual trip or whatever. Guru Aurora.”
I smacked his arm and laughed. “Shut up.”
He looked my body up and down, finally settling on my lips. “I’ll miss you.”
I grinned at his meaning. I trailed my finger from his stubbly chin to his belt buckle. “Likewise.”
He growled. As I went to walk inside he grabbed my hand. “If you keep teasing me like that, I might just have to take you before our wedding night.” His eyes were yellow. The gentleman had left the building, the lusty wolf in his place.
My belly dropped like I was on a roller coaster. “Promise?”
He huffed. “Get out of here before I lock you up in my bedroom and don’t let you leave.”
“That sounds fun.” I flirted and ran up the stairs, knowing his eyes were on my rear.
Men.
Canada
I packed some extra clothes and snacks in a backpack and a water bottle. I had no idea what Nahuel had planned for our trip or what this “test” entailed.
When his knock at the door came, I jumped up. I was feeling nervous about what the test would require of me. Kai walked past me quickly and opened the door, obscuring my view. I sighed. Alpha males.
“Shaman,” Kai nodded. I could barely see over Kai’s broad shoulders.
“Alpha,” Nahuel spoke. I wasn’t sure if these two had ever used each other’s names.
“Can you ensure that you will keep my mate safe on this little spirit trip of yours?” Kai gave him a stare.
“As safe as I kept her when I helped you get her out of the dark magic dream.” Nahuel returned his jive. Ouch, point taken. Kai growled softly.
I planted a kiss on Kai’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. I’ll come back a Guru and make the whole pack turn vegetarian.” Kai couldn’t hold onto his scowl then. He laughed, his laugh was my most favorite thing about him. It was unique only to Kai.
When I moved to go past him, he grabbed my butt lightly.
‘I like those jeans,’ he told me.
‘You should see what they look like crumpled on the floor,’ I retorted.
He huffed. ‘You’re asking for it.’
‘Yep.’
The sexual tensions between Kai and I had definitely been building. I trusted him, I did, but I was still scared to fully let my walls down. Why? Why did I do this in my relationships?
“Aurora?” Nahuel was asking me something. We had reached his beat up Chevy truck.
“Oh, what?” I asked him.
He smirked as if he knew I was flirting with Kai inside my head.
“It will be a five-hour drive to the border and then another half hour to the ceremony site.” We got in the car. Kai was peering at me through the doorway.
‘Be good. Text me often.’ he told me.
‘Check in on Alexa,’ I told him, as we pulled out the driveway. As we drove further away from the mountain, I felt my bond with Kai weaken.
“So what does this ceremony entail?”
Nahuel was a hard character to figure out. He spoke in riddles, maybe I could get to know him better on this drive.
“It involves a guided journey to the spirit world and then a deep review of the elements of your soul,” he said plainly.
“Wow, Okay. Sounds serious.” I wiped my palms on my skinny jeans.
Nahuel glanced at me. “It is serious, Aurora. I hope you are okay with what you find out.”
My heart picked up. “You’re scaring me a little,” I confessed.
His hands lay on the steering wheel lightly, they were littered with chunky silver and turquoise rings. His long brown ponytail was speckled with grey hairs and tied back with a piece of leather.
“I don’t mean to scare you. Just want to prepare you a little. A Devi has a complicated life path. The Devi has one clear, direct goal, the human soul has other things on their mind. The two can conflict, but the Devi always wins.”
I felt genuine terror. I watched a show once about a spirit po
ssessing an eight-year-old boy. It literally pushed him over a glass coffee table. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen. Although everyone told me a Devi would be a positive thing, I wasn’t so sure.
“Do you think I am a Devi?” I respected his opinion. He hadn’t led me astray yet.
He glanced at me. “I know you are.”
His blatant admission caught me off guard.
“But you need to see for yourself. You need to see the greater picture.”
I clutched my grey wool coat around my neck and stared out the window in silence for the rest of the trip. The fog was rolling in on the mountain and with it, a depression rolled into me. I needed to have control over my life. If I couldn’t, I would go crazy. No one was having a say in what I did but me. I was a black belt in martial arts, I would kick this Devis ass if I had to.
We crossed the border into Canada without an issue. You hadn’t seen the beauty of the American country until you had driven the length of the Pacific Northwest. From Vancouver, Canada down through Seattle, Washington, over to Portland, Oregon and then the Oregon Coast. That was a drive every person should make before they died. So much green, life, vitality. We were heading down a side road into densely packed forest. It was pitch black out, the Chevy’s headlights illuminated the massive trees around us. Nahuel took a hidden right turn that I hadn’t seen and all of a sudden the forest thinned into a small manicured acre. There was a fire going, two large canvas teepee tents stood on the property and another dome structure. No house, no bathroom, just the fire and the tents.
An older woman was stoking the fire. Nahuel parked the truck on a patch of gravel and moss. I got out of the truck pulling my scarf over my hair to keep the cold out. I groaned a little, stretching my back after the long drive.
The older woman made her way over to me. She wore traditional native dress and her deep brown eyes were hidden under a bed of wrinkles.
“Hi.” I waved at her awkwardly. I hadn’t expected anyone else to be here. I extended my hand. She smiled and touched my forehead with powder, not taking my hand, but giving me a hug instead.
“Welcome, young one, it is an honor. Call me Alma.” Some of the powder fell onto my nose. I wrinkled it to get it off. She swiped ash across Nahuel’s forehead and gave him a long hug.
“Alma.” He bowed to her.
“She has a fierce spirit. That’s why her eyes are so blue. Much water in this one.” she told Nahuel.
He nodded. “She’s stubborn too.”
I cleared my throat awkwardly. It was weird to be talked about when you were right there. But she was old enough to be my grandmother so I wasn’t going to argue.
“Come, child. Let’s clean you up.” She gestured for me to follow her.
I looked down at my clothes. Dark skinny jeans tucked into brown leather boots and a nice wool pea coat. My hair was washed and I had make-up on. I looked pretty clean. We walked over to the larger dome structure. Now that we were closer, I could see that it was a bunch of bent branches with tarps and rugs draped over it. Alma took my backpack and suggested I remove my coat.
“It’s chilly,” I told her.
“You will not be cold in my sweat ceremony. Trust me. Coat, sweater, and boots off. And change into this long skirt, it’s much more comfortable.” She handed me a folded skirt and flicked her wrist indicating I hurry. Okay. Nahuel pulled off his shirt so that he was in a thin tank top. For a forty-something guy, he looked pretty buff. My eyes rested on his jaguar tattoo. I wondered if there was story with that. I peered inside the tent and saw smoking stones. Okay, when in Rome. …
I took off most of my clothes and changed quickly into the skirt while Nahuel turned his back. I was shivering.
Alma came to me with a smile. “You are my guest here. I want you to know that no harm can come to your spirit while you are here. It is safe to be free and be powerful in my presence. It is safe to cleanse yourself of anything that is contaminating your spirit. It is safe to explore your life path. This is a place of refuge.”
Something about her words, her tone of voice, called to something deep inside of me. All of a sudden, I was grateful to be here, for this opportunity. How many of us took time to mentally cleanse ourselves? To ponder our path in life? We were all too busy with trivial things. Working to make money, to buy a house, to pay off a car. We were working to retire. Why couldn’t we just take some time to really live? Why couldn’t we just stop and go into the forest and sit in a teepee with no electricity or bathrooms and discover ourselves?
I bowed deeply. “Thank you,” I told her honestly. I understood why Nahuel said that Kai couldn’t come. As much as I loved him, this was my journey and mine alone. I walked inside the dome structure. Some red hot stones were in the center of the room, dug into the ground. The dome was about ten feet in diameter. Three feet away from the stones was hard packed earth, but the rest of the area around the edges was blanketed with thick, soft moss. In the back of the dome was an altar. I saw an eagle feather, sage bundle, and other trinkets.
I sat cross legged on the ground as Alma brought a smoking sage bundle over to me. She waved it over my body, chanting in a language I didn’t understand. I saw mist hover over Alma’s hands. She was doing magic and probably didn’t even know.
Nahuel sat next to me and took a deep breath as Alma cleansed him. Alma went over to a clay basin and took a ladle full of water. She poured it over the stones. Hot steam began to rise up. Alma closed the flap over the door to encase the steam inside.
“Sky Father, Earth Mother, Ancestors, Great Creator Spirit. We are grateful for all you give us. We are grateful for your guidance. We are grateful for your presence now to cleanse Aurora and prepare her for her Vision Quest tomorrow.”
She splashed more water on the stones and steam rose up. I was beginning to feel hot.
Nahuel leaned into me and whispered, “We will go four rounds of thirty minutes each. At any time if you need to leave, just tell me. But, if you can stay four rounds, you will benefit greatly and I will be impressed.” He also indicated a jug of water for drinking. Well, say no more, I liked a challenge. I was going to try to go the four rounds.
Alma chanted. Every time her voice went deeper, I could feel my skin buzzing. The first round went fairly easily. It was like hot yoga. My mind was racing with thoughts about Kai, our wedding, the vampires, and Emma.
Alma opened the door for a quick moment and the blast of cold air refreshed me. Then she returned with more hot rocks from the fire outside. She closed the flap after arranging them. Round two.
Round two was completely silent. I was beginning to get bored, when I started to contemplate why I was here. Not here in this tent, but here on Earth? If reincarnation was real then why would I come back? Earth kind of sucked. People were raped, killed and lots of other horrible things. Why would I choose to come to Earth? I was sweating profusely. I even felt a little dizzy. I drank some water and tried to push thoughts of leaving the ceremony out of my head. Alma opened the flap and came back with more rocks.
Round three. Alma went to her altar and brought a stick to Nahuel. It was painted and had carvings on it. He grabbed the stick and thanked Alma. “Spirit, I ask for guidance about my path. The world has become unbalanced. The humans take too much from Earth Mother, they pollute Sky Father. The vampires have grown out of control in their quest to dominate. The werewolves have suffered from my people’s curse and cannot breed to grow their numbers. Help me to help Aurora. Help me guide her and protect her. Help me restore balance to our precious teacher, Earth Mother. Thank you.”
Tears had sprung up in my eyes. I didn’t think I had any liquid left. Nahuel cared about everything and everyone. He was a nice man. I was honored to be his friend. He handed me the stick. I guess it was my turn.
“Spirit, I don’t know you very well. I don’t know much about any of this, but I do want good things for the earth. I care about animals and humans. I care about werewolves and their fate. Please help me figure out why I am
here and how I can be of the most service. Put me where you know I need to be.” I was about to hand the stick to Alma when the flap to the tent rattled and I was sucked into a vision.
Nahuel was by my side. We were staring inside of a window of someone’s home. I looked at Nahuel with alarm. “Is this real? What’s happening?”
“Shhh,” He told me. “Spirit is showing you something, pay attention.”
