by Dane, Lauren
The scent of the meat rose as Simon put the steaks on the grill. “She’s a big girl, as Lark is so fond of saying. She knows what we are. Her sister is my Ne’est, after all. Helena knows what she wants. If she hadn’t been interested and hadn’t wanted you, she would have punched you in the head and kicked you out of her room.”
Faine guffawed. “They’re a lot alike, I imagine. You appear to be unharmed so you must be doing something right.”
Simon growled. “Infuriating, these Jaansen females. They’ve got a penchant for placing themselves between danger and their people. Drives me nuts.”
“And you wouldn’t have it any other way.” Faine understood it because he felt the same. The danger of what Helena did made him crazy, but he respected her path a great deal.
Simon snorted. “No. It’s an integral part of who she is. One of the reasons I love Lark so much. She’s a warrior. As Helena is a warrior.”
“As we are. But you and I are nearly seven-foot-tall males who share existence with a beast bearing razor sharp teeth and claws. We’ve been bred for what we are in ways they can’t be. They’re far more physically fragile.”
Simon gave one of his infuriatingly calm shoulder shrugs. “That’s all true. The fact that they’re warriors like we are makes it easier—rationally—to accept the danger they put themselves in. But the fact that I love Lark so deeply is always a challenge to ration. But I do and it’s who she is. There’s no way around that, and if I don’t accept it, we can’t be together. Let’s not avoid the fact that you’re not only Lycian.”
Faine blew out a breath. “Yes. She knows my mother is a demoness so it’s not as if it’s a secret. But when is it I’m supposed to bring up that the two halves of my being unite to make me cleave to the right female for life? Especially when she knows I was married at one time and I wasn’t bonded to Lydia?”
“You loved Lydia, yes. But she was human. And you and I both know there’s love and there’s forever love. You didn’t make it up. It simply is. Given that one of your siblings is bonded to her sister, I suppose it means our genetics seem to click with theirs. It’s not a surprise that you’d fall for her. She’s beautiful. Willful. Passionate and fiery about things. And she’s got a most excellent left hook.”
Faine snorted a laugh. “She does. And some other stuff she does, Krav Maga, that stuns me when she does it. She’s so fragile though, just beneath that tough exterior. It calls to me.”
Simon nodded. “And you want to protect her. You know by now that you can only do so much. The Jaansen women are not going to be managed. You have to be sneaky about it. And really? You have to accept the whole package. That means they come home bloody at least once a month. Though lately it’s more. I’m hoping it slows down at some point.”
Faine scrubbed hands over his face. “I want to take her to Lycia. Things are so busy just now it hasn’t been possible. But soon. I want to take her and explain everything.”
“She’s your Ne’est then?”
Lycians weren’t like werewolves in the sense that they didn’t have the same sort of fated mate bond with their partner. Most Lycians had plural marriages. Faine was born when his and Simon’s father had two other wives. Many married or had long-term partnerships. But they had long life spans and they loved and embraced that love. Sometimes it was short term. Sometimes it was longer term, sometimes it meant more than one spouse.
But for some, usually in ruling families, there were special bonds. A voluntary bond that united a couple together for their entire lives. Tila, Faine’s mother, and Cross, his and Simon’s father, had chosen to perform the binding after Simon’s mother had died. Lark was his brother’s Ne’est. His key. Their union was forever and highly respected by their people.
Faine felt that for Helena. And more than that, he was half demon, and demons tended to imprint on mates in the way of cat shifters. Intense attraction and then a voluntary binding. The two parts of Faine’s being had united in their hunger for Helena. He wanted her and he wanted her forever.
It all came down to just how Helena felt about it all.
“She is my Ne’est.” Faine blew out a breath. “Now I just need to convince her of that.”
Simon laughed as he turned the steaks. “Unsolicited advice?”
Faine shrugged. “Always appreciated.”
“They’ve grown up in the human world. Concepts of love are different for them. It took a while for Lark to come around when I first told her she was my key. Even though they’re witches they live in a world of what they can see more than what they can feel when it comes to romance.”
This had occurred to him. It had been a positive when he’d interacted with human women. He kept it light and that was fine. Back home he’d had more than enough company when he desired it, but Lycians were on the same page. They knew what he was, what he wanted, and those females who wanted more looked elsewhere.
He had thirty years with Lydia and it had been wonderful. But every time he went to his parents’ house, he saw their connection, saw what their bond was and he yearned for that. Had waited hundreds of years for it.
He hadn’t expected Helena. When he’d told her that, it was the total truth. Yes, sure, she was desirable on many levels. That hadn’t been the surprise part. It was that sweetness he glimpsed, as well as the ferocity in battle—that combination had been his undoing.
“We broached the subject earlier today and she blew it off. But she didn’t get out of bed either.” Faine raised a shoulder and grinned. His shoulder had ached for an hour after they’d been together. The nails she’d raked over his skin had left a mark that should have healed faster.
That they hadn’t was just another sign she was meant to be his. A mate’s marks faded slower because they were meant to be shown off.
Simon’s laugh was knowing. Faine knew his brother and his mate had an intense connection. “Keep a first-aid kit handy and watch your blood pressure. She’s as wild and hard to manage as her little sister, I’ll wager.”
“Yes. They share a tendency to work until they fall over.”
“You’ll need to provide incentive to get her into bed. It doesn’t get easier. Lark works herself to exhaustion. I’m glad Helena is here, maybe they’ll both rest a little. At least relax.”
“The next step is war. You know that.” Unlike Lark and Helena, Faine and his brothers had been through war. More than once. He wished it wasn’t heading in that direction. War sucked for everyone involved. But the humans, the ones who kept provoking the Others with acts of violence, weren’t going to listen until they were taught a hard lesson.
And sometimes hard lessons were bloody.
Simon sighed. “Yes. They have fought against it. But you can’t not react to what happened. We’ve tried diplomacy and it’s not working.”
• • •
“HOW do you handle it? Being around such a big person all the time?” Helena asked as she pulled on some thick socks. Lark hadn’t bothered with any pretense; she’d led Helena to Faine’s room and Helena hadn’t argued. What would the point of that have been?
“The doorways around here are big.” Lark winked. “You mean his presence?” Lark sat on the floor, leaning back against the chair. “If I sit on the bed, my scent will be there and he’ll get agitated. Lycians are particular and Faine’s going to want your smells all over the place.”
“See, that’s part of what I mean.” Helena pulled a pillow into her lap to lean on. “It’s so sudden. Yesterday he was one of my guards. Today he sexed me into a puddle of goo. I’ve never . . . shew, suffice it to say he’s got some moves.”
Lark laughed, pushing her hair from her face. “A body lives a few centuries and they seem to pick up some stuff. If he’s anything like Simon, well, you’ll be well satisfied. No worries there. As for handling him? If you tell anyone this I will deny it.” Lark sent her a prim look and she laughed.
> “Cross my heart.”
“I sort of like it. He’s so big and bossy and he pushes into my space like he was meant to be there. It’s comforting. No one has ever taken care of me the way he does. But at the same time, he respects my job. Oh, he gets pissy when I come home bloody or when I don’t get enough sleep, and he comes along with me a lot when I’m out in the field. But he’s seven hundred years old and built like a tank, it’s not like I can’t use him. If I include him when I can he’s more mellow about things.”
“Faine seems to be all right with the physical stuff I do. He helps kick ass when I need it. But today he was so mad at me. I bled all over him and he never batted an eye. I bet the shirt I ruined cost more than I make in a month. He gets personally offended when I’m run-down and I think he and Mom might be uniting to keep me drinking all her potions and stuff.”
“Mom loves Simon. As for sudden.” Lark took a deep breath. “Look, I was freaked out when Simon first started all this love stuff. He took me to Lycia and all this Ne’est talk came up. I denied it for a while, and to be honest, I needed the time to process. But in my gut, I knew he was it. He told me that I wasn’t human and that I lived in a world of magick and what I believed even though I couldn’t see it, and why not believe I could love him? He was right. I’ve never been so convinced of anything in my life than how I feel about him. And since the bond? I don’t need a man to be complete and neither do you. But he makes me whole in a way I never could have imagined before he came along. He’s everything.” Lark shrugged. “Plus, sudden? Come on. I know he kissed you before.”
“Well, yes, he did. They were fabulous kisses. But what we did today? Well, that’s a whole different level.”
“You’re scared.”
Helena looked out over the hills beyond, at the sway of the treetops in the breeze. The stars were out and she wondered if the sky looked different in Lycia.
“I have so many people depending on me right now. I can’t afford to make any more mistakes.”
“You don’t have to bond with him tomorrow. Though, if I know Faine and he’s enough like his brother, he’ll want that eventually. As for mistakes . . .”
“I can’t. I cannot talk about it anymore. I’ve had a challenging day. I’m barely holding it together and if you make me talk about the haven, I’ll lose it.”
“You can cut yourself a damned break for once in your life.”
“No, not now.” She pushed from the bed and Lark moved to her, pulling her into a hug.
“You could have died today. Please don’t do that. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Helena returned her sister’s hug. Holding on to what she’d always counted on.
They went out to the deck where both men waited. The scent of food made Helena’s stomach growl.
“Come on then, let’s get you fed.” Faine moved to her, putting an arm around her shoulder, and she didn’t mind one bit, which seemed odd, but whatever.
They settled at the table. The air was cool and she was glad she’d taken Lark up on the offer of the sweatshirt that currently shielded her from the breeze.
Food got passed around and all was quiet for several minutes as everyone filled up.
“Are you patrolling tonight?” Helena sipped her tea as she spoke to her sister.
“Not tonight. I took it off when I knew you’d be here. I figured you’d want to go out with me and then I’d have to be the bad cop and make you stay in and I really wanted to hang out with you instead and make you rest.”
“I endorse that.” Faine leaned back, his body radiating heat.
“Me as well.” Simon gave his brother a nod of solidarity.
Helena rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”
Lark waved a hand. “No, you aren’t. I saw you change clothes. You have bruises on your torso from the concussion of the blast.”
“But that’s all I have. I’ll take bruises over being blown to bits in a car bomb.”
Lark’s mouth hardened. “We can’t let this go unanswered.”
Helena blew out a breath. “Rebecca is so angry. I’ve never seen her like this. I sat in on a meeting she had with the Full Council. They’re done with diplomacy. I’ve been officially pulled from Sato. She has a meeting in an hour or so with the other leaders. She said she’d call me when it shook out.”
Helena was silent for a while. “I recommended the creation of a defense force.”
Lark nodded. “That would be my recommendation as well.”
“We need a presence out there. We need the humans to get a physical idea that we are here and we will defend ourselves. Patrols. That sort of thing.”
“I think the wolves would be up for that. I don’t know about the Vampires. They’ve already declared war on the humans. It’s just been in a holding pattern while we tried out this road show.” Lark’s gaze locked to her sister’s. “The road show was a good idea.”
Helena forked up some steak. “Sure. But we can’t do it all on our own. Yes, there are humans like Tosh and maybe more of them than those like Carlo Powers. But the fact is, we’ve been targeted with violence time and time again. We’ve tried diplomacy. Molly delivered her speech and warned them, and now it’s time to follow up the talk with action.”
“How about a run first? Simon and Faine can shift and you and I can do a nice hard jog to get rid of all the day’s tension. You’ll sleep like a rock tonight. We can do it and be back here by the time Rebecca is finished with her meeting. We can even use the hot tub afterward.”
“Oooh, you’ve got a deal.”
They finished eating and headed back to their rooms to change. Or rather, Helena needed to change but Simon and Faine wouldn’t need clothes to shift. Not that that would stop him from coming along to watch her change like a big ol’ perv.
She hadn’t seen him in his other form yet and she was looking forward to it.
His gaze narrowed as she winced when she pulled her running bra on.
“It makes me want to rip someone’s throat out to see you in pain.”
He stepped to her, gently sliding his fingertips over her skin.
“I’m all right. But if you mean to stick around, you need to know this isn’t the last time you’re going to see me bruised up.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed her long and slow. “But I still want to rip someone’s throat out for harming you.”
He took her hand and she followed him out to the deck where Lark and Simon waited.
Both males had on shorts, which they discarded once they reached the treeline.
Helena used her magick to amp up her night vision and let the trees, the dirt and leaves, all the plants speak to her. All that magick seemed to flow around them like the tide.
Faine bent and the air seemed to shimmer and then he was gone. Or the human was gone and there stood a massive wolf-like beast. His shoulders nearly reached hers.
“Wow. You’re huge.”
He rumbled, pressing against her as she ran her hand through his fur, which was surprisingly soft. He looked back at her, still Faine, still shining with intelligence.
“Should we run?”
He tore out ahead, Simon following, nipping his brother’s heels, pulling ahead.
“They’re going to do that awhile. Let’s go.” Lark started, her steps sure and fast on the trail.
“No fair! This is home field advantage.”
In the distance, Lark flipped her the bird and kept running. Helena got her ass moving, hurrying to catch up.
Faine felt trouble before he saw it. There was joy. Clan and pack togetherness. Running with his brother, his Ne’est near enough to scent on the wind.
It was good.
And then the jarring change. Steel. Man-made things in a wild space. Gun oil. Black powder but something else. He growled and slowed. Simon was adjusting, slowi
ng and moving back, Faine knew, to be sure Lark and Helena were covered.
There were No Hunting signs all around the property and it was May, the only hunting allowed around the area was turkey. He doubted it was a law-breaking turkey hunter who’d sent the hackles on his neck rising.
To his right.
Faine slowed and got low, moving with more stealth than anyone watching ever could have imagined possible from an animal so large.
His beast sensed a threat to his mate. An incursion onto protected land. Neither could be borne.
The thread Helena was at the other end of hummed. She was close, but concentrating. His beast was not worried. She was exemplary. A fine mate, canny and vicious.
They’d hunt this interloper together.
Simon moved off to the left, flanking the intruder.
A burst of sound as the human realized he was surrounded by two huge beasts with sharp teeth and claws. A scream and then running, night birds breaking into flight, a beacon to where the human was.
Helena and Lark streaked off, clearly as comfortable hunting with each other as Faine and Simon were.
He growled and snarled, taking off, Simon bounding ahead and east.
It was another several minutes until they reached a trail.
Helena bent, her hand on a tire track. Her magick flowed through the space.
Faine edged next to her, pressing against her as he bent to scent the area. The other thing he’d smelled back near the house had been silver.
He pushed her, getting her attention.
“What?” Her voice was low, her gaze moving around, vigilant.
He jerked his head back in the direction of the house.
“No. We should track this vehicle out to the main road.”
“We can’t catch him. Not at this point,” Lark said as she came back to them. “Simon is running ahead to see, but chances are, once they hit the pavement they took off and won’t look back. Seems they pissed their pants at the sight of a big giant—”
Her voice was drowned out by the sound of a huge explosion. The ground shook beneath Faine’s paws and he knocked both women down, keeping them beneath his body.
