Milo was riding on Noah’s shoulders, his little legs kicking against Noah’s broad chest. Milo had gotten tired, so Noah had agreed to carry the little boy. Sana, however, strode through the forest as if she belonged there, her little eyes darting from one tree to the next in wonder.
It was so adorable Iva wanted to coo over both of them.
“Wow,” Sana whispered, staring around at the four trees that made up the four cardinal points of the Throne. “Which one is your tree?”
“This one.” Iva led the way, allowing the little girl to touch Yew. Delight raced through her tree at Sana’s reverent touch. “She likes you.”
Sana gave her a brilliant smile.
Noah set Milo down in front of Iva’s tree. He glanced at her before ruffling the little boy’s hair. “Your turn, buddy.”
“Will she like me?” Milo stood behind her, shuffling from foot to foot. The poor boy seemed lost and uncertain. He was the only one of them not a part of the forest. Instead the boy belonged to the rivers and streams that flowed through it. Unlike his sister he wasn’t aware of the joyous welcome of the Throne.
That was something Iva could fix easily. “I bet she will.” Iva put down the bag holding Noah’s clothes and held out her free hand. “Come and touch her, Milo.”
He made his way slowly toward her, the flashlight wavering in his hand. “Okay.” His trembling hand made contact with the bark of her tree.
Her yew moved, its branches gently swaying as both children watched in awe.
“Yup. She likes you.” Iva grinned as the trees around the Throne began to emit a soft glow. “Oh good. Mina’s home.”
Both children turned when fairy lights began to dance around the Throne. They followed the lights as they led the children to the four thrones under the Great Oak. Mina sat there, her hands out as the lights danced around her before settling back into the earth. “Hello, children.”
Sana immediately bowed, Milo following her lead. They were both a little wide-eyed at the spectacle Mina had put on. Mina only did stuff like that when she wanted to impress people. Apparently, she wanted to enchant the two children standing before her.
From the awe on their little faces it had been a job well done.
Mina winked at Iva before turning her attention once more to the children. “Welcome to the Throne, Milo and Savannah Wulfenbach.”
Sana stepped forward, acting bold for the first time since Iva had met her. “You’re pretty.”
Mina chuckled. “Thank you, sweetie.” She stood, stepping off the roots of her tree with the grace of a ballet dancer.
Iva almost snickered. Yup. Someone’s putting on a show. She stepped back as Mina took charge of the children, showing them Greer and Ash’s trees as well as the great oak. The children squealed in delight as each tree glowed brighter when they touched them.
The Throne was thrilled to have children around once more, the joy it hummed making Iva laugh out loud. She wanted to dance, to sing, to make love under the branches of the trees and the blanket of the night.
Greer dropped down next to her, grinning from ear to ear. “Can you feel it?” Greer stretched languidly.
“It’s almost as good as sex,” Ash spoke from behind her, his tone reverent yet relaxed.
“Oh really, Mr. Ward?” Selena hovered above them on her broom.
The moment the children saw Selena they bolted toward her, squealing out her name. “Selena, Selena!” They chanted the witch doctor’s name with glee, jumping up and down to get to her.
Selena landed her broom next to Ash, stepping off with care. “Hello, Milo, Sana. How are you tonight?”
The children hugged her tight and Selena returned the embrace, smiling sweetly down at them.
“I wasn’t aware the kids knew Selena,” Iva muttered. It was obvious the kids adored the witch doctor.
“Yeah. She helped babysit them while Noah watched over you. Seems they bonded.” Ash sighed. “We’re hoping for kids soon,” Ash murmured, watching his mate speak softly to the children.
“Oh?” Iva could just imagine Ash with a child. “I hope you have a girl.”
He shot her a dirty look.
She grinned evilly. “And I hope she’s as cute as your mate.”
His eyes went wide. “I’m going to have to have Lore on speed dial for all the boys I’ll wind up maiming. Better hope I have a boy instead.”
“You’ll have to call Lore to get your son bailed out of jail.” She sighed, putting her hands over her heart. “Like father like son.”
Ash glared at her. “That was one time. One.”
Greer put his arm around Ash’s shoulder and leaned on him. “And we’ll never let you forget it, bro. The mug shot was epic. Your future saplings will adore it.”
Ash somehow managed to get hold of Greer and place him in a headlock. “What was that?”
“I’m going to make it their nursery wallpaper.” Greer grunted as he pushed at Ash’s stomach. “Get off me or I’ll tattoo it on their tiny rumps.”
Before Ash could totally destroy Greer, they were interrupted by a small voice.
“Auntie Iva?” Milo stood in front of them, staring at the others in awe.
Iva smiled down at him, hoping she was reassuring him that everything was fine. “You want to meet your new uncles and aunts?”
Greer let go of Ash and knelt in front of Milo. “Hi. I’m Uncle Greer. I’m the cool one.”
Ash reached out with his foot and knocked Greer over. “I’m Uncle Ash. Uncle Greer is full of sh—”
“Language,” Mina yelled over.
“Shoestrings,” Ash improvised.
Shoestrings? Iva had to turn away before Milo saw her losing it. Selena wasn’t bothering to hide her laughter. She was leaning on her broom and chuckling, watching Ash and Milo with longing in her gaze. “And since I’m mated to the amazing Uncle Ash, that means that I’m Aunt Selena now.”
Milo stood straighter. “Really?”
Selena winked. “For sure, really really.”
“Yay!” Milo ran back to his sister. “Selena is our Aunt now!”
Greer and Ash turned and stared at Selena.
Selena was buffing her nails on her T-shirt. “So. Who’s the cool one, Greer?”
Greer rolled his eyes and jumped back into the branches above them.
Iva glanced around as she realized they were missing some people. “Where’s Mollie?” Dragos was probably just waking up, but Mollie should have been home by now.
“She’s on her way,” Greer’s voice floated down to her. “She had a late meeting with the horticultural society. They’re trying to force her and Parker to set up a display for the town’s fall festival.”
“Ah.” Since The Greenhouse, the botanical garden that Parker and Mollie both worked at, only held rare specimens from their home state of Maryland, Iva doubted that Mollie would allow the horticultural society to bully her into anything. A lot of the plants were delicate and needed special handling. Hell, Parker would probably annoy them so much they’d run away in defeat before they even gave Mollie the proposal.
Noah was romping with the kids, playing with them in the wide-open spaces of the Throne. When he caught them, he picked them up and tickled them, then let them go again to race around the Throne.
“Introducing your tree to him tonight?” Mina sauntered over, her brown eyes alight with mischief. She had her hair pulled back in a short ponytail at the base of her neck.
“Yup.” Iva was thrilled that the kids adapting so well to the Throne. “Figured we could put the kids to sleep in my place, then I’d do the intro.”
“If you need help hauling his big ass down to your apartment let me know.” Ash laughed as Noah allowed Sana to push him down onto his back. The little girl literally howled her triumph over the alpha wolf, causing Noah to begin tickling her once
more. “I have to say, he’s surprised me again. He’s taking to fatherhood like a champ.”
Mina winced.
“Sorry, Mina.” Ash sighed, some of the happiness leeching out of him.
“It’s not your fault, Ash.” Mina took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Dragos and I have been talking, and we both want kids. We’re considering adoption.” She grimaced her expression turning remorseful. “So that means one of you three will birth the next ruler of the Throne.”
Iva’s brows rose in surprise. “Uh, guys? That’s not exactly correct.”
Greer dropped down out of the tree, cocking his head in interest. He’d always been curious as hell. “Oh? Do tell.”
Iva sat on the floor, her brothers and sister joining her. Selena snuggled up next to Ash, her gaze glued to Iva. Iva began speaking. “Long ago, a mommy dryad and a daddy dryad—”
“Bitch, I will end you.” Mina’s eyes narrowed in determination. “Get to the good part.”
“Yes, my queen.” Iva did her best to bow while sitting on the ground. She understood an order when she got one, even one that was growled out playfully. “The great-grandmother of Queen Margaret mated a vampire.”
“She did?” Mina’s expression turned blank. “That’s interesting. My lessons only went to Queen Margaret.”
“So did mine,” Ash added quietly.
Greer shrugged. “I remember some of them before Margaret, but not a lot. Like the one that mated a weretiger during the Burning Times. He took out a lot of Hunters before they finally killed him.”
Iva nodded. “Well, it took some digging, but I wanted to know more about the queens and kings before Margaret. I mean, why did our history only start there? We were here before Maggie’s Grove, but it seemed like everything before then didn’t exist at all as far as our teachers were concerned.”
“She’s right. I’ve always kind of wondered about that myself,” Ash added quietly.
“Well, I did more. I skipped my happy ass down to the library and began digging around, and I found a book that held a lot more of our history than the teachers ever thought to show us. And what I found means... Well...” Iva stared Mina right in the eye. “Margaret’s great-grandmother, Queen Beatrice, mated a vampire. Together they had a daughter named Elizabeth.”
Mina blinked. “You mean they adopted Elizabeth.”
Iva shook her head, smiling. It was nice to be the bearer of good news for once. “Nope. The line is unbroken from queen to king to queen again. Elizabeth was the child of Beatrice and her mate.”
Mina paled. “How?”
Iva shook her head. “I’m not sure. Any other dryad mating a vampire, like Amara and Parker? That couple is infertile. But the ruling dryads are a class unto themselves. All of us have vampire somewhere in our history, yet none of our lines have been broken.”
“Except by death,” Mina amended.
Iva thought about that for a moment. “Even then, the new dryad was treated as the child of the previous dryad. But that’s not the point.” She’d wind up doing research on that sooner or later, but not now. “You and Dragos can have kids, Mina.”
Mina suddenly straightened like she’d been zapped with a Taser. Below them the roar of a dragon, a very specific dragon, shook the ground. “Dragos heard you.”
She was up and off like a shot, running to the four thrones beneath the great oak. Before she arrived Dragos erupted from behind them, his expression wild. Mina flew into his arms, holding him. Whatever she said or did seemed to be calming her mate, because Dragos began to slowly relax against her.
“You just changed the game for them, sis.” Greer patted her shoulder. “Good job.”
“I’m going to be an uncle three times over.” Ash was smiling at Selena.
“Yes, dear.” But Selena was smiling too as she watched Dragos take Mina into the sky, flying them swiftly away.
Iva was willing to bet that he’d taken Mina to his mansion, the home he shared with Eddy and Trajan. Eddy would be ecstatic to find out that Mina and Dragos could be parents. He’d view them as little brothers or sisters and spoil them rotten. Eddy was a good man and becoming even stronger with the help of Dragos and Trajan.
“On that note, I think I’ll go find my wayward mate and bring her home.” Greer stood and stretched, waving goodbye before racing off into the woods.
“Want me to help you settle the kids in?” Selena also stood, holding out a hand to help Ash to his feet. “We’d love to do it.”
“The kids would probably love having their Aunt Selena put them to bed.” Iva stared at Noah, who was quietly rounding the children up. “Let’s go. I bet Noah will have no objection.”
Ash and Selena followed Iva to where Noah had picked up Sana and Milo clung wearily to his side. “Want Aunt Selena and Uncle Ash to put you guys to bed tonight?”
Both kids lit up brighter than the Throne. “Yay!” Milo nearly threw Noah off-balance as he wriggled and jumped.
Sana was waving her arms over her head. “Story time! Story time!”
“Tell us the one about the wolf eating the grandma!” Milo fixed his fingers into claws and gave a credible growl.
“Nope, I want the story of how the naiad saved the girl who got captured by the creepy guy who wanted to marry her.” Sana wiggled until Noah put her down on the ground next to her brother.
Iva stared at Selena. What kind of stories had she been telling the kids? “Which story is that? I don’t remember that fairy tale.”
Selena wrinkled her nose. “Have you ever read John Milton’s Comus?”
“No,” Iva drawled.
“It’s a tale of two brothers and a sister who are travelling through the forest. They get lost and the brothers go for help, leaving the sister behind. She gets captured by Cromus, some kind of demi-god who has a hard-on for...doing bad things to women. He uses some sort of glue to affix her to her chair like a broken piece of china, then tries to tempt her into giving in to him. Meanwhile the brothers return, find the sister gone, and find help in the form of some sort of celestial spirit who guides them to Cromus’s lair. They manage to defeat Cromus and save their sister, but they can’t get her out of the chair. The spirit summons a naiad named Sabrina who removes the glue, freeing the girl. The family returns to their home and have a happy reunion.”
Sana blew a raspberry. “That’s the boring way to tell it, Aunt Selena.”
Milo nodded. “We want the version with shadow puppets.”
Selena laughed and led the way to Ash’s apartment, where they’d be spending the night. “You got it.”
“Shadow puppets?” Ash shook his head, muttering as he followed his mate and the kids. “No wonder she’s the cool one.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“So, now that the kids are taken care of, what do we do?” Noah crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his mate, wondering what she had in mind. They were here for him to be “officially” introduced to her tree, but he had no idea how that worked.
She took a shaky breath and blew it out. “Well, you kinda walk up to my tree and put your hand on the bark.”
He blinked. “That’s it?” She’d made such a huge fuss over it he’d thought there was more to it.
“That’s it.”
Noah shook his head. “Then you’ve made a mountain out of a molehill.”
“You’ll see.”
She sounded so ominous he nearly hesitated, but they’d mated already. Could her tree really reject him? Somehow, he doubted it.
Feeling confident, Noah strode forward and placed his palm against the trunk of her tree.
Within seconds Noah was sucked into a mind so alien yet so familiar he was almost overpowered. Only the strong will that had helped him grab and keep the position of alpha prime stopped him from falling completely to the thirst in Iva’s tree. It was a thirst for bot
h knowledge and a bond so strong only death could break it. That bond was the first step in a dryad mating, one that went as deep as the roots of the world.
That thirst for information soared through him, seeking out his darkest places. It ran on four paws, stood on two feet and experienced his love for his people and his town. It discovered his deepest secrets, taking them and accepting them without question. It acknowledged that he was a creature of the forest, and always would be. It tested his resolve to love a woman who was now part demon.
Part demon? Then it’s true?
Yew affirmed it, the sensation that Iva was both different and not taking root in him. Nothing would ever be the same for her, and Noah would have to be both her shelter and her strength during the trials to come. Her bond with Yew would help, but it was the love of a mate that would help her truly heal.
Will it harm her? Being part demon?
Yew’s strength flowed through him. No, it wouldn’t hurt Iva. If anything, it would make her stronger. She wouldn’t have the powers of a demon, but she would become more resistant to them over time, and she’d be able to sense their presence even without her connection to the forest. The relief that inundated him almost pulled him free of his connection with Yew.
Yew grabbed hold of him once more. It seemed Iva’s tree was done answering questions. It now wanted some answers of its own.
It rooted out his pettiest emotions and his deepest desires, latched on to his need for Iva and turned all of him inside out. Every part of his heart and soul was tested and judged...
Worthy. His dedication to Yew’s dryad, his unceasing vigilance while she healed, had endeared him to Yew as nothing else could. It had listened to his tales, watched over him as it did Iva, but unable to communicate with him, it had been unable to express its gratitude. It did so now, granting him the strength to stand as it slowly eased from his mind.
Hour of the Wolf Page 20
