by CC Solomon
The cub was snarling, and foam had gathered at the corners of his mouth. He would bite me and possibly rip my throat out if I fell to the ground.
I threw out my hands. “Stop.”
The cub came to a halt, still snarling and cackling. I exhaled a cold breath and rolled my shoulders. Ok, Amina, time to be a crazy person again and do the thing that people hate. Walk right into the fire like it won’t burn you. I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing. I was born into this world to help. What use would I be as a soulmate slash life mage if I never bothered to use my gifts? I had to be brave, or stupid, however you viewed it, and try.
I walked slowly to the cub. A thunderous roar filled the air causing me to pause. I looked up and saw Jackal Erik a couple feet away from Brandon. The other weres had paused, upset by his roar.
“It’s okay, Erik,” I replied. Clearly, he was pissed at my intrusion, but I had powers that could help. Sure, using body control magic was against my belief, but yet again, I’d met another exception. One that could possibly save the child’s life.
Erik growled, and I could feel it vibrate in my chest. He could hurt you, Erik’s voice rang through my head.
“I won’t let him hurt me,” I said out loud.
He’s going loupe. Erik said telepathically.
“I know, but I want to help stop it. I’m a life mage.” I looked down to the cub who still glared at me as if he wanted to bite my arm off. “Hey, little one. Calm down.”
Telling someone to calm down never worked, and it didn’t this time either. Instead, the cub growled at me. It wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Erik’s growl, but I still wasn’t taking it lightly. His teeth could do real damage to me.
“That probably wasn’t the right thing to say, huh? When has telling someone to calm down ever made them calm down?” I asked the cub.
I lowered to my knees.
Amina. Erik rang in my head again.
I ignored him. I knew I had to exert dominance over the cub in theory, but I didn’t think that would work in this case. Something told me to instead close my eyes and put up my hands in surrender. I could never question my instinct when it came to my life mage magic, it had never steered me wrong. I hoped it continued that way because getting bit by a loupe was not on my agenda tonight. However, neither was letting a child die, even if Mae hadn’t foreseen anything.
I felt magic at my fingertips, itching to be released. I would give it what it wanted. Warm magic poured from my hands toward Brandon. I would give him healing strength to help his mind focus. Brandon had to keep his sanity, and he had to know we were not the enemy.
Mi corazon, what are you doing? Phillip’s voice came into my head.
It appeared my headspace was not to be my own anymore. I hoped Erik didn’t hear Phillip. A telepathic shouting match was not something I needed.
Trying to save a child’s life, now go away. I telepathically replied.
He gave an exasperated sigh in my head. Need a hand?
Sure, send some power my way.
Brace yourself.
And within seconds, additional heat radiated through me, shaking me slightly. I poured the extra power into Brandon. The cub had stopped snarling now. He slowly lowered to a sitting position. The anger had disappeared from him, and now he was whimpering. A sadness that reached my soul emanated from him.
I crawled over to the cub and placed a hand in front of him, releasing him of my body control magic.
Erik took a step towards us.
Don’t move, let me do this. I said telepathically.
No one else moved either, thankfully.
Brandon leaned forward tentatively, still whimpering, and sniffed my hand. He looked up to my eyes, and I smiled at him. He then looked down at my hand again.
Please don’t bite me, please don’t bite me.
The cub licked it.
I kept holding my breath, waiting for him to make the next move. The cub looked at his paws, perhaps confused. He then looked up to me and jumped.
I let out a yelp and leaned back as the cub settled into my lap. He was much smaller than the full grown weres, but he was still larger than a regular hyena cub. He got on his hind legs and licked my chin. I tilted my head back, laughing.
The tension in the space eased, and several of the weres began to disperse to enjoy their evening hunt. Tiger Seth looked in my direction but said nothing before turning to run into the forest.
And you’re welcome, dirtbag.
There was one other hyena, there weren’t any others in this town, who stood near Erik in animal form. I recalled him being an older man, in his seventies, named Johnson.
I picked Brandon up and moved him to sit beside me, not wanting him to accidentally scratch me with his claws or give me a playful bite that drew blood.
“Little boy, it’s time for you to run free with the pack,” I told the cub.
Brandon nuzzled his head into my arm. I reached over and scratched his back. “If you go play, we can hang out tomorrow. Now I need you to go over to Erik and Johnson and run with them.”
Brandon whined, but Johnson gave a spine-tingling hyena cackle. Brandon turned to him and then looked back to me. He gave me another lick of the hand and then trotted off first to his mother, who scooped him up and gave him a tight embrace, looking at me with thankful eyes. Then he wiggled from her grasp to make his way to Johnson, looking back at me one last time before the pair took off to run into the wild.
I looked back to Erik, the Jackal. You did good, babe. He said in my head. Now go home.
I got off my knees and stood, Carter beside me. Erik didn’t move until he saw us get behind the wall.
One stressor box ticked. One could hope that saving Brandon had saved me. Time would tell.
Chapter 9
Saving Brandon had given me a few points with the pack. The next day I was welcomed with a ton of cooked dishes from members. At first, I thought that it was a perk of Erik’s job as third in command, but he had assured me that getting food was not a regular occurrence.
The extra food was a good thing because we now had an extra guest with a big appetite.
Apparently, Brandon intended on me making good on my promise to see him the next day because he came back with Erik bright and early that morning after the hunt looking filthy.
“What did he play in last night?” I asked Erik.
“Everything,” Erik muttered before walking off to the bathroom. I soon heard the water from the tub running.
Brandon grinned and wrapped his arms around my waist. He was caked in dirt and blood of what I assumed were other animals since I could see no cuts.
I patted his head full of now matted curls. “Look at you. You had fun last night?”
He nodded his head swiftly.
“Are you hungry at all?”
He looked up at me with the sweetest brown eyes. “Yes.”
“Ha. I thought you’d be full from the hunt, but okay. What do you want?”
“Pancakes and ham.” He threw his hands in the air and grinned.
I laughed. “Okay, I think I can make that happen.”
“Not before he washes,” Erik said, re-appearing. He tilted his back. “Head back and get in the tub to wash up.”
Brandon turned and went running down the hall.
“No running in the…” Erik trailed off, waving a hand after the boy.
I grinned at him. He was being all dad-like … and it was kind of cute.
He gave me a scowl. “Why are you smiling?”
I shook my head. “No reason.”
He pointed a finger at me. “I need you to listen to me and listen good.”
“Oh, shit,” I whispered. I was about to get a lecture.
“Seriously, what you did for that kid was amazing, but you can’t keep being so damn risky. He might be tiny, but he could have hurt you. He could have lunged for your throat and ripped it out.”
I grabbed my neck. “I had to do something.”
�
��You can’t save everyone, Amina. Didn’t you tell me the same thing? Or maybe you really think you’re invincible? You don’t suffer like the rest of us?” He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head.
There was something dangerous in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure what a safe answer would be.
“Is that a rhetorical question? Am I supposed to seriously answer that? Of course, I don’t think I’m invincible.” I frowned. “Is this all coming from me helping Brandon, or is there more to it?”
He leaned towards me. “We’re The Six, we’re strong, but we all aren’t like you. You were away and I was weak, you weren’t.”
I shook my head slowly. “I had Phillip. If I had been alone, I’d have gotten weaker too.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m just not used to being the weaker one in the relationship.”
I sighed. “Erik, you were the one who wanted to be mates. It was to make you stronger, not weaker. You are not the weaker one between us.”
He looked at me with calm eyes that did not betray any emotion. He hadn’t looked at me like that since we first met and he didn’t trust me then. It left me cold. “You can control me. You literally can stop me in my tracks.”
I put out a hand. “I said I wouldn’t do that again, and I only did it before to save you from Phillip.”
“And the fact that I even needed saving...” His voice trailed off. “You interfered in my match for the third spot. And for good cause, I get it. It’s just that when you’re not with me, I’m weaker. It’s never the other way around. I can’t do anything for you. Maybe Phillip is the better man.”
I dug my fingers into my scalp, frustrated. “All this because I saved a loupe kid? You’re breaking up with me now over this? If you wanted a woman who stood back from danger and acted like a damsel in distress, then you should have said so in the beginning. You knew that wasn’t me from the jump. I run to trouble and help. It’s in my nature. I got in a lot of fights in school because of that.”
I took a deep breath before I continued to try and calm down. “I hated when people picked on the less popular. It’s why I wanted to be a lawyer; to fight for the underdog. This is me.” I tapped my chest to emphasize my point. “And you are strong. The strongest man I’ve ever met. You killed a freaking giant troll. Do I need you to fight for me? No. Do I need you to fight with me? Yes. Okay, I didn’t get sick in Ireland without you, but my heart was broken. I do need you because I love you. And I’m sorry I scare you when I do seemingly stupid things, but I can’t promise I won’t again. Can’t you just love me anyway?”
Erik’s eyes softened, and he opened his arms. I didn’t move, still a little miffed and wanting to punish him a tiny bit. He moved his hands in a come hither motion, and I rushed to him and gave him a tight hug. He chuckled in my hair before kissing the top of my head.
“I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me,” he murmured.
“Good, because if you were just trying to wiggle your way out of this arrangement, I wasn’t going to let it happen that easily. I am fully prepared to cut several women in the pack for you.”
He laughed again. “I would never put you through that.”
I pulled away and tapped him on the chest. “Good because I was kidding. So, new subject, does his mom mind that we have her kid for the day?”
Erik’s expression changed to something I couldn’t read. “Yeah, she’s fine with it. Honestly, she’s barely functioning since her mate died. We’ve been trying to get her on the right track for Brandon, but it’s not working. Seth’s making her one of his wives.”
I shook my head. “How in the hell is that helping? Are you saying Seth could be that poor child’s stepfather?”
Erik grimaced. “I don’t like the idea either. Seth seems to think he’s the cure-all around here. I think it’s a bad idea. He won’t have the patience for Brandon, and his mother, Ella, won’t be able to protect him.”
“I need his mother to stand up and stop that from happening.”
“She can’t. Seth gets what he wants.”
“Not if I can help it,” I muttered, having no clue what I would do, but I could not let Brandon get stuck under the thumb of that barbarian any more than he already was. “He seems like an awesome kid. And he’s so cute as a cub.” I clasped my hands together. “Maybe I’ll bake him a cake for being so good and getting through his first shift. I wonder what he wants to do today.”
“He likes painting and playing at the playground.”
“How do you know?”
Erik gave a nonchalant shrug. “We’ve hung out before. He helped me.”
“How?”
“When you were gone. He got lost, and I got him back home. We bonded. I would visit him, and he’d take my mind off losing you.”
I smiled. “Well, let’s all hang out together today. It’d be nice to have a break from the craziness for one day.”
Erik raised an eyebrow and grinned. “You seem really excited.”
“I like kids. I’m glad I’m getting to teach. If I’d known then what I know now, I’d probably have skipped law school and studied to become a teacher.” I wasn’t sure if saving Brandon put us on the path towards victory against the soulmates like Mae hoped, but it did make my heart sing.
“Mina. Mina.” Brandon called from the bathroom.
I pulled away from Erik. “You smell like you’ve been playing in the mud too,” I cracked, waving a hand in front of my face. Erik lifted his right arm and smelled his armpit, then yanked his head back, making a face.
I gave a snort before heading to Brandon, feeling content, at least for a little while.
Our visit to Jacksonville was met with the usual protocol for any new visitors to a warded city fearful of a Sickness outbreak, except we didn’t lose our power for twenty-four hours since Hagerstown gave us references.
This particular Jacksonville community was extremely large, land wise, compared to many other government towns I’d visited. It spread out at ten square miles with over six thousand people living in houses, apartments, and hotels.
We were to meet with the town leader in what was the now deceased mayor’s office in the center of the downtown community. Considering Florida was surrounded by water, it was ripe for disaster on land and water, but somehow, the people had managed to continuously fight off the sea beast and enormous land beast that continuously attacked.
In a way, they’d gotten it right. Since there were so many monsters to fight, there was less infighting than other areas of the country. For the most part, Florida was still a unified state. They weren’t exactly keen on joining the rising federal government, but they were bonded in their own way. Which meant if we got Jacksonville as allies, we’d have all of Florida as allies.
The conversation with Jacksonville’s leader, a female werewolf, went as smoothly as we were hoping. We’d gotten word that prior supporters of the original soulmates had paid a visit to a town in Tampa. When that town’s leader had refused to support them, the supporters sent a magical bomb to the city, killing many and destroying much of the land.
Florida, in its continued solidarity, had no intentions of falling in line with the original soulmates after that massacre. It was quite impressive to see their fighting spirit, rather than being in fear of further repercussions. We vowed to support them if there were any future attacks.
“I wish all our meetings were this easy,” Phillip said as we left the mayor’s office.
I put on my sunglasses and looked up at the bright sky, basking in the sun’s rays for a brief moment. It wasn’t exactly warm. Few places escaped the cold since the supernatural climate took over. However, it was nowhere near as cloudy and freezing as Maryland.
“We should stay a bit,” he added, glancing down at me.
“We should get back. We’ve got more places to go in another two days,” I redirected him, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my short leather jacket.
“I’m just talking about checking out a restaurant and grabbing lunch.
Come on,” he nudged my side with his elbow. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to eat some seafood.” He clapped his hands. “We should go to New Orleans next. I need to be put in a food coma.”
I sucked my teeth. “And deal with all the ghosts and zombies? Pass.”
“Eh, we can handle them. There’s a good community there of witches and vampires.”
I didn’t respond. Truth was, I didn’t want to extend my alone time with Phillip any more than necessary.
Phillip gave a dramatic sigh. “Come on, Amina. Eating food with me won’t kill you.”
“I know it won’t,” I snorted, looking away from him. Death wasn’t the thing I was worried about.
He smiled, and before I could say anything else, grabbed my hand and whispered a quick teleportation spell. When we reappeared, we were inside what appeared to be an upscale restaurant inside a hotel.
“Someone told me this place has the best seafood in town,” Phillip said before requesting a table for two with the hostess.
I crossed my arms, grumbling, “I didn’t agree to lunch with you.”
“You know one day I won’t be around, and you’ll miss our chats.” He stood in front of me and gave me wide, pitiful eyes. He had the audacity to even pout.
“Where are you planning to go, and how soon can you get there?”
Phillip gasped and pretended to clutch his chest. “She wounds me with her words.”
I threw my hands out to the side. “Fine, fine.” I nodded my head at the hostess.
She smiled in response, unaffected by our drama, before leading us to a small table near the windows, overlooking calm waters. Something the size of a kayak but shaped like a snake with wings slithered across the surface of the water.
I sat back and screamed. “What is that?”
The hostess turned back around and looked out in alarm before relaxing. “That’s what we call the mega snake,” her calm thick southern accent made it seem less of a threat than I thought it might be. “Yeah, I know, real creative name.”
“Is it … friendly?”
