by R. E. Butler
“Hello,” Hope said.
Callie was seated on a large swing hanging from the porch roof, with a laptop on her lap. “How’s the house coming?”
“Good. They’re on track to be done before Thanksgiving.”
“That’s nice. We’re excited you’re going to be living near us. I’m sure you’re anxious to get out of the boarding house.”
She scooted over and patted the cushion next to her. Hope joined her, enjoying the soft creak of the chains as the swing moved.
“Yes and no. It’s noisy and crazy full of people, but I think I’ll miss that noisiness when we move. Maybe.”
Callie laughed. “I understand. Although, we never lived in the boarding house. We were the first ones to come out here, after Rhett, of course.”
Hope’s brows rose. “Rhett was out here by himself?”
She nodded. “The story goes that he was tired of the way the females treated the males and decided to start over. The Fallon family had been farmers at one point, so he came out here and bought the farm and built the house. He met Lisa, and they got mated and married and ran the farm together.”
“No one else came out here until you three?”
“Right. I walked away from my pack because of the hierarchy bullshit. The pride doesn’t have rankings, and while I didn’t drive to Pennsylvania looking for a husband – let alone two of them – I ended up in the right place at the right time. The females wouldn’t leave me alone, so the only real choice we had was to leave King. James, John, Aaron, and Grant were happy to leave with us and come here, and it was fortunate that the boarding house was for rent so they had a place they could all live.”
“How did the other pride members end up here?”
“James and the others let the pride know that anyone who wanted to get out of King could join them. A few did – Ray and Wesley; Tristan and Micah; Hunter, Chase, and Dylan – but no one else wanted to start over. It’s different now that the females are all gone from King and the males can mate who they want without interference, but I’m glad that we left.”
“Yeah?” Hope cocked her brow.
“Sure,” she said with a smile. “If we hadn’t left, there’s no telling how fate might have worked out.”
“I’m glad you’re here, too.”
“I feel like something’s on your mind,” Callie said.
“A lot of things, actually.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“Unless you know a fairy who can get me into the fae realm so I can contact the goddess who cursed the mountain lions? Not really.”
Callie blinked rapidly a few times. “I actually do know a fairy.”
Hope shook her head, thinking she’d misheard. “Say what now?”
“Her name is Jenna, and she’s mated to Logan, a wolf from my old pack in Allen, Kentucky. I believe that there’s a male fairy in the pack too, but I can’t remember his name off the top of my head.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hope tilted her head and looked at the wolf shifter.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Callie said. “I never heard that you needed a fae to get into the realm and cast the spell.”
Hope’s mouth opened and then closed as she thought back over the time since the spell’s failure.
“Oh gosh,” she said, slapping her palm to her forehead. “We told our families, but we didn’t announce it to the pride. I didn’t think it would make a difference, and I figured with the way the pride grapevine goes that eventually everyone would have heard.”
“We heard the spell failed, but we didn’t know why.”
“I was so upset it failed. And then there was the wedding and our honeymoon, and then I was getting ready for school to start. I feel like an idiot.”
“You shouldn’t; it was an honest mistake.”
“Can you get in touch with the fae?”
Callie nodded slowly. “I’m not really close to the pack anymore. Cadence – the alpha female – and I talk a few times a year, but I didn’t leave on good terms and she and I had trouble reconnecting and getting our friendship on steady ground. I could call her, though, and ask if Jenna would be willing to talk to you.”
Hope tried to tamp down her excitement at the prospect of finding a fairy to help, but her cat let out a happy purr, and Callie smiled.
“I’m really glad I went for a walk and got distracted in the cornfields,” Hope said.
Callie tucked a lock of her long honey-brown hair behind her ear. Her hazel eyes were serious, even though she was smiling. “I don’t want to give you false hope, because I can’t control whether Jenna will want to come here or not, but I’ll ask. Besides, it’s the least I can do; you’re trying to break the females’ curse, and that’s noble.”
Hope followed Callie into the house, sending a text to Owen, Nathan, and Ben to let them know that Callie had a fairy friend she was reaching out to.
That’s awesome, Ben texted. Let us know how it goes!
I will, she replied.
She sent a text to Treasure as well to let her know the potentially good news. Sitting at the large kitchen table, she waited while Callie leaned against the counter and scrolled through her phone contacts. She pressed a name and then looked at Hope. “Fingers crossed.”
Callie put the phone on speaker as the call rang, and joined Hope at the table.
“Long time, no chat,” a female said when she answered.
“Hiya, Cades. How’s it going?”
“Good. The garage is getting remodeled so I’m actually getting a real office of my own, and not just sharing Jas’s desk.”
“Great, you’ll have to send me pics when it’s all finished.”
“Sure, sure. So what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you would mind giving my number to Jenna and asking her to call me.”
There was a brief pause. “Yeah, sure. I can do one better than that, actually. She’s in my kitchen, hold on.”
The phone went quiet and Callie said, “I think she put us on mute.”
Hope nodded and tried to still the fingers she was drumming on the kitchen table. She was nervous and having trouble hiding it.
“Hi Callie. Cades said you needed me? What can I do for you?”
“Hi Jenna,” Callie said. She briefly explained the situation. “So anyway, Hope needs to get into the fae realm and go to a place called Skyye to call the goddess on the full moon. Do you think you can help her?”
“Of course,” Jenna said. There was a muffled conversation, and then she said, “I’d like to come and visit. Is Hope free later today?”
Hope’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
Callie chuckled. “Did you hear that?”
“You bet. Give me a couple hours.”
“It’ll take longer than two hours to get here,” Callie said.
“I’m going to portal to your home, but I have a few things I need to finish up first.”
“Oh, right,” Callie said. “Can you portal here? You haven’t been to my place.”
“It’s no problem,” Jenna said. “I just need your address and I can look it up on a map to get my bearings.”
“Cool. Cades has my address.”
“Okay. I’ll text you when we’re ready.”
After the phone was handed back to Cades, Callie thanked her for her help.
“It was no problem. I’m glad you called, anyway. I was thinking about you today.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Do you have time to chat?”
Hope took that moment to push back in her chair and stand. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Thank you so much!”
Hope hugged Callie and walked out of the house with a skip in her step. She’d tell her mates the good news at the diner over lunch, and then they’d all come back to Callie’s to wait for a visit from Jenna. On her way back through the fields, she texted Treasure the good news. Her bestie was so excited she took several screens’ worth of emojis to describe her elation.
&nb
sp; Hope could relate.
Suddenly, things were looking up.
Chapter Eight
Owen scooted a little closer to Hope on the picnic table behind the Fallons’ house. His brothers sat on the other side of the table. Treasure and her mates were sitting nearby on umbrella chairs, and Ethan, Eryx, and Callie were standing on the patio, talking quietly. There was an odd silence among their quartet, and a lot of it was because Hope was too keyed-up to talk. Owen had opted to be a silent comfort, so she could lean on him.
They’d met for lunch at the diner, but Hope hadn’t been hungry. While she was feeling hopeful about meeting with the fae from Kentucky, she was also just as worried that it was going to be a dead end, so her appetite had taken a hike. He was certainly trying to remain optimistic. If this Jenna was a fairy, then conceivably she could take them into the fae realm through a portal so Hope could cast the spell. He wasn’t going to take a pessimistic view unless it turned out to be a wild goose chase.
Which, he supposed, it still could be. Even if they went to Skyye and performed the spell, it didn’t mean that things would go how they wanted. He shoved the negative thought away and focused on his beautiful mate. Giving her a nudge with his shoulder, he waited for her to look at him, then smiled.
“I think we should paint our bedroom blue.”
She gave him a weird look. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Your eyes are blue. I happen to like the color a lot. So I was just thinking that blue walls would be nice.”
Her head tilted, her eyes narrowing. “You’re thinking about wall paint. Right now?”
“Sure, why not?”
With a hum that turned into a chuckle, she relaxed some and returned his smile. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Being awesome.”
“Ahem,” Nathan said.
“You’re awesome, too. And before you say anything, that includes you, Ben.” She put a hand up to silence any protests.
“Thanks,” Ben said. He grinned. “I think blue walls would be great, too.”
“Oh my gosh, focus,” she said.
Owen put his arm around her and hugged her. “I promise you’re the only thing we’re thinking about right now.” He added in a whisper, “You and blue walls.”
She let out a snort and then clapped her hand over her mouth. Though muffled, he still caught her words. “It sounded like you said ‘blue balls.’”
All of them started to laugh and Hope’s cheeks turned scarlet.
“You’re too adorable,” Nathan said, shaking his head.
A phone beeped behind them. “The portal’s about to open,” Callie said.
Owen rose to his feet and stepped over the bench, helping her to rise. They joined Callie and her mates on the patio, as did Treasure, Brian, and Kevin. Hope and Treasure shared a meaningful look.
Within moments, a shimmery spot appeared in the air a few feet from where they stood. The spot grew to the size of a door, turning from glowing, swirling translucent to opaque. It shimmied and then hardened, until it looked like black glass. The glassy looking portal cleared and Cadence – the alpha female – appeared, with a small group behind her. He recognized her from photos Callie had shown them.
Callie stepped off the patio and greeted Cadence with a hug, then moved out of the way so the rest of the group could join them.
“Do you know who’s who?” Hope whispered.
“Just Cadence,” he murmured.
Treasure gave a surprised hum, and Hope glanced at her. “That’s a wulfen,” Treasure whispered. “The bland dude.”
“Excuse me?” the male in question asked, his brows high.
“She meant blond,” Kevin answered quickly. “She mixes up her words.”
“Oh, okay,” the male said, relaxing with a chuckle. “I was going to say, give me a chance to make an impression before you say I’m bland.”
“Sorry,” Treasure said, her cheeks pinking.
Cadence clapped her hands and smiled broadly. “Let me introduce everyone. The bland guy is Crimson.”
At his disgruntled snarl, Cadence’s grin just got bigger. “His mate is Lindy. She’s not bland at all.”
“Oh, thanks!” Lindy said.
She pointed to a large tattooed male, and a petite female with dark hair streaked with metallic silver. “This is Logan, and his mate Jenna.”
“Damn it, woman,” a male said as he stepped through, with two other males on his heels. “You were supposed to wait for me.”
“You were running behind,” Cadence said. She introduced them as Jason, the alpha male who was her mate; his second-in-command, Michael; and his third-ranked male, Bo.
Owen introduced everyone on their side. Hope joined Jenna and Crimson in between their groups.
“Thank you so much for coming,” Hope said, her voice wavering.
“We’re happy to help,” Jenna said, giving Hope a hug. “Crimson is a wulfen, a combination of fae and wolf. He’s very handy to take along on trips to the fae realm because he was in the military.”
Crimson smiled at Hope and shook her hand. Then he turned his attention to Treasure. His eyes flashed red for a moment. “You’re not fully fae.”
Treasure’s hybrid nature was a secret from anyone outside of the pride. Not only had her parents died protecting her from fae who wanted to capture her for who-knows-what, but her Aunt Georgette had died at the hands of fae as well.
Kevin and Brian stepped in front of Treasure, shielding her from the wulfen. Because Jenna was fae and planned to bring another fae with her, the pride had discussed whether Treasure should be there at all. Her mates were crazy about her safety, and Hope hadn’t wanted anything to happen to her, either. In the end, though, Treasure had put her foot down and said that even if the two fae wanted to take her into the fae realm, the spell prevented them. And she could, she reminded them, just turn them into ash with her dragon-fire.
Crimson put his hands up. “I’m rare myself, the only known wulfen in the realm. I can tell that Treasure’s a dragonfae, but she’s in no danger from me or anyone else. I can feel a protection spell on her, and it’s warning me to just leave her be.”
“A dragon gave me the spell so I couldn’t go into the fae realm again,” Treasure said. “It’s why when I mistranslated the spell, I couldn’t fix my mistake by taking Hope myself.”
“You protected yourself, and that’s what matters,” Jenna said. “Since you won’t be able to come with us to the realm, trust that neither Crimson nor I want to make trouble for you, so your secret is safe with us.”
“Thank you,” Treasure said.
The group adjourned to Callie’s spacious family room, where she’d set up refreshments. While Treasure showed Crimson and Jenna the books she’d secured from her parents’ home as well as the spell they’d attempted to cast, Callie walked into the kitchen with Cadence, and the two were speaking quietly. Owen watched as Treasure discussed the spell with the two fae. The wolf males sat nearby, watching the proceedings with curiosity, but remaining silent.
Crimson opened an app on his phone. “The next full moon is on September second. My suggestion is we enter the fae realm by my home. It’s closer to Skyye than Jenna’s parents’.”
“How long of a drive is it?” Hope asked, chewing on her thumbnail.
“No vehicles in the fae realm,” Jenna said. “Or electricity, or modern stuff in general. We’ll walk to Skyye, but it should take less than two hours. We’ll enter the temple, cast the spell at the appropriate time, and see if Hrixalda shows up. My Aunt Olive studies the old gods, and when I mentioned her, she knew exactly who I was referring to. Since Logan is a shifter, Olive’s been studying the histories of gods related to shifters, and it’s pretty fascinating stuff.”
“Do you think the spell will work?” Ben asked.
“There’s no reason to assume it won’t,” Crimson said, leaning back on the couch. “Immortals like gods and goddesses are super tough to kill. And
while your father’s books suggest that a curse would remain forever if the casting god or goddess died, that’s not our understanding. Curses are only effective while the person who cast them is alive. If Hrixalda had died, I believe the curse would have been lifted. That it’s still in effect eons later tells me that she’s indeed alive.”
“That’s good,” Hope said, blowing out a breath. “The only question I have is, what happens if she doesn’t want to break the curse?”
“We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” Jenna said. “I don’t know much about the gods, but Olive said that Hrixalda was pretty eccentric and it’s possible she’s just been waiting all this time to be contacted by her people. Even though the irony of the situation is that none of the mountain lions ever realized she’d cast a spell in the first place.”
Ironic, indeed.
Once the details were laid out, the visiting pack members stayed for a cookout. Treasure seemed to enjoy her time with Jenna, and Hope looked happier. When they’d said goodbye to the pack and the portal closed behind them, Owen turned to face his mate.
“We’ve got three weeks. I don’t want you to be worrying all that time, you’ll stress yourself crazy.”
“I know, I know,” she said, smiling ruefully. “I’ll try not to, but I’m not sure I can help it.”
“Worrying’s like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere,” Callie said.
Hope hugged Callie with a laugh. “I’ll do my best. Thank you so much for your help.”
“My pleasure.”
Owen took her hand as they headed toward their truck. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, actually. I know I can’t change the outcome of things by stressing about it, so I’m going to try not to do that. And besides, school starts soon, and I want to focus on this last bit of summer we have and enjoy it.”
“Oh?” Nathan asked. “Any thoughts on what you’d like to do to make the most of the summer?”
