The Raven Queen

by Emma Jayne Mills

  “We do not come to harm you.” A soft female voice emanated from the creature on Aurora’s left, which was quite clearly becoming a woman. The other a very tall and intimidating man, both dressed all in black. “We are the witches you seek.”

  Both were almost in human form, dark tendrils of smoke evaporating in the air around them as they completed the transformation. The woman had bright red hair and her green eyes sparkled with wit and intelligence, reminding Jax of Aurora’s. Turning his attention back to her, the panic rose in him again at the sight of her cold, unfeeling features.

  “Move away from her,” Jax warned the newcomers, stepping in front of Aurora, his weapon aimed at the man’s head.

  “We are no threat, son,” the male witch said, taking a step to the side all the same.

  “Stand down, Jax. This is Addie and Xander, they’re safe,” Zane told the room. He indicated that Hunter, Marco, and Cole should put their weapons away.

  “You are her mate?” the woman asked.

  “Yes,” Jax responded. Still wary, he lowered his weapon but didn’t put it away and moved to Aurora’s side, wrapping a protective arm around her.

  “Stay close, her power is strong, but so is yours. She will respond to you.” Addie smiled, trying to reassure him. “You must speak calming words, touch her, push your healing into her.”

  “What’s happening to her?” Lykos demanded.

  “A swell, brought on by strong emotions. It’s common among new witches. She is coming into her powers,” Xander answered.

  “New witches?” Marco jumped on the comment, but everyone was focused on Jax and Aurora.

  “Breath with me, Rory, deep breaths, in and out…” Jax finally put away his gun and enclosed Aurora in both arms. He kissed her exposed shoulder, where her shirt draped low, urging her to breath in time with him. She slowed her breathing to match his. “We’ve got this. He’s a dick, but we can’t kill him, okay? That would make us dicks too.”

  She nodded, closing her eyes, and instinctively pulling her power back in. The other warriors surrounded her at Addie’s instruction, also using their bond to convey calm thoughts to their queen. The storm eased, the kettle quieted and the coffee stopped bubbling in the pot. Aurora took a deep, cleansing breath and opened her eyes. Caspian was gone.

  “I thought it best that he leave,” Lykos answered her unspoken question. “I told him to take the jet and go back to Ireland immediately.”

  “Good call,” Jax said, loosening his hold, and rubbing his hands up and down Aurora’s arms. He could still feel her emotions spinning through the bond.

  “That was some kinda show you put on there, bird girl.” Hunter eased the tension in the room with his light-hearted approach to everything.

  “It was her powers as a witch,” Addie drew their attention back to the new faces in the room.

  “She is strong, she must learn to control them,” Xander added.

  “Addie, Xander, it’s good to see you.” Zane moved towards them, taking Xander in a back-slapping man hug and Addie in a more gentle, tender embrace.

  “You look well, brother,” Xander told him with a familiar grin.

  “Still pulling the butterfly trick.” Lykos joined them and greeted the witches in much the same way, before Addie turned her attention back to Aurora.

  “You are just perfect.” Addie reached out to cup Aurora’s cheek. “Look at her, Xander, isn’t she…”?

  “Everything we hoped she would be and more.” He approached on surprisingly silent feet for such an intimidating figure of a man.

  “Ok, well, no offence, but I don’t do over familiar touching with strangers.” Aurora stepped back, leaning up against Jax’s chest. She couldn’t get a read either of them and it bothered her.

  “Ha! Just like your mother,” Xander laughed. Delighted with Aurora’s attitude, he looked to Jax. “I bet she keeps you on your toes.”

  “That would be none of your business,” Jax answered, coldly.

  “Jax, you can trust them,” Zane repeated.

  “It’s all right, Zane. I would be the same in his position,” Xander said.

  “You know my mother?” Aurora frowned suddenly.

  “I do. Very well,” Xander answered and reached out a hand to Addie who was moving in alongside him.

  “Then why don’t I know you? I’ve never seen you before,” Aurora questioned.

  “Me neither,” Marco said.

  “May we sit? We’ve had a long journey and there’s so much to say.” Addie turned to look at the table. Casting a hand over it, she re-filled the half-empty coffee and tea pots, replenished the half-eaten plates of food, and set two extra places at one end, for herself and Xander.

  “Of course,” Zane answered, unaffected by the magic.

  “More fucking voodoo.” Hunter shook his head and dropped back into the seat he’d hurtled from, when Aurora began raising hell.

  “I’m sorry,” Aurora began, addressing her pack and leaning heavily into Jax’s arms.

  “You have nothing to apologise for,” Zane told her. “We knew your power would grow after the mate bond was sealed, we just hadn’t anticipated how strong it could become.”

  “I have a feeling that’s not even half of it.” Cole moved around her to hand her a cup of camomile tea. “No caffeine is probably safest right now.”

  “Thanks,” she barked a laugh.

  “Those were no shifter powers, sis,” Marco said, as they all moved away from the window. Jax released Aurora and they took seats at the table.

  “We will explain everything,” Addie assured them, watching Xander prowl near Aurora. He was agitated at witnessing the power swell and wanted desperately to help. “Xander, she is fine, please sit.”

  “Ada, my love,” he began, a pained expression on his face that Aurora couldn’t miss.

  “I know. All will be as we saw, but we must take baby steps. Sit.” She pulled out the chair next to her and he moved to sit there with no further argument. “Our meeting has been a long time in the making.”

  “Veronica said something like that.” Aurora sipped the cup of tea cradled in her hands. She pulled a face. “No offence, Cole, but that shit is rancid!”

  “Here,” Xander waved a hand over an empty glass on the table and filled it with an amber coloured liquid.

  Aurora was unable to contain the smile she sent back at him and his face lit up at the sight of it. She reached for the glass and took a sip, brandy. “That’s more like it.”

  “Maybe you are more like your father, after all,” Xander smiled.

  Aurora tipped her head to one side and inspected him. He met her eyes and didn’t appear uncomfortable, in the way many people did, when she held their gaze. He allowed her scrutiny without question or hesitation, merely waiting quietly for her to conclude that he was trustworthy.

  “You’re genuine,” she nodded. Relieved that she had finally been able to gage him, she downed the glass of brandy before reaching for the coffee pot.

  “Indeed, we are,” Xander agreed, with a smirk.

  “Sadly, we cannot be in the open for long, our magic is like a guiding light to hunters. Much as it pains us, we must make this a flying visit,” Addie explained.

  “You are under our protection in this house, Addie. No harm will come to you,” Zane assured her.

  “It’s not us I’m worried about.” She looked to Aurora.

  “Am I missing something here? All these meaningful looks flying back and forth, and you still haven’t said how you know our mother,” Marco interrogated.

  “I do not know your mother, young wolf.” Xander looked at him.

  “You said you knew Aurora’s mother, we’re brother and sister,” Marco told him.

  “I’m afraid all is not as you thought,” Addie said. “Veronica told you that an emotional upheaval was to come?”

  “She did,” Aurora confirmed. “But I’m not one for pussy footing around, so how about we just get straight to it? You obviously have somethin
g other than a vampire death potion to give us.”

  “You’re right.” Addie turned to Xander with a tear-filled smile. “She is everything we hoped she would be.”

  He nodded. “She is strong, she has a pack and a true mate for support, tell her everything, my love.”

  Addie, with Xander’s hand firmly in her grip, turned back to the table and steeled herself to reveal the news they all awaited.

  “Before your grandmother, Elouise Stewart, met the man you knew as your grandfather, she was in love with another man. A witch,” Addie began, her eyes not lifting from Aurora’s. She wanted to be certain there was no doubt in her words for the young woman, there wasn’t time to spend convincing her the story was true.

  “Go on,” Aurora nodded, open to hearing what the witch had to say.

  “Elouise and the witch, Gren, were true mates,” Addie paused.

  “Impossible!” Marco blurted.

  “No, it’s not,” Aurora told him, raising a hand to request his silence. Knowing Melaina’s true heritage and the fact that she was bonded to a shifter, was enough to open Aurora’s mind to the possibility that true mates could come from different species. “Continue, please.”

  “Elouise and Gren were happy together for many years. By some miracle, her pack, The Shadow Pack, accepted him and allowed the pairing. However, their happiness was not meant to last.” Addie looked down into her cup. “The beginning of the end for them came when Elouise fell pregnant.”

  Xander reached out his other hand to rest over Addie’s pulsing comforting energy through their joined hands and into her body. She smiled as she watched the glow underneath their skin.

  “The baby, a girl, was born in secret and given to a witch from Gren’s family to raise.” Xander told them, continuing for Addie while she composed herself.

  “Why?” Aurora asked.

  “The vampire king had become aware of the bonding between species, it worried him. He came to believe that the races were evolving, mating between the species could bring about a child powerful enough to overthrow him. He vowed to kill all children born to mixed species relationships,” Xander explained.

  “The baby, what was her name?” Aurora looked to Addie, already knowing the answer.

  “Adaline,” the witch smiled.

  “You?” Marco asked.

  “Me,” Addie confirmed. “Elouise and Gren gave me to Veronica Harrington, Gren’s cousin, to raise, and protect, and teach. In simple terms, I am part witch, part shifter.”

  She’s like Mel! Jax’s voice sounded in Aurora’s head and she nodded with a sideways glance at him.

  “There’s more,” Aurora stated.

  “There is.” Addie smiled and looked between Aurora and Jax. “First, please tell me, can you two communicate silently?”

  “We can,” Aurora confirmed.

  “Why is that relevant?” Jax demanded.

  “At ease, son, we’re no threat,” Xander reminded him. “Ada and I have always had that same connection. It isn’t an ability attributed to shifters, as you will find out.”

  Jax narrowed his eyes at the witch but could not justify any mistrust in him. “Forgive me for questioning everything that’s thrown our way. We’ve found there aren’t many people we can trust, even those who claim we can.”

  “Understandable,” Xander nodded.

  “As I said, I was raised by Veronica. My father was hunted and killed by the vampire king’s men. They were looking for me, he died protecting his mate.” Sadness rose in her but Addie quashed it and continued with her story. “Elouise was married to a wolf in her pack, for her protection. They grew to love one another and Connell was born of that love, but her true mate the wolf was not.”

  “Ada and I had many battles to fight, not relevant to this particular story. We will tell you about our life, one day, when we have time to spend together,” Xander put in.

  “We were teenagers when we met, facing all the regular teenage angst and a prophecy to fulfil on top,” Addie said.

  “We overcame and, cutting a very long story short, we gained our happy ever after, or so we thought,” Xander said, focusing his eyes on Aurora. “We had a baby, a girl with a prophecy of her own.”

  “Me,” Aurora whispered. Her eyes filling with tears, she automatically searched for Jax’s hand. He was already there, reaching for her and their fingers tangled in much the same way Addie and Xander’s had, calming energy passing through the bond.

  “You are our daughter,” Addie said, quietly, blinking away the tears that fell. “It was not safe for us to keep you. Even though it broke our hearts to do so, I trusted my mother to protect you. We took you to her and she saw your animal. Although you are a witch, you have shifter genes, from your Grandmother. She confirmed what we already believed, that you were the raven queen and she gave you to her son and his wife. They already had a boy.” Addie paused to look at Marco. “They raised you as a shifter and brought you up in the pack, hiding your magical genes from the world. We did not bind you but we did put a cloaking spell on you, until you came of age and were able to fulfil the prophecy.”

  “We were already in hiding, as all witches now are, but our power is stronger than most. In the open, we are a beacon to the vampire king and his hunters. Keeping you, as much as we wanted you, was too much of a risk to your safety. We had to ensure you lived, not only because of who you were to become, but because we love you with all our hearts. You are our blood and we will stop at nothing to keep you safe.”

  “Even breaking your own hearts.” Aurora’s voice was quiet and unshed tears teetered around the edges of her eyes.

  “Yes,” Xander said, almost a whisper. The pain was clear in his eyes, along with the love he so obviously felt for his daughter.

  “My mother sent letters, she learned some simple spells from my father and used them to keep us informed about your life. We knew of your bond with Jax when you were just a child,” Addie grew sad.

  “That you were already with your true mate was enough to seal in our minds that we had done the right thing. Set you on the proper path,” Xander added.

  “When he left you, Elouise could not bear seeing you in pain and asked me to provide a potion, to help ease the intensity of the bond for you. That potion was the reason you were able to have a relationship with another. Upon your first shift, its power subsided.”

  Aurora and Jax looked at each other. With Addie’s revelation, everything fell into place. Aurora felt the guilt over her relationship with Caspian wash away. She could hold no ill will towards her grandmother or Addie for the potion. The pain that she had felt when Jax left was unbearable. She doubted she would have survived without their aid.

  “Thank you,” Jax spoke, looking at Xander and Addie. “I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to give up your child, thank you for finding that strength and bringing her to me.”

  “We’re not brother and sister,” Marco’s voice cracked. Aurora was on her feet and rushing to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a heartbeat.

  “We will always be brother and sister. We grew up together. Nothing will ever take that from us. You are my brother, Marco!” She told him, firmly.

  “You are still blood,” Zane reminded them. “Even if not siblings, then cousins, you share a grandmother.”

  “He’s right.” Aurora nodded, pushing Marco’s chin up with her hands and forcing him to look at her. “But I will never think of you as a cousin, you will always be my big brother. No cousin could have taught me what you did, no cousin could have been there for me the way you were, no cousin could have got me out of trouble after Jax got me into it.”

  “Hey, you weren’t exactly easily led, wild thing!” Jax protested and laughter broke out around the room, easing the tension and calming the nerves of everyone present.

  “No cousin could protect me like you do,” Aurora whispered and Marco finally smiled, nodding. “This changes nothing for us.”

  “It changes a whole lot of other shit t
hough, sis,” his smile faded as his mind raced through every other affect this revelation would have on them as a pack and a family.

  “If I may,” Lykos ventured, looking to Aurora for permission to speak.

  “Just say it, old man,” Aurora teased.

  “The tournament,” he began.

  “What tournament?” Xander demanded.

  “Connell has declared a mating tournament for Aurora and laid a price on the little king’s head,” Lykos explained.

  “Little King?” Xander’s eyebrows rose.

  “Fucker thinks he’s funny. Wasn’t so funny when I had your head hanging over a roof sixteen stories up though, was it, jizz stain?” Jax sneered.

  “He has no right,” Addie burst, panic stricken.

  “Relax, my love, no mating tournament will take place. I will see to it,” Xander told her before turning to Aurora. “Only a father can call a tournament, I will not allow it.”

  Aurora nodded, taking her seat back next to Jax. Marco reached for the glass Aurora had drank from earlier and looked at Xander. “Can you fill that again?”

  “Of course.” Xander smiled and re-filled the glass with brandy.

  “Thanks,” Marco downed the liquid, regaining his composure. “I already thought my Dad was a dick, but this confirms it.”

  “We can come back to the tournament later,” Zane said. “We need to strategize with regards to that and now isn’t the time.”

  “Don’t worry about the tournament,” Xander began.

  “We work together,” Aurora interrupted. “If you want in, fine, but we deal with the problem together.”

  “Of course,” Xander smiled, already wrapped around his daughter’s little finger. “Whatever my little girl wishes.”

  “Do any of us have normal parents?” Jax wondered out loud.

  “I do,” Cole laughed. “As far as I’m aware my parents are my actual parents.”

  “Mine too,” Hunter added. “They’re dead, but they were normal as far as I knew.”

  “Also, mine,” Zane laughed.

  “Right, so it’s just Shadow Pack parents that are fucked up,” Marco laughed, sarcastically.