
Wolf Reborn
The Westervelt Wolves Book Three Rebecca Royce
Published 2010
ISBN 978-1-59578-656-2
Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright (c) 2010, Rebecca Royce. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Liquid Silver Books
http://lsbooks.com
Email:
raven@lsbooks.com
Editor
Maria Rogers
Cover Artist
Anne Cain
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
For Sandi, who loved Faith and Theo as much as I did.
Blurb
A lone wolf is a dangerous creature, until he meets his mate. Then he'll become lethal to protect her.
Faith Anderson never asked to be a wolf shifter, but one strange encounter with the Westervelt Wolves and she suddenly has a past she knows nothing about and a future wrought with danger. No one is more disappointed than she to discover that the island does not hold a mate for her...that is, until she collides with Theo Kane, the missing prince of the Westervelt Wolves who has chosen isolation to save his pack from what he believes are his insane tendencies.
Theo couldn't imagine anything worse than the near death experience that left him scarred and forever changed. Until some of the same things start happening to Faith. Now he has no choice but to face what he has avoided for over a year if he doesn't want the past to repeat itself, this time taking Faith along for the ride. Together they will battle demons, invisible wolves, and worst of all his father to find their eternal love.
But if the price is eternity, are they willing to risk it all?
Someone was leaving the island by canoe. It was the third time this week. Theo Kane narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out the mystery but from his vantage point it was next to impossible. Whoever it was certainly was sneaky. The canoe had left from three different ports on all three nights, making it impossible for Theo to lay in wait for the culprit.
But he would catch him eventually.
It would do no good to stare out into the rough water and watch the person row away. Theo swung around and sniffed the air one more time. Nothing. This was getting worse and worse. Whoever this was had scent-disguising herbs in his or her possession. Even finding the canoe would provide no help with the problem of identity.
Not my problem. He forced the canoe from his mind. But out of habit he found himself drawn into the problem, looking for a solution, mapping out a game plan. Couldn't help it really--he was part human. Shaking his head he closed eyes to the darkness that surrounded him. Nothing mattered. Not when the night called.
The ground felt cool beneath his paws as he ran through the woods listening to the wind. Theo wasn't even sure what drove him forward. Something, the endless unnamed thing that haunted his dreams and made his waking life a constant nightmare, pushed him towards the cliffs on the other side of the island.
When he'd been a child, before his father had betrayed them and his world had crumbled, he'd loved running with his brothers through these woods. Each of them would shift back and forth from their wolf to their human form until they collapsed with exhaustion. They would challenge each other to see which one of them could hold out the longest. Tristan always won. They should have realized then Tristan was destined to be their future Alpha.
But Theo had often been a close second. He shook his head to push away the thoughts. There was no point in remembering his human life now. A year ago, he'd made the decision to give up that aspect of himself. The only time he ever regretted it was when this recurring feeling called to him and drove him to near insanity.
He let his senses travel outwards into the night. There was plenty of prey for him to hunt. Going hungry was not something he needed to worry about on Westervelt Island. His brothers made sure of that by importing enough prey to keep the island stocked and their wolf-half occupied. Tonight, a new scent hung in the air. The scent of the anonymous entity lingered within him and he couldn't identify it. The nameless being that drove him crazy.
Mate.
He skidded to a halt, and little sprays of dust spurted from beneath his feet. It had been months since his wolf side had spoken to his human side. Who could have guessed the wolf half of him wouldn't want him to live permanently in its natural form?
What? His voice sounded strained to his own ears. It had been a long time since he'd spoken, even telepathically.
You are feeling your mate. Her scent calls to us and drives us to find her.
Theo really hoped his wolf was wrong. He couldn't have a mate. It would be the cruelest thing in the world to both of them. In his human form, he was a monstrosity--both in body and soul. The demon that had attacked and wounded him had done more than permanently mutilate his face. No one really understood it. But somehow the acid that burned through his skin had a separate, more sinister effect than anyone had anticipated.
It had brought him to the brink of insanity and the only cure was to remain in his wolf form where he could harm no one and he was protected from the onslaught of destructive behavior he couldn't seem to stop or control. Ashlee, Tristan's mate and the healer for their pack, searched for a way to free him from the madness, but so far none had been found. He suspected they all preferred that he limited his visits to the Institute to the brief hour he telepathically communicated with Tristan once a month. Theo had made it a point not even to run with the pack when they all shifted together. For all intents and purposes, it was better that he be a lone wolf. Forever.
He certainly preferred it.
You're not listening to me and you're doing it on purpose. His wolf snorted in disgust and Theo looked down at the grey and brown fur that covered his paws for a moment to hide his shame. It really shouldn't surprise him that his canine was so perceptive.
I have a mate and I'm being driven to find her?
Not to find her. She's obviously here which is why you can smell her. She must have arrived six months ago when this urge to find a missing part of you started.
Even in his wolf form, Theo felt his eyes widen in surprise. So why didn't you say something then?
A beat of silence met his query and Theo suspected he wasn't going to like what he heard.
Because I'm angry at you.
You're what? He'd never heard of anyone's wolf getting angry at them before. He almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of it.
Theo would swear he heard a sigh. I'm mad at you.
How is that even possible? We're two halves of the same person. Theo's mind whirled.
I'm a wolf and you're a jackass.
Theo wished he could laugh. Instead, he turned and howled at the darkening sky. This was his favorite time of year. Spring pushed into Winter's territory, demanding it be given its due. Each day was a mystery; would it be warm, cold, or sunny? Might it even still snow? He loved Maine and he adored their little island. Or at least he used to. Love of one location over another was a human interest. Wolves were only concerned with how they would survive, what they would eat, who they would...
Mate.
Damn it. His wolf was really not going to let this go. He closed his eyes for a second and took off running towards the cliffs again. At least this time he knew he wasn't crazy, that the acid's insanity hadn't found a way to harm him while he was in this form.
He ran harder. He could beat this urge. Where was it written that he had to take a mate? So what that she existed in the world? He would do them both a favor and spare them the pain of ever meeting because he knew the truth.
If the acid hadn't caused his mental and physical degradation, then it was something else much worse. Ashlee had made hints that she didn't believe this was the case, but had never uttered the fully formed thought. However, deep in his heart Theo knew it meant he truly was Kendrick Kane's son. The one member of his family who inherited his father's insanity--the insanity that had led their patriarch to destroy the pack and betray their mother. Theo knew he would do nothing but bring shame and harm to his people if he was allowed to roam around as a human.
But don't you want to know what she looks like? Just so you know.
Just so I know what? Actually, it would be better if he never saw her. That way he wouldn't spend the rest of eternity obsessing.
So you know who it is the universe picked out to be our perfect other half. It might be interesting to find out what she's like, how she's different from us, how she's the same.
You aren't going to let this go, are you?
No. Besides there is still the matter of the shifter in the boat who may or may not be the traitor no one has unearthed because you and I haven't been around to find them.
The first bullet grazed his ear and caught him by surprise. He hit the ground hard before lunging into the bushes for cover. This was not good. How had he been so careless?
It wasn't like him to be taken by surprise. He sniffed the air around him. Still nothing. So either there was something wrong with his sensory perception or the person out there held no distinctive scent. That was a very frightening concept. He almost preferred the idea of there being something wrong with him.
Sorry, nothing wrong on my end. It's not our senses.
So much for his wolf letting him live in delusions. He heard the second shot as it struck a rock formation right behind him. His eyes widened and a growl formed in his throat. Maybe he should be grateful that whoever did this had such lousy aim.
Shift. We'll go after him. As a human you can use weapons.
I can't smell him or see him. I'm not shifting. I'll be more exposed like that.
But he did need to get away if only to alert the others of the threat on the island. He'd seen the man he'd assumed was the traitor leave in a canoe. That meant this perpetrator was someone else.
Damn.
Tristan needed to know--now. Theo took off running. His paws pounded into the cold ground beneath him. He'd be lucky if he lived to see Spring come into its full glory this year. His last night on earth and he'd spent it arguing with his wolf about whether or not he should meet his mate.
He tore through the bushes staying low, unable to control the snarl from his mouth. His mind tore. Part of him wanted to hunt, to find who attacked him, and tear out their throat. The other, more sane and rational side--which was losing ground steadily--knew he needed to get back to the Institute and tell them of the man on the canoe and the one wielding a gun.
There was no sound behind him, not even a rustle in the bushes to signal a pursuit. Up ahead, he could see the riverbank he needed to follow to the main area of the island. The sloshing of the water as it peaked over the edge of the sharp rocks on both banks told him the river was running high. Not surprising. Two weeks ago, something close to twenty-seven inches of snow had started to melt. All of that excess water had to find some way to run off the island into the Atlantic.
And he could use all of it to his advantage.
As if on cue, another bullet whizzed by his head and exploded into the right side of the riverbank in front of him. The rock broke into small pieces and cut the good side of Theo's face. He barely flinched. After the demon attack, pain was a fleeting annoyance to him. Nothing would ever hurt as much as that had.
He took a deep breath and dove into the river.
Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?
Theo might have snickered if the situation were not so dire. You were the one who wanted me to shift.
His wolf sighed. You're going to take us right over the waterfall, aren't you?
As a rule, shifters never talked about their canine personalities. It was private and just not done, so Theo had no idea if other people had wolf-halves that were so bright. But his furry self was correct. Half a mile south of where they were, the river turned into a raging waterfall that would eventually dump its contents in a lake they called Red Lagoon. Its name came from the strange algae that grew on its bank that turned the edges of the body of water a strange crimson red.
If he was lucky, maybe this time he could pull off the impossible--he could disappear into the water beneath the falls. He would stay as long as he could in his four-legged form before he shifted to make the dive over the water. In his human shape, he would be more agile.
But luck hadn't exactly been on his side of late.
The water felt cold as it pushed against his fur, which meant it was really freezing and he wouldn't be able to handle it for very long in his human form. At least he wouldn't die by a bullet fired by an unknown assassin. There was honor in robbing his pursuer of his kill.
He heard the falls up ahead and called the shift upon himself. Six months had passed but his wolf must have been desperate for the shift because it happened faster than he could ever remember it happening before. A white light engulfed him, bringing for a moment, peace in his soul. He wished he could float in it but before he could blink the sensation passed and he was naked in frothy rushing water.
He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. They might be the last he'd get to take until he hit the lake and swam a distance under the falls where his pursuer would be unable to see him. Even doing as simple as breathing pulled at the knotted together skin that covered the left side of his face and caused him to grimace. He'd almost forgotten how scarred he actually was.
Hey Mr. Vanity, I hope you can still swim.
Two bullets whizzed by his shoulder, the first one grazed his right arm. Hell, this bastard really didn't know how to use the site on his gun. Nonetheless, he laughed out loud. His wolf was right. Could he still swim? When was the last time he'd tried it?
One last breath and he was over the edge of the falls. It felt like he stayed still and the water and rocks below him moved upwards. He had a moment to think how strange that was before he plunged into the cold water beneath him. There was at least a five degree temperature difference between the water he'd been in and what he was engulfed in now. His body froze from the shock. It wouldn't matter if he could swim. Unless he could get his limbs moving, he would drown.
He'd read somewhere drowning was supposed to be peaceful. But his was not going that way. He fought against his limbs that refused to obey and tried to keep himself from the instinct to breathe in the water. He'd just about given up hope when he heard a splash above him.
Damn, his pursuer was coming after him. He hadn't thought that could happen because he hadn't anticipated getting stuck this way. He blinked as a face approached his and as it became clearer he sucked in a gallon of water. The person trying to kill him owned the most exquisite features he'd ever seen. In a split second, he memorized her visage.
Even under the water and near death, he could see she had chestnut brown hair, streaked with blonde. Her face had a smattering of freckles crossing her perky nose and high cheekbones, barely visible over her creamy white, porcelain skin. Her huge brown eyes held specks of gold in them and did nothing to mask the fury he saw in them at that moment. She tugged hard at him as she tried to pull him to the top.
Why didn't she just let him drown? Wasn't that her objective? His death?
She closed her eyes and he was shocked to see the white light engulf her as she shifted to a wolf form. Brown and gold, she was tiny, even for a wolf.
My would-be assassin is a wolf-shifter. He shouted internally at his wolf.
She bit down hard on his shoulder and dragged him to the top of the water. As he scrabbled along with her, he tried to take a breath and remembered he had inhaled all of that lake water. He choked and the brown and gold wolf goddess who still bit down on his shoulder pulled him into a sitting position as she banged on his back with her tail.
Wicked, hard coughs shook his body and he wished he could just pass out as what he assumed must be half the contents of the lake came out of his mouth. When they finally subsided, he collapsed and covered his head with his hands. The skin under his right hand felt rough and he groaned as he remembered what had driven him into the waterfall to begin with. This shifter woman had dragged him to the surface just to murder him herself.
Through his hands he could see the white light that precipitated a shift fill the air around them and he assumed Brown-and-Goldy was now back in her human form. He moved his hands from his eyes. If he was going to die, at least he'd get a good look at her naked. You had to love the rules of shifting: no matter who did it, they always ended up nude as the day they were born.
She stood over him, her hair a shade darker and dripping wet. Goosebumps covered her body, with her hands on her hips. She breathed hard and he couldn't help but openly admire the way her breasts, small and perfectly sculpted, moved with each inhalation. He wanted to reach up and grab them. Just the imagining of the act caused him to grow hard. What the hell was the matter with him?
Take a sniff. She's our mate.
Oh hell. Now not only was the most stunning shifter he'd ever seen an assassin sent to kill him, but she was his mate, too. Why was he surprised? His whole life was weird.
"What the hell were you doing?" Her voice was high pitched and slightly scratchy. "Were you trying to kill yourself? Who jumps over that cliff?" She pointed upwards to the top of the falls. He didn't need to follow her motion. He knew exactly where he'd jumped from.
"I was trying to escape. But if I'd know it was you, sweetheart, perhaps I would have let you catch me."
She shook her head. "Escape me? I was sitting down here minding my own damn business when I saw you shift and come over the cliff."
He narrowed his eyes. "You weren't the one chasing me?"
She looked up at the top of the cliffs again, her eyes wide, startled. "Someone is chasing you? Who the hell are you anyway? I know all the shifters here but I've never seen you before."
She took two steps backwards and he was suddenly amused by her new found self-preservation instincts.
He put out a hand and hoped to stop her retreat. "I'm naked, unarmed, and two minutes ago I was near death. I'm no threat to you, sweetheart."
Her eyes flared and he suspected it was at the reuse of the nickname. "I'll ask again and then I'll howl so loud I'll have the entire Westervelt wolf pack down here to descend on your worthless head."
He raised an eyebrow. "Before I tell you my name, do me a favor and just confirm something for me. You were not chasing me, shooting at me, and miss-hitting me for the last twenty minutes?"
She sniffed the air in front of her. "No and there is no one out here but you and me."
"He's masking his scent." He looked down on the ground and rubbed his burnt cheek as it started to throb. "My name is Theo Kane and please do call the pack. I need to tell my brother Tristan about some strange occurrences on his island."
She laughed out loud. "I know the entire Kane family and there is no Theo Kane. Try again."
"One year ago, I asked them to forget me. You must have shown up after that."
"I met the pack a year ago but I didn't make it here until six months ago. I'm going to check all this before I believe you. I run security here."
"You do?" He lifted his eyebrows. "Then you took over my old job. You've got a man leaving the island from a different port every night in a canoe. He has no smell. The same goes for whoever was chasing me moments earlier. Thank you for saving my life." He pulled her to him and she let out a shocked squeal. Unable to stop himself, he pulled her to his lips and kissed her gently. "As I'm sure your wolf has been telling you for the last few minutes, I am your mate--every gruesome ounce of the monstrosity you see belongs to you."
He closed his eyes, shocked when she didn't struggle in his arms. "I don't even know your name." She opened her mouth to speak and he covered it with his hand. "It's better if I don't. I'm like a nightmare come to life. Save yourself. Stay away from me."
Not sure where he found the energy, he shifted into his wolf form and ran. When he'd reached a safe distance, he allowed himself to acknowledge that he didn't run from whoever tried to kill him but rather from the freckled young woman who had dragged him from the water, felt soft beneath his lips, tasted of marshmallows, and smelled so close to the coming spring she could have been Mother Nature herself.
Faith Anderson stormed into the Institute. She was wet, cold, and naked thanks to the shift she had made, which had destroyed her clothes. Months ago, the last fact would have bothered her but these days she'd gotten so used to being nude, to seeing everyone else in nothing but the skin they were born in, that she really didn't care one hoot who saw her. But the cold and wet bothered her. Not to mention the burn in her belly stemming from a mass conspiracy to keep a very important fact from her.
There was another Kane on the island and apparently he was her mate. Once again she was frustrated beyond belief that she didn't know more about her home and the shifters who lived on it. If only she could bring back the memories she'd suppressed as a child, she wouldn't feel so constantly at a disadvantage. Then she would know that there were six Kane brothers, not five, which everyone else knew and no one had bothered to tell her. Tristan was their Alpha and he had five ruling brothers who were, essentially, princes of the pack. Michael, Gabriel, Tristan, Theo, Azriel and Rex, also known as Randolph, controlled the goings-on at Westervelt tighter than a military sergeant.
Well, if they were the Royal Six instead of the Royal Five that was fine with her. They were all royal pains for not having told her about Theo and that he could be her mate.
Not that any of the other wolves would have known about the mate part but, damn it, they'd made her head of security because of her background in investigation and because she could sniff out conspiracy anywhere she found it. Wouldn't it have been, say, slightly important to tell her there was an all but feral wolf running about Westervelt who just happened to be part of the Royal family? Come to think of it, why had he been missing to begin with?
The doors slammed behind her with the sheer force she used to open them and she strode into the back offices. Summer Murphy looked up from behind the desk where she sat. The other woman held a phone to her ear, her face full of questions. Faith couldn't blame her. Most of the time she managed not to create a scene everywhere she went. But today they'd all have to deal with cold, wet, and irritated and all that entailed.
Everything okay? Summer's voice in her head. When had she personally gotten used to telecommunication? Whatever. She liked it.
"I need Tristan, Ashlee, Cullen, and whoever else you think needs to be present to tell me about Theo Kane."
To her credit, Summer paled a moment before she looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, Senator, I'm going to have to call you back. We've just had a minor development that requires my attention." She made some sort of accepting sound and hung up. Standing up, her pregnant belly stuck out almost the distance from the chair to the desk.
Faith sighed. "Sorry, Summer, I didn't mean to yell."
Summer's gaze moved up and down her wet body. "From the looks of things, I'd say you have a story. Should I call the whole pack?"
Did she need the whole pack? Well, if Theo were to be believed then they had a serious breach of security in front of them which meant they most certainly did need the whole pack. But he'd insisted he was being chased and she would have scented that and hadn't smelled a pursuer. So maybe he wasn't being entirely truthful.
"Essentials first. Let Tristan decide if we need everyone."
Summer nodded and picked up the phone. Technically, they didn't need modern conveniences like that, but they had three new members of the pack who had just joined and found mates. Like Faith had been, they weren't always all that good at interpreting messages sent from brainwave to brainwave. Sometimes things went awry, so Tristan had adopted a rule that in certain circumstances they would only use phone calls.
This was one of those times.
Summer sighed. "It's going to be a few minutes. Most of the pack, and everyone who needs to be here, is on the other island doing the standard sniffing out of human guests to find long lost pack members."
Faith nodded. While she waited for the necessary pack members to assemble she took the time to run back to her room and put on some clothes. It wasn't that everyone was always naked running around the island but it was generally understood that in the event of an unexpected shift, a certain amount of nakedness was to be expected. Or at least that's what she told herself when she wasn't feeling more than a little self-conscious about it.
The others would be dressed; it felt appropriate to do the same. As she dried her hair with a green hand towel, she stared in the mirror. Mate. She'd found him. It had been all but hell coming to Westervelt as a female and turning out to be mateless. Not that she felt desperate for male companionship. Even before she'd found out she was a shifter, she'd been content to have men as friends and nothing more. But the males on the island placed so much hope on the discovery of every new female she couldn't help but be drawn into the disappointment that she was one of them and yet still not part of a mated pair.
It might have helped to know there was a missing male hiding out in the woods and that he could be her mate. She growled deep in her throat. There was no denying it--she was really pissed off.
She closed her eyes and tried to picture him. It had only been a few short moments they'd been together and yet she could picture his face clearly, as if his image had been embedded on her eyes.
Interestingly enough, the first thing she'd noticed had been his strong square jaw line. While all the Kane brothers were gorgeous to look at, Theo held a uniqueness she'd never seen in anyone else anywhere on the planet and it all started in his jaw. He'd clenched his teeth several times when they'd spoken and she'd been fascinated with the way his muscles had compressed from his jaw to his ear when he'd done so.
She wished she'd taken a moment to trace her hands up and down that jaw when she'd pulled him out of the freezing water. But she'd been so focused on not letting him drown that she hadn't taken the time to do any admiring.
But that didn't mean she hadn't noticed how his brown hair, kept shaved down on his head, was so dark it reminded her of her favorite time of the night: three in the morning. No light visible anywhere, pure darkness, it was the same color as Theo's hair and the stubble that covered his face. If they ever made love, it would scratch her in the most delicious ways.
If they ever made love? What the hell was the matter with her? She didn't think thoughts like that.
It's because he's your mate, silly.
Her wolf was in a perpetually good mood and never more so since she'd found Theo. Always near giddy, her furry half resorted to using childish endearments to refer to Faith. None of that could be considered in any way good news. The terrycloth brown tee shirt she'd just put on suddenly felt hot on her skin and she fanned herself a few times.
Cut that out.
Cut what out? Her wolf sounded way too innocent.
Making me feel hot and bothered. Faith wished she could throw something hard and breakable somewhere where it would be sure to smash into a million pieces. But there were no such objects available in the room.
That's nothing to do with me. It's because you're thinking about Theo.
It really could be infuriating to not be able to get away from her wolf. Just for a few minutes, to take a break. But it would be like trying to get away from her liver. It was simply not possible.
His eyes, brown mostly, held specks of gold that danced in his pupils, seemingly moving on their own. Long lashes had sat atop his lids, lucky bastard. She'd never have eyelashes quite like that. Placing both hands down on the dresser in front of her, she forced herself to gain control of her raging hormones.
There was one facet to Theo she still had yet to address. The long jagged scar that led from the bottom of his eye to the top right hand corner of his mouth. It looked hard and swollen, like he hadn't taken proper care of it, hadn't massaged it or oiled it so it wouldn't grow tight and cause him pain. What had happened? Everything Faith learned in the last year taught her that as shifters they healed very quickly with no evidence of damage.
Shaking her head, she pulled on her jeans and decided there was no doubt left. Something very powerful had destroyed the skin on Theo Kane's perfect face.
There was more than one story to demand she be told about her would-be mate who lived by himself in the woods. Dear gods, if she actually took him as a mate would she have to give up modern conveniences and go run around all day like a wolf with him? She swallowed at the thought. No way, no how was she doing that.
Every hair on her body stood at attention that could only mean Tristan had entered the building. Her Alpha's presence never ceased to cause her stomach to churn with anxiety. Granted, the first time she'd met him he had shifted her against her will in the middle of the Mexican jungle. Since then, she'd come to know him as fair minded and reasonable, but first impressions were hard to lose.
Checking her appearance one more time and finding nothing too horrible about how she looked, Faith turned and walked out of her room and back to the corridor that would lead to the meeting room. She sniffed the air as she approached, one of the assets of being a shifter. No one ever caught her by surprise. Well, no one until Theo anyway. All five of the Kane brothers that she knew--after Theo's unexpected arrival who knew how many there actually were--waited in the room as well as Cullen, Summer and Ashlee. The Alpha's mate's scent had recently altered slightly making her think the alpha-female was pregnant--again. Apparently the two felt they needed to repopulate Westervelt all by themselves.
The room where Tristan held closed-door pack meetings felt more like a conference room than anything else. Painted a deep burgundy, the walls held no windows, the only indication the things that went on inside of it were not for public consumption. From the worn looks on the brothers' faces, Faith didn't have to guess to know Summer told everyone the purpose of Faith calling this meeting, but it was the sad look in Tristan's eyes that made Faith pull back from the anger she'd felt earlier. Obviously this was something that caused them all a great deal of pain.
Tristan looked up from the table where he'd been staring, apparently lost in thought. He cleared his throat. "Well, Faith, I hear you ran into someone unexpected during your patrol this morning."
She nodded and diverted her eyes. Until Tristan gave her permission to address him, she couldn't be anywhere near him without feeling completely subservient. His brothers and Cullen walked a different line with their Alpha, but Faith and her wolf felt far too new to take any liberties. She also knew he was capable of causing pain, even unintentionally, if he wanted to.
"Look at me, Faith. You have permission to talk."
She raised her eyes as she listened to the rapid intake of breath from her wolf. This was where they differed. Faith needed to be aggressive, to assert herself and her place in the pack, while her wolf would have preferred to remain submissive.
"Well, my Alpha, as I assume you've just been told, I have just come into contact with a man who claims to be your brother. He calls himself Theo Kane."
Tristan nodded. "And he was in his human form?"
"Ah...yes." This hadn't exactly been the answer Faith had been anticipating. "He was in his human form. He claimed he was being chased, shot at, although I smelled none of that nor did I sense any danger. All of this was after I pulled him out of the lake. He came over the falls." The telling of the story was not doing the experience justice. She shook her head. Obviously she'd left out an important detail. But she wasn't sure that she wanted to admit to everyone yet that she and Theo were mates.
He can smell that you're hiding something. Everyone in the room can. There is still so much you don't listen to, don't understand and you won't learn about it if you don't listen when I instruct you. Lies, falsehoods, and misdirection all have a smell and a taste. Haven't you noticed that?
Damn it. She needed to get better at disguising her scents. Most of the time she couldn't smell what the Kane brothers were thinking, or if they hid something from her, obviously since she hadn't known they'd hidden Theo.
"I should tell you it was immediately obvious he and I are mates." There she'd said it. Gotten it out there. So why did she want to choke on her confession? It felt like a betrayal to have told all of these people without discussing it with Theo first.
"You're his what?" Tristan's eyes, always in their wolf form because he was the Alpha, got large. For a moment, she wondered if they would fall out of his head. Ashlee placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort and he visibly relaxed. Faith could still see a small vein throb in the upper right corner of his forehead.
Cullen sat back in his chair. If he hadn't been married to Summer, Faith would have found him pompous and intimidating, but the other woman made him more approachable. Just watching the way his eyes lit up when he looked at his pregnant mate made him ten times less of a bogeyman.
"I warned you this could happen."
Cullen had known? Faith rolled her eyes. Why shouldn't everyone know she had a mate except her?
"You never told me Faith was his mate." Tristan's roar had her jumping backwards. In fact, every person in the room startled, with the notable exceptions of Cullen and Ashlee.
"I warned you Theo's mate could very well show up and complicate this 'leave Theo and let him be' attitude you all adopted last year. Did I know that it would be specifically our security expert? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. I would have to own my mate's abilities to do that and I don't believe she foresaw this."
"I didn't." Summer's voice sounded calm but Faith could smell her tension.
"Um, if I could interject here, why is this a problem? I thought it was a bad thing I didn't have a mate. Now I have one."
Tristan rose, his chair flew backwards. "No one is upset with you Faith. It's just that Theo is complicated and it is the opinion of some people in this room," his gaze flew to Cullen, "that I have mishandled my younger brother's situation. He's only in his current condition because he rescued Braden. I should have gifted him with the role of my second. Instead, three months later, I found myself agreeing to let him leave the pack and go live in woods as an animal."
Gabriel rose and crossed to Tristan. He spoke low, he always did, but Faith could hear him perfectly. As the second oldest Kane brother, and the one they called the Warrior, Gabriel frightened almost everyone he came in to contact with. "Let's go get him back. If there really is a security threat, Faith could certainly use his help. Ironically, she has his old job. They're mated. That has to mean something."
Michael snorted. "It means the universe, again, placed two shifters who have a lot in common together. Much as they did with the four of you." He waved his hand at Cullen, Summer, Tristan, and Ashlee. "And the other three couples that recently formed." There was something that always spoke of pain when Michael communicated. Faith had never been able to put her finger on exactly what it was.
"Maybe he'll come back on his own now that he's found Faith and I can resume his treatment." Ashlee looked remarkably hopeful and sweet, as she always did, hiding the depth of strength and ruthlessness Faith knew she possessed within.
Azriel, the quiet intellectual one of the brothers, shook his head. "He's a stubborn S.O.B. He thinks we're all safer without him, he'll stay away, mate or no mate."
Rex stood. His hair had grown long in the year since Faith had come to Westervelt. All of the brothers were dark haired, but Rex's was like midnight. There was no other color to his hair and eyes. "I'll go get him. He'll come back whether he wants to or not."
"One of you will end up dead." Tristan shook his head. "I'm not even sure having Theo back is the safe and smart thing. His mind...I can only imagine how deranged he's gotten. He thought he'd been shot at but Faith didn't scent anyone anywhere."
Silence met Tristan's declaration. Faith's hands clenched and her jaw tightened. How dare they doubt him so profoundly? She'd only met him for moments and despite whatever doubts she'd initially had, she already knew whatever he might be, an absolute lunatic he was not.
"I'll go and ask him if he wants to go back." Seconds after she made that announcement she wasn't sure why she had. All eyes stared at her. Clearing her throat, she continued. "And if he doesn't want to or if I judge him insane, although I doubt that, then I will remain there with him." She had to hope that he was as lucid as she'd found him to be, considering the promise she'd just made. Faith spoke her words through gritted teeth. Wanting no argument, and suddenly not feeling quite as submissive to Tristan, Faith turned on her heel and walked with determination from the room.
Behind her she heard Ashlee sigh. "You just goaded her into doing that, didn't you?"
Tristan's baritone voice answered as she turned the corner. "Sometimes a person has to want to do what they should want to do."
So she'd just been manipulated by her Alpha. There was no time to dwell on it. She had to go find her mate, find out if he was insane, and if he was she had to find a way to live with it.
Theo ran through the woods. He couldn't get caught unawares again. Whoever had pursued him had been crafty and disguised his scent, a trick Theo used to teach people to do. Hell, maybe he'd instructed the would-be assassin in the technique. He wouldn't be fooled by his own skill set.
He sniffed the ground, and the scents wafted through his bloodstream showing him pictures of what had been there before him. Three deer had crossed here not an hour earlier.
Let's go get the deer. It's time for a good chase.
Theo scoffed. We have no time for hunting prey. Someone is out here, they are our only objective.
But that's human concerns. I thought you were all wolf now.
He hated to be called out on his inconsistencies and nobody did it more often or in a more aggravating manner than his wolf. We'll get back to being a wolf. I still owe our Alpha allegiance and for him I will find whoever this person is.
His wolf snorted. I'm bored. I want to go find our mate. She smelled like home.
We can't go home. I'm not safe around anybody in the pack but especially not the children.
We saved the children.
His wolf sounded furious at the presumption of being unsafe to his niece and nephew. They had, indeed, saved Braden from the flying demons which was how his nephew was still alive and why he, Theo Kane, would-be second-in-command to their Alpha, was now living like an animal out in the woods.
Theo sighed. He'd grown up knowing nothing was fair. Out of all of the brothers, he'd been most likely to earn the back of Kendrick's hand to his face or the cold heel of his boot to his gut. He'd never complained about his treatment. His brothers had each been beat down in different ways and had he dared to tell their mother, it would have placed her in graver danger than he was in himself. While everyone else had thought Kendrick a god, he'd seen right through him, which was probably what earned him the whipping boy position in the first place.
Now the problem was that either the poison had distorted his brain or, as a much less palatable option, he had simply grown into his father's son. He couldn't escape genetics. Theo shook his head. He wasn't Alpha. His lunacy didn't have to infect the entire pack. That's why he'd taken himself out in the first place and that's why he'd stay out. A twig snapped and he whirled around.
"Let's get something straight. If we have any chance of making this work, you're going to have to spend more time in human form and less time in your wolf clothes, as impressive as they might be."
Theo jumped back on his rear paws and snarled. He prepared to attack when he recognized the voice. His mate. She stood five foot four inches tall, every curve on her female, and snarled right back at him. The wolf sound came out of her dainty mouth as she curled her upper lip in what could only be described as sheer disgust.
Damn, she was sexy.
He called the shift onto himself, the warm white light of transformation filling the air for a moment before he stood up on two feet.
Clearing his throat, he tried to smile. "What makes you think I want this to work? I distinctly remember instructing you to stay away from me."
She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Yes, I recall. You're a monster come to life or something like that. Trust me, I've seen monsters, and I've seen them come to life. You are not that. Whatever you are, it is entirely different."
"Seems a little presumptuous to me; you're making that assumption after so brief an association." Why the hell was he arguing with her?
"I am presumptuous. That is one of my many traits but I'm also almost always right so you'll get used to it." She moved forward, looking back at him over her right shoulder. "Come along then."
Theo shook his head. "I'm not following you, I'm dangerous."
"And possibly deluded, yes I know, but I still need you to come with me."
What the hell was wrong with this woman? Had she no sense of danger? Begrudgingly, he followed her if for no other reason than to make sure she made it where she was going safely since he couldn't trust her survival instincts to keep her out of trouble. Certainly, he could keep himself from killing her that long.
They walked a short distance in silence finally reaching a clearing where he saw a campsite. A modern, all-amenities-included looking tent sat in the center next to an unlit fire pit. Two large locked coolers and an animal-safe food storage box sat to the left of the tent. He'd seen this type of outdoor equipment before, the house disguising itself as a collapsible shelter probably had running water. An outdoorsman she obviously was not.
He raised an eyebrow. "Not real keen on roughing it are you?"
"I like to be prepared for all eventualities but I'm not spoiled if that's what you're worried about. I can make do in almost any circumstance."
She walked to the fire; pulling out a match, she lit a piece of newspaper inside of the pit until it caught. The bright orange of the flame grabbed his attention and for a moment he was content to watch it burn. Finally, when it had ignited the piece of wood next to it he turned his attention back to the brunette beauty in front of him.
By this time she'd put on clothes and he was more than a little disappointed about it. She wore plain khaki pants with a black turtleneck and hiking boots. Laid out on a large log next to the first he saw a fleece jacket. Obviously not stupid, she'd prepared for the weather. He smirked, not to mention the tent probably had heat.
She sat down on the log and patted the seat next to her. Did she expect him to sit there? He narrowed his eyes.
"I'm Faith and I don't bite, at least not when I'm in this form." She giggled at her own joke and he grinned for a moment before forcing the smile off his face.
"It's going to get really cold out here and I'm naked so I think I'll shift into my wolf before I come over there."
Safe and cozy in all of his fur, he'd better be able to put a distance between them both physically and mentally.
She shook her head and stood. "I anticipated this problem. No shifting needed." Walking into the tent, she emerged a moment later holding a duffel bag. "Rex got these from your room for me. Funny, I always considered myself an observant person but I must have passed your residence ten times a day every day and never wondered whose quarters they were. I guess I always assumed they were empty." She shrugged and handed him the bag.
Holding the bag in his hand, he froze. Inside of the green case was the first step to reclaiming a life he'd sworn he would leave. Clothes. Wearing them signified civilization and civilization meant people. That's where the problem lay. He was not at all safe for the people part.
She narrowed her eyes as she watched him and he wondered just how much of his inner musings she'd been able to discern.
Probably more than you imagine. She is, after all, our mate.
"Look, don't make a bigger deal of the clothes than they are. When I leave here, you never need see them again if you don't want to. Okay?"
That was fair. He supposed it was no big deal to dress for one conversation for one evening. Quickly and silently, he pulled the clothes out of the bag and put the coverings on himself. The sweatpants and sweatshirt were cotton but they still itched his skin, which was not at all used to fabric touching it. He tried not to pull on his clothes like a child.
She patted the log again. "Come sit. It's warm here."
He obliged and had to admit she was correct. It was warm but he didn't think it had anything to do with the fire and everything to do with the woman, whose body heat could be called molten, next to him.
"So your name is Faith?"
"Yep." She smiled brightly. "I like to say you can have a little of it in me."
"You're going to have to go slowly on the puns. I haven't communicated with anyone in a month and even then it was just to give a woods report to Tristan."
She tapped her foot on the ground in what looked like an unconscious gesture. "Ooh, woods reports to Tristan, sounds stimulating."
Theo had looked forward to his woods reports. It had been nice to see his brother's face once a month if nothing else and his wolf had needed to see its Alpha.
"So here's what I know about you, Theo Kane, and it's not much because as of yesterday I didn't know you'd ever been born." She cleared her throat. "You are the younger brother of Tristan, the direct younger brother. Since Tristan is third born, that would make you fourth. In fact, you guys are less than a year apart, a very weird thing for wolf shifters of the royal line considering that your parents don't age. Your two oldest brothers are fifty years apart and that's normal." Her face brightened as she thought of something else. "But you're not to worry, it's becoming much more common. Ashlee and Tristan had the first two pups and now they're going to have a third all in four years so you'll be in good company."
Theo's head shot up. "She's pregnant again? God, Braden is what? Almost four, right? And that would make Virginia almost three. They certainly like to make babies."
"Um-hmm." She nodded. "And Summer too."
"Cullen has procreated?" Scary thought.
"Yes, the boogey man is mellowing a little bit everyday. Of course, I never knew him as the scary dude you all think he is. The first time I saw Cullen he was strapped to a table being tortured by your father so my opinion of him may be somewhat skewed."
The mention of his father dampened Theo's mood considerably. Would his family have to hunt him down to stop him from torturing people? Faith grabbed his arm.
"Everything about your body language and face just changed in front of my eyes. Which part upset you? The mention of Cullen or the mention of your father or something else?"
Why did she even care? He stood. Couldn't this woman see what damaged goods he was? Did she have some sort of death wish?
You're going to have to speak in some form if you want me to hear you. I prefer out loud but I've adjusted to this form of communication too if you'd prefer it.
Theo fell backwards, so startled by the sound of her voice in his head. It was like butterfly wings brushing over his brain, soothing and gentle. He hadn't been prepared for it. Hitting the ground hard, he immediately jumped to his feet refusing to look embarrassed or humiliated.
Faith leapt up. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm not used to talking in either form."
"Evidently." Faith walked to him and immediately started brushing dirt off him. He had to grin; it was a completely female thing to do. Men just didn't go around brushing dirt off of one another. "So which was it? Your Dad or something else?"
"I'm not well, Faith." Saying her name out loud was like uttering a prayer. It felt spiritual and all consuming. "Either the acid from the demon attack damaged my brain or I'm built just like him."
"You're a power hungry megalomaniac? Come on, let's eat." She walked into the tent and once again emerged with a container.
He sniffed the air and picked up the scent of chicken and salad. His mouth watered. It had been a long time since he'd eaten something he hadn't had to kill and he never cooked so the venison or rabbit was always raw.
"I love chicken."
"I know, I asked around about you before I came. I figured I was basically going to have to bribe you to come here and talk to me so I might as well have your favorite things around. There's a music player in there with Frank Sinatra on it. I can put it on it you'd like."
He smiled and rubbed his face. His scar ached, not used to so much talking and smiling, the skin was tight. It throbbed heavily. Hoping she didn't notice, he continued with the conversation. "I'm a little older than you so it's actually very modern of me to like him. I was young when he was popular, even though now it makes me seem old."
"You are older than me but not as much as you think you are."
He stared at her. She didn't look a day over thirty but that was to be expected as neither did he. Unmated shifters stopped aging at thirty until they met their other halves. Cullen had looked thirty for three hundred years although now he'd start to age. Theo had always hated the idea of eternal youth. Maybe it made him strange but with the look of growing older, came the respect of being considered wise. No one gave a thirty-year-old guy much credit.
Another reason he was glad not to be Alpha. Tristan and Ashlee as the Alpha pair would look eternally the ages they were when they met. That meant Ashlee would look twenty-two until she and Tristan stepped down for one of their children to take over the position.
"Where did your mind go? You didn't even ask me how old I am." She seemed disappointed and he realized he failed at this getting to know you stuff.
"Shall I guess, then?"
"If you think you can." The light of the fire was enough he could see her eyes twinkled.
"So obviously you're not thirty. Unless your mother was pregnant with you when she left, unlikely because it was only the unmated females who left, I would have remembered a grown-up you leaving the island. Although, I guess that doesn't make sense both because if you'd been thirty or even twenty, we would have been mated, and I would have killed you."
"Kind of sick how we all chart time based on the massacre but you are correct. However, I can't say if I knew you or not as I blocked out everything to do with my life before I went to the foster home. It's only started to come back to me since I've been on the island."
"How is that even possible?"
"Long story that I might tell you when we know each other better." She shrugged. "Anyway, good logic so far." She seemed relieved when she said that as if she'd been waiting to see if his brain functioned.
He stood up, always feeling clearer when he moved around. "Three years have passed since the thirty year anniversary. So you were under twenty-three when you left."
"Way under." She laughed and he was shocked to see she enjoyed this.
"Don't help me." He gave her a look that was part-amusement, part mock annoyance.
"Okay." She pantomimed zipping her lips. "I won't give anymore clues."
"If you had been between the ages of say fifteen and twenty-three I would at least remember you. Maybe that makes me weird but I like to think as security I paid attention to the preteens slash teenage slash young adult people in the pack."
"Fair enough."
"Since you're too old to have been conceived off island after the fall that would make you between one year old and fifteen when you left which would make you somewhere between thirty-one and forty-five now."
"Ah, but I've told I'm older than I look."
"Okay between thirty-five and forty-five then."
She stood up and clapped. "Good work Theo. Care to place a guess on an exact age?"
He had no idea. "Forty?"
"On my next birthday."
"Which is when?" He was genuinely curious. Not that he could buy her a gift or anything in the state in which he currently lived.
"Three months from now."
The bullet flew by him and he barely heard it until it cracked into the log where they had been sitting. He threw Faith to the ground, blocking her from harm as he raised his head to see if he could sniff out the perpetrator.
"Theo, what the hell is wrong with you?" She shoved at his shoulders, asking for release.
He could see nothing in the dark and still there was no scent to guide him. He wanted to throw something. "Quiet woman, we are perhaps better camouflaged in the dark. When I say run, we are gong to move from the fireside. Can you shift while you run yet?"
"You saw me shift under water. Shifting on the go is nothing. But, hold on a second, run from what?"
Had she seriously missed the whole thing? "The man who is shooting at us."
"Theo, no one is doing that."
"Did you somehow miss the bullet that whizzed between us?" Really, it was too bizarre for words that she didn't know the danger they were in.
"No one shot at us. I promise you, I would hear and see a bullet."
He sat up. Was it possible? Had he imagined the whole thing? That was worse than there being actual danger out there. It meant he'd crossed over a line he couldn't go back over.
Faith sat up, her eyes bore into his. After a moment's pause, she spoke. "Show me."
He shook his head. "What?"
"Show me where the bullet hit."
"It's insane. You would have seen or heard something. You're a wolf and even non wolves would have noticed that."
"Theo," she gripped his shoulders. "Maybe you're just more attuned to things because you've been out here on your own. If my shifting into a wolf in the middle of the jungle taught me anything it is that the impossible is possible, so show me."
He pointed at the log. It smacked into that, right in between where we had been sitting. She knelt down next to it and gasped.
"What is it?" His heart pounded.
"There is a bullet hole here, it's clear as day, but no bullet. How is that possible?" Her eyes were huge.
He grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. "I don't know but we're getting you out of here."
She shook her head. "Not if you're not coming too."
"I'm not..."
Interrupting, she scowled at him. "Don't you dare tell me you're not safe because when there was danger--that I might mention I didn't even know about--your first instinct was to protect me. You are as safe as anyone I know, maybe more. So, either you come with me or I stay here with you and we figure out what is wrong."
I vote we go with her.
His wolf's opinion heard, Theo had no choice but to agree. He nodded. "Let's go."
The lights were too bright. It was the only coherent thought that wrestled its way into Faith's mind. It had been nine months since he'd been indoors with unnatural light and this had to be killing him.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward through the front hall of the residence. "I'll see if I can get you into my rooms while we figure this out without everyone else knowing you're here."
You're all wolves remember, they've all smelled him already.
That was true and if she'd been thinking clearly she would have realized it. Too late to change her mind about bringing him here, she walked more quickly and was glad to see he kept up.
He cleared his throat. "It's okay, Faith. I'm keeping it together."
But she knew better. He'd nearly lost it in the woods and for a moment she'd given in to the easy answer and believed he was truly whacko. One second they were flirting about how old she actually was, and the next he was throwing her on the ground thinking there were gunshots where there were not.
Thank the heavens she'd thought to at least check the log. She shook her head. What had made her look?
Me.
Faith stifled a giggle. That was true. Her wolf would have exploded with rage if she hadn't at least given it a gander. Of course, now that she had things were more complicated. She'd seen nothing happen that should have caused the bullet hole but there it was and now she had to deal with it.
The truth was in the six months since she'd been security chief, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. In fact, she'd all but convinced herself all of the danger and drama were behind them.
She turned the corner that would lead to the sleeping quarters. It would only be moments before the pack descended on them or the Royals at least. Somehow it would fall to her to keep them away from him until he seemed stronger otherwise they'd never believe him and he'd probably run to the woods again.
But by damn they'd believe her, one way or another.
She pushed open her door and Theo followed her inside. Shutting the door, she did something she hadn't done since coming to Westervelt: she locked the door. If they wanted to see him they'd have to break down the door.
Don't put that past Tristan if he wants to get to Theo desperately enough.
She'd have to hope Ashlee could keep him cool and be patient until she got things sorted out. Theo crossed the room and sat down on the small couch that sat under the windowsill. She often lounged there herself, it gave her a great view of the western lawn, which most of the time she'd found soothing, although she wouldn't have if she'd known Theo was wondering around in the woods just past her view all this time.
He placed his head in his hands and she remembered her earlier thought. Quickly, she shut off the main light and put on one table lamp instead. He looked up, a grateful glint in his brown eyes. Crossing to the fridge, she took out two bottles of water and handed him one. He stared at it for a moment before twisting off the lid.
Deciding it was better to start off lighthearted she made a joke. "Used to getting your drinks from the stream, huh?"
"Or the lake, yes."
Faith sighed. "I think we only have moments before I have to keep all of your brothers from pounding on the door demanding to see you."
He nodded. "I figured that out when we sprinted through the lobby. Thank you for thinking this might be a lot on me and not making me say it."
"Like you just said it now?"
He smiled and she was shocked to see that under his scar he had the remnants of a dimple. What the hell had happened to him to cause the disfigurement? Everyone said he rescued Braden but left it at that. It frustrated her to no end. It was like coming into a story in the middle and no one wanted to tell her what had happened before.
"So you must want to question me." That was true--he'd been in charge of security before she had come. He knew the protocol.
"If you're up to answering."
"Can I ask some of you?"
Faith found herself watching his lips as he spoke. The simple movements of his lips touching each other and the brief glances she got of his teeth and tongue transfixed her. Swallowing hard, she tried to get control of herself.
She became aware the second he noticed her stare and not for one moment was he confused about why she stared at him. He raised an eyebrow and stood up off the couch.
Standing like that, he towered over her. She took one step closer to him and rubbed her palms against his shirt, feeling the hard lines of his chest. He exhaled on a hiss.
"Faith, I'm not safe for you, not yet, maybe not ever."
Her hands felt hot and she wished beyond reason she was touching his skin and not the cotton of his tee shirt. "Theo, I don't want safe in my life. I've never had it and I'm not sure what to do with it when it briefly presents itself. Besides, weren't we designed for each other in heaven or whatever you believe in before we were born?"
A pounding on the door had him stepping backwards and she couldn't help the little whimper that came from her throat. Rubbing a hand against her forehead, she was shocked to feel it was as hot as her hands. Damn, she practically burned up.
"It's Tristan and Rex." Theo's voice sounded rough. At least he'd had the good sense to sniff the air. She was so befuddled she'd lost all sense of what to do next.
Nodding, she composed herself. "Get in the bedroom, close the door. I can handle them. Rex doesn't scare me and Tristan only scares me before he gives me permission to address him."
"I'm not going to hide in the bedroom while you handle my brothers." The flare in Theo's eyes surprised her. She'd do well not to underestimate him.
He's not our supreme Alpha but make no mistake, our mate is an Alpha-male.
Faith wanted to stick her tongue out at her furry half. Any other insights you have, I'd prefer if you shared them before I need to know them.
Theo stomped to the door and swung it open. "Tristan and Rex. Won't you come in?"
"Because it's not my quarters or anything."
"Yes, alright, is it okay if we come in, Faithy?" Rex's tone sounded indulgent and Faith rolled her eyes.
"Fine, if it's okay with Theo. He's the one not yet up to receiving guests." Tristan and Rex must have assumed his consent because they walked on in.
"Faithy?" Theo still stood by the open door. He shut it, hard.
"Faith is our buddy, Theo. Why, with no mate around to keep us from hanging out, she's one of the guys." Rex's eyes sparkled with mischief. Were they really trying to goad him? That was a terrible idea.
Theo narrowed his glare at the youngest of the Kane brothers. "Well consider yourself warned off. She's found her mate and I don't want any nicknames coming from you."
"But I don't know if I can stop calling her Faithy now."
"Alright." Tristan interrupted and Faith had never been so glad to hear Tristan speak up in her life. "So are you back?"
"Not permanently, no. I can't be back until I know I will be safe and not harm anyone, but Faith and I made an interesting discovery in the woods and it was worth hashing it out in a less dangerous place."
Tristan's eyes flared and he whirled on Faith. "What danger?"
Our Alpha is angry with us.
Faith's eyes hit the floor. "I should have come to you immediately." Her voice shook. "But I'm not even sure what happened yet. I don't want to report on something until I understand it."
Theo stepped between Faith and Tristan and suddenly Faith could look up from the floor. "If you're trying to blame someone, brother, blame me. I'm obviously such a mess my mate felt she had to hide me from the world in her room before she could do anything else."
Does he forgive us?
I don't know but I'm wickedly aroused by the fact that Theo just stood up for us.
"I'm not angry with you Faith." Tristan's reassurance let Faith finally breathe again. Okay, then all would be well or at least improved from where it currently was.
"Yeah, Faithy, he's not angry with you."
Faith rolled her eyes at Rex's jibe. The brothers could joke with Tristan as no one else could. While they respected him, and Faith had seen numerous occasions in which that was apparent, they could also jab at him and make fun of him as you only could with a sibling.
Faith's heart panged. Andrew had been the closest thing she had to a sibling. They'd been as close as any brother and sister ever could be and his death haunted her nightly. She needed to keep the goal of avenging Andrew in mind if she wanted to get through this. The rest of it, mating aside, was pudding in comparison to that mission.
"Got any food here, Faithy?" Rex had used that nickname again.
Theo leapt at Rex, shifting as he did it. Rex had one second after impact to shift himself and seconds later Faith had two growling wolves wrestling and destroying her set of rooms. She shrieked.
Tristan grabbed her arms. "Let them alone."
"Yes my Alpha." Wait, what? "Why am I leaving them alone while they destroy my home?"
"Theo has to be welcomed back into the pack whether he wants to be or not or he cannot stay here. Rex is testing him, seeing who is stronger. It's a testosterone thing."
"Do you think they could take their macho show outside?"
Faith knew who would win the fight if it were left to go to conclusion. Rex was tough, she'd watched him spar, but Theo had lived in his wolf form for months hunting for his food and surviving on his own. She'd pit him against anyone, even Tristan if it came to that, which she truly hoped it didn't.
Tristan whistled and both wolves jumped back. "You are destroying Faith's home."
They stepped away from each other, Theo's dark wolf growling as he walked back to the couch. Still in his furred form, he jumped up on the cushions. Faith had an urge to tell him to get off of the furniture as her foster mother had done a million times to the dog when she'd grown up. She shook her head. Where had that crazy memory come from?
Rex shifted back and stood behind Tristan, his eyes not leaving Theo.
"Tell us what little you saw of the danger. Perhaps we can help."
Faith wanted to pull out her hair. All good intentions aside she wanted them all out of her space so she could speak with Theo about what happened, draw her own conclusions, and then report to the group when she was ready.
"I was just going to clarify some things with Theo."
"And you don't want to tell me?"
Tell him; tell him, he could cast us out.
Faith often wondered if other people's wolves had the neurosis hers did. She didn't know if Tristan would cast out a member of his pack or not but she couldn't live her life based on that fear.
"I don't want to discuss it yet, no." There she had said it, consequences be damned.
Tristan nodded. "Okay, I'll expect your report in the morning." He nodded to Faith. "Good to see you, brother. As far as I'm concerned you're back. I am revoking your rights to live on your own." Theo yelped on the couch and Faith's heart nearly exploded. She had done this; she'd made him come back, and told him he could leave again. Damn it. "Rex, let's go."
Tristan shut the door behind him and Faith almost gave into the need to sink to her knees. She'd never felt grief like this before and she'd just met Theo. If this was what it was like to be mated without even having consummated the thing then she wasn't sure she and Theo should ever take it that far. How much more co-dependent could she get?
"I don't suppose you're going to talk to me now are you?" The silence that met her question was all the answer she needed. She nodded. "Fine, I suppose you're entitled to your silence. I'd be pissed at me too."
Her clothes felt heavy, her hair sticky, and she needed to be clean. Turning around without another word, she walked into her bathroom and closed the door. She put on the shower and threw her clothes on the floor.
"Pick up after yourself, Faith, don't be a slob." She mimicked the administrators of the orphanage who had come and taken her from the foster home. Those women had hated everything about her and she couldn't blame them for their dislike. She'd never been easy and in an institutional setting she'd been a disaster.
She scrubbed her hair with the strawberry shampoo Ashlee made for all the women on the island and contemplated her life. Everything had happened so quickly. She'd lost Andrew in the most awful way and when she'd used all of her abilities to track down where he'd been and how he could have gotten that way. With the little she'd gathered she'd run off to Mexico thinking she would be a big hero and stop it from happening again to anyone else, kidnapped Summer--stuck in her wolf form--and gotten more than she'd bargained for in the process. I mean who didn't want their first shift forced on them in the middle of the jungle and by accident to boot?
Suddenly nothing about her life made any sense so she'd had no choice but to go to Westervelt and find out who she really was, who her parents were, and how she was going to live the rest of her life.
Now there was the Theo to contend with.
Tears she hadn't known had dripped from her eyes fell down her cheeks and she had a hard time distinguishing them from the water pushing out of the showerhead. Not surprisingly, any thoughts of Andrew while she was alone led to tears one way or another. Also there was the problem that she didn't seem to have any special mystical powers and all the females on Westervelt were supposed to have those.
Don't be so hard on us. We'll get there.
She shut off the stream of water and covered herself in her large purple bathrobe. The logo on it read Westervelt Spa, they sold it at the gift shop on the other island. She'd been given one when she came to the island.
A soft scratching at the door caught her attention. She sighed and opened it, not caring how awful she must look. Theo whimpered softly, his tail moving back and forth.
"Still hanging out in wolf form, are you?" He stared up at her, his eyes--Theo's human eyes--encased in his furry body. Faith knelt down to be face to face to with him. "You're not talking either, not even in my mind."
Theo licked her cheeks and Faith remembered they were covered in tearstains. The gesture felt so comforting she almost started crying again. What must this man have been like when he spent most of his time as just that, a man? If he hadn't been hurt and she hadn't waited so long to come to Westervelt, would their life have been easy together like it was with the three couples she'd watched form in her time here?
"We still need to talk."
Theo snorted and ran to her bedroom. He jumped on the bed.
She laughed. "So sorry, buddy, but you'd have to spend a lot more time in man form for us to do that. When you're like this I kind of think of you as the friendly family dog."
Theo growled.
"Well if you don't like it, change back."
Walking to her bureau, she pulled out her comfy pink cotton pajamas. She had sexier things she could wear but if he was going to spend all of his time walking on four feet, he could very well look at her in whatever she felt like wearing. Quickly, she shoved on her PJs.
Faith considered her options for a moment. She could kick Theo off the bed or she could let him lay next to her like some kind of Golden Retriever. Lying down, he snuggled up next to her while she turned off the lamp encasing the room in total darkness. Why did she put the clothes on?
A warm white light briefly glowed as Theo shifted back to his human form. Where his paw had been now his hand resided. This was a much more intimate feeling. It was as if they were lovers resting in each other's arms.
Theo planted a kiss on the back of her head. "Don't ever make the mistake of thinking of me as the family dog."
She rolled until she faced him nose to nose. His breathing was hard and she placed her hands back on his chest where she'd had them earlier. "I know, you're big and mean and dangerous, right? Somehow you're a danger to me and everyone here, right?"
"I am, Faith, never doubt it. The acid that destroyed my body has started playing havoc with my human brain."
Reaching up, she placed her right hand on the scarred part of his face. He flinched and tried to pull away but she held him still. "Except I saw it too, Theo. I couldn't see the actual bullet or hear the fire but I saw hole that wasn't there only moments earlier. Something did that and maybe you're the only one who can see it, maybe whatever happened to you is going to turn out to be a gift, to save us all."
"Faith, before I left, I was having terrible thoughts. Violent, dangerous images I could have acted on."
"Except you didn't."
"I could have."
Faith placed a kiss on his nose. "Theo, I could have dyed my hair blue, I didn't. Just because we think something doesn't mean we act on them."
Theo sighed. "It's so much more complicated than that."
"Most things are simple. We'll figure it out." She felt warm in his embrace and for the first time in a long time not alone in the world. Yawning, she rolled over onto her side. He placed his hand over her waist and pulled her tight against him. Even though it seemed crazy, within seconds she found herself drifting off to sleep as if they'd been sharing a bed for years.
Theo woke suddenly. He was drenched in cold sweat and what was worse was that he knew it hadn't just been a nightmare that had roused him in the middle of the night. He leapt from the bed.
Call the shift.
No, it would be too easy. He needed to beat this by himself while he still could if there was any chance of having a future with Faith within the pack. The images he hadn't seen since he'd made the decision to live in his life in his wolf form started. He needed to find a way to remember they were just that: waking dreams, scenes in his mind, not real.
The room spun and he hit the floor. When he sat up he was in Faith's room but it was daylight and she wasn't there. In her place on the bed was the creature from his worst living nightmare: the flying demon.
It had been months since he'd seen one. Living like a wolf had protected him from having to endure it. Colored like russet potatoes, the creature's wingspan must have been about eight feet wide; the non-winged parts much shorter maybe something like three feet. Its face was a mixture of a lizard and a snake and most of it looked slimy. Every four minutes, the facial features dissolved, only to reform seconds later. It was at this time the creatures were vulnerable and could be killed, but you had to be careful. As he'd learned from personal experience, the creature had a gland on the back of its hands that secreted an acid that was so potent the second it touched your skin you begged for death.
But in his case, the end had not come. Instead he'd gotten to live with it infecting him every day since even after it burned off one side of his face.
"Hello, Theo, I've been waiting for you."
Theo growled. Once he was confronted with the talking version of the beast, there was no shifting, no speaking to his wolf at all. He was completely on his own in these situations and he had no idea why and wasn't sure there was even anyone he could ask.
"I told you the last time I saw you that you could run but you could never escape us. We're always with you."
"You're a figment of my imagination, a hallucination brought on by the lingering presence of your acid in my body."
"Perhaps...that sounds so reasonable. But how about this explanation?" The creature took off in flight, breaking through Faith's ceiling. Theo ducked and rolled to miss being hit by large chunks of plaster coming down, as the demon hovered outside the hole in the ceiling "You've always been of two natures. One you could control, one you fought to not have control you. This is true of all shifters. Now you are also more than you were before. These days you have three inside of you, not just two."
Theo shook his head. The longer he stayed in here in this waking dream and let this thing infect him, the more his behavior in the real world would become unpredictable and dangerous. His body could be doing all kinds of dangerous, horrible things there while he did nothing more than talk in here. He'd left Faith sleeping. She had no way of protecting herself from him and he'd be unreachable, there would be no way to reason with him.
This was why he couldn't be around anyone or spend any time in his human form.
"Eventually, you'll have to face this in your wolf form too. As a person who grew up with two natures, you'd think you wouldn't be so afraid of a third one."
Theo's ears rang. "If that were true, Cullen would have told us about it. We would have known that was what happened to me."
The creature had the audacity to snort as he landed directly in front of Theo. "You rely so heavily on what your elders knew or what they should know. It's nonsense. You're the first person to survive one of our attacks in five centuries. Everyone your Cullen knew who got hit like you did died within twenty-four hours. I guess we could call you...us...something of a miracle. Now, why do you suppose that is?"
If any of this was true, there was no way in hell Theo was going to let this thing exist inside of his body. He'd rip it out himself if he had to.
"I don't know, maybe it just wasn't my time to die or you were having an off day when you struck me."
The demon laughed, a long series of snickers that sounded more like a hisses. "Oh, I think I'm going to like being inside of you. When you're not hidden away as a wolf you're rather amusing."
"So what you're saying is I'm going to turn into you?"
He needed to wake up and get away from Faith immediately. The single most grotesque creature he'd ever seen lived inside of him. It was a terrible situation and his heart pounded just thinking about it.
Shaking his head, the demon laughed heartily now. "No, but I'll always be with you now. Tell me Theo Kane, how much control do you have?"
A sharp wrenching pain pierced Theo's body and threw him onto the floor. He stared at the demon in shock but the demon looked confused as if he hadn't just caused what happened to Theo.
The same pain struck him again and he rolled over onto his stomach in agony. Colors swirled in front of his eyes in a circular pattern and he felt as though he was sucked into a long tunnel filled with every color he'd ever seen and some he had never noticed before.
His head felt like he was on fire. He groaned and pulled his hands to his face to grab his throbbing temples.
"Come back to me."
Theo thrashed back and forth, desperate to avoid the demon and whatever game it played by doing this to him.
"Come back to me."
Seconds passed before he registered the voice. Faith? He tried to open his eyes but the light in the room blinded him.
"Don't look until I tell you to."
He nodded, unable to do anything else. Slowly the swirling colors and the white light faded. A moment later, he was back in Faith's calm, dark walled bedroom, he didn't have to open his eyes to know, he could smell it. Everything about it screamed Faith from the scent of lavender on the sheets--also present on her skin--to the vanilla candles he knew she burned from both their scented presence on the walls to the vague remnant of them on her hair.
"Okay, I think that light is gone now." He heard both relief and astonishment in her voice.
He opened his eyes and sat up, shaking his head. "What happened?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "You tell me."
"Did I hurt you?" He couldn't stand the thought.
"No." After a second she continued. "Did I hurt you?"
Okay, now he was seriously confused. "How could you have done that?"
"Some kind of...strange light came out of my body like it was burning its way through my skin...I started levitating you off of the bed and telling you to come to me." Terror lined the ridges of Faith's eyes and her voice shook. To his horror, he realized she thought she'd caused something to happen to him.
"I think I need to explain. I have no memory of any of that. I think, well, I think you saved both of our lives."
She shook her head. "What?"
"I wasn't here. I was...elsewhere." He needed to figure out the best way to explain to her about the demon living inside of him. Hell, he needed to figure out the best way to explain it to himself. "And you called me back."
She narrowed her eyes. "This other place you go. That's why you don't think you're safe to be around other people?"
"When I'm there, or when my mind is there, I have no control over what my body does here. The first time it happened, I was only out of it for mere moments but when I came back, I had torn up my bedroom. The next time, I destroyed a boat. What if there had been someone around who I could have hurt?"
She gave him a small smile that melted his heart. "You wolves and your protective instincts."
Raising an eyebrow, he grinned. "We take care of our pack and don't pretend for one second that you're not the same exact way as you are, in fact, a wolf yourself."
Her eyes got sad and he immediately remembered the way he'd heard her crying in the shower. Faith was not, he realized, without her own secrets. Maybe she'd understand his keeping his private for a little while longer.
"So maybe I should have said you Alpha wolves and your protective instincts. Those of us who are not Alphas don't spend as much time obsessing about every minute detail of every day and how it could possibly affect the pack."
He shrugged. "I don't know how much of an Alpha I still am."
The woman had the audacity to laugh. "Oh you're still Alpha, even if you don't acknowledge it anymore. Anyway," Faith made a dismissive gesture with her hand as if she didn't wish to discuss it anymore. "Your explanation, your trip to wherever you go where you can't control your body, that might explain a little bit what happened to me."
He'd just been told with nothing more than a hand gesture to drop the subject. His mate had given him a direct order. Not sure how he felt about that, he decided to go with the flow for the moment. Truth was he wanted to know what had happened with her but he wasn't sure he could stomach being ordered around. He'd been out of the pack too long for that now. It was going to take a little getting used to.
"Maybe I'm not the one who's Alpha here."
"Theo, I'm a woman."
"Anything is possible, Faith."
She sighed, a smile creeping in on the edges of her mouth as if she found something amusing but didn't want to show it. "Okay, I'm sorry I dismissed you. Would you like to continue discussing the Alpha status or move on to how the blinding white light shot out of my hands?"
He stood up off the floor. "Are you humoring me now?"
"There is nothing about this that you are going to make easy, are you?"
Theo sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to being around people."
She poked him in the chest. "You only get to use that excuse one more time. After that you better just get used to it again."
He really wanted to grin but thought he'd better maintain his composure since she was already pissed off. Faith was so impressive, no wonder they had made her security chief in his absence. She obviously didn't take any nonsense from anyone or maybe it was just him but, in any case, he was quickly becoming enthralled.
"Please tell me about your new ability."
She nodded. "So I woke up and I just knew there was something wrong with you." Reaching out, she stroked his wrist. His wolf wagged his tale in appreciation. The memory must bother Faith and whether she was conscious of it or not she had just shown her animal side--the part of Faith that would always need touch, no matter where it was, to be part of her life. The wolf needed it and so now she did too.
"Was I doing something that alerted you or was it some kind of sixth sense thing?"
"Sixth Sense? No. I don't have mystical powers like the other women."
Theo scoffed. "I highly doubt that. If white light streamed from your hands, I'd say that's pretty powerful stuff."
Faith ran a hand through her long dark hair. "If that's true then it's just shown up and all I can do is attribute it to your presence."
In the past, before the Westervelt downfall, the women had come into their powers all on their own with no help from their mates. His understanding was that Ashlee and Summer had each developed their 'other-worldly' abilities in ways that had nothing to do with their mates. It was probably only a matter of time until Faith would have too. Not that he didn't like her thinking it had something to do with him. Considering the explanation he was about to have to give her, he could use all the good will he could get.
He sighed. "Go on."
"I just knew that I could help you. My body started to heat up and white light flooded the room from my hands, my voice got kind of spooky sounding, and I started calling you back from wherever you were. I couldn't seem to stop it. You fell on the floor." Faith started to pace. "I thought I was killing you."
"Sit down." He took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her into a chair. "Where I was, where I go when that happens--it's very bad and when I tell you about it you'll be tremendously glad to be rid of me and consider yourself fortunate we didn't complete the mating ceremony."
Faith raised an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that. Just in the brief hours I have known you, I've gotten kind of used to having you around."
"In the past, it's all been sort of vague, but this time was stronger and I'm completely convinced it was real."
"Theo, just tell me already." Her tone told him she rapidly lost patience with him. Note to self: Faith has less ability to wait than even you do. "I have a demon inside of me, it's as much a part of me as the wolf, and I have to get away from here."
He expected stunned silence, so when he got laughter he was shocked. "This is funny?"
"No, this is ridiculous."
"It is?" He felt so confused he wasn't sure what to do with himself.
"Theo, I'm sure our wolves could smell the demon." She paused. "Can't they?"
That was a good question. He searched his brain to see if he could recall a scent.
I don't remember a scent. It was all such a haze.
If his wolf couldn't remember one, then it was likely there wasn't one to remember. But how was that possible? Rocks had scents; blades of grass, even the smallest specks of dust could be scented. His head pounded. It was just too bizarre. He never let himself think about that day.
"Where are you going?"
He shook his head. "Nowhere, I'm standing right here."
"I can feel you leaving here. It's like you're travelling somewhere else."
He had no idea what she talked about. She reached over and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm going with you."
"Faith, I'm telling you, I'm not going anywhere."
Except in the next second, he was. He looked around for a moment before he started coughing. Next to him, Faith covered her mouth with her hands. He grabbed her and pulled her up against him. Where the hell were they?
Smoke filled the room around them. He turned left and right, trying to take shallow breaths as he deciphered what the hell was going on.
We've been here before. Remember.
Did you do this to us? Faith's wolf asked.
His wolf shook his head. Not me. The other one.
Great, so the demon had dragged them somewhere and this time Faith was stuck in it with him. But his wolf said they'd been here before. He sniffed the air but all he could scent was the smoke. Pulling Faith with him, he moved forward and stopped short. He did know this place.
It was the Institute--the place Tristan had built for the wolves to live on the island next to the hotel--before it burned to the ground the day he'd saved Braden and destroyed his own life. By the looks of things, they were right in the middle of the fire.
"Faith, we have to get out of here. This building is about to burn to the ground." A sudden thought struck Theo and for a moment, he froze. Reaching up, he grabbed the side of his face. It was still scarred, so that meant he'd already rescued Braden and been through the trauma. How could that be if they were back in the middle of the event?
"Theo, I think we were brought here for a reason. Is this the building that burned when you rescued Braden?" Her voice sounded muffled as she spoke with her nightshirt covering her face to keep out the smoke.
Protect our mate.
He had no intention of doing otherwise. "Yes, but Faith we don't have time to go play observer or whatever is happening here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I've already seen that, lived it in fact."
She nodded but pulled out of his hand. "That's true but I haven't and it can't be coincidence that I was able to come with you. Come on, I'll be safe. Which way was the event?"
"Down the hall." He had to admit, Faith was right, and if he was already injured it was not likely he would be again. Besides, the demons had protected them from the flames when they'd been with them. There was nowhere safer in the entire building than in that room with the evil creatures, as illogical as that seemed.
Taking Faith's arm again, he led them quickly down the hall as he tried to stay low and avoid falling debris. To his great relief, Faith didn't argue or pull out of his grasp as he found his way to the room in question.
He could already hear the shouting inside and he swallowed away the clenching in his gut, as it became less of a memory and more like reliving his personal nightmare.
As if reading his mind she answered. "Come on, you're with me this time."
Inside the room, the strange blue light that seemed to protect the room from the heat and the flames illuminated the scene. Two demons hovered over the floor. One of them held Braden in its grasp. Beneath them, Tristan and a less scarred, still somewhat innocent version of himself leapt into the air to try to reach him.
Tristan bellowed as only a father could and shouted orders at Theo.
"Hey there." Faith called out to the people in front of her but no one turned around. She swung her hands in the air and again nothing happened.
"Okay, they can't see us. We're just here to watch."
That made sense. "Then why do you suppose we had to choke on all that smoke out in the hall?"
"Just lucky, I guess."
Tristan's voice filled the room. "So help me, Theo, I will not let them leave with my son."
"Don't worry, brother, I will not let that happen."
Theo wished he could shake himself. "It won't be me rescuing him." His voice sounded harsh, even to his own ears. "In under five minutes, I'll be nearly dead on the floor after ignoring Cullen's warning about getting hit by the acid."
Faith looked around. "Cullen?"
As if on cue, the older wolf plowed through the door. This time, Theo was able to watch him. He hadn't registered the other man's fear the last time. He'd been too focused on Braden, too caught up in the horror of the demons, and the sound of Braden's wail to be rescued.
He closed his eyes. There was nothing for him to see here that bore remembering. He'd failed and he would suffer for it the rest of his life. What sick twist of fate thought his mate needed to witness his disgrace?
"No." He pulled on her arm. "We're leaving."
"Theo," Faith took a step backwards. "Would you do it again, knowing what you know now?"
He thought about it for a second. "You're asking if I would still try to rescue Braden even if I knew what would happen to me?"
She nodded.
"I would. He's my nephew. I would try even if I knew I would die from the effort."
Faith took his head in his hands. "And that's why you'll always be the most heroic man I've ever met."
Theo wished he could live in that moment forever as he stared at Faith, nothing but glowing admiration coming from her eyes but something caught his attention he had not seen before. Both of the demons stared straight at them. One of them seemed to narrow his eyes as if he considered them thoughtfully. Cullen shouted his instructions and in the next second, Theo saw himself hit the floor after being burned.
His own cheek stung but not with the same pain as the first time. Why did the demons watch them?
"Theo?"
He nodded. "I see them too and I have no answers." But now he knew he needed some.
Faith hoped she did a good job of hiding her extraordinary distress at watching the 'other' Theo suffer so greatly. Even though the scene she observed was a terrible ordeal, she had been able to see the lightness in his eyes and the prevailing innocence of his demeanor. He'd been through trauma with the destruction of the pack and the deceit from his father and still it had been that one moment--when the acid had burned its way into his body and started destroying him from the inside out--that had made him the man he was today.
She held her Theo's hand tightly as they walked through the burning hall, close on the heels of Tristan, who carried Braden, and Cullen, holding Theo from the past on his back. Now that they were away from the demons, the heat and smoke were once again almost too intense to tolerate. Inexplicably, her wolf was nowhere to be found, so she had no choice but to endure the choking heat.
"Can you communicate with your wolf?"
He shook his head. "Not at all but I couldn't when I was with the demon earlier tonight either. I hate to say I'm getting used to being ignored."
"I hope they're okay." She'd hate to think that the poor thing was in pain or trouble and she didn't know.
"If you're okay, they're okay. Try not to worry."
Faith hacked as she inhaled a lungful of black smoke. When she could speak, she had to shout over the roar of the flames that was becoming increasingly loud. "Where are we going now?"
"No idea. I never saw this part. The next thing I remember is waking up several days later looking slightly worse than I do in our present time and feeling like I wished I had died. There was this sense I couldn't get rid of, the best I can call it is wrongness, and the idea that I was more alone than I'd ever been before."
She nodded. "I have to assume we'll be sent home once we've seen what we have to see."
Part of the ceiling crumbled in front of them and they both leapt to avoid tripping over it. "I have no idea when or if this will end. This has never happened to me before."
"When you visit with the demons, how do you get sent back?"
"It's not exactly a visit, Faith, they don't have me over for tea and then I leave after dinner. The thing is living inside of me and periodically it invades my human mind."
She rolled her eyes. "We are running through the middle of a burning building chasing your half-dead body and you want to discuss my word choice? Hell. Answer the damn question."
"First time as far as I can tell, I was away for an hour, around the same amount of time the second time, and very short the third time it happened because you brought me back but I don't think this is the same circumstance. I have no memory of any of this; it's not trapped in my mind. I think we're back in time."
As they reached the outside of the building, cold air assaulted her senses. She'd just gotten through her first winter in Maine but spring had found it's way onto the island and her blood had started to thin. Wearing nothing but her nightie, she did not feel equipped to handle the onslaught of nearly frozen air. Once again, she missed her furry coat.
Theo's arms came around her and she was grateful until she realized he only wore the pants she'd brought him in the woods. He must be much colder than she was. Out of the flames and away from the danger she found herself unable to look away from the hard lines of his sculpted chest in the moonlight. Reaching out, she touched him and felt his heart jump beneath her fingertips. It was a powerful feeling to know she affected him that much with merely her touch.
With her thumb and forefinger, she stroked over his nipple and his eyes got wide. Faith was barely aware of the commotion the pack created around her as they tried to help Theo, Tristan, and Cullen. This was completely the wrong time but she couldn't control the primal need that filled her in his presence.
"I don't know how you can even look at me let alone touch me."
Faith scoffed and stroked the fire ravaged side of his face. He flinched and attempted to pull away but she grabbed the back of his neck to stop him. "Why, because you're scarred? I hardly notice. Does it hurt you?"
His eyes were hard. "Only every day."
"Have you ever tried to put something on it to soften up the skin, make the good portion around it feel better, less tight? Vitamin E?"
"I'm a wolf-shifter, we heal without the use of any of that stuff."
Faith dug deep to find her patience. This man could say the most infuriating things. So why was it she found him so damn sexy he made the skin on her toes tingle?
He's our mate.
Yes, but at the moment I'm trying to figure out if I like him as a person in addition to whatever plans the fates have for us.
Theo is the most self-sacrificing, bravest man we've ever known.
In that, Faith would not argue. She didn't know if she could make the same promise to sacrifice her health--both physical and emotional--again if she knew what the outcome would be ahead of time.
"Look Theo, when we get back from here," she interrupted him as he opened his mouth knowing what his argument would be. "Okay, if we get out of here, then I'm going to start to rub some creams on your face in the morning and at night and we'll see if we can't make it feel better."
Theo rolled his eyes but nodded at the idea. As she watched, his eyes got wide. "Oh boy, I think we'd better move." Theo motioned to the left. The pack had dispersed to other places and Cullen and Summer argued in front of the burning building. Although their voices were raised, the sexual tension between them filled the area around them.
Theo grabbed her hand and they walked quickly through the woods in the direction where they heard the voices of the rest of the pack. "I can't help feeling like we interrupted a private moment."
"I won't tell if you won't but I think you're right. I think if we'd stayed a few more minutes, we would have witnessed their mating."
Faith shook her head to clear the images from it. She didn't need to picture Cullen and Summer doing anything anywhere near mating.
Theo's eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "I'm trying not to think about it too."
"The mating is one of those things I know next to nothing about." Theo raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean the sex aspect of it. That I know about."
"How much do you know about the sex bit?" Had she imagined that his voice just lowered two octaves? She rolled her eyes. Men, they were so predictable.
"Were you under the impression that I had lived almost forty years out in the human world and I was still a virgin?"
She'd asked the question but was shocked at the silence that followed her sarcasm. Finally, he spoke. "I was under the impression that sex without one's mate was really bad for most of us. It's one of the inclinations to find your mate as soon as possible."
Faith had never heard that but at least her two failed relationships made a little more sense now. "That clears a few things up."
"So it wasn't any good with anyone else." Theo's face was impassive but his tone still felt scalding.
"You don't even want to mate with me, what do you care?" Really, she'd had about enough.
Theo grabbed her by her shoulders and swung her around until she faced him. The intensity of his expression grabbed her. "How can you think I don't want to mate with you? I'm sparing you the horror that I would be to live with. Once we mate, that's it. If something happens to me, you won't be able to resist the urge to kill yourself. You'll have to follow me to wherever it is that we go. What if I lose my mind like my father and kill you? Then you'll be stuck in eternity with the man who took your life."
"Theo, look at me." Faith pulled out of his arms and grabbed his face with both of her hands. "I spent most of my life thinking I was insane. When I left here, and was put out there," she pointed towards the ocean that led off the island and onto the mainland of Maine and the rest of the world. "I was an odd little girl who kept rambling about wolves and magic. The social workers in the first orphanage they put me in thought I was delusional and recommended putting me in an insane asylum. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but the people who ran the orphanage beat any thoughts they considered 'inappropriate' from my head. I'm not some weak ninny who is going to fall apart at the first sign of trouble. I've been gifted with some kind of power to bring you back from the demons. I think whether we like it or not we are made for one another."
"So do you like it or hate it that you're stuck with me?"
Faith sighed. "At the moment, I want to ring your neck but when you're not acting a fool, I like you a great deal. You're strong, brave, and compassionate. What's not to like?"
Theo glanced left and right. "Something feel 'off' to you?"
"You mean other than this whole situation? No." Freezing, she would have preferred to be indoors but other than that, she felt pretty normal.
Her would-be mate nodded his head but his eyes were still far away. "I want the names of all the people who beat you, Faith."
"They'd be in their sixties and seventies, Theo, and they don't age like us."
He turned his head to look her straight in the eyes. "I don't care."
Just then, as if they were swept up by a giant gust of wind, Faith found herself shoved up against Theo and floating in the air. "What the hell?"
Theo's strong arms came around her. "I have no idea but I've got you, wherever we're going, we're going together."
Two seconds later, they landed with a hard thump on a wooden floor. Faith lay still for a moment wondering if she was stunned or just unable to move. Theo jumped to his feet; his eyes scanned the room around them. Finding her balance, Faith forced herself to sit up. She rubbed her head and noted that her elbow throbbed. Oh well, all in all she'd only suffered minor injury from whatever had just happened to them.
"I know this place too."
Faith nodded, not surprised. This strange journey seemed to be a distorted trip down Theo's memory lane. He was seeing things he'd seen before and also things he'd missed. She had no idea who guided them but she hoped they knew what they were doing.
Looking around, she gasped. She knew where they were too. It was the main hotel, where the humans came to vacation not knowing they were being secretly scouted out to see if they were really missing wolf-shifters who just didn't know it. Ashlee had originally come up with the idea when she'd first mated Tristan, years before Faith came to Westervelt. As a pack they had sent out a magical inclination for the pack's mates to come to the hotel and surgical center. It had seemed like a good excuse as Ashlee and Summer's father had been, before he was killed by Kendrick's minions, a sought after plastic surgeon. They were currently standing in one of the recovery rooms.
A slight noise, like the movement of a chair being pushed backwards, caught her attention and she whirled around. Tristan and Ashlee sat by the king-sized bed in front of them. The sheets were a deep mahogany, which meant that they'd landed in the room she always thought of as the Bordeaux room. Almost everything in it, with the exception of the beige carpet, was painted in that shade. It could be a little overwhelming.
"I don't think he's going to make it through the night, my love." Ashlee sounded more forlorn than Faith had ever heard her. "This is beyond my skills or powers."
"What about the Aunts? Did they know anything?" Tristan's voice sounded more like a hiss. Faith didn't have to guess who lay in the bed even though she couldn't see his face. It was clearly Theo and they were in the room he'd recovered in immediately after his attack.
"They didn't. I know nothing about the demons nor how to treat someone from an attack. Maybe Cullen will know."
"Maybe I will string Cullen up by his fingernails. That man keeps too many secrets. It might have been nice to know that these creatures existed somewhere in the universe before they took our son."
Ashlee closed her eyes for a moment and Theo grasped Faith's arm. "I don't want to witness this." His voice was a whisper as if they could be heard when Faith suspected that like the burning building those around them would not be aware of their presence here either.
"It's okay, sweetheart." She rubbed his arm with her hand. "We know you don't die."
"Theo is going to die because he saved Braden." Tristan stood up and stormed to the window. "I'm going to lose my brother tonight. Someone will pay for this." Tristan's voice was all wolf and if Faith had been actually present at the time she would have been scared to death. To her recollection, she'd never heard their Alpha sound like that.
Faith turned her attention to Theo, his face an unreadable mask. "Just in case you ever wanted to know how Tristan would feel if you died, here is your answer."
"It's been hard being away from them. We were all together...basically alone...for years and years until Ashlee came and fate started moving in our direction again."
Tristan moved from the window toward the door. "Cullen and Summer have arrived. I can see from their body language that something has changed." He sighed. "Do you think they've mated?"
Nodding, Ashlee looked at her hands. "I don't want to think about my sister mating. Go ahead and run the meeting. Find out what's happening. I'll stay here and try to help Theo as best I can."
Tristan nodded and stalked to the door. "Maybe Cullen will have a solution for saving him." He paused and turned around. "I love you."
Faith's heart pounded. She couldn't get over their ease together. Tristan always presented such a strong front. He was in charge, everyone respected him, and Ashlee stood by his side, most of the time silent and supportive. But in a situation like this one, even with Theo's death on the line, they seemed so complete with one another. Would she and Theo ever share that kind of easiness? Was it just time spent together or was there more to it?
On the bed, Theo started to spasm. Faith stared intently, wondering how this would end. She knew Theo was alive and well next to her thereby making it impossible for him to die where he lay. Yet, as she stood and watched, she felt her heart contract inside of her chest. Something was going terribly wrong. Whirling around she reached out to grab Theo's arm and found nothing but air instead. Theo had disappeared.
Ashlee stood over Theo's dying body, her eyes closed she chanted some magical words Faith did not understand. Rolling her eyes, Faith stormed forward. She never had time for magic and it certainly wasn't working now. The fact that Theo had vanished was a very bad sign. Was it possible to change history? Had they somehow done something so that this time he would die?
She didn't need to hear her wolf's voice--still missing--to know it was vitally important to her future that he live. She could already feel his connection to her very soul. Inside of her, an ache started to fill her chest cavity. Dear heavens, was it already too late?
Kneeling down next to the bed, she wished she could shove Ashlee away. Quickly, she placed her hands, palms down, on top of Theo's body, writhing on the bed. She closed her eyes. The white light that had consumed the room when she'd called him back from the demons appeared. This time she wasn't afraid. Her gifts had been made for Theo--she would not be afraid to use them.
Warmth filled her body and still she didn't open her eyes. Theo needed as much help as he could get. A hand gripped her arm and she jerked backwards.
Ashlee's eyes were huge. "Who are you and what are you doing?" Faith had no doubt that Ashlee would kill her in that moment if she wasn't careful. She was the mate to the Alpha of their pack. Until she determined Faith wasn't a threat she would treat her like one.
"You can see me?" Maybe it wasn't the most coherent answer to Ashlee's question but it made sense in Faith's brain. Quickly, she scanned the room. The Theo from her time period had not reappeared, which meant the Theo on the bed needed more help.
"You appeared out of nowhere after that white light started. Now answer my question, who are you and what are you doing to him?"
Faith cleared her throat. "My name is Faith Anderson. You don't know me yet but you will, a few months from now. I don't want to give you too many specifics because of the whole changing the future possibility but I'm a member of your pack and his," she motioned to Theo. "Mate. I'm trying to save his life if you'll let me get back to it."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm not sure, exactly." This was getting increasingly frustrating with every second that passed. "Theo and I got sucked back into the past but no one can see us except now you and now he's vanished which makes me think that if you don't let me complete what I'm doing, he'll be dead." The thought made her stomach turn and she prayed she wouldn't be sick.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? There are a lot of strange things going on right now."
"In the not too distant future, you and I are friends. No one smells a lie more acutely than you. You once told me it makes your nose itch. Is it doing that now?"
"No." Ashlee narrowed her eyes. "All right, I'm going to believe you, Faith, please continue."
Faith closed her eyes again and tried to find her focus. Surprisingly it came fast. A surge or warmth escaped her body and flowed into Theo's. On the bed, she heard him take a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she saw Ashlee had tears in her eyes.
"You definitely just saved his life."
"Yes, Faith, you certainly did." Her Theo was back but Ashlee didn't react to his voice.
She motioned her heard toward Theo. "Can you see him?"
Ashlee spun around looking around the room. "There is someone else here?"
Faith nodded. "Yes but evidently he still can't be seen." Theo walked to her and wrapped his arms around her. The room started to fade and Faith sighed. Where were they being sent now?
With only seconds left, she stared at Ashlee whose eyes were huge as she watched Faith disappear. "Might not want to tell anyone about this. I have no idea how this works but there is the whole changing the future problem."
He hit the ground hard, shielding Faith's body in his own as he attempted to shield her from any damage their reappearance might cause. Looking around quickly, he immediately discovered they were back in Faith's bedroom. Jumping to his feet, he pulled Faith to hers.
"You just fucking saved my life."
Faith gaped at him for a second. "I don't think I've ever heard you swear before. In face, I'm not sure I've ever heard any of the wolves curse, come to think of it."
He pulled her so her body was flush against his. "We do it, just usually not in front of women. Call us old-fashioned."
She nodded like the ridiculousness of his statement made something clearer to her. "I guess all of you were born in time periods long past so it makes sense."
"Are you being obtuse? Did you not see what happened there? You saved my life."
"I know I certainly couldn't leave you there to die." Her eyes said there was more to the story but for right now he wouldn't press. Realizing he squeezed her shoulders tightly he forced himself to decrease the pressure in his hands.
"I just vanished. I could see what was happening but even you couldn't see me and more and more I became removed from all that was around me."
Faith stared into his eyes, her brown and gold irises boring into his soul, stripping him naked of all of his defenses.
"I have all sorts of feelings for you, Theo, things I shouldn't be feeling this soon after just meeting you but I know you're my mate, I've witnessed what that means. Two people who have never laid eyes on one another before suddenly can't exist without the other one, would die without the other one. Tell me how it happens; it already feels so intense, what's going to make it more so?"
Theo shook his head. He wished he could answer her. "I don't know, Faith. Honestly, I don't. It's a closely guarded secret between the couple, even mated pairs don't discuss it amongst other mated pairs but it seems to happen with the actual mating act. That's all I know."
"Because I basically felt like I was going to die if you died and I know that after we mate, if you do die, I'll be compelled to follow as fast as I can, right? That's how it works."
Theo nodded. "With very few exceptions, notable my deranged father. He killed my mother and didn't follow her, obviously. My two Aunts, the two women who were married to my father's brothers, they didn't follow my Uncles during the crisis but lived in agony every day of their lives in order to ensure the pack still had mystics in it until the other women returned."
"Doesn't sound like me. I've never been particularly self-sacrificing."
Theo ran his hands through her dark, silky locks. Closing his eyes, he pulled a strand to his nose so he could memorize the scent. Honey and spring rain, two of his favorite scents. Why was he not surprised?
Tell her how wonderful she is. Theo was glad to hear his wolf had returned from his long absence.
"I don't think you see yourself the way others see you."
Faith narrowed her eyes. "Or maybe you don't know enough about me to make that judgment."
"Oh yeah?" This he had to hear. "What are you big bad secrets Faith? Murdered anyone is cold blood? Stole money from impoverished little old ladies?"
She pulled out of his arms. Immediately he felt bereft, although he didn't chase her. Whatever she wanted to say must be very important to her. What little he knew of female shifters told him it was best to shut up and let her get it out of her system.
Her eyes bore into his, begging for understanding and he regretted saying the last smug thing he'd said. What if she had no choice and had killed someone? He was going to feel like the biggest scum on the earth. "I was a private detective. My partner and I ran a business together, I was the one who could seek out and find information. If you thought your spouse cheated on you, I could find the answer and I was never wrong. I know now that had to do with my wolf skills-even though at the time I didn't know I had them."
"Lots of people do that for a living. Again, it's not like you made those men or women stray."
"No." She shook her head. "It's not that I'm embarrassed by my former job. Not at all. It was my partner--Andrew--he died and it was all my fault and I can't help but feel that first of all, fate has a huge sense of irony by making me a wolf and, two, I have no business being happy and certainly not with someone as noble as you."
He rolled his eyes because he couldn't help it. "Noble? That's a little dramatic. My nephew was being kidnapped, anyone would do the same. I think you can count on it."
"Oh Theo, you've never lived outside of this island, have you?"
"We all did for a while--before our world all but ended thirty some-odd years ago. I went to college. I have a degree in mechanical engineering, although when we rebuilt the Institute I got a good lesson in just how out of date my fifty-five year old education actually was."
"I'm not sure what the world was like fifty-five years ago but now it's quite different. Not everyone would rescue a child from a monster or a burning building, not if it meant risking their own life--even if the child in question is family."
His mate was a cynic and the thought made his chest tighten. If Kendrick hadn't done what he did she would have been raised on the island among the pack and most likely would never have developed her negative sense of the world. Not that he could blame her; he didn't exactly see life as roses and fairytales either, but it broke his heart that she didn't.
"Okay. Say I believe that--and I still think that most people would do what they could for a family member, especially a juvenile one--what does that have to do with anything at all?"
"Andrew was our front man. Most people didn't want to hire a woman to be their private detective. That's all fine and good in movies and in books but in real life people want men to do that kind of job, even if the woman is better at it."
"So you let people think this Andrew was the one doing the actual work?" So far he followed her story.
She nodded. "I did. Although I let him do some investigation, if I felt it was simple and he could handle the situation. We grew up together. Sometimes we were in the same orphanage, sometimes one of us was temporarily fostered, in his case sometimes he was in juvenile detention, but we always wound up back together. I used to wish I could love him--I mean, I loved him, I just wasn't in love with him--and now I know why."
He walked two paces until he could touch her and reached out to stroke her cheek gently. "It was lonely for me too, Faith. I longed for you too."
To his horror, one tear slipped from his mate's eye before she blinked it away.
"But you see, that's the thing. I wasn't lonely--romantically, I was--but I had Andrew. We were each other's family even though we didn't have our real families. His mother was a drug addict who couldn't take care of him so we took care of each other. I used to make up stories about mine. Depending on who you asked, my parents were lunatic sociopaths or expatriate freedom fighters."
"Or people who could turn into wolves?"
She shook her head. "No, I was years past believing that fantasy. That particular theme had been taken care of."
Theo wasn't sure Faith had taken him seriously earlier when he said he was going to find the people who had beat her, but he had been, and once this situation with the demons was done he would enjoy showing them just how terrified they had made a small child feel. He shook his head. There were things to focus on before he could think about that.
"So what happened to Andrew?"
Theo had to admit, and maybe he was a caveman, but he just didn't like discussing another man with Faith. How close had they actually gotten and what did it mean they were family to one another? He knew there had been other men in her life but had this one meant so much to her that she thought she couldn't pursue the mating ritual with him?
"I sent him on what I thought was a small case. A woman's husband had been committed to what I thought was a psychiatric facility for the very rich in Mexico, basically a spa. She was convinced that he was cheating on her because his conversations had become so sporadic and the director of the facility had no explanation. It seemed like a simple case of fly down there, take some photos, come back and I was up to my neck in a deeply complicated commercial espionage case."
Theo could see where this was going. His father, before his brothers and pack mates had blown it to smithereens, had run the facility.
"Andrew never came home?"
"I tracked him for months, visited the facility hundreds of time, but could never find him. Finally, I got word from a source that he had shown up in Texas and he was..." Faith stumbled over her words and a lump formed in his throat. If she burst out crying he would have to kill someone, anyone who was responsible for it.
"He was dying. Dad sends them away from the clinic to die on the streets like unwanted garbage. I know."
Theo finished the sentence for her. That was what happened to the wolves his father and his team of lunatics 'made' in Mexico. For the most part they seemed to choose the mentally ill but sometimes regular people got sucked into it too. After they forced a violent, disgusting transformation on them, the wolves required the administration of a particular drug--a drug that even his brother Azriel who could seemingly do anything--couldn't recreate.
When Kendrick abandoned the poor unfortunate souls, the first thing that happened is they went through terrible withdrawals that left them violent, and the second was they died. The biggest problem was that since the building had burned down in Mexico they had no idea where his father had relocated his misbegotten experiments.
Faith's Andrew had obviously been amongst the unlucky.
"Was he past the violent phase when you found him?"
The woman whose every mood he now absorbed as his own closed her eyes. "No."
Fix this.
He wished he could. It seemed so simple for his wolf. There was a problem with Faith; they needed to make it better. But Theo knew there were some things even those who loved you best in the world couldn't fix for you, ever.
"How much longer did he live?"
"One and a half weeks. It was gruesome."
"Did he shift?"
"Several times. I tried to get doctors but it was like there was this vast conspiracy. He wouldn't do it in front of others. I just kept promising him he'd be okay but he wasn't, not ever again."
Theo wasn't going to make Faith describe the details. He could picture them in his head. Az had brought two wolves to the island after the Mexican facility had burned. Watching his brother had been fascinating for Theo, even in the midst of his own decreasing mental health, and seeing how awful those people fared had been one of the catalysts Theo had used in making his decision to separate his madness from the pack.
"And then you went back to Mexico yourself."
"Broke in, determined I would find proof and instead I found Summer."
"Who you attempted to rescue and in the process had a shift forced on you, but quite differently, and that was how you discovered you were one of us."
She nodded. He'd heard the story when the pack had returned to the island. Although he'd been so caught up in his own stuff at the time he hadn't given much thought to the woman they'd found and promptly left at the Mexican border with promises she would come to Westervelt when she was ready.
It had never occurred to him that she could be his mate, which brought him back to what he still didn't understand.
"Faith, in none of this are you culpable, none of this makes you 'unworthy' of me. By the way, that was just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say."
"I never listened to him. He called me from Mexico before he approached IPAG to tell me he thought something was very wrong. He was afraid. Lately, he'd been lazy in his work, trying to get out of things. Andrew was susceptible to a lot of temptations. I don't think he ever learned how to turn something that was bad for him down. If I wasn't there to tell him something was a bad idea, he seemed to forget it was. When we were growing up he would go through these times where he would do a lot of drugs. I could always tell which one he was doing based on how he behaved. If he was hyper and super on top of things, then he was most likely on speed. If he got lethargic and hungry, then he was doing a lot of marijuana. He was trying to get out of work a lot back then, so I thought he was smoking pot again. I went off on him, berated him. If I hadn't done that..."
Theo shook his head. "Not your fault. You had no way of knowing."
"Wouldn't you think that a woman who spent a large portion of her childhood insisting the impossible was possible wouldn't be so fast to dismiss out of hand her oldest friend's fears?"
"It's like deciding to turn left instead of right on a walk somewhere and boom you're struck by a car. Split second decisions we can't take back, they shape and define our life. Who we are, will be, and what happens to us is all a series of decisions. If Andrew was really afraid, he was an adult who lived in the world, he could have decided not to go in."
He watched as her eyes moved back and forth in her sockets, as if she thought deeply about what he'd said. "I feel responsible for it and I swore revenge but I'm stagnated on that too."
"We will get Kendrick--the whole pack will--and together we'll avenge Andrew."
He was certain about it. Not certain yet that she fully believed him when he said it wasn't her trial to bear alone, he was shocked when she reached up and pulled his mouth down on hers.
After a moment, she released him. "Theo, please, I want to be your mate in all ways possible. I don't want to live without you another day. Let's do it, let's connect like that."
Want my mate.
Theo agreed. He wanted her too and just the thought of it made his groin go hard. Reaching out, he grazed the side of her face with his thumb wishing he could memorize her profile.
"You know Faith, the time we have spent together, both in the past and in the woods, I have to tell you, if none of this mattered--if we didn't have destined mates chosen for us by the universe--I would still pick you."
Her eyes got wide and a glorious smile crossed her face. He continued. "If we were just two people who met somewhere and had the choice of anyone in the world to date, I would desperately hope that you would date me."
"Oh Theo." Faith threw her arms around his neck. "I feel the same way."
In his mind, Theo knew this was a pivotal moment for the two of them. Whatever happened next, and besides the sex for which he would admit he was looking forward to, the binding aspect of the mating experience was unknown to him, he could feel in his pores that although it would be important this very second spent between the two of them was as crucial as anything to come.
Staring at her, he just had no choice. He needed her as he required the air around him to breathe. Guiding her lips to his, he kissed her hard--a kiss of utter possession. Realizing she was on tiptoes, he somehow walked them both to the bed and was happy when he didn't trip while doing so.
"I love you." The words needed to be said and he meant them from the depths of his soul. Truth was, he'd been in love with her since she'd pulled him out of the water in the woods and falling even more so every second since. The woman tried to shield him from his brothers and had saved his life in the worst moment of his existence without hesitation. Faith was his and he would worship her, as flawed as he was, for the rest of his existence.
She ran her hand over his eyebrow. "I love you too."
He didn't know why he deserved that but he would take it.
Faith's scent overwhelmed him and he growled, his wolf smiling inside of him. She pushed at his chest and he felt the wolf fill his eyes, relieved when hers did the same.
"My wolf is rather fond of yours. She's practically dancing."
Like that image.
He did too. Suddenly, they both had on too much clothing. Not caring if her pajamas were the most valuable item she owned, he tugged at them until in frustration he finally ripped them from her body. She yelped, a smile present in her wolf eyes.
Theo wished he could be gentle and slow in his caresses but there was no time for that. They were two caged animals finally let loose to have the freedom they'd both endlessly craved. The entire world was Faith, he revolved around her, and if he didn't have her too he might die from the torture.
Her body arched against him in their primal mating dance and she reached up, destroying his shirt in one tug, much easier than he had done hers. Once again, he was reminded not to underestimate his mate--she was a tough woman.
They had both seen each other naked before but this was different; this was everything, this belonged to just the two of them. He pressed his mouth to hers and she moaned deep in her throat, the sound sending shivers all over his body. Faith's pleasure was his own.
The next step they took together would be the binding one. There would be no separating her from him--even if he felt it was for her own good--ever. Although he never would have believed it, the thought made Theo fill with happiness. He never wanted to be away from her and if somehow she went first he would follow immediately. For eternity, they could do this, even when they no longer lived on earth.
"I don't know what you're thinking about but if it's keeping you from me, stop thinking it."
That was his Faith, always reminding him what he should be doing and taking him out of his own head. Desperate to bury himself inside of her, he refused to act like a teenager and just push his way inside. This was his mate, the woman he'd be with forever. Some finesse was needed if only to assure her that he wasn't a total dolt.
"Faith, I want this to be perfect for you, I don't want to rush."
"We have forever, correct? Even after this life is over?"
He laughed; she'd practically taken his earlier thoughts and vocalized them. Sweat formed on his forehead. "Yes. That's the general idea."
"So give me what I want now and seduce me later. I'm as hot for you as you are for me. Maybe more."
He doubted that was even possible. Theo positioned himself to enter her and with one hard thrust pushed himself into Faith's willing core. She was hot and tight and so completely his.
Even though he'd done this before, it was a completely new experience to him. She claimed his soul as thoroughly as he claimed hers. Back and forth they moved in a rhythm together, Faith's head thrown back as she cried out his name over and over again. When he was certain he would die from the pleasure, he felt her climax around him, his own following only moments later.
As he looked up, he was shocked. A cord made only of air but feeling as thick as rope formed between them.
Can you see that Faith? It felt more intimate to speak to her telepathically now.
Not only can I see it, I can feel you coming inside of me. Small pieces of your soul are filling me up.
Digging deep, he could feel the same happening to him. His eyes widened. Dear heavens, how much of his soul was Faith going to get?
Faith watched, her eyes huge in awe, as piece after piece of Theo's soul moved into hers. Really, the parts of him she received didn't surprise her. Red for love and loyalty, she'd never have to doubt how he felt about her. How many women really ever felt as assured as she would from this day on about their partner's true feelings?
Next came honor and forgiveness. The second one did startle her. She had no idea Theo let go of slights or wrongs so completely but there it was. She couldn't help smiling, he really was turning out to be a better person than she was. What did he receive from her? She could hardly imagine except maybe it was a general distrust of new people and a need for vengeance.
Reaching up, she stroked a line of worry that formed on his forehead. What had put that there? She had no more thought the question when she was hit hard with what she could best describe as a sledgehammer through her soul. Both of her eyes shut in agony and she felt pinned to the ground.
"Damn it, no." She felt Theo tried to pull off of her but they were stuck, each where they were, until the ritual was over.
"What is it?" Her voice sounded hoarse.
"It's the demon. You're getting it too." Eyes flying open, she stared into his horrified gaze. "I'm putting a stop this, there has to be a way to make this cease."
She shook her head. "No." She grasped at his neck. "I want it."
"What?" Theo tried to wrench his body from hers.
"If you have it, I want it too."
"That's ridiculous."
Pointing one finger at him, she narrowed her eyes. "I think you've received enough pieces of me now to know you never call me ridiculous or anything like that." Glad when the small smile graced the edges of his mouth, she continued. "If I have it too then we can handle it together."
"We're talking about a demon coming into your body who will now have the power to call you to him and who may or may not be able to make you shift into its entity."
"If you can handle it Theo, I can, and besides nothing about any of this has been random. I'm your mate. I'm supposed to go through this with you. Either we'll both find a way out or we'll suffer together."
If she could have she would put her hands on her hips. She felt resolute and she'd be damned if he argued with her more. The pain receded and now she was actually pretty content again, although the argument had put a slight damper on the afterglow of their lovemaking.
The restraint on her muscles lessened and Theo pulled off of her. As he stood she was gifted with a spectacular view of his hard muscled body. Maybe she could convince him to come back down and see if they could have another go. He turned to walk to the window, his back to her. Placing both hands on the windowsill, he bowed his head and Faith had a feeling a second time was probably out of the question.
"What's wrong?"
Theo whirled around, his eyes intense. She dug deep in her soul to where her wolf had stored their connection and found her answers. He held himself responsible, always had, for whatever went wrong for the people he loved.
As children, if Michael got in trouble with their father, Theo felt it should have been him. When Kendrick had nearly destroyed the pack, Theo hadn't been able to get rid of the feeling that he should have somehow foreseen what was going to happen, and now with her--and he had never loved anyone as much as he loved her--he blamed himself for not realizing there was a chance she would now carry the demon too.
It was odd to know exactly what he thought without having to hear his verbal response. She rose from the bed and silently pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. For a moment, she allowed herself to do nothing but linger in his scent.
Days removed from the woods and he still smelled like early springtime air. Her wolf paced inside of her, loving the scent, wanting to roll around in it. "I can't make this better for you, can I? No matter what I say, somewhere inside of you there will be this doubt--this inkling--that you should have done something better? I have no other word for it Theo, except to tell you to stop being such a control freak."
He snorted and she grinned. "So I guess you're saying the world doesn't revolve around me?"
She nodded. "That's it exactly."
"I accept that. What I don't accept is that something I did caused something bad to happen to you. I'd rather gouge out my liver."
Faith squinted. "Theo, that's disgusting."
A wave of dizziness overcame her senses and she nearly fell but Theo's arms kept her upright.
"Damn, how can this be happening?"
Attempting to see straight, she looked up at her mate. "What are you talking about?"
"The demons are taking us."
Faith did her best impression of a nod but she suspected it looked more like a waver.
I won't be in there with you. Every time the demons come, I disappear from you.
I noticed. Truly, for a person who hadn't known she had a wolf until she was nearly forty she missed it a ton when it wasn't around.
Remember, even if I'm not with you, you're always a wolf.
What did that even mean? Faith had no time to contemplate the subject as she found herself falling through an endless pit of color. Hell, if this is what happened to Theo every time one of the demons called she wouldn't blame him for hiding out in his wolf form. She might even suggest they go do that together.
She landed with a thump and a second later Theo landed next to her. He groaned and sat up faster than she did.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head. Not hurt, just nauseous as hell but she wouldn't tell him that. There was no use making him feel guiltier.
Faith looked around the room and gasped. She grabbed Theo's hand and squeezed it tightly. No way would anyone call her a coward but she needed all the support she could get as she stared at the grotesque, distorted faces of over a thousand fire demons sitting in what could best be described as stadium seating staring down at them as if they were the evening's entertainment in a gladiator show.
Whispering, although it was stupid because she knew they could probably hear her, she inched closer to Theo. "Are there always this many?"
"Never seen more than the one inside of me." Theo's eyes were stone as she watched him methodically move from one demon to the next assessing its danger level.
"Do you have your wolf with you?"
"Nope."
She sighed. "So neither of us will be shifting to get out of here then."
"Afraid not."
Faith decided it wasn't a good sign of how Theo felt their chances of survival were that he had resorted to one and two word sentences. They had just mated. Was this the end for them?
"Theo Kane." A voice from the center of the seats caught their attention and Faith adjusted her gaze to try to figure out who it was.
One of the creatures flew over the seats hovering in mid air just two feet above the others. With its arms crossed over its body, it looked bored and put out. Faith could have laughed at the image if she hadn't been so completely terrified. It's not like they'd asked to come and perform. Were they supposed to be juggling?
Theo narrowed his eyes. "You have me at a disadvantage since you obviously know my name but I don't know yours."
"If I told you my name it would do you no good, you couldn't pronounce it even if you could understand it."
"Alright, if we're so primitive let us go and we won't bother you again."
The sigh that escaped the creature's mouth was universal and Faith knew it was losing patience. Her mate was filled with Alpha aggressive instincts but in this circumstance where they were so clearly outnumbered her own skills might be more useful to them. There hadn't been a situation yet where Faith hadn't escaped alive. Perhaps she could maneuver that today--if she was lucky.
"Why don't you tell us why you brought us here?" She hoped her voice didn't waver.
"We have been waiting for the two of you to get together for some time so we could proceed. Most of us thought it would be nine months ago. None of us like being kept waiting."
Theo opened his mouth but Faith squeezed his hand to stop him from speaking.
I don't like you being out there in front of these things.
We're both here whether we like it or not. Let me try to handle this and then if it doesn't work you can step up and growl even without your wolf and try to fight our way out of here.
Theo nodded and Faith let out the breath she'd held. The last thing they needed was for her newly found mate to lose his composure.
"I can assure you, we wish we had met earlier too. But, things worked out as they worked out. I can't tell you how confused we are. Why don't you tell us first why you brought us here and second how it could possibly matter to you how or when we found each other?"
"One year ago, a member of our society chose you," The creature raised its claw to point at Theo. "Thinking you would be worthy to save our people from the enslavement your father has inflicted on two hundred of our number."
"My father inflicts lots of things on lots of people. I'm still not following exactly what you want."
Faith grabbed his arm. She needed to keep Theo cool and collected.
"When you say the demon chose Theo, do you mean that when he did this to him?" Faith reached out and rubbed the scarred half of her mate's face. "He somehow chose him for something?"
Next to her, Theo jerked as if he'd been struck. Faith couldn't blame him. It was as if someone kicked you hard in the gut and then told you how honored you should be to have been injured. It went against every normal instinct that she possessed and she wanted to throw something.
But she was a woman so therefore she was used to smiling when she wanted to vomit and this time would be no different.
"That's right. Our comrade felt that Theo held the strength of character to undergo the task and since we are able to see certain futures before they occur, he felt your arrival would assist him in this."
Faith shook her head. She wouldn't be lied to. "He may have decided that but it wasn't because of some future he saw. He saw us. We were standing right in front of him and he looked at us even though nobody else could see us at all. Not to mention we were there because you sent us there to begin with. So it seems to me you've manipulated this whole thing--whatever it may be--since the beginning."
The demon shrugged his wings. "It's neither here nor there. These things are not lateral. You couldn't possibly comprehend it."
"So explain it so we can understand it."
The crowd murmured. It sounded like a tape player sped up so that everyone sounded like chipmunks except they spoke a language she couldn't even begin to differentiate.
Still floating over the group, the leader nodded and looked at Theo. "Your father has bound two hundred of our kin to him against their will. They are once again being forced to remain on your plane of existence and do things they would prefer not to do."
Theo raised an eyebrow. "Like attempting to kidnap my nephew and then take Cullen and Summer instead?"
The creature nodded. "Exactly."
"We are powerless to help them and are forced to do nothing while they are under Kane's power. One of our kind sacrificed his life--placing his essence inside of you--so that you might free them all."
Before she could speak, Theo broke in. "Look this is all very interesting but the Westervelt Wolves have our own problems. Please believe me about that. I don't know how your friend thought I could help or why he didn't just ask me instead of burning away half of my face and causing me endless pain but I don't think I can help you."
Inside of Faith, something started to rumble. At first, she thought it was her stomach, but soon the whole of her insides felt like they had been lit on fire. She toppled over.
"What are you doing to her?" Theo pulled her off her knees and cradled her in his lap. He looked out at the audience of agitated demons with nothing less than venom in his eyes.
A hissing noise came from the crowd. "We will stop it as soon as you consent."
"You think to blackmail me? I will do nothing for you if you behave like this."
She could tell by his tone that he meant it too. A man like Theo who believed in love and honor would have none of this. He simply wouldn't be able to tolerate this. Grabbing his arm, she forced herself to speak.
"I'm confused. Tell me how rescuing them, assuming we can, will even help anything. How did Kendrick get them in the first place and why can't you get them back yourself?"
The pain started to lessen in her stomach and she took a much-needed deep breath. When she felt controlled, she looked up at Theo and gave him what she hoped was a steady smile.
The demon leader replied, "We are not meant to live with your kind. The only way we are with you is if we are summoned and the only way to perform a summoning is to possess and read a copy of a certain spell, and only that spell can bind us. The spell was created in such a way that it can't be memorized. The magic makes it impossible. So Kendrick must be in possession of a copy of it and which he then reads out loud during the summoning ceremony."
Her patience for this was wavering. "Well that explains the how so now you can tell me why you don't just swoop down, take the spell, rescue your people, and burn Kendrick to death. It would solve a lot of problems for all of us."
"If only it were that easy. We cannot come to your place of living unless we are summoned and bound. The only way we can communicate is like this where we live in your mind and body but that does not help us rescue our people."
Faith nodded. She could actually be sympathetic to that. What if someone could pull her across space and time and make her do terrible things? She blinked. Come to think of it that was exactly what they were doing to her.
"We'll help you but we have conditions."
My love, what the hell are you doing?
There you go with the profanity again. She couldn't keep the smile out of her voice.
"We are not prepared to listen to any conditions." The creature acted like she just suggested he balance on his head.
"Then we're not prepared to help you." She held up a hand to stop him from causing the hot pain to start in her abdomen again. "You can go ahead and kill me if you want. Theo will go ballistic and then moments later cause his own death so he can follow me and you'll be out all the months you spent setting this whole thing up."
I'm so incredibly proud of you right now.
Don't be. It hasn't worked yet. We could still end up needing you to go kick some ass and we'll still get eaten.
Now who's cursing?
"What are you conditions?"
Bravo. Theo's eyes twinkled.
"First of all, we aren't doing this alone. No matter how fabulous you think Theo is--and I can't argue with it, he is wonderful--we can't break into Kendrick's place alone. Hell, we can't even find it. We need the whole pack with us. You can't imagine what we can accomplish when we're all together."
"That sounds acceptable."
Faith shoulders relaxed with relief. Tristan was their Alpha, he needed to be in on the planning of what was sure to be a problematic plan and Theo would be stronger with his brothers around.
"My second condition, and this is the most important--when this is over and we've completed the mission, you will take the essence of your comrade or however you put it, out of us and return us to the way we were."
Having no idea if they could even do that, Faith felt compelled to ask for it. If she could give Theo a moment's peace from all the trauma surrounding him she had to do it.
"You will return the piece of paper with the spell on it so that we cannot be summoned again. If you agree to this then we will remove our presence from you."
Theo cleared his throat. "That sounds fair. We will do that. It will be an even trade but we still have no idea where my father's new compound is."
"Then I guess it's a good thing that we do."
Theo grasped his head and fell to the floor. He appeared to be unmoving and Faith's heart nearly stopped. "Theo." Tears were in her voice. What had just happened?
"Do not fret, we are merely instilling him with information he needed and did not have. In a moment he will be okay."
"It's not okay." Faith screamed at the crowd. "You can't just come in and out of our heads as you please, infecting us with your acid or your essence or whatever the hell else you feel like."
"If it makes you feel any better, we die when we burn you."
Like a bee. The thought of the creatures in a Halloween costume dressed like a bumblebee almost made her laugh and she covered her mouth with her hand. When she was composed, she answered. "It does actually."
She knew that wasn't nice but she wasn't as kind and forgiving as her mate. If someone hurt a loved one, she wanted them to pay.
Theo groaned and sat up. "That was like the worst migraine I've ever had."
She nodded. "I can imagine."
"So are we done here? Are you going to send us back so we can do what you want?"
"Don't disappoint us."
Swirls of color surrounded them but this time Faith prepared for it. She didn't try to struggle the sensation away and rather than flail around when she fell through space she stayed still. They hit the ground at the same time, each one flat on their back staring at the ceiling.
After a moment of silence, Faith sat up. "We'd better find Tristan."
"Oh boy, is he going to love this."
Theo tapped his foot impatiently. They'd gone over their story about twenty times. Each member of the pack seemed to have a different question so he suspected they'd have to tell it again at least ten more times to satisfy just the men. The women hadn't even gotten started yet and his brother would probably dig into it at least one more time. Hell if he'd repeat it twenty more times.
On the outside, Faith seemed a deacon of patience. But he knew better. He owned half of her soul now and he knew the fire within. She only played at being political; inside she was feistier than even he was. Sooner or later she would get tired of this inquisition too.
So what if they had demons temporarily inside of them? That did not automatically make them traitors or untrustworthy. He'd had one inside of him for over year and the fact he hadn't told them was, at the moment, neither here nor there. He hoped. It had been hard enough staying vague and trying not to act completely mad to gain his freedom to the woods.
Cullen stepped forward and Theo raised his finger to stop him from speaking. "Before you say what I think you're going to say, Cullen, I'd like to point out you knew about the existence of these creatures for centuries and didn't make the pack aware. Also, you were probably with my father when he figured out how to summon them in the first place."
"Cullen's loyalty is unwavering." Summer's voice was like nails, her eyes completely wolf. The woman only looked dainty and petite, she was as natural-born a fighter as any of them, and he couldn't blame her for her near snarl. He had just yelled at her mate. He would rip the head off anyone who dared to question Faith's loyalty.
"I am not accusing him of anything, as I would expect not to be accused." He hoped that would be enough said.
Faith touched his arm. He loved when she did that, even knowing it was her polite way of telling him to shut up. It was just such a familiar gesture and clearly an indication that her feelings grew more secure as his did.
"Does anyone have a question or a statement that would in some way change the fact that we basically have no choice but to go in Kendrick's lair, find some piece of paper with the spell written on it and destroy it, then set the demons free so they bother no one anymore, let alone us?" Faith's tone was light but he could hear the steel in the background that begged someone to argue with her.
He wouldn't be stupid enough to take on that job.
Cullen cleared his throat and Theo rolled his eyes. Somehow, he had known the man often considered the scariest member of the pack wouldn't be able to keep quiet.
"I'd like to remind everyone, as the only member of the pack who was around the first time these demons were released, that they wreaked havoc on everything they touched for three days. They didn't just go back to their home dimension."
Damn. Theo hadn't known that or Faith could have made them swear they'd return immediately to where they were from.
"They were angry. I would do the same thing. Drag me from my home without my consent and then make me do horrendous things? I'd want to punish the people who did it too. " Azriel's voice rang out into the room. He was usually quiet during group meetings so Theo knew his younger brother must feel very strongly on this point. Not to mention that it made sense to Theo too. He'd like to think he'd be more mature--and probably would be now that he had Faith--but maybe not before then. He might want to feel he laid out retribution to those who had harmed him or those he loved.
"Since we'll be the ones freeing them perhaps this time they'll leave us alone." Ashlee spoke up from her position next to Tristan, who was remarkably quiet. Her pregnancy was starting to show but as wolves they all would have known for days now since she smelled different. Theo hadn't seen her in a while so this was the first glimpse he was getting of his new niece or nephew.
"Are we really going to rely on the good graces and understanding of one of these things that did this to Theo?" Gabriel pointed at his cheek and Theo forced himself not to flinch or look away. Yes, he was scarred and would always be, even if the demons took their essence out of him, but someone, through the good fortune of whoever decided these things, an extraordinary woman still loved him and found him attractive. He wasn't going to hide from his face, his pain, or his experience anymore. Not now when he had Faith, and he had the chance to fix part of the problem and remove the demons both from inside of him and as a tool their father used to attack them.
"The demons explained their reasoning to us for what happened to me. In their minds, it was justified. Not that it makes it okay what happened to me. I'm not going to pretend that it does. Hell, I spent almost a year of my life running as a wolf to try to escape it but the demons see things differently than we do. It didn't seem to react at all to my face. In fact, it looked at what its colleague did as a sacrifice. It's something like a bee. Once it 'stings' you, it dies. I don't believe it wanted me dead."
Michael stepped forward, his eyes narrowed. "Are you seriously defending this thing's actions? How much damage has it done to you inside?"
Theo shook his head. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I enjoy it, carrying the demon inside me. I don't." Silently, he shuddered thinking of his trips to visit with the demon inside of him. If he never had to that again, it wouldn't be too soon. "And I want it out of my mate instantly if not sooner." Faith touched his back and he smiled gently at her. "But that doesn't change the fact that helping the so-called enemy this time helps us too. What is that expression?" He looked at Faith, hoping she'd followed his train of thought.
She cleared her throat. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"That is true." Tristan's voice rang out clear and silenced the crowd. "Cullen? Can you tell us anything about where dear old dad might keep such a thing?"
Nodding, Cullen smiled which surprised Theo. What did the man have to be happy about? "In this case I can actually shed light on the subject, which is nice for a change. The paper you speak of, well this should come as no surprise to me I suppose, Kendrick and I once agreed to destroy it so the demons could no longer walk the earth. This was, of course, after he stupidly summoned them here in the first place. When the demons reappeared that day to try and take Braden, that was the first time I realized that they were still on this plane."
"There were lots of things about that day that changed things." Tristan spoke vaguely but Theo had witnessed enough of the conversation between Ashlee and his brother in the past to know he referred to the mating between Cullen and Ashlee's sister. He didn't know if he also referred to Faith's healing. Had Ashlee shared that with him? They might never know.
"As I was saying..."
Cullen shot Tristan a look that said he didn't like to be interrupted and Tristan rolled his eyes. As the oldest member of the pack and Tristan's closest advisor it always amazed Theo how much leeway Tristan gave Cullen to be rude. Even his own brothers were not allotted that much antagonizing of their Alpha--especially when he was in front of the pack.
"The book where the spell is stored has a gold cover and binding, made of woven gold threads. Your mother," he glanced at the Kane sons, "made that cover. I saw Kendrick grab it before he took off after killing all the mated pairs. Everything was chaos and I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get to him while I fought off three cursed mated males. I noticed it because it struck me as odd that he would have any interest in your mother's book, after killing her."
Tristan shook his head. "Why would our mother make a cover for a book that contained dark power incantations? Doesn't sound like her. She was more likely to shriek and scream that she wanted it out of the house."
"When your parents met, your mother was quite different." Cullen looked down at the floor and Theo actually felt sorry for him. It always seemed to fall to Cullen to deliver bad news to the Kane brothers about their parents. They virtually worshiped their mother's memory. If Cullen was about tell them something terrible about it he knew there would be an eruption, probably led by Michael and Gabriel, but they would all participate.
But not you. After what's happened to you, somehow, you have more of an ability to recognize that people are complicated and nobody is all good or all bad.
Thanks, I think. Theo appreciated his wolf's effort but what did it say about him that he was so quick to believe his mother--who had snuck the unmated shifter women from their beds at night to hide them from her mate and performed the most sophisticated magic ever done on Westervelt to keep them hidden and safe--had a dark side?
Let's face it. That was a pretty devious act. She snuck around for two days arranging that and betrayed her mate to do it. Even if it was the right thing to do--and it was--in no way was it the act of someone pure of soul and without sophistication.
Theo transferred his gaze to Faith. She stood silently and watched the situation unfolding in front of her. It wouldn't shock or offend her sensibilities to hear his mother had been less than a saint. He knew her inside and out and he knew that some of the qualities she considered her finest were those that allowed her to survive, no matter what the situation. If what he believed about his mother was true, then she and Faith were probably a lot alike, in the best possible ways.
"In the beginning, before she had Michael and through the time of Gabriel's birth, she really liked the power. No one was a bigger supporter of your father issuing Alpha-challenges to his older brother than your mother. I think they both knew Kendrick was the true Alpha of the pack. Even with less group support than his older brother, your father easily defeated your uncle and took the position. Your mother stepped into the Alpha mate roll as if she'd been born to do so."
Michael shrugged. "So did Ashlee when Tristan took it. Our females are highly capable and brilliant. Why shouldn't they rise to a challenge?"
"While I appreciate the compliment, Michael," Ashlee's voice filled with laughter, "I would be just as satisfied being nothing more than Tristan's mate and a member of the pack. Given that he is our Alpha I am thrilled to be the Alpha's mate but if I had a choice, I never would have sought the job."
"I will simply say that your father could never have been as successful in his early days if Mary Jo hadn't been there to help him. She was pivotal to his coming into the amount of power he achieved and the swiftness with which it occurred." Cullen stared at Michael as if this was nothing more than a typical conversation but Theo guessed the older man, who granted looked the same age as the rest of them, wished he'd never said anything.
Deciding to help him out, Theo broke in. "Let's get back to the point. The book that our mother covered that either does or does not indicate her initial love of power and strength, contains the incantation we need to free the demons and send them away for all time. We need a plan. Faith and I felt it was better to include the whole pack or we would have just gone off and done this by ourselves. In retrospect, perhaps that's what we should have done."
"No." Tristan's voice sounded firm and his wolf eyes flared. "This is pack business. You were correct to bring it to the pack's attention."
Nodding and silently pleased with Tristan's answer, Theo finished the rest of his thought. "That is just what I hoped, my Alpha, but I am afraid we cannot continue this conversation. Not while we still have a traitor in our midst. Someone reporting directly to Kendrick."
Shocked silence filled the room. After Tristan's near death experience, Cullen, Gabriel, and Theo worked tirelessly to weed out who betrayed them. Now they had bigger problems than they'd had even then. "I realize my mate has not had time to report to the group what the circumstances of our meeting were but let's just say that I was in the process of trying to figure out what to do about catching one traitor when a second appeared with a shotgun."
"Theo's abilities--and I guess probably mine now--allow him to see things we cannot and experience sensations the rest of the pack is unaware of. Someone took several shots at Theo's head. Although, at the time, I could not see or feel the bullet fired at us had it connected with my head I would be dead as was evidenced by the log that exploded where I had been sitting." Faith's eyes were clear and proud, she was sure of what she spoke and confident in him. The combination reminded him that he was the luckiest shifter in the universe for having found her.
Tristan stalked to the window and pounded his fists on the wall next to it. "Are we never to have any peace here? There are entities on this island plotting against us that we cannot see, hear, or scent?"
Theo walked to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Yes, my Alpha, but the blame is not yours. It is mine. I abandoned you for my own issues just when you needed me to act as your security chief. Perhaps if I had embraced the demon inside of me earlier we would have already handled these things."
Don't blame yourself. Faith's voice was soothing but he would not hide from fault when it was his to claim.
"They may be able to disguise their scent from me, Tristan, when they are running away on a boat or pursuing me in the woods. But someone is giving our father his information about our plans. It has always bothered me--and I know it drives Cullen crazy too--that Kendrick knew he, Gabriel, and Summer were going to Mexico to infiltrate his Institute. I'm not going to let another plan go astray because we are not cautious."
Raising an eyebrow, Tristan smiled. "What do you intend to do Theo?"
Privately, Tristan sent him a telepathic message. It's nice to have you back, brother.
"I don't know if the people who are invisible to others are related to the demon or some other kind of magic that only I can see because of the demon, so I will have to leave them alone until we get a hold of that book. But, I can still sniff out a traitor and I assure you, between Faith and me, we will find them, eliminate them, and then we will proceed with a plan unknown to Kendrick that will allow us to infiltrate him and take that book."
Tristan nodded. "Do it."
And make them pay.
"So how do you intend to handle this?" Faith had her hands clasped behind her back and she stood ramrod straight. He hoped he could alleviate whatever was wrong with her mood in a short enough period of time that they could get moving to discover the traitor.
"I have some ideas but I'd like to see what you think. Why is your back up?" Direct questions seemed to work best with Faith, which he appreciated because he was never any good at playing games.
"Oh, because you just took over my job."
He shook his head. "What?"
"Ah." She stomped over to him, holding eye contact, her pupils huge. He could hear that her pulse increased and the scent of her anger had his wolf pacing in panic. Neither one of them liked her angry with them.
"Before you go off the deep end here, try explaining it to me." Maybe not as gentle as he could be but truth was he wasn't a gentle man. She knew that about him now. He suspected she could handle him, regardless.
"I am the security chief of the pack since you ran away to play wolf-man in the woods. You just stepped back into that role like it was your given right without a by-your-leave to me." She didn't utter the words 'you insensitive jerk' but they were there loud and clear. He swallowed. It hadn't even occurred to him that she would have a problem with it.
But it should have. He dug deep inside of himself to the warm, loving place where Faith's soul was stored. Taking care of her responsibilities was part of the way she defined herself. The traitor was part of her domain.
"I didn't think you'd mind."
Faith threw her hands in the air. "Theo, we communicate telepathically. Did you think for one second that you should ask me before doing that? Just hey, Faith how would you feel if?"
"No."
Say you are sorry. His wolf didn't like anything about this fight and had started to pant in desperation.
I don't know that it will help anything.
"Well that's honesty. No. Okay." She nodded and he had no idea if she communicated with her wolf or if she talked to herself. Either way it didn't bode well for him.
"I'm sorry. I can try to do better next time. It was my first time back with the pack and I just stepped into my old role. I shouldn't have. I was wrong."
Faith blew out a breath. "It's okay." She shook her head. "I don't know why I'm making such a big deal out of this."
"Because I stepped on your toes and it bothered you. I would have felt the same way. It is your job. Would you like me to tell Tristan that I won't be pursuing the traitor?"
She laughed. "No, of course not. That has to be priority number one. We can't move on to getting that book until we find the traitor. I'm sorry Cullen even mentioned the book in front of whoever it might be."
"Actually, that's going to work to our advantage." He grinned and he knew his wolf was in his eyes. This had always been his forte. He could plot out scenarios and watch them come to fruition. It felt good to be back.
In the corner of his mind, he felt the demon stir and he pushed it down. The creatures would have to be content a little while longer. Nothing could be done until this was done.
Faith smiled, an open-mouthed grin that showed she enjoyed his enthusiasm for his course of action. "Tell me."
"Dad will believe he's above all of this. He thinks he's got us right where he wants us. Even when he was somewhat normal, he thought he was untouchable. He'll leave that book right out in the open now with that gold book cover exactly as Cullen described just to prove he's not the least bit concerned."
Faith nodded and crossed to the couch. He looked around the room. Truth was, he had very little stuff that was his, but it was going to have to be moved into here. He hoped she wasn't territorial about her things.
"Your father is amazingly bold. Why are you all so different? I thought it was because of your mother's influence but now I'm thinking she wasn't a peach either."
Theo shrugged. "She did well by all of us. Whatever she was like when she was young, she loved us and would have walked through fire for us." He paused considering his words carefully. "I don't know that I'm so completely different from my Dad."
Standing up, she walked quickly to him wrapping her arms around his neck. "Really? Would I be doing this to someone I considered evil and disgusting?"
Her lips met his and once again he knew what it was to feel completely at ease. His groin hardened. The woman could distract him, that was for sure.
Faith pressed her body up against Theo's and sighed at the feel of his hard length touching her stomach. Funny, she never actually thought about how tall he was unless they were like this. She ached for him. Their small fight had gotten all of her juices going and her wolf was desperate to have them reconnect.
She was pretty desperate for it herself.
Pulling away, he rubbed his cheek on her hair and breathed. Not able to help herself, she smiled. All she could do was hope that she didn't smell as dingy as she felt. The growing bulge in Theo's pants told her that whatever he'd encountered when he sniffed her hadn't bothered him at all. Just the opposite.
"Do we have time for this?" His voice sounded husky and she reveled in the fact that she'd done that to him.
"We're making the time."
Nodding, he smoothed his hands up and down her back, shivers racing throughout her body. The man had great fingers. She closed her eyes, loving the relaxing sensations that ebbed with every stroke and push of his fingers. If she wasn't so completely turned on she could probably close her eyes and fall asleep leaning on him.
"You have knots in your back. I see now where you carry all of your stress."
Faith raised an eyebrow. "And you became a chiropractor when?"
Laughing, he scooped her up in his arms and walked to the bedroom laying her gently on the bed. "You don't live as long as I have without picking up a few things."
"Oh that's right." She nodded, like she agreed with him. "You're an old man. Maybe we should take it easy on you, not force you to handle such rigorous activity."
"I think that might be taking it a bit too far. I just meant I learned some things along the way, not that I couldn't keep up with my young, energetic bride."
"Bride? Did we get married and I missed it?" She wasn't going to let him get away with that one. Some of the wolves did marry and she didn't particularly care if they did or did not, but he didn't just get to start calling her his wife.
Leaning down he pressed his mouth to the edge of her neck and inhaled deeply. "You know for all intents and purposes you are my wife."
Faith shook her head. "Nope. I'm your mate, not your wife."
He lifted his head up, his eyebrows pressed down in a look of concern. "Is this really bothering you? Do you want to get married?"
Nodding, she grinned. "Yes, later. Right now I want to make love." She pulled his head down and devoured his lips, loving the feel of the scruff of his whiskers against her skin. Secretly, she hoped it marked her up a little bit so she could see it in the morning. She knew it was the wolf in her that wanted him to mark his territory and she forced herself to control her desire to mark in return.
I think he would like it.
As usual, her wolf was probably correct. Maybe she'd have to see how he took to a few bites that left marks. She could feel her canines extending at the thought. That was unusual for Faith. While certain members of the pack could partially shift or half-shift, she never had but as with everything involving Theo, it shouldn't surprise her that he brought out her shifter powers. Hell, he'd given her demon powers.
"Take off your shirt." Theo hadn't seemed to mind when she took control during their love play. Clearly an Alpha wolf, she had worried that he would be completely aggressive and not at all interested in sharing the fun, but in reality he seemed to be the polar opposite.
He has your soul. He knows who you are and what you need.
That was true, there were some clear benefits to the soul sharing business and she had to admit she could get used to them.
Theo pulled his shirt over his head and she was gifted with the sight of his sculpted chest. She sighed. If she could work with clay, this would be the image she would create. Hard lines crossed his skin starting below his abdomen and didn't end until they reached the top of his chest. Reaching out a hand, she stroked her hand over the ridge over his stomach and was rewarded by the jump of his skin under her fingers.
In her life, she'd never felt powerful. Not really. Tough maybe, but that was different than power. But here was this man--this shifter--who held tremendous responsibility and ability, the kind of man who had fought on his own to hold off a demon for a year without telling anyone of his plight and she could make him flinch with the mere touch of her fingertips. It was amazing.
She sat up so they faced each other, feeling the coarse hair on his chest under both of her hands now. His breathing increased and she bit her lower lip in excitement. This was the man she would fight side by side with to protect Westervelt; she would age with him and maybe someday have children with him. His breath felt warm on her cheek when he leaned over to press a gentle kiss under her eye.
"Do you mind that now we're both going to start to age?"
He smiled, his eyes glittering as he stared at her. "Are you asking if I mind if your brown and gold hair is going to start, someday, to grey or that you might someday have to wear glasses?"
Shaking her head she ran a hand down the side of his face. "You know what I'm asking you."
"No Faith, I don't mind. I wish we had met when we were babies and aged progressively since then. Time spent without you is wasted time. How about you? Do you mind that now you will grow old?"
"I didn't know I wasn't growing older until a year ago. Before that, I just thought I was really lucky that I never changed since I was thirty."
"Ha." His laughter was infectious and she grinned. "Just good genes, huh?"
"Something like that."
Theo kissed her chin and made his way down her neck. Pulling hard at her shirt, she helped him out by raising her arms so he could do it more efficiently. He stared bewildered at her beige bra.
She looked down to where he gazed. "What?"
"You're wearing a bra?" His mouth twisted into a crooked smile. "I've not seen you in one before."
"And?" She really had no idea where he was going with this.
Do you know what the issue is here?
Her wolf shook her head. No, sorry, this is human stuff.
"I'm not good at bras."
She wanted to crack up laughing but had a feeling his confession had cost him not a small bit of pride and she didn't want to make him even more anxious. Having thought that, however, she couldn't just let it go and remove it. No, that would be too easy and she knew that neither one of them liked anything they didn't have to work towards.
"What do you find difficult about them?"
He ran a hand through his black hair. "I guess it's the, what do you call those things, clasps?"
"Theo, never in a million years would I imagine a man who can see moving, invisible people and who I happen to know can disarm a bomb can't make a small little metal or plastic clasp function."
"How'd you know I can disarm a bomb?"
"Every member of the pack has told me bits and pieces about you since I got here," she replied, smiling.
"Well, I guess I could go practice on other women's bras if you'd like me to get better at it."
"No." She shrieked and he cracked up. Obviously, she'd known he joked but still the very idea was enough to make her blanch. Pushing down on the clasp between her breasts, she quickly pulled the bra off and handed it to him. He held it up to his nose to take a quick whiff and grinned a tooth-filled smile.
She reached out and touched his teeth. Yep, just as she thought, his canines had changed as well. At least she wasn't in it alone. Unable to stop herself she lunged forward and bit down hard on his neck. He hissed but didn't pull away. If anything his groin, which was pushed up against her stomach grew harder. Her mouth felt locked against his neck. His skin, both sweet and salty was the greatest taste she'd ever experienced. If life was fair she'd never have to let go.
Finally, when some of the urgency had passed she released him. He moved backwards, his hand coming to the mark she had made. Moments later, she saw small drops of blood on his palm. Her eyes felt huge. How could she have bled him? It seemed so un-her. But Theo's eyes glistened with pleasure. He pushed her backwards against the bed looming over her.
"My little wolf, are you sure you aren't Alpha? Should we be worried you're going to challenge Tristan for the pack?"
"Will you hide it?" Her wolf paced restlessly inside. It would deeply wound the shifter part of her if he covered it up.
He shook his head. "Never."
"Good. Then I'll just keep biting it over and over again so it never heals."
He pushed all of his weight on top of her so he pinned her on the bed. "Promise?"
Theo tore at her pants, literally ripping them from her body. "Darling, I have to believe that there were better ways to do that."
"Probably, but not as much fun, that's for sure."
Reaching between them, she pulled the zipper down and tugged at the waist of his pants. He helped her pull them off before he slipped her panties down her legs. Taking her cue from him, she pulled off his boxer shorts and ran her hands down his legs reveling in the feel of his thick, dark hair. Everywhere she touched little goose bumps appeared covered his skin.
"Will it always be like this? Or is it just that it is so new?"
"I've never been mated before," Theo's voice sounded husky and deeper than usual. "But I can say with absolute certainty that I cannot imagine a time when you will walk in a room and I'm not totally smitten with you."
She ran a hand down his cheek. "Theo, you say the most romantic things." And the truth was she hadn't known he had that quality about him, which meant he hadn't known it about himself.
"If I say them Faith, it's only because you inspire me."
Inside her chest, her heart beat a frantic rhythm, she thought it might explode. Tears sprung to her eyes. As a child when she'd been alone and afraid in the dark convinced she'd made up stories of wolves and princes, children's fairy tales; she never could have imagined that someday she'd be living in a moment like this one.
"You're so beautiful."
She shook her head. "I'm not."
"You just can't see yourself as I see you, as everyone else sees you. The first time I ever laid eyes on you, I was struck with the color of your hair and the texture of your skin. I've only ever seen these things in artwork. I didn't think they existed in real life."
"The first time you saw me I was saving your ass from drowning in the lake. I doubt you were thinking about my hair."
"Black and gold, that's the color you are as a wolf and that's the colors in your hair, too."
Theo kissed her and before she knew it, she was caught up in a frenzy of sensation and love the likes of which she couldn't have predicted. Their first time together had been a swirl of mating instincts and need. This time it was just about the two of them loving each other and Faith couldn't be more ecstatic. She sighed, rubbing her hands up and down his back in a casual, yet hurried manner. Part of her was desperate to join with him while the other half needed their loving and foreplay to continue as long as it could.
"Tell me what you want, my love." The words spread through her already heated core like molten lava, filling her up and threatening to explode inside of her.
"I love you too, Theo." A tear slipped from her left eye and she blinked away the others not wanting to cry unable to stop herself because of the intensity of her feelings for him.
Slowly, he spread her legs and lowered himself inside of her. She could feel her body stretch to accommodate him and as she had been the first time was amazed by how perfectly they fit together. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to experience the moment more intensely. He reached out and she felt him brush some stray hair from her eyes.
"Faith, look at me."
She did as he asked and stared into the brown depths of a man she knew she'd live a lifetime with, share his soul, and never know completely. But she could be sure of one thing: he loved her and he was entirely hers. Together they moved in a rhythm that was their own each whispering promises of love and eternity. It wasn't long until Faith's climax claimed her and as she thought she might die from the sheer pleasure of it, Theo followed her into the abyss.
With her love still inside of her, Faith closed her eyes and drifted away on a breeze of happiness and contentment.
When she woke up, she found herself floating on the ceiling. She shrieked and flung her arms around trying to get balance. What the hell was going on? She reached for her wolf and found her absent which meant only one thing: this was a demon problem again.
Below her, Theo slept soundly on his stomach. His face turned to the right, his breathing even, and she couldn't help but notice the top part of his very cute buttocks exposed from the sheet. Dear heaven, would she never get over her urge to check him out? She had bigger problems to handle here. Reaching her hand backwards, she felt the cool, slimy skin of a fire demon pushing out of her back. Yep, it was official--she had wings and she floated over the bed. Hell. Looking down at the front of her body was a slight relief. She still looked like herself, which meant that all that had happened was that she had gained the wings of a demon and not the look of the creature altogether.
She cleared her throat. "Theo."
He grunted and rubbed his nose. Of all times for him to become a deep sleeper, this was not one of them.
Faith tried flapping her wings to see if she could move and banged her head on the ceiling. For a moment, she literally saw stars. Rubbing her head, she tried again. If this was going to be a permanent change--and she certainly hoped it was not because she missed her wolf terribly--then she needed to figure out a way to handle this new part of her body and evidently her mate was not going to be any use in this manner as he snored on the bed.
She wanted to move straight not up and down, so she concentrated and visualized herself moving across the room and found this time it was easy to do. Like a hummingbird, if she flapped hard enough she could move up, down, left, right, and straight at will. But anytime she lost her concentration, boom, she whacked herself on the head. The last attempt had put her dangerously close to colliding with the light fixture and she knew that would be more of a problem than just hitting the ceiling.
There was just no choice; Theo was going to have to get up. "Damn it, Theo, wake up." She didn't like her own tone, it was getting pretty close to childish, but she had no connection to her wolf and she was stuck on the ceiling. If ever there was a time for regression it was that moment.
Her mate jumped and nearly fell off the bed. "Faith?" He called out, leaping from the mattress. He looked right and left seeking her, and as she watched from her position above, his eyes went wolf. Theo couldn't find her and she could tell he was about to go wolf in his worry.
"Up here, hot stuff."
His eyes jerked towards the sky and he gasped. "Holy shit, Faith."
She raised an eyebrow. "Language, mister suave."
He climbed on the bed, standing on the mattress as he continued to stare at her. "Sorry." Swallowing, he gathered himself. "I'm talking to you telepathically, can you not hear me?"
"No." She shook her head as she motioned to her wings. "Demon stuff negates the wolf, remember?"
Theo nodded as he considered this. "Why do you suppose that is?"
Not able to help the sigh that escaped her, she gritted her teeth. "I am not really in the mood for an intellectual discussion on this."
"Are you angry with me? Is this somehow my fault? I mean other than the fact that I infected you."
Faith opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. Was she? Truthfully, Faith could feel rage sprinting through veins consuming her body and she had no idea the source of it. Sure, she was stuck on the ceiling but why was she yelling at Theo?
"I am incredibly mad at the moment and I can't tell you why that is." The quiver in her voice alarmed her. She was either about to start ranting or crying, neither of which she particularly wanted to do nor would either option be helpful to her.
"It's the demon." Theo sighed. "I'm so sorry Faith. It's one of the reasons I hid in the woods. The demon's emotions are not normal for us, and that makes us dangerous."
Faith's hands started to shake of their own volition. Theo's explanation made sense and considering how off kilter she felt, she could easily see why he would have hid from this.
"So you're worried I'm about to go off the deep end then?"
Faith's mind whirled and a thousand different thoughts consumed her at once. At her core, she was a pragmatist. They'd been given this ability--whether they wanted it or not--and there had to be a way to use it.
"I am."
At least he was honest. She could see the worry lines starting to form next to his eyes. This was just what they didn't need, something else Theo could blame himself for. Like a light dawning in front of her eyes, Faith suddenly knew how they would catch the traitor.
It was brilliant, it would work, and it required her to stay like this, at least for a little while.
"Theo, my love, I know what we're going to do."
"To get you off of the ceiling?" His eyes lit up like he thought that was a great idea.
She shook her head. "No. I know how we're going to catch the traitor."
"I don't think that should be our focus right now. We seem to have a more pressing concern." He raised his hand to the ceiling to point at her wings.
"My plan requires the flight."
"Really?" His tone of voice changed to a conspirator playfulness. "Do tell."
"We need to get outside and we need to find Tristan and Ashlee right now."
"But what if you fly away?"
"Darling, I would always come back to you. Change into your wolf form and see if you can catch me."
With a wink, she flew from the room, just making it through doorway without banging her head. Maybe she could control this transformation and use it to help them with their traitor problem. Then she'd figure out how to get back on the ground. She hoped.
The woods were quiet. The clearing where Theo stood with Tristan and Ashlee was silent in the way only unused green space could be. It was like nature had decided since they hadn't bothered to take advantage of this particular area in a long time, she was going to go ahead and refurbish it with her bounty. Three deer ran by undisturbed and Theo noted that the Alpha couple stared at them as longingly as he did. When was the last time the pack had simply run together or given their wolves the chance to just be wolves? Theo had no excuse--he'd had a year of it, which was more than enough time even for his furry half, but if they lived through the next couple of weeks he was going to speak to Tristan about giving everyone a little leisure time.
He would kill to be able to communicate with Faith right now. But he could neither reach her telepathically nor call out to her with his own voice. His wolf paced restlessly and Theo clamped down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from shifting so he could join in the sensation. This was Faith's plan. He needed to trust her to do her part to carry it out.
Do you suppose she's ready? I can't even smell her to figure it out. Tristan's voice held strain. His brother never had liked the unknown and today they were counting on it to work.
If you could smell her so could everyone else and then the stealth aspect of this would be for naught.
I know you're right but I--
Hate this?
Yes.
Me too.
Theo stared intently at his brother. The future of the pack hinged on the next few minutes and Tristan looked as cool as he could ever remember seeing him. If everything went according to plan, Cullen and Summer would arrive momentarily in their wolf forms as if they'd just come from a run through the woods.
A rumor, cleverly started by Summer, passed through the pack that Tristan was holding a secret meeting between Theo, Cullen, Summer, Ashlee, and himself to discuss the traitor problem and work out a plan of attack against Kendrick. No one was supposed to know about the so-called meeting except that Summer had accidently broadcast specifics of the meeting meant for Ashlee's ears alone to part of the pack. By now, all of the members should know about it. Word spread fast on Westervelt. On cue, Cullen and Summer arrived, shifting from their wolf forms as they entered the clearing.
Whoever showed up next to spy on the meeting was their traitor.
Tristan had seemed shocked by Faith's deviousness but Theo wasn't. His mate had an incredible brain.
Cullen cleared his throat and Theo realized they were too silent. If they wanted this to look like a meeting, they had to play their parts.
"It distresses me to no end that all of our brothers are not here." Tristan kicked at the ground in front of him and Theo smiled. "What are you grinning at?"
"You have been doing that since we were children. Anytime you get really annoyed by something or distressed you kick at the ground."
"Perhaps we could save the childhood reminiscing for another time." Cullen rolled his eyes and Theo's wolf growled. The older man never had much of a sense of humor.
Summer hummed to herself and rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes.
"Speaking of annoying childhood habits." Ashlee glared daggers at her sister who rolled her eyes.
Clearly there was way too much familial baggage in the pack at the moment. If he got a chance, and the demon left them, he was taking Faith on a long vacation. Silently, he also gave thanks she wasn't someone's sister and he wouldn't have to spend the rest of their lives together listening to her yell at one relation or another.
A sudden thought struck Theo and he reached up to rub his chin. Faith knew nothing about her family. Even being back with the pack, she clearly didn't remember her parents. He must have known them. Who were they?
"Cullen, I have a quick question."
"Yes, Prince Theo?" The older man raised an eyebrow.
The sound of a twig breaking behind them cut off Theo's next statement. Five pairs of eyes turned in the direction and a growl issued from Tristan's throat. No one had expected it to be so fast. Before his eyes, Tristan leapt faster than Theo had thought possible for either shifter or human. He looked like a blur of light as he jumped into the woods, only the reverberation of his angry howl filling the air.
Oomph sounded and Ashlee shouted in horror.
"It's Rex." Her words were barely a breath as she ran after Tristan, shifting into half-wolf, half-human status and followed her mate. Her face and hands looked canine while the rest of her remained human. It was safer for her if she needed to fight.
Rex? Their baby brother? A spy for their dad? Something didn't sit well with Theo and he knew he'd better figure out what it was quickly before a betrayed and outraged Tristan tore Rex to shreds. Raising his eyes to the sky, he looked around vehemently. Where was Faith? She should have landed or been the one to pick up Rex, as the plan had been.
Never one to doubt his instincts, Tristan took off at a run, shifting half way through his first steps.
"Stop him, Theo." Summer's voice caught his attention and he swung his head around to stare at her. She was doubled over on the ground, her right hand covering her forehead while her left one grasped at her pregnant stomach. Cullen gripped her back, holding her to him. Her voice sounded frantic. "This is wrong. This is not as it should be happening."
Cullen raised his eyes to stare at Theo's wolf form. She's having a vision. Stop Tristan before he kills Rex.
Theo turned around, sprinting towards his two fighting brothers. Both in their full animal forms now, Tristan's dark wolf attacked Rex's smaller black one. Relieved to see that Rex barely fought back--Tristan was their Alpha and fighting with him would only enrage him more--Theo jumped into the middle of the fight. It wasn't the first time he'd broken up a fight between his brothers, it was just the first time so much had been on the line.
Tristan's teeth sunk into his neck and Theo screeched. His wolf had gone into high alert and the need to either flee or fight was almost uncontrollable. Inside, Theo roared, demanding he be left in control of their higher senses. Tristan growled and backed off trying once again for Rex who whimpered and clearly bled in several different places, one particularly rough looking wound on his ear that Theo hoped didn't leave a scar.
Theo threw himself between Tristan and Rex. Behind him, he heard a commotion but couldn't take his attention off of his brothers to focus on what caused the hubbub. If he let up for even a second, he wasn't sure Tristan wouldn't kill Rex. They had to at least speak to their younger brother before any more violence took place.
Rex, can you hear me?
What the hell is going on? Even in his wolf state, his brother sounded terrified. Theo couldn't blame him. He'd be terrified too if Tristan turned on him.
Did you betray us, Rex? Is it you?
Ashlee's scream stopped Tristan's assault. Whirling around, Theo saw Faith swoop down from the sky like a hawk capturing a field mouse and within seconds pull someone out of the woods a distance away. Theo narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air. He couldn't make out a scent. His ears flattened on the top of his furry head.
That was the connection he'd missed. When he'd been in the woods, the traitor had been scentless, as whoever Faith had was now. He could smell Rex--who always, even in wolf form, managed to be a combination of the forest and the city, as clearly as he had the day Rex had been born.
Stop, Tristan. It's not Rex.
Theo, out of my way. This is our brother and he has betrayed us in the worst possible way.
It's not him, my Alpha, look behind you. Silently, Theo hoped he reached the part of Tristan that wasn't lost in the animal madness and could still be reasoned with. Otherwise Rex was doomed and they would all have to live with the consequences. Theo wasn't prepared to ask himself how far he would go to protect Rex. There was Faith to consider. If he died, she died too.
Tristan sniffed the air and turned in the direction where Faith held their soon-to-be revealed traitor five feet above the ground. Whoever it was struggled in her grasp and tried to shift. Theo sucked in his breath but his worry was for naught.
Faith simply readjusted her hold and held tighter around the man's neck preventing the shift. He should have known there would be nothing she wouldn't be able to handle.
Tristan called the shift on himself. A warm white light filled Theo's senses and he followed suit, hoping Rex would do the same.
Their Alpha stormed in the direction where Faith held the still-unknown person, giving Theo a moment to regard Rex.
"Randolph, what were you doing here? You could have been killed." Almost no one used Rex's real name and Theo hoped it made an impression.
"Evidently." Rex looked up at the sky and Theo followed his gaze to where Faith set down the man in front of Tristan. He turned back to Rex.
"Answer my question."
Rex shrugged getting up from the ground as if all was well but Theo caught the scent of pain on him and knew whatever casualness he pretended to possess was just an act. It was hard being a wolf-shifter surrounded by wolf-shifters. No one ever let you get away with any bullshit, which was why Theo made the decision not to mention the pain Rex was obviously in but trying to hide.
Theo cleared his throat. "Rex?"
Rex sighed. "Look, I heard you guys were having some sort of secret pow-wow we weren't invited to. It pissed me off. I'm sick of the whole 'we're mated so we're special' vibe Tristan and Cullen have going on around here. As if you can only be trusted if you've been lucky enough to find your love. It's not like the rest of us haven't been looking and now you're part of the 'in' club. It used to be enough to just be a Kane."
Theo rubbed the stubble on his chin as he took in his brother. How was it possible they'd all been through relatively the same traumas and Rex was still so damn young?
"So you thought you'd come and spy, is that it?"
"I thought I should know what was going on." Rex had the good sense to look sheepish looked anywhere but in Theo's eyes and winced as he tried to take a step.
"Do Gabriel, Michael, or Azriel feel this way?"
Rex's eyes flared wolf for a moment before returning to their normal near black. With his long hair down past his shoulders, Rex looked positively wild. Truth was, his wolf was so strong, and always had been, that had he been born before Tristan it was questionable which one of them would have been Alpha.
But as Theo had discovered the day his cheek was burnt off, life had a way of presenting things just the way they were meant to be, even if they were uncomfortable and miserable.
"No, they don't seem to be as bothered. But who the hell knows what goes on with them? Michael's been pretty much a zombie since Kendrick betrayed us and he sucked at being Alpha, Gabriel is all about conducting covert missions and disappears for months at a time, and much as I love him I have no idea what Az is talking about most of the time."
Theo nodded. As the brother chronologically below him in age, he knew better than most how odd Az could be. Brilliant, but odd. He shook his head. They were getting off the point.
"See that?" He turned around to point at Tristan who had the man pinned on the ground as he growled in his face. Ashlee, Summer, and Cullen stood in a circle, the older man in between the two women, a bemused look in his eyes was the only indication he wasn't standing at the beach or in line at the drugstore. Nothing fazed Cullen.
"What is going on? Why is Tristan attacking whoever that is and why did he attack me? He wouldn't even answer me telepathically."
Theo looked up at the sky where Faith hovered. He wished she'd come over to where he stood with Rex but he couldn't reach her telepathically to tell her he needed her help.
"Our brother the Alpha is in a rage. We have a traitor and we just flushed him out. When you showed up, we assumed it was you. That made him more nuts because you're his brother."
Rex's eyes changed to their wolf form. Theo knew when his brother spoke, his intonations would be two tones lower. "He thought I would betray you?" Rex turned his back on Theo and he knew the youngest of the Kane's only had eyes for Tristan.
"It seemed a reasonable thought that whoever was hiding in the bushes was our traitor."
"Reasonable, perhaps." Rex whirled on Theo. "But I'm your brother and all of you--especially him," he pointed at Tristan, "should have known better."
"Because you're family?" Theo couldn't help the laugh that sprung from his mouth. "Little brother, it was our patriarch--the man who sired us--who put us in this position to begin with. The reason Tristan trusts mated men is because unless they're sick and deranged, they won't do anything to harm their mate and therefore are less likely to betray the pack."
"I've had enough of this crap."
Theo shook his head. "What?"
"I don't have to stay here and put up with this anymore." Rex turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction of the group. A screech from Tristan's area caught Theo's attention and he swung around to look.
Summer had hit the ground and was crouched on her knees. "Theo don't let him leave. He's blank now. I can't see, I can't see any of his future."
Theo was confused. Summer saw their futures that clearly?
"Rex, wait a second." Theo called out to him but Rex wouldn't turn around. "Tristan, do you want me to recover Rex?" He really hoped Tristan would take care of it himself. After all, it had been their Alpha who had attacked him.
Tristan shook his head, casting a sympathetic look at Summer. "It's a good thing you can't see it anymore, little sister. Rex's future needed a shake up. He's never left here. He should have known better than to do what he did today. He needs to go--as we all went--to spend time off-island and decide if this is where his future is or if it's time for him to live elsewhere."
Ashlee sucked in her breath. "Tristan, are you sure?"
"He's my brother. He'll always be welcome back home but if he feels he must leave, let him go." Tristan's eyes fell to the man on the ground. "We have a pressing matter to deal with here."
Theo strode forward. "Who is he?"
"Take a look." Cullen still stroked Summer's back as she gripped her pregnant belly but his eyes turned wolf and Theo didn't imagine the bloodthirsty look he saw appear when their father's former advisor stared down at the now restrained traitor on the ground.
Staring down at the scene below him, Theo sucked in his breath. He'd know the traitor anywhere. Hell, they'd been raised together, were practically the same age. Blonde hair, an easy smile, and almost zero need for advancement, Nicholas Rice was the last person he would have suspected of treason. He'd lost both his parents and two brothers to their father's deception. What the hell was he doing and how had he not recognized him immediately?
As if reading his mind, Cullen answered. "We're going to have to figure out how he deceived us for so long and why. My wolf declared this magic and I believe he is right. This is going to fall to you, Ashlee, to decipher."
"You'll never beat him. He is our true leader and where Tristan, the usurper, leads us is down a path to hell." Before looking up, Theo briefly noted the strain in Nicholas' voice made by the presence of Cullen's foot on his neck.
"Before you take him into interrogation, Cullen, you might want to ask him where he was going in that canoe. My best guess is that he has one of Kendrick's henchmen on the mainland who he feeds information to." He glanced up at the sky and lifted his hand. "Faith, come down, you need to be part of these discussions."
A sad glimmer in her eye, Faith shook her head. "I'm sorry, my love, I cannot."
What did that mean? "I don't understand."
"It calls to me now like I can only imagine your wolf called to you for so many months. I need to answer it and find my brethren."
"Your what? Faith this is insanity." Theo's pulse sped up. He reached for her telepathically and still found nothing. "It's the demon. It's messing with your head. In no way is what is inside of us our kin. Come down and we'll work out a plan to get the book and then we'll be free of it."
"No, Theo." Faith's voice was resolute. "Don't you understand? You were never meant to be a demon, but clearly I was."
"No." Just out of his jumping range, Theo couldn't reach her. In the long years of his life, he'd never felt so ineffectual and he wanted to roar.
"I grew wings without an ounce of pain, you never did. Don't you see what that means? The power was never at home in your body but it is in mine. I like it."
Tristan grabbed his arm. "This doesn't sound good."
Shrugging off his brother, who didn't say anything he wasn't already aware of, he faced Faith once again. "Please Faith, I can't lose you. Don't disappear into something that we are not meant to be."
"In truth, Theo, I cannot resist." In front of his eyes, she seemed to be changing. Even the contour of her voice and the sound of her diction altered. This couldn't be happening, he wouldn't allow it. "I'm not as strong as you."
Feeling his eyes turn wolf, he stared up at his mate, the woman fate had chosen for him. He would not lose her. "Faith, get down here this instant."
"I cannot obey."
Without a look down again, Faith took off in the sky, flying faster than he'd dreamed imaginable and disappearing from view.
Instantly, Theo changed into his wolf form. Howling once and plowing by his brother and family, he took off at a run. He'd lost Faith, there was nothing left. Pushing his four legs to move faster than they ever had before, he sprinted towards the cliffs unsure of where he went or what he would do when he got there.
Vaguely, he was aware of the fact that the growling and howling he heard in the background was Summer and Cullen following him. They wanted him to stop, afraid he would hurt himself.
But he knew better. In no way was he suicidal. Not while he still carried Faith protectively in his own soul. There was still work to be done, and he could save her. They needed that book and then the demons would pull their influence from Faith. She would return to her wolf-shifter self.
He would not fail. Reaching the cliffs that overlooked the Atlantic with no view of mainland Maine but rather the vast nothingness that was the blue sea, he whirled around and howled once more but not in pain or agony. No, this was a battle cry, and he would not lose.
Faith pushed herself harder to reach the tops of the clouds. It was so damn cold on this plane of existence, so green, and so wet. Why couldn't she be home where it was warm? Where three red suns kept their body temperatures at a reasonable 103 degrees all the time? Sighing she moved more quickly. The second she crossed into the top atmosphere, she'd be closer to the Earth's measly one yellow sun and it would do for heating her body. Once she was warm, she would concentrate on either finding the others or finding another way to get home.
Flapping her wings, she made one more surge towards her destination.
"What are you doing, Faith?"
Stunned, Faith fell a few feet down before catching herself. Her heart pumped wildly and she whirled around looking for the person who belonged to that voice.
"Over here."
In front of her stood a dark woman. Stood was actually the wrong description. Floating, that was what the stranger was doing. Arms crossed with small glasses covering prominent cheekbones, the raven-haired new arrival held a vague aura of familiarity to Faith, as if she'd seen her somewhere before but couldn't place quite her, as if they'd once sat next to each other an airplane or passed on the street.
"How are you floating like that?" That seemed to be the most relevant question to Faith. It wasn't every day you saw a regular human floating above the earth.
"I'm not--well, not really. Don't you recognize me?"
Faiths gave the woman a long, hard stare confirming in her mind that she wasn't crazy, somehow she did know this person.
"If you've forgotten me, then that is your own doing. You were certainly old enough to remember."
Something about the woman's tone irked Faith and caused a tightness in her stomach. Why was she bothering with this? There were tasks to perform, members of her kind to find, and a home to return to and yet even as she floated above the ground she felt frozen to her spot as if she couldn't move even if she attempted to. It was like someone had attached dumbbells to her feet making it impossible for her to anything other than just what she did.
"I'm not hallucinating. That much I'm sure of. My new superior abilities prevent me from doing that so I know you are here and you are floating so cut the crap whoever you are, and get to the point."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you speak? Did you just say 'cut the crap?' Charming."
Faith sighed. She was not going to get out of whatever this was easily. Playing along might be best. "Alright, whoever you are, I'll apologize for my language but do you think you could get to the point? I'm cold. I need to warm myself for a while."
"What you need to be doing, young lady is getting back on track. Stop indulging in this nonsense. You are not a demon; you're a wolf shifter of the highest degree. Your family was always amongst the strongest and right at this moment you're disgracing it."
So not only did this presumptuous woman refuse to tell her who she was but now she lectured her on responsibilities and her family? Who was she to say anything regarding things she couldn't possibly know about?
A sharp pain struck her left temple and Faith closed her eyes. An image appeared and for a moment she was pulled from her body and entered the scene in front of her. She sat on the floor of a cabin--she knew the cabin, or at least one like it, they were still on the island. Cullen and Summer, along with some of the other more reclusive wolves, still lived in them.
What was she doing here? Looking down at her hands, she jerked upwards. She had small hands, tiny actually, like she was a child. Her head shot downwards as she quickly tried to assess the rest of herself. Her dark hair hung low, almost to the floor. Patting her face, she felt small features and her ears were unpierced.
How had this happened? She swung around wildly, nearly falling flat on her face even from her position on the floor. In the distance, she heard voices, she could make out they were two people but other than that she was still clueless as to what was going on.
Rising to her feet, an event that took a lot less time than it would have if she were at her regular height, she crossed the room silently. A small, antique wooden mirror hung over what looked like a vanity. On tiptoes, she pulled herself up until she could see her face reflected back at her. Gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand.
Her own reflection stared back. Just not the one she was used to seeing, although she'd once seen it all the time. Almost three decades ago, she'd sat by a stream in the backyard of her foster parent's home and stared at the little girl, whose face floated above the stream, looking back at her. Over and over she'd repeated the phrase 'there are not people who turn into wolves' until she'd believed it and something precious had died inside of her. Most of that had come back to life when Tristan had changed her into her shifter-self in the jungles of Mexico.
The rest had reanimated the first time she'd smelled Theo in the woods and known she'd finally returned home.
So what the hell was she doing back in her nearly ten-year-old body in a cabin on Westervelt?
"Quiet, Maryanne, she's going to hear you." A male voice spoke harshly, his tone critical of whoever this Maryanne was.
"Let her hear me, Abe. If danger is coming it affects her just as deeply as it does us."
They discussed her. The people in the other room must be her parents. A lump formed in Faith's throat. Even returning to Westervelt, she had never allowed herself to think about the family she'd lost when Kendrick had cast his spell on the pack. It was a pain she'd overcome through sheer force of will as a child and she didn't need to reopen those wounds just because she was now back and living in what essentially amounted to her 'home town.'
But now she wasn't being given a choice.
Compelled by a will she couldn't deny, Faith snuck down the small hallway and turned the corner to the bedroom. In front of her stood two people, one of which she had just seen floating in the sky, and the other a tall, blond haired man she could only assume was her father. Well, she could do more than assume it. Truth was she had his cheekbones and bone structure. Despite their differences in coloring, there was no question she was related to him.
Though she supposed most people would say she looked like her mother. The dark hair they shared was misleading. It would be all some people would see when they looked at them. To Faith, even looking at her with adult eyes, her mother was the most stunning woman she'd ever seen. It wasn't so much that she was glamorous or sophisticated, no it had something to do with her mother's inner confidence and a sense of self that just radiated through her pores.
Faith sighed. What would it have been like to grow up with these people? Well, she guessed technically she had grown up with them--the first ten years of them, if you could call that grown up.
"Abe, look at the child, she's as pale as a ghost." Her mother looked at her; even through the glasses the other woman wore, Faith could see her matriarch seemed sad. It was something in the way her eyes tipped down to the left and sparkled like they held back tears. She had never had children but she imagined it wasn't unusual for a child to be so in tune with their parents' moods that they knew them just from small visual cues. Whatever else she'd lost of her parents over the years, this she still retained.
"I told you she could hear us."
Her mother moved forward and stroked the side of Faith's face with her palm. "Is that it, baby girl, did you hear us and get frightened?"
Nodding, because she didn't trust her voice and the truth was so darn weird they wouldn't believe it anyway. Her father hissed a breath and pulled the two of them into his arms.
"It's very unusual for your mother to not be able to see the future clearly. She's had the gift since she was quite young, like you do."
Internally, Faith blanched. She didn't have the 'sight,' she was the only woman on Westervelt who didn't. Her talents only related to Theo, didn't they?
"But as I've been reassuring your mother tonight, nothing nefarious has to be going on. Perhaps we, as a pack, are at a hiatus and the future will become more clear when our Alpha makes a decision or moves the pack in a direction it's yet to go."
Maryanne pulled out of the group embrace. "Oh our Alpha...yes Kendrick and his wise choices."
Snickering at her mother's tone and recognizing that she often sounded that way, Faith was glad to see her mother had held trepidations regarding Kendrick. Her father growled, his eyes turning wolf.
"That's blasphemy and you're teaching the child nothing but disrespect."
Deciding enough was enough, Faith opened her mouth to speak but found she could not form words, or at least the ones she wanted to say. It was like her mouth wouldn't cooperate with her brain. Damn. Evidently, part of this experience was not warning the people around her of what was to come.
Was it her destiny to constantly feel ineffectual? She wanted to stomp her feet.
Her mother put her hands on her hips. "Someone is about to knock on the door."
Sniffing the air, her father whirled around as a knock sounded. "Who is it? Why is it disguised from me?"
"I don't know. They must be eating those herbs that are not supposed to exist."
Storming toward the door, Abe threw one last glance at his family. "If they're trying to hide their scent, what are they doing here?"
"You're acting like I have the answers to these questions, hon. Open the door, let's find out."
Her father did as his wife asked and Faith waited with baited breath. The herbs they discussed were commonplace now; it was why it had been so difficult to identify the traitor. Why had they been secret and who had controlled them? Faith's mind whirled a mile a minute while she contemplated these questions and what the answers would mean.
The woman who walked into the room like she had Satan on her heels was not someone Faith had ever seen before and yet she knew her as well as she knew herself. Theo's memories plowed into her mind, invading her own thoughts. It was Mary Jo. Gasping, she knew instantly what was about to happen.
"Abe and Maryanne, I'm sorry I don't come under better tidings."
Abe furrowed his eyebrows. "Does the Alpha require my assistance?"
"I'm afraid it is too late for that. We may have to rise up against him." Mary Jo shook her head as if she couldn't believe she even contemplated the idea. Faith felt sick for her, butterflies that felt more like needles danced in her stomach. "I've come for Faith. It's not too late to save the unmated girls and women. It's all I can think to do."
The room spun at Faith's feet and she closed her eyes in an attempt to keep her balance. Grabbing her forehead she watched as the room around her dissolved in manner similar to chalk washing off a sidewalk during a rainstorm.
In no more than three seconds, she floated again over the Earth, the clouds at her feet. She whirled in a circle but there was no sign of her mother anywhere. Had the whole thing been a figment of her imagination?
Her insides started to rumble as the demon inside of her pulled on her mind to gain her attention. She shook her head. No way was she falling back under the spell so easily. Visions from your past didn't just present themselves to you without a good reason. She had literally held no memory of her parents moments earlier and now she could recall Mary Jo coming to get her and take her away from Westervelt.
What did it mean? Like the time she and Theo had been transferred to his near deathbed, there was obviously something she was meant to have seen or learned. But what was it?
Her eyes flew open. The herbs. That was the key. They had been secret when her family had lived on the island but now they weren't. Now they were available, if one knew where to look for them in the greenhouse that had once been maintained by the women everyone referred to as the Aunts. These days it was sort of a group effort in keeping up the greenhouse. Most of the time it got forgotten. It was just a simple matter of going in and taking them if you wanted them.
Theo had seen two traitors. Why had they forgotten that in all of the excitement? Nicholas Rice was in no way involved in this all on his own. There was someone else and the key to finding him, to saving Theo and anyone else who was going after Kendrick and the spell, was to bring that traitor to light.
She needed to get back to Westervelt immediately before Theo left and walked into what was most likely a trap. Swallowing her fear, she turned and let her demon senses fill her only so far as they allowed her to target Westervelt and direct herself there. It was like she'd swallowed a homing beacon. Her eyesight changed and tunnel vision beyond which she could have ever imagined took over her senses. All she could see was Westervelt and as she nose-dived through the sky towards her old and now new home, she was vaguely aware of the cold sky air whooshing against her body and the way her skin was pulled backwards because of the speed of the flight.
But none of that mattered. If the demon was giving her anything useful at all, it allowed her to stay completely focused on a task at hand and not worry about anything she shouldn't be concerned with. Truth be told, she missed her wolf. Hopefully, there would be a reconnection between them in very soon. Until then she'd just have to do her proud.
The ground approached quickly and Faith braced herself for a rough landing. Her feet hit first, jarring her knees, and she remembered too late that skydivers at least slowed down before they wrecked their bodies in the landing process. Sighing, Faith momentarily closed her eyes and waited for the pain to pass. If the demon hadn't usurped her wolf she would be able more quickly. Of course, she reminded herself, that logic didn't really work because if it had just been her wolf inside of her, she wouldn't have been flying in the first place.
After a few seconds, her knees stopped panging and she moved forward at a fast run. Sniffing the air before she forgot that sense was not currently working, she still let herself growl in her throat. What could she say? It pissed her off that she was stuck like this when she was meant to be a wolf and there was nothing more satisfying than a growl, even a pathetic non-canine one.
If Theo was already gone, and in her gut she knew he was because after thinking he lost her he wouldn't waste any time, then she desperately hoped Cullen and Az were still here. Reaching the main house, she ran inside and nearly collided with Tristan.
He narrowed his eyes before he reached out and grabbed her arms. "Faith? You're back. Theo and Gabriel just went after our father to retrieve you."
Nodding, she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I worried that might have happened. They're going to need help and I can do that but first we have to address a problem and there is no time to get it done." She held two fingers up. "There's more than one traitor."
A roar ripped from Tristan's throat and a door slammed behind him. Ashlee ran out holding Virginia, Braden attached to her leg. "What is it?"
"There are two traitors and my brothers are walking into a trap."
Ashlee's eyes turned wolf and she gripped the children more tightly.
Time was running out so Tristan and Ashlee were going to have to catch up if they wanted to help as she moved along. "Has Cullen put Nicholas to death yet?" There was no question in Faith's mind that would be the sentence. Even before Kendrick had betrayed the pack, death was the sentence for traitors on Westervelt. It was one of the few things Tristan had not altered when he took over.
Her Alpha looked down at his watch. "It was supposed to be sometime this afternoon so I'm not sure. Hold on." Faith waited anxiously for Tristan to communicate telepathically with the pack's oldest advisor. Seconds later Tristan shook his head. "Not yet."
"Tell him we need to know about the second traitor and ask him to find out everything he can about the herbs that make you scentless. Meantime, I'm going to try to work out the problem with Az." Faith turned to run down the hall. "Oh and Tristan, your mother, she was fearless. I see where you all get it from."
Faith found Az where he almost always was: his laboratory, tinkering with something she didn't recognize. She shook her head; she wasn't going to ask him what he was doing because there was no time to listen to the explanation. Running to his side, she grabbed his shoulder and startled him. Out of all the Kane brothers, Az always seemed the least wolf-like. Anyone else would have scented them when they approached.
"Azriel, I need you to tell me everything you know about the herbs that make you scentless. Is there anything else they do?"
Theo's brother sat back in his chair as he considered her question for a moment. "I've never taken them myself; I guess I never saw the point."
Faith shook her head. She couldn't get upset. He didn't know the pressing nature of this situation. "Look Az--"
"We need to know right now. Theo and Gabriel's life depends on it." Tristan interrupted, arriving behind her and she was grateful that he'd spoken out loud instead of telepathically. Since she couldn't currently communicate with her wolf, she wouldn't have been able to hear it.
"As I was saying, I've never taken it myself but Dad used to have a lot of theories about it, which was why he stored it away and never let anyone--even Cullen--near it."
"Your mother took some of it, that was how she snuck all of us unmated females off of the island. But we're getting away from the point, sort of." Faith's mind churned like a coal engine of a train. Kendrick had known there was more to it. That was key and it led credence to the idea that the unknown traitor ingested it to become invisible. Their former Alpha would have instructed him on how to use it.
"What were his theories, Az?" Tristan turned the conversation back on track.
"He thought that taken with the right amounts of vitamins and herbs it could do more than to disguise scent. The day before it all ended, he came to me and asked me to run experiments on it. I never got started and for obvious reasons when the shit hit the fan--oh, sorry Faith." Az's cheeks turned red as he realized he'd cursed. She waved a hand of dismissal.
"Go on."
Az shrugged. "I guess it's just obvious why I neglected to do any assignments he gave me after that.
"Did he think it could make you invisible?" A vision of the bullet that almost killed her but she couldn't see filled her mind. Thank god Theo had been there. Her eyes filled with tears she blinked away. No time to cry. She would get Theo back. They wouldn't lose like this, not to Kendrick, not ever.
Azriel sat up straighter in his seat. "He did."
Faith turned to Tristan. "I believe there are wolves all over this island. The ones Kendrick and Claudius made. The bad kind. We can't see them or smell them because of this stuff. Maybe Ashlee can make a spell to counteract it. Be careful if you leave the compound, they're going to take pot shots at anyone who goes into the woods." Faith paused and chewed on the thumbnail of her left hand. "Do you think Cullen has a name for us yet?"
Tristan nodded as he took his sunglasses off his wolf eyes. It would be obvious to anyone he was furious. "I would count on it."
Theo banged hard on the oak front door of the palace in Tucson, Arizona where his father had relocated.
"So stealth is entirely out of the question, then?"
Gabriel's voice startled Theo and he spun around. Leaning against one of the ostentatious Greco-Roman pillars that adorned the outside of the clearly-out-of-place-for-the-Southwest colonial house was his older brother.
What was Gabriel doing here?
"Did you think Tristan wouldn't know you were leaving? And did you honestly think he'd let you go alone? It was all I could do to convince him not to send the whole pack after you."
"I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to you." Theo whirled around and pounded on the door again. "Faith is in there thinking she's a demon. She's my first priority."
Gabriel cleared his throat and walked forward in the easy manner that Theo always associated with the second oldest Kane son. It was deceptive. Out of all of them, Gabriel was lethal, a trained killer, the most like their father's former second Cullen than anyone else in the pack. Except that Cullen was methodical and Gabriel just seemed to instinctually know how to get the job done.
"Tell me something, little brother." Gabriel pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and Theo stared dumbly at it. When had he started smoking? It wasn't like Gabriel could die from the habit; not until he was mated anyway, but still he couldn't remember the last time he watched a shifter smoke. Gabriel lit the cigarette and took a drag. "What happens to all of you when you mate? Tristan was ready to drop it all and follow Ashlee back to New Jersey. Cullen suddenly went soft. Derek runs around with his tail between his legs and Stefan is always humming to himself. What happens during mating that makes you all so insane? Explain it to me because I'm afraid I cannot begin to understand what would make an otherwise normal shifter bang on the door of our lethally inclined patriarch's door in the middle of the day thereby depriving us from any chance of a surprise attack, a fact I'm sure he would have been aware of only days ago before he found his mate."
Theo snorted. Leave it to Gabriel to make him laugh. "You know we don't discuss the specifics of the mating ritual."
I think he's in pain.
His canine self was right. At what point had his wolf become a psychiatrist? Now he was going to have to deal with that possibility. He shook his head. Not now. At the moment, there were more pressing things to do.
Stomping out the cigarette, Gabriel moved forward to stand next to him at the door. His older brother reached out and turned the handle and the door creaked open. "Since you've announced our arrival, I figure this saves us some time, don't you agree?"
Nodding, Theo strode through the door first, ready to kill any wolf or human who got in his way.
"It's amazing that Dad has spent so much time setting up locations in such hot venues. We were raised in what practically amounts to the arctic north. It's like he got old and needed hot air for his achy bones."
"Most of the time I appreciate your joviality Gabriel, but right now I'm a little focused."
If she's totally shifted to a demon, how will I recognize her?
It was Theo's biggest fear. What if it was necessary to kill a demon to get the book and the demon he killed was Faith?
In the unlikely event that situation actually occurs, I will be more than happy to kill myself tonight to follow her. It's time we got our mate back.
Leave it to his wolf to put it that succinctly. Whatever happened, he would get Faith back. He hoped. Would she still want to follow him even as a demon? Theo ran a hand through his hair.
He knew more than anyone how cruel fate could be and he didn't believe for a second that just because they had been brought together meant they would always be together.
"Whatever you're thinking about put it away. I don't like how quiet it is here. My wolf is going crazy. I can't smell a damn thing."
Neither could Theo and that bothered him too. Moving forward, Theo had the strangest sense of deja vu. He'd spent very little time in his father's Institute in Mexico but this house was designed in a very similar fashion. Fluorescent lights illuminated the hallways. Strange pictures depicting decapitated cats and dogs lined the walls. The floor was wooden and shone as if it had recently been refinished. All in all, it was a combination of Kendrick's Institute and a mad house found most likely inside of a gothic novel.
"So if we don't know where we're going, are we just going to wonder through the house until someone either jumps us or we miraculously find the gold-covered spell book?"
"I guess that's the general idea."
A loud clank reverberated in the hallway and Theo turned around to see a door, which had not been there earlier, lower with a thud to the floor. Any escape they would have made was now blocked off. Theo raised an eyebrow. That answered three questions for him. First, it meant that his father and minions were fully aware of their presence in the house. Second, there was no turning back--literally. Finally, it answered the question that not everything about his father had changed over the years.
When they'd been children, he'd pushed them all into adulthood differently. They never discussed what happened. It was too humiliating. At twelve years old, Theo had been brought to a carnival and left to wander for hours in the 'funhouse.' Only it wasn't so much fun and he'd been terrified. To this day, if he thought about it, he could still remember the feeling of hands coming out of the walls to grab and assault him. Much later on, he discovered his father had specially commissioned the 'coming of age' experience.
Was the son-of-a-bitch thinking he could do it again? Boy did he have news for him. In no way was he still the same scared little boy. Fully grown and mated, he would take whatever the man dished out and give it back tenfold.
Let's go kill him.
Theo nodded. He loved the idea and for once he and his wolf were in complete agreement.
"What is this?" In front of them, another wall fell as mirrors opened up on the walls. Yes, he had read his father's intentions correctly.
"Shift, brother. We have work to do."
Easily changing into his wolf form, he saw the white light of his brother's change behind him.
This must feel normal to you after spending a year like this. Gabriel said.
Nothing feels normal and never will again if I don't get Faith back immediately.
Damn, I never want to be mated. I'll take the single life, thank you.
Theo paused. This wasn't the time for this type of discussion but damn. You're a liar but I'm going to let you get away with that, for now. How much should he tell Gabriel? This appears to be a re-do of the test Dad put me through when I was twelve. I hated it then, and I hate it now.
Theo put his nose to the ground. This was one of their father's tests, which meant there was a solution. They just had to find the exit.
He sent you to a fucked-up funhouse? Hell, he left me in the woods to starve for a week. I had to hunt and I couldn't even shift yet. First time I ever killed anything.
It took me hours to get out. I was terrified of the darkness and things reached out to grab me the whole time. Finally, after the panic, I was able to ignore the creatures and get myself to the exit.
Ironically, this probably helped you.
How do you figure? Theo could only assume Gabriel was losing touch with reality.
You had to fight your fear and beat back monsters that wanted to attack you. For over a year now, you've had a demon growing inside of you and yet you have for all intents and purposes you beat it back so it couldn't control it. Even if that meant staying a wolf for most of the time. I love Faith, she's my sister now, but it wasn't two days she had that thing living in her before she sprouted wings and took off for the skies.
Theo growled. While he appreciated the compliment, he wasn't going to hear one bad word said about his mate. Gabriel backed off two feet and dropped his head in a sign of submission.
I meant nothing disrespectful towards Faith. Why should she know how to do it? She never had to go to a funhouse to prove herself worthy of love.
That was true and the discussion of Faith made him focus on the task at hand. In the back of his head, he became aware of a change in the scent of the air. Somewhere, there was cool air blowing. That meant there had to be a vent and where there was a vent, there was a way out--he hoped.
Closing his eyes, he sniffed, a long hard breath and was rewarded with clarity. Above them. The way out was on the ceiling. Lifting his head, he saw Gabriel follow his gaze. They had to get that vent open. Theo took a running jump and whacked the air opening with his tail. It moved slightly. Gabriel followed suit and after three attempts, they knocked it slightly loose.
With as much lift as he could muster, he leapt at the vent and pulled it off. Growling, he threw it across the floor feeling satisfied when it made a large screeching nose as it scratched across the wood floors.
Gabriel shifted back into his human form. Theo shook his head. What was Gabriel doing? You could only shift so many times before you simply collapsed from exhaustion. They needed him tough.
"Here." Gabriel leapt up and pulled himself into the vent. Leaning down with his feet still above in the ventilation tube. "Jump, I'll pull you in."
Theo did as his brother instructed and Gabriel yanked him inside of the vent. It was hot and stuffy but the cool air moved between them being blown from some air conditioning unit in the building.
"You know he's watching us." Gabriel didn't sound at all concerned about this; it was if he noted the color of the grass or the temperature of the day. "I've never accepted all of the fate stuff you all take at face value but okay, let's say that I've seen enough to not doubt all of it either."
Okay, Gabriel, we're in an air conditioning tube. Is this the time to talk about this?
"I'm trying to explain." Gabriel shook his dark hair out of his eyes. "If there is any shifting to do, let me do it. It's much more important that you be one hundred percent. Obviously, this is going to be your fight. If you don't kill Kendrick Kane today, I'll get him another day." Gabriel paused and shrugged. "Or not."
There were aspects to his older brother he would never understand, and glad not to. Most of the time Gabriel was the biggest hothead in the pack and yet here he was speaking about fate and the potential that they wouldn't kill their dad like it was no big deal.
Not sure what to say, Theo decided that in this case less was more. Thank you for being here.
"Uh-huh. Let's move."
Theo led the way and Gabriel followed him. Eventually, as the duct dipped, Theo caught a scent he recognized. It was his father. There was no trace of Faith but if she was still in her demon form, there would be no scent to distinguish her. Somehow he could guess that where his father was, his mate would be too.
Another sniff made alarm bells go off in his head. He swung around to look at his brother, who had just caught the scent. In his human form, Gabriel's eyes went wolf with anger.
Rex?
"I scent him too."
"Do you think he's here of his own volition?"
"Only one way to find out." Gabriel shifted fast and banged at the vent by his feet, pushing it open. Theo had a moment to raise his eyebrows at the fast, uncouth manner that Gabriel performed the task before following him down in the room.
Landing easily on four feet, he swung around to take in the scene. His father stood, surrounded by his newly made, unwell wolves who would all be dead within weeks. Faith's friend had once stood like this and silently he promised himself that whatever happened he'd fulfill Faith's desire to achieve retribution for her pseudo-brother's life.
A troop of demons lined the ceiling watching him closely. Just days earlier, the sight of the demons would have played havoc with his mind but now he knew what they wanted and it was no longer a concern. He would free them or die trying.
Gabriel growled and crouched down until the front half of his body was lower to the ground than his back. Showing his teeth, he backed up until he stood right next to Theo. It's just Dad and the demon monsters. No sign of Rex.
Ah, and the fifty or so made wolves surrounding them. If Gabriel didn't consider them a problem then he really did have a heightened sense of his own superiority.
Swinging his head from side to side as he searched the room, he growled again. What wolves? I can't see them or scent them.
Damn. It was like the woods all over again. His demon parts were letting him see things the others couldn't. All right, at least this time he knew he wasn't nuts. You're going to have to take my word that they are here and they are dangerous. I'm counting around fifty and they're spread out all over the room.
Gabriel's wolf mouth grinned at Theo. Did you ever see the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
"So my two sons are here, completing the trio I've longed for." Behind Kendrick, who Theo had to admit looked so much like Tristan it was startling, a door opened and two of the demons brought out Rex, beaten and tied to a chair. One of his youngest brother's eyes was swollen shut, and his jaw was clearly broken. Gabriel hissed in a breath and Theo snarled. They'd obviously done something to prevent him from shifting or those wounds would have healed immediately.
Gabriel called the shift onto himself and Theo watched as he regained his human form. Quickly, he assessed the situation. One brother was broken, but not dead, the other one quasi-insane in his desire for this fight, as well as fifty wolves, invisible to everyone else, and a line of demons along the ceiling. No matter how good he was at fighting in his canine form, perhaps it would take his human ingenuity to get out this situation, get the book, and rescue Faith.
Bringing on the shift, Theo let himself enjoy the warmth of the white light for a second before he stood in front of his former Alpha, the man who had helped to give him life, and then had destroyed everything he believed in.
"We're not here for a family reunion." Theo's voice sounded gruff, even to his own ears. "I don't know how you got Rex but we're not leaving here without him and without a few more things we came for." Inadvertently, his eyes scanned the fire demons. Was Faith among them? Had she made the shift to completely look like them now? Somewhere inside did she still hear his voice and know who he was?
"You're here because it is exactly as I planned it to be."
Gabriel laughed, a long, mirthless sound. "What did I tell you Theo? Fate, fate, fate? We're here because that's what we chose to do today. We could have stayed home and washed our socks. Your dictates have nothing to do with it."
Kendrick walked from the wall he leaned against towards Rex and placed a hand on his shoulder. Such a simple gesture but Theo was sure he'd never seen anything so threatening in life. The subtext was clear, his hand was right near Rex's jugular, and one bad move or wrong statement and Kendrick would snap their youngest brother's neck as if it was no more than a twig.
"Everything that has happened so far has happened because it is what I wished to have occur." Kendrick's eyes were in their wolf form and Theo wondered if they were like that all the time or if that had ceased when he'd lost his position as Alpha of Westervelt and now it was back because he was mad. "You think I care what happens to your beaten down pack?" He shook his head. "No. What I care about is you three boys."
Theo rolled his eyes and Rex, still tied up in the chair, snorted. Gabriel remained stiff and unmoving at Theo's side, surprisingly unsarcastic given what was going on. "How did we manage to be so lucky?"
"You were the three who understood that there are shades of grey in life. Your brothers Tristan and Michael are so damn good all the time...I have no idea where they get it from. Even your mother, who you all remember as sainted, was never that pure. Azriel lives in his own damn head so much, I never know what he is thinking." For the first time, Theo appreciated the decision Az had made as a child to keep quiet and maintain his own council. Evidently smarter than the rest of them, it now seemed brilliant to have kept Kendrick at bay.
His father wasn't finished. "I created a dynasty with my boys. You've all lived up to your talents beautifully, better than I could have anticipated. Let Tristan and Michael have the leftovers. You belong here with me."
Theo fisted his hand at his side. "Sounds to me like you're in denial. I somehow recall hearing after you butchered Ashlee and Summer's family that you wanted the pack back or you would start murdering our lost women. What's the problem Dad, can't find them? Plan not working so well?"
"Ah." Kendrick leapt into the air shifting into his wolf form as he launched himself at Theo. Bracing himself for his father's impact, Theo shifted once again into his wolf. That was two shifts. One more and he'd be out of commission.
Growling, he tore into his father's neck. Kendrick swerved, losing only a small amount of black fur before backing up and charged again. Theo ducked left and missed being slammed into by the bigger wolf. Gabriel rushed forward to Rex and Theo was glad to see he was soon free.
Rex roared and shifted into his wolf form.
Watch out, if you can, for the wolves you cannot see. With only seconds to wonder if they listened, Kendrick attacked again.
I thought I was one of your chosen sons. Now you want to kill me?
Perhaps you are not as deserving as I once thought.
That's the best news I heard all day.
Theo dodged right and ran to the side of the room where Rex and Gabriel battled three demons. Don't let them touch you. Leave me here. Go find the damn book. If we can send them back, we can rid ourselves of some of the enemy right away. Inwardly he hoped the demon leader did what he claimed he would do and rid him and Faith of their demon essence so they didn't get sent back with the creatures.
Rex nodded and ran for the door.
Gabriel leapt on top of a table, shifting as he met the air. Come on, little brother. It's a good day to finish off Dad.
Three. That was Gabriel's third shift. He'd soon be useless which meant Theo had to take advantage of his strength while they still could. Theo braced himself for another hit from their father as two of the wolves Gabriel couldn't see knocked him over.
What the hell? It's those damn invisible wolves.
He needed to help Gabriel. If he was the only one who could see them, he was the only one who could fight them.
The loudest boom he'd ever heard sounded above his head and he jerked back, throwing Kendrick off in the process. Glass from broken skylights rained down on them followed immediately by a sight that tightened Theo's throat. Without a doubt, he knew it was she. His mate, still looking like herself only with demonic wings had come to rescue them.
Crossing to him, she petted him on his head. "Enough of this." Her voice sounded different, much more akin to the demon they had spoken to when they'd made this deal.
She poured a strange white powder on the ground. It smelled acrid and Theo wanted to rear back in disgust.
"What is unseen, let it now be visible."
Cries of anguish filled the air as fifty wolves appeared, stunned and terrified looks on their face. Gabriel grinned and licked his lips.
Well hello there.
Theo had no time to enjoy the moment as a hot liquid that smelled like burnt oil poured down on his body spreading from his head all the way to his feet within seconds. He screamed and thought he heard Faith's cries before he lost consciousness.
Faith stared in horror as Theo's father, who had taken the distraction of her arrival to jet the jump on Theo, poured an unknown liquid on him. It didn't look like it was hot but Theo wailed like he'd just been scalded with acid. For all she knew, he had been.
An anger like she'd never known surged through her body and made her hands shake with rage. Inside of her, something foreign came alive and she didn't care if it was human, demon, or wolf--she knew she could cause Kendrick tremendous pain by letting it guide her hand.
From deep within her core, the ability to destroy the Westervelt pack's former Alpha emerged. She would simply stop his heart by electrocuting him from the inside out. It was easier than scalding him and letting him die over time. No, she would end this here and be glad of it. He'd hurt her love.
She focused her gaze on the former Alpha, and a strange buzz seemed to fill her then project out. Breaths came in and out of her mouth as Kendrick fell to his knees. Good, it was working. A door slammed and as she watched the saliva in Kendrick's mouth start to bubble, she realized Rex had run into the room. Gabriel stood over Theo, a job she would take over doing just as soon as Kendrick Kane was no longer a splinter on the skin of the world.
"I've got it." Rex sounded jovial but she had no idea of what he spoke. It didn't matter. Only death mattered. The next sound she heard was the distinct resonance of tearing paper. What had Rex torn up?
As fast as the power she had felt started, it was pulled from her body. She closed her eyes and wailed. It felt like someone was tearing off her limbs one by one.
"Holy hell, they're disappearing." Rex's frantic tone reached her and she opened one eye to see what he was talking about. He was right. The demons were being returned to their own dimension through a large black hole that had formed in the room. Kendrick seized on the ground and she hoped he was dying. Could they be that lucky?
Rolling over she used what was left of her upper body strength to maneuver herself to Theo. His eyes were closed, his lips in open as if he still screamed if only in silence. She stroked his cheeks, in no way was she ready for their living life to be over.
So nice of you to finally clue into that. Her wolf's voice filled her mind. Thank heavens she was back.
Well where have you been?
Usurped by that thing that almost made you turn into it.
Rex hit the ground next to them, now in his wolf form. He whimpered and nudged at Theo.
"I don't know what to do. I don't know what they dumped on him which means I have no idea if we should move him or not."
Her eyes flew to Kendrick who was being lifted off the ground by two of his newly made wolves. Faith wasn't surprised. The poor creatures needed the drugs he could provide to survive. They wouldn't want him to die. Gabriel growled and lunged at one of them, knocking them to the ground hard. Kendrick fell with a thud and a groan. Lifting one hand in the air, he said something she couldn't hear and he and the new wolves made a whoosh sound as they vanished from the room. She rolled her eyes; why was she not surprised?
"Let him go, Gabriel. We can't win today. It doesn't end like this and you know it. Not on the ground in Arizona with Theo nearly dead and a hole in the universe pulling the demons away."
I'm so sick of discussing what I supposedly know about the future. None of us know anything.
Rex raised an eyebrow. "Liar."
"Could you two knock it off and help me get Theo out! I'm making a command decision and saying that moving him is better than not moving him."
Rex nodded and ran to Theo. "How many times have you shifted, big brother?"
Pausing for a second, Gabriel considered the question. Three times.
Faith groaned. That meant that he couldn't shift back again, not unless she wanted to carry him out of there too. The wind picked up in the room and it looked like all the demons had been carried out on the wave of hot air.
Jumping to her feet, Faith rushed toward the dimensional hole. "Don't let him die." She screamed at the top of her voice, not knowing if it was possible for them to even hear her on the other side but convinced she had to try.
"Don't let him die. He doesn't deserve it. He's done everything you asked and more. We'll never bother you again. Rex tore up the paper. So don't let him die."
On her side of the hole, nothing happened. Fury filled Faith's veins but this time it was her own and not artificially constructed by another life form. She stomped her left foot. "If you let him die, I swear before I follow him, I will find a way to bring you back here. If I hunt through used bookstores and the back lots of voodoo priests, I will find a way to bring you back here. I'm a woman who can find anything or anyone. It used to be my job. So I make you this promise, if you don't use every ounce of power in your reserve to fix him right now, I will do that every day for the rest of my natural life."
There was a solemn feeling to the vow Faith made. To her, it felt like somehow the clouds moved and the universe shifted. Her pledge would be kept, she was suddenly sure of it.
Her first indication that something was about to happen was that the vibration on the floor. Turning around, she looked at Rex and Gabriel who both stared at her with their mouths gaping open.
Rex found his voice first. "What you just did, it's the stuff of mystics, legends. You just moved the universe, I felt it."
Faith shrugged her shoulders. "I meant every word. What happens now?"
Gabriel nudged at Theo again. No idea but my guess is he's going to wake up.
A blinding white light consumed the room and Faith had a moment to scream before she lost consciousness and darkness consumed her.
"All right, my love, that's enough. Up you go."
Faith would know that voice anywhere. Her heart beat in excitement and she groaned without opening her eyes. "Theo, before I look at what's happened here, tell me, are we dead?"
His gentle laughter filled her soul with joy and she forced her lids to separate. "I take it that we're not? Unless the after life is amusing, somehow."
She struggled to sit up and he grabbed the back of her neck to assist her. "Not dead, not yet. My brothers," Theo indicated them with his head. Rex stared at a painting on the wall of a clown and Gabriel, still a wolf, licked at a wound on his paw. "...tell me you put on quite a show, nearly frying my father and bending the universe to your will."
"You were going to die." She tugged a string of her dark hair. "What did he pour on you anyway?"
"No idea. It was clear and scentless but it burned right through me. I wasn't exactly in a position to stop and ask for the name of the product."
"I don't suppose you were." Deciding the room felt steady enough she pushed herself into a standing position. "Now what?"
"What do you mean?"
Faith wrapped her arm around his waist and inhaled the smell of him before something she saw startled her. "Theo." She rubbed his cheek with her hand. "You're not scarred, it's all gone."
Eyebrows down in concern, he rubbed his cheek before laughing. "Well, how do you like that? I guess the demons took it all back."
Faith wanted to shove him. "That's all you want to say on the subject? You devoted your life to being humiliated and upset about that scar and all you want to say is: well how do you like that?"
"The moment I met you it ceased being important. I wouldn't care if I was a hunchback as long as you love me." He put up a hand to stop her from talking. "That's not true, if I was a hunchback and couldn't help protect you, that would be a huge problem."
Shaking her head, she couldn't help her laugh. "You are impossible." She shoved him gently but didn't let go of his waist, which defeated the purpose. "So, now what?"
"What do you mean?" He shook his head and she sensed he genuinely didn't know what she meant.
"What do we do now?"
Stopping his walk, he turned to stare at her. "We go home."
"And then?"
"We continue on. There's an island full of invisible wolves."
Faith shrugged. "Tristan probably has that under control now. I showed Ashlee that nifty trick with the powdered herb."
"My father got away, yet again, and we still need to punish him for what he did to your friend, although you fried him pretty well so maybe you got the first punch in."
Nodding, she agreed. Although she still didn't feel justice had been fully served. "So we go home and we just wait and see what happens then?"
"That's what I would suggest."
Lightness filled Faith's heart. They could go home to Westervelt, where she'd always been meant to live. Theo was her mate. Whatever happened, she was his, he was hers, and that was really what mattered.
"Sounds like a good idea."
Pulling his lips to hers, she kissed him hard. Inside her wolf howled in delight. It felt good to know they were going home together. For now, and always.
The End
About the Author:
As a teenager, Rebecca would hide in her room to read her favorite romance novels when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She hopes that these days, her parents think it was worth it.
She is the mother of three adorable boys, and she is fortunate to be married to her best friend. They live in northern New Jersey and try not to freeze too badly during the winter months.
A hardcore fan of science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal, Rebecca tries to use all of these elements in her writing. She's been told she's a little bloodthirsty so she hopes that when you read her work you'll enjoy the action-packed ride that always ends in romance. In her world, anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect it probably will.
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