“A witch?”
“That’s something she’ll have
to confirm, so you better tell those vamps on security that she’s my friend and
if they hurt her, I’ll string them up by their toes.”
“Alright, what’s her ETA?”
“Around four a.m.”
“I’ll get the word out. No
one will harm her, but I suggest she stay with Amias or here.”
“I want her here if that’s
alright.”
“Of course, sweet. Now I want
you to get some sleep. I’ll check in on Livi before I go down to command.”
Leaning in, Kalana wrapped
her arms around his neck bringing him close before softly placing a kiss on his
lips. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll let you claim me tomorrow after your run.”
Her smile soft as her lashes lifted, meeting his gaze.
“You’ll let me, huh?”
“Mmm hmm.”
Drake chuckled as he brought
her to him, having her straddle his lap as he leaned back. “Maybe if you’re a
good girl, I’ll make you scream with pleasure all night.”
“You’re so conceited.”
“No, baby, I’m just good.”
Her cheerful laughter rang
down the hallway before he claimed her lips as his own.
* * * *
Drake smiled as he exited the
woods. He knew he needed to see to the witch’s arrival firsthand, especially
with Rhys on duty. That vamp not only had a dislike of witches, he hated them.
He had to give the witch credit though, she wasn’t backing down from the huge
leader of the Beven Coven. “Rhys, you know if you hurt her, I’ll have to kick
your ass because my woman will tear me a new hide if her friend has even a
scratch on her little witchly body.”
“Why couldn’t Kalana befriend
someone of substance?” Rhys growled.
“Up yours, buddy,” Mari
snarled.
“Damn, that sounded a little
ferocious. What the hell did you do to her in the matter of the few minutes it took
me to get here?” Drake asked as he stopped beside them. Drake met Rhys’ gaze
when he turned. Drake’s eyes narrowed as his nostrils flared before he busted
out with laughter. “Oh shit, this is good!”
“Shut up, Roven!” Rhys
snapped.
Drake laughed so hard he
couldn’t catch himself when Rhys hauled off and belted him on the arm, sending
him flying back. Rolling on the ground, he couldn’t stop the uncontrollable
laughter as Kalana’s friend ran up to him, her hands running over his
shoulders.
“You’re an ass!” Mari yelled
as she turned to Rhys. “I thought you guys lived peacefully?”
Drake reached out, grabbing
her hand when she rose. “It’s all good, Mari.” The laughter dying down, he sat
up, arm across his stomach. Damn he hadn’t laughed this hard in a while; the
muscles of his stomach were tightening up. “Rhys is just having a bad night.”
“Bad night hell, Roven,” Rhys
said as he approached. “If Kalana knew this and didn’t tell me, I’ll be
pissed.”
“She isn’t a seer, Rhys, you
know this.” Grabbing his hand, he let his friend help hoist him up to his feet.
“But you have to say, it’s the most excitement we’ve had around here since the
ogre set the bridge on fire when the tourists from the Red Hat Society were
crossing over it.”
“After the threat to Alston
is over, I need to talk to Kalana.”
“I’ll let her know.”
“Are you claiming her soon?”
“Tonight after the run.”
“Your daughter’s beautiful.”
Rhys smiled.
“Thanks, I think she’s going
to give me a run for my money and keep me hopping, especially when she notices
boys.” Drake chuckled.
“Shit, are you kidding me?
She’ll probably be telling Evan how to run the pack.”
Drake glanced over at Mari
when she whimpered. “You alright?”
“Yes, but…we need to go
closer to town. The darkness, it’s coming close.”
Drake turned the same time
Rhys did to look down the road. “What the hell?” Stepping in front of Mari he
noticed his men and Rhys’ coming up on either side of them. “Are you seeing
this or am I losing my mind?”
“I’m right with you,
brother.”
Drake had never seen anything
like it before; a swirling dark cloud covered the moon, lightning streaks
running through as it touched the Earth almost like a tornado. The closer it
got the more he could see that it wasn’t wind—it was faces writhing in pain and
horror swirling around the funnel cloud. Malevolence and evil radiated off the
abnormity; the beast within wanted to come out and fight. His facial features
changed, growling the closer it came. Drake glanced over, when Mari shoved her
way between Rhys and himself, to see Rhys in vamp mode. They could feel the
danger swirling inside the cyclone.
“It can’t come any closer. It
can’t cross the boundaries of the land. That’s why it’s using the different
clans of Lyken and Vampires who have something against Alston to do its dirty
work,” Mari stated as she turned to look at them. “We need to go. Just because
it can’t cross the lands doesn’t mean it won’t try to drag one of us in.”
“She’s right,” Rhys said.
“Mari, go get in your car. I’ll
be driving so hit the passenger side. Men, I want a secure detail two hundred
paces inside Alston boundaries. Let them know what Mari’s divulged.” He’d
shifted back as Rhys had. “I need to get her to Kay. I’ll be back, so keep me
updated.”
“Yeah, I’ll be with the men.
I’m not leaving until I see what this thing wants.”
“It wants to kill us all,”
Mari said. “You, wolf boy, let’s go. I’ve been driving straight for two days
and I’m ready to fall.”
The side of Drake’s mouth
lifted as he caught Rhys’ smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good luck,” Rhys whispered.
Drake winked. “Don’t forget
what I scented.” He chuckled when the smile dropped from Rhys’ face.
* * * *
His eyes closed the minute
his head hit the pillow. Dawn just broke and with a sigh he draped his arm
around Kay’s shoulders when she rolled halfway up his side.
“She’s here?”
“Yeah, she’s sleeping. We had
an issue; it’s being watched.”
“Vamps didn’t bother her, did
they?”
Drake smiled at his woman’s
feistiness toward her friend. Wait until she found out what he scented when he’d
come up on Mari and Rhys. “Not like you’re thinking, baby. Go back to sleep, it’s
early.”
* * * *
Drake frowned when he caught
the slight wince his grandfather made when he’d learned of what had happened
early this morning with the arrival of Mari.
“You know what it is, don’t
you?” he asked, listening as the men around them quieted.
“A story passed down from the
first settlers of Alston,” Gwil replied. “It was a few years after the town had
been founded; something tried to kill the people, wanting to take over their
souls and the lands. The old books said that nothing so evil had ever been seen
by any of our ancestors. Many died protecting this home of ours, many wounded,
and many so frightened they never spoke again.”
“If the old books name what
kind of apparition it is, then maybe they’ll have how to defeat it.”
“I’ll have Yaki start looking
through the archives and I’ll notify the Elder Council of the latest news.”
Drake remembered the stories
from his childhood. Many Lykens had died in the seven-day siege of Alston. It
had been bad and it had been bloody. Frowning, he couldn’t remember ever being
told how the siege ended. Entering the hall, he headed for his office in the
security communications area.
“Why are you looking so
grumpy?” Kalana asked.
Drake turned. “Do you
remember how the great siege ended?”
“No.” She frowned. “Why, does
this thing Mari told me about have something to do with it?”
“That’s what Gwil thinks. He’s
researching it.” Leaning over he kissed her quickly. “When are you and Mari
doing the mind probe thing?”
Kalana smiled. “She already
has.”
Drake frowned as she lifted
his hand putting a small recorder on his palm. “I told you I wanted to be
there.”
“And I told you, it would be
better if you weren’t, so I had her do it while you were at your meeting.”
“Damn it, why can’t you
listen to my orders just once?”
“Firstly, don’t take an
attitude with me. Mari and I would have been more nervous with you there,
because we would have been sensing your energies. It’s not as if I don’t listen
to you, Drake, but I know what situations will be more comfortable for me. You
need to trust me and remember I don’t take orders.” She snapped the last.
His seriousness passed as a
smile lined his lips. Lifting his arms, he brought her to him, placing a small
kiss along her neck. “I’ve been thinking.”
“Oh yeah,” she whispered
breathlessly. “What about?”
“Why don’t you come on the
run with me tonight? When was the last time you let that little Woodland Fairy
out to play?”
“Not for a while, but who
will—”
“Watch Livi? Well, Mari’s not
going anywhere, unless Rhys stops in.”
Kalana leaned back from his
assault of her neck. “Yeah, what is with that anyway?”
Drake chuckled. “When I
arrived at the border last night Rhys and Mari were already spitting at each
other like a couple of cats.”
“Well we know he doesn’t have
a fondness for witches, especially after what happened when he visited his
parents before I left.”
“Oh yeah, but it gets better.
The reason they were spitting mad at each other isn’t because of hatred. I
scented the bond emanating between them.”
“You what?” Kalana shrieked.
“Oh yeah and I laughed so
hard my stomach still hurts.”
“But that’s not possible, it’s…by
the Gods, they’ll kill each other.”
Drake chuckled as he led her
down the hallway. “Hopefully it will only be the little death of pleasure. Shit,
this is going to be fun to watch.”
* * * *
Kalana smiled at Olivia as
she shifted to her Fae form, shaking her wings out when they uncurled from her
back. Kalana sighed. It felt good to be in her Fae form again.
“You’re beautiful, Mamma.”
“Yes, she is,” Drake said as
he stepped in, smiling at her beauty. “Are you ready, my sweet?”
“Yes.”
Taking Kalana’s hand when she
stepped forward, he looked at Olivia. “We’ll be back late, so behave, and
listen to Mari. Guards are stationed and the manor is protected. If you need
help all you have to do is yell.”
“Dad, we’ll be okay. When can
I go run with you?”
He chuckled. “Not until you
can control your shifts.”
“I haven’t even shifted to
wolf form yet.”
“I know, little one, and
depending on your abilities, you may not be able to, but we won’t know for sure
until you reach puberty.”
“You never know, Livi,”
Kalana said. “You may change to Fairy form.”
“It’d be cool if I could do
both.” Olivia smiled.
“Honey, two shifts are very
rare, but yes, it would be cool.”
“So, are you guys coming back
married or what? I heard Evan talking to Grandpa and they said you were mating
tonight. That’s the same as marriage, right?”
“Yes, we’re coming back
married.” Drake smiled as he led Kalana out of the bedroom.
“It’s like I’m floating,”
Kalana stated as they stepped outside the manor.
“You haven’t shifted in a
long time, huh?”
“No.”
Drake wrapped his arms around
her as he waited with the others for Evan to come out. Kalana’s eyes had gone
translucent, her skin shimmered, and her wings were an iridescent pattern of
earth-tone colors. “You are absolutely beautiful.”
“That’s because I’m naked.”
His head went back with a
chuckle. “That too, my sweet, but I’m as naked as you.”
“Do you think Olivia will be
alright with nakedness? I mean I tried to bring her up with it, but it’s not
the same as being around everyone who grows up with the everyday lifestyle.”
“She’ll be fine. She wasn’t
balking at my chest or at Tommy running around the manor. Then again she did
tell him to get his naked butt out of her face.” He laughed.
“What the fuck is she doing
on
our
run?”
Drake turned the same time
Kalana did, and his eyes rolled to the sky with a sigh. “Marissa, cut the
shit.”
“She’s not one of us.”
“She will be tonight.”
“Are you claiming her?” she shrieked.
“Yes!” Kalana snapped as she
came out of Drake’s arms to face the female Lyken fully. “He’s claiming me
tonight after the run.”
Drake glanced over to see
Evan step up beside him as Kalana faced Marissa. He didn’t want to but he had
to let her handle this herself, especially if it turned into a challenge. The
worst part, if Kalana lost, he wouldn’t be able to claim her, ever. He was next
in line to the Alpha should anything happen to Evan. His head tilted with a
frown as he eyed Marissa, the bitch needed to settle down. “I will never pick
you, Marissa; you need to understand that now.”