Chapter Twelve
Aurora jumped back, barely missing the massive claws of her baby sister’s wolf as she slammed down on all four paws in the center of Savage's once immaculate office. She’d seen her own wolf plenty of times over the years, ensuring her shifts happened in the confines of their home where she could control herself.
While her coat was a pure white, she hadn’t expected her sister’s wolf to be the same, but similar, or at least close to their father’s, since Starla resembled him in coloring.
However, the color of her sister’s fur was a shimmering silver, and her size was easily the same as Aurora’s once she’d finished growing at the age of twenty-five.
If Starla’s wolf continued to grow, the beast would be massive.
“Biddy Bee,” Aurora whispered, hoping her sister recognized her voice in her shift.
The large animal locked eyes with the male across the room, then turned to stare at Aurora.
Sadness radiated from the bright blue orbs.
The male had literally rejected Starla, which pushed her to shift in the most painful way.
Not that Aurora thought her sister suffered during the actual shifting from human to wolf, but through their connection, she sensed the deep ache both human and wolf females felt at hearing Scepter dismiss her.
“Jenna, can you take Starla somewhere safe?” Aurora asked, hating the thought of being separated, but knew it was best for her sister at the moment.
The Fey Queen inhaled deeply and nodded. “She has much to learn, like you did from the great trees. While your path was forged out of necessity, hers appears to be one of the heart. Here.” Jenna paused and placed her finger on Aurora’s forehead.
Information and knowledge merged, forming a bridge between what she knew and the actual truth.
She allowed the female to see their past, including that fateful day all those years ago.
The terror and the pain of watching her parents be killed by the massive tree slamming onto the top of their SUV, crushing both of them.
“I’m so sorry, Vita Mea,” Savage whispered.
She’d known he’d be able to see inside her mind when she dropped her walls. Despite that, she didn’t want to claw his eyes out or wish to disappear.
A heavy breath brought her attention back to Starla. “You’re going to go with—what do we call you? Are we supposed to curtsy or something?”
The two males who’d come with Jenna laughed. One of them muttered, “Please don’t,” but she wasn’t sure which one had the audacity to do so.
Jenna flipped them both the bird, but she smiled. Good Goddess, she truly took Aurora’s breath away with her beauty. “So, you’re the Fey Queen. Are you a Goddess?”
Starla bumped her side with her wolven head. Her raspy tongue hung out of that massive mouth as if she were laughing at Aurora.
“I am me, Jenna. You do not need to curtsy to me unless you’d like to do that when I introduce you to my bestie, Lula. That would be amazing. I’d love to see her face as she watches someone do that to me,” Jenna cackled and rubbed her hands together.
“You do realize that Lula and Belle are both royalty on their home worlds, don’t you, my love?”
Jenna stuck out her tongue and then reached out to pet Starla. “Come, I don’t have time to stand around and blabber all day. Aurora, you have the ability to reach out to me and your sister at any time. Don’t forget that your wolf needs more freedom as well,” she said, shaking her finger at Aurora.
Aurora bent and pressed her face against the snout of her sister. She smelled like Starla, even in her shifted form.
“I love you, Biddy Bee.”
Aurora took a step back, feeling Savage’s warmth waiting for her as she felt herself begin to crumble. For ten years, she’d been the loyal, protective older sister whose primary focus was on their growth and well-being.
“It’s not letting go but watching her grow. She’ll thank you for allowing her to spread her wings and lick her wounds without an audience.” His arms came around her, holding her in a loose embrace.
“I want to gut your friend Scepter for hurting her,” she bit out.
He nodded, the rough beard on his chin rubbing on the top of her head. She tipped her head back, looking up to see Savage’s face. “Where did he go?”
“He’s in my inner office waiting.” Savage spoke inside her mind while Jenna looked over her males.
“We good?” he asked the males.
“Our father wants to speak with you.”
Aurora looked at Jenna and the two men who flanked her. “You’re hybrids like Starla and me. What is your father?”
“He’s a pureblood like him.”
“And why does he want to have an audience with Savage?”
Both males blinked at her. Their jaws flexed as if they didn’t want to answer her. Aurora pushed out. The need to comprehend what the fuck they were facing pulsed through her like an inferno.
“Shit. He needs to know whether Savage and his clan are a threat to our family.” Blood dripped from both males' noses.
“You’re very powerful, Aurora. Jenna put her hand on both males' faces. The blood disappeared instantly.
“What did I do?”
“You need to learn how to wield your Fey powers correctly. If you did that to a human or a lesser being, you could kill them,” Jenna admonished her. “Maybe you should come to Fey with us, too?”
“Over my dead body,” Savage growled.
His fingers dug into her hips, holding her back to his front.
“I...I don’t want to leave right now. I’m sorry, Damien and Lucas. Please forgive me.”
The twins smiled, their teeth elongated.
“We’ve suffered much more at the hands of beautiful women and lived to speak of it.
However, I will reiterate what our Hearts Love said and tell you it’s in your best interest, as well as any you come into contact with, that you get control of your powers.
You don’t want to fuck around and kill an innocent and find yourself in deep shit. ”
“That’s a whole lot of FAFO as my bestie Kellen likes to say. Oh my Goddess, I can’t wait for you to meet him and his pack. Speaking of pack.” Jenna tipped her head toward the shifters whom he hadn’t released from stasis.
“Have you read their minds, yet?” Savage asked.
Jenna gasped, placing her hand over her heart in a dramatic pose that Aurora knew meant the female did indeed read their minds. Shit, she really needed to learn how to do that, too.
“Well, care to share with the rest of the class?”
“I’ll let you handle that as long as you pinky swear you’re not going to kill any of them.” Jenna held out her pinky toward Savage. Her mates pulled her arm down, but she shook them off. “Hey, you can’t break a pinky promise, and you can’t make a pinky promise if you don’t in fact use your pinky.”
Aurora couldn’t help but laugh as the tiny female rolled those beautiful eyes. She’d always felt small, or fun-sized as she liked to call herself, but next to Jenna, she actually felt tall.
“Oh, I like that. Totally gonna use the term fun-size from here on out. So, whatcha say, vamp?”
“My name is Savage, not vamp, Fey. Fine, I pinky swear.” He reached forward with his large pinky finger extended.
Aurora bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling as Jenna crooked her own little finger around Savage’s, then jerked their hands up and down.
The female actually moved Savage’s entire arm with her strength, making his body move forward with Aurora in front of him.
They stumbled, but he caught them before they fell into the trio and Starla.
“See, it’s sealed. All right, we are outta of here. Give me a holler and don’t forget to be honest with her about them.” Jenna nodded toward the male shifters. “She’ll make you bleed if you FAFO,” Jenna whisper-yelled the last bit.
When the four of them disappeared, Aurora shuddered. She searched for the link to Starla, letting out a sigh as the connection solidified.
“Alright, spill before you release them from your hold, or thrall. Why did they take my sister, and why were they willing to kill me if it got them her to give to you?”
“I fucking forgot they thought they’d killed you. Fuck me. I swear, that Fey is a tricky little bitch.”
“Hey, don’t call her names.” Aurora paced away from Savage, coming to stand in front of the youngest-looking male.
She moved to the next and worked her way from one to the other, wishing again for the ability to read their minds.
Finally, she stopped in front of the male who’d ordered her death. He had empty eyes, unlike the others.
“He’s the one who told them to kill you,” Savage said. His voice sounded like he’d chewed gravel and torn up his vocal chords.
“Yeah. Staring at these males, they all appear to have souls, except him. There’s something...I don’t know. Like darkness in him.”
“No shit. It takes a dark soul to order death on an innocent female. You have no clue the things I’ve done, Vita Mea.
I hate the thought of you looking at me the way you just did at that male if you saw the shit I’ve done.
” He walked to a bar that sat in the corner of the room and lifted a glass decanter filled with golden liquid.
“Can I have a shot of what you’re drinking?” she asked. Her hands shook almost as hard as her knees as she walked the distance to where he stood pouring them both drinks. His large hands were tattooed and scarred, but they’d been gentle when they’d touched her.
“Do you like bourbon, baby?” he asked, passing one of the glass tumblers to her. He lifted the other in the air. “Sip, don’t slam, Vita Mea.”
She sniffed the contents, shuddering at the smell. “No bottoms up?”
He smiled. “The only bottoms up will be yours over my lap.” Savage tapped his glass to hers, then took a sip.
She licked her lips, then brought the glass up and let a small bit of liquid fill her mouth. The sweet, nutty aroma, with notes of caramel, vanilla, and oak, surprised her.
“This is one of my favorite bourbons. Rip Van Winkle has a fruity, medium to full-bodied profile, with intense dried fruit, toasted nuts, and a robust, peppery brown spice. Some say the finish is long and bold, with charred barrel flavors and a hint of floral honey. I just say I like what I like, so I don’t mind paying the ten grand per bottle. ”
She coughed, unable to comprehend his casualness when talking about spending that kind of cash on a bottle of liquor. “Have you lost your damn mind?” She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.
“Some may say that.” He swallowed the last of his drink and motioned for her to do the same.
Aurora looked at the bit of liquid left in her glass. She brought it to her lips and drank, letting out a sigh followed by a small burp. “Excuse me.”
“So, want to know why they took your sister?” he asked, motioning toward the males with his empty glass.
She set the tumbler down and ran her hands down the sides of her legs. “Yeah. Just spit it out and let me process it all at once. Wait,” she yelled, spinning to face Savage. “Is what you’re going to tell me going to make me hate you or want to, like, gouge your eyes out?”
“Female, you have the most insane imagination. I had no involvement in their actions. Nothing I tell you will put me in a poorer light than I should already be in. These morons made their stupid plan with no input from me or my clan.”
She let out a deep breath. Shaking out her arms, she nodded. “Okay, then hit me with it.”