Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Colbie
I grumble when Liam bangs on the door and tells us we need to get moving. All I want to do is lie in front of the fire and enjoy snuggling with my two new mates, but that isn’t going to happen.
“Come on, we’re losing daylight. Let’s go,” he shouts, but he doesn’t come in. Brodie would have just let himself inside, so I appreciate Liam’s restraint. I groan and stretch and untangle myself from our pile. Gem mutters something and snuggles closer to Gryffin who just lifts his arm and pulls him closer. I giggle at the sight. Both of them are lightly dozing and don’t look like they have any intention to move.
“Fucking cockblock,” Gryffin grumbles as Liam bangs on the door again, but he kisses Gem. “Come on, we need to move. Colbie is in danger until we cross the plain and get to the village.”
Gem grumbles again and pushes a rogue curl back off his face. “Fine, but I vote we spend a couple of days doing nothing but fucking and snuggling when we get back.”
“Sure,” Gryffin agrees, stretching before getting to his feet. “After she’s crowned and challenge day is over.”
Gem grimaces and does the same thing, and the three of us get dressed. My clothes are in the bathroom where I left them, and when I return, the guys have covered up all their delicious, mouthwatering flesh, and I pout.
Gem winks. “Don’t worry, mate. You get all this for the rest of your life now,” he tells me, brushing a finger over the living flame beneath my skin on my chest, which is exposed by the small V-neck of my shirt. I shiver at the touch, and he grins.
“Right, let’s go. It’s still a bit of a distance, and Liam is right, we want to get to the village by dusk.” He waves a hand, and the fire in the hearth extinguishes with a puff of smoke. I blink in surprise.
“That’s handy,” I remark as we walk out the door.
“I’m not just a pretty face and a sexy body,” he retorts.
“No, but they help,” Gryffin teases as he follows us out. Gem scowls at him, but I know they are being playful. Before I can say anything, Brodie tackles me, sweeping me into his arms and swinging me around while planting little kisses all over my face.
“I missed you,” he says breathlessly when he finally puts me back on my feet. He rests his forehead on mine and sighs. “So much. My wolf has been howling, insisting we join the three of you in front of the fire, but I told him he had to wait. There is plenty of time for group activities.” My eyes widen at his suggestion, and his lips turn up in a grin.
“Group activities?”
“Yes, baby. When all your mates worship you together. Imagine eight cocks and tongues seeing to your every want and desire.”
My sated creature perks up and cracks open an eye, tempted by the suggestion, but then she closes it again. She knows we have two more mate bonds to seal soon, and she’s resting in preparation.
“No time for that now,” Liam growls, snatching me out of Brodie’s arms and giving me a quick kiss. “Did they take care of you properly, mate?” he asks, his black eyes serious.
“Yes, they definitely did,” I promise him, and he releases me, looking pleased.
“Good, then let’s go. Hunter and Micah will be getting antsy, and I want to know if they found the equines.”
He shifts, as does Brodie and Gem. Gem takes off into the air, a loud screech echoing through the small clearing. I see him fly through the trees, his flames contained against his body so he doesn’t set them on fire, but he circles around before he is out of sight, waiting for us. I guess we’re not taking any chances again.
Gryffin shifts, but I hold up the backpack. “Are we taking this with us?”
He shakes his big tiger head, but I hear Liam’s voice in my head.
No, Brodie and I polished off the jerky and water, and we won’t need it once we get to the village. I don’t want you getting tangled in it. We need to run fast if we are going to get to the village before dark.
I toss the bag back inside the cabin and pull the door closed before stepping down into the snow and shifting into tiger form. It’s a little smoother now, but there’s still a bite of pain. As soon as I stretch, Liam and Brodie move out, and Gryffin flanks me again. We move fast, almost in a full-on sprint, Gem keeping pace above. There is cloud cover now, and the forest seems darker and even quieter than before. All of us are on high alert, but nothing jumps out at us again, and we finally breach the edge of the forest. I pause, staring in awe at the mountainous Aramis Rift that seems to stretch forever, looming above the plain we need to cross. My tiger eyesight can see the village in the distance, and there’s nothing between us and it that I can spot.
The four of us start across the plain. Gem flies low in front of us, skimming the surface of the snow, and his body explodes. The snow melts, creating a path for the four of us to run along, unencumbered. We move a lot faster, mud flying up behind us as our paws thunder across the plain. We’re still on high alert, but we can see for miles on either side. Unless the enemy is buried beneath the snow, there is no sneaking up on us.
We make good time, and just as the sun sinks below the rift, we approach the outskirts of the village. We shift into human form and look around the quiet, eerie community.
There is no sign of Hunter or Micah anywhere, but there are a couple of piles of ash, and some of it swirls around our feet with a gust of wind.
“That’s not good,” Gem mutters after he lands and shifts, crouching down to study one of the piles. “Yup, this is the work of Hunter’s dragon, and they used to be shifters.” He wrinkles his nose and stands up, brushing his hands off on his pants.
“So where are Hunter and Micah now? I don’t see any blood, so I doubt they are hurt.” Liam scans the surrounding area, and my own gaze follows, looking for a hint of my two remaining mates.
“Do you think something happened to them?” My heart races, and it isn’t just from exertion. I’m worried they were attacked when they arrived, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a fight. Nothing is on fire, so Hunter’s dragon didn’t lose his shit.
“This way. We’ll check out the town council building, and if they aren’t there, then we’ll go door to door and see if anyone else has seen anything. If there is a curfew in place, then everyone is behind closed doors this close to dusk.” Gryffin takes the lead, the rest of us following behind him.
Brodie grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “It will be alright. Neither Hunter nor Micah have said anything telepathically to us.”
“Can’t you ask them where they are?”
“Neither of them is responding,” Liam replies, and that makes me even more worried. “But they may just be distracted. Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on two things at once, even for shifters like us, who have been doing it for a long time. Micah’s new to the connection, so it’s even harder for him.”
That sounds reasonable, but it doesn’t lessen my concern. Streetlights come on, and I take in the quaint little village. It’s picture perfect, with snowy streets and cute, old-fashioned lamp style lighting. The houses are adorable but spacious, with large yards giving everyone their privacy while still maintaining that village ambiance.
We reach what looks like a town square. The houses give way to shop fronts, and in the middle is a large building with a fountain out front. The fountain is stunning, with gorgeous colored lights lighting up the water and a gorgeous pegasus statue that has streams of water coming from its outstretched wings. Behind it is a large, three-story building with arched windows in the second and third floors. I can see lights on through some of the windows, but there is still no sign of anyone.
“Come on, hopefully someone will be in there. It’s the alpha’s house.” Gryffin turns back to us, and my mouth drops open. I thought it was a council building, but it’s a residence. He must see my surprise, because he chuckles. “The bottom levels are all public space, but the top two are personal living quarters for the alpha. I wonder if the alpha had a family. I didn’t see one when I was here before, but he may have kept them hidden from me.”
He doesn’t hesitate to approach and open the door, and when he does, there are finally signs of habitation. Voices can be heard from inside, some are shouting, and I hear the sound of crying as well. Brodie and I exchange a worried look and follow Liam, Gem, and Gryffin inside the building.
The foyer is empty of people, but we follow the direction of the noise and find two large doors thrown open. When we stop in the doorway, we find an enormous meeting space full of males and females of all ages as well as children. I blink in surprise. There must be at least three hundred people in this space. All of them look dirty, unkempt, and tired, and some of the children are whining about being hungry.
None of them notice us. I see Micah and Hunter in the middle of the group, talking to a woman flanked by three men. She has Hunter’s hands in hers, and tears are streaming down her face.
“What is going on?” I mutter to Gryffin, who looks as bewildered as I do.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he says and moves into the room. People part, allowing him through, all of them eyeing him with no small amount of suspicion or fear. Silence falls as more people notice our presence. The rest of us follow behind him, and I hate the wide-eyed terror that starts to appear on the faces watching us.
Micah notices us and gestures us over.“Gryffin, Colbie, good, you’re here.”
“What’s going on? Why are all these people here? Where did they come from? I don’t recognize any of them from when I was last here.” Gryffin sounds bewildered and frustrated.
Micah scoffs. “You wouldn’t. When we arrived, there were a few guards left behind by the alpha. They attacked us as soon as Hunter landed and didn’t last very long. We found all of these people locked in the extensive cell system below the building.”
Gryffin’s mouth drops open in shock before his brow furrows and his eyes narrow in anger.
“How did they end up there?” he demands as Hunter turns his attention to us, bringing the four people with him.
“Lena, may I introduce to you the new shifter queen, Colbie Karridge. Colbie, this is the true alpha of the village, Lena Stormfront and her mates, Johan, Christos, and Santos.”
I turn my attention to the woman, and I’m surprised to find she’s actually slightly shorter than me and delicate. Most shifters are taller and muscular, but Lena is the opposite. She is also glaring at me like I’m responsible for whatever happened to them. She has long blonde hair, with gorgeous pink and purple streaks through it, and pale skin that seems to shimmer, even in the dull light of the assembly room.
“Well, let’s hope she’s going to do a better job at it than the last king,” she sneers, and I frown, surprised by her outright aggression. I’m not sure that Lucas or I deserve the animosity she’s projecting. “None of our complaints in the past have been acknowledged, so I have my suspicions that it won’t change.”
The three men with her look slightly uncomfortable, but they don’t disagree with her.
“Whoa, hang on a minute. My father wouldn’t have ignored you. Why don’t you tell us what happened, and we can see if we can get to the bottom of this?” Gryffin jumps in before I can say anything, but I’ve had enough of being talked around. I clear my throat and raise an eyebrow at the woman.
“Shall we allow all of these people to return to their homes so they can recover from their ordeal? I don’t believe they need to be here for this,” I suggest flatly, not bowing down to her dominance. I can feel it battering at me, but she isn’t even close to my hydra’s level.
“So you can sweep all of this under the rug? I don’t think so. I want witnesses to whatever we discuss here.” She crosses her arms stubbornly.
“Lena, love, she’s right. They all need good meals and warm beds, especially the children. Our people trust us to have their best interests in mind, and the queen is here now. She can’t claim she doesn’t know what has happened when she hears it directly from us.”
She huffs but gives him a short nod, and the three men disperse to usher the rest of the villagers out of the meeting room. There’s a huge sense of relief that seems to emanate off them as they depart, murmuring amongst themselves. I get quite a few side-eye looks, but nobody else seems to be outwardly aggressive toward us.
“I take it you didn’t get my invitation for an equine representative for the new council I’m assembling?” I turn my attention back to the woman, and I think my words shock her, but she recovers quickly.
“Being imprisoned by a self-entitled asshole kind of puts a brake on any mail one might receive,” she snaps.
“I take it the male lion claiming to be the alpha of this village did this to you?” I ask as Lena’s mates return and close the double doors behind them.
“Let’s all take a seat. There is a smaller conference room through those doors,” Christos, the dark-haired, blue-eyed mate suggests and points to another set of doors at the far end of the assembly space.
“That would be great. I must admit it’s taking me a while to get used to this shifter thing, and I’m not as fit as everyone else, so the run wore me out,” I reply pleasantly, not afraid to admit my weaknesses. Lena sneers at me like she wouldn’t spit on me if I were on fire, but the three men seem sympathetic.
“I’ve never envied the human who was selected to be our ruler. It almost doesn’t seem fair that they have to have a crash course in everything shifter and face a challenge before they have even hit the ground running, so to speak,” Santos, the tallest of Lena’s mates, murmurs gently. He’s an umber-skinned man with pitch-black hair and equally dark eyes that I’m sure don’t miss anything.
“What did you mean by invitation?” Johan, the last man, asks. He is pale, with long, chocolate brown hair that I’m sure would glow with vitality if he hadn’t been locked up.
We all take a seat at the table in the conference room. Lena chooses the largest chair at the head of the table, and her mates flank her, leaving me and my mates to take places across from them.
“I have dismissed most of the previous council.” I pause, trying to think of how I can word this diplomatically, but I decide that maybe the pure truth might score me some points. “I found them distasteful, to say the least. I have only retained the council of the Coldicotts, who seem more than willing to listen to my suggestions and work with the changes I wish to make.” I mean, I haven’t really spoken to them about it yet, but I plan to before I’m crowned. Once that crown is on my head, I’m stuck with the council.
Actually, that law may have to change if my heirs and I are going to be the permanent ruling family. We need to allow for flexibility. I’ll have to speak to the others about drafting new rules.
“And? Which sycophant have you chosen to replace them? Probably another egotistical speciesist asshole who thinks they are better than everyone else.”
Fuck me, Lena is getting on my last nerve. Yes, I can forgive her anger, since the equines have been unjustly treated, but blaming me, a recent human, for all of their past betrayals seems unfair—not to mention Lucas tried, but was circumvented by the majority of the council at every turn.
“I have asked Lucas and Mia to join the council—” I start, but she cuts me off with a scoff, looking at her mates.
“See? I called it.”
“Enough.” Micah slams his hands down on the table and stands up, leaning forward and glaring at the woman. “You may not like it, but you are speaking to your queen. Show a little respect,” he growls menacingly, and I shiver with delight. I’m turning a little feral myself around these males.
The men blanch, but Lena continues to scowl. My hope that they will help us track the children is dwindling.
“We understand you may harbor ill will because of your treatment, but I can assure you my parents tried to advocate for you, as well as the fairies and mers, but the council majority was always against them,” Gryffin says calmly, reining in his temper now that Micah has put them in their place.
“I have also asked Lady Sable to join the council. As chief archivist, her knowledge will be invaluable to me. Lastly, I extended invitations to the fairies, mer, and equine conclaves to put forward a couple of potential applicants. Of course, I get final say because I need to be able to work with them, but I hope that having representation on the council will go a long way to break the barrier between the various shifter factions.”
“You really think offering us a seat on the council will erase hundreds of years of poor treatment?” Lena snarls. “You have no idea what we have suffered and what our children have had to deal with growing up. They were ridiculed and considered outcasts because they are perceived as lesser since they aren’t a predator animal. My own son denied his shifter side and retreated to live in the human zone, shamed because when his animal presented, he was a pegasus and, because of my unicorn genes, he was pink. Teenagers are cruel, and rejection for a young man is heart and soul breaking.” My heart skips a beat at her words, and Brodie isn’t quick enough to stifle the gasp that escapes his lips. Luckily, Lena misses it, so caught up in her tirade.
Fuck me, this is Nox’s mother. My stomach rolls, and I groan internally. Oh well, I guess I couldn’t have been lucky with all my in-laws. I’m going to be eternally grateful that both Gryffin’s and Hunter’s parents seem to be happy that I am mated to their sons.
“The only thing that King Lucas ever did right was declare Zalfari an equine only zone, and even that wasn’t observed. That lion waltzed in here six months ago and has been making our life hell, and every time we sent a communication to our closest military barracks, asking for help, it was denied. On the day of the retirement party, they rounded us all up and shoved us into the cells where we’ve been since. We couldn’t even fight back. He had a runed staff that made us compliant.” She is furious, and I can’t even blame her.
I exchange a glance with Hunter. It looks like that staff sergeant will need to be replaced and imprisoned, and an inquest will need to be launched into rogue agents inside the military ranks.
“Yes, it seems like there are a couple of factions actively trying to undermine the goddess and her decisions.” I make the snap decision to confide in them, and between the seven of us, we fill her in on everything we know, from the missing children and the feral problem, to the fact that I will be the final human queen, as well as the plans to offer all humans the chance to change to shifters. The only thing I don’t share at the moment is that we are looking for Nox. If I’m right and these are his parents, then I’m concerned with how they are going to react to him being my mate, considering how openly hostile she is.
Her and her mates’ expressions run the gamut of emotions during our tale, but by the end of it, she seems to have calmed a little. She still has a stubborn set to her jaw, but I think it’s probably born out of the need to protect her people rather than sheer hatred toward me.
“Wow, it seems like you have walked into a veritable storm. There has definitely been an increase in feral activity. The curfew the lion told you about is one that has been in place for a while. It wasn’t him who enforced that,” Johan tells us.
“No, another thing we asked the outpost for help with that got ignored. They’ve started running in packs, terrorizing the village. Thankfully it’s been confined to nighttime, and as soon as the sun starts to appear, they melt back into the mountains. They are typical ferals with no reasoning, so they act more like rabid animals than cool and calculating shifters—lots of snarling and fighting and marking their territory. If they saw a shifter, they would attack, but if we stayed inside and out of view, they just ran around the village, slightly confused. It’s like they could smell us and recognized we were shifters, but didn’t know what to do about it. They are drawn here, the need to be around pack guiding them, but they can’t recognize that.” Christos sounds forlorn. “It is sad, really. So many lives wasted.”
One thing I didn’t share was that I have the ability to fix them. With the book missing, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to, but I guess if we can track the children, we can also have them track the whereabouts of the Tidemans and the spell book.
“Is there a unicorn who will be willing to help us track the children?” I ask, not wanting to beat around the bush any longer. “I just want to bring them home to their families.”
Lena’s eyes soften, and she exchanges a glance with her mates who all give her nods of encouragement. She sighs. “Do you promise that you will accept an equine onto the council?” she asks me, and I decide to be honest.
“As long as they are willing to work with me and not be outwardly petty because of their previous treatment. I won’t work with someone who is going to hold your past against me. That was out of my control, and I need someone open to the changes I wish to make,” I warn her.
“Yes, I have a person in mind—someone who suffered greatly in the town they were born in before we all moved to Zalfari. They would work hard to make sure the equines have fair representation and to ensure none of the newer generations have to suffer the same kind of bullying.”
I have a feeling she’s talking about Nox, and I know it’s time to come clean about him, but I hold my tongue a little longer. Tomorrow is soon enough to ask for his whereabouts. I’m worried because I didn’t see him amongst the crowd earlier. If he isn’t here, then where is he?
“I’m sure we can come to an agreeable arrangement for everyone,” I say vaguely, knowing Nox will not be able to take a council position because he is my mate, but I need the children and the book found.
“Then yes, I will track the children. I will start first thing tomorrow morning. I need to go home and eat some decent food and get a real night’s sleep in a comfortable bed. If you have something belonging to the children, it will help immensely. I will do a locator spell, and my mates and I will find the missing children for you,” she says.
Thankfully the guys thought to bring an item from each of the children that Bryson had on hand. It’s protected by plastic, so the scents remain.
“It’s getting late, and we need to get home before the ferals start flooding into the village. The seven of you can use the upstairs living quarters. Make sure you stay inside though. I don’t want to be held responsible for the queen getting hurt in our village.” She stands up, and I know I should talk to her about Nox, but I’m going to wait until the morning when she’s not still enraged about what happened here.
“We can’t thank you enough for getting rid of the alpha,” Christos tells us. “We tried, since his power levels weren’t all that strong, but he threatened the children of the village, and none of us were willing to take a chance that he’d hurt one of them.”
“And we understand that completely. He made a mistake coming after the queen and didn’t live to regret it. Trust me, he suffered in the end.” Liam grins evilly, and I roll my eyes, but Lena and her mates seem just as pleased to hear of his demise.
“Isn’t the alpha space upstairs yours?” Brodie asks. “You are the alpha of this village, right?”
“I am. The top level is our space, and I will be glad to get it back and clear out his stench, but the second story, which he took over for his men, was always guest quarters for any visiting shifters. There is plenty of space for all of you, though I am afraid we don’t have a swimming pool for you.” She turns her attention to Micah. “We haven’t had the need to accommodate a mer before.”
“That’s fine. I don’t have the need to slumber beneath the waves like a lot of our people do. I will be just fine in a bed,” he tells her appreciatively.
“Then we will see you in the morning.” Her aggression seems to have receded, but she still has her reservations, which is understandable. With a polite good night, they leave the room.
We seem to pause as we listen to their footsteps fade away, then we wait a little longer until we are sure they are completely out of hearing range. Finally, Gem can’t wait any longer, and he explodes.
“Fucking hell. She is going to lose her shit when she finds out her son is the queen’s mate.” He grimaces, and I wince.
“You aren’t wrong,” I grumble, not exactly thrilled to have her as my mother-in-law, but where is Nox?