Aaron
The Next Morning
Ipull my shirt over my head and walk over to the freshly made bed. Mara’s humming to herself, swaying slightly as she moves around our suite, lost in her own world with a grin spread across her face that she doesn’t seem to know is there.
I sit on the edge of the bed and just watch her. My neck is still throbbing where she bit me, the skin tender and warm, and I can’t stop grinning like an idiot. She claimed me last night, and the way we made love, I’m almost certain we made our first cub.
Seeing her like this—happy and glowing and completely at peace—makes my heart swell with pride. I run my fingers over the claim mark again. I’ve been doing it all morning, and every time I touch it a warm current moves through me, straight to her.
And then the dread comes.
Last night floods back to me in waves. Mara’s lion leaping into the air. The warlock’s magic slamming into her chest. Her amber eyes going dull, the life draining from them while I screamed and couldn’t reach her—nothing in that timeline was solid enough for my hands to hold.
I can’t do it. I can’t watch her die again.
I press my palms against my eyes, my body going hot.
The flashes keep coming, relentless, each one sharper.
Her blood on the grass, her tail going still.
And now, sitting here watching her hum and glow with what might be our cub growing inside her, it hits me with a force that nearly takes me off the bed.
She was pregnant when she died.
Bile rises fast and violent in my throat, and I clamp a hand over my mouth as the room tilts, my vision blurring.
“Aaron?” Mara’s voice cuts through the haze, the humming gone. “What’s wrong?”
She’s across the room before I can answer. She drops to her knees in front of me and cups my face with both hands, tilting it up to hers. Her tail swaying behind her with concern.
“I don’t feel so well,” I manage.
“Okay.” Her voice goes soft. She helps me lie back on the bed and sits down beside me, stroking my forehead, my cheek. Her tail lifts and brushes over my chest.
Her brow furrows. She shifts on the bed to face me, tilting her head, her nose twitching as she reads my scent. “I smell regret in your scent,” she says quietly.
My whole body locks. “Do you regret—“
I sit up and turn on her so fast she flinches. I clamp my palm over her mouth and lock my eyes on hers. She gasps behind it and her tail goes stiff.
“Don’t start, Mara,” I warn.
Her face falls when I pull my hand away. She drops her gaze, her ears flattening, and the hurt in her expression breaks my heart. But I can’t tell her. If she knew what I saw, she’d spiral, and that would make everything worse.
“Okay,” she says, her voice small. “But you won’t tell me what’s going on.”
It’s not a question. She stands from the bed, her tail swaying in agitation behind her, and lifts her chin.
“You aren’t working today,” she tells me.
I give her a silent nod. She straightens her shoulders. “I’ll let Headmistress Ebony know.” I nod again.
She starts to walk toward the door. I reach out and catch her arm before she gets two steps, pulling her back to me.
“My kiss?” I give her a smirk.
I raise an eyebrow at her, and even through the fog of nausea and dread, the look I give her says she isn’t leaving this cabin without it.
She smiles. The tension in her shoulders eases just enough, and she bends down, placing her lips against mine.
The kiss starts soft, her mouth warm and familiar, tasting like the mint tea she drank this morning.
My hand slides to the back of her neck and I hold her there, deepening it just enough to feel her breath catch, to feel her tail curl gently around my wrist.
When she pulls back, she strokes my cheek with her thumb. “I love you,” she says.
“I love you too, baby.”
She walks to the door, grabs her tote bag from the hook, and looks back at me. “I’ll come back to check on you.” I nod, and then she’s gone.
The moment the door closes, the softness drains from my body. I stare down at my hands, thinking, planning. My fingers twitch and blue-gold sparks crackle across my palms without me calling them. I flex them and the magic dances and flickers across my knuckles, restless, pushing against my skin.
“What are you really trying to tell me?” I murmur, frowning at the sparks.
There’s no way that can be my future. Losing her and our cub. Watching my mate bleed out on the grass in front of the Glen while I stood there like a ghost who couldn’t even hold her hand.
The Glen is going to open. That much is clear. But how? When? And why now?
Eric’s voice floats through my mind. You can change this. Come to the Glen and open it. I’ll be waiting for you.
I close my fist and the sparks die. Calling on Eric and fishing for information would be the obvious move, but I’m not doing it. Whatever Eric showed me last night, whatever he claims he can help me change—there’s an ulterior motive sitting underneath it.
I wait a few more minutes, then slide out of bed and walk to the window. Mara is already crossing the grounds below. She reaches the edge of the courtyard and looks back toward our window and blows me a kiss.
I grin. I love this woman so much it scares me.
I trace the claim mark with my thumb and close my eyes. The warmth spreads through me, and for just a moment I let myself feel nothing but her.
I groan and tear the air open. Blue-gold light splits along a clean vertical line, and the portal opens onto the second floor of the Conjuring Hall. I step through.
Tiana is sitting on the sofa. She’s alone, which is odd because Kiara and Samara are usually glued to her hip.
The portal closes behind me with a soft hiss, and I stand there, irritated. I was hoping to find my mother here, not her.
The memory slams into me. Tiana standing at the edge of the forest with her hand pressed over her mouth, horror in her eyes as she watched Mara’s body hit the ground. And then she turned and ran into the trees like a coward.
It hasn’t happened yet. But knowing it doesn’t stop the anger from flooding through me, hot and bitter.
Tiana looks up at me, confused. “Aaron?”
“Where’s Ma?” I ask.
“She’s downstairs with Amir, Kade, and Damon.”
I furrow my brow. “Huh?” I turn away from her, heading for the stairs. I can’t look at her right now. The future that hasn’t happened yet is sitting behind my eyes every time I see her face—and I don’t trust myself not to say what I’m really thinking.
“What’s wrong?” she calls after me.
“Nothing.” I keep walking.
“Wait!” I stop at the top of the stairs but I don’t turn to face her. The air shifts behind me, a low hum settling over the room. A quieting spell.
I turn around. “What are you doing?”
Tiana shrugs. “You know it won’t matter if Amir’s close enough. He can still hear us, but Mom, Kade, and Damon can’t.”
“Then why bother?” I snap, my voice irritated.
“Because it buys us a little time.” She holds my gaze. “I know you’re talking to Eric.”
My teeth clench.
“Mara may not have directly said it,” Tiana continues, “but she came to see me. Which means I know you, and that means you’re still talking to him.”
I look back at her over my shoulder. “What I’m doing is none of your business.”
Tiana doesn’t flinch. She just stares me down, dark eyes so much like our mother’s.
“Then why is Uncle Amir here trying to convince our mother to dissolve the Glen?”
I pause, my whole body locking up, the anger sharpening into focus. I turn to face her fully.
Tiana grins and folds her arms over her chest. “Come find me when you’re finished. I’m going to meet up with our sisters in the Witches and Warlocks wing.” The quieting spell fades.
She lifts her hand and tears the air open. She steps through the portal like it’s nothing—makes me want to throw something—and then she’s gone. Just me and her words ringing in my ears.
I want to follow her. I want to grab her arm and demand she tell me everything she knows. But right now, what she just said is louder than my anger.
Amir wants to dissolve the Glen.
I jog down the stairs. The Conjuring Hall opens up around me, the domed ceiling glowing with its shifting constellations, but I don’t spare it a glance. I head straight for the circle where my mother stands with her arms crossed and a deep frown pulling at her mouth.
Amir looks back at me, his hands clasped behind his back. The casual authority in his posture—like everything has already been decided.
Kade stands off to the side, her expression grim, her arms tight against her body. Damon is beside her, quiet, his face carefully neutral.
“This is a nice surprise,” Amir says, his grin widening. “So happy you’ve come.”
My mother levels a hard look at me. “The Witching Glen has been reaching out to someone in Wintermoon. Any idea who that could be?”
I glare at Amir. He heard every word upstairs with Tiana and we both know it, but he just smiles at me. “What’s going on?” I ask.
My mother sees right through me. It’s in the way her gaze sharpens and her chin lifts, reading my posture, everything I’m trying not to show her. She knows I’m not giving her the full picture.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” I press, my voice harder now. “I’m getting worried.”
“Amir wants to destroy the Witching Glen,” my mother says flatly.
Amir’s grin doesn’t waver. “It’s long overdue.” I look to Kade but her mouth is pressed tight and she says nothing. Damon shifts his weight from one foot to the other, still silent.
“And it appears I’m outranked in this decision,” my mother adds, the bitterness in her voice barely contained.
“I don’t understand.” I scrub the back of my neck, my thoughts racing. “I know why the Glen was closed. Dark magic. They were trying to regain access to it. But why does it need to be destroyed?”
Kade finally speaks, her voice low and even. “The seal has always been temporary, Aaron. Keeping them locked in there isn’t sustainable. They’ll keep figuring out ways to get out of the Glen.”
I exhale hard, the heat in my body climbing again. My mother uncrosses her arms and reaches for me, pressing her palm against my forehead.
“Are you alright?” she asks, her frown deepening. “You’re kind of running hot.”
I pull her hand down gently. “I had a long night.”
Her eyes drop to my neck, and she freezes. Her wrist snatches back from my grip as she stares at the claim mark, fresh and raised against my skin.
“Well,” she says, and a tight smile pulls at her mouth. “It looks like you and your lioness are finally fully mated. Congratulations.”
I groan, glancing over at the others. Kade is blushing, staring firmly at the floor. Damon looks like he’d rather be literally anywhere else but is holding a straight face through sheer willpower. And Amir is grinning like he’s enjoying every bit of this.
“I wasn’t going to spoil the moment,” Amir says.
“Can we talk about my mate bond later and stay on topic?” I say, rubbing the bridge of my nose, and I look to Amir. “If you destroy the Glen, you’re going to kill all of those witches and warlocks. Why?”
Amir’s grin disappears. His face goes flat and unmoving. “There is nothing we can do to help them. They have been exposed to dark magic for too long.”
“Eric is in there,” I remind.
The words are out of my mouth before I’ve decided to say them, and I fall quiet, not sure why I’m so bothered by this. He’s not a good man. But he’s still—a thread I haven’t finished pulling.
I look to my mother. She meets my eyes, and the sadness in them tells me she’s already wrestled with this and lost. “I can’t let you do this,” I say.
Amir’s grin returns. “Really? We should talk about it, then.”
I stare at him, and it clicks. This isn’t careless. Amir doesn’t do anything without a reason, and threatening to destroy the Glen is his way of forcing my hand. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he knows exactly where I’ll land when he’s done.
And then the time-slip flashes through my mind. The Glen pulsing with golden light, the door swinging open, warlocks stepping out into air they haven’t breathed in years. Maybe that’s why my magic pulled me there—to show me what happens if I don’t act first.
I’m going to have to open the Glen. Soon. Very soon.
“When are you planning to do this?” I ask, keeping my voice level.
“As soon as possible,” Amir responds. “Before it reopens on its own.”
“And when is that supposed to happen?”
My mother’s expression darkens. “If they’ve already figured out how to reach outside of the Glen, that means the seal is already failing.”
“What about Tiana, Kiara, and Samara?” I say, my voice rising. “What about the witches and warlocks who left the Glen and assimilated into the community lands? They have family in there too.”
Amir straightens. “As king, I must make difficult decisions for the betterment of Wintermoon.”
I look to my mother, but she’s quiet, her arms hanging at her sides, and she won’t meet my eyes.
Kade rubs the back of her neck. “Not to ruin the moment, but I’m not sure how to present this information to my Leah. Her sister is in there, remember? Not that I’m fond of Ellie and all, just saying.”
Amir looks to Kade, his expression cool. “You break the news gently to her.”
Kade flashes her fangs at him in a hiss. He grins back.
“It has been decided,” Amir says.
“No the fuck it hasn’t.” The words rip out of me, and I stare at him in disbelief. “I don’t understand. You drop a bomb like this on me and just—“ I throw my hands up in mocking exasperation, shaking my head. “Oh well?”
I look to my mother, desperate for her to fight this.
“Just go, Amir,” she says quietly. “I’ll handle Aaron.”
I stare at her. “Handle me?” But Kade and Damon are already flashing out of the room with their vampire speed, gone before the words finish leaving my mouth. Amir bows his head to my mother.
“I’ll find you later,” he says, and teleports away in a blink, leaving us alone.
“What is happening?” I ask, my voice raw. “They’re going to die. All of them.”
My mother shrugs, and the casualness of it surprises me. “I don’t want this either, baby. But I can’t keep protecting them if they refuse to change. They’re just withering away in there, looking for ways to regain access to dark magic. Your sperm donor included.”
Her words surprise me. She’s never minced them when it comes to Eric.
“They don’t want out of the Glen to change,” she continues, giving me a somber look. “They want out so they can go back to the way things were before.”
She squeezes my shoulder once and lets go. “I have Seth. I can’t keep babysitting a group of supernaturals that refuse to change.”
I watch her walk away from me, climbing the stairs back to the second floor.
What the hell just happened?