56. Chapter Fifty-Six
~Felix~
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so weary, my exhaustion so heavy it seemed to settle in my bones. The effect of the silver chains and cage and the physical battering that my body had taken, not to mention the emotional upheaval I went through thanks to Tarron’s threats and the possibility of losing my mate after I only just found her, had my body begging for sleep. Evalina and Calista were both passed out in the back seat of the SUV, their faces soft in sleep as the blankets beneath their heads shifted with each bump in the road. Vaughan drove us back to Crimsontooth territory while I sat in the passenger seat, doing my best to keep my eyes open and help him to navigate through the dense forest.
“What happened with the elves?” I asked him once we were back onto a dirt road, the headlights carving a narrow path through the forest’s shadows.
“Weirdest experience of my life,” Vaughan grumbled. “And after the month we’ve had, that’s saying a lot.”
“But what happened?” I pressed. Getting information out of Vaughan was like pulling teeth but I knew that eventually, if I asked enough times, he’d tell me.
“I might have gone in guns blazing,” he admitted, shooting me a sheepish smile after glancing over his shoulder to make sure Calista didn’t hear him. “Told them we know how to close and open the portal at will, and I’d make their lives a living hell if they didn’t take us to you. Threatened to send through bears and lions and all sorts of other creatures they don’t have over there.”
I couldn’t help the snort that came out as I pictured the scene. “Interesting strategy. And it worked?”
“No, not really.” He let out a self-deprecating chuckle of his own. “The guy in charge said I must be a friend of yours since we both liked the sound of our own voices so much, but after some discussion among their leaders, they agreed to take us anyway. Tarron really pissed them off so helping us was a way of getting back at him. They certainly didn’t offer to help because they liked me. They also insisted that we close the portal on our land so no one else wanders through when they’re not supposed to.”
He shot me a meaningful glare that I had to admit I deserved.
“During their debate, they did say something interesting, though,” Vaughan added. “A few of them mentioned that there had been an increase in ‘unnatural’ happenings in the area lately.”
My ears perked up the same way his must have. “What kinds of happenings?”
“They didn’t elaborate, but it made me think about the spirit, the Ravenstone scientist, and all the other madness we’ve faced lately. Maybe there’s something in the air?”
“Across worlds?” I wondered. “It would have to be something pretty big.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” my Alpha confirmed grimly. “At this rate, I don’t know if our pack can survive someone else finding their mate.”
Warmth swelled inside my chest at the reminder that I had a mate of my own. With all the drama of the past few days, it hadn’t really had a chance to sink in. Just a few days ago, I sat in Vaughan’s office, trying to ignore the jealousy I felt over his mating. Now, all that remained was gratitude. “Can you believe we got so lucky?”
Vaughan’s eyebrows shot up. “Lucky? We nearly got killed, more than once.”
“Vaughan. Come on.” I gestured to the back seat with my head, grinning at the sight of Evalina curled up back there. “Take off the Alpha hat for a second and look at them.”
Grudgingly, he threw another look over his shoulder at Calista and Evalina, and his scowl instantly softened. “Yeah, all right. We’re pretty damn lucky.”
“Eyes on the road,” I reminded him cheerfully when the vehicle began to drift towards the trees still lining the forest trail.
Snapping his head forward again, Vaughan sighed. “I’m serious, though, Felix. I thought the way Calista and I met was crazy enough, but after what happened with Sav and now you and Evalina, it feels like a pattern and I don’t know what to make of it.”
“It might just be a coincidence,” I pointed out. “On the plus side, finding your mate has shut down all the talk of mutiny within the pack.”
“Has it, or has it just pushed it further underground?” He sighed again, his hand reaching up to push his hair back off his face, the way he always did when he felt anxious. “I can’t put my finger on it but I have a feeling the worst is yet to come, and after what happened today, that scares the shit out of me.”
“These things aren’t connected,” I stated as confidently as I could. “The spirit Calista was hunting had been around for hundreds of years. Jasper got exiled months before he met Savannah. Tarron had been plotting to increase his power for years and had his eye on Evalina since her birthday. None of it has anything to do with our pack.”
“It has to do with our mates,” he pointed out, voice heavy with concern. “Someone connected to each of these situations is mated to someone within our pack. One, or even two, I might have been able to explain away, but three insane situations in such close succession? It’s too big of a coincidence to me. There has to be something else behind it.”
“Like what?”
His hand brushed his hair back again, this time in frustration. “I don’t know. Nothing seems connected, like you said, but I still think there’s something there. I have no idea what it could be and it’s driving me crazy.”
Even though I didn’t fully agree with his theory, I believed him when he said it worried him. With that in mind, I slipped into my Beta mode. “What do you want to do about it?”
The tension in Vaughan’s shoulders slackened slightly, as I expected it would. Focusing on the practical always made him feel more in control. “We should start by putting our feelers out. Find out if there’s still any discontent in the pack now that I have a mate, and find out if anything strange is going on in our neighbouring packs. We’ve been spending a lot of time away from the pack recently and there might be things we’ve missed.”
“I’ll get on it first thing in the morning,” I promised. “I’ll get the team together and make a plan.”
“Thank you.” Vaughan blew out a deep breath. “I’m really happy for you, by the way. In case I haven’t said it yet.”
“You didn’t have to. I know you love me.” I threw him a smug smile that made the corners of his mouth twitch. “She’s amazing, Vaughan. You haven’t been able to spend much time with her yet but she’s incredible.”
“Of course she is,” he agreed easily. “She’s your mate. I wouldn’t expect anything less. But…”
He trailed off and my smile fell. “But what?”
“She’s still invisible to most of the pack. How are we going to deal with that?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted, drumming my fingers on my armrest. “It doesn’t bother me, but it limits who she can interact with and I don’t like that idea. I want her to be able to do anything and everything she wants to do.”
“Maybe Calista will have some ideas,” he suggested. “Or those online message boards you’re always messing around with.”
“Hey, those boards are helpful. They saved my life today.”
We spent the rest of the drive exchanging more details of what happened to us in the fae realm until I felt I had been there with him and he knew everything I’d been through. When we finally reached the Crimsontooth pack house, most of the staff were asleep. After carrying a sleeping Evalina back to her guest room and putting her to bed, I stopped in to check on her mother in the room next door.
A male figure sat slumped on one of the chairs, one I recognized very well but didn’t expect to see there.
“Dad?”
My father jolted upright, as if I’d woken him, and visibly relaxed when he recognized me. “Felix.” He stood up and ushered me back into the hall, closing the door behind us so we didn’t wake the sleeping fairy. “How did everything go? Is your mate okay?”
I had given him a rushed summary of events that morning, and someone else must have told him about my capture. His warm hand patted my shoulder, his pleasure at my safe return plain to see.
“We’re both fine,” I assured him. “I’m about to go to bed but I wanted to see how Evalina’s mother is doing. Why were you in there?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It felt like someone should be watching over her.”
“But you can’t see her.”
“No, but she could see me. I figured it would help her not feel so alone in a strange place.”
That was my father in a nutshell: the kind of man who would sit and keep an invisible woman company. Everything I ever learned about kindness and empathy came from him.
“Get some sleep,” I instructed gruffly, my emotions already strained after the stress of the day. “I’ll introduce you to them both properly tomorrow.”
With a bleary nod, he headed down the hall and I stepped back into Evalina’s room. Just like I did on her first night there, I stripped down and shifted, letting Kai curl up on the bed next to Evalina to be close to her. Her caramel and apple scent seeped into every cell of my body, easing all my tension, and my mind finally switched off as I slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.