Chapter Nine #2
“We’re mostly bachelors in this commune.
We’ll be expanding to houses one day, but for right now, we are living below our means to keep us mobile.
It’s safe for the time being. We can protect our omegas better in this setup.
” Rexford opened his arm as he circled by, letting Caspian reach out for him with a pant of excitement.
“Dada!” Caspian screeched with joy and babbled, a word somewhere in the mix that Marquis understood as snack.
The temporary reunion could only be just that. Temporary.
“C’mon, little runt. Come to Uncle Sailor and we’ll go get you some nom-noms.” Sailor took Caspian from Rex and hoisted the chubby babe onto his hip. He sniffed. “And maybe a diaper change.”
Marquis hadn’t smelled a thing, but Sailor could be quite proficient with his nose since he’d embraced the wolf in his bloodline.
Hannah and Min watched Caspian leave with slight disappointment. Gilbert, for his part, appeared as if he’d eaten something sour.
Midnite waved a thanks to Sailor and turned back to his family. “All this time and you’ve not even said hello to me, Gilly.”
“It’s Dad,” Gilbert sneered. “All this time and you can’t even call. Your mother drove me loony wailing over you.”
“And you forgot about me for a while, too. I was trapped as a cat. I called sometimes just to hear Mom’s voice.” Nite sneered. “And all this because you were terrified of what I am?”
Gilbert grumbled something about it not being normal.
“No, it’s not normal. It’s rare, but it’s natural.” Nite lifted the hem of his shirt to expose his flat belly, healing stretch marks and the dark, puckered omega line that had healed a little funny. “Because I’m not like you. I’m not human, fully.”
Marquis would argue that, but mages were primarily humans, inundated with magic in their DNA, aligned and attuned to the forces of nature, and maybe a little shifter, kin of beast and man where two souls united.
When the kings of wolves met with the kings of men, they joined their souls for all time.
So, shifters, too, were human, but not only.
Gilbert turned his head in disgust as Hannah and Min warmed up to the idea, as if they understood what he was. Not that two alphas or two women were wrong but that he was the other half of mage pairs.
“We should probably sit down and talk. We have questions,” Rexford said, corralling the group toward their meeting room.
Gilbert lagged behind as Nite escorted Min and Hannah.
Roan sat off to the side, glaring at Min occasionally, his energy sour and tense.
He never should have abandoned his son, but a hurt heart did strange things.
Marquis, for his part, aided Rexford in corralling the human male.
A wistful and guilty expression crowded Midnite’s face.
He knew what had to come of the reunion.
Even so, he leaned into his younger sister, hugging her tightly.
His mother, reserved and snippy as she was, made an effort to show interest in his new life.
Likely only because a grandchild was involved.
Gilbert? He wouldn’t even sit. He sat the whole time glaring at Roan as if her prior relationship with him were an affront to his senses.
“Midnite?” Marquis cleared his throat. The familiar glanced back at Marquis sheepishly, his green eyes begging for a few more minutes.
He waved his hand, and Marquis settled back a bit.
“So, I guess now you know I’m alive and I didn’t run away.” Midnite put his hands on the table. “You spent all that effort running to Australia. Why did you think I’d be safe there?”
“Oh…” Min cleared her throat before explaining that another mage had told her that their baby would be rejected, and likely killed, and after she had the babe, he’d come to visit and seen Midnite was an omega and gave her money to flee the country.
Midnite shot Marquis a stern look. “Did he look anything like that guy?”
Marquis blinked in surprise as Midnite jabbed a thumb in his direction.
Min tilted her head. “I can’t remember.”
“Did he have anyone with him?” Marquis frowned and Min nodded.
“A young boy with gray hair, like he was old. I thought it strange at the time, and another with very ginger hair. Like a fox, so red.” Min brightened as she recalled, and that cemented it for Marquis. Baron had been the one to secret them away.
“Did he give you anything? Cast any spells on you?” Marquis gripped his knees and waited, but Min shook her head.
“He only told me to make sure that Cade liked cats a lot. We gave him stuffed cats unti—” Min silenced when Gilbert scoffed.
“I made him throw away all those silly dolls. Boys don’t have dolls and stuffed animals.
” Gilbert grumbled, and Roan rose from his seat, making his way toward the door with a rather intentional glance at Gilbert, one that made the human cringe and stomp after him.
Roan would see that Gilbert’s mind held no memory of Cade other than him moving to the States and their relationship being poor.
Min shrank back in her seat. “I wanted to get him a kitten, but Gilbert never liked cats.”
“Doesn’t look like he liked Midnite, either.” Marquis sighed heavily as something hard settled in the boy’s expression.
“I really did like cats, a lot. Nice to know it was planned.” Midnite sighed and took Min’s hand.
Nite had progressed wonderfully since discovering his magic. He tapped into his inner will and wielded magic like a sledgehammer. But, of any mage he could bind to, Rex was a great candidate. Anyone could light a candle with a flamethrower.
The difference in Midnite’s magic and the average mage, was the knowledge he used to craft his will. His thought patterns matched that of humans, and he used science and logic to craft his will. So, Midnite took Min’s hand in his and stared at it before giving her a lingering hug. “Sorry, Mom.”
“It’s okay. I’m just happy to know you’re alive and well. I’m not mad—” Min quieted as spellwork lit the air like static.
“Mom?” Hannah’s weak voice piped up as she rested a hand on her shoulder. “I think he needs to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? But we just got here. We came all this way to…” Min halted as Midnite shifted his wand in their hug and the tip pressed against the back of her head. “Go on vacation…”
“Has to be this way?” Hannah’s dark eyes glimmered as she glanced from her mother to Midnite.
“Sorry.” Midnite pulled away from his mother as she blinked up at the ceiling dimly.
“Unfortunately, so.” Marquis bowed his head and pulled his wand out, approaching slowly.
Hannah clenched her jaw and stood still. “Leave me with some good memories of you, at least?”
Midnite gave her a hug. “Cade will be a pleasant memory and nothing more. There will be closure.”
Magic flared and extinguished, and Midnite stood as Hannah pulled away dizzily.
Roan opened the door and waved him out before returning with Gilbert, carrying a marble box. “Here he is, Min. Our boy is going home, finally.”
Hannah and Min stared at the box as quiet tears rolled over their cheeks.
Because, in their minds, Cade was gone. Cade had been gone for thirteen years. His true family was with the mages. He had a mate, a child, a coven, and more to fill his heart more than humans ever could.
They felt the same pain and emptiness that Marquis felt knowing Doris was gone, but without the betrayal to spare them. They came hoping to fill their hearts, and left with another hole, but closure was closure. At least they had something in their hands to mourn.
Marquis didn’t even have that.
The hole still stood mockingly in the lawn. And like his heart, it might never heal.
But they could put something in its place.