Chapter 15
15
TALIA
D eclan’s office was smaller than Jericho’s.
It had a very masculine feel to it.
A simple oak desk sat near the window, a framed map of what I assumed was his territory sat on the shelf beside his desk.
The walls were a deep blue, with a hint of blacks mixed in around the baseboards.
He had a small lamp on his desk along with a stack of documents scattered across its top.
“Natalia, how was your breakfast?”
Jericho asked while standing up from behind Declan’s desk and walking over towards me.
He stretched out his arms and pulled me into a hug.
I squeezed him tightly before releasing my arms and quickly stepping backwards.
I looked up and met his gaze, his tired green eyes stared back at me.
The drooping of his eyelids, and swelling under his lower lids were more pronounced than normal.
“It was delicious, his mother is a wonderful cook.”
I answered and looked for a place to sit.
“Please take a seat, we have a few more things to discuss.”
He replied while gesturing with his hand to the black leather couch along the south side of the office wall.
I sat down and Declan sat beside me.
“What did you need to speak with me about?”
I asked.
I sat back into deepness of the cushion, crossed my legs and awaited his answer.
Declan reached over and rested his hand near my left knee.
Not quite touching me, yet close enough to keep me anxious at the nearness of his touch.
“We didn’t get to finish speaking before Declan stole you away…”
“I didn’t steal-"
“You knocked me out and dragged me through a portal.
You stole me Declan.
Fated mate or not.
Stealing is Stealing.”
I ground out.
Declan huffed, folded his arms and sunk further into the couch and glanced out the window as Jericho cleared his throat, and he looked serious… his brows were pinched and a frown formed on his lips.
“I need to tell you the truth, part of the truth anyways.”
He whispered.
Which could only mean one thing...
Jericho was who Aurelia was talking about.
He had been shielding my presence.
My knees started to shake, my body feeling weak.
My legs gave out, strong arms caught me before I fell to the floor.
My hearing became muffled, my heart pounded In my chest as I tried to take a breath.
Declan kept his arm around my waist, supporting my body as I gathered myself.“ It was you, wasn’t it?”
I whispered while raising my chin, not taking my eyes off Jericho’s piercing gaze.
Sighing, he responded, “I should have told you years ago, but I was hoping I could prevent your past from catching up with you.
Had I known you would be attacked I would have brought you here and kept you safe, informed you of your shifter nature and trained you...
that night it wouldn’t have happened if I had kept you safe.
Once Celeste brought you here, I reinforced the shield I had placed on you as a child… but I did not place the glamour that kept your wolf hidden or suppressed.”
A deep growl came from behind me, the vibrations moving through my body as he snarled over my shoulder, “You knew who she was and you left her unaware of her nature and unprotected! What if her wolf had surfaced? What if she didn’t have her wolf suppressed?”
I froze.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
He knew? Jericho knew who I was all this time? Why wouldn’t he tell me who I was? Did he truly not know or was he lying to me? Could I trust anyone? Was Celeste really my best friend or was she a tactical placement in my life? With tears in my eyes, I turned to Jericho and whispered, “Did Celeste know?”
“The condition she found you in… Had your wolf not surfaced, you would have died that night.
If she had known, known you were even a shifter she would have said something.”
My pulse pounded in my ears.
My heart breaking a little inside of myself.
How could he do this to me? I considered him a father figure… “How were you even able to shield me in the first place?”
I asked.
Jericho took a seat at his desk, resting his elbows firmly in front of him, fingers crossed and said, “My family comes from a diluted line of warlocks.
I developed some of their abilities when I was a boy and when I became Alpha of this pack, I focused more on using them to protect my people.”
He was from a line of warlocks.
Did that mean Celeste could wield magic, too? “You still haven’t explained how you knew who she was . ”
Declan strode towards Jericho his hands clenched at his sides.
He was clenching them so tightly little drops of blood were starting to form.
His wolf trying to break through.
Declan came to an abrupt stop as the door slammed open, plaster falling from the ceiling as it fell from its hinges, the impact shaking the ground as the floor fell beneath Celeste’s feet.
Pupils dilated and a snarl formed on her lips, “How did you know who she was uncle?”
Celeste had the best control of any shifter in our pack, outside of when she was in her wolf form… my pack anymore? Jericho released a deep sigh and focused his attention on Celeste.
He looked exhausted, the lines around his eyes were more prominent, as were the dark bags beneath them.
Had shielding me for so long drained him? I’d always just thought he was exhausted from, you know, overseeing the whole pack.
Being an Alpha came with so many responsibilities and he didn’t have a mate to share the burden with.
“Our pack used to reside in The Scarlet Vales and we bordered the territory between The Divine Isles where Shifter Royalty resided and the entrance to the human lands.
We helped guard and protected the royal family.
All the Alphas were given a mark by the queens’ best friend, who happened to be the head witch of the Nightshade coven.”
The chair Trystan was sitting in groaned as he stood up and moved from corner of the room where he had been sitting, and strode towards me, fabric moving as he rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.
“I share that mark as well, Lavina was the one who helped us escape that night.
We would not have survived without her help.”
He looked into my eyes, a small frown forming on his lips as he turned his wrist over for me to see.
There on the inside of his right wrist in between his other tattoos was a crescent moon and in the middle was a nightshade flower with a dagger being driven through it.
“Could you not locate me with this mark as well?”
Trystan clenched his jaw, eyes widening as he whispered, “I am ashamed to say that my mark was damaged when we were back home, before we got separated, before entering the portal we were attacked and a warlock hit me with his magic.
Effectively blocking my ability to track you.”
My brows furrowed, lips forming into a narrow line as I looked up at Jericho.
I looked him up and down, wondering where his mark was.
I’d never seen a mark on him we were wolf shifters, nudity was not something we shied away from.
A throat cleared, drawing my attention to Jericho’s face.
“My mark has faded over the years, age has not been as kind to me as some.”
He smirked, eyes finding their way to Declan who now sat on the corner of Jericho’s desk.
“Where is your mark then?” I asked.
Jericho moved from his chair and stood up.
Fabric rustled as he pulled at the hem of his shirt.
He lifted his over his head and turned around for me to see.
Sitting between his shoulder blades was the same nightshade flower, moon, and dagger that Trystan bore.
Jericho turned, faced me, and continued, “If royalty ever crossed our borders, we would become aware.
Our mark… it was a beacon of sorts, it would glow and burn slightly.
Even after we left the shifter realm and set up our pack here in Scotland, our marks still worked.
They are forever apart of those who were chosen.
When Natalia crossed in the human realm, I was alerted of her presence, and I used the mark to find her.
Once I found her, I placed a shield on her to the best of my abilities and made sure she was taken to a human home.
I watched over her until the day you brought her here and told me she was a new shifter needing our help.”
“I was glamoured already though, wasn’t I?”
I quietly asked.
My gaze turning to Trystan for confirmation.
He nodded his head, “Lavina glamoured you before you went through the portal, but it only came into effect the moment you landed in the human realm.
If you ever chose to return to the Scarlet Vales, your glamour would fade, and you would return to your true form.”
He smiled at me.
My lips parted as my mind spun.“You are right princess, we got separated before I knew what your glamour looked like.
Lavina did not tell me what she was changing, assuming we would be together when we crossed into the human realm.”
“Can you read minds too?”
My lips parted as my mind spun.
Laughing he responded, “No princess you have always just been so expressive when you are thinking, it’s quite easy to know where your thoughts are at given the circumstances.”
Celeste and Jericho all laughed at that.
Well fuck, was I that easy to read? I needed to work on my poker face.
After all, what was a woman without an arsenal of weapons or the ability to shield her emotions? A woman who ended up dead or tortured for information, that was what.
I stood up, fists clenched and stepped towards them as strong arms wrapped around my waist.
“Calm down, little wolf.”
Declan whispered into my ears.
I huffed, and let my shoulders relax.
“What are you all asshats laughing about?”
I gave them my best fuck off face, and apparently wasn’t doing a good job because they were still smiling at me.
Celeste put me out of my misery, though she couldn’t keep the shit eating grin off her face as she said, “Well, Tals, he isn’t wrong.”
“Yeah, I would have to agree with him too, you must have not changed that much from when you were a child, sweetheart.”
The deep timber of Lucas’s voice met my ears.
Fuck.
Why would he say that? Ugh I just needed to stab something.
I stood up and walked towards the door, looked over my shoulder making sure they all saw the seriousness in my eyes, and said, "This has been informative, but Declan I would like to start my training now."
I brought Sionn to the surface, my teeth lengthening slightly as I growled out, "I need to stab something."