Chapter 24
Ispun around more slowly than I’d have liked, but my wolf inched forward, listening. I couldn’t shift again; I was too tired. Hell, I probably couldn’t even fight. When I focused on the perceived threat, my tension vanished.
The bobcat and coyote were snarling from the tension they felt from Sedona and the others. Animals could sense emotions and when something was off, they didn’t understand that this wasn’t a threat to me.
I attempted to lift both hands, but they were like lead. I raised them an inch, but hopefully, between that and having my back to the coven, the animals would realize I didn’t view the people as a threat.
“Everybody needs to calm down,” I said over my shoulder, hoping that, with the coven’s slightly elevated supernatural hearing, I’d spoken loud enough.
When Priestess Caroline nodded, my eyes burned with tears of relief. Raffe moved closer to me, his tension tightening my chest again. All I wanted to do was take a quick shower and crawl into bed before someone had to carry me because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand on my own two feet.
Babe, what’s going on? Raffe linked.
If everyone calms down, it will be okay. I hated that I couldn’t communicate with the animals, especially with tensions so high, and there were bodies we needed to bury.
More animals came forward, their bodies tense as they spread out from one another, forming a circle around us.
Linking with our entire pack, Raffe said, Josie, tell the witches what happened with Sedona and take her somewhere she won’t cause more tension. I suggest the most uncomfortable room for her—maybe a wet, moldy basement?
Man, her wound will get infected, Keith replied.
And that would bother me why? Raffe snapped. She tried to kill my mate, or did your dick make you forget that? Because that’s the only thing that can explain your sudden aversion to protecting your alpha’s mate.
I flinched, not needing more hostility brewing than we already had. Babe, we don’t need these animals to mistake some of the people on our side as aggressors and attack. That was the thing with anger and fear—it turned people against one another. Look at what the East was doing to the West. It was a civil war within the supernatural community.
Listen, I can’t help it, Keith retorted. You should understand that better than anyone.
You two, shut up, Lucy connected. We have enough enemies without turning on ourselves.
Focusing on the bobcat that had been trying to attack Sedona again, I spoke low and calmly, wanting him to hear I wasn’t worried. “Everything is okay. The coven didn’t know we were bringing someone from that side back with us.” Even though I doubted he understood my exact words, he should be able to pick up on my cadence and that I wasn’t upset.
Just damn tired.
I heard Dave mumbling to the coven, informing them of everything. The bobcat lifted his head, edging back into a neutral pose. I’d count on him to inform the other animals since I couldn’t connect with them with my essentially nonexistent power.
Between the animals relaxing and Dave explaining what was going on, I hoped we could get a plan together before I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The pain from being buried alive, shifting before I should’ve, and my now drained power settled exhaustion back into my bones.
Let’s get you somewhere covered, Raffe nudged against my side. The comforting buzz of our connection made my eyelids heavy. Sleep was too damn close.
I headed back to the coven. Sedona stood at the edge of the circle with Keith at her side. Keith scanned the group repeatedly, his breathing ragged. He was waiting for someone to make a move against Sedona.
I couldn’t blame him. Her group had killed twenty coven members, and I still wasn’t sure how I’d survived. The pain had been so horrible that, for a moment, I’d wanted to end my suffering.
I noticed Octavia, Dru, and Fane as they walked toward us from Priestess Caroline’s house. Fane’s forehead showed deep lines of worry as he scanned the group, searching for Lucy.
Lucy must have felt his gaze like I could Raffe’s because her head turned his way and she trotted toward him. When he noticed her, his shoulders sagged with relief.
I made my way to Sedona, wanting to stand next to her like Keith was. I wasn’t sure how the coven would react to our decision to bring her here, especially since I’d made it without consulting them. I hadn’t considered that, but we couldn’t let her go or kill her. We couldn’t do anything rash.
“Oh my god.” Octavia raised a hand to her mouth, covering it. “Sky, what happened to you?”
Unlike her, Dru raced toward me, hurrying so fast that he stumbled over a rock.
Despite my fatigue, I smiled. In this moment, I saw how much they cared about me. All my life, I’d thought they hadn’t wanted me, and being here with them and seeing this proved that hadn’t been the truth, though I hated that Fane had sometimes felt second best.
Dru ran to me and touched my shoulder, and I flinched. Octavia, Fane, and Lucy followed and stopped behind him.
My body hurt worse than I’d realized.
“What happened to you? You need to lie down. You’re all bruised, and your wrists have thick scabs.” His concern grew the more he examined me.
I must look bad. I’d hoped the dirt would come off when I shifted. “I’m fine. We just need to settle things down, and we all need to rest. Sedona is suffering from a deep bite and losing blood.” I pointed to the witch, and Raffe growled faintly.
You are the one who should be tended to first, not that bitch, Raffe linked, thankfully only to me.
Babe, I’m fine. I just need to handle this so we can curl up together and rest. That sounded like heaven.
He shook his head, his fur swaying despite the drizzle.
Dru glanced at Priestess Caroline and said, “I don’t think I’ve met this witch before.”
The priestess raised a brow. “She’s not one of us, and she’s the one who tried to kill your daughter.”
Sedona’s mouth dropped open. “The healer’s your dad? I thought you said friend. I knew better than to trust you.” She glared at Keith accusingly.
It wasn’t me she’d trusted. Fair enough. “He’s my biological father, and we just met a few days ago, so calling him dad doesn’t sound right.”
Her head jerked back toward me, and she winced. “Oh. Right.”
“Dru, can you please help her? She’s given us some very interesting information and hasn’t tried to kill me again.” I couldn’t think of a better way to address that particular instance.
He frowned. “I don’t know how I feel about helping someone who tried to hurt my daughter.”
I exhaled. I should appreciate his hesitation. “I thought doctors weren’t supposed to discriminate.”
“Thankfully for me, I’m not in the hospital.” He arched a brow. “I’m surrounded by witches, wolves, and various other wild animals, so I’m thinking human rules don’t apply.”
I know the other one raised you, but I think I like this father better, Raffe linked.
Oh, I’m sure you do, Keith added. This one doesn’t hate you.
Raffe’s anger flared.
“Look, I’m sorry that we brought Sedona here without discussing it, but Keith had run off and sounded like he needed help.” I blew out my breath, not up to playing games. All I had left was the brutal truth. “Keith asked us to help her because he thinks she’s his fated mate.”
“What?” Sedona spun toward Keith, staring into his dark eyes. “You feel it too? I thought I’d gone crazy. I didn’t want to leave, which is how the bobcat got me.”
“Fated mate? Impossible.” Priestess Caroline marched up to stand in front of Sedona. “A coven member has never had a fated mate, and fated mates are always tied to their own species.”
Dave laughed from his spot beside Priestess Caroline with Josie on his other side. “Yes, that’s the most common thought, but Skylar wasn’t a wolf, and she’s fated to Raffe, and Josie and I just completed our bond. Things are moving outside the norm fast.”
And I think Fane and I are mates too, Lucy added into the link.
That didn’t surprise me, and when I looked at them, I noticed Fane’s fingers in her fur.
“Grandma, you said our ancestors believed that an arcane-born arrived whenever the balance of the supernatural world was threatened.” Faith cleared her throat and rubbed her hands together. “Supreme Priestess Olwyn is creating an army to take down the wolf shifters, flipping the balance once more. But this time, the royal shifter and the arcane-born accepted their bond, so maybe that, along with these cross-species mates, proves the supernatural world could be in true balance once more, like in the time of the ever-powerful first arcane-born.”
My heart soared, loving the sound of that, but Supreme Priestess Olwyn had control of the Eastern supernaturals, potentially Aldric, and no telling how many others, like the vampire in the underground bunker who’d hated me, Warin.
We had very limited allies. Every single one of us could be mated with someone from a different species, and it wouldn’t mean shit if we couldn’t beat Olwyn and her massive army.
The stress was catching up to me. I almost wanted to lie down and give up. Almost. I’d never turned away from a fight before, and I damn sure wouldn’t now. Not when I had more to lose than ever.
As if reading my mind, Priestess Caroline sighed and hung her head. “Faith, that sounds wonderful, but look at the loss we took.” She waved a hand at the dead coven members and wolf shifters. “We were attacked for no good reason. The prince left his father’s pack, the arcane-born is gaining control but doesn’t have the stamina, and we lost a sixth of our coven tonight, making us weaker. There’s no way we can influence anyone.”
“Wait.” Sedona held her injured arm closer to her. “Is that why there weren’t more wolf shifters here? Did every single one of you leave King Jovian’s pack?”
My stomach lurched. Sedona now knew we were isolated from receiving any extra help. If she’d been a wolf shifter and could pack-link with her people, it would’ve been worse. At least, as long as we watched her, she couldn’t inform the others.
“But why?” She turned to me for answers since the rest of them were in wolf form. Sweat had broken out on her upper lip—a sign that her blood loss was getting worse despite the pressure I’d put on the wound.
There was no reason to lie to her now. She knew the truth. “King Jovian doesn’t approve of Raffe and me being together. He wanted Raffe to marry the Atlanta pack’s alpha’s daughter to prevent the East from splitting.”
She held my gaze. “Keagan is a great man. He understood as soon as the words fated mate were muttered.” Sedona swayed on her feet. “Keagan was fortunate enough to find his fated, and he’d hoped his daughter would have the same blessing. The talk of marriage between her and Raffe was a last-ditch effort to make a peace that neither side truly wanted. Then King Jovian came down hard, informing the East that if we tried to break away, he would force Keagan’s businesses and some of the other high-profile, successful companies out of their factories and buildings because Jovian’s company owns all the property. It made us desperate. That was when Supreme Priestess Olwyn reached out again because Aldric was busy.”
I swallowed hard. I’d forgotten about the huge real estate company that Raffe’s father owned. All the chaos had made it seem like the king just ruled the wolves, but he owned the largest commercial real estate company in the United States. My dad had been starstruck when they’d met at the football game, and he’d mentioned that he was a ruthless businessman. This was proof of that; he was holding these peoples’ livelihoods over them.
Maybe I could understand why they’d teamed up with Olwyn after all.
I still didn’t approve of killing anyone, but if Olwyn had made it sound like I could destroy the world, it would be my life for billions.
Some of my anger toward them melted.
My dad is a fucking bastard. Raffe pawed at the ground. He came down hard on them to get them in line and, instead, pushed them toward action. He should’ve known better than that. Aldric should’ve informed him.
I winced, knowing the question I had to ask next. “What was Aldric busy doing?”
“He was with the king, so he couldn’t contact us.” Sedona licked her lips, her words slurring more. “Supreme Priestess Olwyn had to make the call and tell us where you were since they placed tra—” She stumbled, and I caught her, but then we both tumbled over.
I turned, allowing my body to take the brunt of the impact, protecting her from getting hurt. Pain shot through me, and my vision blurred.
Raffe whimpered, feeling helpless as he used his snout to push Sedona off me. Keith snarled and rushed over to us. Her body went slack as she flopped to the side. She’d passed out.
“Fine.” Dru glanced around. “I’ll help her. We need to get her back to the house.”
“No. You’ll all be safer here.” Priestess Caroline gestured to their houses. “We have some houses available.”
My breath caught as I understood why.
“Take two of our vehicles, grab what you need, and come back.” Priestess Caroline bit her bottom lip. “Faith and Avalon will go with you to help.”
I’m going to run through the woods and check for danger. Keith edged to the outskirts of the clearing. But if something happens to her—
My heart ached. We’ll let you know.
Dave, Josie, and I should go with him.Adam followed after him. We’re the least injured here, and he shouldn’t be alone.
“Okay, then I need someone to go back to the house and get some of the O blood and suturing supplies.” Dru grunted as he lifted Sedona into his arms. “I need to find a better way to slow the bleeding.”
“The arcane-born family and her fated mate can stay with me.” Priestess Caroline pointed at her house. “Take the prisoner there so we can watch her.”
“I’ll go with Avalon and Faith since I know where everything is.” Fane shoved his hands into his pockets.
“You’re not going without me.” Octavia marched over to him. “No child of mine will go off like that into danger. I went to find your sister, and I’m going with you now.”
His brows rose, and a little bit of a smile broke through. If I hadn’t been so miserable, I’d have been happy that he saw he meant just as much to them as I did.
I’m shifting forms and going with them. Lucy darted off toward where her clothes must be.
Everyone split off, and I groaned as I climbed to my feet. Pain raged through me.
Priestess Caroline pointed at Raffe then me. “You two, go to the house. You both need rest. In the morning, we’ll need to make a plan.” She frowned and looked at all the death that surrounded us. “Tonight, we pay our respects to the dead, but Supreme Priestess Olwyn won’t stop at this.”
“The animals told me they would watch over us tonight.” I tried to stand straight, but my body was too weak. Just being upright made me dizzy.
She raised her brows. “You talk to them?”
“It’s the vibrations of my power. They understand me. But my power is drained, and I can’t talk to them.”
“You’re more surprising every day.” She pointed at her house. “Go. The first room to the left is a spare bedroom the two of you can rest in. Get sleep. We need you and your mate in good form tomorrow.”
“But the dead—”
“Are ours to take care of.” Her face softened as if she could see me for the first time. “If we need to, we’ll get your friends involved, but we like to send our coven members off personally and pray to the goddess for our enemies.”
Maybe we were both seeing a side of each other that we needed to tonight because everything she’d said proved she was the complete opposite of Olwyn.
I nodded and headed toward her house, far too tired to argue. Raffe limped beside me, his pain shining through.
I can’t shift back to human form tonight, he linked.
That’s more than all right with me. As long as he was beside me, I’d take him in any form. You’re a lot softer with fur.
His body shook with silent laughter.
As we walked to the priestess’s house, I noticed the sizable cracks in her yard and that her house had stress fractures in the wood from the day she’d attacked my mate. She must have protected her house with magic but hadn’t been able to fix her yard.
Dru had left the door to the house open, and when we walked in, he had Sedona on the blue couch and was tending to her wounds.
“Do you need—” I started.
“Get some rest.” He didn’t stop removing the bandage I’d put on her. “I suspect you’re the one who put this bandage on her, which prevented her from being worse off. You’ve done enough.”
The scent of rosemary eased the heavy copper scent of blood as we walked through the living room to the first door on the left.
As soon as we entered the room, I slid to the floor. Raffe cuddled up beside me, and I moved so that I lay on his uninjured side, our fated-mate bond thrumming. Within seconds, we were out.
A phone rang,startling me awake. I sat up, my body sore like I’d lifted heavy weights. I jumped to my feet as Raffe ran out the bedroom door.
The sound came again, and we rushed into the living room. Sedona was passed out on the couch with Keith hovering over her in human form. He linked, It’s Sedona’s phone.
I don’t have time to shift back and answer, Raffe replied. Sky, I need you to see who’s calling her and why.
A lump formed in my throat, but I ignored it. I reached into the pocket of her dress and removed the cell.
Momrolled across the screen.
My stomach dropped, but not wanting it to go to voice mail, I answered it. “Hello?”
The phone line went silent. Then the older woman asked, “Who is this?”
I sucked in a breath, but my voice remained calm. “Skylar Greene.”
A sob broke through the phone. “You may have the animals on your side, but I won’t bow to someone who killed my daughter.”
“She’s not dead,” I bit out, hoping to catch her before she did something rash like hang up.
“Oh, really?” She laughed bitterly. “Then let me talk to her.”
Shit. Of course she’d be passed out. I nudged her arm. “She can’t talk right now.” I winced, knowing how that must sound from her side.
“That’s what I suspected.” Her voice hardened. I heard her put down the phone.
I didn’t want them to hate us more, so I had to do something. “We want to help you break away from King Jovian.”
Raffe’s shock soared as Keith turned to me and rasped, “What?”