Chapter Thirty-Three
Skylar Cathal
Magnus dressed in the spare clothes Neera brought for him, and Shaw shifted to join us, embracing my uncle and exchanging words of confidence before we started the journey home.
I retold my stories about the trials and the state of the Inner Kingdom.
Rhea and Talon remained in their wolf forms, listening and adding in their own details while we informed my uncle about all that had happened.
And then, when we stopped to rest and take a drink from the river, I told my uncle about Daxton.
“Are you officially mated and marked?” he asked, glancing at my neck.
“No.” I blushed, only slightly embarrassed about discussing a claiming mark with my father figure. “We haven’t marked each other yet. I wanted to wait until I shifted to claim him as well.”
“I see.” Magnus stepped closer and sniffed my head. “That’s why my bear didn’t recognize you at first. You smell different.”
“That’s the first thing I said,” Rhea chimed in, paired with Talon’s laughter.
“That makes sense,” I said, giving Rhea and Talon a sideways glance.
Magnus stroked his beard as he sat back. “I’m surprised I didn’t see it before.”
“I did!” Talon boasted with a playful yelp in his wolf form. “And I’m never going to let Rhea forget it.”
“You have one…” Rhea drawled. “One accurate hunch in twenty—”
I closed my connection with them, chuckling to myself at their banter.
“He truly is your mate… Daxton Aegaeon?” Magnus looked at me with a pang of sadness in his eyes, for Julia’s passing.
“Yes. But regardless of the bond, I would still claim him. I fell in love with him before I recognized the bond linking us together. He’s—”
“He’s the other half to your whole,” Magnus finished with a firm nod of understanding.
“Yes.” I smiled, sitting cross-legged in the snow near the winding river. “I need to return to the Inner Kingdom to finish the trials and not only free Daxton, but his people as well.”
“His people?” Magnus questioned.
“The queen?” Shaw asked.
I nodded.
“She is a tyrant, literally sucking the lives out of her people so she can remain in power. Daxton and his brother Castor have a plan to overtake her with the help of their allies in Crimson City once the Heart is free.”
Magnus gave me a firm nod. “I see.”
“War is surrounding us on all sides.” Neera sighed. “When will all this fighting stop? I hate this. All of it.”
I reached out and grasped her hand. “I understand your frustrations. And feel the loss just as much as you do. But, if we do nothing in the face of injustice, then what kind of creature does that make us?”
Neera started off across the river.
“Peace is won, my daughter,” Magnus said. “Won after many are lost. Doing the right thing now allows others who follow to have a brighter future.”
“Will we join forces with the High Fae, Sky?” Shaw asked, drawing our attention.
“I believe they will help us, yes.”
Shaw nodded. “Good.”
“Who will oversee the pack in your absence while you complete the final trial?” Magnus asked. “You’ll need to select a sub-alpha.”
“I already have,” I replied, meeting his stare.
Magnus reached up to scratch his head. “Are you sure?”
“Are you questioning your alpha’s decisions already?
” I teased, cocking my head to the side.
“By all means, keep doing it. I mean, I’m new at this, and I’ll need your guidance.
But I’m certain about placing you in charge while I’m gone.
Our people need your experience to navigate the threat of the humans before I return with help. ”
“Then you… and our pack shall have it,” Magnus answered with his ironclad loyalty to our people shining through to his core.
“Are you all right, Neera?” Shaw asked my cousin, kneeling at her side.
“I’ll… I’ll be all right,” Neera answered as she smiled sweetly. “Thanks for asking.”
“Are there any other mating bonds I need to be aware of?” Magnus asked, his eyes darting between Neera and Shaw.
“No,” Neera quickly answered, putting distance between them.
Shaw shook his head in agreement. “No, no, there’s not.”
“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked Rhea. “I know you know something about this.”
I opened the connection to include Talon, hoping he might also have some insight.
“I know lots of things… Can you be more specific?”
“Rhea,” I growled.
“Okay, fine. Don’t need to go all alpha on me. I’ll tell you what I know.”
“This is fun,” Talon teased as Rhea nipped at his tail.
“They’re kind of on a pause.”
“A pause?” I questioned. “All right, Talon, your turn. Elaborate, please.”
“Gladly.” Talon chuckled. “When you were preparing to challenge Gilen, Shaw spoke privately with Neera. I don’t know exactly what was said between them, but after that conversation, they’ve kept their distance.”
“It’s complicated,” Rhea added, “with the lack of a mate bond between them. They both care for each other, but we all know Neera’s thoughts about this. And Shaw, well…”
“He doesn’t talk about it as much, but I know he secretly longs for a true mate bond,” Talon said. “He’d swim against the currents of the crossing itself if it meant he could find his mate.”
I sighed. “I see.”
“See what?” Shaw asked as he moved to sit beside me. I couldn’t help glancing over at Talon and Rhea, and Shaw, being the observant person he was, one hundred percent noticed. “Ah, well, good. That saves me time and an awkward conversation with you later.”
I arched my brow. “Really? You think it does?”
“What’s going on?” Magnus demanded in a deep, thundering tone.
“Nothing.” My lips were sealed. “Shaw, Rhea, and Talon looked after Neera when you were gone, that’s all.”
Magnus’s stare turned to Shaw as he sniffed the air between them before shifting back toward his daughter. “That seems to be accurate.”
“Shaw and I are not together,” Neera admitted. “We’re friends. And he helped me when Mother passed, and you were lost.”
Silence passed between our group as Magnus hugged his daughter tighter to him.
“Then you have my thanks, Shaw,” Magnus said with a single nod.
I reached out to Shaw’s mind. “You know what you’re doing?”
“I try to.”
“Why are you and Neera—”
“Skylar,” Shaw interrupted. “There’s a reason we’re not mates.
We can’t see it right now, but we both agreed to take a step back.
With everything going on, this isn’t the right time.
Our pack is on the brink of war with the humans.
You’re our new alpha. The trials are still unfinished.
We need to focus on other responsibilities for the time being.
If it’s meant to be, we’ll find each other again. ”
“I…” I stopped, understanding that Shaw and Neera agreed to place the duty to the pack before themselves. A selfless act that I needed to respect. “That’s very selfless of you and Neera.”
“If it were a mate bond, however, there would be no question,” Shaw answered, giving me a half-grin.
“Well, at least this way, you don’t have to have that awkward conversation with Magnus.”
“Thank the Gods above.” Shaw sighed.