CHAPTER 20
Lena stayed close to Teo’s side as they followed one of the elders up the steep hill.
The second one remained behind them, holding a weapon he said carried silver.
Oddly, she wasn’t afraid. Angry, yes, but not afraid.
Maybe part of it was her picking up on Teo’s confidence.
If anything, Gauge’s tracker appeared amused by the bold actions of these shifters.
Whatever the reason for her newfound courage, Lena far preferred this to the debilitating fear that she’d been fighting for the past few years.
“The land of this world is quite beautiful, don’t you think, Lena?” Teo asked. “It reminds me of home.”
“I’ve never been to your world,” Lena replied. “The land around the Nekbet palace on Raiden is much drier, more open.” She studied the large trees as they walked past. “The trees are different here from my home by the sea, but they are equally beautiful.”
“When this is over, Gauge will need to retire as a Hunter. I think you’ll like it on Laizahlia. I prefer the country myself, but even the cities there are beautiful.”
Lena looked over at him, puzzled by his words. “You speak as if Gauge will take me there to live permanently with him.”
“Why wouldn’t he? You’re his mate. It’s doubtful the Raiden kings will allow a Hunter to live on their world. And I don’t think the serpents there will be any more open to it.”
Lena opened her mouth to deny this but then snapped it shut again.
She looked away from the tracker, grateful when he didn’t push her to speak.
She needed to think. Teo spoke as if their mating was a done deal.
It wasn’t. No matter what this tracker said, she wasn’t sure Gauge would ever see her as anything but a damaged female, one not suitable to be the mate of a powerful Hunter.
Only a few weeks ago, she’d been ready to throw herself off the cliffs into the sea, a death sentence.
Gauge had been a part of her life for years, but her longing for death, for escape from her terrible memories, hadn’t changed. When had her thoughts about suicide begun to shift to something more positive?
It happened at the cliffs, when she, Rafa and Aaliyah had been trapped by Sabula warships.
It was the first time Gauge had been so open to her.
She’d sensed his protectiveness of her, but also his desire to see her happy and healthy.
He saw her as a strong female, which had come as a shock.
How could he see her as anything but this pathetic broken thing?
For the first time in years, her thoughts had turned to something besides her mental pain.
Then, when she finally got to see Gauge in person at the Raiden palace, that spark she’d felt at the cliffs had burst open in her mind.
She didn’t know what it meant at the time, but Lena had embraced the power flowing through her.
She could still feel it, like some type of energy inside her brain, only this didn’t hurt.
It empowered her. Gauge had given this to her.
When she glanced up at Teo, she saw the tracker studying her face, a slight smile pulling up the corners of his wide mouth.
“What?” she asked.
“You’ll make Gauge a good mate.”
She frowned. “I know how I feel about him, Teo, but what does Gauge feel for me? You said I needed to be sure I wasn’t just looking for a protector, but there’s more to it than that. I don’t want Gauge looking at me as someone who always needs protected.”
Teo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Give him time, Lena. I think, at least for now, the need to protect you is the only way he can accept that you might be his mate. This will change as your self-confidence grows. As you become more independent, he’ll become less a protector and more a companion.
You are a blessing, Lena. Never forget it.
I’m sorry you had to go through such a terrible trial with Ngozi, but in the end it brought you and Gauge together.
Gauge will be everything to you that Ngozi wasn’t.
You’ll become the center of his whole universe. ”
Lena took Teo’s hand when he reached out to help her step over a log that had fallen over the path. She glanced up when thunder rumbled, seeing dark clouds move in to cover the stars above them. “There’s a storm coming.” The trees around them began to sway in the building wind.
Teo chuckled. “Oh yes, a big one.” He glanced behind him, smirking at the elder holding the weapon.
“What are you looking at, wolf? Just keep walking.”
“Lena,” Teo sent telepathically, “how much do you know about Laizahlian Hunters and their eillelés?”
“Not much. Why?” she sent back, suspecting Teo didn’t want the two shifters to hear this part of their conversation.
“All Laizahlian are born with special gifts, some more powerful than others. Some can feed off the energy of other beings, even from a distance. Others can control the weather. They can use wind or lightning as a weapon. Elements like wind, fire, water, and earth can be manipulated. These abilities tend to grow more powerful as they age, and Hunters like Gauge spend even more time developing them. When a Laizahlian meets a mate, they share a portion of their special gifts with them. I believe this is what you felt when you first met Gauge in person at the Raiden palace.”
Lena shivered, glancing behind her at the elder. “Is Gauge causing this sudden storm, Teo?”
“Yes, but this isn’t what I want you to focus on. Gauge has other abilities, those he uses when he doesn’t want to kill.”
“You think I have this ability now too? What is it?”
Before he could answer, they stepped out of the trees into a small clearing.
At the back end of it was an old shack. This one looked nothing like the modern home the alpha and his mate lived in.
This building had rough logs for siding, and the roof had a tarp thrown over the top with heavy tires holding it down.
A trickle of smoke came out of the chimney.
There were two trucks parked in front of it.
The crackle of brush drew their attention to the left. “Stop,” Pops said. “Come out.”
A male Lena hadn’t met yet stepped out, grimacing as he studied her and Teo. He was tall and slender with short, light-colored hair. “You sure about this, Pops? That vampire’s gonna be pissed when he learns we took his tracker and the woman.”
“You want to live the rest of your life with bloodsuckers for a master?” Pops growled.
“No!”
“Then grow a set of balls, Jacob,” Pops growled. “If we don’t fight now, we won’t stand a chance. There’s only one of him and eight of us.”
“What about Raif?”
“We’ll have this handled by the time Raif figures out what happened. In the end, he’ll thank us for it. Who else is up here?”
“Me, Rick, and Gary.”
“Okay, spread out. Send me a message the second the vampire shows up.”
Nodding, Jacob blew softly through his lips, his expression worried as he slipped back into the heavy brush.
“There’ll be more elders inside,” Teo sent. “Let’s wait to see what they want, then I’ll try to talk you through what to do. If all goes according to plan, none of the elders will need to die, but they’ll all learn an important lesson.”
“Which is?”
“Not to mess with a Hunter, or his mate.”
*
Gauge arranged for transport behind the treeline by the cabin Raif had told him about. He knew his tracker sensed his presence.
“Can you assist Lena without her knowing?” Teo asked. “She can feel your power growing inside her, but she doesn’t know how to access it. Gauge, I believe it will be important to her confidence for her to save us. Ngozi made her feel helpless. She needs to regain control of her life.”
“And if she finds out later that it wasn’t her? What happens to her confidence then? I don’t believe it’s possible for a serpent to be gifted with a Hunter’s powers, but I might be able to work through her.” But not without Lena feeling it.
“Gauge, stop fighting this. Everyone around you can sense how important Lena is to you. The only one a Hunter of your age feels this possessive about is a mate. You and Lena belong together. Who cares how it happened. Don’t turn this gift away out of pure stubbornness.”
“I will try to assist her without her knowledge. If there is nothing there to work with, you will agree to drop this mate nonsense.”
He sensed Teo grinning. “You have my word.”
“You seem sure of yourself, Teo. Why is that?”
“Because I have been your tracker for hundreds of years, Gauge. I can sense when you are about to use your power. I sense the same in Lena, only with her it is . . . how do I explain? With her there is a wildness to it. She could actually kill people by accident, which will only frighten her rather than build confidence.”
“How many are in the cabin with you?”
“There are five here. As near as I can tell from listening to them, there are three or four more standing guard out in the trees.”
Gauge opened his senses to the land around him, finding three heartbeats. Within seconds he took control of their minds, putting them all into a deep sleep. “Those outside have been dealt with. We only have the five inside with you and Lena.”
A shadow passed over Gauge. When he looked up, he saw a large serpent circling the cabin. “Stay back for now, Aeson,” he sent. “Lena and Teo have this under control. Let the alpha and his mate know. I want everyone to stay back unless I give the word.”
It surprised Gauge when the serpent tipped his wing to the side, letting him know he’d heard.
Serpents could only speak telepathically with those they’d created a bond with.
Gauge had created a blood bond with Seraphym, at the serpent’s insistence, when he first arrived on Raiden to break the mating bond between Ngozi and Lena.
He didn’t have one with Aeson, but the serpent had still heard. Interesting.
With all outside threats taken care of, Gauge closed his eyes and searched for his private link to Lena.
It would be tricky trying to slip into her mind unnoticed, the female too in tune with him.
Gauge still didn’t believe Lena was his true mate, but he couldn’t deny that they had a closer relationship than most who were bonded to him.