Chapter 34 Abel
ABEL
The closer we get to Hawk Ridge, the more my stomach aches.
The magic that burns in my veins marking me the heir pulls at me.
My parents need to see that I’m no longer their puppet.
They can’t marry me off to someone. Fate chose my mates and I trust Fate more than my parents.
I have to brace myself for the names they’ll call me.
For the hate they’ll spread. But I don’t care.
Buckle pulls into the gas station. There’s a black SUV I suspect belongs to the wolf pack. Buckle parks and we all get out. Even the occupants of the SUV.
All three have white hair. The tallest nods to the entrance of the gas station and we follow.
We follow through the gas station until we’re in an office in the back. There are three desks, one with three monitors. It seems more like an operations room than a gas station back office.
“Have a seat,” the taller one waves to the open chairs.
“Rather stand,” I say, even as my legs shake.
“I’m Jax,” the taller one says. “That’s Cal and Harry.” Jax points to the other two.
“He/him for all of us.”
Perry introduces us, then it’s my turn to explain the situation.
“Essentially, I’m the Kettle heir and I’m afraid my parents are going to try to marry me off to someone I don’t know.” Or worse, someone I know and hate.
Jax nods. “Hawk Ridge is archaic, and we’ve been watching them for years. Sounds like something they’d do. We can help.”
“There is the matter of getting into the compound, though,” Cal says.
Buckle snaps his head towards me. “Compound?”
Harry chuckles. “Hawk Ridge is basically a cult that thinks they’re run by royalty. It’s a huge compound with little chickadee’s parents running the show after they killed their parents. They probably shipped Abel off, thinking he’d kill them for power.”
“What?!” I pop back to my feet. “I’ve never even dreamed of it.”
Perry rubs his hand up my arm. “We know.”
My legs shake and I wrap my arms around myself. “I didn’t realize it was a cult until much later. They worship the sky and Alphas and Omegas, so the leaders having a single Beta child was the worse thing in their eyes.”
“Now,” Jax starts. “If they’re like other avian cults we’ve run into, the perimeter magic won’t let anyone not already connected to the place in.”
“I can’t go in alone.” I grab Buckle’s and Perry’s hands.
“You don’t have to,” Harry says. “We’ll each need a feather from you. It’ll mask us with your signature.”
“Feathers are...” I close my mouth. Feathers are sacred, is something my parents would have said. “I can give everyone a feather. I’ll shift and you can pluck them from me.”
Before I can change my mind, I shift. My clothes drift around me and I hop onto one of the desks. I should have told them where not to pluck, but it’ll be fine.
Jax tugs at one from my neck, and I shake when he gets it free. Not exactly the nicest feeling, but if it’ll get everyone in the compound, I don’t care. He plucks more and passes the feathers out.
I don’t really want to shift naked in front of everyone. Buckle tips his head to the door as if he reads my mind. The wolf pack leaves so I can shift and dress again. Perry lets the wolves back in while I shake in a chair.
“These should be good,” Cal says.
“What’s the plan, then?” Buckle asks.
Jax grins. “The three of you are going to do what you planned. Tell Abel’s parents he’s not theirs anymore, then leave. We’ll flank you and make sure no one comes after you. If they do.” All three give grins that can only be described as wolfish. “We’ll have a bit of fun.”
“What if they try something inside?” I ask. “We’ll have to go to the throne room.”
Harry hands me what looks like one of those silly button pins with a smiley face.
“Press this and we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
“What about the enforcers?” I ask.
“Childs play,” Cal smirks. “We’ve seen how they train. No one’s tried to go up against your parents in a long, long time. They’ve grown complacent. We can take them.”
I swallow and nod. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
Jax smacks his hands together and whoops. “Let’s hope for a clean, easy, boring mission. We could really use one of those.”
We file out of the office and climb back into our vehicles. The wolves drive behind us and they’ll park some place else and come in shifted. There are a few wolves that live in Hawk Ridge, at least there used to be, so they shouldn’t raise an alarm just by being here.
There’s a shimmer over the truck as we drive through the barrier. Instantly, ravens flank us.
Perry takes my hand and holds it to his chest. “We have you. You’re safe. No one is taking you away from us.”
“I’m sorry.” I breathe deeply a few times. “You probably shouldn’t be in such a stressful situation. It’s not good for the baby.”
“Squirrels, like hawks, are resilient. Don’t worry about the baby. They’ll be strong and healthy.” He kisses my knuckles again, and it soothes me.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Everything is going to be fine. My parents have no hold over me. Hawk Ridge has no hold over me. I’m free to love my mates. This is just a formality. Show them they don’t own me.
Buckle parks the truck, but instead of moving to leave, he grabs my face and kisses me so deeply I can’t breathe. When we part, he nods. “Nothing is going to get you.”
I nod and squeeze his hand. I turn to kiss Perry. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Buckle slides from the truck, and I follow. Perry meets us and takes my free hand. We might look silly hand in hand, but I don’t care. Out of the corners of my eyes, I sense the wolf pack. They’re following, but not in a way that seems intentional to anyone but us.
Anya shifts in front of us. She spits at my feet. “Traitor.”
“I can’t be a traitor. I was kicked out. Banished until I was needed.” I let go of my mates’s hands and stomp up to her. “You can’t have me now.”
“So why did you come?”
“Because there’s this pesky tie to Hawk Ridge I need severed and if I hadn’t of come, you and my parents would haunt me for the rest of my life. I’m sure my parents are still scheming a way to marry me off to some unsuspecting partner that doesn’t know I already have Fated mates.”
Anya sneers as she looks from Perry to Buckle. “They smell like prey.”
“They smell like my mates and you’ll treat them with the respect they’re due.” I step around her and make my way through the door and down the hall to the throne room of my parents.
My courage lasts as long as the hall. As soon as I get to the threshold of the throne room, I stop. The ravens guarding the doors glare at me, but push the huge doors open.
A crowd mills around. I’m not sure if they knew I’d be here and want to witness the spectacle or what, but I march my way towards the twin thrones. Towards taking back my future. Perry and Buckle warm my back. They’re so close. Neither tries to stop me.
When my mother sees me, she holds up a hand. Father claps and the soft music from the small orchestra in the corner stops. They’d always been so theatrical. So stuck in ways they’d conjured up in their own dreams.
“Ah, son,” mother’s cool voice says the word and I snarl.
“Who are you calling, son? You threw me away for being a Beta.”
“Yes, well, it was to be expected. But we’ve found a match that doesn’t care that you’re a Beta and she’ll bring crow magic to the Kettle. We’ve been missing crows.”
“No! Fate blessed me with two mates, and I will not betray them for a marriage I don’t want. I will not play your games any longer. I’m a free man. And I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that I’m gay.”
Mother tips her head and examines me. “She’s the only one willing to marry you, despite your flaws.”
I grind my teeth. “Those are not flaws.”
She waves her hand around. “To some they are.”
Perry steps out. I grab his hand and tug him close. He doesn’t know mother is keeping her talons tucked in.
She tips her head again. Her nose wrinkles. “Prey.”
Father stands and opens his arms. “Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding. Maybe Fate made a mistake.”
I laugh, but it’s brittle. “Fate said I was worthy of love when you kept it from me. My own parents. No. Hawk Ridge is dead to me. You’re dead to me. If you try to take me from the life I’ve built, there will be consequences.”
Mother scoffs. “Like what?”
I take a few steps. “Do you really want to know?” My hawk practically takes over without fully shifting. My expression must change because my mother’s face morphs into fear. Father gasps and trips over himself to get away from me.
You’ll have to tell me what that was about, I tell my hawk when he sinks back into me.
Just a little Beta magic I’ve been hiding.
I chuckle to myself. Whatever works. “Do we have a problem?”
Mother glares at me. I’m sure she’d release her talons if there wasn’t such a big audience. “The laws require a blood sacrifice to sever your ties, and you know it.”
That’s what I’d forgotten. That’s how I’ll truly be free. They didn’t require the blood sacrifice when they kicked me out because they knew they still wanted to use me. “Then give me a knife.”
“Surely,” father starts. “We can work something out.” He looks to mother, and she shakes her head.
“He’s a Beta. Let him go,” she says.
“He’s our son.”
I step back. He’s trying to play games. He was the one that filled mother’s head with the idea of sending me away in the first place.
“I don’t trust you. You’re not going to play good cop, bad cop with me. Give me a knife.”
Buckle hands me a switchblade and I cock a brow.
He shrugs. “Never know when you might need a weapon.”
I turn on my heel and march out the side door and to the outdoor altar they always have set up. Dozens of blue stones decorate the wooden altar. It’s beautiful, really, with mirrors reflecting the sky, but I don’t dwell on it.
Generations of hawks all worship the sky.
Not a sky god, but the sky itself. Sky magic binds this family to Hawk Ridge. My parents could send me away, but keep me tied here because I never gave the magic a sacrifice. Our connection ends today.
My parents, mates, and the entire crowd follow me to the crystal bowl clear for sacrifices. I search my brain for long forgotten words. A lullaby telling me exactly how to free myself if I had only listened.
“Sky above, I love you so, but I need to go. I release my claim as heir and wish for skies so clear.” I slash the blade across my palm and let blood drip into the bowl, staining the crystalline clean water red. Pain radiates in my hand and I clutch it to my chest. “Satisfied?”
“We must wait for the response,” mother says.
“No. I’m done.” I wipe the blade on my shirt and hand it back to Buckle. “We’re leaving.”
“You’re waiting for the response, you little shit. You might still belong to us.” Father yanks me by the arm so hard pain vibrates up it. Buckle and Perry lunge toward me, but I shake my head.
I’d forgotten all about the wolf pack until they snarl close. Yes, let the wolves scare my parents.
I struggle in my father’s hold. He’s stronger than I remember. “Release me.”
“Who let the dogs in?” mother screeches. “Get them out of here.” Anya and her ravens close in.
The clouds hanging in the sky part, letting bright sunshine warm the field. We all lift our faces to the sky.
“It’s a sign,” someone whispers.
“The sky gives its blessing,” another says.
“The prince is free,” another person says.
“No!” Mother yells. Apparently, she had hoped the sky would reject my request. “He needs to secure our future. Without him—”
“Be quiet!” father shouts. “You don’t want everyone to know the truth.”
Without me, what? “I hope Hawk Ridge rots around you.”
“You little shit,” father lifts his hand as if to strike me, but one of the wolves grabs his other hand instead and doesn’t let go. Father screams as the ground shakes for only a moment.
“What the fuck is happening?” Buckle asks.
“Something the hawks forgot about apparently,” an older woman says as she steps close. She seems vaguely familiar, but I can’t place her.
The crystal bowl on the altar shatters. Mother screams and rushes to it. She tries to put it back together and fails. “This is your fault.” She lunges at me, but the wolves keep her from reaching me. In her anger, she must forget she can shift because she stays behind the furry barrier.
The woman unknown to me nods to the wolf pack and places a hand on my shoulder. “You grew up to be so handsome, Abel.” She cups my cheek, and she’s so warm. “I was your nanny.”
“Pyra,” I whisper a name I hadn’t said in so long.
“Yes, sweet hawkling. I’ve missed you.”
“Get away from him, you old hag,” father says. He’s still wrestling with the wolf.
“Release him, please,” I say. Reluctantly, the wolf does and gives me serious side-eye as he does. Red stains his white fur and I’m not sure which wolf it is.
Pyra leads us to the benches by the altar. “Your family forgot the important of Betas. Especially Beta hawks. You have a protective magic Alphas and Omegas don’t possess. It helps balance the power. No one designation should have it all. Without everyone’s talents, everything crumbles.”
I look around. The crowd. Innocents that don’t deserve to have their world crumble. “What will happen here?” I ask.
Pyra shrugs. “Your parents are still in charge, unless...” she looks around at the angry faces of the crowd.
“Unless they abdicate. Or we push them out. They’ve held on to power this long because of you.
You may have been gone, but your protection was still tied to Hawk Ridge.
Now that you’ve declared your freedom, your parents can’t keep their claim.
They threw away the one thing they needed to stay in power. ”
“Lies!” father shouts. “You always did like to fill him up with lies.”
I ball my hands. My heart aches for the life that could have been, but I never want to think about the past again. Not if I can help it. No. My future is bright and shiny with two mates I adore.
“Go home, love,” Pyra says. “We’re resilient people. You need to rest and enjoy your mates. Six months goes in a flash and then you’ll have three babies to look after.”
I blink up at her and Perry presses his hands to his flat stomach. “Three?”
“Yep, one for each of you.” Pyra boops me on the nose. “I’m so proud of the man you’ve become. You’re brave and strong. Fate and the sky smiles on you.”
“Thank you.” I open my arms and we hug, lingering in the familiar love radiating from her.
“I’m glad you’re not trapped anymore. Go, fly free hawkling.”
She turns to hug Perry and whispers some advice I can’t hear. Then she hugs Buckle and does the same. The crowd parts, so many talk about leadership and changing the old ways, removing the old magic. I wish them luck.
The wolves escort us back to the truck and my legs won’t stop shaking. I collapse right as we get to the truck and laugh. “I need to fly. Meet you at the gas station.” And with that, I’m a hawk.