Chapter 28
I watch, completely captivated by my mate’s anxious pacing, his Kelpie form magnificent in the moonlight, but his agitated movements worry me.
Is he worried…or is he angry?
That’s when I realize I can’t sense him, which sends my mind reeling.
Did I block him out completely?
But then I look closer at all three of the powerful beasts. The prowling wolf and the large saber-toothed cat sitting silently, the only thing giving him away that he is real, is the slight twitch of his tail. None of them are looking my way, as if none of them can sense me, smell me, hear me.
“Can they not sense me?” I ask my familiars, worried that something else has happened.
Indy chuckles. “No, Mistress. I put up a ward so those busy bodies wouldn’t interrupt us performing that delicate ritual. But they will the moment you step out of the tree line.”
Now understanding why they are all so agitated, I quickly step out from the shadows, breaking the ward and hoping that they aren’t too mad. Along with the ward breaking comes the weight of the shame I thought I shed. I walk quietly out of the woods, my shoulders sagging and my head drooping.
Indy swats at my thigh, making me stumble slightly.
“Hold your head high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. They are lucky to be in your presence. You do not cower before them.”
I look at him, seeing the confidence and pride he has for me. Beretta nudges me gently, and my shoulders straighten. My head tilts up in time to see the startled gazes that focus on me from across the lawn. All their movements still, taking in the sight of me and my familiars.
With their gazes on me, the last echo of that ethereal power recedes from my body. I feel utterly exposed standing beside my guardians, both having chosen to remain in their true forms.
A large dark shadow passes overhead, a whisper of wings on the wind brushes my ears as a huge eagle lands softly on the ground next to the wolf I know is Aiden. And then there are four.
As if an invisible tether snaps, Don barrels towards me, his four legs eating up the distance between us. I stand my ground, confident in the fact he won’t trample over me. Our bond unfurls the closer he gets to me.
Hot steam snorts out of his enlarged nostrils. His wide mouth gapes open, showing off his sharp teeth, and still I don’t move. He skids to a stop, his front four-toed feet digging into the ground as his hind hooves slide along the slick grass.
“Where have you been, mate?” His voice is incredibly deep and powerful in this form.
Holy shit he spoke out loud.
I’m so in awe of his deadly beauty, but I find the words that he needs to hear.
“I was cleansing the fallen’s soul. I had to do it before it was lost to the darkness.” My voice is quiet but calm.
The Kelpie’s head dips, further assessing every part of me, deeply inhaling my scent.
His long pointed tongue snakes out of his wide mouth, licking up the length of my neck, tasting the magic still lingering on my skin.
I shiver at his touch, my heart beginning to race, not from fear, but from desire.
“I heard your song—we all did—but I couldn’t get to you. ”
A rumbling snarl breaks through before he continues. “My mate, my beautiful mate. I couldn’t reach you, and it enraged me.”
I can’t stand still any longer. I need to touch him, feel him. My hands creep up the smooth silky coat of his wide muscled chest, trailing them up the sides of his massive curved neck. His muscles ripple in my hands’ wake.
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
My voice comes out breathy with a slight waver.
“Are you angry with me?”
A frustrated snort is all he gets out before Brent’s dark growl answers me instead.
“Are we angry, princess?”
A snarl rumbles through the air between them, and suddenly the feeling of being prey creeps up my spine.
“Are we angry that you left the house without telling one of us? Are we angry you put yourself in unnecessary danger? Are we angry that you shut us out and let us wonder what was happening to you?”
His voice quiets to a deep, dark whisper right into my ear, making a small gasp leave my parted lips.
“If you were my mate, I would paddle your ass so hard you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”
My spine stiffens as Donovan’s voice barks out. “Brent, that’s enough.”
But Brent isn’t done, and his next words make a burning ache build deep inside me.
“In fact, I might still, just for taking my car and scaring the shit out of us.” The feelings that rush through my body leave me feeling confused.
What is he doing to me? Why am I feeling this way? He’s not my mate.
Donovan, having enough of Brent’s threatening, snaps his teeth at him causing Brent to quickly sidestep out of the way.
“I said, that is enough.”
The energy in the air shifts, and Brent’s black saber-toothed beast bursts out of his body in a shift so fluid that I almost miss the change. I back up slightly, and a brush of a shadow lets me know that Indy and Beretta aren’t far behind me.
This is the first time I’ve gotten a true look at Brent’s beast, and I stare in awe at the sight of him.
His beast rivals even Donovan’s Kelpie in size; he’s that massive.
Eyes the brightest of emerald greens contrast deeply with his dark black coat, and silver stripes run down the length of his spine up to the tip of his long tufted tail.
Muscles ripple under his fur. He looks soft, and a part of me wants to run my hands through his thick coat. I frown slightly at that thought.
He’s not a house cat for Christ sake .
That urging, I’m beginning to realize, is my beast deep within me. I thought she had gone too deep for me to feel her, like the rest of my power, but she is still present enough for me to be aware of her. That brings a sense of calmness to my inner turmoil.
I’ve felt her gaining strength over these last few months, but in the presence of these men, these beasts, my inner self feels as if she will finally burst from my skin. Especially after all that power pulsed through my body earlier.
A deep snarl leaves Brent’s beast, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise, and I brace myself for the fight that seems to be imminent between the two powerful predators.
As their muscles bunch in preparation to battle, an even deeper snarl echoes through the night causing us all to pause.
Having enough of their posturing, Beretta and Indy, still in their true forms, step out of the shadows.
They flank me, eyes glowing, assessing for threats to me, their mistress.
Don and Brent both eye the familiars, doing some assessing of their own.
“If you are quite done with your posturing nonsense, our mistress is weary and needs rest and care after the day she has had. The behavior you are lowering yourself to is distasteful. I would think you would put all this energy into finding the being that continues to taunt and threaten her and you all instead of questioning her.” Indy hisses out.
Beretta growls her agreement before gently licking my cheek.
I touch her skulled snout, feeling the power vibrating underneath.
It’s strange, I would have expected that my skull-faced hound would have hot rancid breath of something decaying, but it’s pleasant.
Like a comforting fall morning, warm and spiced with a hint of herbs.
She nudges my hand and swipes it with her tongue as well, and I can’t help the tender smile that touches the corner of my mouth.
Camden clears his throat behind Don and Brent, having shifted during the argument.
“Guys, he’s right. Don, your mate is dead on her feet, and we need to get a better angle on this whole situation.
This has gone beyond just us. We almost got exposed today, and I know both you and Aiden can’t afford to have your positions on the force questioned with everything that has gone on.
We need to reassess and possibly call in backup. ”
Brent and Don shift back simultaneously giving each other a nod of understanding and forgiveness. Brent turns briefly towards me, eyeing me warily. I don’t like him looking at me like that.
“Don’t do that again, Kinley. You scared all of us; you have to take your safety seriously. You’re too important.”
He doesn’t wait for me to reply; he just turns on his heel and quickly strides back to the house. My heart aches at the sight of his retreating back.
I slept fitfully that night. Even wrapped in my mate’s arms and being utterly exhausted, my dreams are plagued with images that I find both confusing and terrifying. I toss and turn, but every time sleep claims me, my mind is assaulted.
Chanting fills my ears, the words unknown, but I feel the urgency and desperation behind them.
I keep trying to call out, but the voices don’t answer.
They never do; they just continue to chant.
If only I could find them and ask what it all means, but my limbs are so heavy, and I never know what direction to turn.
And then there is that voice.
“My little doe…I will find you…they can’t keep me from you…you’re mine,” It growls at me, but soon the chanting drowns the voice out, like always.
Why can’t I see anything? Why can’t I move?
And then the ground disappears and I’m falling, falling so fast, and there is nothing for me to grab onto.
I try to scream, but no sound leaves my throat.
My fall seems to go on for eternity, but I’m halted by hands reaching out and jerking me abruptly.
I get pulled through a rift in space, into a void where no light or sound exists. I’m alone, all my senses deprived.
And just when I think I can’t stand it any longer and that I will surely go mad, brightness assaults my eyes, and my other senses engage.
I find that I’m facing myself, but my appearance is strange.
My eyes glow from within and my clothes are so odd; it’s me…but not.
“Where am I?”
The other version of myself just smiles knowingly, but says nothing.
“I don’t understand what any of this means. Can you help me?”
Again my counterpart says nothing.
“Please, why am I here?”
It’s no use. I never get the answers I need. Without saying a word the other turns and begins to walk away. Seeing her walk away makes my desperation climb, but before she gets too far away she turns and beckons me to follow.
I follow her endlessly through fields, forests, across a little bridge with a trickling creek below, but still we reach no apparent destination.
I don’t bother calling out anymore. She remains silent and doesn’t look back.
I lose sight of her as she disappears around a structure that appears out of nowhere. No, I can’t let her get away!
I try to speed up, but my legs are now heavy and uncooperative.
It takes so much time to finally make it around the structure.
Fully expecting to find the weird version of myself waiting for me, I’m shocked when I am met with a new figure, cloaked in fabric that seems to shimmer and flow around them on a vacant wind.
The figure reaches out a delicate feminine hand, beckoning me closer.
“Can you help me?” I ask as I approach the figure slowly. “I can’t make sense of anything that is happening; I need help.”
An ethereal voice, both young and old, answers from deep within the hooded cowl. “Dear heart, your journey has been long…longer than any others. None before you have faced what you have and made it before me. I only hope you continue to do so for what lies ahead.”
“Why do these things keep happening to me? Why don’t I remember who I am supposed to be?”
“Events occurred long before your birth into this world, setting in motion the obstacles you have been asked to face. You have done so well, even without the necessary knowledge.”
“But why can’t you tell me? Why does no one seem to know where I came from, or what I am?”
“Not even I can reveal that.”
My head bows in defeat.
“I don’t even know where I belong.”
A cool gentle touch tilts my head up, and I stare mesmerizingly into the face of ultimate beauty, the face that only a goddess could possess.
“My dear Chosen, you are exactly where you are meant to be, with the ones that are meant to aid you in this journey. Stay the path, and all will be right in the end.”
I try to respond, to ask anything more, but time has run out. It always runs out.
My vision dims, and my body slowly fades away.
I try to fight, to remain in the presence of the woman, but I can’t keep myself present.
I try so hard to reach out and anchor myself to the figure, but my body no longer connects with my mind.
The figure steps away, not attempting to help me stay in their presence, but just before they fade away from me completely, they say one parting comment.
“Thank you for guiding the fallen to me. They made it safely.”
“Baby, wake up, you’re dreaming.”
Don’s voice jolts me awake, breaking through the fog of my mind, pulling me back into reality. I blink blearily at him, trying to make sense of where I am and what I saw within that dream. Our eyes connect, and I see the worry written all over his face.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks softly.
“Can we talk about it later? I’m still so tired.”
His lips gently kiss my forehead, lingering for a moment.
“Of course, baby. I will be right here when you’re ready.”
I don’t even know if I will be able to fall back to sleep, but I don’t want to dredge up the pain and confusion of everything that occurred the day before. I also don’t want to try and decipher what my dreams are about.
So, I close my eyes, bring my body as close to Don’s as is feasibly possible, and try to push the bad feelings away for the time being.
In the morning, when the sun is shining, I will talk. Maybe in the light of day, the events of yesterday will be a little less traumatic, and I can finally make sense of what is truly happening.
Maybe, I will tell them all what I felt and saw in those woods, in my dreams. Maybe, they will be able to help me make sense of it all.
Maybe, I can trust Don and his clan brothers with a little more of my heart and soul.
Maybe, I can let them in and finally accept that I’m not alone.
I just need the courage to let them in. Can I do it?