Chapter 36
Diaval
Don't let her come down here... Easton keeps yelling in my head. You need to fix it before she comes in.
I thought he was irritating before.
It's when I step into the room that I understand his panic.
Her mother's skull is stuck on the end of a post of the baby's crib. The skeleton is splayed out as if crucified.
"Bloody fucking hell."
The sight nearly brings me to my knees. This woman—Feray's mother—died in agony. Died protecting her child. And whatever killed her wanted to make a statement.
A little warning would have been nice, crispy. I fire at Easton through our mythic bond.
Doing the best I can, I rearrange the crime scene so it's not so horrific for Feray to see. I remove all evidence of her having been impaled or crucified.
The room is a war zone. You can tell the Luna put up a hell of a fight and probably outlasted the alpha. A cornered mother fights her hardest when her baby is nearby.
With that thought in mind, I look around.
In the closet appears to be a place where she could have hidden the baby. Maybe she did hide her? Maybe Fiadh's parents were due for a visit and found the scene. They found Thyra, renamed her similar to their daughter, and ran.
That's the most palatable version I can come up with.
The big questions linger: Why would the alpha and Luna run? Why were they being hunted? Who would benefit from the tundra being in chaos?
There are two wolves that hold seats of power on the council or in the library. Neither has half the strength my mate has. Hell, she doesn't know about half the strength she has.
The hidey-hole in the closet's bottom was brilliant of her father. From what I remember of the alpha, he was a master woodworker. He probably constructed this as a failsafe for his daughter. It's wide enough and deep enough to hide a toddler if needed.
Shaking my head, I look around, thinking about the fear that must have coursed through the Luna in her final moments. She knew this was going to be her last battle.
She died protecting her daughter. It's the greatest honor for any parent. The survival of our young is of the utmost importance.
When I'm positive the room won't add any unneeded trauma to my mate, I call for everyone to enter.
Feray enters first. I watch her nose working overtime. Every twitch and sudden turn of her head makes me study where she's looking.
"It was one of those things..." she states, staring at a dried bloody hoof print.
Fucking hell. I didn't see that.
Splaying her hand wide, she swipes at the wall where the claw marks are, then turns. There's a deadness in her gaze, as if she's looking right through me.
Her fingers trace the edge of the crib. On the headboard, her name is painted: Thyra Feray Jokull.
She reaches out and touches her name, running her fingertips over the letters.
Something in me breaks watching her. This was supposed to be her nursery. These walls were meant to echo with her laughter, not stand as a tomb for her mother.
I step into her personal space and hug her from behind. "What do you need of me, my eternal? Name it. It's yours."
I kiss her temple, and her frame remains rigid.
"I want them to burn."
Her voice rings hollow. But her desire for retribution makes my dragon pay attention.
Moving quickly, I kneel before my mate and take her hands in mine, staring up at her. "Who? Who do you want to burn?"
I give her hands a squeeze as I watch her gaze fall to her mother's skeleton.
"The ones that stole them from me."
A growl escapes her lips that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Her canines have descended as she grits her teeth, staring at me. The full fury of her wolf blazes in her eyes.
She's on the verge of using her alpha bark and doesn't know it. Honestly, I don't know if because of our bond I can resist the command.
"My eternal, I will torch the entire valley and mountains if I thought it would help. For now, let's lay your parents to rest and salvage what we can. We can hunt for those responsible after we're done."
I slowly stand and draw her into my arms. She's trembling. I'm not sure if it's from rage or pain.
Either can be deadly with her right now.
"Okay..." she says against my chest.
Just before the sobbing begins.
Torben motions for me to tighten my grip, hold her tighter. I adjust, and the sobs turn to wails. I can feel the pain bleeding out of her.
She cries until there's no noise—just shudders of her body.
My dragon croons to her, his rumble settling something in her.
Easton lands on the rail nearby and uses his beak under her elbow to get her attention.
"Fuck, I need to feed you." She uses her sleeves to swipe at her eyes.
"That can wait. Finish what you need to here first. We'll go back to the alpha house when you're done, then plan our next move." I kiss the crown of her head and release her.
Feray moves around the room looking at everything, including the hiding place in the closet. She finds a small bear and a pacifier in the clothes.
Carefully, she pulls out each piece of clothing and looks at it.
"They must have tried hiding me in their clothing," she muses.
Khal kneels alongside her. "I can only guess they used their scents to keep you calm and quiet in your hiding place." He shows her how the lid works, closing the hiding spot.
Feray nods along, listening to Khal. It's unnerving watching how detached she is.
"She's doing better than I anticipated," Torben mentions, watching Feray and Khal dig through the closet.
Slowly, I turn to look at him. "She almost used her alpha bark on me to burn them to the ground." I enunciate every word so the gravity sinks in. "I think her parents unconsciously willed their daughter both of their powers."
"What if they did it on purpose? What if whatever is after them, they believe she needs the power?"
It's now that I truly start to look around. The destruction. How long the Luna must have held on.
"Worse..." I pull Torben out of the room, and Easton follows, gliding to land on his shoulder.
"Hear me out. Dad wills his mate his power to help her protect their daughter.
" I motion to the bottom of the stairs, then to where we found the Luna.
"Mom, knowing deep in her soul her daughter would be hunted forever, willed her their combined powers. "
I glance over my shoulder to the room, making sure she hasn't followed.
"Then that means she holds the alpha's and Luna's powers." Torben glances back at the doorway, then at me.
"We need an alpha we can trust to help train her."
Shaking my head, I look down. "The three of us will have to do it. Khal is a lover, not a fighter. For once, I would love to have his twin here to piss her off so we can safely see what she's capable of."
Torben's large hand rests on my shoulder, and he nods. "I can teach her to control the rage."
He nods before turning back to the room our mate is in.
"We're going to be stuck with the heavy lifting on the healing and alpha bark lessons." I look at Easton as he flies over and lands on my shoulder.
I walk us back into the room. Feray is finishing wrapping her mother's bones. Her eyes lock with mine, and they're all wolf.
"We need to feed Easton and lay my parents to rest. They've waited long enough."
She takes the cloth filled with bones and walks past me, heading toward the stairs.
"What did I miss?" Khal holds several items from the room in his arms.
"She knows her mother died saving her. She figured out that the answers she seeks are in the tundra somewhere."
He pulls out a map from the belongings. Along the margin is a history of which alpha and which Luna came from what town. Hundreds of years of wolf history written down.
Her mom came from Crescent Valley. Her father from Dunnum.
Looking down the list of names, I remember most of them. Some were righteous leaders. Others were borderline mad with power.
"They should match up with the names on her family tree somewhere." Khal walks down the hallway, following Feray out of the house.
Easton and I bring up the rear and come outside to find Feray shifted, digging in the middle of the yard. Torben's bear is using its massive paws to move the soil she's kicking out of the hole.
"She's making quick work of the yard."
"This isn't how we wanted her to find her parents." Khal stands holding the bags of bones. "The only bright side is that she knows what happened to them instead of never finding them."
He stares down at the pile of Feray's and Torben's clothing. The box holding the amulets rests on top, placed there reverently.
"I want to know who made the amulets."
Glancing away from the box, I see a very naked Feray walking over toward us.
"I'm going to send them to Fi. Maybe she can sense who made them."
Feray gets dressed and takes the bones from Khal, walking over to the pit she made. Torben's bear is dropping pieces of the house into the pit to burn.
When Feray approaches the hole, she leaps down and lays the bags how she wants them. Torben leans down, lowering his head for her to use to get out.
"Easton." Feray raises a hand, and he flies to her. "Torch them. Send them to the afterlife."
He nods, then rises off her and ignites.
Gone are the dull plumes of his peacock-like form. Every feather burns as bright as the sun as he hovers over the pile. A cone of what looks like pure magma comes out of his beak, burning everything on contact.
The flames dance in Feray's eyes, but she doesn't flinch. She watches her parents turn to ash with the same dead stare that's been haunting her face since we entered that nursery.
Something within her has snapped. I don't think there's a way to go back to how things were.
My innocent, sweet mate is forever changed, having seen how her parents died.
When Easton is satisfied with the fire, he extinguishes his flames and lands on Feray's arm. She walks away with him as if nothing has happened and starts feeding him the venison Khal brought back.
Later that night...
Feray lies curled up with her head on my lap, flaming locks fanned out in all directions. If I were to suspect anyone of being a phoenix, it would have been her with her hair color.
Sometime while Feray sleeps, Easton regains his human form and starts working with Khal on the items Feray retrieved.
Easton comes over and sits beside me, showing me the map and the filled-in names on Feray's family tree.
As I suspected, she is the last true-born Luna.
What will this mean for the sisters? Feray's place is on the throne in Crescent Valley. The witch will end up being the queen alongside Revelin when he ascends.
Feray slowly rouses from her sleep and rubs her eyes, staring at Easton.
"You're back!"
She turns and lunges at him, tackling him to the ground, covering him in kisses. Her wolf is making happy sounds in the back of her throat.
My heart eases watching this. There's my girl. Still in there, under all that grief and rage.
"Thanks to you, my flame." He kisses her back and hugs her to him.
"That was probably one of your faster resurrections. Good job, old friend." Smirking, I help him sit up.
"What do you mean?" Feray wraps her arms protectively around Easton, holding him to her ample chest.
"What he means is sometimes it takes me a month to return to normal. You and Khal kept me fed with pure protein, so it was easier to grow faster and regenerate." Easton smiles and kisses her cheek.
"Oh, okay..." Feray looks over at Torben as he stands by the pit, watching everything burn.
"The fire may attract unwanted attention." I stand and watch the woods.
Feray frees herself from Easton's grasp and looks around. "Let them come. I'm done running and hiding."
The steel in her voice makes my dragon perk up. He's watching and listening intently.
"Ro, I need you." Feray calls for the pixie that looks like a throwback to the punk era of the eighties.
"Oooh, something changed..." Ro says as she manifests on Feray's palm.
Before Feray can make the motion, I pick up the box containing the amulets and open it for her.
How did I know that's what she wanted?
Feray reaches in and takes one amulet out, offering it to Ro. "Take this directly to the prince. I want to know who made these. If they are still living, I want to know why they were made and who contracted them."
Ro takes the amulet and almost looks concerned. "You don't want me to give it to your sister?"
"No. It's safer if she's not involved. The prince has armies he can command to keep himself safe. My sister has a penchant for getting into fights or finding trouble. If she asks, tell her I said to do it."
Feray keeping something from Fiadh is unusual, but her assessment of her sister is spot on. Fiadh would blindly go to war if she thought it would help or save Feray.
"As you wish..." Ro looks over at me as if for help.
"Oh no, little one. I will not cross my mate. Do as she asks. Seek out the prince."
Turning my gaze skyward, I study the moon phase. "The full moon is in three days' time. We will wait till then before moving on."
Ro hugs the amulet to her chest and vanishes from sight.
"What happens on the full moon?" Feray moves to stand before me, her lithe hands sliding under my suit jacket to rest over my hips.
"The hidden pass to Dunnum becomes visible at midnight to any wolf seeking to find it."
Bending down, I press my lips to her forehead.
We could be walking into the biggest trap in the history of traps. Or it will be a winter wonderland where Feray finds all the answers she's ever needed.
Hopefully, there's family left alive worth having, so she's not so alone.
A wolf needs its pack as much as the pack needs its Luna. As much as the guys and I try, we can never do as a pack can do for her. We can't hunt like she does or move as fast as she can.
Our future rests in my arms, her head on my chest, listening to the steady beating of my heart.
All the years of my existence, I have never dreaded the moon changing its phase as much as I do now.
Traversing the cavern into the arctic wolf territory will not be without its perils. The tundra, when we reach Crescent Valley, will render mine and Khal's shifted forms useless. It will be far too cold for us to shift if we're needed.
Torben and I have already had this discussion at length. His and Feray's shifts are meant for extreme weather. Though I'm concerned he will want to hibernate. He says being mated to Feray has destroyed that drive, that somehow her wolf is keeping his bear awake.
There's more to our mate than meets the eye.
I, for one, cannot wait to see all that she is to become.