Her Night Wolf (Fall Mountain Shifters Book 5), page 10
I hate it.
Cenwyn will not win this war. He can’t.
I close my eyes for a second, pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind. I have a job to do. I’ve spent the last five days sorting out the weapons Persephone led us to and giving them to our army and the angels. Deimos, Indra, and Niall pass me by as they carry on taking down weapons from the walls. They incline their heads before going back to their conversation. It’s been nice to have them around the castle, even if Deimos likes to run around the castle at two in the morning to keep fit. Silas has been joining him. They are both insane.
I glance at the carts lining the room, and how many weapons are in them. We think there are just under four thousand magical weapons in this room. I’m sure each one was owned by someone in Hades’s army years ago. I head through the room, to the secret doors we found on day two. The room leads off to a long corridor with several domed areas attached to it. We are working to get the weapons out of here, and then angels are taking them as quickly as they can around the city to all the wolves and angels, evenly spreading them out between their best fighters.
I come to a grinding halt when I step into the room I left an hour ago. Breelyn is right where I was, taking a big axe off the wall and putting it into a cart. Callahan is on the other side of the room, and he turns, sensing me here. I wasn’t using my senses, and I should have as I would have known he came down here. He nods at me and looks between us before he turns away. I blow out a breath and keep my eyes on Breelyn.
“Do you want me to leave?” I softly question.
I feel like I’m putting my heart out there for her, and I wouldn’t be shocked if she stomps on it. I haven’t seen her since what happened in training, and I don’t think I will ever forget the way she looked at me. Like I was evil. I’ve tried to discuss it with her by going to her room, but she never answered the door, and I’m not going to make her talk to me.
She’s completely ignoring me, and I don’t blame her. I made a mistake. I don’t feel sorry is going to cut it at this point. I should have told her, not Silas, not in the way it came out.
It wasn’t really a secret, not in my eyes, but I should have known it would hurt her.
“No, don’t leave,” she says, and my chest could collapse with relief.
I do notice something different as I walk in and pull my cart into the middle of the room. Breelyn and Callahan scent like each other, and it’s a deep connection, I’m sensing. Not quite a mating bond, but something has definitely changed. I try not to smile at it, because I am very happy for my friends.
But right at this moment, I’m still terrified that I’ve lost my best friend. I never knew I needed a female friend until she was in my life, and despite our very rocky beginning, we were close. She walks up to me and pauses. “Callahan explained everything from the start, and I really hate that it happened.”
I gulp.
“I hate that you didn’t tell me when you had definitely had the opportunity to. I think I was jealous, and I reacted worse than I should have. I should have known you’d never have done that without a damn good reason.”
“I should have told you, and I’m so sorry for all of it,” I tell her. “It’s not like that between Callahan and me, and it could never be.”
“You’re good friends and that’s it,” she agrees. “Anyone could see that.”
Callahan stays silent, but I can tell he is listening to everything. “And you had no choice. You’d both be dead if it didn’t happen.”
“It really did mean nothing, and I honestly didn’t treat it as a secret. I showed the alphas, and they haven’t gone mad about it because they can see in my mind, and they can see it meant nothing. I just couldn’t let him die, and he needed to feed, and there was no one else, nothing else to save him.”
“I forgive you, Mai,” she says, cutting off my rambling. “Everything has gone to hell recently, and I love you. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, but you can forgive me for calling Silas a dickhead.”
I chuckle. “No, I agree with that statement. Trust me, I told him off for the whole thing.”
She smiles at me and looks over at Callahan but speaks to me. “I’m sure you’re impatiently waiting for one of us to tell you about the elephant in the room.”
I grin. “Are you two mated? I can’t tell, maybe because of the angel-wolf mix.”
“We are promised. It is an angel tradition, and I am going to ask you and the alphas for permission to take Breelyn as my mate later today,” Callahan tells me. Breelyn blushes, and I resist the urge to tease her a little.
“Well, my answer is yes, and I’m certain my alphas will not mind me giving you the permission,” I say, knowing they won’t.
“Good,” Callahan warmly says, bowing his head at me and walking to Breelyn. They kiss deeply, and she clutches his collar, and I look away.
After a minute, I clear my throat. “I know how awkward you guys must have felt when I kissed my mates in front of you.”
“Yeah, but times that by four,” Callahan deadpans after breaking the kiss. “And now I see why the alphas always growl at anyone who dared to interrupt.”
I laugh with Breelyn, who hushes him, and he smacks her ass as she walks away. “Congratulations, by the way,” I tell them both.
“Thank you, Mai,” Breelyn softly replies as we get back to work. I’m absolutely exhausted, as I’ve been doing this all day, but it’s second nature as I unclip the leather straps on a long broadsword. All twenty of them with fiddly straps.
“The seven are strange,” Breelyn says after a short while. “It’s like they’re trying to talk to us all the time and lure us to them.”
“What do they sound like?” I question.
Callahan answers. “Like the most desirable voice you’ve ever heard. For me, it’s Breelyn’s voice.”
“I hear Callahan too,” Breelyn admits. If the seven didn’t totally creep me out before, they do now. I wonder which one of my mates I would hear?
“Definitely me,” Valentine seductively whispers into my mind. “There is no doubt.”
“Fuck off, it would be me,” Silas growls. I smile and try to ignore their argument as Henderson and Ragnar get involved.
“Remember not to touch any of them,” I say, reminding them both. “They like me, and they don’t hurt me or the alphas, for that matter, but I’m not going to test it on anybody else. Who knows how it would react to an angel?”
“We won’t,” Callahan firmly replies. “We know it’s a trick, and both of us are tired of those.”
“Good, because there are a few things I fear, and those weapons are one of them. They are alive, they speak, and they control things. They kill people,” I breathe out. “I can feel their power, and it’s frightening.”
“It would be unwise not to be fearful of them,” Callahan agrees. “Most of us mortals fear god magic for a reason. It isn’t for us.”
“It isn’t indeed,” I agree. I finish unclipping the broadsword from its leather straps and carefully put it into my cart as quickly as possible. It weighs an absolute ton. I go over near Callahan and start pulling off a row of hunting knives clipped into the wall by moulded metal holders. He’s pulling off arrows and putting them in the cart before he goes back to help me with the knives on his side. There’s another thirty on his side, by my guess.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on Draycian around the castle. His males have left the city, but he just keeps appearing. No one had a bad word to say about his males other than they were silent,” Callahan tells me.
“He’s not always here, and he comes back, then disappears,” Breelyn adds in. “I suspect, but I might be wrong, that he needs to go to the city. He never wanted to leave.”
“Do you think he is bound to it in some magical way?” I question.
She shrugs. “If he is, he wouldn’t let me know or let me talk about it either way.”
“It still bothers me that he’s not demanded Dip,” Callahan says. “This would be the perfect time, as we are all distracted and busy, and he knows there is a war coming.”
“It bothers me too,” I admit.
“I think he isn’t a bad male, underneath it all, and if he did that, there wouldn’t be a soul in this pack that wouldn’t call him a monster and hunt him down when the war is over,” Breelyn says.
“I’m glad you’re both here,” I tenderly say. “I really don’t want you to go back with him again.”
Callahan tightens his grip on the wall but says nothing.
It must be very difficult for him, and I don’t even try to read his thoughts on it.
I feel Valentine’s presence before he steps into the room and walks over to me, kissing me softly as a greeting.
“Hi,” I breathe out.
“Hello, mate,” he replies with a smile. I love seeing him smile. I tuck some of his hair behind his ear, running my fingers down his soft beard that is growing in. “You need a haircut.”
He wraps his arms around me. “I liked the last one.”
“I bet you did,” I reply with a secretive grin. That was one of our first moments...being seriously attracted to each other. When he opened up to me and decided to change his ways. I’ll never forget it.
“But, you’re needed. The female you asked for is here, and the witch is awake. She hasn’t eaten in days or drunk anything. The healers are concerned that she might get sick if this continues,” he tells me.
“Okay,” I say, agreeing. “I won’t actually go in there, because she isn’t safe, but maybe speaking to her would help. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in her position right now.”
“Who is this female you have asked for?” Breelyn questions, rubbing some dust off her hands on a rag.
“Someone who might have known her mother years ago. She is a friend of Reine’s and my mama’s,” I explain. “Her name is Chastity Fall.”
“You’re hoping that she will listen? That Chastity could try to turn her onto our side? Could we ever trust her even if she did?” Callahan questions.
“It’s not about that, but truthfully about giving her the answers she has been looking for. I grew up living a lie in Ravensword, and I know what it is like,” I reply. “She deserves an answer. She deserves the truth.”
Breelyn nods. “Just be careful. She is a liar.”
“I remember who she is,” I carefully reply.
Valentine wraps his arm around my waist, and we head through the passageways, which are now all lit up with lanterns, and back through our bedroom and into the corridor. We temporarily moved into another room, mostly because we all feel a bit freaked out that this bedroom has a whole network of tunnels right inside, most of which haven’t been explored. Until it’s completely mapped out, none of us are sure it’s the best idea to have that room to rest in.
“You have a big heart, my mate,” Valentine quietly whispers to me in the dim corridors of our home. “But be careful who you take pity on. She may seem sweet, but I am certain she is nothing more than a witch with an excuse to be evil.”
“I’ll be careful,” I tell him, leaning on his shoulder.
I know she isn’t me, but a part of me does sympathise with her, a little more than I should do.
We go all the way through the castle, down to the dungeons where Chastity is waiting for us at the top of the stairs, blocked by the guards. She turns to us, a bright smile on her face when she sees me. She bows low.
“It’s an honour to be called to help you both,” she says, walking to me. “By the gods above, I wish you both the best blessings. Your mating is a true reason to cheer.”
“Thank you, Chastity,” I tell her.
“So why exactly did you want me here?” she questions and points back at the guards in front of the door. “This is the dungeons, I think. Unless you’re locking me up for something I’m not aware I’ve done, I’m hopelessly clueless.”
“Nobody’s locking you up,” Valentine says with a rare smile for another person.
I clear my throat. “I need you to look at someone and see if you recognise her. She was one of us, born with a bond to the gods. Her mum must have been pregnant around the time that we all were conceived, but after us as she is the eighth.”
“By the sacred wolf,” she whispers. “I did not know there was an eighth child born. We made a deal for only seven and were told there were only seven possibilities.”
I’ve wondered that. How did Oisean bring an eighth into the world if there were only seven weapons to do it?
It makes no sense.
“The angels and King Cenwyn have convinced her that we’re evil. That we’re the bad guys and that her mother gave her away and didn’t want her. I have a feeling that’s not true. We don’t just give away our young. No one does that. We protect them,” I say.
“This is true. There wasn’t a female in our pack who would have given a young one away,” she agrees. “Especially not if she fought for them to be god bound.”
“So, does anyone come to mind?”
She frowns. “I’m really sorry. There isn’t anyone I can think of.”
“Maybe you might see someone in her,” I say, hoping I’m right.
“In return, would you allow me to see Reine?” she questions. “The guards have always said no one but the alphas are to see her.”
“I’m sorry, you should be allowed to see your friend. It’s been a bit mad here, and I’ll make sure to remind the guards that you can come and go as you please,” I explain, and Valentine nods in agreement.
“Thank you,” she happily sighs. “I was hoping I could talk to her and coax her out of this. Maybe she would know who the poor girl’s mother is.”
I bet Aunt Reine would know.
“Let’s go in,” Valentine suggests. The guards lead us down the stairs to the dungeons where they open the three pad-locked doors for us before we go in. The room is warm, kept warm by a large fireplace in the centre, and the light from that makes it cosy in here. It’s nice in here for a prison. There’s a soft bed, even a little counter and a bathroom. I look at the tray full of food just inside her metal cage. She is sitting on the stone floor, her legs crossed, her face in her hands.
I can only sense pure, uncontrollable pain from her.
I’d think she was dying if she didn’t look fine. It’s her heart that is dying.
“Erin,” I softly say, stepping closer. She slowly looks up, her eyes bloodshot red from crying so much. She’s probably popped all the vessels. She looks so haunted, clearly devastated. She looks at me for a second before she turns away and faces the wall.
“You need to eat and drink. It’s no good for you not to,” I say, well aware she is going to block me out.
I remember not eating when I was captured by Ravensword.
I saw it as a way to punish myself and my captor and to pray for a quick death.
Glancing at Chastity, she sadly shakes her head, and my heart sinks. Without Reine, there is no one left who could know who she is.
“Let me walk you out,” Valentine says to Chastity, both of us sensing that she wants to leave.
“Thank her for me,” I whisper to Valentine through our bond as he walks up.
“Of course, my mate,” he replies.
“Erin,” I repeat her name to get her attention. “I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this, but we’re not your enemy. It probably doesn’t look like that because we locked you up in here, but I’m not against you. I’m trying to help you. Trying to find out who your mother was, if you’ve got a family still alive here, because there could be. Benjamin wouldn’t want you to give up on life—”
She sharply turns her head to me, her eyes bleeding with pain and anger. “You know nothing about what Benjamin would have wanted. And who cares? He’s dead! The only person who ever loved me is dead!”
“Erin...”
“No, you killed him…I killed him. He wouldn’t leave!” she sobs and turns away. “He is gone!”
She cries, she screams, she pleads for the gods to bring him back, and I listen to every sound until she calms down. I don’t want her to be alone, despite everything she has done.
When someone’s heart is breaking, that’s when they need someone to be there the most. Even if they don’t ask.
I use the only card I have left as I look at the food. She isn’t going to try to keep herself alive. “We have his ashes in our morgue,” I say, and we do. Someone dragged his body in with others, and the alphas were told. This gets her attention, and she turns on me. “I have his ashes in an urn made of green moss stone. The stone is meant to give the soul peace. It’s a tradition here to give the ashes to a loved one along with a glowing stone so he can be sent to the gods for you to meet again. The only condition I have is that you eat and drink, and I will bring them here. You can hate me all you want, but it’s a condition, nonetheless.”
She searches my eyes before she nods once and then turns away from me. I stand up and leave, letting the guards lock her away, and I hear her cries before they lock the door.
I look down at Serendipity and grip her tiny hand in my own. She’s wearing a beautiful little pink flowery dress that sparkles when the light hits it, and she has a pink bow holding her blonde hair up. Her eyes, so similar to mine, look up at me, and she smiles. Every smile is something I will never forget. In the last two weeks, we have become so close, and even though she doesn’t call me mama or mum or whatever she wants, I know we are getting somewhere. My own dress is silver with flowers making up the skirt, a tight corset for the top half, and a long ribbon belt around my waist. They match the silver ribbons in my hair that brush against my back as I walk. Despite all the silver, I have brief hints of my alphas in the little dark, shadowy red flowers that I pushed into my hair.
“Why are you wearing silver?” Dip questions.
“This is an omega ceremony, and it’s custom to wear silver, like the ancient ribbons used to bind us,” I explain to her.
