Protected by Her Wolf, page 10
“That is the question above all, isn’t it?” He speaks the words as if he’s contemplated this several times himself. All of the worst possibilities run through my mind. I’m not going to like the answer to this question when we finally get one.
18
STELLA
I blink my eyes open, the sun shining brightly above me, startles me. The last thing I remember is being curled up against my mate in our bed. How did I get outside?
I stand up, surveying my surroundings. There, in the corner, is a familiar face. I know I’ve seen her before. She has jet black hair that stops right under her ass. Her eyes are as black as night and her skin is so pale, it’s like she’s never in the sunlight. Her skin tone makes me think of vampires, pale and sickly, as if never in the sunlight.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Stella McKenzie.”
“Who are you?” I ask her. I know I’ve met her before, it’s there, at the edge of my consciousness. But I cannot place her, no matter how hard I try.
She meets my gaze, her black eyes softening just a little as she says, “I never hurt them. I was trying to save them. When you get your memories back, you will see the truth. I wiped your memories and bound your animals because I was trying to protect you. Someone else killed your parents. They would have gotten to you, too, had I not interrupted them.”
“Deseres?” I ask. Knowing that’s who stands before me.
“Yes, child. Please, don’t deny the images that will come rushing back to you once you wake. They have me. The same people who killed your parents. You and your sisters are the key to freeing me. I’m running out of time. Please, Stella, help me.”
“Deseres,” a new female voice says. Deseres’ eyes widen, but a sweet smile spreads across her face, making her appear less unsettling.
“Vivian, you’re as strong as they feared you would be all those years ago.”
Vivian waves her off as if she’s heard it all before. “What can we do to help you while we try and find Imeria?”
“You’re doing all you can.” I stare between her and my sister.
“How are you here, Vivi?”
“I’ll teach you. We’re the key,” Vivian says in a voice that sounds as if it’s coming from everywhere at once. Even in my dreams, I can feel the power coming off of her, Vivi is strong.
“Deseres, who has you?” I ask her, ignoring the growing need to wake up.
“You’re not yet ready to face them. Find your sister. Join us after she completes her own bond, and I will reveal what I can. But hurry. My captors will not tolerate my insolence much longer, they will kill me. We’re running out of time.” She places her hands upon my own.
I bolt upright. My heart pounding so hard and fast I swear it's going to beat out my chest. Once I have my bearings, I notice my sister sitting there beside my bed, eyes watching me intently.
“Well bend me over and fuck me sideways. What the fuck was that?” I demand.
“That is how she appeared to me as well. Ella, we’re on the clock. It will not slow for us to figure out the puzzle. Her life, and many others are on the line if we cannot find Imeria and her mate. I don’t know how long we have, but I feel the pull of something, and it has a cool oily quality about it.” She pauses and lets her words sink in.
“Our mother was half witch. Her mother cloaked the magical side of her, leaving her to live with her shifter father. I have done so much digging. Our grandmother was a strong witch, she vanished. No one knows if she survived or not. They have not seen nor heard from her for almost thirty years.”
“Did those people kill her, too?” I ask.
“That’s one question I don’t have the answer to. Not yet, anyway.”
She stands and offers me her hand. I pull the blanket off and realize I’m just in an oversized shirt. “Get dressed. I’ll wait outside the door to help you down.”
I start to protest, but she puts a hand in the air. “You may feel stronger now, but your body is about to go through something it hasn’t had the pleasure of doing for many, many years. Let me help you down. Your legs may give out at any moment. And I would very much like to not have to kill your mate for trying to attack me because I let you get injured.”
I smile at her. “Fine.”
I throw on a pair of yoga pants and my bra, because I need my girls restrained. I always feel so exposed when I’m not wearing one. But opt to keep my mate’s shirt on, because his smell of crisp fall leaves surrounding me, soothes me. Vivian grabs my elbow as she leads me down the stairs. “I smell others here,” I say to her.
She stops and takes a deep breath. “Sweetie. That’s just Xander. He and Marcel are in the kitchen.”
“No, I know their scents. There’s another one. A familiar one.”
She sniffs the air, a sly smile creeping across her beautiful face. I do as she did a second ago, breathing in and allowing the scent to wash over me. We continue to descend the stairs, all the while I try to place that smell. It's like sunshine. Like the smell of a fresh summer breeze washing over my skin.
“You still don’t know?” She asks as we reach the last step. I shake my head. “Your son,” she says softly. My spine stiffens. I turn to face her and frown at her.
“That’s not him. He doesn’t smell like that!” She shrugs as if to say, believe what you want. Just as we enter the kitchen, I spot my little guy sitting at the bar with his uncle and Celly. By the grimaces on the men’s’ faces, they just drank something strong, like whiskey. My sweet little guy is drinking hot chocolate and eating a banana. When he spots us, he hops down and rushes to us.
“Mom!” I catch him in my arms as he rushes to me, Vivian keeps a strong sturdy hand at my back to keep me upright. I breathe him in. That is his scent, a fresh summer breeze.
I turn to Vivian. “How?” She shrugs.
“Probably something the spell did. That’s the scent I’ve known as my nephew since I met him.”
My son. “Did you bring him here with you?” She shakes her head.
“Your mother dropped him off about ten minutes ago. She said he kept asking for you,” Alex supplies. My mate still hasn’t moved from his seat at the bar. His gaze is burning a hole in my head. Alex stares at something behind me, probably Vivian. He nods his head, then, ever so slightly, nudges my mate with an elbow.
He shakes his head as if ridding the thoughts that were plaguing him away, and gets up to come to me. I feel Vivian’s arm fall away as Celly wraps me and Byron in a hug. “I was so worried about you. How are you feeling?”
“Much better, though a tad weak.” He kisses my cheek and then the back of Byron’s head.
“Come, let’s sit at the table.” Alex and Vivian meet us there.
Vivian hands me a glass of whiskey. I inhale the smell of smoky oak, it’s a good one by the scent that’s coming from the glass. “You are going to need this.”
I take it and sip slowly. Savoring the burning sensation as it flows down my throat. I actually enjoy whiskey, and can drink it every day, but I have a kid, so I don’t. “Deseres spoke to me,” I say to the now quiet room.
Byron just looks up at me, as if he was expecting me to say that. Alex and Celly stare at both Vivian and myself, waiting for me to continue. We glance at each other and then at our mates. Vivian speaks first.
“I was able to enter her vision. From what I heard; I think it was something rehearsed. She pretty much told me the same thing, until I started asking questions. She said she can’t divulge more information now, that we need to find Imeria and get to her as soon as we can. She thinks whoever is holding her against her will is going to kill her soon.”
“Yeah, um, can we please discuss the fact that you sounded like a freaking God in my head, with your voice sounding like it was coming from a surround sound speaker. Not to mention the power rolling off you even in my Goddamn mind!” My words betray the slight tremor in my voice.
“There is a power within us. One that no one has seen in the shifter world. We are part witch; our powers will far exceed that of a normal shifter. Our mother was strong. That’s why they killed her. To rid the world of the power that threatened them. As far as I know, that’s why they did that. What other reason would there be to kill them, apart from them being dragon shifters? And only a powerful being could kill a dragon as he protects his mate and children. Something more powerful than a regular witch.” Her words have an ominous weight to them.
Byron pops his head up from beside me. His eyes appear distant, far off, as if searching for something. “She came to me one night in a dream. She told me ‘Stay close to your family. Keep them safe. For if you lose even one of them, the world will cease to exist as we know it.’ That’s why I told Nana to bring me here, I need to stay with you all.”
My eyes widen in alarm. “Why would she think a seven-year-old boy would be able to protect his family?” My question is echoed by the others around the table.
He smiles up at me. “She knew you would ask that. My magic, the little I have from you, wasn’t blocked like yours was. I’m a dragon, because grandma’s genes are more powerful than grandpa’s. I’m part witch because of grandma as well. Our bloodline is the most powerful bloodline of witches in the world.” He stops and looks at me and Vivi. “She said “Great grandmother knew what she was doing, having a child with the most powerful shifter in the world. From that union your mother was made.” They knew she would draw a lot of attention. That is why great grandma stayed away while her grandma was growing up. So they would not know who her mom was, and wish her dead. Deseres says, we will meet great grandma soon. She will come to us when the time is right.”
We all stare at my baby dumbfounded. “H- How many times have you spoken with her?” I finally get out.
“Since I first became a dragon. She told me to keep it a secret. That you weren’t ready to know about her yet. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I didn’t know what it would do to you if you knew before you were ready. So, I kept it to myself.”
Shock and sadness fill me. How did I not realize he was holding such a huge secret for almost three years? I pull him into me. “What a brave sweet boy. I’m so sorry you had to carry this knowledge alone.”
“She came to me last night. She told me I needed to be here when you woke up. She told me I could tell you everything I know.”
“Was she mean to you?” I ask him, ready to tear into her even though she’s not here.
His face scrunches up as if that was an absurd question. “No. She was always nice to me.”
“Good. I would hate to have to flay the person I’m supposed to save,” I say, my voice sounding rough and not like my own. Anger is filling me, anger and this sense to protect what’s mine.
Vivian eyes me. “Let her out.”
I give her the same expression my son just gave me. “Your eyes are blazing, she’s ready to emerge. That needs to happen before you will start to receive more memories.”
“I don’t know how,” I whisper softly.
“I’ll help you,” Celly says to me. “Just tell me when you’re ready.”
“She’s ready. I can sense the wolf beneath her skin. She wants to be set free now!” Vivian roars.
I push away from the table and stand up so fast, the chair falls back and smashes against the floor. “What I—” my words are cut off as the sensation of my bones shattering fills me. I feel every broken bone as it snaps and reforms at an odd angle. I scream in pain as the breaking continues.
After what feels like hours of agony, I’m finally able to open my eyes. Everything seems so vibrant. My eyes catch small movements, like a twitch of an ear from the people standing before me. Looking down at me. There’s a female holding her hands up as if to make sure I don’t attack. What the heck is going on? The face is familiar, but I can’t place her for some reason. That smell, too, is something I recognize.
“Stella, are you okay?”
Yes? I say wondering why I wouldn’t be.
“Sweetie, we can’t hear you. You’re a wolf.”
What? My eyes must have opened in alarm, because she comes closer, slowly, making sure not to move too quickly to cause me to freak out.
“Look down at yourself. You have paws.” She smiles at me. “Your wolf is beautiful.”
The voice, the female face, and her scent, it all clicks into place. I know this person. My sister, Vivian. Why had it taken me so long to register who she was?
I do as she said. When I finally bend my head down, a sound that should have been a shocked gasp, comes out as a strangled wine from my mouth. I have golden brown fur. I stand up and spin in a circle trying to see my whole body, but can’t do it. I feel strong. Free. Full of life that I haven’t felt in so many years.
I hear a soft giggle from the table. I focus on that sweet sound and a pair of aquamarine eyes stare right back at me. A smile spreading across his still chubby cheeks. My baby.
I smile at him. But from the bemused expression on his face, it must not look the same on my wolf.
I walk toward my baby and rub my head against his dangling legs. His hand comes down and digs into the fur atop my head, and scratches me behind the ears.
I’m a freaking dog. I growl to myself, knowing they can’t hear me.
“You’re bigger than a normal wolf, mom, and so pretty. Your fur is so soft, too.” I rub my head against his leg again, then lick his hand. That sweet giggle fills the air again. “Eew, mom, that’s so gross!” He protests, halfheartedly. I lick his face and cause a full out belly laugh to escape his lips.
I turn to the adults. Waiting for someone to tell me what the heck I have to do. Alex looks to my mate. They exchange words through their eyes, and then Celly says to me, “Let's go outside. I don't think my house is big enough for two wolves our size.”
I follow him out, my claws tapping on the floor as we move. He closes the sliding door behind us, and starts taking off his clothes. I sit on my haunches, watching him. Once he drops his last piece of clothing, in the blink of an eye, a beautiful black wolf is standing there.
“Gorgeous,” I say.
“You are, my love. Just pure beauty.”
I start at his voice in my head. “What? How?”
“Magic. This is how us shifters can speak while in shifted form. It's hard to communicate from wolf to dragon, unless you have a strong connection to them. You’ll probably have no problem talking with the dragons since you have dragon blood in your veins. I can speak with my Clan because I am part of the clan. Any other dragon, I probably wouldn’t be able to.”
“This is so strange.”
“I'm sure it is. It will take some getting used to.”
“You’re telling me. Here I was, minding my own business, and then I wind up having a dragon for a son. Then, two years later, a group of stranger’s land on my doorstep, saying ‘hey, you’re a wolf. Oh, and you have a sister. And I’m your mate. Now here I am, a freaking wolf!”
His chuckle in my mind, sends shivers down my spine.
“Wanna go for a run?”
“Is it safe?”
“For us, yes. It's far too bright for the dragons to come out since humans can easily spot them.”
“Okay. Let’s go.
I chase my mate through the woods that surround his home. He takes me down paths that have been taken many times before, if the worn tracks are any indication. Being in these woods as a wolf, with the scent of the earth around me, sparks a feeling of Déjà vu. I’ve done this before; I know I have. Maybe not here, on this exact path, but my wolf remembers. She knows what it felt like to have our paws hit the dirt floor as we ran.
A slice of pain shoots through my head but I push it away. Nothing can ruin this for me. Nothing.
It isn’t long before I start feeling fuzzy again. Damnit.
“Celly?” I call out to him.
“Elle?” I hear his smooth velvety voice caress my mind like a long-time lover.
“We need to go back. Something isn’t right.”
I sway slightly as if drunk. There’s throbbing in my head again, not as strong, but enough to cause me to flinch.
He turns around just as I stumble. He rushes to me, running his neck against mine. My eyes start to flutter. “Something’s wrong.” I manage to put words together. Just barely.
He changes back to a man, and lifts my large mass of a body without missing a beat. “I’ve got you, Elle. I’ll get us back. Hang in there.” The last thing I can remember saying before the lightning sharp pain sears my brain, is telling him “I love you.” Even though I know he can’t hear me while my wolf skin is on.
19
MARCELLUS
Elle’s wolf releases her hold on her. Lying in my arms is my limp mate’s body. She cringes in pain again, her eyes squeezed closed and mouth in a tight line. Her agony is on display for me to see. “I love you,” she breathes, so softly, if I wasn’t a wolf, I wouldn’t have heard it.
She loves me. Those three words spur my wolf to lend me his speed so I can reach the house faster. As my home comes into view, I shout. “Vivian, Alex! I need help!”
Vivian’s at the door first, snatching a blanket off the couch as she sees her naked sister in my arms. “What happened?”
“I – I don’t know. We were running through the trails. Next thing I know, I feel pain and fear slice through the bond. I turned to her and she was stumbling. But she was trying to continue on. Something’s wrong.”
“Maybe the run unlocked a few memories. The smells, the feel. She was a wolf before she was taken. She could be getting a lot of them back. Let’s get her back upstairs in bed.” We head to the door of the house, I’m ready to plow through, but my little dragon is there. His blue scales shimmering in the sunlight.
