Katrina's Destiny, page 8
Accused? Who was accused? And of what? Was she brought here to stand trial? What had she done to anger the gods this much?
“It is not you, Katrina, who is standing trial,” Fenrir assured in a calming voice. “She is.”
As before, the roots opened up the ground and pulled something from deep inside. It took Katrina a few seconds to realize it wasn’t a thing, but Net.
The roots clung to her unconscious body, which was covered in dirt and blood. Katrina couldn’t have stopped herself if she wanted to. She flew from her chair and had almost reached Net when one of the roots pulled her back and secured Katrina to her chair.
“Let Net go. What have you done to her?” Katrina struggled against the roots.
“We have done nothing,” the white-haired goddess announced. “Net was found like this.”
“Then heal her, like you did for me.”
“It’s not that simple,” Forseti said as he stood and began pacing in front of Net. “She has committed a crime punishable by death.”
“A crime? What did she do?”
“Did she not hire a Reaper to kill you? The same one who burned down your house?” Forseti growled.
Katrina couldn’t shake the feeling there was more driving this than what Net did to her. “What else has she done?” Katrina asked, causing Forseti to turn away.
Fenrir stepped forward and said, “This is about Forseti’s son.”
“Net has been allowed to cause damage again and again. That’s what this is all about,” Forseti argued.
“Katrina deserves to know,” the redhead said.
Forseti refused to speak, so Katrina looked over at Fenrir. “Please, I’m done with surprises.”
“Well, get ready for one more,” the redhead stated before giving her a toothy smile. Katrina didn’t know if that was meant to reassure or terrify her.
“Who is Forseti’s son?” Katrina asked, unsure she wanted the answer.
Forseti finally turned and directed his comment to Fenrir. “She wants to know, wolf. Why don’t you tell her?”
He turned away once again, leaving Fenrir to answer her. With a soft voice, which was a huge clue she wasn’t going to like this, he said, “Bain.”
And Katrina’s world was turned on its end once again.
Chapter Ten
Bain and Marcus were walking up the front steps to the pack house when Marcus asked, “Do you always wear that stone around your neck?”
“I was found with it around my neck. I find the weight of it comforting.” The stone was made from smooth obsidian with silver flecks shining in a haphazard pattern.
“Have you ever wondered where it came from?”
“Every damn day,” Bain answered. “When I was young I used to make up stories about it. Dreaming that perhaps my parents gave it to me, and someday they’d use it to come find me.”
“Have you asked Net about it?” Marcus asked.
“Yes. She said she hadn’t given it to me.”
“And she had no idea who did?”
“She didn’t say.” Which had annoyed Bain because he had the distinct impression she knew more than she was saying.
“It’s unique. Its gold chain extends when you’re in your wolf form and shrinks when you’re human.” Bain hadn’t realized Marcus had noticed.
“I know. I feel like it’s something important. I never take it off.”
“Maybe we can look into it a bit deeper after this mess is resolved,” Marcus suggested.
“Maybe.” Bain didn’t hold out any hope of learning anything new about the necklace and a whole host of things that were giant gaps in his life. He’d searched for its meaning for years and had come up empty.
***
“Bain?” Katrina felt light-headed and nauseous at the same time. “But how?”
“The usual way, dear,” the white-haired goddess said.
“I know that part. I meant if he’s Forseti’s son, why doesn’t he have powers?” Katrina was at a loss. How could this be?
“His mother was a wolf shifter,” Fenrir offered as explanation.
“Was?” Katrina asked.
“Yes,” Forseti finally spoke. “She was killed by a dark witch while I was away”
Similar to Fenrir’s mate’s fate, and there were no coincidences. Vengier, Net’s deceased brother, had killed Fenrir’s mate. “Do they purposely hunt down your mates?”
“It is a weakness if our mates aren’t gods or goddesses. If you want to hurt one of us, you go after our mates and our children.”
“That’s horrible,” Katrina said.
“Truly, it is. That is why we are so protective of them. But sometimes even the best safeguards can’t keep them out,” Fenrir explained, and Katrina knew that truth from experience.
“Thankfully, Bain had been with me when it happened or he would have been killed as well.” Forseti couldn’t hide the sorrow in his voice, but he shook it off and bellowed, “Enough of this. Net will be judged.”
“What did Net do that upset you so much?”
Forseti looked unwilling to respond, but he answered all the same. “Bain had decided to return to the Evergreen Pack once he had grown into a fine man. Evergreen was his mother’s home pack. He was safe among the pack. The alpha was the only one to know he was my son. Then Net started sniffing around.”
“Can we please stop with the dog metaphors?” Katrina huffed.
“Net started coming around, seeking out my son. It’s because of her that Vengier attacked Bain, leaving him for dead.”
“But she loved him, and he is still alive.” Katrina couldn’t understand why Foseti was so upset with Net.
“Yes, but at what price?” Forseti asked. “I lost my son that day. All his memories of his mother and me are gone. I am no one to him. It was as if I’d lost his mother all over again.”
“Have you thought of telling him?” Katrina offered, thinking it was obvious to her, but maybe there were god rules to prevent Forseti from telling his son the truth.
“I cannot. It would be too dangerous for him. If my enemies knew he hadn’t died the day of the attack, he would be a target. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for that woman. And even now she is plotting ways to take Bain from you.”
“She did hire a Reaper,” the redhead spoke up. “Along with burning your house down.”
“That is why I had to stop her from ruining his life again,” Forseti stated firmly. “Bain has a chance at a normal happy life, and a family. Everything I ever wanted for him.”
“Then why did you take me along with Net to the cottage?” Katrina asked.
“I gave you the power to exact your anger and revenge on Net for what she had done. But apparently you weren’t up to the task,” Forseti accused.
“Sorry. I’m not a cold-blooded killer,” Katrina snarked. “So why send the beasts to attack us?”
“They were sent to attack Net, but you kept getting in the way.” Forseti waved his hand as if her suffering had been nothing more than a pothole on the road to his revenge.
Katrina glanced over at a still-unconscious Net. “It wasn’t her fault.”
“What? Net did everything intentionally and with thought,” Forseti argued.
“I don’t think so.” Katrina was not trying to be a martyr, but the truth was the truth. “If you allow me, I’d like to speak in defense of Net.”
“This just got interesting,” the redhead cheered.
“Calm down,” the other goddess ordered. It was clear who was in charge. At first, Katrina had thought it was Forseti, now she knew it was the white-haired goddess. “I see no harm in allowing this young shifter the opportunity to present evidence on Net’s behalf.”
“How are you not furious with Net, as I am?” Forseti asked. “She tried to destroy your life, and even to take it. If it weren’t for Ceva, that Reaper would not be dead.”
“Ceva?”
“Yes. She managed to outmaneuver the Reaper,” Fenrir answered.
“That white witch scares the hell out of me when she’s pissed off,” the redhead stated.
“Off topic,” Forseti growled. “Explain why you do not wish Net dead for what she’s done.”
“Because I know what it’s like to be in love.”
With a wave of the white-haired goddess’s hand, the roots holding Katrina to her seat pulled away. Forseti grumbled all the way back to his own seat. Katrina stood and ran to Net to check on her.
Net was still breathing, but she was covered in cuts and bruises. Katrina cupped one side of Net’s face and said, “You hold on,” then stood, her back straight and turned to look at the four judges. “Did you wish me to have this conversation in my head or aloud?”
“Thank you for the offer, young one. Aloud will be fine,” the leader answered.
“Okay. Net is accused of causing Bain and me intentional harm, correct?”
“Yes. Get on with it so I can send her to the depths where she belongs,” Forseti yelled, and Katrina knew there was no changing Bain father’s mind.
She carried on without looking at him. “I will prove that while Net has done everything you stated, intent had not been formed.”
“Interesting,” the redhead said as she leaned back in her seat and adjusted her glowing dress.
“First off, let’s start with a question. Have any of you felt or have fallen in love?”
“Do we honestly have to sit through this crap?” Forseti cut in. “If you’re not careful, little shifter, I might take you to the depths along with the traitor.”
“No you won’t be,” Fenrir growled long and low, making sure Forseti got the message. “She is an innocent, and I would battle you to the death before she goes anywhere.”
Silence. Apparently, the four of them were having a private discussion. Forseti seemed to be calming down before saying, “Fine, get on with it.”
“Okay. The question still stands. Have you ever felt love, or have fallen in love?”
Three of the gods answered by a nod of their heads, but Forseti refused to budge. “You were not in love with Bain’s mother?” If looks could kill, Katrina was sure he would have done it.
“I loved her completely,” Forseti ground out between clenched teeth.
“Now imagine finding that love and losing it, as some of you already have. What would you do to get them back?”
“Anything,” the white-haired goddess whispered, and Katrina could feel her sorrow even from where she was standing.
“Exactly. When Net was released from her brother’s curse, all those feelings came storming back into her, and I was in the way. She wasn’t thinking clearly, as most people in love don’t. Even Fenrir was called in to try to reason with Net, and he told her the feelings would fade in time if she stayed away from Bain. I can attest that over the days we were kept in the cottage, Net’s feelings faded to the point that she explained everything and apologized to me.”
“If I hadn’t showed up, Net would have seen you killed,” Forseti shot back.
“No, you’re wrong. She raced to me after the fire to protect me from the Reaper. You picked us up on the way.”
“She tells the truth. I can attest to it,” Fenrir said. “Net was not in her right mind when I saw her, but still, she tried to protect Katrina from what Net had set in motion. Her mind had begun clearing even then.”
“Did you accept her apology?” the white-haired goddess asked.
“I did. We shook hands and started over.”
“Well, aren’t you a fool,” Forseti hissed. “I do not forgive her for taking my son from me.”
“But Bain was Net’s mate. She could no more stay away from him as you could have stayed away from his mother. Net suffered for centuries because of that love. Bain is alive only because she agreed to let Bain be reborn. Knowing that in the future her mate, the man she loved and sacrificed for, would feel nothing for her, and wouldn’t even recognize her.” Katrina stepped back and checked to make sure that Net was still breathing. “Don’t punish Net for Vengier’s malice. Hate has never gotten anyone anywhere. It eats away inside you until you are a festering shell of the being you once were.”
Katrina turned to look at Net once again. Her breathing was becoming shallow, and blood had pooled beneath her body. “Please heal her.”
Silence fell once again and Katrina guessed they were discussing what Net’s fate would be. Katrina placed her hand over a particularly nasty tear in Net’s arm, hoping to slow some of the bleeding, but it was no use. She ran back in front of the four gods. “By the time you figure out what you mean to do, Net will be dead.”
Katrina would have continued railing at them but Forseti vanished, and then a moment later the two goddesses poofed away, leaving only Fenrir. “Where did they go? They can’t leave. They have to help Net.”
“They have,” Net said.
Katrina spun around so fast she nearly fell. Sure enough, Net stood a few feet from her, completely healed. However, her eyes still weren’t glowing with the power of a goddess.
“You’re alive.” Katrina ran to Net and pulled her into a hug.
“Thanks to you.”
“Why don’t you have your powers back?”
“She’s not completely off the hook,” Fenrir said.
“I must live powerless until I’ve proven my worth to get them back,” Net explained.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not. I need some time not being the Goddess Net. To experience life and the joy of it from a new perspective will be a new and exhilarating challenge,” Net explained. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to it.”
“But how will you protect yourself?”
“I’ll be taking care of that,” Fenrir answered. “Now it’s time to get everyone back to where they belong.”
Light flashed and Katrina was blinded again. This whole superpower transformation stuff had gotten old. When her vision returned, first she saw gray shapes, and then finally full color. Once again, she was standing beside her burned-out home, but this time she sensed the presence of the pack on Evergreen’s lands. Even though seeing her decimated home was a nightmare, through the dark of night her vision had returned completely and with the help of her wolf all the fuzziness had cleared, and for that, she was grateful.
Now, where would my son and mates be? Katrina headed straight for Bain’s house, hoping to find them there. If not, the pack house was next.
There wasn’t anyone out on the street, but the houses were lit up and she could hear people talking inside. While walking, she wondered where Fenrir and Net had gone, but all those issues had taken a backseat to her son and her mates.
She ran through backyards and across paths, choosing a more direct route to Bain’s house. She leapt over bushes and ran around trees. Marcus and Bain would certainly have Thorn with them, and she needed to see her little man and her mates. She needed to make sure everyone was safe and whole.
She rounded the corner and saw the lights on in Bain’s house. She moved faster, and when she finally got to the front door, she didn’t bother to knock. She banged the door open and ran into the living room.
What she found was definitely not what she had expected. Bain, in wolf form, had Marcus cornered in the kitchen, and by the angry growls and snapping sharp canines, things didn’t look good.
Chapter Eleven
Marcus was so shocked to see Katrina, he didn’t even think before running past Bain and pulling her into his arms. “Thank the gods you’re back.”
“Well, don’t thank all of them. Some are nicer than others,” Katrina advised but held on to him tight.
“Hey, I need some of that love,” Bain called from behind them. He’d shifted back into his human form, which meant he needed his chair.
Katrina released Marcus and ran to Bain before he collapsed onto the floor. She melted into his arms, as she lowered them to the ground. “I missed you all so much.”
Marcus felt no jealousy, only happiness. The time he’d spent with Bain had helped forge a bond between them. He walked over and joined them on the floor. Their triad was whole once again, but there was one person missing. Thorn.
“Is Thorn here?” Katrina asked. Her voice muffled against Bain’s chest.
“He’s safe. We took him to Black Ridge under the protection of Helena’s royal guard. Not to mention a host of protection spells Ceva cast over him,” Bain explained as he ran his fingers through Katrina’s ebony hair. “He’ll be so happy to see you.”
Marcus looked up at the clock on the wall. “It’s almost one in the morning. Do you think we should call?”
Katrina thought about it for a moment, and Marcus could tell she wanted to say yes. “No, he’ll be sleeping soundly. Let’s wait until a decent hour. Who knows how much sleep he’s already lost because of me.”
“Not because of you,” Bain argued. “This is Net’s fault.”
“Before being trapped with her in that strange world, I would have agreed wholeheartedly,” Katrina began. “Now I see her as much of a victim of circumstances beyond her control as the rest of us.”
Marcus looked at her closely. “Are you feeling all right?” He worried Net might have placed a spell over her. “Did Net force you to say that?”
“Net won’t be forcing anyone to do anything for a while.” Katrina grinned.
“She’s dead?” Bain asked.
“No, she’s powerless. A punishment for…” Katrina stopped and looked at Bain before she continued, “The Reaper and my house.” Marcus felt there was more to it than what Katrina was telling them but decided to let it go. This was a celebration. They had their mate back.
“I’ll tell you everything once Bain explains why he had you trapped in a corner ready to attack.” Katrina looked between the two of them like a scolding mother.
“I wasn’t going to attack him. I was pissed,” Bain explained.
“About what?” Katrina asked.
Marcus had to nip this in the bud, before she got too close to the truth. “I ate the last of the leftovers.”
“Leftovers, really?” Marcus knew she wasn’t buying it.
“Yes, leftovers,” Bain agreed. “He should have been a pig shifter.”
