“Do you really want me to enter that door you just opened?” Heather laughed. “You aren’t really the one who should be talking about dog crap.”
“I totally ran head first into that one,” Crina muttered.
Adam wrapped an arm around his mate and pulled her close. “It was a valiant effort, babe.”
Anna watched the exchange between Crina and Adam and felt the pain increase another notch. They were so natural together, even their movements were in sync. If Adam shifted, Crina moved with him so that she stayed close. If Crina changed position, Adam moved so that he was where he could quickly get in front of her to protect her if danger suddenly arose.
What would it be like to be that in tune with someone? she wondered. And when Adam brushed his fingers down Crina’s side and the she-wolf shuddered, Anna wondered what it would be like to be touched in such a way that it caused her to quake in her own skin. Could she allow herself to be that close to someone? For most of her life, she’d kept everyone at arm’s length. She had a gypsy mother who, once Anna was old enough to make her own food, popped in and out as her spirit lead her. And when she wasn’t around, Anna had to step up and take care of the store and their little apartment. She had friends at school but she never let them too close. Anna kept a low profile, not ever wanting to draw attention to herself for fear that someone would realize just how much her mother left her alone. Her mother wasn’t a bad mom. She was just a product of her own raising. Anna’s mother had grown up in a gypsy caravan. They traveled all over; it was all she knew. But Anna knew that the state would not see it that way. They would see it as neglect and possibly take her away from her mom. If she had a true mate, would she be able to tell him about her childhood, about the lonely nights doing homework alone, and about eating TV dinners? Would he think her pathetic for not insisting her mother stay and actually be a mom?
Anna glanced back at Adam and Crina and then over to Elle and Sorin. In theory, she wanted what they had. In reality, it scared the crap out of her to think of being so laid bare before someone else. Though Anna had wanted her mother to be around more, she hadn’t really needed her, not the way a normal child needs a parent. Anna had grown self-sufficient very quickly. After all, who else was going to make her dinner? What she had needed from her mom was the love and affection she saw her classmates receive when she’d been younger ― kids being dropped off at school, their mother or father hugging them and bidding them a good day. Those were the simple things Anna had needed. Did she even need them anymore? She wondered now if she might have gone so long without affection that she wouldn’t even welcome it if she received it. She suddenly felt like she needed some space. The air around her was growing thick and it was becoming difficult to breathe. Anna wasn’t sure if it was watching the mated pair and beginning to feel like she was drowning in her own need, doubts, and fears or if it was the stress of all the changes that had happened to her over the past couple of months. Whatever it was, she just knew she needed to walk, to get rid of some of the nervous energy.
She stood and brushed off her clothes. Anna glanced at the others as she started to step away. “Um, I’m just” ― she pointed behind her ― “going to go for a walk.”
“Want some company?” Heather asked.
Anna didn’t want to be rude, but she wanted to be alone more than she didn’t want to be rude. “I’d rather go by myself. Just need to think.”
“Just don’t let any of those pixie men molest you. It wouldn’t be hard with those easy access skirts you wear,” Stella tossed out. There was no hint of joking in her words.
“Says the stripper,” Heather smirked.
“Good advice,” Anna told her with a smile, “thanks.”
Stella shrugged. “I don’t know many things, but I know men. Doesn’t matter what size they are or where their junk is. Most of them talk with their hands and think with their—”
“Okay, thank you, Stella, for that very enlightening discussion,” Elle interrupted her. Anna knew that most people who heard Stella talk like that would think she was just being sarcastic. Those who knew her knew that she was speaking from way too much experience for a nineteen-year-old.
“Go on, Anna,” Elle told her. “Ainsel won’t let anything happen to you. He’s too afraid of Peri turning him into wolf kibble.”
Anna hurried off before anyone else could give her helpful advice or snarky comments. She didn’t know where she was going. It wasn’t like she knew her way around the pixie realm. So she just walked. There was no path through the forest, but she didn’t have a problem finding places to put her feet. The foliage wasn’t too thick and the ground was firm beneath her feet. One step after another took her farther away from the clearing where the others sat discussing war, strategies, and the like, but that wasn’t what was on Anna’s mind.
Stella watched as Anna disappeared into the forest. She had a feeling she knew why Anna needed to take a walk, but she hadn’t wanted to call her out on it. They’d already addressed the elephant in the room, i.e., the discomfort that each of them was feeling, apparently, due to the fact that they had a true mate. Stella herself wouldn’t mind a good brisk run, but she knew that she would just attempt to outrun the inevitable. And from what she had seen with Sally and Costin, there was no out running it. There was a man, a werewolf out there, that had been created to be her counterpart — her mate. She didn’t know how she felt about it. With her past, being in a relationship was something that she knew would take patience on the part of both parties. Would a dominant werewolf be able to be patient with her? To go as slowly as she knew he would have to go? She shook her head, pushing the anxiety causing thoughts away. There was nothing she could do about it in that moment, and so there was no sense in stressing over it, not when there were already enough things to stress over. So she pushed the pain and discomfort aside and shoved it into a compartment, just like she had with all of her other pain, and locked it up tight.
Heather’s head pounded, the rhythm of her headache in perfect sync with the heart in her tight chest. What had started as an annoying discomfort was quickly becoming a pain that couldn’t be ignored. It was as if the more she tried to push it away, the stronger the building anguish grew. She knew the other girls were feeling something similar, but she didn’t know if they were having the problems with their mind, that she was. Not only did she have a horrific headache but she was also having bright flashes reverberate inside her head. At least that was the only way she knew to describe it because it was the complete opposite of the life of darkness she’d always known. Heather wasn’t ready to explore what it meant. She had heard Peri and Sally say that they could ‘see’ what was in their mate’s mind. But Heather wasn’t yet ready to hope for something like that. To actually see anything, even something through the eyes of another, was a bit more than she could deal with right now. She didn’t dare dream of the possibility that she would be able to use his eyes, because if that wasn’t the case, she didn’t want to feel as though the world had been handed to her and then ripped from her grasp. So she’d endure the pain, like Stella and Anna, quietly, for as long as she could and hope that her head didn’t explode. She would hate for her brains to get all over Stella. Heather chuckled at the thought.
“What’s funny?” Stella asked her.
“Would you be ticked off if my head exploded and I got my brains all over you?” Heather asked. A lot of girls would have given a girly, ewww, but not Stella.
“If I wanted to wear brains, I would make sure to add them to my wardrobe. Since there aren’t any brains currently sitting in my closet, then I’m going to say that I would be slightly perturbed.” Stella paused and then asked, “Why are you asking me about your head exploding and brains splattering all over me?”
Heather shrugged. “It’s one of those things we should know about each other. I need to know how you will handle gross situations. I can’t claim you as a friend if you squeal like a girl.”
Stella laughed. “I don’t think I h
ave ever squealed in my life.”
“Perfect,” Heather smiled. “You don’t want to be a squealer. One of the wolves might mistake you for a pig and pounce on you.”
The others laughed but Elle added, “Oh, he’ll pounce on you, but it won’t be because he mistakes you for a pig.”
Heather heard a low growl from Sorin. “We’re wolves, not cats. We don’t pounce.”
This made the group laugh even louder, and for a brief moment the pain that radiated in her mind eased. Heather took the tiny reprieve for what it was but prepared herself for the pain to return. She tried hard not to acknowledge the little voice in the back of her mind that whispered, Maybe with the pain, the light will come also.
Her mind was consumed with something she didn’t understand. Her hands shook so she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Sweat broke out on her forehead and trailed down her back though it wasn’t hot enough to cause sweating. Anna’s heart rate continued to increase and the pounding was nearly painful. Those things were not the most disturbing, however. The most disturbing was the fact that her own feelings weren’t the only ones she was feeling. She was distinctly aware of the feelings of another rolling through her mind.
Anna had no idea how long she’d been walking or how far she had gone. She just kept placing one foot in front of the other until she suddenly collapsed. Her knees hit the ground and pain shot up her legs as she fell forward catching herself with her hands before she could completely face plant. She was panting as though she’d been running and the sweating had increased to the point that she knew she must look like she’d taken a jump in a lake. After taking several deep breaths, Anna brushed her hands off and attempted to stand. But when she fell back to the earth she grunted in pain — a pain unlike any she’d ever felt.
Suddenly, a howl ― long, deep, and powerful ― filled the sky causing her to tremble. It was a call. And somehow she knew deep in her gut it was for her. She closed her eyes and shook her head attempting to calm her churning insides. Unfortunately, it wasn’t helping. “Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap.”
“Are you just going to sit there twitching like a scared rabbit?” a sharp voice stabbed at her.
Anna raised her head and met the eyes staring back at her from a stern, but not unkind face. A pixie woman, about fifteen inches tall, stood five feet away from her. Anna must have looked completely confused, but she couldn’t stop her head from tilting ever so slightly as she took in the small woman.
“If you keep staring at me stupidly with your mouth hanging open like that, as if you’re just waiting on a bug to make a home in it, I’m not going to feel sorry for you when he catches you.”
Anna’s forehead scrunched up as she pursed her lips. She asked the question she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer to, no matter how curious she’d been or how filled with longing she’d grown, “When who catches me?”
The pixie woman huffed. “Your mate.”
“I am not asking you to accompany me,” Gustavo told Costin. He’d sought out the only male left in their group that was already mated. The only other wolf he’d talked to about his frustration had been his Beta, but regardless of his place in his pack, he was still an unmated male.
“Peri will kill me, not to mention what my mate will do to me.” Costin paced back and forth in the clearing they’d ran to when Gustavo had requested an audience. Gustavo watched as the Beta ran his fingers through his hair, obviously agitated over his request.
“You have to know I would not ask if I did not feel like she needed me.” He almost felt guilty when he asked, “What would you do if it were you in my position and you were sure you knew where your mate was?”
Costin’s eyes shot up and glared at him. “That’s a low blow and you know it.”
Gustavo shrugged. “Perhaps, but it is a fair question, compañero.”
“Even if you don’t want me to come with you, I’d still have to lead you to the correct forest,” Costin pointed out. Then he asked, “Why aren’t you taking your Beta?”
Gustavo shrugged as he straightened the cuffs of his perfectly pressed dress shirt. “He is unmated.”
“I forgot what a pain you unmated males are,” Costin muttered under his breath.
Gustavo watched as the young Beta continued to consider his request. He realized there would be repercussions for his actions, but Gustavo didn’t care. There was a gnawing emptiness mixed with need inside of him and these emotions did not belong to him. He was feeling her emotions, those of his true mate. Whether or not she knew that she was broadcasting that loudly to him, he wasn’t sure, but he knew that he had to heed her call. She needed him, even if she wasn’t aware of it herself. And he needed her just as much, if not more.
Costin suddenly stopped his pacing as his head snapped up. He was looking in the direction of Peri’s home. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Qué es?” Gustavo asked as he followed Costin’s line of sight.
“My mate says we have a visitor.”
“Friend or foe?”
Costin started off at a jog as he answered, “Depends on why he’s here.”
They both ran back in their human forms not wanting to deal with having to undress and then redress. When they were standing just outside the front door, Costin looked over at him. “How do you keep your clothes so clean and neat even after running through a field?”
Gustavo shot him a grin full of teeth. “It is one of my many talents, my friend.”
The door in front of them opened drawing their attention. Sally, Costin’s mate, stood with both hands on her hips, glaring at them.
“Hey brown eyes,” Costin grinned down at her.
“Don’t, hey brown eyes, me,” she snapped.
Gustavo started to laugh but quickly turned it into a cough when those brown, angry eyes landed on him.
“Peri is going to kill you both if you attempt what you were discussing.”
Costin reached up and ran a finger across her cheek which she promptly slapped away. “Sally mine,” Costin started but his little mate held up her hand stopping his words in their tracks.
“Don’t. We can discuss your plan to tick off the most powerful high fae alive, after.” She motioned them to follow her inside.
Gustavo had to give it to the little American female. She had a growl that was worthy of an Alpha werewolf.
“You sure you want one of those healers to be your mate?” Costin whispered as they stepped into the living room.
“You might want to listen to him, Gustavo. Gypsy healers are no one to trifle with,” a voice that Gustavo hadn’t heard in centuries filled the room and then the owner of the voice stepped in from the doorway to the kitchen. “And pardon me, healer,” the male said giving Sally a slight bow, “but Peri is one of the most powerful high fae, despite what she wants you to think.”
“Alston.” Gustavo stepped forward and held out his hand. The leader of the council of high fae clasped the Spanish Alpha’s forearm in greeting. “It has been a long time.”
Alston nodded. “Too long,” he admitted.
“Did Peri send you?” Costin asked.
Alston shook his head. “Actually, she’d probably be ticked off if she knew I was here.”
“Well pissing Peri off is something we enjoy doing, so, by all means, make yourself at home,” Costin grinned.
Sally smacked his chest. “Behave, you’re already in enough trouble.”
Alston’s brow rose as he looked between the two.
“Pardon, but if Peri did not send you, why are you here?” Gustavo asked, stepping forward as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“I’m checking on her progress with Volcan. She doesn’t like council interference, of course, but then she also complains that we don’t help the humans enough. Peri likes to be in control. That being said, Volcan is a very large problem for us all. It is in everyone’s best interest that he be taken care of sooner rather than later.”
“Well, we’ve hit a littl
e bump in the road,” Sally told him, her hands twisting together as she glanced at her mate. Gustavo could tell the healer really didn’t want to tell Alston about Jewel being taken.
“A bump?” Alston’s eyes narrowed.
“Okay, more like a large amount of construction.”
He waited.
“Jewel Stone has been captured by Volcan,” Costin said for his healer.
A breath was sucked from the high fae’s lungs as his face paled. “He has a healer in his procession?”
“Dalton Black is her true mate. He, Peri, Lucian, and Dillon have gone after her,” Gustavo added quickly.
Alston’s eyes grew unfocused as he seemed to slip away from them for several minutes. “We have seen this before. If history is any indication, he will attempt to rebuild his army of witches. He almost destroyed us last time. And that was without today’s technology. In this day and age, he could unleash his power on the world so much quicker.” He paused and then looked at Costin. “Why has she not taken more of you? Vasile sent all of these wolves to help, and yet she has left all of them, save two, here.”
“She’s been trying to keep the males separate from the newly discovered healers,” Gustavo answered with a low growl filling his voice.
“I take it that it wasn’t a popular decision?” Alston’s lips pursed.
Gustavo smirked. “When is it ever okay with a wolf to be kept from his possible mate?”
“Where are the females?”
“Peri had Elle and Adam take them to the pixie realm.”
Alston let out a string of words in another language. “What is she thinking dragging the pixies into this?”
“She felt that all of the unmated pairs would be a distraction, doing more harm than good,” Sally offered.
“I understand her reasoning, but that doesn’t make it right.”
“Before you came, I was discussing with Costin the idea of making a visit to the king of the pixies,” Gustavo told the high fae.