A few minutes later, they were both fully dressed once more, though looking a bit worse for wear garment-wise. Katherine’s dark clothes were covered in dirt from where she’d rolled to avoid darts and grabby Hunters. Byron’s clothes were ripped and blood-stained and his shirt was missing all of its buttons. Not that Katherine seemed to mind the fact that it stayed open; her eyes kept wandering to his chest.
Byron had never been so happy to be a wolf. His kind were blessed with impressive builds, but he’d always taken it for granted and not really paid it much heed, despite the fact that women had always shown him interest. Now every time he won Kat’s violet-blue gaze, he felt like crowing.
About fifteen minutes out of their make-shift camp, Byron could sense that they were drawing closer to the shore line. The air was saltier and a bit windier. It smelled like the sea.
“I love the ocean,” Katherine said, breaking their shared silence.
Byron blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that. Clearly, her senses were just as sharp as his own and she’d realized they were nearing the coast as well.
“I love the way it goes on forever,” she said. “It’s this uncontainable thing. Like the Earth keeps popping up points of land here and there, trying to pin the water down, but the sea just laughs and moves around them.”
Byron was stunned… which was often his state around Katherine Dare. What she’d just described was so deeply beautiful and fundamentally true, it was breathtaking. What was more shocking though was that he felt the same way. It was why he’d always stuck to the coast while riding with his gang fifty years ago in Australia. He loved the ocean and the freedom it represented. He felt that way now more than ever.
Byron stopped in his tracks and Katherine stopped too, turning a confused look to him. “Kat,” he said, feeling a warmth in his chest that he didn’t recognize. “I… Have you any idea how – ”
He never had the chance to finish telling her what he wanted to tell her because the forest shifted just then. A flock of birds in a grove of nearby trees took to the sky at once. The air grew warm and filled with the familiar scent of magic. And Byron was spinning and pulling Katherine behind him with blurring speed.
There was a flash of light that expanded from a central spot in a small clearing a few yards away. Byron covered his eyes with his arm, temporarily blinded. But the flash faded and the light receded, and Byron lowered his arm once more.
“Wwwow,” said a female voice. “That’s definitely an alpha.” Byron blinked, taking in the figures of at least a half a dozen people; wolves, from the smell of them. His heartbeat sped up, and his head felt light.
“Christ, you could almost be twins, Lucas,” came another female voice.
Lucas.
Byron inhaled sharply, his stormy gaze scanning the faces of the people present. It was still dark, but his wolf vision was clear enough to see it when a tall dark-haired man stepped around another man and Byron’s storm gray eyes met those of star-studded black.
He almost couldn’t say it. But somehow he managed. “Lucas?” he breathed.
“Byron…” came the almost whispered response. A heartbeat passed, filled with recognition and memories and hopes fulfilled – and fear. And then the other man was moving forward and Byron was rushing to meet him.
A hurricane of emotion ripped through him as he took his little brother in his arms. He felt the muscle and bone of his brethren, heard his brother’s heart beat, and caught the sound of his kin’s shaky breaths as Lucas squeezed him back just as hard.
Oh God, he thought helplessly. Let this be real. Countless times during his imprisonment, he’d dreamt things like this. He’d missed his brother and his friends so badly. He’d imagined what it would be like to see them again, hear them again.
But he knew this was real, because in his dreams, it had never been this good.
When he and Lucas finally pulled away enough to look into each others’ eyes, Byron felt the wetness on his cheeks and couldn’t help the deep laugh that bubbled up inside of him. He cupped his little brother’s face and looked him over. “You’re all grown up,” he said through a half-sob. The last time he’d seen Lucas, the boy had been fifteen years old. Tall and strong, yes, but not the man he saw before him now. Not yet.
Lucas looked pained, his own cheeks wet with emotion, his dark eyes rimmed with red and beginning to glow. “For a while now, big brother,” he said softly. And then Lucas was pulling him roughly into another embrace and Byron felt a racking sob go through the other man.
It was a long while before either of them moved. Byron couldn’t even open his eyes. He was lost in the past, captured in the present, once again prisoner to something – but this time, it was something wonderful.
Finally, he sensed the air warming and thought of Katherine. He could feel her there, not too far away. He could still smell her on him and hear her heartbeat; different from the others. Despite the world being turned on its axis, he needed to get her to safety before the sun came up.
No one in the clearing had spoken. It seemed eons since he’d heard a voice or a even a throat clearing. He slowly pulled away from Lucas and looked around. There were at least half a dozen other wolves in the forest around them, all of them watching the reunion with stark, emotion-filled expressions. Clearly these were friends of Lucas’s.
The boy had done well.
Byron turned to find Katherine watching him with glistening violet eyes that glowed slightly with emotion. She’d been crying; he could see the tear tracks on her cheeks. He moved from Lucas to stand before her, taking her hands in his. She smiled up at him and then blushed, looking down at the ground. He knew what must have been going through her head. He knew she must have been wondering what it was like to hold someone you never thought you’d see again – someone you loved this much.
“Byron,” Lucas said softly, and Byron glanced at his brother over his shoulder. Lucas was pinching the moisture from his eyes and sniffing loudly. “We have to get you to shelter.”
Byron’s surprise showed on his face. “I know,” he said. “But how did you?”
“It’s a long story,” came a woman’s response.
Byron turned to see a young woman with beautiful golden hair and equally golden eyes step forward beside a tall black-haired, blue-eyed man. The man was very obviously her mate by the way he slid a possessive arm around her waist and watched Byron with a completely natural mixture of relieved happiness and male dominant wariness.
“Lily is our seer,” Lucas explained with a respectful and grateful nod to the golden haired woman. Lily blushed prettily.
“And I’m guessing this is Katherine,” came another female voice. It was the first one he’d heard after the flash that had brought them all there to that spot in the forest.
A tall, gorgeous African American woman came forward, her dark eyes searching past Byron and landing on Katherine. “Lily said you looked like a fairy princess,” she said softly, her bright white smile lighting up her lovely face. “She wasn’t kidding.” Her voice purred like audible sex. It gave Byron a strange buzz in his limbs.
And he didn’t miss the way the woman gazed at Katherine in all kinds of admiration.
He cursed inwardly at the automatic tightening in his crotch and glanced back at Kat to see that her blush had deepened and her long lashes brushed the tops of her cheeks in embarrassment.
She was a vision.
“Everything can be explained once we’re safely secured,” came a deep, commanding voice.
Byron turned to find a very tall, broad, and serious looking black man stepping forward into the clearing. It was at once clear to Byron that the man was of a different caliber than those around him. He had the physique of an enforcer and the stature of a sentinel – but an air of steadfast, resolute responsibility. Byron at once recognized the feel of that kind of power. The Overseer, he realized silently. Something had changed. Where was Alexander Kavanagh?
The Overse
er nodded at a young woman with long black hair and multi-colored eyes. Byron felt a fissure of recognition shoot through him at the sight of her. He’d never laid eyes on her before, but he felt he knew her.
“Dannai,” the Overseer said and then turned to the woman who looked and sounded like walking sex. “Imani,” he continued, nodding at her as well. “Will you do the honors?”
“Of course,” they said together, and they raised their right hands above them.
Byron instinctively pulled Katherine into his arms and tightened his grip. Just as he’d suspected, the air around them began to warp and shift once more and for just a second, he had the sensation that he couldn’t breathe. A bright, white light filled the area, blinding him and those around him as they were transported from the forest.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“The Hen”
There had only ever been one time in Katherine’s life when she’d felt more like an outsider than she did now. It was right after her father was killed and she was sent to the orphanage. The court tried to ease the transition for her, but at her age, most children had already been in the orphanages a while and they’d formed cliques just as they would have anywhere else.
She was the victim of stark jealousy from the girls; she’d been a very pretty child while most girls her age were going through their awkward stage. And boys… well, boys were always difficult. They either hated you or wanted you, or both. That was how it went for Kat until Kai came along.
Kai Keahi was in a Marin county orphanage and she was in San Francisco, but they met up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday when their groups got together for after school activities. He was cute and strong and fast and he made her laugh. He was also gentle with her and attentive and, for some reason, they formed a fast friendship.
He was her first crush and her very best friend. He’d filled a little of the gap that had been torn into her being when her father died.
Years later, she’d gone to college in one place – and Kai attended in another. But she remembered the way he looked at her when he said goodbye. He’d told her she wasn’t meant to be with him. He’d said that if she was, she would have known it. It was the kind of thing that would tear some girls up, but not Katherine. She’d nodded and accepted it. Because she’d known it was true.
Despite that knowledge, despite the fact that she now knew she’d been born a dormant and had not only found her mate, but been turned by him and brought to werewolf council headquarters, Katherine felt out of place. Uncomfortable.
The headquarters were huge. There was a beautiful building on the top floor, white washed and graced with floor to ceiling windows that looked out over an Oregon coast. Sea gulls could be heard crying at all hours, and the fog rolled in and rolled out like a massive white beast. It was gorgeous. But the top floor was only the tip of the iceberg.
The building stretched out below ground to encompass meeting rooms for three levels, each reinforced from moisture or damage through the use of magic. There were guest rooms and kitchens, a gym, a pool, a hot tub, and even a massive ball room that Katherine could not even imagine being used just then. Trying to picture the werewolves she’d met in ball gowns and tuxes was almost enough to make her laugh.
Almost. She was actually too uncomfortable to laugh. “Here, sweetie.” Kat looked up as someone set a steaming cup of tea down in front of her and then sat down beside her. “Lily, right?” Kat asked, wanting to make sure she didn’t mess up.
The girl with the golden hair and golden eyes gave her a big, friendly smile and nodded. “Right,” she said. “I’m impressed. You’ve met something like twenty people today and there’s no way in hell I would remember all of our names.”
Kat gave a little shrug and tried not to act strange under the compliment. “Well, I’ve never exactly met people like you before.” Lily laughed. It was a very pleasant sound. “You mean like witches and wolves and a bunch of people caught in between?” Kat couldn’t help the smile she returned. “Yeah, that.” Lily sat back and glanced out the enormous windows. The early morning was misty beyond. Kat would have been afraid of the sun that might have peeked through the fog at any moment if it weren’t for the fact that the entire building was warded for the sake of its inhabitants. Dannai and Imani had also cast spells on both her and Byron, just to make sure.
Then Byron and Lucas had gone off on their own to catch up and the “girls” had taken Katherine through the building and bombarded her with information. She had to admit that not one of them seemed duplicitous or “clique-y” or unpleasant in any way. They’d been nothing but kind to her. But something was off. Kat had a feeling that whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the werewolves around her and everything to do with herself.
“It’s a lot to take in, I’ll give you that,” said Lily without looking over at Kat. “You think you won’t fit in here because you used to be a Hunter.” She glanced at Kat and caught Kat’s slightly surprised expression. She smiled. “I can read it in your eyes,” she said. “Plus, I was a social worker before I was pulled into Daniel’s world. I’ve seen a lot of terrified expressions like yours.”
Kat didn’t know what to say. She looked down at her bare feet where they curled into the plush carpeting. The council had provided her with new clothes and shoes, but she had yet to put the latter on.
“Every one of us has a past, Kat,” Lily said softly. Katherine thought it odd that Lily used her nickname, but more odd was the fact that felt natural, as if they’d been friends forever. “Some are darker than others. But we’re a family and families stick together. Believe me when I tell you that you’re cherished here.”
Katherine looked into Lily’s eyes and wanted to believe her. She really did. But the “darker” past she was talking about was really much darker than anyone else’s. She’d killed more than a dozen of their kind. She was a murderer. She was no better than the man who had taken her father.
Kat swallowed hard as this realization washed over her. It was numbing and cold and made her feel slightly ill.
Lily frowned, as if she could see the change that had come over Katherine. She bent and lifted the mug of tea she’d previously set down. “Drink this,” she said. “Its chamomile. It’ll help settle your nerves.”
Katherine took the mug with a small “thanks,” and put it to her lips. She hid her eyes behind the cup as she took a sip. She didn’t want Lily to see the thoughts spinning there. Little did the former social worker know that at that moment, Kat’s nerves were doing anything but settling. They were hardening, in fact.
Steeling up. Because what she was thinking about doing was going to take every ounce of courage she possessed. And then a little more. ***** Jason stared into the scrying pool and his fingers fisted over the edge of the smooth porcelain dish. Nothing but fog. Wherever Danny was, she was protected. Again. She was always protected – from him. He wanted to turn the massive stone dish over in that moment, knock it from its pedestal and watch it shatter across the carved floor of his viewing room. But instead, he straightened and lifted his chin.
For the second time in only a few short hours, the air around him changed. But this change felt light. It felt as if he could breathe easier, see better, and the film had been pulled from his soul.
He recognized that feeling. “Lalura,” he whispered, standing away from the pool and turning in a slow circle.
“Good morning to you as well, Jason,” came a scratchy, weathered voice. Jason whirled around. Of course the old woman had gotten the jump on him. It never failed that Lalura would show up behind you when she transported.
Jason’s green eyes flashed with reflexive magic as he caught Lalura’s ancient gaze. She stood all but four and a half feet tall and her thick, silver braid nearly touched the floor. She’d always appeared to Jason like a cross between a dwarf and an elf. A dwelf.
Her expression was enigmatic, but there was a smile at the edges of her wrinkled mouth. “How have you been?” she asked.
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There was no point in lying to Lalura. She’d always known when he was doing so. “I’ve been a sexual slave to a vampire for the last few months,” he said plainly. “And you?”
“The arthritis is acting up a little and I’ve got a hammer toe that keeps me from wearing my favorite pair of shoes, but other than that, I’m good.”
Jason watched her warily as she made her way from the center of the massive underground viewing room to the scrying pool he stood beside. She stood on her tip toes, bent over it, and peeked in. “Anything good on?” she asked.
Jason shook his head.
“Thought not,” she said, lowering herself down again. “Those wolves have always utilized the best wards.”
Jason was utterly bewildered. “Lalura, what are you doing here?” he couldn’t help but ask. He was a warlock, he’d betrayed the coven, he’d endangered Lalura’s adopted daughter – Dannai – and here she was, the most respected and loved member of their coven. In his presence. Acting as if nothing had ever happened.
“Oh that,” she said, slowly moving toward one of the few chairs he had in the viewing room and slowly lowering herself down into it. It was a wood chair and not at all comfortable, which she made plainly clear when she began to shift and make a face. “I came to ask you what the hell you think you’re doing.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?” He felt like a child in this woman’s presence.
“You heard me,” Lalura said. She grunted a little, turned to give the chair a dirty look, and then pointed a finger at it and muttered an archaic word of magic. The chair shimmered and transformed, and when it was finished morphing, Lalura sat back into its feathery, velvet softness with a heavy sigh. It had been turned into something that looked suspiciously like the back end of a swan.
“A bird?” Jason asked incredulously.
“Indeed,” said Lalura. “If it’s going to be down you may as well get the freshest stuff available. Plus, it’s ergonomic. Now then,” she said, closing her eyes and getting comfortable. “Whatever it is you think you’ve got boiling in that cauldron of a head of yours, you need to just forget about it.”