Magic's Love

by Alexandra Von Burg

  “Anyway, when he finally came home, a new alpha had been born by a cousin and was being groomed for leadership. Josh didn’t mind, but the pack didn’t want him to challenge and disrupt the new order, so his Dad sent him to a distant cousin way up north.

  “The cousin was a female, mated to a very old school shifter who did not treat her well. She was the youngest of three abused wives. The other two wives, not knowing any better, abused her as well. When Josh arrived, she was pregnant and miserable. He protected her, cared for her, and when the time came, delivered her cub, me. Since no one else was around, I imprinted on him, and he’s been stuck with me ever since.”

  “Wow, how long ago was that? Is your mom still alive? Is she okay?”

  “Mom is here with us, thanks for asking. I was still in diapers when Josh killed her mate because his wife abuse went too far. Our alpha kicked him out of the pack for it, and he took Mom and me with him when he left. We were on our own for a bunch of years before working our way south again to this territory.

  “He ran across some cousins who told him that they were unhappy with the new young alpha. They returned to our home with him and started their own mini family pack. I was still a kid. We kept tabs on the old pack, but we also stayed out of their way. Josh had no intention of challenging them for position or territory, and I wasn’t old enough to be anyone’s second.”

  “So how did you get to the way things are now?” Lila couldn’t help asking. Immortals were so vague about time lines, it was hard to put events into context with the rest of the world.

  “Our pack slowly grew as more cousins left Josh’s original pack. No one was mating, so the old pack was stagnant. Eventually, our pack was big enough that we were taking territory away from the old pack, and the other alpha challenged Josh. He won, and we incorporated everyone into one pack.

  “By then, the town of New Castle had been formed, and a lot of us had found employment in logging and construction, so we slowly eased into life among non shifters. When the councils were made, Josh was nominated and elected.”

  Lila sat dumbfounded. She guessed that Franklin was at least 300 years old. Why was he not mated?

  “All that time, and neither of you are mated?”

  Sam smiled sadly.

  “It hasn’t been an easy life,” he said. “We’ve been looking, but…”

  His use of the word, “we” tipped Lila off to the fact that Johua was looking for a mate to share with his beta. What had the Bishop females told her? That an alpha male had to find his true mate in order to conceive a child?

  “Anyway, now that you’re here, we have a better chance of finding a mate.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know,” Sam smiled sheepishly at her, “the Chosen One will fix all our problems.”

  “So I'm supposed to be a dating service on top of everything else?” Lila laughed good naturedly.

  “Well, I wouldn’t mind meeting your single girlfriends,” Sam laughed.

  He was a handsome man, and his smiling eyes sparkled with mirth.

  “Don’t shifters already have dating mixers?”

  “We do, but they are for shifters only.”

  Once again, racism rears its ugly head, Lila thought.

  “Can’t you just open those mixers up to everyone?” She asked.

  “Easier said than done.”

  He was right, of course, but that didn’t make Lila feel better about it. On top of all the political bull she had to deal with, she was expected to help Magiques find true love as well. No pressure. Then she thought about Franklin and Elton actively looking for a mate for a hundred years, maybe more.

  “I’m sorry, you must be pretty lonely.”

  Elton shrugged.

  “At least we have each other.”

  Did that mean what she thought that meant? Did shifters have a more open view of sexual relationships as well as polyamorous ones? It wouldn’t surprise her if they did. Wait, Lash had told her that shifters were homophobic. Had he meant only cat shifters? Or did gay shifters hide in menages? What about bisexuals? Evan was bi, was Lash? He had admitted to making a few porn videos to entrap politicians, but he never said anything about dating males.

  “Sam, can I ask a really inappropriate and possibly personal question?” Lila whispered.

  “Sure,” he said leaning in.

  “Are there a lot of gay shifters, or are they mostly bisexual?”

  “I’d say that there are a lot of both. Shifter males tend to outnumber the females.”

  Lila looked at him in surprise.

  “So why the homophobia?”

  “No clue. My best guess is that it has something to do with strength in numbers. The bigger the pack, the stronger it is, and numbers come from lots of cubs.”

  “So being bi is okay if you are mated to a female, but being gay goes against the family tradition?”

  “Sort of. Bisexuality is kept on the down low, behind closed doors, and all that.”

  “Oh, so you can’t even be openly bi?”

  “Not a recommended lifestyle.”

  “Y’all are seriously repressed,” Lila muttered.

  Elton snorted a laugh into his napkin, obviously having heard her.

  “Student?” Sebastian was looking at her like she’d been passing notes in class. Lila refused to feel like she’d been caught.

  “Teacher?” she retorted, mocking his tone.

  She saw the corner of Franklin’s mouth turn up just a bit. Sebastian, however, was not amused.

  “What are you discussing so intimately with our revered guest?”

  Damn, Lila knew she was going to get hell when Bastian pulled out the old fashioned talk.

  “Sam is helping me understand what social issues are most important to shifters.”

  Sebastian’s eyebrows lifted. That could either mean he was intrigued, or he disapproved of the subject. Lila decided to plow on regardless, since she really wanted to know.

  “I’m curious to know which taboo is worse: Mating outside of one's race, or mating with the same sex?”

  Sebastian went pale, and Franklin’s smile lit up his whole face.

  “Technically, mating means procreating for shifters, so partnering with the same sex is not concidered mating.” Franklin answered.

  “So then mating out of race is worse?”

  “Yes, but again, the reason goes back to procreation. It is thought that a half breed child cannot be as strong as a full breed, and Specials have mostly proved that theory.”

  “But a Special is made from breeding with a human, what about a half breed from two Magiques?”

  “We... don’t get those in shifter culture,” Franklin said.

  Lila thought about that.

  “You’ve never heard of a single shifter mating another Magique?”

  “No.” Franklin almost looked regretful. “Remember that shifters live in close family packs. We may work with the general population, but we don’t socialize with them.”

  Lila’s eyes went wide in surprise. They sounded like the Amish.

  “And how’s that working for you?”

  “Lila! Do not insult our guests,” Sebastian barked.

  “Sorry, Mr. Franklin, and Mr. Elton.”

  “Please, Chosen One, call us Josh and Sam.”

  “Only if you call me Lila,” she told him, and he smiled back.

  “I understand your frustration with our inability to change our old traditions, Lila,” Josh said. “My niece and nephew point out my faults regularly. Your generation has a much better grasp on how to exist and be happy than the rest of us. As the leader of my kind, I look to you as an example of how to overcome old habits.”

  His expression became sad, and maybe a little defeated. Here was a man who understood that what he’d been doing wasn’t working, but also wasn’t sure how to get out of the loop he was stuck in. Lila suddenly felt all the weight of her title and the prophecy on her shoulders. Then she felt Evan’s hand on her thigh, and rea
lized how much better she had it just because she already had her true mate---and another waiting in the wings. What example would that be?

  “Josh, what do you think about me mating a vampire?” Lila knew that there were degrees of prejudice, a lot of people were okay with it as long as they didn’t have to live with it.

  “I think it’s an encouraging step towards social progress.”

  Lila smirked.

  “That was a very diplomatic answer. How would you feel if I was mated to one of your cousins?”

  Sam smiled, seeing the direction she was heading in.

  “I would say the same thing,” Josh answered.

  “Okay, now what if your nephew came home with a mage or a witch? Would you endorse such a mating?”

  Josh paused, but then said, ”If they were true mates, I would not object.”

  “And what would be your biggest concern with such a mating? The couple's happiness, or the strength of their offspring?”

  Josh looked down at the table, and took even longer to answer. Lila had time to look over at Sam and see distress on his face. Finally Joshua spoke.

  “My nephew is an alpha, he will one day be a leader. He needs to be strong, to have a strong family.”

  “He already has a strong family,” Lila said gently, coming to her point.

  “Strength comes from love, Josh, not just from genes. Trust me, I know.”

  Lila stood and started clearing the dishes, giving the old Magiques time to digest her words. Evan followed her into the kitchen with platters. He put the platters on the kitchen table and took Lila in his arms.

  “That was well said, Angel,” Evan kissed her long and tenderly.

  “Thanks, Baby, but I’m not sure it will help. After all, I won’t be having any children.”

  Not for the first time, Evan wondered if Lila would have wanted children.

  “Can you please take the stack of dessert plates and the ice cream out to Bastian?”

  Lila picked up the pie server and a pie, and led the way back into the dining room.

  “---proud of her, Sebastian,” Josh was saying, “I think she’s just what we need.”

  Sebastian looked up at Lila beaming.

  “Just wait till you taste her apple pie.” Sebastian said.

  Chapter 24

  December

  As Christmas approached, clues about plots and enemies dried up. It seemed like even the bad guys were going to break for the holidays. Invitations for the Chosen One to attend cocktails and dinner parties were arriving daily, and Sebastian and Lila negotiated the RSVPs as best they could in order to not snub any one group. Each separate council invited her to a soiree, and some individuals, like Catherine DuBois, were hosting smaller parties to show off their personal relationship to the Chosen One.

  Lila found herself suddenly being fitted into formal gowns and Tammy, a make-up artist, arrived nightly to do her face. Thank the Oracle that her hair was still too short to do anything more to it than blow dry it.

  Meanwhile, Lila had invited Lily and Jerry to spend Christmas with them, and was trying to make Sebastian’s house look festive. She dragged Evan to a tree lot to buy an eight foot tree and five wreaths for the front of the house. They bought lights, ornaments, candles, and garlands. She was not satisfied until the whole house smelled like a winter forest. Evan outlined the house, the barn, and the trees with colored lights, and the whole property was transformed into a Christmas wonderland every night after dark.

  There was so much going on in Lila’s life that her schedule left little time to reflect on the prophecy, her mates, or her mission of spreading love and acceptance in the magique world. The stress of the season did not affect her daily life, but played out in her dreams. Every night, no matter how much time Evan dedicated to de-stressing her before sleep, her dreams were a confused mix up of strained political etiquette, jungle escapes, and missing Lash. Some nights Evan woke her from nightmares to hold her and reassure her that she was safe. Other nights, when she moaned and pleaded for more, he woke her to make love to her.

  The last required party fell on the night of December 23rd, and was the one that most worried Lila. It was being hosted by none other than Johnathan Hamill and William Robur, the two mage elders who did not like her. She had argued with Sebastian about not attending, as she and her whole team knew that those two men were aggressively against her, but Sebatian reminded her how important it was to keep enemies close, and Alexander agreed. Xander also informed her that Westin would be attending the party.

  So Lila found herself getting ready like a soldier dressing for battle. She no longer needed the make-up artist to choose her color of lipstick or make a smokey eye, she could do it herself after the last eight nights of constant party prep.

  She also knew from the past week that Isobel De Medici would be there making nasty little comments about her appearance and trying to pry Evan away from her. Isobel had been at every party so far, trying to upstage and belittle Lila in turns. Of course it had no effect on Evan, but it was still irritating. This last party would be mixed with all the “important” people of all races, so Lila saw it as a platform for her mission statement, such as it was.

  In spite of her shoulder length hair, Lila pinned up the back to expose her Claiming mark for all to see. She left the front to cascade in an artfully tousled way around her face. Her dress for the night was a classy version of Jessica Rabbit’s red mermaid gown, chosen specifically because Isobel had worn the Jessica Rabbit costume the first time Lila had met her. She knew that Isobel would make the connection, and hopefully be annoyed. Catherine’s fashion spies guaranteed that Isobel would be wearing black, as she was being escorted by Frederick Van Reed, a very conservative and very rich mage that evening. He was known for demanding his escorts to at least look sophisticated and demure. Lila’s burgundy gown would not only outshine Isobel and all the other women at the party, but it would also enhance her magical attraction to the opposite sex. Every man attending the party tonight would drool over her.

  Lila had the foresight to warn her team of her intention to devastate the male population, and all except for Adam were required to attend as backup bodyguards. Adam was on his way home to Ohio to spend the holidays with family.

  Dressed, and ready for battle, Lila was about to leave her room when Evan stopped her.

  “Angel, wait. There’s somet’in’ missing.”

  Lila turned to look at her mate, an auburn haired Adonis in his tuxedo. He was holding a rectangular gray velvet box in his hands. She took a step back towards him, a question on her face.

  “You are not the only one who is tired of Isobel’s antics. She is perfectly capable of ignoring your claiming mark, but this,” Evan opened the box,”she will never miss.”

  Evan revealed a five carat teardrop ruby pendant, set in a platinum chain with ten diamonds at the apex. It was obviously expensive, but Lila saw it as an expression of Evan’s love for her. She thought about the engagement ring that had not yet been replaced, and she wondered if she could get away with wearing this necklace with her t-shirts and jeans instead.

  “Oh Evan,” she breathed.”It’s exquisite.”

  She looked into his eyes, her heels making them almost the same height. Evan kissed her forehead, not wanting to mess up her make-up. Lila lifted the necklace out of the box and turned her back to Evan so he could close the clasp for her. She looked up into the full mirror next to her closet to see how it looked and was pleased by the picture she and Evan presented. They were a strikingly beautiful couple in red and black, and the necklace added an opulence that the price tag set would not be able to ignore. It was the perfect way to stick it to the establishment, and Isobel De Medici.

  Lila smiled at Evan in the mirror, excited and ready for battle. This was going to be the best night. Friends would be proud, and enemies would be awed. She turned and hugged Evan fiercely.

  “I love you, Evan O’Connell, always and forever!”

  Evan chuckled into
her neck.

  “As do I, Angel. Let’s go give them hell.”

  As was their custom, Sebastian, Lila, and Evan arrived in one car. Lila wore a faux mink stole over her gown that kept her warm enough between the car and the door. Any shifter in sight would be able to scent that it was a fake, which was exactly what Lila intended. So many old mages and vampires wore real fur to the insult of all shifters present.

  The interior of the grand house, which belonged to councilman Hamill, was decorated for the holiday in pine bows, poinsettias, and white lights. It softened the otherwise austere feel of the place, all dark wood and severe portraits on the walls.

  The ballroom, because there was always a ballroom, looked like a sculpture gallery, with marble figures on pedestals lining the dark walls. In the center of the room a large statue of an avenging angel stood, its wings outstretched and its arm raised over its head and brandishing a sword. The sculptor had meticulously carved roman armor, with designs embossed into the surface. The leather skirt fluttered in a nonexistent wind, as did the shoulder length hair. The face of the angel was beautifully asexual, the way that many greek gods were portrayed. Smooth skin, rounded cheeks, a smallish nose and full lips. The eyes were half closed, as if it was thinking. Perhaps it was contemplating its enemy.

  Lila was drawn to the statue. She took a slow turn around it, pulling Evan by his hand but otherwise ignoring him and everyone else in the room. The statue seemed to call to her magic somehow. Maybe it was made with magic. When she came around again to the front, she stood completely still studying it for a long time. More than a few people noticed.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice asked behind her.

  Lila turned to see her hosts, Robur and Hamill standing a pace behind her. Hamill was looking up at the sculpture, but Robur was staring at her. Evan shifted his weight to be more of a shield in front of her.

  “It is very beautiful,” Lila said to Hamill, whom she assumed had spoken.

  “It was made a millennium ago by a very talented and anonymous artist for the mage elders,” Hamill explained. “Each elder is permitted to house it for one hundred years.”