“He has always been the one at Alec’s side, training right along with him. He is the one who we have been waiting for, for what feels like centuries. He’s the one who will keep us safe from afar.”
“Finally!”
Alec didn’t know who said that, but he just grinned.
“And our Beta, he has always been here, as well. The one who will listen to you, who has always listened. The one who is a bit calmer than the other.” Hunter winked, and Liam blushed, considering Liam was anything but calm most days. A personality trait that was needed for the Tracker, but not the Beta.
“Meet your Beta, Alec.” There was shouting then, howls, and Alec just shook his head, bouncing Mili on his hip as she laughed and giggled and clapped her little hands.
Liam leaned forward, brushed a little baby hair from her forehead, and then whispered into Alec’s ear. “You ready?”
He met his mate’s gaze, knowing that this was it. This was the start of their future. “Always.”
He had his home, his Pack. A family. He had thought he’d lost it all when he was forced to kill his uncle and then his brother. When the Pack disintegrated, everything had changed.
But then he had fallen for his wolf, his mate who wasn’t the Alpha, but an alpha wolf in every way that mattered. He had fallen for his best friend. And that, in the end, was always going to be a fate worth fighting for.
AT LAST SIGHT
Chapter 1
Jonah wasn’t used to taking nights off. It wasn’t that he was overworked, but he tended to stay in his own realm so he could be close in case something happened overnight. Not that it was his realm. It was the one he’d chosen, the one that had chosen him. This was his home now, no matter where he might have once come from.
As for leaving his ward? He wasn’t sure he should have. He’d seen what had happened far too often when one lost sense, control, or let their guard down. He’d lost his leg because of such a thing. Had almost lost his ward, the darling child Penelope, because others had tried to break their words and their bonds.
What would happen if he wasn’t there?
“If you keep grinding your teeth, I’m going to have to pay for replacements, aren’t I?” Malik, Jonah’s employer, Alpha, and friend asked from his side. “Wait. Do jaguars grow them back like lions do? That would make things simpler.”
Jonah scratched his cheek with his middle finger, and Malik’s mate, Eliana, laughed from the other side of the booth. They were at Dante’s Circle, a bar owned by a dragon friend. A place that had changed the lives of almost everyone in the room.
A few years ago, lightning from on high—or rather the Conclave some might say—had struck seven friends under the bar’s roof and changed everything. Each of the women had not only had a hand in saving the realms more than once during these passing years, but each had also found their mate or mates and had unlocked their supernatural DNA in the process.
Eliana had been born human but was now a phoenix. One who had literally risen from the ashes. She was his Alpha, as well, mated to a lion shifter who ruled their realm.
“I’m not grinding my teeth,” Jonah said after the pair had quit laughing. “And I can grow them back. Slowly.”
Malik winced but, thankfully, didn’t look down at Jonah’s leg. Most shifters could grow back limbs, as well, but he’d almost died when he was injured, and the magic involved hadn’t been truly shifter-based. His leg had remained how it was, and he’d learned to fight and live far differently than he had before the war. It had been so long that Jonah barely remembered what he had been like before.
“What are we drinking?” Dante asked as he sidled up to the table, his long, black-and-blue hair pulled back from his face. He smiled as he said it, and Jonah figured the man’s perfect timing wasn’t a coincidence. The dragon was good at soothing awkward situations…as well as decapitating anyone who dared hurt his family, but that was another perfectly logical and needed trait.
“A beer sounds great,” Malik said and leaned over to kiss his mate on the temple. “Feel like it’s been forever since we just came out and did this, you know?”
Eliana smiled widely, her heart in her eyes. “I know, we’ve all been so busy. And I’d love a beer, too. Anything you have special on tap. You know us.”
Dante just grinned, nodding. “I do.” He looked over at Jonah. “What about you? What are you in the mood for?”
Jonah just shrugged. “I’m sure you can figure it out, dragon.”
“That is true. But I like to pretend that I give you guys a choice in these matters.”
“You’re very scary, you know that?”
Dante flashed a smile that was all teeth, and Jonah just laughed. If Dante weren’t his friend, he might actually be scared. In fact, any other dragon? There would probably be a Jonah-shaped hole in the door on his way out. He was a warrior, a soldier, had fought until his feet were bloodied, and his soul was marred, but fighting a dragon? Not his favorite thing to do.
“I’ve a really good pumpkin ale that we just put on tap.”
Jonah scrunched his nose. “Pumpkin?”
“‘Tis the season and all that.”
“I wish pumpkin season was every month of the year,” Eliana said, her voice dreamy, like when she spoke of Penelope.
“You and those pumpkin spice lattes,” Malik said, shaking his head even though his lips quirked into a smile.
“I am surprised you’re not wearing UGGs and a North Face jacket right now,” Jonah said dryly, and Eliana flipped him off.
“Hey, that’s not very queenly,” Jonah said, and Eliana flipped him off with her other finger.
“Queen this. And don’t make fun of being basic. It’s what I like.”
Jonah nodded. “Yeah, I have a North Face jacket, too. There’s nothing wrong with being basic. I just like making fun of you.”
Eliana grinned, and Dante just snorted from in front of the table.
“And, Eliana?” Jonah asked. His Alpha’s mate leaned forward to look at him. “There’s nothing basic about you.”
“Stop flirting with my mate,” Malik mock growled and then kissed Eliana square on the mouth, a little too enthusiastically. Jonah had to move in his seat just to get out of the way.
Dante rolled his eyes and then went off to presumably get three pumpkin ales.
That’s when Jonah saw her.
Her. The new bartender.
He swallowed hard, trying to slow his heart rate down even as he looked at her.
Dante had staff members coming in and out of the place often. Mostly because he took in those who needed help, even as he needed the help behind the bar, as well.
Becca, one of their friends, had been a bartender for a while. Now, she was mated to a wolf shifter, an Alpha no less, and had her own family responsibilities.
There had been a few other bartenders since then, but this one? This one was all new.
And he couldn’t stop staring.
Her skin was a dark brown, soft, illuminated under the lights of the bar. Her black hair was in curls all around her head like a halo, and the style just highlighted her sharp cheekbones.
She had on a purple top that bared her arms, and silver bangles that went up both wrists to the middle of her forearms. They jangled as she worked, sounding like music to his ears.
He could see from the side of the bar that she wore jeans that hugged her ass, but he tried not to look there because he wasn’t that much of a lecher.
At least, he didn’t think so. He hadn’t thought so before this moment anyway.
She worked with an efficiency that told him that she had likely done this before, or perhaps was just a fast learner. But while she worked, her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. And her gaze constantly darted towards the door.
Maybe she wasn’t so proficient at this. Perhaps she was new but knew precisely what she was doing.
He couldn’t stop staring at her, and when Malik cleared his throat beside him, Jonah pulled his gaze from her, g
rateful that the woman hadn’t seen him staring. It was bad enough that he was staring at all. He didn’t want to be caught doing it.
“That’s Poppy,” Eliana whispered from Jonah’s other side.
Jonah looked towards her and shrugged. “New bartender, then?”
He hoped he sounded casual. But from the look that the mated pair gave each other and him, he knew he had been anything but.
“She’s a quick learner. Dante said she didn’t really have any experience before this.”
“That’s good. Good. Think she’s pulling our beers now,” Jonah said, having found his gaze right back on her. He couldn’t help it. But he truly needed to stop.
“You should go over there and ask her out,” Eliana said, and Malik snorted.
“Jonah? Ask out a woman? Well, I would say it’d be a cold day in hell, but I don’t actually know if hell has only hot seasons.”
“You are friends with a demon, as well as Lucifer’s son. I’m sure you could find out,” Jonah added wryly.
You know, I just might text them,” Malik said, narrowing his eyes at Jonah. “If you don’t ask her out, at least go over and say hi. You know, make an introduction.”
Jonah just shook his head. “I’m fine.
“You’re not,” Eliana said. This time, her voice was soft.
Jonah swallowed hard and then did his best to look like he was fine. “Seriously, Jonah. You rarely take days off, and even though I love that you are such a warrior for my daughter, you’re allowed to have time to yourself.”
“I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
“Because we dragged you out bodily,” Malik said.
“Yes, you did. Maybe it was because I didn’t really want to encroach on date night. You two rarely go out.”
“We go out,” Eliana said, shaking her head. “We go out often. You, however, are constantly back in our realm, being a loving nanny to our daughter.”
“I’m a caregiver, I don’t like being called a nanny.”
“You like it,” Malik said. “You’re the one who calls himself a nanny.”
“Fine, I don’t mind the word, I just don’t like it when you get that look in your eye whenever she calls me that,” Jonah said to Malik, and his friend just grinned.
“What? I find it hilarious. Mostly because I like to get under your skin. Nothing much gets under your skin these days, Jonah.”
“And if we’re going to continue getting all introspective about my life, I’m going to need that beer.”
As if Dante had been waiting for that exact moment, the dragon set down three pints of pumpkin ale, and Jonah’s mouth watered.
“You’re going to like it,” Dante warned.
“Was that a threat?” Malik asked, and Jonah just grinned before taking a sip. Flavor burst on his tongue, and he held back a moan.
“Told you,” Dante said before he went off to help another table.
“This is amazing,” Malik said, practically whispering into his beer so nobody could see.
“Oh, yes, I think this is my favorite.”
Eliana held the pint with both hands and smiled into it as she wiggled in her seat. “I think I could drink this whole thing.”
“Do so. Have as much as you want.” And then Malik whispered something into her ear that made her blush, and Jonah averted his gaze.
He didn’t mind being the third wheel. He was usually the odd man out when it came to them. He was Penelope’s guard, not just her nanny as they put it. And though he had the evening off, and she was surrounded by five of his most trusted soldiers, he still wanted to go back and make sure that she was safe. He couldn’t help it, he had lost too many people before, he wouldn’t let anything happen now.
“So, is Poppy human?” he asked, the question out of his lips before he could even fully think the words. Humans who worked at the bar didn’t tend to know the secrets of the paranormals, but sometimes, they did. They had to tread carefully. And even though they were all talking aloud about lions and dragons, the magic within the bar itself helped keep their secrets.
Malik just grinned like a cat in cream, and Eliana clapped her hands in front of her after she’d set her beer on the table. “She’s not, but I don’t know exactly what she is. You know it’s not nice to ask.”
“I can go over and see,” Malik said.
“Don’t use your little shifter senses to figure it out. I’m still new to the whole supernatural game, and I don’t even know if phoenixes are supposed to be able to sense what other paranormals are.”
“Phoenixes are a rare breed. I’m sure after a time, you’d be able to figure it out. And, no, none of us should go over there to uncover the mystery. That would be rude.” Jonah resisted looking over at Poppy again. But he could feel her, sense her. And that worried him. He had never felt like this before, and he didn’t want to know what it meant.
“You should still go over and talk to her,” Eliana said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“No, I really shouldn’t.”
“She’s the first person I’ve seen you look at like that. Ever.”
He ignored Malik’s words.
“There are good reasons that I don’t.” But he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t even look at her again. At Poppy. Such a bright, happy name for a woman who didn’t smile.
As he forced himself to look away, he remembered the color of her eyes. A pure silver that had beckoned him. Because from his first look into those silver eyes, he had been lost. And he was damn worried that if he looked again, he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out like he had before.
This wasn’t something he needed. He had a job, a life, a ward. Penelope needed him. Eliana and Malik needed him. They had given him purpose after a life he had thought he’d lost. He didn’t want to risk that again. Didn’t want to risk what was deep inside of him. The haunted part that he had hidden for so long.
So, he wasn’t going to look.
Eliana and Malik seemed to have noticed the change in his mood, so they moved the subject to Penelope and the rest of the seven.
He liked the seven, the seven lightning-struck women who had become a core part of his life. He didn’t get to see all of them at the same time often, not when each of them lived within their own realm, either ruling it or working with the monarchies. But he liked them, liked the way that, no matter what, they were always there for each other.
They were some of the most powerful supernaturals in any of the worlds, and he was blessed to be a part of the outer circle.
They finished their beers, and then the couple kept leaning forward, whispering to each other. Jonah finally rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.
“Okay, you two, go get a room. Or, you know, you have your own. You even have a few homes in the human realm. Why don’t you use one?”
“Because we’re here with you,” Malik said, even though he was looking at Eliana.
“Go. Have fun. Though I bet you’ll go hug your daughter tonight first because you guys can’t stand to be far away from her either.”
The couple looked at each other and grinned. “Sorry,” Malik said, sliding out of the booth, holding out a hand for his mate.
“No need to be sorry. You guys need time for each other, too.” He paused. “Thank you for coming out with me. And forcing me to be here.”
“Always. You’re family, Jonah. You always have been. And you’re going to be until the end of our days.”
“Let’s hope the end of our days is a very long time off,” Eliana added, and they all looked at each other and smiled softly. Each of them had almost died multiple times, and Eliana had actually died once.
They didn’t want to deal with any of that again.
Malik reached for his wallet, but Jonah shook his head. “I’ve got this one.”
“We’re the ones who asked you to come.”
“Then I’ll take this one. Next time, you can pay.”
“That means there’s going to be a next time,” Eliana added.
&nb
sp; Jonah shrugged. “Maybe. But go.”
The two nodded and then went off with each other, fingers entangled as they leaned into one another.
“Oh, I was going to see if you guys needed another round, but I guess…your check?” a soft voice asked from the side. Jonah swallowed hard, doing his best not to react. His hair stood on end, and all he wanted to do was lean forward and sniff her. His jaguar prowled, and he pulled it back. He would not shift. Wouldn’t lay claim to her.
But as he inhaled her sweet scent, he knew exactly what she was. Knew exactly who she was.
She was a Medusa, a gorgon as some called them. One under full glamour since her hair looked normal. She didn’t have snakes showing—her pets, her prodigies, her death. No, she had gorgeous curls and a silky voice.
But she wasn’t just a Medusa. No, she was his. His mate, his other half.
After centuries, he had finally found her.
And from the way she froze as he looked at her, those silver eyes going wide, she knew as well.
But he didn’t want to mate. Had seen firsthand what happened when you cared too much for someone, and then you lost them. He didn’t want that.
But he didn’t even have a chance to say that, to even fully feel that or convince himself it was the case.
Instead, Poppy just smiled wide and set down the check. “Well, got to go. Have a good night.” She scrambled away, leaving Jonah lost, wondering what the hell had just happened.
Jonah frowned at his empty beer glass and at the check on the table and wondered why she hadn’t even let him answer—or order another drink. Instead, she’d had the tab ready, and then had run.
Run from him.
He shook his head, put some cash on the table, a nice tip for Dante and her to share, and slid out of the booth. He would go home, check on Penelope, and then spend the rest of his evening off alone in his home, wondering what he was going to do next. Because he loved his work, adored his job, but he was tired. So tired. And he knew he couldn’t come back here, couldn’t come and see Poppy again.
If he did, he wouldn’t be able to hold back. Wouldn’t be able to do the right thing and say “no.”
Dante’s Circle Reborn: A Dante’s Circle Collection Page 7