No, the fae had Eskal chained foot and jaws, dragging him back toward the portal that irresponsibly still stood open. I thanked our lucky stars again that the kids were otherwise occupied. I didn't want to have to chase them through the fae world, too.
"It isn't fair," Iyadre snapped. "I made the deal, not him. Why take Eskal?"
One of the guards simply shrugged at him. "I do what my queen commands. You three are free to go, if you want to. The black drake is hers for the time being. And there is a matter of a wolf to see to, too."
The guard lifted his head and scanned the area as cold flooded my veins. The night was chilly, but not like that. It took me a moment to realize Sadie had been taken inside. Could the fae guardian enter our home against our will? Usually, a threshold was in place when a family called a place theirs. That whole thing about carrying your wife over the threshold of you new home? Yeah, it was about claiming the building as your territory, apparently, from what the old magic circles told me.
We'd never done that to her, but werewolves didn't really have a lot to do with marriage. Once you were marked, you were bonded to that alpha, or alphas as the case was with us, and no one could take that away from you. I glanced up at Leo to find him standing near the stairs, his ruff fluffed out as far as it would go.
"And by what order do you take the wolf into custody?" Lillian asked, on two legs once more. She had her fists in her hips, ready to throw down with the orc-ish looking creature that flipped through a clipboard.
Bureaucracy was everywhere. I crept over to stand behind him, trying to take care of my pack in the only way I still could. Battered, exhausted, ready to collapse, I wasn't going to be much more than another body in the way; but I damned sure intended to be a road bump to that asshole if I had to.
Idly, Lillian reached down to scratch my ears.
The fae creature flipped another page. "Eliciting the assistance of a creature in debt to her majesty, Queen Nerida, comes at a price. Sadie Faye Adelaine is held in contempt of court for her attack upon a legal judgment found by her majesty, as well as gaining the help for venture with one, Aberdeen North, a bear shifter known to be in her majesty's court."
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. Sadie hadn't even so much as been able to talk to Aberdeen. I'd watched Hudson do it, but the bear had left without helping us and the cub had done it of her own accord. I shook my fluff out and stomped toward him. "No."
"No?"
"No."
The beast laughed down at me. "What are you going to do? Offer yourself up? If the queen wanted you, you'd have never escaped."
"Then why ask the dragon to bring me in trade for Eskal? I- ...is that why she's chaining him and taking him back? Because I left?" I asked, confused.
He nodded. "Payment was not given for this creature to be released. The rest of them were never a part of the bargain. Alashia did not fulfill her end of it. That cuts the entire process off."
Eskal thrashed in his bonds once, twice, then some fae mage put him to sleep with a whispered spell that send shivers through me. I remembered those words from my own imprisonment in that nightmare place. They dragged the dragon through the portal as his eyes fluttered shut, but they still remained on me even as he dropped into unconsciousness.
"Wait," I said, moving forward. "Stop. Just stop a minute."
"Are you fucking nuts?" Hudson hissed, having shown up while I wasn't paying attention to him.
I went back to doing that. "I'll take Sadie's place."
The fae creature frowned at me. "I don't think we accept substitutions like that. Besides, you're taking on a new debt for a new woman? How'd that work out for you last time?"
I was going to be a goddamned pro at ignoring people. I turned to the mage and shifted to my human form. That staggered me and I ended up on my knees, head bowed as I caught my breath. The process was a hell of a lot more painful than usual, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. When you're on your last legs, it's like running up the last few steps to your bedroom. Most people don't do that. You fall all over yourself headed to bed, then drop into it like a rock.
That mage watched me for a moment then ran icy cold fingers beneath my chin. "Your time for sacrifice is not here yet, Xavion. We take the wolf mentioned on the list."
"Over my dead body," Hudson snapped. "Get up, Xav. We're going inside. I'd love to see them force the issue through the spell Lillian's whipping up."
"You can't hide her forever," the mage said, her voice bright and cheerful. "We can wait for years, if we must. She will want her children at some point, or desire to visit the animals in her care. She will be taken care of, I assure you. A pretty wolf like her will sell high among the supernatural collectors and when her time is done, she will return to you. Perhaps she will be a little more broken in, a bit more polite than she once was. Most alphas tend to like that."
Footsteps, light and dragging. A scent of berries that I would know anywhere caught my senses. I looked back to see Sadie, looking tired but certainly herself, approaching us. When she got there, she paused and looked between the mage, the fae creature, and me. Her hand came to rest against my shoulder. "How long is the sentence?"
"Six weeks," the mage said, looking her over. "If you behave yourself. I suggested six years but I was denied."
Sadie looked back at me, then at Hudson. "I'll be home for Christmas."
Though she started the sentence in good spirits, there were tears in her voice midway through. I grabbed her wrist in my hand and pulled her close to me. "Fuck that. You're staying right here where it's safe. You haven't done anything wrong. We-"
"I know what I did," she said, putting a finger on my lips. "And I know what I have to do. Please. Trust me. It's only a few weeks. I'll be fine. Take care of the animals for me while I'm gone. Get High Branch back up and running. Try to keep everyone on track. This isn't over with by a long shot. Alashia's still kicking. We're going to have other problems to deal with."
"I just got home," Hudson whispered, taking her hand away from me. "I just got home and you're supposed to be here."
Sadie gave him a wet smile. "I'll be back sooner than you realize. Sooner than any of you realize. The kids will be okay. I-"
Carrie Ann sat down in front of Sadie, between us and our mate. She knelt and threw her arms around the old dog's neck. "You'll be okay, too. We've been apart longer than that, good girl. I'll see you soon."
"If you don't come, we carry you," said the fae creature, then it sighed and relented. "You can bring one companion with you."
Sadie glanced at the dog, then back at the armored servant. "You'd kill her."
"It is possible that we may spare her long-term suffering in a manner of which you would prefer."
"What he means to say is that we may be capable of healing her. We do have a certain respect for warriors," the mage said. "If you come quietly, you may ask the queen for a favor. I have little doubt she would object to this one."
Without giving Sadie a chance to disagree, Carrie Ann got up and trotted through the portal. Sadie glanced back at us, blew a kiss, and vanished through it, too.
Chapter Twenty
Sadie
Queen Nerida's realm was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and certainly nothing like what I'd expected. When it looked so much like a swamp on the outside, I had thought there would be gators and venomous snakes everywhere.
That wasn't the case.
I walked along a moss-covered hillside dressed in black. Carrie Ann trotted along beside me, tongue lolling from her mouth. The first thing I'd done upon arrival was make my request to Nerida, which she'd been pleased to grant such a strong, courageous warrior as my dog. Filled with youthful vigor that would last until her natural dying day, the dog lacked the pain that had slowed her down. Though her face was a grey as it could be, her body a little on the lean side compared to Matilda's, she moved as she had when I'd first gotten her on the arthritis medication.
Such a good girl.
We walked i
nto the bears' den after a cautious descent halfway down the hill. Few shifters I knew preferred to live like our animal counterparts did; I certainly didn't want to go wandering around a forest doing nothing but gnawing on deer guts and hiding in hollows. Yet, it seemed to be a comfort to the bears. The cubs were fast asleep, as were the other several adults further back in the cave.
Aberdeen wasn't. He wasn't even bear-shaped for the time being. A strong, thick-bodied man just past middle age, his hair was more salt than pepper these days and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes were getting deeper. I'd seen a picture or two of him online, but I didn't really know him very well yet. I dropped my sack beside his fire and sat down on the log he was already on. "Four stags and two rabbits today. I found a pile of wild mustard for you, too. I thought it might match well with the rest."
"You still haven't bought me yet, girl. Leaving this place means exposure, and you must needs understand what a danger that is for me and my people," Aberdeen drawled, pulling the bag into his lap.
As he sorted through it, I shrugged. Carrie Ann went to take her normal place in front of him, her tail a slow wag careful of the fire. She'd charred it the first night we'd been in the fae land, though a set of seahorse shifters had fixed her up well and good. They'd disappeared after that and I'd been told they liked to keep to themselves. Who'd have thought of that, though? Seahorses? Almost as crazy as mermaids.
Almost as crazy as dragons. And werewolves. You get the picture.
He tossed a handful of meat scraps to the dog and I watched her gobble them down as if I'd never fed her in a thousand years. I shook my head at her. "Thief. Beggar."
"Bawuff."
"Don't speak other animals yet, do you?" Aberdeen asked. "That dog's a good one, damn good sense of humor, too."
I smiled at him. "I think they're all pretty good, if you don't mind me saying so. About an alliance, though, if you would? I'm not bringing you food because I'm trying to drag one out of you. I'm bringing you food because it's the right thing to do. But if it helps grease the rails, I'm not against that."
"Sound like Hudson now, girl," he rumbled.
If I wasn't crazy, he sounded pleased when he said it. I wondered if there was some sort of a connection between my mate and the bear, though I wasn't sure of it. No sense in pursuing that just in case it upset him. "He's learned a lot from me, I'll have you know. Taught him everything he needed to make the business a success. Smart man he is, listening to his omega like he does. Maybe you should follow in his footsteps?"
"You're terrible," Aberdeen smiled, offering me the bag. "That's all we need. I'd say we're in your debt, but things like that carry a hell of a lot more meaning here than I'd be comfortable with. You take your dog and go on out of here. I'll be in touch with you."
"You'll be in touch with me because I'll bring you more food tomorrow," I said, cheerfully, and took the bag from him.
The trip back home was somewhat difficult. There was a territory of rampaging centaurs that you had to pass through, but Carrie Ann had gotten very good at spotting them so far off that we didn't really have to worry about it too much. We took our time, because for all that she was feeling better, I didn't care to put too much pressure on her anyway. You never knew when that old dog heart was going to give out, or maybe she'd go down because of some kind of hidden cancer.
Danes were terrible about that kind of thing. I slid my arm around her shoulder as we went, enjoying the ochre sky as the sun died in the distance. It was early, painfully so, but that was what happened this time of year.
No matter. I saw the blaze of the campfire not too fa ahead. I picked up the pace the little bit I dared to, stretching out into a run up the hill at the last moment. Carrie Ann barreled into the whelp nest, the pile of draconic babies shrieking and trilling as the dog galloped in.
"They were asleep," sighed Olivia, watching the kids scamper around after the dog. "Does she always have to do that?"
I shrugged. "They really seem to love it."
"They love all sorts of goofy things." Another sigh.
I sat down beside the fire, a towering blaze that nearly touched the roof. Though winter was hurrying quickly into the atmosphere outside, it was the dead heat of summer inside the cavern. I dug around in the bag to see what the bears had left us and shook my head. "That man never takes the tenderloins, I swear."
"More venison tenderloin tonight?" Olivia asked, peeking over at me. When I looked at her, she held up a hand. "I'm not complaining. I'm just asking. The ones you got yesterday were incredible."
"You grew up kind of city-y, didn't you?" I grabbed one of the hot rocks we'd been using to cook on. Thank Her Lights for Girl Scouts.
Olivia reached out to the whelps and they charged their mother, scampering up her arm and coming to rest there in a line across her shoulder. As they arched and flex their little wings, she looked like the strangest sort of bird owner I'd ever seen. "I grew up wherever Mom's travels took us. I'm not exactly used to a lot of fresh meat, even after all this time."
"That's too bad," I told her. "You'll be getting plenty of it while I'm around. A good hunt with a good dog is..." I paused and smiled, looking over at Carrie Ann, who still maintained the eldest of the whelps upon her head. "It's hard to beat. And I'm getting spoiled to it."
The other woman snorted. "From what my mates say, you're pretty spoiled already. They keep saying they'd never let an omega act like you do. You're too independent, you're too good at putting yourself at risk. Did you know that when you bond with your alphas, they run a risk, too?"
"Yeah, if I get killed then they feel it. In older alphas, it might even kill them. Massive heart attack and things like that, right?"
She nodded, stroking the belly of one of the whelps. "It's why I'm so against them figuring out a way to turn me into a dragon. I hear that and I can't believe anyone would want to bond and risk it. We're in a crazy situation and everyone's at each other's throats from what I heard. Why would I want to hurt them if I got shot, or something like that?"
"I can't see you getting shot. Not with so many dragons around you," I told her. "And it's a beautiful thing. It's like knowing that your soulmates are always close by. After a while, you kind of pick up on each other's feelings and dreams. You get a piece of them and they get a real piece of you. There's nothing else like that in the world."
Olivia gently put a whelp, a little black one, upon my arm. I smiled and petted his head as she chatted. "I'll pass for now, thank you. Apparently, the rest of the flight felt all those injuries that Eskal took, though he healed up pretty quick and so did they. I guess? No one will tell me the specifics; they just say that I'm a human and that it's beyond my understanding."
"That's what they're trained to do, I said, flipping each steak with my fingertips. "They were born shifters, weren't they?"
My opposite shrugged at me. "I'm not selling you their secrets. We barely know each other, Sadie. If you don't already know that stuff about them, you don't need to know it."
"Is that from you or from Eskal?" I asked, trying to keep the grin off of my face.
All told, my sentence in the fairy realm wasn't too bad. Blackstalk Keep might be draining bits of my life away, but it didn't hurt. If anything, I felt as if I were stronger, faster, smarter than ever. Perhaps that's why so many people were into steroids; they were supposed to have the same effect. And they killed you just as dead when you took too many, to, as far as I knew.
"It is from all of us," Iyadre said, landing lightly at the front of the cavern. "I still don't understand your fascination with us, wolf. You could stay anywhere. Any place you desired. Everyone wants news from the outside world. Aberdeen would be glad to play the host for you."
I had my reasons, but none of them needed to know what they were. Not yet, anyway. I was trying to gain their trust, but I'd never met a group of guys so unwilling to give me a break. I didn't want to be their best friend. I didn't need to be their mates. I wanted to get them on our side. Eskal
had risked everything to give us a fighting chance and to save his flight the trouble of Alashia's. He could have stomped my poor little animals half to death.
He hadn't.
Because of him, we hadn't lost a single rescue animal that had come to help us. Had he decided to let us deal with the dragon on our own, it was entirely possible we would have been burying the bodies of innocent pets for days to come. Maybe we would have lost the house, too. It was impossible to say, because dragons weren't exactly the most common hazard. Hell, I didn't even know if our house insurance would cover a dragon attack.
That was something I needed to call about when I got home. I'd begun making mental notes to myself, constantly coming up with thoughts and ideas that needed to be investigated or worked on now that I was away from work. Had Nerida unintentionally given me time to collect my thoughts? Or had she been aware that, away from work and the drama of draconic combustion, I may start getting a better sight of what was happening?
Puppy Problems: A Reverse Harem Werewolf Romance (Her Secret Menagerie Book 3) Page 18