Through the Veil

by Lacey Thorn

  Okay, how did she get them to understand what she was thinking? And wasn’t it a little late to have the conversation about disease and babies and all that?

  “Oh, I see,” Jamison smiled and Reggie was actually happy that he could read her mind.

  “We do not have disease here as in your world,” Taggart said. “We mate once and only once, for life. None have known the touch of another.”

  “So you were virgins?” she asked, finding it hard to believe that she had been their first, not as amazing as they were.

  “You were no less spectacular,” Jamison whispered. “Yet we do not question your purity.”

  She was blushing again. She had never really questioned that when she eventually decided to have sex that the guy she chose would be experienced. It was just a given in her world. But she admitted that it was amazing knowing that they had waited for her, that she was their first.

  “Our only,” Taggart said softly. “Never shall we have another.”

  And that was amazing too. She could tell that they really meant it. As far as they were concerned they were mated for life and nothing would ever change that.

  “Mating is for life,” Jamison said. “There is no need to question what is.”

  “What about children?” she asked, wondering if even now she could be pregnant.

  “No, you are not with child,” Taggart said. “You cannot carry before you change.”

  “And once I am able to shift into wolf form?” she asked. “Then I’ll get pregnant?”

  “Pregnancy is a choice,” Jamison tried to explain. “We must all desire a child in order for our seed to take root.”

  “So we won’t have children until we all agree?” Reggie asked. That was certainly different but then why shouldn’t it be?

  “Some mated couples never have children,” Taggart said. “That is why our race has dropped in numbers and fewer and fewer female children are born.”

  “Why fewer females?” she asked.

  “Females are rare anyway,” Jamison replied. “A gift from the goddess to those deserving of the treasure of a female. Not all who choose to have children are given that gift. And so our numbers grow smaller.”

  “How many of you are there?”

  “We number only in the hundreds now,” Taggart said. “Once thousands of us crowded the valley but now, now we are few.”

  “And do your parents live close? Do you have family here still?” she asked.

  “A rather large family,” Jamison laughed. “When the time is right you will meet them all.”

  “How large?” she asked.

  “Our mother and fathers still live,” Taggart answered. “We have two younger brothers close to their twenty-third year and we have been helping to prepare their shelter for them.”

  “Then our parents were gifted with not one but two daughters,” Jamison added. “They both grow each day and soon we will see them mated.”

  “You have sisters? Are they twins as well?” Reggie had never had siblings. She’d longed for a sister to share things with. Maybe she could have had a twin. It sounded like everyone here had twins.

  “No, not everyone has a twin here,” Taggart said with a laugh. “But our parents have two sets of twins, us and our brothers. The girls are a year apart.”

  So many siblings to grow up with. It sounded wonderful to Reggie.

  “Our family is yours,” Jamison said.

  “They will love and embrace you as we have,” Taggart added.

  “I only had my mother,” Reggie admitted softly.

  “Yes, we have seen your thoughts and memories of her,” Jamison said.

  “We can ask to speak with the queen about your mother,” Taggart said. “If you desire we can request that she be allowed to cross.”

  “I’m not sure that she would,” Reggie replied.

  “You don’t believe that your mother would want to be with you?” Jamison said.

  “My mother is different,” was all the explanation Reggie could voice but she knew they could see what she was thinking.

  “I cannot fathom a woman such as that mothering one as special as you,” Taggart stated.

  “I love her,” Reggie said, not wanting them to doubt that.

  “We know that,” Jamison said. “Your love is not what we question.”

  Her mother’s love. It was something Reggie had questioned often as well. But not anymore. She was moving on, moving forward. She had gone from a woman of doubt to a woman willing to embrace where she found herself.

  “So what do I need to do to prepare for my shift?” Reggie asked.

  Chapter Seven

  It had gone more easily than she anticipated. The wolf spirit took over when the time came to change and really, Reggie just felt like she was along for the ride as Taggart had said. The sounds were scarier than anything she felt physically when it came to shifting. And by the time it was all done she was so ramped up with excitement that nothing else mattered.

  She ran, feeling the breeze rippling over her fur. It seemed that all of her senses were stronger, better while in this form. Taggart and Jamison stayed at her side, never allowing her to be on her own. It was nice to know that they were there ready to help and support her if needed.

  She couldn’t fathom being able to change, to embrace a different part of self and choosing to walk away. Having seen what was open to her on this side of the veil, having experienced the love of men such as Jamison and Taggart, it made no sense to her. What woman would choose not to stay? Not her, that was for sure.

  Shifting back, she walked a ways from the cabin, adjusting to being back on two legs. Her mates seemed to have no problem with it but going from all fours to two and vice versa was going to take some getting used to on her part. She had waved them off when they’d offered to walk with her. She needed a few moments to herself. A lot had happened in the week she’d been here and though she had accepted it, she was still adjusting.

  “Hello,” a voice called to her and Reggie looked up to see another woman. She was a few inches shorter than Reggie, with short golden-brown curls and big blue eyes.

  “Hello,” Reggie replied.

  “I’m Nikki Mondella,” the woman said and held a hand out to Reggie.

  “Reggie,” she answered and then caught herself with a laugh. “Reggie Ballard.”

  “I’m still getting used to it myself,” Nikki told her.

  “You…” Reggie wasn’t sure how to ask what was going through her head.

  “Yeah, I’m from the other side as well,” Nikki nodded.

  “The song?” Reggie asked.

  Nikki nodded her head. “The most beautiful I’d ever heard. I just knew that if I could find where it was coming from that I’d be okay.” She smiled. “I was right.”

  “How long have you been here?” Reggie wanted to know.

  “About a month,” Nikki said. “We are just getting ready to leave the cabins and head back to their shelter. I’m about to meet my new family.”

  “Nervous?” Reggie asked.

  “Terrified,” Nikki answered with a laugh. “But so excited. I’ve never really had a family.”

  Reggie wondered if that was something that they would all have in common. “You’ve been in the cabin for a month?”

  “Yeah, according to my mates Gunnar and Geran, this is considered the honeymoon period,” Nikki stated. “Each new triad is given the time required to complete the bond and allow for her to successfully shift and embrace her new wolf spirit.”

  “So I have more time before I go to meet my mates’ family,” Reggie said. “I have to admit that I’m a little nervous about that.”

  “Did you leave family behind?” Nikki asked softly.

  “My mother,” Reggie said. “But honestly we were never really that close and well, it was thanks to her actions that I am even here to begin with. Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” Nikki replied.

  “Are you happy here? Do you miss home?” Reggie
was curious if she would experience doubt or homesickness down the road.

  “No,” Nikki shook her head and then laughed at the look Reggie knew was on her face. “I mean that I don’t miss home. I love it here, love my mates and feel grateful that I was chosen to come here.”

  Reggie laughed. “That’s good to hear. I guess that I’m still adjusting.”

  “I think that is part of giving you so long here at the cabin as well,” Nikki said softly and took her hands. “The good thing for you is that when it is your turn to join everyone else you’ll already have a friend there.”

  Reggie laughed. “I’d like that.”

  Nikki nodded.

  “Nicolette,” a man yelled and Reggie looked up to see one of Nikki’s mates calling to her.

  “That’s Gunnar,” Nikki said. “Apparently it’s time to head out.” She gave Reggie’s hand a squeeze. “Wish me luck.”

  “Luck,” Reggie said though she doubted the friendly girl would need it. She had a feeling that everyone who met Nikki would love her.

  “I’ll see you in a few weeks,” Nikki called as she hurried toward one of her mates.

  Reggie nodded and waved before turning and heading back to her cabin. Taggart and Jamison would be there, waiting for her. For the first time in her life she felt treasured and appreciated, loved. Every new morning she opened her eyes and gave thanks that she really was here, with her mates. Her life was a dream but thankfully one come true.

  “Reggie,” Jamison called as she approached the door. “Hungry?” he asked and she could smell a delicious aroma coming from the cabin. “Taggart is cooking.”

  “Ummm,” she sighed. “It smells delicious. I’m starved.”

  Jamison pulled her close and nibbled along her throat up to her lips then took her under with his intoxicating kiss. “I’m starved too,” he murmured. “But I guess we’d better feed you first.”

  “I think you’d better,” she agreed, though truth be told it wouldn’t take much to convince her otherwise.

  “Save that for later,” Taggart said, tugging her away from Jamison and dropping a kiss on her head before leading her over to sit at a table that held the tantalizing aromas. She took in the scene around her. A table filled with tempting food, a fire set and ready to go in the fireplace and a bed with the covers already pulled back. But more importantly she took in the two men with her. They smiled and looked at her with such love in their eyes.

  It was too soon and yet she couldn’t deny the words any longer. Maybe it was where they were. She’d already discovered that everything was different on this side of the veil. Without the little things to complicate and manipulate it was just her and them. They had no fear of showing her how they felt, no need to deny or hide. And it was that which gave her the courage she needed.

  I love them, she admitted to herself.

  We love you too. Jamison’s voice filled her head.

  Taggart just nodded. Reggie wanted to laugh. What took courage for her to say they just accepted and returned as if their love was a given.

  But it is. To know you is to love you. Taggart’s voice this time.

  “I love you,” she spoke aloud, needing to say the words, to give voice to them. “I love you.”

  Taggart and Jamison both just smiled at her and nodded in agreement. Totally accepting and obviously reciprocating her love. She had to laugh. Here it was all so simple. No games, no lies. Just an embrace of life and love and one another. It was something she had longed for her entire life and finally found.

  “Dig in,” Taggart urged her as he moved a filled plate of food in front of her.

  And that was just what she planned to do. To dig in and savor every moment of what her life offered now. Her gaze moved from Taggart to Jamison and back again. She was truly the luckiest woman in the world.

  * * * * *

  Serena stood in the center of the clearing and listened to the voices on the wind. It was nice to hear the joy of others all around her. Especially since it seemed their joy was all that she would ever know. Standing there, she drifted back to that one moment so long ago when everything had changed for her.

  “All you have to do is walk away from him,” Meryll had told her. “You know that it is forbidden to love a shifter, especially when we have always been promised to one another.”

  “I don’t love you,” Serena tried to get him to understand. “I’ve never felt more for you than a friend.”

  “Because of him,” Meryll sneered.

  “No,” Serena said. “He has nothing to do with how I feel about you.”

  “The man you love has nothing to do with your spurning the man you are promised to?” Meryll asked with a cold smile. “How can you stand there and lie to my face?”

  “I’m not lying to you,” Serena declared. “I love Lynx. We never meant to fall in love. It just happened.”

  “Unfortunately for you it doesn’t matter,” Meryll said. “I have already spoken with your parents and they are willing to overlook your words as long as I am willing to still marry you.”

  “And you would marry me?” Serena asked softly. “Knowing that my heart and soul belong to another, that your bed will remain cold and empty of your bride?”

  “You will come to me and we will consummate our vows,” Meryll stated. “You will put this shifter out of your mind and move on as is expected.”

  “I won’t,” she said just as softly.

  “You will,” he yelled at her, spittle flying from his lips. Serena had never seen Meryll so angry before.

  “I love Lynx,” she stated, her voice louder this time. “Nothing you say will change that.”

  “Really.” He turned to her and, grabbing her by the arms, shook her hard. “You think that there is nothing that I can do to change that. Don’t fool yourself, little girl. You will uphold our promise or I will see to it that you never see Lynx again.”

  “How do you propose to do that, Meryll?” she asked with such confidence. “Lynx will not be easily manipulated.”

  Meryll smiled. “And what about you?”

  “Serena,” her mother’s voice rippled through the air and brought her eyes flying over to where the woman stood. “You shame our family.”

  “No—” Serena tried to speak but her mother wouldn’t listen to her.

  “That is right,” her mother spoke over her. “You will not shame us. You will marry Meryll and conceive a child. The continuance of our line is important and Meryll’s family line is as old and sacred as ours.”

  Never had she defied her mother. Never. “I won’t,” she said. “I love Lynx and I wish to mate with him.”

  “I forbid it,” her mother said. “You are lucky that Meryll is willing to overlook this moment of stupidity on your part and take you as wife anyway.”

  “I will not marry Meryll,” Serena said, her voice gaining strength. She could see Lynx in her mind, the strength and character of him. She loved him and knew that he loved her too. Their love would be enough.

  “You think to defy me and run away with your wolf?” her mother asked calmly, too calmly.

  “I don’t want to defy you,” Serena tried to explain. “But I cannot marry a man who I don’t love.”

  “Let me put it this way,” her mother said with a tight smile. “If you try to marry Lynx you will sign his death warrant. I will evict him from the valley and not allow him or any heirs he might conceive to ever cross back.”

  “No!” Serena screamed, shaking her head. “You can’t do that. He’s done nothing wrong.”

  “He is as much to blame for this foolishness as you,” her mother said. “But I will leave the choice of his fate up to you.”

  “So if I walk away from him then you will let him stay here,” Serena repeated with tears streaming down her face.

  “Yes, if you do not marry him or engage in any type of physical relationship then he will be able to stay,” her mother agreed.

  “Then I will agree to stay away from him,” Serena said. “As lo
ng as I have your word.”

  “You have my word,” her mother nodded. “Now we will see to planning your nuptials to Meryll.”

  “No,” Serena said.

  “No?” her mother thundered.

  “That wasn’t part of our agreement,” Serena said. “I agreed to give up Lynx. I never agreed to accept Meryll.”

  “Then you would choose to shame us anyway?” her mother almost screamed.

  “I would choose to remain alone rather than to accept a life with a man I don’t love or want,” Serena stated.

  “Then know this,” Meryll said. “If you don’t choose me then there will never be another. I will hold the contract until the day we both die.”

  “So be it,” Serena agreed.

  “I don’t think you understand,” her mother spoke again, softer this time, her face showing sympathy for the first time since she’d arrived.

  “What is there to understand?” Serena asked.

  “My time will pass soon and you will take over as queen of the valley,” her mother said. “But if you do not mate and produce a daughter then your time will never cease. Your life will be tied to the valley and if the goddess decides your time is done then there will be no one here to uphold the veil and protect our people.”

  “Then I would suggest we all pray that the goddess does not choose to punish me for falling in love the way that you have,” Serena said and with her heart breaking she turned away. And never spoke to her mother again. Not when her father passed, not when Meryll finally died.

  Instead she walked alone, guarding and protecting and watching over the valley and all its inhabitants. And never once did she think of any man other than the one who still held her heart all these years later. Lynx.

  She would continue to give her call, to woo those worthy of crossing and entering the valley. With every call she worried that this one might be the one to lay claim to her Lynx. But so far the goddess had heard her prayers. She hated that he was as alone as she was and yet she knew that his love was true and that like her, he would never take another.

  With a sigh she headed out once more, the words of the love song already floating from her lips. She couldn’t have the man she loved but she could help the people of the valley to find love. It was the choice she’d made over forty years ago and the one she and Lynx would always have to live with. No one but her would ever know that the song she sang was for one crafty old wolf who she would always love.