The Author's True Mate (The Necklace Chronicles Book Six)

by R. E. Butler

  The males all nodded, and Wrath could see that they were happy about the change.

  Brae stood. “We haven’t added a male to our ranks in years. Not since Creek and River came to us.”

  “What about it?” Wrath asked.

  “I think we should go hunting for hybrids. Invite them to join us and find protection. We’ve always assumed hybrids would know about us and come find us, but I wonder if there are hybrids living on their own out there, possibly worried for their safety. Hell, we might even find some being held against their will in human or vampire settlements.”

  Wrath mulled the thought over for a moment. “So we go from offense to defense, searching out our own kind and bringing them into the safety of our pack.”

  “Exactly,” Brae said. “It would be easy enough to infiltrate the settlements and listen for rumors of hybrids. We can scent our own kind, anyway, because our natural smell is unique.”

  Wrath looked around at the males. “What do you think? We’ll have a two-fold purpose going forward—aboveground homes and finding hybrids.”

  Every male agreed.

  “Excellent,” Wrath said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I miss my mate.”

  Cael chuckled. “Sleep well, Alpha. We’ll see you at breakfast.”

  Wrath said goodnight to his pack and headed back to his cavern. Trinity was still sound asleep. He stripped and climbed into bed, loving the way she snuggled into him as if she’d been unconsciously waiting for him to return.

  “You’ve changed me for the better,” he whispered, brushing a kiss over her shoulder. “Tomorrow will be a new dawn, when our people will be heading into a new chapter, and that wouldn’t be happening without you.”

  Closing his eyes, he pressed one more kiss to her shoulder and then drifted off to sleep. Content. For the first time in his life.

  Chapter Eleven

  Trinity watched Wrath as he used an ax to fell a tree. She’d never seen anything quite as amazing as her sexy mate wielding an ax, upper body bare and glistening with sweat, cutting through the thick trees as if they were matchsticks. She sat on a felled tree nearby and sketched a layout for their home. While none of the pack were architects or builders by trade, they did have a general understanding of home building. It was hard not to compare how different this world was from what she’d known. Before, she could’ve gone to a home improvement store and bought the supplies she needed, or even ordered a home building kit.

  Years ago, Wrath and his mom had found an abandoned shack after she’d been exiled from her kiss for having him. When he shifted and found the tunnel leading to the caverns, he’d hoped she might come and live with him underground where he could make sure of their safety. She’d wanted to return to her own people, even though he’d cautioned her against it. She’d promised to return to the shack and let him know how the meeting with her kiss had gone. When he’d gone to find her, the shack had been burned down and he’d found her body turned to ash by the sun. He’d seen the break in her neck and had known she’d been killed by her own people.

  He hadn’t lived above ground since. Trinity was thankful he was willing to. She thought living in aboveground homes was a smarter move, making them more easily defensible than the tunnel which trapped them underground if something were to happen to the entrance. She looked down at the sketch. Wrath had brought her parchment and charcoal and asked her to sketch her vision for their home. The two-bedroom log cabin was similar to one she’d seen on a trip to a pioneer village as a teen. There would be a large fireplace, suitable for cooking and also for heat in the winter, a family room, and two bedrooms. The outhouse was a hundred and fifty feet away from the house. It was during the planning of their new home that she thought a lot about the modern conveniences she was leaving behind by staying with Wrath, indoor plumbing and electricity among them.

  But she’d happily take the lack of modern conveniences in order to be with her dream man.

  Over the last three days, the pack had worked hard at clearing a section of the woods surrounding the tunnel entrance. While most of the pack were felling trees to create the exterior of the cabin, the hunters worked in shifts and brought home deer, antelope, and rabbits by the armload, tanning the hides and preserving the meat to take to the human settlements to trade for building items and other things they needed.

  One of the first things Trinity had asked Wrath about was how they seemed to like to steal from the humans and vampires instead of setting up trades with them. From what she knew of both groups, the humans were more interested in peace and living in harmony and were willing to trade with any and all who came through their towns. She wasn’t sure they’d have similar luck with the vampires, but it was worth a shot.

  She’d been right. At least about the humans. While the vampires hadn’t wanted to trade with the hybrids, at least not at this time, the humans had been receptive. Rook and Brae had approached a merchant in the nearest human settlement with some rabbit pelts and antelope roasts, asking to trade for building materials. The man had been happy to trade, excited for the rabbit furs and fresh meat. Along with the materials they needed to turn the felled trees from giant logs into boards for building, Rook had secured a bag of peanuts for Trinity on Wrath’s request, knowing it was one of her favorite snacks.

  Trinity moved the house sketch to the bottom of the stack of papers and looked at the larger image she’d sketched of the vision she and Wrath had discussed for the pack’s new homes. After her and Wrath’s home was built and a split rail fence surrounded the tunnel entrance as well as their home, building would begin on another home. She thought it would most likely be offered to Cael and Trick first as they were the number two and three ranked males in the pack. But she also knew the males were discussing finding their true mates and so allowing the first homes that were built to go to those who had a mate to take care of. She eventually hoped to see twelve homes in total, each with a true mate couple living within, and hopefully children running around as well.

  “Hey,” Creek said as he sat next to her on the log. He was what the pack called a caretaker. He did all the cooking as well as the cleaning and sewing. She’d asked him if he minded the work and offered to help, and he’d said he enjoyed it. While all the hybrids could hunt, and he enjoyed a good run in his shift, his father had been a master craftsman and created furniture that had been sold in some of the markets in the settlements. Creek had learned how to sew at his feet, and had been tinkering with furniture building, too.

  “What’s up?” Trinity asked, putting down the papers and charcoal. She brushed her dirty fingers off on her pants and smiled at him.

  “I’ve got the garden marked. Can you come look at it?”

  “Sure thing,” she said, standing and catching Wrath’s attention. “I’m going to look at the garden with Creek.”

  He lowered the ax and smiled at her. “Have fun.”

  She followed Creek around the side of the tunnel entrance to where he’d marked off a large section, which he’d tilled with the help of some of the hunters. It was springtime, perfect for planting. The fruits and vegetables they could plant and harvest were similar to what she was used to. He told her the sections he’d marked with twigs and string, explaining what he planned to plant where.

  “It looks great,” she said. “I can’t wait to see the little plants start to grow.”

  “I’m making the rows today. River said he’d help me plant, and then I’ll put up the fence to keep the animals away.”

  The waist-high fence was going to be made of branches laced together with twine.

  “When you’re ready to plant, give me a holler. I’d love to help.”

  “I sure will,” he said.

  “Cool. I’m going to head back,” she said.

  “Hey, if you’re hungry for fresh fruit and vegetables there are some wild things in the forest. I’d be happy to show you sometime.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure. Even though it’s early, some things are alread
y out, like wild yam and some of the berries.”

  “Maybe after lunch we could go look?”

  “You bet.”

  She left the young wolf and returned to her perch on the log. Wrath joined her, sitting heavily next to her, and blowing out a breath.

  “How’s it going?” she asked after accepting a kiss.

  “Slow but steady. You?”

  “The garden is coming along nicely. Creek said there were some wild fruits and vegetables in the woods. Could I go with him to find them?”

  Wrath narrowed his eyes. “Not just the two of you.”

  “What about with Mytan?”

  “Also a hunter, too, I’ll ask for a volunteer. I’d come myself, but the faster I cut the trees and we get them set up for our home, the better.”

  “I don’t mind. I know the forest. I didn’t realize there were wild things we could eat now, though, so I want to see if we can find them. After lunch.”

  She emphasized the word, and his eyes darkened.

  “Lunch, or lunch-lunch.”

  She leaned into him a little and smiled. “The latter. I can’t get enough of you.”

  “It’s entirely mutual, sweetheart.”

  He rose to his feet and shouted, “Break!”

  The males stopped their work and looked at the two of them, and then they all started chuckling.

  Wrath picked her up and strode toward the tunnel with long strides.

  “I think they know where we’re going,” she said, snuggling in his embrace.

  “Well, they already knew I was a fantastic alpha, they’re just finding out how irresistible I am to you.”

  She laughed. “I hope you find me irresistible, too.”

  He didn’t take her to their chamber, but to the bathing room. He set her gently on her feet and smiled down at her. “Sweetheart, you’re the most irresistible creature on the planet, and I count myself the luckiest male to have you in my arms and by my side.”

  She smiled so widely that her cheeks hurt. “I’m so glad I’m here, Wrath. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  * * *

  After she and Wrath had made love in the bathing room and then soaked in the steamy water, they dried off and dressed. As they walked up the tunnel to the surface, Wrath said, “Once we get the land leveled and the floor laid, I hope the walls and roof will go up fast so we can move in.”

  She smiled at him. “Thinking about christening the new house?”

  “You know it,” he said, winking. “I’ve enjoyed living underground, but I think it’ll be nice to sleep above ground again. It’s been a long time.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I was thinking about that earlier. I wish I could’ve met your mom.”

  “She would have loved you. She always told me that following my heart was the most important thing I could do. She didn’t know I’d wind up as alpha of a hybrid pack, but she wanted me to be happy.”

  “Did she know there were others like you out there?”

  They reached the tunnel entrance and Trinity shielded her eyes from the sunlight.

  “There was so much secrecy back then, so I don’t think so. At least she never mentioned to me that she knew of other hybrids.”

  Wrath had gone looking for people like himself and found them on the outskirts of human settlements, most attempting to blend in as humans. Wrath had told Trinity that when he’d met Sisco, who’d volunteered to become alpha of their group which only had four at the time, Wrath had been happy to have someone knowledgeable take over. Sisco had taught them how to fight in human and wolf forms, how to make weapons, how to track humans, wolves, and vampires.

  She surveyed the scene—watching the males as they worked to fell trees and prepare the land. Mytan padded over to them from where he’d been dozing in the shade of a tree. It amazed her that he’d been so feared by even the Blood Wolves before she came along, and now they treated him like a pet.

  A really huge pet with jaws that could snap a man in half. But a pet all the same.

  She reached up and scratched his ear, and he made a humming sound of contentment.

  Wrath inhaled and growled. “I smell meat roasting. Creek must have lunch ready.”

  She sniffed the air and smiled when she caught the scent. “Yum. I’m starving. There was this horny male in the bathing room with me earlier.”

  He chuckled lasciviously. “I wasn’t the only horny one.”

  “True.”

  They found Creek and the other pack members at a cooking fire, where chunks of meat threaded onto skewers were roasting. Wrath fished out two skewers from near the flames and handed one to Trinity. They sat on a cut log and ate the tender, flavorful meat. Conversation flowed, the males discussing everything from the weather to the upcoming hunt. She loved to listen to them talk. For so long she’d thought they were only in her imagination, but now she could see them and talk to them. It was an amazing feeling.

  Wrath tossed his skewer on a pile to be cleaned and rose to his feet. “I need a volunteer to go with Trinity, Creek, and Mytan to hunt for wild fruit and vegetables.”

  Trinity stood. The males looked at each other, and then Jet said, “I’ll go. I wouldn’t mind taking a walk.”

  “I’ll grab some packs,” Creek said, hurrying away.

  Magnus put the fire out and said, “If you see any aloe vera, try to pull up a plant with the roots intact, so I can keep it going in a pot.”

  “Sure, I know what that looks like,” Trinity said. “My mom used to keep an aloe plant on the kitchen windowsill for burns.”

  “It’s really handy. I mean, I can heal a lot of stuff with my abilities, but if I can ease discomfort with a plant leaf without expending my energy, that’s a good thing, too.”

  She nodded. Tilting her face to Wrath for a kiss, she smiled when he growled softly as their lips met.

  “See you soon,” she said.

  “Keep your alpha female safe,” Wrath said, giving Creek and Jet hard looks. Mytan snuffled at him, and he patted him on his neck. “You keep her safe, too, you big brute.”

  Creek handed them packs, and Trinity put hers over her shoulder and waved at her mate before she left with the others and headed into the woods. Creek talked about the patches of wild berries he’d seen in previous springs, along with wild yams, which made Trinity think about Thanksgiving.

  “Are there wild turkeys around?” she asked.

  “In the fall,” Creek said. “You can hear them in the mornings when they’re moving around and looking for food.”

  “Can I ask you something?” Jet said.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “Did you ever see the future in your dreams?”

  “Not really. Not like prophetically or anything. Most of the dreams were just me and Wrath together, and he’d tell me about the things that were happening to him and the pack. Some things I did see before they happened, but not anything significant. Like I never saw someone die and it really happened a month later. Why?”

  Jet, who had inky black hair and dark blue eyes, blew out a breath. “I was wondering if you’d ever seen any of us find our true mate.”

  “No,” she said. “I didn’t. I wish I had.”

  “I’m twenty-six,” he said. “I know I’m a few years from going insane with blood lust, but it gets harder every year to handle the feelings. If I thought my true mate was out there somewhere, if you had a clue where she was and could help me find her, I’d... well, it’s not going to happen, but it sure would’ve been nice.”

  She put her hand on his shoulder and they stopped walking. He looked down at her, his eyes filled with sadness. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Nothing to apologize for.”

  “I know, but I’m still going to. Wrath and I found each other when the odds were against us. I believe that everyone has a true mate out there somewhere, but wolves—purebred and Blood Wolves—are at a disadvantage because of their biology. If there was anything I wish I could change, i
t would be that.”

  “So you really don’t want to go home? Your world is so different from ours.”

  “Home is where Wrath is. I don’t want to go back to my old life for anything. Whatever I lost by coming here, I’ve gained more by being with Wrath and you guys. I couldn’t be happier, I promise.”

  Creek smiled broadly. “It’s good for the alpha female to be happy.”

  “You know it,” Trinity said.

  They continued their walk, finding a patch of wild blackberries and patches of aloe and mint, which she was looking forward to adding to her morning tea. They’d started to dig for yams with sticks, when Mytan jumped in the middle of them and used his great big paws like shovels, unearthing the yams and sending them flying along with dirt and vines.

  They laughed, chasing after the vegetables, and dropping them into one of the packs. She sat on her heels after encouraging Mytan to stop because half his body had disappeared into the hole he’d dug, which was plenty deep enough.

  “I should’ve used him for the garden,” Creek said, tossing a blackberry into his mouth.

  “Next time,” she said. “If you could rig a plow, I bet he would pull it for you.”

  “Maybe for you,” Jet said, leaning back and looking up at the sky through the trees. “He’s your buddy, we’re just along for the ride.”