Bear my Fate (Hero Mine Book 1)

by Harmony Raines

Cartwright swung around to look at Eva’s mom. “You saw Wayne?”

  “Wayne? Who is Wayne?” her mom asked. “I don’t remember that name.”

  “Wayne Baines. You don’t remember him, Valerie?” Cartwright asked.

  “No. Should I?” She shook her head. “My memory isn’t what it was.”

  “He used to hang out with us. With me, you, and Henry.” Cartwright looked troubled, and Eva felt her father’s unease growing inside her.

  “No. Maybe you and Henry used to hang out with him before I met you?” Valerie asked. “Maybe your memory isn’t what it used to be either.”

  “Maybe it’s not,” Cartwright said. He flicked his eyes up to Eva’s, and she read his expression, or at least her father did. “Valerie came back to us yesterday, asked for our help. She said you needed rescuing, Evaine. And that the druids had forced you to retrieve the Dragon’s Tear.”

  Eva shook her head. “The Templars were the ones who forced me.”

  Someone bound her to do their bidding, her father said in her head. That’s why she left you.

  Above their heads, there was a loud crash, and the sound of fighting. “Templars!” Cartwright yelled.

  His men all rushed to him, and they made for the stairs. Eva went to follow, wanting to help in the fight against the Night Hunters. This was not a Templar attack, it was a shifter attack.

  Night Hunters against Others, and she should be at her mate’s side. For her bear longed to slash its claws across Night Hunter flesh. But she couldn’t leave her mom down here alone. However, when Eva turned to speak to her, she had gone.

  “Not again.” Eva scanned the library, she couldn’t see her, but her heightened bear senses could hear her. “Mom!”

  Eva ran between the shelves piled high with old books and parchments. She caught a glimpse of her mom disappearing behind a bookcase, and increased her speed. There she was, reaching for something.

  “Mom.” Eva came to a halt five feet away from her. “Mom, what are you doing?”

  “There’s a map I need. It’s up there, I can’t quite reach it.” Valerie began taking other books off the shelves, big tomes that she piled high on top of another.

  “Mom, you need to stop.”

  Let her finish, her father told her. We need to see what she has been sent to collect.

  “Sent?” Eva asked out load.

  Yes, your mom has been bound. That is why she doesn’t remember Wayne. She is compromised.

  Eva felt sick. But she stood by, while her mom stepped up on to the pile of old books and pulled out a roll of parchment, tied with a red ribbon and sealed with wax. Pressed into the seal was the head of a dragon.

  What is it? Eva asked.

  The final piece of the puzzle. Her father sounded weary, and sad, as if he had been betrayed.

  “There,” Valerie said triumphantly. She tucked the parchment under her arm and then stepped down off the books. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she ran, weaving in and out of the bookshelves sure-footedly, making for the stairs.

  Eva followed, taking the stairs two at a time, until she caught up with her mom. “It’s dangerous,” Eva said, and grabbed hold of her mom’s arm. “They are fighting.”

  Valerie turned and hit the heel of her hand into Eva’s chest, sending her spinning to the ground, winded.

  Get up, Evaine, her father said. You have to stop her.

  Eva dragged air, painfully, back into her lungs, and climbed to her feet. There was more shouting, followed by a boom so loud the whole building shook. As Eva rounded the corner, there was splintered wood covering the ground, and most of the Night Hunters had been blown off their feet. The big ornate doors of the Chamber were gone, and before it stood four bears, Helena, and Lucas. Behind them, stood the leader of the Council, Master Donavon.

  The druids rushed from the Chamber, and circled the Night Hunters. Eva scanned the floor for her mom, but couldn’t see her. There were too many people. Eva let her senses roam, her father guiding her, teaching her how to listen in to the sound of a person’s heartbeat, and link it to the sound of their breath. Each person was different, if you knew how to listen, much like Jack listened to the sound of footsteps, only this was more refined.

  There, her father said.

  Eva moved, keeping behind the druids, until she caught sight of her mom, with the Grimmwold, there was no sign up the parchment. Were they in this together? But why would the Grimmwold steal the map when he could walk into the library and take it whenever he wanted?

  “Eva,” Jack called behind her. He had shifted back into his human form, and was running after her.

  “Where did they go?” Eva asked, as she rounded a corner, Jack by her side.

  She listened, and Jack did the same. They both moved forward at the same time, running down the corridor until they stopped outside a door. “This is Master Donavon’s office,” Jack whispered.

  “Is the Dragon’s Tear in here?” Eva asked, Jack shrugged, and then put his hand on the doorknob and turned it. There was only one way to find out.

  They burst in. There was the Grimmwold, opening Master Donavon’s safe, with a flick of his hand and a few mumbled words. He took out the Dragon’s Tear, and showed it to Valerie.

  Valerie was oblivious to Jack and Eva, she was staring at the Dragon’s Tear with such reverence, such devotion, it pained her. “At last.” She snatched it from the Grimmwold, who offered no resistance.

  “No, Mom. You can’t take it,” Eva said.

  “Don’t get in my way,” her mom spat. “I will hurt you.”

  “You already have,” Eva said sadly.

  Valerie made a move for the door, but Jack blocked the way. Valerie stopped, and took a step back. “I will kill you. This has all the power I need.” She held the stone up. “Why do you think we wanted it?”

  “You won’t do it,” Eva said.

  Valerie placed it on her hand and began to chant. The colors in the stone grew vibrant, and it seemed to resonate with her words. And then it shattered into a thousand pieces.

  A wail came from deep inside Valerie, it grew and grew, until Eva had to cover her ears. The Grimmwold stepped forward, and placed a hand on her shoulder, and Valerie fell to the floor silent.

  “Mom.” Eva rushed forward, kneeling on the floor next to her mom.

  “Now do you see why we must work together to protect the Dragon’s Tear?” Master Donavon asked. He stood in the doorway. Next to him stood Cartwright.

  “What is going on?” Jack asked, moving toward Eva and her mom.

  “Eva’s mom has been bound,” Master Donavon said. “For a very long time.”

  “How did you know?” Eva asked, wiping away her tears.

  “We have been keeping track of her for a number of years,” the Grimmwold said.

  “You knew where she was, all this time?” Cartwright accused.

  “Yes, we watched her, made sure she was safe. She ran from you, Ian. She hid her child from you.”

  “We never wanted to hurt her, or the child,” Cartwright said.

  “But you would have asked Eva to retrieve the Dragon’s Tear. And she knew why Henry hid it,” Master Donavon said.

  “And Evaine? You knew where the child was too?” Cartwright demanded.

  “No, after Henry was murdered, we had no idea where Valerie was. We didn’t know she had given Eva up. We thought she had gone deep underground. Our spies told us she was not with you. We could only hope they were safe.”

  “Did you give her over to the Templars? So that you could see how this all played out?” Cartwright ground out. “You druids and your experiments. Is that what this is?”

  “No. They found her by chance. We let her down. We thought after all these years she would be safe. Only when the ward was set off did we realize she was missing.” Master Donavon sighed wearily. “We became complacent. We have become lazy, taken our finger off the pulse of activity in our world. And now we may pay the price. The Templars are rising.”

 
; “We share the blame. Wayne, one of our most trusted Night Hunters, was lured by the Templars. I fear he was the one who put the binding spell on Valerie.” Cartwright frowned. “But if he did, it should have broken.”

  “It should have. A binding spell does not survive if the one who casts it dies,” the Grimmwold confirmed.”

  “My dad said he was the Templar Lucas killed yesterday. He had crosses tattooed on his cheek.” Eva looked down at her mom. “Who did this to you, Mom?”

  “We will find them. And stop them,” Cartwright said.

  “The Dragon’s Tear was the key. But even without it, they are going to become a thorn in both of our sides,” Master Donavon said.

  “And this is where you offer for us to work together?” Cartwright asked. “Even when you have turned one of ours into one of yours.”

  Heat covered Eva’s face, at the accusing tone of Cartwright’s voice.

  “This is the future,” Master Donavon said, his hand out toward Eva and Jack. “This is our new beginning. We have fought on opposite sides for too long. Your Hunters killed many of us before you understood the threat was not from the Others, but from the Templars. Let us work together.”

  “I will need to talk it over with my people. It is too big a decision for one man to make.” Cartwright entered the room and came to kneel by Valerie. “Is there anything that can be done for her?”

  “Master Grimmwold?”

  “She is bound. If I can break the bind … maybe. But I cannot promise.”

  “Leave her here with us. I’m sure Eva would like some time to get to know her mom. And we will do all we can to restore her.”

  “Thank you.” Cartwright stood up. “And the Dragon’s Tear?”

  “The Dragon’s Tear,” Master Donavon said, walking across the room to stand next to Master Grimmwold.

  “It should be interred,” the Grimmwold said.

  “Agreed,” Master Donavon said.

  “It has such power,” Cartwright began, but Master Donavon cut him off.

  “It is everything you and your Hunters have fought to eradicate from our world. It needs to be put where no one can use it.”

  “And we are to trust the druids?” Cartwright asked, his old distrust returning.

  “We will trust each other.”

  “What if there was a spell?” Jack asked. “That took a Night Hunter and a member of the Council to bury it.”

  “Good idea, Jack.” Master Donavon agreed. “Master Grimmwold, can you make such a spell? One that would call on the Council and the Night Hunters to place the Dragon’s Tear where no man can reach it.”

  “I will work on it,” the Grimmwold said.

  Chapter Twenty-Six – Jack

  “It makes me sad,” Eva said, rolling onto her stomach and looking at Jack, her head on his chest.

  “What does?” Jack asked lazily. They had spent a couple of lazy days roaming the forest, while his brothers took care of business. With Locke’s help. The man worked himself to exhaustion every day, barely slept, and then got up to start again the next morning. It was his way of dealing with his inner turmoil. Jack hoped it wasn’t going to kill him, but Helena assured the brothers it was what he needed, and so they let him.

  “How much sorrow it must have taken for a dragon to shed something as powerful as the Dragon’s Tear.”

  Jack stroked her arm, feeling her warm body against his. “I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be to watch your mate die.” He sighed. “And I don’t want to. One day the Tear will be returned to the dragon. If we ever discover where he is.”

  “Do you believe the Grimmwold when he said he didn’t know? That parchment my mom took looked authentic. But it turned out to be blank.”

  “Are you saying the Grimmwold was withholding information?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know. He doesn’t want the last dragon to be found. Or at least doesn’t want the information to be common knowledge. He said he had bound himself, remember.”

  “Yes. I do.” Jack turned over, facing his mate. “I’m just glad it’s over. For us. For now. Let someone else deal with it. I have more important things to concern myself over.”

  “Like what?” Eva asked.

  “Like how hot it is.” Jack began unbuttoning his shirt. “I feel the need to strip my clothes off.”

  “I’m not going to complain,” Eva said, sitting up and watching Jack as he stood up and removed his shirt, and then dropped his pants so that he stood naked in front of her. “Very primal.”

  “Primal?” He looked down at his naked body. “That makes me sound like a caveman.”

  “I don’t think cavemen were quite so well … endowed.”

  “Endowed,” he chuckled. “That does not make me feel sexy.”

  “Maybe this will.” She peeled her sweater and her T-shirt off over her head, and then wriggled out of her jeans. “I might need some help with the rest of my clothes.”

  “Always here to help.” He knelt down beside her, and unclasped her bra. Then he gasped, as Eva curled her hand around his cock, and stroked it, up and down.

  “Am I helping?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah.” He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation, before lifting her up and placing her on his lap so she straddled him. Pulling her panties to one side, he lifted her before lowering her down on his cock. “That helps so much.”

  Eva moved her hips, circling them. With each rotation, she took more of him inside her. Inch by inch he filled her, until she was completely impaled on his hard shaft. Resting her arms on his shoulders, she began to ride him, up and down, and round and round. It was so good, being out here in the forest, the sounds of nature all around them and his mate impaled on his cock.

  Oh, yeah, so good.

  Jack cupped her left breast with his right hand and lowered his head to suck her nipple into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around the taut bud in a rhythm which matched Eva’s hips. Each time he nipped the sensitive bud, her hips bucked, sending shockwaves through her body, and her inner muscles clamped down on his hardness.

  Eva lifted his chin, and he released her nipple. “Kiss me.”

  Jack fisted her hair, and their lips met, his tongue probing for entrance to her mouth. Their tongues entwined, just as their bodies entwined, joining together, two mates who had found each other and pledged their lives to each other under the full moon.

  There had been a hand-fasting ceremony, with Helena having the honor of joining them together forever.

  Eva gasped, breaking their kiss as she came. She clung to him, her nails digging into his back as the shockwaves hit her. A chain reaction brought him to the brink of pleasure and then threw him over the edge, his seed filling her. Their first child was already growing in her womb, and he wished for many more. But for now, they planned to enjoy each other’s bodies at every opportunity.

  And it was joy that they made, as well as love.

  Eva straddled him, stroking his hair back from his cheek, and planting soft kisses over his face. “We can have a perfect life,” she said. “You and me, and our children.”

  “We can,” he agreed. “We will. The two of us, our children. We’ll be a family forever.”

  She looked away, a sadness in her eyes. “Do you think Lucas will lead the Council one day?”

  “I think he has a shot now. He showed himself to be strong and willing to take action when the Night Hunters attacked. It was Lucas who took the doors down. If he hadn’t, we would have had to kill every Night Hunter and that would have started a war.”

  “The image his mom saw when she was scrying will come true, then?”

  “It might.” He turned her to face him. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

  “It’s silly.” She took a long shuddering breath. “She told me something…”

  “Damn it.” Jack’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He reached for his jeans and pulled it out.

  “Council business.”

  “A call-out for the squad?�
� she asked excitedly.

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go, then,” Eva said, sliding off his lap and gathering her clothes.

  “We could stay here, they could manage.”

  “Are you backing out of our deal?” Eva asked.

  “I want you to be safe. You have our child in your belly.” He put his hand on the place where her belly swelled.

  “You said I could go with you on the next call-out. I have control of my bear, and I have to learn to fight. So that I can teach our children.”

  “I’ll teach them.”

  “And what if you aren’t here?” She stopped, her jeans halfway up her legs.

  “Eva.” Jack did his belt up and went to her. “I’m always going to be here. I said I’d never leave you.”

  “I know.” She pulled her jeans up and then dragged her T-shirt over her head.

  “What did Sophia say to you? You were going to tell me.”

  Eva brushed her hair back from her face. “Only that we were going to have lots of children.”

  “And that’s good, right?” Jack asked.

  “Yes.” She looked down at the ground, and wiped away a tear that she didn’t want him to see.

  “Eva, what’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Hormones.” She sniffed. “I’m scared I won’t be a good mother.” She smiled weakly, not convincing him.

  “That all?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She nodded and pulled on her sweater. “OK. Race you back to the house. They will wait for us, right?”

  “I’m squad leader, of course they’ll wait.”

  Eva shifted before his eyes, a sight he still had not gotten used to. Not as big as his bear: that did not stop her from being strong, and fast. Eva’s bear could beat him easily in a flat-out race. She turned to him, gave a roar, and then dug her claws into the mud, launching herself into the forest.

  Jack shifted, and followed his mate. Just as he would follow her anywhere, through space and time. He understood Eva struggled with insecurities, her fear of being abandoned was real. Knowing her past, Jack couldn’t blame Eva for those beliefs, but he would spend his life proving to her that she could trust him, when he promised would never leave her. He knew he never could, she was his mate. His pregnant mate.