by R. E. Butler
"Potentially?"
Lynk walked out into the room wearing only his jeans. "It would depend on how powerful the mate's nature is. Everyone is fairly certain that our nephews will be bears when they turn of age, but if they have more children, some of them may be witches or even hybrids of some kind with traits of both natures." He stopped in front of me, parting my legs enough to slide between my knees and kiss me.
"Hmm," he licked his lips, "apple."
Tavian stirred the stew. "Our children could be either or a combination of fairy and bear."
I felt the need to make a point, so I did. "Children?"
Lynk looked surprised, "You don't want to have children with us?"
Now I knew I really needed to make a point. "I don't know how you bears do these sorts of things, but I need more than a few hot tumbles in the sheets before we start talking about kids."
Tavian grinned and moved next to us. "Do you, little fairy?"
"I do."
They looked at each other for a long moment without speaking and then Lynk turned to me and said, "Us bears would like to ask you to marry us, Shaylee, and then bond with us in a ceremony in front of our den, and then, when the time is right, we'd definitely like you to carry our children."
I narrowed my eyes, enjoying the teasing. "You'd like to ask me to marry you, or you just did?"
Tavian laughed, leaning over to kiss my cheek. "You are too precious, yanna. Of course we'll ask you, but not now."
Lynk squeezed my hands, his eyes bright and happy. "We're connected because of the bond we share as mates, Shaylee, but that doesn't mean that we're in love and that's okay. I know we'll love each other, and however long that takes, when it happens it will be perfectly timed."
"Right," Tavian nodded, "and then we'll ask you to marry us and bond with us, and share our lives."
I smiled at their sweetness and leaned forward, hooking my arms around their necks and drawing them close. "Just so we're on the right page."
"You're the boss." Tavian said.
"Definitely." Lynk said.
Damn skippy. "Good. Now, I'm starving. Two horny were-bears kept me busy all day."
Tavian returned to the stove and Lynk moved away and began to prepare sandwiches to go with the stew. I sipped at the juice. "Are there ever more than three in a mating?"
Tavian looked up from the pot, "There could be three males for one female."
"Wow, three horny were-bears? That would be pussy-melting intense."
They both laughed, shaking their heads. "Has that ever happened before in your den?" I asked, hopping from the counter and setting the table.
"What, a quartet bond?" Lynk looked up from where he studiously stacked sliced turkey and colby cheese.
"Is that what it's called when three bears are called to the same female?"
"Yes, it's extremely rare, though. Normally, it's one male for one female, but occasionally there will be tri-bonds like ours, with two males for one female. And then, very rarely, there will be a quartet bond, with three males and one female." Tavian brought the stewpot over to the table on a coaster.
"It's rare, though?" When the table was set, we sat down together, taking sandwiches and bowls of stew.
"Yes. I can only think of two instances in the history of our tribe, and that's going back very far. One happened after disease wiped out nearly the entire den, leaving only three males and one female. They bonded with her together to save their den. Another time, was a very special female, a rare color and a powerful bear, a princess to her people. She mated with three powerful males from different dens and drew their dens together to form a larger den and that action allowed them to defeat a common enemy." Lynk answered in between bites of stew.
"There sure is a lot to know about were-bears." I sighed, already feeling out of my element.
"Don't worry, lilenta," Lynk squeezed my hand for a moment, "you're not expected to know everything right away and we'll teach you all we can."
"The only thing you need to know right now, yanna, is that we care for you and we're not going anywhere without you." Tavian winked at me. I could handle that declaration. I put aside my other questions about bonding ceremonies and tri-bondings, and concentrated on eating. Once I had started to smell the food cooking, my stomach tried to gnaw through my belly in earnest.
We tumbled back to bed after the kitchen was cleaned up, and for the next few days we explored our new relationship. My worries that they would be unable to share me disappeared like fog with the sun as they proved to me over and over that they cared not only for me, but for each other. Whatever jealousy that Lynk had in the beginning, he had clearly come to terms with it during the day apart. Watching him as he watched Tavian and I cuddle or make love showed a man that only cared that we were happy, and I knew that Tavian felt the same way. And hell, I was very, very happy myself. The ten months I'd spent alone in the cabin drifted away from my memory like bad dreams. I never needed to worry about being alone again.
Chapter 6
Lynk drove us back to the den several days later. Although I would have been content to stay put in the cabin with the two of them for the rest of our days, they wanted to share their den life with me. At the very least, Lynk had said, they wanted to perform the bonding ceremony with me which involved them taking a brand to their chest in the form of a symbol of my name in their language. Then they would present me to the den as a treasured member and mate. They wanted me to live with them in the den, but I'd teasingly told them that I would only agree to it if I liked their tent. In truth, I would have been happy to live with them anywhere under any circumstances. I was just bare inches away from being completely in love with them.
Lynk, a natural leader who wanted to do what was best for everyone was balanced so well by Tavian who was a caretaker at heart and wanted everyone to be happy. Between the two of them, I was certain there was no more loved woman in the world than me.
We stopped in the grassy area in front of the den, the doors open wide because the den knew we were coming. A young boy played just inside the open door, a child of one of the mated couples. Snow had fallen fresh overnight, the empty fields stretched on forever like a white dream. Hand in hand, we walked towards the barn when everything in my body went cold and I froze. I felt the earth tremble and the air shimmered as I turned around slowly and to my horror, a portal from the fairy world opened several yards from us.
"What the hell?" Tavian asked as Lynk stepped in front of me with a low growl and Tavian put his hand on my back, moving close.
My mouth went dry. "It's a portal."
I didn't have time to say that there wasn't anything good about a portal opening right where I was. It meant that someone in the fairy world had been keeping tabs on me and knew where I was all the time.
Guards I recognized from my uncle's private army stepped forward. They were dressed the same, in dark trousers and military boots, shirtless with swords strapped at their backs, the hilts at cross angles under their wings. My uncle stepped through, surrounded by more guards and I felt like the world was crashing down on me. He couldn't want anything good.
Uncle Tiamet’s wings were unsheathed, as were the other fairy guards. “Tiamet? What are you doing here?” I asked, tugging my jacket off and tossing it behind me. I wanted my wings out so I could draw the most power from my fairy nature, if I needed to defend myself and my men. From the number of guards surrounding my uncle, and the sneer on his face, I had a feeling defense was going to be very necessary.
He tsked. “So disrespectful. But then you always were. Never did know your place.”
I arched my brow. “My place? You mean dead?”
He sniffed derisively. “That’s in the past.”
I opened my mouth to tell him what a load of bullshit that was, when the sound of running came behind us. A quick glance showed me that the den had come, alerted by the young child that was playing in the barn. Adriel stopped next to Lynk, handing him a sword that gleamed in the sunlight
. Lynk gripped it lightly as Adriel spoke with power and authority. “I am king of this den and you are trespassing on our land. What business have you here?”
My uncle looked genuinely surprised to see so many people come to stand with us. Power swirled around us as I shed my top and unsheathed my wings. I recognized the twins that came to stand by Adriel and the petite brunette that stood between them. It was their brothers Ash and Axe and their wife, Elizabeth. Her fingers crackled lightly with flames that didn’t burn her skin. The bears in the den stood behind us, many with swords like Lynk’s, waiting quietly and watching.
My uncle cleared his throat and made a small gesture to the guards with him. “I have come for my niece. She must return to the fairy realm and marry a male of proper royal lineage so that her family line will not disappear with her. She is the last Tannia.”
Adriel looked back at me with a frown and then nodded slightly. I stepped forward to stand between Adriel and Lynk. “I was banished from the realm. I cannot return except to risk death.”
“This is an edict from the court. You are required to return. You can come at your own will, or we will take you by force.”
Lynk growled low in his chest and the sound rumbled through the crowd of bears that stood with us like an angry wave.
“I will not.” I stated, drawing myself up as tall as I could and glaring at the man that I had once thought of as part of my family. “You had my mother killed, and then my aunt, your wife. I don’t believe for a second that I was asked to return. My family name was stricken from the history of the realm, lost forever.”
“Bygones.” He sniffed, shifting his gaze around to the men who stood with me. He had clearly not known that so many would rally to help me. As much as I was bolstered by their support, I didn’t want anyone hurt on my behalf.
“I’m not returning to the fairy realm, ever again. My life is here now, with my mates.”
He snorted and his eye ticked. “Rutting with beasts does not change what you are. Guards," he stretched his red and orange wings wide and they shimmered with power, "take her and kill the animals." He pointed long, bony fingers at Elizabeth, "Bring the fire witch to me. She'll make an excellent addition to my bed chamber."
Ash and Axe roared in rage at the threat to their wife. Lynk put his hand on me and shoved me backwards. "Stay with Tav," he growled.
His eyes were wild, his face marred with anger. I was no fighter and I knew if I protested, someone would get hurt trying to keep me safe. "If you take their wings, you'll take their power." I squeezed his hand and stepped backwards where Tavian pushed me behind him as the fairy guards rushed towards the waiting bears.
Tavian shed his shirt, walking me backwards slowly while his father, Lynk, Axe and Ash fought forward through the throng of fairy guards along with the other members of the den, some shifting into their bear forms. I watched Lynk like a hawk as he cut his way through the seemingly endless fairy guards, intent to get to my uncle. Ash and Axe battled to keep Elizabeth safe while she let loose whip-like flames from her hands and threw guards around like ragdolls.
A guard ran full-tilt at Lynk and I sent my power to the earth and a root shot up, tripping the guard just feet from Lynk, who spun and cut off his wings first and then his head with practiced ease. "Tav!" Lynk yelled without looking back, "Get her inside!"
"No, Tavian!" I argued as he pushed me back further towards the barn.
He glanced back at me, fury on his face, and then suddenly shoved me away and leaned forward towards a guard that ran at us, sword lifted high. Short of reaching us, Tavian's body split apart into his bear form, rising up on hind legs and towering over the guard, breaking his neck with a single swipe. Tavian roared, baring his fangs and clipping guards that got too close.
Easing down to all fours, he bumped back into me, letting out a guttural bark that drew the attention of two other bears. They lumbered over to us quickly, forming a barrier around me on all sides, Tavian in front. Lynk and Adriel moved closer and closer to my uncle, who blazed a fiery wall of protection around himself and several guards. The guards were nature fairies and I could feel them trying to bring trees up from the earth to block their way. I spread my wings far apart, letting my body fill with my fairy power and I fought their control over the earth. They were not royals so their power was not as strong as mine and I wrested control of the roots in the earth and shifted them, spiraling them up from the ground inside the fiery circle and capturing their legs. They hacked at the roots with their swords, yelling in surprise.
Lynk and Adriel circled, leaving the few remaining guards to their people as they attempted to take out the last of the threat. They backed up after a few whispered words and then Adriel went down on one knee and Lynk darted forward, jumped onto his back and leapt over the flames, twisting as he moved and slicing the sword through the air. The guards and my uncle startled but were too slow to take action, and Lynk's sword sliced through my uncle's wings, severing them, and extinguishing the wall of flame.
Lynk's voice rumbled deep with power, "She is mine forever!" He rammed the blade through my uncle's heart, hefting his body from the ground with the motion and letting him fall to the ground in a graceless heap. Another slash of his sword and he severed his head from his body while Adriel dispatched the guards that were with him.
Tears sprang freely from my eyes as Lynk met them across the bloody snow covered field and he stopped for only a moment to check on his family before closing the distance between us.
The two bears with us moved away as Lynk grabbed me against him with one arm, the sword loose at his side. "Are you alright, lilenta?"
"I'm fine, you set me free. Oh, but you're hurt!" His arms and chest were marred with cuts and burns.
He snorted lightly, "A trifle, sweetheart. Battle scars I'll wear with pride."
I was about to tell him that I would heal him when we were down in the den, when the ground shook again, and my heart fell into my feet. "What now?" I clutched him, watching as the portal shifted slightly and opened further.
Lord Elmist, High King of the Seelie Court, stepped forward through the portal with a throng of golden winged guards with him, decked out in full gilded armor. He surveyed the scene from just outside the portal.
Tavian paced in front of me, growling low in his throat. I gripped his thick fur with my hand as fear licked at me. Lynk held the bloody sword at his side casually, but his body was strung tight in preparation of another attack. His father, brothers, and sister-in-law came to stand with us, as did the other bears, shifted and human. They were ready instantly to defend again, and my heart swelled at the sight.
The head of the council stopped near my uncle's headless body, looking down at it. Clucking his tongue, he looked up and met my eyes, and began to walk towards me.
"That's close enough," Lynk said with a dark voice, his hand tightening on the sword.
"Fair enough." He stopped and his guards came to stand by him.
"What are you doing here, Lord Elmist?"
He glanced around the destruction with a wry smile. "I was told a portal opened. When I asked my guards who had gone through it, I was told your uncle and his guards had gone through on a mission to kill you. I guess he didn't expect to find you so well protected."
"He told me that I had to come back with him and marry someone of royal blood in order to keep my family line going. He said it was an order from the court."
His white eyebrow arched. "You were banished, Shaylee. Banished means forever, except under certain circumstances. The court declared your family line never existed in an attempt to dissuade your uncle from trying to come after you. We banished you to the mortal realm in the hopes that he'd be content with his status. Clearly, he was not."
My mouth dropped open. "Are you trying to tell me that you banished me to save me?"
His golden wings rustled in the light breeze. "Your father was a close friend. When your mother was killed and then your aunt, I knew your uncle would stop at nothing to
have the court seat forever. Those of us on the court that wanted you to take your rightful place were in the process of removing him when he made an attempt on your life. It was only after the young fairy was killed in your place that we realized just how far gone he was in his delusions and I gathered the court to try to find a way to save you."
Lynk snorted, "Why didn't you just kill him?"
Lord Elmist narrowed his eyes. "It's not our way, warrior. If one of the court had raised a hand against him, all hell would have broken loose. Our kind have existed for millennia because of our court and our laws. I did what I could. You killed her uncle in her defense, the slate is wiped clean."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, relief and fear twining through me again.
"You are the last Tannia. The council will vote to return your name, title, council seat, and belongings to you immediately, you simply must return to our realm. Forever."
My heart stopped and my stomach flipped. Everything I'd wanted ten months ago was offered to me on a silver platter. But now, standing between Lynk and Tavian, I knew it was the very last thing in any realm that I wanted.
"No." The word came out on a choked sob.
Lord Elmist frowned slightly. "You cannot stay here in the mortal realm, Shaylee. Not in your current form."
I opened my mouth to protest when I realized what he'd said. Not in my current form.
"Then I'll give up my wings."
Lynk looked down at me. "What are you talking about, lilenta?"
Lord Elmist answered for me. "Unless they are banished, fairies belong in the fairy realm. Her banishment is going to be lifted. As long as she has her wings, she is under the rule of the court. We can force her to return to our realm."
"You can try." Lynk brandished the sword again and Tavian let loose a menacing growl.