“Me?” I asked. “If you actually bothered to attend Court once in a while, I wouldn’t have been wandering the blasted wildwood in the first place.” I huffed.
“I was there—”
“Six months ago! Which might as well have been six years. You know better than anyone how differently time moves in Arcadia.”
“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Tristan snapped.
I glared at him. He stood easily over six-foot-tall and had blonde hair, which he kept tied back and blue eyes, very much like my own. Enough that most people assumed he was my father, and most of the time we let them. But that was before he’d scolded me. He’d never done that, and it stung.
So, I took a leaf out of Mercy’s book and left the townhouse before I said something I’d come to regret.
“Hey Mercedes!” I called out.
She was two townhouses down the road, and she stopped and turned. Still in wolf form, I waited while she shifted back.
“I hate it when people call me that.”
I smirked. “I know. You also hate dresses and brussel sprouts.”
“Fox,” she whined. “Why are you here anyway? The equinox ball isn’t for another three days.”
“Mom, did something stupid.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. The girl with the horns is my sister,” I said. “Well half-sister, anyway. Mom screwed Herne.”
Mercy wrinkled her nose but stopped short of sticking her fingers in her ears. “Gross!”
“Don’t be such a prude. It’ll be you one day.”
Mercy shook her head. “I’m not… it won’t be with Herne.”
“It will if you desire to be the true Summer Queen.”
“And if I didn’t wish to rule, who would pick up the mantle then?” she raised an eyebrow while continuing to stare at me. “You?”
Three years later…
Since finding out about Rue, my siblings and I made the journey to Arcadia to spend the equinox in the wildwood. As much as Herne made me uncomfortable, I tolerated him for the sake of getting to know Rue, as well as my other sister, Arianna. Painfully shy, Arianna tended to stick close to Rhiannon. I found it strange that among the gaggle of children they’d raised over the last forty years, Herne and Rhiannon had never had a child together. I didn’t question why, as it wasn’t my place to do so, but I’d always wondered. Perhaps there’s was a relationship based on duty rather than love. Herne was after all responsible for the magic every Queen of Arcadia had wielded, as Rhiannon was for ever King that had ever ruled.
This year, however, would be the first without Ever tagging along. My mother had abdicated last spring in favour of Ever. The council had thought her too young and flighty but she was older than my mother had been when Queen Mab had literally dropped the Winter Crown at her feet. And Mom had reasoned with the council, assuring them Ever just needed a little time to get used to things. I wasn’t so sure Ever would ever be ready. Growing up in Knox had us at a disadvantage. We could learn all there was to learn about Arcadia from the Academy and still not really know what it was like. We hadn’t lived amongst it, nor had we spent any real time within its borders, except for the balls and other mandated social events which we were obligated to be present for. Faeries were well known not to play by mortal rules and it would only be a matter of time before Ever fell victim to one of their capricious games. That I was sure of. I could only hope that as her big brother, it was something I could shield her from and if something did befall her, it wouldn’t come at a hefty price.
The sun had begun to shift in the sky, as day began to move to night and Violet begun to tire as the three of us—my younger brother Leo, Violet and I—made our way through the cemetery to stand at the entrance to Arcadia. I probably shouldn’t have brought her, but she insisted. This would be our first time participating in the Wild Hunt, and Violet was determined not to miss it.
She was halfway through her second pregnancy and while the pack doctor had assured her she could still ride, the pregnancy was taking its toll on her. We’d been married for two years. Our firstborn, a daughter, Phoenix, had been born one year ago and we’d left her in the care of my great aunt, Niamh, who was probably regretting her offer to babysit right about now. Wolf pups… even those with mixed lineage were not the easiest of children to care for.
“It’s not too late for you to turn around and head home,” I told her.
“And why would Violet want to do that, brother?” Leo asked.
We had the same colour blond hair and crystalline blue eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended. Leo was a spitting image of my stepfather, Tristan. The only resemblance I saw to our mother was in the shape of his nose.
“Because she’s pregnant, idiot,” I huffed. “And unlike you I actually care about the woman I knocked up.”
“Piper’s kid was never proven to be mine.”
“And it was never proven to not be yours, either,” I said. “You really ought to man up and take responsibility. Wyatt’s cute. Blond, blue eyed…”
“Half of Knox has blond hair and blue eyes. Could be anybody’s kid.”
“Piper is Violet’s best friend. Wolves don’t sleep around Lee. Wyatt’s yours.”
“We broke up.”
“You only broke up with her cause you found out she was pregnant. Dick move taking after Robin in the romance department. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” he murmured.
“So, make it right with her!”
“Dad will kill me!” Leo whined. I couldn’t help but agree with my brother. Tristan wasn’t known for his love of wolf shifters. In fact, the only reason he tolerated Violet and her father, Luke at all is because they’d spent an unprecedented amount of time together before Leo and Ever were born.
“Why? Because Piper’s a wolf or because you didn’t own up to your mistake sooner?”
Leo shrugged. “Both?”
“He might forgive you for falling for a wolf… in time. I’m not so sure how he’d feel knowing you walked out on your responsibilities.”
“I don’t suppose…”
“I’ll not be putting in a good word for you, Leo,” Violet said. “You got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out.”
“But…”
“No, buts!” she protested.
“Fox?” he asked. “Help me out?”
“Nah. Sorry, man. You’re on your own.”
“Maybe I ought to ditch this little gathering and go find Piper.”
“On the Esbat?” I laughed.
“Hey, if he wants to go walking unescorted into a wolf shifter party, by all means.” Violet’s grin got bigger while before me Leo’s face fell.
“Cruel, Violet. Really cruel,” Leo said. “You taking lessons from our mother or something?”
“From the Ice Queen herself?” Violet laughed. “No.”
“Former Ice Queen,” I muttered.
“Right,” Violet nodded. “That honour now goes to Ever, doesn’t it?”
“Yep.”
“Think she’s coming?” Leo asked tentatively, looking off into the distance.
“Don’t know,” I answered thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” Leo continued, in his own self-deprecating way. “Probably too wrapped up in… the affairs of court to get away.”
“Yeah, probably.” I agreed. Whenever my brother was in this sort of mood placating him did nothing. Ever was his target of unresolved resentment. I suspected he felt left out. Being the only child of my mother’s to not really have a place at Court. Ever’s place as heir to the Winter Court had been assured since birth and while I wasn’t the heir, I was my mother’s eldest child, and the grandson of the now deceased Summer Queen Gloriana who my stepfather, Tristan had killed when I was naught but an infant. Once upon a time the two of them—Gloriana and Tristan—had been an item, but fate and one last fox hunt had intervened, causing her to take Tristan’s cousin as her husband instead.
My place at both Courts was rock
ier than either of my siblings given I had legitimate claims to each one. Summer through my father, Evander and Winter through my mother, Zooey.
Whispers were near constant whenever I set foot in the Summer Court. Half the Court expected me to take the crown for myself ending Scarlett’s rule as Queen, while the other half were waiting with bated breath for my half-sister, Arianna to swoop in and take it.
“Do you think that lowly of me, brother?” an unmistakable feminine voice asked.
And to my complete surprise, standing before me was my younger sister and Leo’s twin, Ever.
Or should I say Queen of the Winter Court?
Although not quite official, the Winter fey recognised her position as their Queen. Ever had refused to choose a consort, or even allow one to be chosen for her. Even Herne couldn’t convince her. And she’d done little to convince anyone she was taking her role seriously. Her youth being the only excuse they begrudgingly accepted. Nobody liked to point fingers at my mother and say that Zooey had failed to teach Ever the finer points of Queencraft or even what was expected of her when she took up the mantle. Because that would have thrown shade on my mother’s own rule.
And unlike the three of us, Ever wore clothes of faerie make. A gossamer spun dress of sapphire blue. Encrusted with tiny jewels the colour of moonlight. And silver slippers.
“How long did they give you?” Leo asked.
Ever sighed. “Lee!” She groaned.
“That long, huh?” I intoned.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then we won’t talk about it,” Leo declared. “Let’s go have us a fun autumnal equinox.”
“Do you really think Herne knows how to have fun?”
“It’s the Wild Hunt… I can almost guarantee he does. At least for this one night.”
“Did Mom tell you about the Queenmaking?” I asked.
“Ugh! Fox, don’t be gross!”
Beside her, Leo laughed.
“You should have said no, like Mercedes did.”
“Mercy said no?” Ever asked.
“Yep! Even tried to renounce her claim.”
“Well, damn! I bet her mother had a field day with that.”
“No doubt,” I said dryly. Like my mother, Scarlett hadn’t been given a choice in whether she wanted to rule the Summer Court. It was handed to her. Much in the same way she had been betrothed to Ash when she was six years old. Adults had set the course of both her life and my mother’s without giving any thought to what either girl wanted for herself.
“You seem nervous, brother,” Ever said.
“Do I?” I asked. “Perhaps that’s because I know Herne’s tricks.”
“It’s the equinox. What mischief could he possibly get up to?”
“During the Wild Hunt?” I asked. “Plenty.”
“If you say so,” she answered back. “Come on! If we’re going to make it before dark, we need to get moving.”
I didn’t travel the Faerie roads often. Because of that, the whispers set me on edge. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck bristle and a chill pass through me.
Some said the souls of the dead walked the faerie roads. And they’d be right. I knew because I could see the dead. Not every fey possessed an uncanny gift, and I’d never heard of any fey with a gift like mine. As a child it had frightened me, so I’d repeat to myself as many times as I could muster that as long as the dead couldn’t touch me, they couldn’t hurt me and once I grew old enough to attend the Academy, and learned more about my own gift the dead didn’t scare me so much. Their presence, however, was unwelcome.
“You okay?” I asked Violet. She’d travelled the trods even less than I, and her wolf could be flighty.
“I think so,” she answered softly, squeezing her hand. The dead didn’t always communicate what they wanted, and tonight was one of those times.
Wolf shifters didn’t travel the faerie roads for one very important reason. The trods were full of dead fey. Usually they took up residence in the Wild Hunt, but for those that didn’t the trods were their favourite haunt.
And despite decades of peace, the hatred between fey kind and wolf shifters never really went away. It lessened somewhat, but there were still fey and wolves alike that would have gladly taken up arms to rid the world of one race or the other.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. One arm snaking around her waist.
“Don’t be,” Violet said, tucking her head into the crook of my shoulder. “She’s your sister. It’s only natural that you’d want to spend some time with her.”
I had another sister. Arianna. Evander’s daughter by Rhiannon. She could have snatched the throne from Mercy if she’d wanted, but Rhiannon had always assured me Arianna had no desire to rule.
I gave her a weak smile.
When we left the trods, we were standing in a clearing.
The autumnal sun beat down on us, warming our skin. Although summer had ended, the chill of winter hadn’t quite invaded the fall season yet. At least not here in Arcadia.
The ground we walked upon was littered with fallen leaves in variegated hues of red, orange, and brown, and I couldn’t help but stop to pick up a leaf shaped like a heart. Only to be rewarded with a laugh from Violet.
“Do you remember when we were children and we’d run through the piles of freshly raked autumn leaves in your backyard?”
“I do,” I grinned.
“Ugh!” Ever scoffed, coming closer to us, and jousting my shoulder as she passed. “Enough with the cutesy romantic crap. You do realise we’re in the middle of Summer’s territory, don’t you? And the longer we dally, the sooner Summer’s henchmen find us.”
“The Summer Court doesn’t have henchmen,” I said.
“Not when Scarlett was on the throne, maybe. Mercy’s changed things.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I stated. It made sense, if the changes Mercy had enacted had to do with the huge secret she kept. That secret being that she was more wolf than fey and like me, possessed a smattering of human blood. And, if the fey council ever discovered that Mercy had wolf shifter blood, her days as Queen would be numbered.
“Don’t believe me? Just wait,” Ever stated. “You’ll see for yourself soon enough. Herne invited her along tonight as well. Probably hoping she’ll change her mind.”
And with that, Ever marched forward. Heading for the edge of the forest that was faintly visible on the horizon. It was deep within that forest we’d find Herne’s quaint little cottage that he shared with Rhiannon.
The Wild Hunt no doubt already well underway.
The forest was dark and eerie as we made our way through it on foot. Despite the daylight that surrounded it, one could be mistaken that it was the middle of the night within the forest’s depths and yet, time hadn’t shifted.
Somewhere above us an owl hooted, causing Violet to press herself into my side.
“If you spook at the mere sight of an owl, lass, you might as well forget the Hunt.”
Herne himself in the flesh.
“Are you here to stir up trouble or help see us safely to your cottage?” I asked.
“Neither,” Herne said clearly.
I blinked, confused, trying to wrap my head around precisely what had altered. Two days ago, everything had been fine when a messenger from Herne’s own camp had confirmed the evening’s activities.
“You should go home,” Herne said. “You and… Violet.” He smiled, but it wasn’t an unkind smile. It was tinged with sadness.
“What happened?” Violet asked when I failed to.
Herne’s eyes drifted casually to Ever, rested a moment on her before returning to meet my inquisitive ones.
“Ever took the life of a wolf pup,” Herne deadpanned.
Violet turned to Ever, practically snarling when the words fell from her mouth with such vitriol. “She did what?”
“One of my scouts got wind of it this morning. There wasn’t time to open the wards, and since you were already on your way…�
�� Herne’s words petered out. His sudden interest in mine and Violet’s wellbeing,heritage, though valid, weirded me out.
“We’re not going anywhere,” I said. “You don’t even know which pack the pup belonged to. The child wouldn’t have had any markings or tattoos.”
“No, of course not,” Herne said. “She did have this though.”
He held out what appeared to be a gold I.D. bracelet. Engraved on one side of the smooth surface was the name, Zephyr, written in cursive. On the other was a paw print, along with the words FAIRFAX PACK engraved in capital letters.
“Jesus, Ever! What the hell were you thinking.”
“It was a ritual—”
“A ritual?” I shook my head. “They banned any rituals pertaining to the slaughter of newborn wolf shifters around the same time as the former Summer Queen Odessa ended the fox hunts.”
Had Ever been paying attention in her lessons at the Academy she would have already known and not been so easily duped. Better still had Mom sought to apprise her of anything she thought important none of this would be occurring.
“You were played, sis,” Leo stated. The question was by who? Was this all a ruse to get Ever off the Winter throne?
Ever sighed. If she’d hoped to be pardoned, I suspected she was in for a rude awakening. I didn’t know what the punishment for killing a wolf shifter pup was post treaty, but I had no doubt it would be harsh.
The courts tended to revel in handing out over the top punishments.
“Couldn’t you speak to the family on my behalf and tell then it was an accident?” Ever implored me, crying silent tears. “Let them know I’m sorry?”
“Even if I could, the child belonged to the Fairfax pack not Knox,” I said feeling her pain. “I don’t have sway. Luke tolerates me because he’s known me my entire life and because I’m married to Violet, but not everyone in the pack is accepting as he is.”
“Then talk to Ash!” Ever pleaded, her voice frantic.
“He can’t help,” Violet said softly.
“But he’s a wolf,” Ever cried. “Him and Scarlett both!”
“Bite your tongue!” Herne hissed. “They may wolf shifter blood but Ash and Scarlett, as far as the Courts are concerned, are fey—undeniably fey. Press either one about their wolf shifter heritage and they’ll deny it’s even a possibility. And if the court’s ever got wind of that truth, they’d tear Mercy limb from limb, being Scarlett’s daughter and all.” He grabbed Ever roughly by the elbow and dragged her off to the side. “And as angry and scared as you are, you don’t want the wrath of the Grayson’s raining all manner of hell down on you.”
Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection Page 91