Birthrite (Legacy Series Book 2)

by Max Ellendale

  "Almost daybreak," Mal said. I sat up and held my towel around me as I stood.

  "I'm going to check on Hank once more before bed. Xee, want to join me?" Caden asked.

  "Okay!" Xany giggled. "I'm not really tired yet."

  "You really kicked Eva's ass, Xee," I added as Vanessa padded along beside Mal.

  "Not so bad yourself with that fur-faced Sander, maybe I should take lessons from you." She grinned.

  "Yeah right." I smirked.

  "Lessons can be arranged." Caden chuckled as he headed toward the door. Xany grabbed a quick outfit from the laundry basket on the sofa.

  Vanessa was the first in my room and she hopped up on the bed. Her giant feline body took up most of the space. Mal stopped in the doorway and caught me in a kiss. Every bit of me wanted to meld with him and never leave the safety of his warm body.

  "Are you going with them?" I asked him.

  "Nope. That's the Alpha's job." He smiled and led me over to the bed. "Move over cat, you're taking up all the space."

  Vanessa shifted around and stood up on the bed. The frame creaked under her weight. I watched as her snowy fur shortened and black stripes faded to gray. She shrunk down into the porcelain nakedness I'd grown used to. She looked over at Mal and stuck out her tongue. I laughed at them.

  "Much better. Now move over," he said, tossing himself on the bed rather dramatically then held his arms up to me. I joined him and put my head on his shoulder. Both of us watched Vanessa sprawl out beside us.

  "Can you both stay in here with me?" I asked.

  They looked between each other for a moment as if sharing a silent communication. They nodded at the same time.

  "Are you gonna sleep in a towel?" Vanessa said with a teasing grin.

  "Mhmm," I responded, as a yawn snuck its way in.

  She pouted and mewed. I let out an exaggerated sigh. The truth was I was too tired to really care what I slept in.

  "All right, fine," I said, and ditched my towel on the floor. Mal pulled the blanket up over us as Vanessa settled down with her head on the pillow.

  "You know, this isn't how I imagined having two naked women in bed with me," Mal said. He rubbed my back, though his hand wandered over my rear every so often.

  I laughed and swatted his chest. "All it takes is a little kidnapping." I peeked up at him and smiled. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

  "A little magic, too," Vanessa said as she reached across Mal to hold my hand. I laced my fingers with hers and closed my eyes. In time, her purring returned and lulled me to sleep, tucked in safely with my two mates.

  ***

  The next morning, Hank, along with his brother Steven, arrived early to debrief with Caden. Steven was taller than Hank, but significantly younger, with hair trimmed in typical cop-style.

  "I can' help but feel responsible. I was the first ter encounter those gypsies," I heard Hank say as I entered the room.

  Xany, Caden, Mal, and Steven were sitting at the kitchen table. Vanessa was lounging on the sofa listening to the wolves.

  "I've told him a thousand times he's not responsible. He's stubborn," Steven said.

  "You're not any more responsible than any one of us, Hank. We all encountered them," Mal said.

  "They're right, dude. How could anyone know? That weird witch wolf was using some stolen magic shit. Even if we wanted to smell taint on them, we couldn't," Caden added.

  Hank nodded to him now, his posture straightening some. "I suppose yer right. The magics blocked our detection," he said.

  "Yeah, that and a wolf with a sucky nose who can't track worth shit." Xany huffed.

  "Huh?" Steven said.

  "Caden told us the lame-ass wolf from Barron's pack had them all off toward Wyoming," Xany said and shook her head in disgust.

  "The magics smelled pink," Vanessa said suddenly. Everyone looked toward the couch where her legs dangled over the side.

  "How can something smell pink?" Xany asked. Mal pulled me into his lap as I laughed softly on hearing Vanessa. She swung her legs idly.

  "It smelled pink," she repeated. Caden looked at me with a risen brow, and Hank chuckled.

  "How can a smell have a color?" Xany asked, rebutting Vanessa's claim. I continued to laugh and Mal grinned at me.

  "It smelled pink," Vanessa said again in the same tone as she had the first two times. Caden and Hank were grinning and let Xany handle it. Steven looked thoughtful.

  "Vanessa! Smells don't have color," Xany said, her voice filled with nothing but frustration.

  "Xee, ask her what that means. Otherwise she's going to keep saying the same thing," I said. Mal patted my hip in approval for helping Xany learn how to communicate with cats.

  Xany eyed me for a moment. "What does it mean when magic smells pink, Vanessa?" Xany asked, her tone slow and deliberate.

  "Fairy magic smells pink. Wolves shouldn't smell like fairy magic," she answered. Her purring was loud and content as she drew circles on her stomach.

  Xany looked to me as if saying, "How was that at all helpful?"

  "Think about what she just told you, Xee," I said.

  Caden looked pensive for a moment then nodded to me once when he understood what Vanessa was trying to say.

  "That wolves shouldn't smell like pink fairy magic," Xany summed up.

  "Ask her what a wolf smells like who has their own magic," I whispered, knowing full well Vanessa could hear me but she seemed to be entertaining Xany.

  "What does a wolf with magic smell like?" Xany asked, though she rolled her eyes.

  "Brown," Vanessa said.

  The guys all erupted with laughter, as did I.

  "What the hell!" Xany said, now thoroughly irritated.

  "Xee, she just told you everything. Those gypsy wolves smelled like fairy magic, which they shouldn't have smelled like. That means their magic was stolen. Wolves should smell like brown, whatever brown smells like to her. If they were witchy wolves, then it would have been natural and they would have kept the brown scent," I summed up for Xany.

  She huffed. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place, Vanessa! You saw them before we did!" Xany said loudly.

  "You didn't ask." Vanessa's voice remained an even, unmoved tone. I laughed as the guys tried to hold back their snorting.

  "Vanessa!" Xany shouted.

  "Welcome to the world of cat, Xee," Mal said.

  "Caden, she's supposed to be an ally, shouldn't she have told us there were wolves with stolen magic wandering around?" Xany said, clearly not as amused as the rest of us.

  "It wouldn't have changed anything, Xee," Mal said.

  "It could have. If she told us they had stolen magic we might have been able to follow them and stop them," Xany said.

  "Precious, we wouldn't have been able to track them even if she did tell us. They were all over our territory without detection," Caden said.

  "She could have tracked them." Xany continued to frown at Vanessa, who was completely ignoring her.

  "We'd have had to assume they were up to no good from the start. We can't change what's happened, Xee, just let it go. Everyone is okay," Mal said.

  "Except that nurse, she might have had a chance," Xany pressed, now glaring in Vanessa's direction. "If she would have said something sooner, Shawnee and I wouldn't have even gotten kidnapped!"

  That got Vanessa's attention and she turned to hiss at Xany.

  "Don't even try it. You know I'm right." Xany put her hands on her hips.

  "Stop it." I frowned at both of them. "If it wasn't for the nurse, we never would have found the others." I hoped that she knew her death wasn't in vain.

  "In any rescue, there is a chance of losing someone," Steven chimed in. "We must think of the greater good. What I don't understand is why your team was so far outside the search radius," he added.

  "What do you mean?" Xany asked and drew her eyes away from Vanessa reluctantly.

  "You said Caden's team was nearing Wyoming. That was never the intended search territ
ory." Steve looked between Hank and Caden.

  "Jus' what were ya doin' on over in those there parts?" Hank asked Caden.

  "Melinda was leading our team. Barron assigned her," Caden told Hank, who looked at him oddly.

  "Well why on earth would she aim so far east? Our radius was less than ten miles 'round an' y'all had the southern quadrant," Hank said. Mal looked between Caden and Hank.

  "Well that's odd," Mal said. Steven crossed his arms, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth. His face was stone cold otherwise.

  "Vanessa found us and led us back toward the mountain to where she sensed the magic," Caden said.

  "Well that was stupid," Xany said with a huff, still in bad temper over Vanessa's behavior.

  "Well I'll jus' have a bit o' talk with Barron about that. I told Gene that we should call off the powwow this weekend. She wouldn't have it, fought me tooth n' nail," Hank said.

  "Maybe it's best to have the powwow. It's a chance to bring the whole Sept together, even if it's somber, it's a chance to be with loved ones," Caden said.

  "I suppose yer right," Hank responded.

  "What happened to the others, Steve? Are they okay?" I asked. I couldn't get the other kidnap victims off my mind. They visited my dreams, despite my heavy sleep.

  "They're all doing well. Most of them denied injury except the one woman with the baby. She had been there for months. The others were all new. According to Alice, they were working on hoarding the women and were going to move them," he said.

  "Off the record, they were all hurt. Alice, too. None of them are going to tell you that. Do they have good families to return to?" I asked and fought the lump that rose in my throat. Steve surveyed me for a moment before speaking.

  "They do. Only the boy, Dylan, was in foster care. He's a human boy. The human woman, Rachel, had a sister she's staying with. The rest had packs or families, some of which were traveling through or lived in the outskirts of our territory," he answered. "The humans have been lined up for some big time therapy to help them cope with all they've seen and been through. Hopefully, once the therapy does its job, they'll look back on this thinking the 'monsters' were just a dream or hallucination."

  I nodded and glanced to Caden because a part of me didn't believe that anyone really had good families that would be able to help them. Therapy could only do so much. Although humans have a small chance of producing Breeder or Changer children, they don't usually handle witnessing magic or shifting very well. With the exception of those who've been trained to tolerate it, like the ones working for the Andrus or the Alliance. I nuzzled Mal then got up to join Vanessa on the sofa. She smiled at me and lifted her chin in greeting. My eyes welled up but I returned her smile regardless. She opened her arms and I melted into them. Her body was warmer than usual, almost in the same manner as Mal's. I curled up with her on the sofa while she held me.

  Hank cleared his throat and stood. "Let's leave them be," he said to Steve, who nodded and moved toward the door.

  "Thank you for all your help, Caden," he said.

  "We'll see you Saturday at the powwow," he said and saw Hank and his brother to the door.

  The others joined us in the main room after they left. Caden and Xany sat on the carpet by the hearth and Mal made his way over to us. Vanessa sat up with me in her lap to make room for him on the sofa. She ran her fingers through my hair and I tucked my feet under Mal's leg. He rubbed my leg and offered me a soft smile. Tucked between them, I was soothed a bit.

  "Nee's sad about what happened to the people in the cave," Xany announced.

  "So are you," I accused, though she nodded in agreement.

  "How did you feel when you were able to help them, Nee?" Mal asked.

  "Good, I mean, they trusted us. And because of their trust we were all able to get out," I said.

  "And we both killed bad tainted wolves," Xany said.

  "Yeah, we did." My ego expanded a bit hearing her. Vanessa purred softly against me, continuing to pacify me.

  "You outsmarted them. It doesn't necessarily take brawn to be a good fighter. You both did the best you could and it paid off. Their wounds will heal, physically first, emotionally later," Caden said and caught my gaze before I could look away from him. I nodded. When I nuzzled Vanessa, I felt her nod and then glanced up just in time to see her draw her eyes away from Mal.

  "Maybe when you open your own medical practice, you'll work primarily with women and children." Mal's voice sounded thoughtful. Everyone stared at him. "What?" he said with a shrug, then smiled at me.

  "I kinda like that idea," I said and returned his smile. He had a point. Maybe I would like working with that population.

  "Well, we best get to building an addition to the addition so that you can have a clinic out here." Mal chuckled. I looked from him to Vanessa, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

  "Sounds like a good idea to me." She grinned.

  "You and your ulterior motives..."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It's strange how things can go from chaotic to normal in barely a heartbeat. By the next morning, Vanessa was back at work and Caden and Mal worked outside to ready our front yard for the upcoming powwow. Caden cut the grass with an old manual mower that squeaked horribly every time he hit a thick patch of grass, and Mal gathered wood for the fire pit. He carried fallen logs from the woods and set them around the fire pit for seating. Hank and Steve would bring the tables, chairs, and tents. Xany and Imogene split up most of the cooking, though they planned to have a few things catered. While Xany set her last batch of corn muffins to bake in the oven, we chatted as I made a list of things I would need if I chose to open a private clinic.

  "It would be perfect if you worked from home, Nee. Then you wouldn't be far and you could still keep me company." Xany's voice was tangled with her usual giggle.

  "That's the whole reason why I want to work from home, Xee. Didn't you know?" I smiled at her. Less than forty-eight hours ago, I was kidnapped, again, and rescued...again. This pattern was not very healthy. I was going to have a serious talk with my mates about letting me out of their sight.

  "Liar liar," she said then bounced over to join me at the table.

  "It's all part of Vanessa's motive to keep me home more, though I think that motive has become a shared purpose between her and Mal." I couldn't help but smile. Lately I'd caught them sharing glances, followed by gestures and nods. Vanessa wasn't used to mind talking so she was super obvious. I couldn't help but wonder what they'd confided in each other about. Cat and wolf getting along. I could barely believe it.

  "Well of course." Xany giggled as she looked over my list. "Do you have to take out a loan for start-up money?"

  I set my pencil down and toyed with the leather doll I had in my lap. For some reason, I had carried it around all afternoon. Maybe because Mal bought it for me, or maybe because it gave me a childish sense of comfort.

  "Um...no, I have enough money for that." I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. I hated talking about money. Xany stared at me for a minute.

  "You always say that. How much money do you have, Nee?"

  "Enough..."

  "Fine, don't tell me." She huffed.

  "Okay, I won't." I smiled as I played with the beaded necklace on the doll.

  Xany leaned over to see what I was holding. "You like that doll."

  "I do. That reminds me. I need to see if I have a dress that fits for the powwow."

  "You have dresses?" Xany's brows flicked upward.

  "Yeah, a few. They're in my trunk. I've been meaning to look in it. I think I have moccasins, too." I pocketed the list and stood. "Let's go look."

  "Do you think you'd have a dress to fit me?" Xany stood to join me.

  "Probably, though they might be tight in the chest. C'mon, let's go look." The dresses were surely in my trunk, though I wondered if I still had my old doll in the trunk as well.

  "Okay!" Xany rushed past me and into my bedroom. Ever since I banned her from looking at
my sketches, which I also kept in my trunk, her curiosity seemed to burn over the other items in it.

  "I guess Vanessa cleaned up the mess in here that she made. Though Caden is going to have to fix the wall," I said. The splintered remnants stayed on my floor for days after Vanessa nearly attacked Xany. I wondered if, in her anxiety over my lack of presence, she cleaned up the debris. I set the doll down on the bed then dragged my trunk to the center of the room and popped the combination lock.

  "'Bout time." Xany huffed.

  "For what?"

  "That she cleaned up that mess. We'll need to patch that hole before winter. I can't believe she punched right through a tree trunk." Xany stared at the hole in the wall.

  "Not just a tree trunk but a treated one. I'm sure there's stain or some sort of weatherproofing stuff on it." The trunk was stacked full of stuff, the most obvious the scattered sketches that I'd tossed back inside a few months ago and never bothered to fix. I stacked them up in a neat pile and set them aside. Xany was hesitant to touch anything.

  "You can help, Xee, I won't beat you up this time." I offered her a coy smile.

  "Last time you nearly took me out when I tried to look at them, how do I know I can trust you?" she said through playfully narrowed eyes.

  I laughed and swatted her arm. "Hush up," I said and removed a bunch of notebooks and drawing pads. Xany giggled and piled more sketches on top of the others. She made sure to sneak glances at them, though she didn't ask as many questions.

  "Are all of those books your drawings too?"

  "Some of them are. Some of them are journals or notebooks from school. I haven't looked at them in awhile." I shrugged.

  "This trunk is like a Mary Poppins bag. Is it magically endless?" She leaned over the edge and pretended to search the depths with her hand over her eyebrows like a pirate surveying the sea.

  "Maybe it is pink magic." I laughed as we removed all the books and drawings.

  "Don't get me started." Xany giggled. A few photographs were scattered about. I piled those up too and set them aside. Xany scooped up a few. "Who are all these people?" she asked.