Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three)

by Chester, Mireille

  “Here are all the packs and blankets.” Matthew dropped some by me and moved on to the others.

  “Are you cold, Shlova?” I smiled when Jasper didn’t wait for an answer and helped me get into an extra tunic. He sat down, pulled me onto his lap and wrapped us both in a blanket.

  “How’s Rainen doing?”

  “She’s sleeping.”

  “But she’s alright?”

  “She’s fine. Get some sleep, Shlova.”

  “That was something else altogether, Jasper.”

  “I know. I felt it through you.” He rubbed my arms and pulled me closer.

  “God, I’m sorry. I was so busy concentrating on that thing I forgot to shield you from me.”

  He chuckled. “I’d rather you concentrate on killing the enemy. I can survive being bombarded by your feelings. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have lived through whatever the Zerpanay threw at us.”

  I took a deep breath as the exhaustion started to win me over. “You know, there was something familiar about it.”

  “Hmm?”

  “The energy.” I tried to fight off the fatigue, trying to grasp at the feel of the magic. It slipped farther away, just out of my reach, and sleep took me.

  Chapter Three

  “Em, I want you to get up in that tree and hide.” Matthew pointed to a tall tree that looked like a spruce.

  “But…”

  “Now.” He had kicked into captain of the guard mode and I almost laughed as Emelly scrambled up the tree at his order. I had learned years ago that when Jasper got that look on his face and that tone in his voice I had better listen. There was a reason they were both captains of their own pack and their instincts were rarely wrong.

  “Hayden and Rainen, you too,” added Jasper. “If they are human they’re either coming to find Hayden, or they are here to kill Rainen.”

  Rainen and I looked at each other before climbing up the tree. Jasper glanced up. “If they’re humans, feel annoyed. If they’re shifters then just get out of the tree.” I nodded and sent a feeling of how much I loved him for good luck. His gaze softened and he smiled before turning back to the rest of our pack.

  “Alright. Dodge saw fourteen of them. As far as they know, there are six of us. We wait until I get a sign from Hayden. If they’re human, go for the kill. If they’re shifters, we’ll see what they want. Dodge, see those boulders behind us?”

  I do.

  “Get behind them. If things go wrong you grab those three and fly them to Howel.”

  My horse snorted and nodded then trotted off toward the boulders.

  Jasper glanced up the tree as he felt my objection to his plan. “If things go wrong, you get the hell out of here, do you understand?” He didn’t wait for my reply.

  “Hello, camp!”

  Everyone looked in the direction of the call. Harold stepped forward.

  “Who calls?”

  “Collin of Trach.” A tall dark haired man wove his way through the woods. The rest of his pack followed close behind him. I scanned them quickly and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “All clear,” I whispered to Rainen.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” she answered back. “He’s one of my best captains.” We made our way down the tree.

  “Rainen.” Collin saluted his sorceress. His gaze moved to me and his hazel eyes widened.

  “Collin, I would like you to meet Hayden.”

  He nodded slowly then looked quickly to Jasper. Recognition crossed his features and a growl made its way up his throat. Rainen put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Stand down, Collin. They saved my life.”

  Gina and Harold came to stand behind us protectively. Collin and his pack looked from Rainen to the two Majs standing guard over their enemy. Dodge came walking back to the group. A few of the dogs in Collin’s pack sensed the tension in the air and shifted.

  Jasper broke the silence. He reached into his pocket, pulled out Brice’s shifting stone and tossed it to a surprised Collin.

  “Have you come across any shifters carrying one of these?”

  “I don’t have time to check when I’m fighting.”

  Jasper raised an eyebrow at him. “I mean afterwards.”

  “I don’t loot bodies.”

  Matthew snorted but managed to keep any comments he might have wanted to make to himself.

  “By the moons, Collin, answer the question. Have you ever found one of these stones?” Rainen looked at the captain impatiently. The look on his face made me glad she wasn’t looking at me.

  “We have.”

  “How many?” asked Matthew.

  “I’m not sure.” He looked back to his pack. “Raymond? Where are you?”

  A short man with dirty blond hair and brown eyes stepped toward the front of the group and came to stand beside Collin. “Sir?”

  “How many of those strange stones have we found?”

  Raymond untied a pouch from his belt and looked into it. “We have nine of them, sir.”

  “How long have you been collecting them?” asked Jasper. Raymond looked to Rainen who nodded.

  “Chad noticed them about three weeks ago. There were four in one pack, two in the other, and three in the last one we ran into.”

  “Were they cats or dogs?” I asked.

  Collin frowned. “Are you suggesting we would kill our own?”

  “They’re not your own,” I said. “They’re human.”

  “Humans can’t shift.”

  “They can with stones that have a shifter’s animal trapped in them.”

  He looked down at the green stone Jasper had tossed him. “How?”

  “Steven, William, and Emelly. Would you mind showing the skeptical man how you can shift?” Everyone watched as they shifted and changed back. “These three are human. Check them for a mark if you want.”

  Matthew tensed as Collin checked behind Emelly’s ears for a shifter’s mark and didn’t relax until she was leaning back against his chest. When the inspection was over, Collin looked to Rainen.

  “What is going on?” He handed Brice’s stone back to Jasper.

  “It seems that Braw is a little more ambitious than we all assumed. He wants to use Hayden to project the power of his staff to all of the shifters so that he can… how did he put it, Hayden?”

  “Liberate you. He’s been planting spies in both the Namael and the Maj armies.”

  “Damian has been helping Hayden escape everyone’s packs. He saw this happening but has been too ill to tell anyone. He told her where to find me a couple of weeks back. My whole pack except for Harold, Gina, and Brent were actually humans. They killed Brent, knocked the rest of us out, and were in the process of taking us back to Paradin when Hayden and her pack ambushed them.”

  “Why the spies?” asked Raymond.

  “We think they are using the shifters to find Hayden. By being cats and dogs they can cover more ground.” Jasper put an arm around my shoulder.

  Collin shook his head. “This is unreal. What of these three?”

  “Not all humans believe that shifters are possessed.” William shook his head. “The man is cracked. I had nine men and women with me when I left Paradin. We’re the only three left. We have one man on the inside waiting for Hayden to attack. There are more, we just have to find them.”

  “How did you end up part of her pack?” he asked Jasper.

  My mate smiled. “I’m fated to her.”

  The look on the Maj captain’s face was priceless. He turned to Matthew. “And you?”

  My friend shrugged. “For some reason, certain cats and dogs break their bonds to Melana and Damian and form new ones with Hayden. I’m one of them. When we left Sageden about a month ago we had five Namaels, seven Maj, one Fairend, as well as Wedelves, Winged Ones, and Scannoves in our pack. Oh. And two dragons.” He grinned at me. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a few more waiting for her when we go back.”

  “So, is there a plan?” asked Collin.

  “We are he
ading to Howel. Hayden wants to see if she can help heal Damian. For the time being I have declared a truce with her pack. If Damian recovers, we will discuss with him the possibility of forming a truce with Melana’s. She has already agreed it would be for the best. If he doesn’t recover, well, then I guess the decision will be mine.” Rainen looked at me and I was pretty sure I knew what her decision would be. I smiled.

  “What are our orders?”

  “Hayden says your whole pack is clean. Come back with us. If we run into any more packs, it will be nice to know we’re not outnumbered.”

  Collin nodded. We were about a half a day from Howel and our chances of running into more packs were good. Everyone gathered their things, shifted and started off to our destination. I noticed that Rainen as a wolf was now the size of a regular one.

  “Rainen!”

  She looked back, shifted then jogged beside my horse.

  “How come you’re not big anymore?”

  “I can change the size of my wolf. Being bigger than everyone else made it easier for my pack to see me and my commands. With everything that is going on now, I think I’d rather blend in.” She shifted back and stayed beside Dodge.

  Having been running from Rainen and her packs for the past few years had put them in the bad guy category in my mind. My imagination had run wild and any time I thought of Howel, I had pictured a tall dark fortress under gloomy clouds, the walls lined with snarling wolves. We broke through the cover of the woods just as the sun was setting. I had been right about the walls, minus the snarling wolves, and that was about it.

  As we approached the gate, one of the two grizzlies guarding it stretched then shifted. A quick magic nudge in their direction confirmed that they were Majs. The black haired man with stunning blue eyes focused on Rainen.

  “Rainen. Welcome home.”

  She smiled. “Thanks, Tanner. How have things been?”

  “Strange.” Tanner looked at the second grizzly who had shifted into a woman with waist long black hair and the same clear blue eyes as her counterpart. She gazed at the ground and looked miserable. The man went on. “There was an attempt on Damian’s life yesterday. Don’t worry, the bastard didn’t get far.” He glanced at the woman quickly. “He tried sneaking into the room not realizing that your sister had gone in there to update him on the latest reports from the packs. It was Grant! He went into the room, saw Traina then tried to take her out before going after Damian.” He shook his head in disbelief. “She was knocked out briefly,” continued Tanner. “When she came to, he was on top of Damian, choking him.”

  “Traina pulled him off and fried him.” The woman’s eyes filled with tears. “He was so burnt we couldn’t identify him. The only way I could tell it was him was because of the silver armband I had given him a few years ago. ”

  Rainen put her hand on her shoulder. “Mara, are you doing alright?”

  Mara tried to pull herself together. “It just…by the moons, Rainen, it doesn’t make sense! Why would Grant try to kill Damian? I just…I just…” She broke down and Rainen pulled her into a hug.

  “Tanner, take your sister home. Harold and Gina will watch the gate until I can find Reese and Reagan.”

  We all stayed quiet as the siblings made their way into the keep.

  “Grant was her mate,” explained Rainen after they were out of hearing range. “Is there any way to scan a being after they’re dead?”

  I shook my head. “But maybe his stone didn’t get damaged. We could check for that.”

  “That would be the only explanation, right?” asked William. “I mean, why else would he try to kill Damian?”

  “These days? Who knows?” Matthew shook his head in disbelief.

  “The only problem I have with this is that the two of them were fated. Humans don’t fate and it’s impossible to fake being fated to someone.” It really didn’t make sense to me.

  “I agree with Hayden. Something’s not right. Harold, Gina, as soon as Reese and Reagan get here, come to Damian’s. Collin, you and your pack are with us. Until Hayden can scan the rest of the packs here, you’re on protection duty. Hayden’s pack is not to be harmed.” She looked from Jasper to me. “Ready?”

  I nodded then turned my sorceress’ amulet around so that it hung against my back. We started into Howel.

  “Wow!”

  Jasper looked at me questioningly.

  “It’s beautiful. It’s nothing like I had imagined it.” The dirt path that ran through the keep split into different directions. These paths were lined with homes and shops built with stones for the walls and wood for the rooves. It reminded me of a little medieval village. “Where’s Damian’s castle?”

  Rainen smirked. “We’re not quite as extravagant as the Namaels. Damian’s ‘castle’ is right over there.” She pointed to one of the little houses. “The one to the left of it is mine. I should warn you before we go in there that my sister Traina is fated to Damian.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?” I glanced at her.

  “Not that aspect of it in particular. The thing is that Traina is a sorceress as well. When she fated to Damian she imagined she would become his second in command. That position automatically goes to the sorcerer or sorceress that has the second highest amount of power. I didn’t ask for the job, I just inherited it when Chaddock was killed.”

  There were two guards standing at Damian’s front door. Rainen looked to me and I gave her the ok. Jasper, Rainen and I entered while everyone else waited outside. Once in the house we found two more guarding his bedroom door. I scanned them and my heart jumped in my throat. I met Rainen’s questioning gaze and frowned.

  “Robert? Is someone here?”

  Robert and his counterpart had just finished acknowledging Rainen. The door opened and an older version of Rainen stepped out into the hall.

  “Rainen! What are you doing here?” It wasn’t the comment of a sibling happy to see the other after a long absence. It wasn’t even the comment of one who was annoyed to see the other. It was pure bafflement and shock at the sight of her.

  “I brought another healer to have a look at Damian.”

  “But…” Traina’s mouth snapped shut. “If you think it will help.” She turned to lead the way.

  “I’ll be back in a second.” Jasper walked back outside.

  Rainen shut the door behind us and a minute later we heard a scuffle on the other side of it. Jasper walked into the room with Emelly.

  “We managed to keep them alive this time. Maybe they’ll give up some information.”

  “Rainen, what’s going on?” Traina looked from Jasper, to me, to her sister.

  “It’s the humans, Traina. They use stones to shift. Those two standing guard outside the bedroom door were humans, not Majs.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  “No, I’m not. Hayden can see auras.”

  Traina jerked at the sound of my name. I smiled at her.

  “Hi.” She didn’t answer. “How about we have a look at Damian and maybe we can figure something out between the three of us.”

  “Hayden?” Emelly’s voice was barely a whisper which was odd since she’d become much more confident since finding Matthew.

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you think…that is…would it be alright if I watched?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. But if I tell you to leave, you do as I say.”

  She nodded.

  “Jasper?” His eyes met mine. “If you stay, you can’t interrupt. And the same goes for you as for Emelly. If I say leave, you listen.”

  His jaw clenched and he took a deep breath before nodding.

  I made my way to one side of Damian’s bed, Rainen to the other, and Traina to his head. I ran a light green wave over him to try and assess what was happening to him.

  “Hey, Damian. I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s me, Hayden. I’m gonna see if I can help fix you up.” I moved the wave slowly from his feet to his head. I frowned and looked across the bed at
Rainen. “His energy is just leaving him. It’s very slow, but I can see it.” I chewed on my lip, thinking. “What if we covered him with a shield, to keep it in?”

  Rainen shook her head. “We tried that.”

  I frowned. “Can you do what you did with Cholta? Multiply his energy? Then, Traina, you could form a shield at the same time, and I’ll project it all into him.”

  “We’ve tried that too,” muttered Traina.

  “But we didn’t try it with Hayden.”

  Traina shrugged. “Alright. Let’s give it a shot.” Rainen whispered the spell she knew to multiply Damian’s energy. Every time she would push her nudge toward him, I would make it stronger. Traina then placed a shield over her mate.

  My nudge bumped into Rainen’s. “Sorry.”

  She frowned and concentrated on rebalancing hers. “It’s alright.” Her eyes widened.

  I slowly moved my nudge along hers, trying to feel what she had felt. I stopped short and looked at her. I pretended to accidently bump into Traina’s nudge and gave an experimental push. By the feel of it, Rainen was no longer the strongest sorceress in the room.

  “Alright. Let’s see what that did.” The three of us were starting to breathe a little harder than normal. I ran the green wave over him and shook my head. “It’s leaving as quickly as we can put it in there.”

  “What about using your energy?” asked Jasper quietly. “That seems to stick to everything you push it into.”

  I looked up at him. “That was going to be my last resort. I don’t know how much he’ll need.” I glanced back to Damian, his features so gaunt he looked like a skeleton with skin. I could imagine the strange grey eyes and rocked back on my heels, trying to think of a way to make them open again. My chest felt tight.

  Jasper kissed my forehead. “I’m going to go talk to Collin about the best way to call in the packs so you can scan them all. Let me know if there’s any change.”

  I gave his hand a squeeze.

  “What do you think, Hayden?” Rainen was in the same crouching position as me, her head on her knees.

  “I’m not sure. The only thing I can think of is for me to transfer my energy to him. And I’m not sure that will work either.”