The Mating Season: Werewolves of Montana Book 6

by Bonnie Vanak

  Mine, he thought in a possessive rush of pure male satisfaction, gazing down at his sleeping bride.

  He’d filled his cottage with all the most luxurious items she could ever want, even the chocolate cereal she and Nia had loved to eat. He pampered her with dinners fit for immortals, and in the mornings, brought her breakfast in bed, teasing her mouth with the strawberries he dipped in fresh, clotted cream.

  Now, on the ninth day of their allotted time, Tristan felt a pang of impending loss. One more day with his Nikita, and then he must return her to Earth.

  His forever mate.

  The potion in her veins that had allowed her entry to Tir Na-nog had long worn off. She was mortal once more and could live a long life as Lupine on Earth.

  The protective bubble encasing his property and his home that allowed them both to dwell here as mortals would vanish after sunrise on the eleventh day.

  When that happened, his powers would return, but Nikita would wither and die before his eyes, banished to the Shadow Lands. And she still had not made up her mind about taking the elixir that would allow her to dwell here, with him, forever.

  Losing her would be too painful to bear.

  He must not think of those dire consequences, but live in this moment. Time was too precious for them both.

  Tristan lounged in bed, enjoying the luxury of silk sheets and Niki’s warm, soft body cuddled against him. Propped up against two fat pillows, he scanned his tablet, knowing he still must keep tabs on his charges.

  Stirring, she lazily opened one eye. “Is that an iPad? In Tir Na-nog?”

  “It’s a tablet. It has voice recognition software, and works off a cloud. It’s how I can track Others and make notations on their activities.”

  She sat up, pulling the sheet over her breasts. Tristan caught a glimpse of smooth, pale flesh and his sex stirred.

  “Can you see any shifter on Earth with that?”

  Nodding, he set the tablet down to reach for her, but she grabbed it.

  “Show me my twin sister,” Nikita said, speaking at the tablet.

  “I am sorry, but I do not understand twisted titter,” the tablet chirped in a frilly female voice.

  Tristan folded his arms across his chest and grinned at the adorable frown puckering Nikita’s forehead.

  “Nia the wolf. Show me Nia the wolf.”

  “Beowulf, an Old English epic poem consisting of…”

  “No! Show me Nia and Aiden.”

  “I am sorry, I do not understand Need An Apron. Would you like to find cooking classes?”

  He doubled over laughing as Nikita threw the tablet on the floor. “It’s useless.”

  Still chuckling, he reached over and dropped a single kiss on her pouting cheek. “It is my tablet, programmed for my voice, my sweet. Let us forget electronics.”

  With dawning hunger, he pulled the sheet down, exposing the perfect curve of one rounded breast. “I have much better, and more enjoyable, activities for you.”

  Her eyes went dark and her skin flushed the prettiest shade of red. “Do they involve your mouth and my body?”

  “Of course,” he murmured, leaning over her.

  She glanced at the sunlight dappling the trees outside the window. “You promised to take me on a picnic today.”

  “Do not worry, my sweet,” he murmured, his usual arrogance returning. “This shall not take long.”

  With deliberate care, he traced a line over the swell of her left breast with his tongue, enjoying her little shivers of pleasure. Tristan swirled his tongue around her nipple as Nikita threw back her head and sighed. He took her nipple into his mouth and suckled gently, knowing the exact amount of pressure to deliver the most exquisite pleasure.

  As she moved restlessly beneath him, he threw back the sheet and moved over her. Fisting a hand in the tangled masses of her long, silky hair, he nudged her plump thighs open with his hips, his erection hard and throbbing. Tristan drove into her hard, groaning as his cock made contact with her warm, welcoming heat. Nikita moaned and wrapped her arms around him as he began moving deep inside her.

  As he’d promised, it did not take long, for he was too aroused, but she cried out and squeezed around his driving cock. She’d always been like that, he thought in a haze of passion. Nikita had been in perfect rhythm with him, even when he’d been too eager and could not wait to reach his own pleasure.

  Tristan stared down into her face, loving the way she climaxed, eyes wide open with dazed pleasure only he could give her. He let himself go with a loud groan, spurting deep inside her.

  Panting, he rested atop her, his grip on her hair loosening as she idly stroked the muscles of his back.

  The erotic pleasure shuddering through his body faded, nudged aside by mingled feelings of sorrow and alarm. I can’t live without her. Not after having her here at my side, like this. Each day waking up with Nikita in my arms, each night falling into her. How can I live without her in my life?

  You must. You are the Silver Wizard and your duty is to your people. You cannot have her here in the afterworld and you cannot stay with her on Earth. And how can she give up seeing her family? You know how close she is to her twin.

  For the first time since his death and his ascension to being the Silver Wizard, Tristan wished he’d refused the job. Duty first, always. In his past life, and now.

  Having experienced a taste of happiness and fulfillment in his woman’s arms, he wanted more.

  Don’t fall in love again, Gideon had warned. You have only ten days in Tir Na-nog with her.

  Ten days. It might as well be ten minutes, for all his longing.

  Ten thousand years would never be enough with his Nikita, his beautiful wolf.

  She touched his face as he braced his weight on his arms, so as not to crush her. “What’s wrong? Your eyes…they’re changing colors again, Tristan.”

  He slid off her and turned away, knowing eyes changed because of his growing sadness.

  “It is nothing, my sweet.” Bending his head so she could not see his eyes, he kissed her hand. “We should get dressed.”

  He wanted her affection.

  Her heart.

  You cannot fall in love again.

  A hard knock sounded upon the cottage door. Frowning, he looked out the bedroom window and his heart dropped.

  Gideon, the Crimson Wizard, stood outside. His fellow wizard would not interrupt his time alone with Nikita unless it was urgent.

  Tristan frowned and slid out of bed, pulling on a pair of black sweatpants. “Shower, my love. Gideon is out front.”

  He strode with impatience to the front door. Gideon was the last wizard he wished to see.

  Your sister is the one who killed my Nikita, and betrayed me.

  But one did not make such accusations lightly, and for now, Nikita was safe here with him. He would deal with Gideon and Mara later.

  Dressed in a crimson tunic, red leather pants and red boots, Gideon stood outside, arms folded across his chest. His gaze swept up and down Tristan and he gave a disgusted sniff.

  Tristan shut the door behind him and leaned against it. “Why do you look like you have something permanently shoved up your ass? And why the hell are you interrupting me?”

  “You’ve done it, wolf. Exactly as I warned you not to do. You’ve fallen in love.”

  He stiffened. “No.”

  “Don’t deny it. It’s all over you. On your face, your hair… I can smell her on you like perfume.”

  “Sex,” Tristan growled, “does not equate to love.”

  Gideon sighed and looked backward over one shoulder. “X!”

  The Crystal Wizard appeared, took one look at Tristan. “Wow. Look at you.”

  Tristan gave his friend a contemptuous look as he studied Xavier’s white jumpsuit, studded with sequins. “You should talk. Are you in one of your Elvis moods again?”

  But Xavier ignored the jab and turned to Gideon. “Damn. He’s done it. He’s fallen in love, just as you feared.”


  Truly irritated now, Tristan scowled.

  “Dude, your eyes.” X opened the door and pushed him inside to the hallway, where a large gilded mirror hung on the wall.

  Gideon joined them. The trio stared at Tristan’s eyes.

  They were not bright, electric blue with the surge of his powers, nor the usual dark brown. They were a clear, deep blue.

  As blue as the days when he’d walked the earth as a mortal.

  Tristan touched the mirror with a wondering hand. “They have not been thus in more than nine hundred years,” he said in awe.

  “She’s making you Lupine again, Tristan.” Gideon’s voice rang out with ominous warning. “Get rid of her, before it turns permanent and you’re lost to us.”

  Leaning against the hallway table, Tristan folded his arms across his bare chest. “It is not permanent. I had to alter my body chemistry and lose my powers to impregnate her.”

  Gideon stabbed a finger in his direction. “Changing your body chemistry to become temporarily mortal, to beget an heir, yes. Your hair and your body are as they were in mortal times. But your eyes are always dark, except when your powers flare. They are the window to your immortal soul.”

  Dread snaked through him as Tristan turned back to the mirror. His friends were correct. He was turning mortal again. And if this continued, he could become permanently damaged.

  “You know what happens to us when we lose our powers, Tristan.”

  Shuddering at Gideon’s words, Tristan touched the mirror. With tremendous power came tremendous responsibility. In exchange for their magick and being guardians of Others, the wizards had pledged to the goddess Danu that they would never lose their magick by giving it to another. If they neglected to request her permission, they would suffer the consequences—the wizards would turn into Shadow forever, ghosts wandering the Shadow Lands.

  Danu had given him permission to create the potion that would save Nikita, and allow her entrance here. But it was a temporary sharing of power only.

  “You’re going to Hell,” X offered helpfully. “In a handbasket.”

  Palm trembling, he touched his face. An ugly thought flashed through his mind. He would become immortal again, but if she chose to stay on Earth, he would be obsessed with protecting her. And his job as the Silver Wizard was to protect all, not merely Nikita and their babe.

  If he became so distracted with Nikita on Earth, and failed to adhere to his duties, would the goddess strip him of all his powers?

  Banished from Earth and never able to see Nikita again? Left helpless to protect her and shield her from all harm?

  He scowled at X. “I am not. I have not chosen to share my powers. This is merely a side effect of becoming temporarily mortal.” He turned from the mirror. “It will not last.”

  Gideon’s expression turned hard. “She’s probably pregnant already, Tristan. Get rid of her.”

  Once Nikita leaves here, she will be vulnerable to your damned sister again. Mara killed my Nikita once. She will not do so again.

  “Do not interfere with my business, Gideon. You have enough trouble of your own.” He fisted his hands. “I want from you a promise that you will keep Mara away from Nikita once she returns to Earth.”

  The Crimson Wizard blinked and Xavier whistled. “Why?” Gideon demanded.

  Tristan chose his words with care. “I do not wish Nikita to be plagued by someone from her past who will cause her distress. And your sister is a powerful Fae who can be…annoying.”

  Something flickered in Gideon’s gaze. “Very well. I promise. I will make sure Mara does not come near Nikita. She is an ancient, but her interest in your woman is mere curiosity, Tristan. And if it means you may focus on your duties as the Silver Wizard instead of worrying about Nikita, I will be most glad to do it.”

  “Good. Now…” Tristan narrowed his gaze. “Why the hell are you here?”

  “Danu has called a formal convocation to discuss Drust. You must attend.”

  Damn. The goddess rarely called them all together and her commands could not be ignored. He looked at them. “Why now? Is it that important?”

  “I asked her for this convocation. You know the matter of Drust is important, Tristan. The dragons are growing more and more out of control and someone needs to keep them in line.” Gideon suddenly looked weary. “We will need their strength and their unity in the future.”

  He could not argue that, for Drust’s great-grandson, Prince Alexander, was proof of how headstrong dragons could become.

  And proof of how powerful as well.

  “When?”

  “This afternoon, at dusk.” Sympathy filled Gideon’s expression. “I am sorry, my friend. I asked her to delay the meeting, but she insists on today. You have until twilight to be with your Nikita, and then you must return her to Earth and the mortal realm.”

  “I’m to have ten full days.” Stricken, he stared at his friends, his fellow wizards, who had sacrificed their own blood to bring Nikita to the immortal realm.

  Gideon cleared his throat. “The goddess cut your time short for this meeting. If you wish the full ten days with Nikita, you forfeit the meeting…that’s not a wise choice.”

  Duty first. Always.

  X looked at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry. It sucks. I wish you could have more.” Regret flickered in his eyes. “I wish we all could have more. But this is the price we paid for becoming immortal.”

  The price we paid. The irony slapped him full in the face. He had demanded of the goddess the chance to find his beloved Nikita again, and impregnate her with his heir so his legacy would not die. When the executioner’s blade had taken his life, he died knowing his Nikita, and their babe, would live. But when she’d died along with the babe, his purpose in the afterworld had died as well.

  He wanted a child of his own blood, his line, more than anything else.

  But he failed to realize he’d wanted something even more precious—Nikita in his arms forever.

  He could not remain here in their blissful utopia forever, nor could he be with her on Earth, walking as a mortal. Their destinies took them in separate directions, unless she took the potion.

  His friends looked away.

  He must abide by the goddess’s dictates. “Very well. I will give her up and allow her to return to Earth, but I was promised ten full days. Nikita must have one more day to make up her mind about taking the potion and joining me here, forever.”

  “I cannot see how the goddess would not grant that, when she did promise ten days,” Gideon admitted.

  He was the Silver Wizard. His personal needs came last. Tristan straightened. “I shall be there.”

  Closing the door as they walked away, he leaned against it. Nikita came into the room, toweling her hair. “Did you meet with Gideon? He had better have a good reason for interrupting your time with me.”

  Heart heavy, he went to her and gently wrapped his arms around her. I will miss you so much. So much. Every day I go without you near me, I will die another death. But I must. I made a promise.

  He had promised her, as well. But the greater good, and his duties, came first.

  Tristan laid his cheek against her hair. He could say the words weighing on him since the moment he’d poured the magick potion that saved her life and enabled her to accompany him into the afterworld.

  “I love you, my sweet Nikita,” he whispered. “I never stopped loving you, and I shall love you for all eternity. You have my heart, always.”

  Nikita pulled away, searching his face, her mouth wobbling. “What’s wrong? You look as if you’re about to die all over again.”

  He brushed a kiss against her forehead. It feels that way.

  Through the opened windows, a thrush sang in the trees. Wind-tossed leaves skipped over the stepping stones leading to the cottage. The air felt cool and smelled of earth and pine, but inside he was so damned cold, he wondered if he’d ever be warm again.

  “What do you wish to do besides your picnic, my sweet? It’s a go
rgeous day out. Let’s make the most of it and do whatever you desire.”

  “You’re talking differently, too.” She cupped his face. “I know speech patterns, Tristan, as much as I know biology and plants and Lupines. Something happened. What did Gideon tell you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He trailed a finger over her lips. “Today is for you and me only. Let’s go on the picnic I promised you.”

  Her eyes were wet, but she offered a faint smile. “Like you told me we used to do?”

  He nodded. “Pack a basket with food and wine, and I’ll get ready.”

  The spot he’d chosen was breathtaking.

  Turquoise waters spilled over the waterfall, frothing the pool below, which was lined with mossy trees. Birds sang in the trees. Lemon-yellow water lilies floated lazily on the pool’s surface as blue iridescent dragonflies landed on the pads and then flew off.

  As Tristan set down the basket and she spread out a blanket upon the grass, Niki had the vivid recollection of being here once, long ago.

  “It’s a recreation of where we used to picnic, near Castle Baldwin,” she told him.

  Tristan bent down and swirled his forefinger in the water. “Tir Na-nog is whatever we wish, my sweet, especially for the wizards. All of us are allowed to create worlds of our imagination and choosing. I created several such areas where my memories were happiest.”

  She stepped onto the stones in the shallow end of the pool, delighted to feel them beneath her feet. Not slippery or slimy, but soft as down.

  “Of course I added my own enhancements.” Tristan stretched out on the grass and picked a yellow daffodil, twirling it between his fingers. “I remembered how you once fell after walking on those stones and I caught you.”

  Joining him, she took the flower and playfully swatted his face with it. “And then I pushed you in.”

  He grinned. “We were both quite wet, and cold.”

  Then his gaze turned dark, pupils dilating against the blue of his irises. “I found a most interesting method of warming you, my sweet. But let us save that for after lunch. I am hungry.”