by R. E. Butler
“Do you think she’s human?” Perseus asked.
“I don’t think so. She doesn’t smell like a shifter or a human. I think she’s a supernatural creature of some kind.”
“How old do you think?”
“Nine or ten, maybe. Why would her parents leave her alone in the woods?”
“Maybe they didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe they were killed and she ran?” Ekho offered as he walked next to them.
“She’s safe now and that’s all that matters,” Perseus said.
When they reached the settlement, Ekho hurried to Sophie and Arsen’s house to alert them of the girl. He carried a sleeping Adi into their own home and got him settled while Daeton waited for someone to help her off Perseus’s back.
Sophie gasped as she stared up at them. “I’ll take her.”
Daeton let the girl down into Sophie’s arms as gently as she could and then slid down on her own. Ekho returned from settling Adi in his nest and helped Perseus with the caribou. They’d also brought back the bodies of the slaughtered wolves. The pelts would make good clothing for cold weather.
Daeton softly told Sophie and Arsen about Kaya. Sophie looked down at the sleeping girl with tears glistening in her eyes. Daeton knew in that moment that Kaya belonged with Sophie. The queen had never had children of her own.
“I’d like to be there when she wakes up,” Daeton said.
“I’ll sleep on your couch,” Sophie said. “I…want to be there, too.”
Daeton put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “Good. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Tears tracked down Sophie’s cheeks as she turned and carried Kaya into the home where Daeton and her family were staying. Daeton left her husbands to tend the kills with the help of their family and some of the local Centaurs. They would take the caribou hide home, along with the rabbit fur and meat, but would leave the wolves for the Centaurs, who could sell the pelts or fashion them into cold weather gear.
Sophie was settling Kaya on the couch, wrapping her up in blankets and making her comfortable. Daeton knelt next to the couch and lifted Kaya’s wrist, encircled by a silver bracelet. Written on it was a name – Kaya Iridian.
Daeton put Kaya’s hand back under the blanket and looked at Sophie. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“I think she’s meant to stay with you.”
Sophie’s brows rose. “You do? I thought you’d want to take her back to the Medes Realm with you.”
“It crossed my mind at first,” she admitted, “and I do believe that I was meant to find her, because she and I are connected in some way, but I think she belongs here in this realm, with you.”
“What if she has parents or family?”
“We’ll find out when she wakes up. I don’t believe she has anyone. I think she was either abandoned or something happened to her family. Whatever the reason, she was in the Centaur territory because this is where she belongs.”
Sophie smiled and brushed at the tears on her cheeks. “I forget that you’re only eighteen sometimes.”
“Eighteen plus one,” Daeton said, smiling.
“You’re wiser than your years.”
“I’ve lived a lot in the last year. Not just finding my mates and having Adi, but all the danger, too. I feel like I’ve lived ten lifetimes in the last year.”
“If she can stay with me, I hope you know I’ll take care of her.”
“I know you will.”
Daeton left Sophie and Kaya, checked on her still-sleeping son, and then headed outside to help with the kills. When the skins were clean, the meat tended to, and the carcasses hauled away, she and her husbands showered, and then she sat on an overstuffed chair in the front room and promptly fell asleep.
In the morning, she woke up to Adi tugging on her hand. Sophie and Kaya were sitting up, Kaya snuggled into Sophie’s arms. “Good morning,” Daeton said.
“Kaya was just telling me about her family,” Sophie said. Daeton couldn’t miss the adoring way that Kaya stared up at Sophie. There was a bond forming between the two already and it warmed her heart.
Ekho came in with a full breakfast platter and set it on the table between the couch and chair. He sat on the arm of the chair, kissing Daeton lightly. “I missed you last night,” Ekho said. “I had the big bed all to myself.”
“I slept with Adi,” Perseus said as he came in from outside. “He woke up right after you fell asleep and so I stayed with him. That nest is not comfortable for adults.”
Sophie chuckled. As they all ate, Sophie told Kaya’s story. She apparently didn’t remember much from before Daeton found her, but she’d seen her parents die and she was certain it was to keep her safe. She remembered fangs and blood, but she didn’t know who had killed them. She’d been running for a long time, and had no idea where she was or how she’d ended up in the woods almost eaten by wolves.
“I’m so glad we stayed,” Daeton said.
Kaya took a shower while Sophie went to get clothes for her from one of the other wives. When she was clean and dressed, she and Adi went outside to play, just like Daeton had promised.
Perseus and Ekho sat on the back steps on either side of her and watched the two play.
“You’re okay with leaving her here?” Perseus asked.
“She’ll be in good hands,” Daeton said. And she really felt that way. “Besides, we’ll be back in a year to see her, even though it will have been ten years for her. But we can keep in touch through letters, and maybe she can even come through sometime and visit the Medes Realm.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Ekho said. “We can stay another night so you can spend time with her. Adi seems taken with her, too.”
“I’d like that,” she said. As she watched her son and the girl she’d saved play ball, she wondered what the future would bring for both of them. Kaya was a part of Daeton’s life now. Fate had played a part in bringing the girl into their lives, and Daeton wanted to be there for her in any way she could.
That evening, they celebrated Kaya’s adoption into the Centaur herd as Sophie and Arsen’s daughter. Kaya was thrilled to have found a family after being alone for so long. Daeton was thankful the sweet girl had found a home.
The following morning, while the sun was rising, they said goodbye.
“You’ll write to me, won’t you?” A tearful Kaya asked.
“I promise. The time will fly fast and we’ll be able to come back to visit before you know it.”
“Ten years is a long time,” Kaya said wistfully. “I’ll be eighteen plus one, but Adi will only be one.”
“You can still be friends, no matter the age difference,” Perseus said with a smile.
“I’d like to think of him as my brother, if that’s okay?”
Adi smiled and pranced, clearly liking the idea.
“He loves that, and so do I. You’re part of our family now, too,” Daeton said. She hugged Kaya tightly and then said goodbye once more to Sophie.
“Thank you for bringing her to me,” Sophie said. “I’m so glad to call you friend.”
“Me, too, Sophie.”
Daeton joined her husbands and her son as they stood before the portal. With a final look back at Kaya as she stood between Sophie and Arsen, she waved and stepped through. Whatever lay ahead for Kaya, she knew that Sophie and Arsen would care for her as if she were their own.
Breathing deeply of the scents around her as they stepped through the portal, she said, “It’s so good to be home.”
Adi pranced around, looking genuinely happy to be home, too.
“You and Ekho were talking about my journey when we were hunting,” she said, as she held both their hands and followed Adi toward their home.
Perseus nodded. “It’s remarkable how everything has fallen into place.”
“What do you think the next chapter of our lives will bring?” she asked.
Ekho swept her up into his arms and carried her through the front door with a s
oft purr. “Another baby; a sweet little sister for Adi.”
She put her arms around Ekho’s neck and kissed him. Her journey with her husbands and their children was just getting started. She couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring.
The End
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Contact the Author
Website: http://www.rebutlerauthor.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @rebutlerauthor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/R.E.ButlerAuthorPage
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Also from R. E. Butler
Wiccan-Were-Bear Novella Series
A Curve of Claw
A Flash of Fang
A Price for a Princess
A Bond of Brothers
A Bead of Blood
A Twitch of Tail
A Promise on White Wings
A Slash of Savagery
Awaken a Wolf
Daeton’s Journey
The Wiccan-Were-Bear Series Volume One
The Wolf’s Mate Series
The Wolf’s Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence
The Wolf’s Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel
The Wolf’s Mate Book 3: Callie & The Cats
The Wolf’s Mate Book 4: Michael & Shyne
The Wolf’s Mate Book 5: Bo & Reika
The Wolf’s Mate Book 6: Logan & Jenna
The Wolf’s Mate Book 7: Lindy & The Wulfen
The Necklace Chronicles
The Tribe’s Bride
The Gigolo’s Bride
Ashland Pride Series
Seducing Samantha (Ashland Pride One)
Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)
Marking Melody (Ashland Pride Three)
Redeeming Rue (Ashland Pride Four)
Saving Scarlett (Ashland Pride Five)
Hyena Heat Series
Every Night Forever (Hyena Heat One)
Every Dawn Forever (Hyena Heat Two)
Every Sunset Forever (Hyena Heat Three)
Every Blissful Moment (Hyena Heat Four)
Wilde Creek Series
Mate of Her Heart (Book One)
The Alpha’s Heart (Book Two)
The Protector’s Heart (Book Three)
The Omega’s Heart (Book Four)
Saber Chronicles Series
Alaric’s Perfect Mate (Book One)
Slade’s Feisty Mate (Book Two)
Caleb’s Tempting Mate (Book Three)
Galen’s Lovely Mate (Book Four)
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Coming Next in the Wiccan-Were-Bear Series:
A Dragon for December
Wiccan-Were-Bear #11
Polar bear shifter December Merricks, known to her friends as Deci, is visiting her angel best friend, Allisandrea, in Cleveland. When the February new moon rises, Deci heads into what she believes are neutral woods for some hunting when she comes snout to fang with an enormous dragon, who is not only trying to swipe her prey but also happens to be her mate.
Dragon prince Tosh Okida loves hunting in the woods of Culiver, the territory owned by his nest. When the new moon rises, Tosh feels an incredible pull to the woods and goes off to hunt. To his surprise he finds a polar bear roaming his woods trying to steal a buck. Not only is the feisty bear a thief, but she’s also his mate.
With his mate by his side, Tosh is able to claim the kingship of his people, but someone is plotting against him, hiding in the shadows. When an innocent trip to the spa ends with Deci kidnapped and drugged, her body is forced into a mating thrall that will kill her if she doesn’t give in to the need coursing through her. Will Tosh be able to get to her before she’s lost to him forever and put down the threat to his throne, or will all be lost in a flurry of fur and fangs?
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