The Changer Complete Box Set

by A C Wilds

  “Yes, I do know him, and it isn’t in a good way. There is a lot to be said for a son of Loki,” Red explains, trying his hardest not to punch Gunner in the face. “We need to get back. The caravan will be moving soon, and we need to ensure the Queen sees you in it. Azra you can ride with Ash, I will take the halfling.”

  “He’s coming with us?” I ask, Red. I don’t understand why.

  “Yes, I’m coming with you. The Queen has summoned me, and so I shall answer. If you’re being kind enough to provide a way to get there, I’m not going to turn it down. I have been walking for miles and prefer to rest. Especially since your Arion has chosen to crack my rib,” Gunner says. His eyes never leave mine as he speaks. I have this extremely terrible urge to run my hands down his body and help him heal. He cracks a smile and walks over to where Red and Ash have shifted.

  He lifts himself up with a grunt and settles on Red’s back. I do the same on Ash with less grunting. We trot off to the palace, and I can hear Gunner hissing in pain, as Red moves through the trees. Ash’s gait is smooth. I feel like I am riding on a cloud and not a horse. Her motions are fluid and her back is comfortable. She evenly distributes her weight. Even without a saddle under me, I hardly jostle around. It makes me wonder what she could do on a jump course. I can measure how fantastic she would be. I wonder if she would let me ride her? Is it rude to ask, now that I know she’s a person too? And if she is a person, which is first the horse or the person? So many questions to ask Red.

  I hear you thinking back there. He projects in my mind. For the record, the horse is our true form, and the person is our shift. We are born walking on all fours and will die the same. Our human skins are for when we need to hunt or blend in.

  That is so freaking cool! Do you think she would ride with me on the course? You said you liked it, so she would, right? Can you talk to her for me?

  I feel his laughter come through the bond. He is snorting in my mind. I didn’t think I was that funny. I’m sure if you ask her, she will oblige. Or maybe she might tell you to go fuck yourself. It could go either way.

  Chapter 10

  Leaving the Palace

  The palace is a flurry of activity when we arrive. At first the guys are nowhere to be seen found. Fae are running all over, loading caravans and carts. All the horses and other types of livestock are out of the stables; some I’m not too sure exactly what they are. The area is still destroyed with big chunks of rock littered around the lawn. Trees are uprooted and huge footprints pit the earth. I finally locate the guys toward the front of the castle, where most of the activity is happening.

  Grey notices us first. He stops tacking Hurri and turns to meet me. I jump down off of Ash and go to him. This is the first time I have seen him since I left. I do a once over visually, and then check in with him through the bond. He seems ok, just a little tired, but we all are.

  “Where did you run off to?” he asks. There is confusion on his face as he sees the new guy behind me on Red. Grey’s chest puffs up a bit and I can see his jaw clench. He’s nervous and a bit jealous. He definitely doesn’t want anyone else to touch me.

  I take his hand in mine, and tug until his concentration is back on me. “I took a walk. There’s a lake behind the gardens, so I went for a swim,” I say, to distract him from concentrating on Gunner.

  “Stay with us from now on. I don’t want to lose you in this mess,” he says, as he pulls his hand from mine. In a very non-Grey manner, he leans down, and kisses my forehead before turning back, and finishing with Hurri.

  I stand there for a few seconds stunned before Logan crashes into me. His arms go to my waist, and I wrap myself around him. “Hey, Wolvie, what’s up?” I ask. He seems nervous about something.

  “Um...Azra, did you not see the huge dragon that attacked the castle? It was so mean and huge and... mean. It had fire and people almost died. I’m glad that Anna found me right away. I was super scared, but Greyson had to leave to help. Cause he’s a Fae now. He has powers and can do cool stuff. He won’t show me anything, but I bet if you ask him, he’d do it,” Logan says, in a rush. When he gets excited his mouth runs a mile a minute.

  “I was there. It was a scary dragon. I’m grateful that you found Anna. Your brother was the one who stopped it. Did he tell you that?” I ask.

  Logan looks at me in amazement. His mouth makes an “O” shape and I can see the wheels turning in his head. He has so many more questions, but I cut him off before he can ask. “Why don’t you help out Grey tacking Hurri and ask him all about it. It’ll be good for you two to catch up.” He nods his head in agreement and takes off toward his brother.

  I don’t stand alone for long. A presence can be felt behind me, and I look over my shoulder to find Gunner waiting patiently for me. “May I help you?” I ask him.

  “Is he one of your mates?” he asks, with a curious tone. There’s so much to this Fae that I want to find out about, but not yet. There are too many things going on, and I need to figure out the bigger problems first.

  “Why do you care? Don’t you have a Queen to grovel to?” This gets a smile out of him. He scans my face looking for something more. He gets nothing, I shut it all down including the energy that’s pouring out of me looking for his. This damn fucking energy. It has a mind of its own.

  “Quite right. I’ll leave you to it then,” he says, as he bows and salutes. Giving me smile he walks away. I don’t know what it is about this Fae, but I know I need to be careful.

  Cass and Shax are over on the other side of Grey. If they heard or saw the new-comer, no one said. Storm is tacked and ready to go. There’s another horse with them, who is carrying the bags and supplies that we need. I drop mine off by Cass who is stringing the rest of them up. Since Red can’t shift here, it must mean we are going to ride. I walk over to Shax, Red, and Ash following. He bends down and gives me a quick kiss hello on the mouth. He breathes me in and I relish in his touch. He tries to pull away, but I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer. He smells like fireplaces and smoke. I want to curl up against him and drift off to sleep.

  “Just hold me for a few seconds. We almost died, and I need a minute to be reminded this is real and we’re safe,” I tell him. I’m starting to get choked up a bit. I don’t often let sad emotions overtake me, but with Shax the feeling of belonging is so overwhelming that my guard comes crashing down.

  “Always. I’ll always hold you when you need it. You’re my mate, Azra. You don’t have to ask for my comfort,” he says. His arms shift across my back and he mushes me further into his chest. I can feel the presence of my other mate; his anxiety and fear pouring off of him. When we get settled again there’s going to be a mate meeting. I need to know where we all stand. The future is more than I want to think about, but if I don’t then who will? There’s no easy answer when you have to deal with three mates. I mean how are we going to sleep at night?

  I break my hug from Shax and turn toward Cass. He’s sheepishly looking at me. I walk the three steps and pull him into the same safe hug I just got from Shax. I need Cass to get over our fight and start acting stronger for all of us. He wraps his body around mine and I feel it then. His undying love for me. It’s like a punch in the gut it’s so powerful. I feel the wetness on my face before I even realize I’m crying. Looking up at him, I see the sincerity in his grey eyes. Standing on tiptoes, I place a small kiss on his lips and back away.

  “Ok, what’s there left to do? I’m ready to leave this place behind. If Michael is coming, we need to be prepared as much as possible,” I say, trying to shake the emotion out of my voice.

  “The Queen has requested that we ride with her. I suggested we ride in the back of the caravan to get you better acclimated to the people and Faerie. There’s still so much you don’t know, and I wanted to use this journey to show you,” Shax says. There is more to it than that, but because we are surrounded by hundreds of people, he can’t tell me the whole truth.

  “We need to stay as far away from that nightmare as
possible. This is going to keep getting worse before it gets better. I don’t believe for one second that she didn’t have anything to do with the dragon attack. Did you see her face when she saw my wings? That bitch is crazy, and she wants nothing more than to use us to get what she wants,” Grey says. His eyes have changed color. They are bluer now than before. He looks like a fucking Rockstar with his windswept hair and those glorious white wings coming from his back. He must still be in warrior mode because they haven’t popped back in. I want to run my hands down them and see if he would quiver from the excitement. I flashback to the sex we had, and it makes me wet just thinking about it. That was some good, hate sex.

  “You need to watch what you say Greyson,” Shax whispers. “She has ears everywhere, and you don’t want to find out what she does to traitors.”

  “I think you and me both know that I’m not the same human I was two days ago. I took down a fucking dragon. I can deal with a pissed off Queen,” he retorts. A cold shiver runs down my spine as I feel the fear coming off of Shax. He doesn’t want us to get hurt, but Grey needs to stop acting like an ass…again.

  “Let’s get mounted up. We should be moving before all these people get ready, otherwise, we are going to get stuck. I want to be able to maneuver the horses at will,” Cass says, breaking up the tension. He knows we have to move past this, and hopefully the Queen. However, figuring out how we do that is the challenge.

  Red and Ash are already tacked, when I turn around to look for him. Shax goes to Ash and swings up on her back. He must have been doing that for centuries, it looks so graceful. I climb up on Red and wait for him to move. All I have to do now is place my feet in the stirrups and hold on. We don’t even need to communicate what the other wants anymore.

  The caravan starts a slow progression, but our four horses bypass most of the crowd. The Queen is leading the way in the front, so we try to keep a leisurely pace behind her. The scenery is beautiful. So much looks like Earth, but there are differences in color and plants. The grasses here are more yellow than green. There are these giant purple flowers that spread up the trees and bloom amongst the branches. Animals scurry about, some even I couldn’t put a name to. The sun is shining high in the sky, and I notice for the first time that it must be spring or summer because the weather is warm.

  “Shax, what season is it?” I ask. I’ve pulled Red up to meet him.

  He looks over at me with his beautiful face and smiles. “It’s the beginning of summer. Our warmer months just started. We’re traveling south, so it will get increasingly warmer as we go. The palace is about two days ride from here and I believe you’ll like it there. There are beaches and a lot of trails we can take the horses on. We have a huge training facility and a nice size course for you to learn how to use your powers. Hopefully, it’ll be the calm before the storm, and we can get you up to speed on using your magic,” he explains.

  “I’m sorry, it sounded like you said train, and use my powers? What exactly did you mean?” I question. He has another thing coming if he thinks I am going to do sit-ups and run miles.

  He chuckles at my shocked expression. I think my eyebrows are in my hair. I don’t do well with exercise unless it’s on a horse. I could never get into going to the gym, it’s just so boring. “You have all that raw energy Azra, someone has to teach you how to use it properly. You burnt down a room, turned Greyson into a Fae, and nearly got killed trying to take that dragon out. You need to learn how to control your energy. It’s the only way to defeat Michael,” he says, out loud. And the only way to ensure we can free all of Earth and Faerie. He says through our bond.

  “I am just warning you now, I don’t do early morning exercise. If I need to do this, then it will be around lunch. Besides, I think I might like taking the mornings off to be with one or all of my mates.” I say, playfully. Sending him a heated stare, I lick my lips. His reaction is almost automatic, and I can see him shift in the saddle to get more comfortable.

  “I think that can be arranged. You’re the Changer after all,” he replies while clearing his throat. I instantly want to jump down off Red and take him in the bushes. Hmmm, I never have had sex in the bushes; I wonder what it would be like.

  Nudging Red into a little canter, I take some time and explore a bit before we need to catch up to the Queen. If I’m being honest with myself, Shax is right. I do need to work on my control. I don’t know what I am doing, and I almost killed Grey. Even when I needed to, I couldn’t even fly. I need to find out how to wield these powers. The Queen and King need to be stopped, and if I’m the only one that can do it, then I need to up my game.

  Chapter 11

  Summer Palace

  Two days later we arrive at the summer palace. Everything is laid out similar to the Dark Court, but here everything is open and airy. There are three turrets that stand tall against the sea. The waves crash on rocks at the bottom of the cliffs, and the birds can be heard for miles around. The breeze is warm, and the sun is ever-present. It looks more like a tropical resort than a palace for the Dark Queen.

  The Queen has been keeping a close eye on us these last two days. Summoning us every night for dinner and making sure one or two of her guards are with us at all times. She has even set a date for a ball, one month from now so that all her loyal subjects can meet the new Changer. At this ceremony, I am to bend the knee and pledge loyalty to the Dark Court and chose her as my sovereign. After she threw this in my lap, I made sure the guys knew, before the ball we are leaving the palace. There’s no way I’ll be pledging loyalty to anyone except for my mates.

  Logan has traveled most of the time with Anna and the rest of the children. He found two good friends among them and has even come out of his shell a bit. Grey wanted him to stay with us, but I explained he needed to stretch his wings, and get into trouble with boys his own age. Grey responded by yelling and walking off to cool down, in typical Grey fashion.

  Cass and Shax have become rather friendly. They seem to like some of the same things and even got into a heated discussion about horses and which are the better breeds. Red chimed in with the obvious, Arion, and Ash backed him on that. They haven’t been able to shift while they are with us, but I feel him sneaking off into the night and meeting up with her. I don’t know how he did it, being away from Ash for that long. Now that I have all three men, I don’t know what I’d do without them.

  We’re given a suite again, but this time there is four rooms instead of three. Each of the guys has their own, as do I. The first thing I do is soak in the glorious tub that is overlooking the ocean. It is placed out on the terrace, and I have the perfect view of the setting sun. Bubbles surround me, and the scent of lavender wafts from the water. It’s so peaceful here, that I can almost forget what we’re in the middle of. I lean back and close my eyes, breathing in the scents and listening to the sounds of my environment. It doesn’t take long before I am interrupted.

  “How did I know I’d find you here?” Grey asks. He has a sly smile on his face, as he pulls a chair from the bathroom, and places it out on the terrace next to me.

  “Because you felt me through the bond, smart ass,” I reply. “You knew this is where I was, and you felt me relax, so of course you needed to see why I wasn’t walking around like an angry toddler, like some people I know.”

  “I don’t act like an angry toddler. I’m an emotional person. I project. It’s how I let it out.”

  “Look, Grey, you already know how I feel, you can feel it too, I just need you to stop being such a dick for once and start realizing that we’re a fucking team. It isn’t just you and Logan anymore. You gained three mates. We’re in this together.”

  “You think this is easy for me. You’re the one that tore everything up. You turned me into a Fae. You made me into something that I hate. All because I listened to my dick again. If it wasn’t for these goddamn feelings I have, I would have left days ago.” The last bit feels like a punch to the gut. Feelings? What feelings?

  “You really do know
how to be a charmer. You come in here, and interrupt my bath-time to tell me you regret sleeping with me? I know you didn’t want to get stuck in this position, but I didn’t want to either. We can blame each other for hours, or you can get in this tub, and run your tongue down up and down my clit, and then fuck my brains out until we have to go down for dinner. Your choice.”

  I don’t think I have ever seen Grey stunned. It looks good on him. His eyes turn into the bright blue, and I can feel the heat rolling off of him. He gets up out of his seat and removes his shirt. He throws it on top of the chair and begins to slowly unbutton his pants. His muscles are corded and tight, his skin unblemished, and he looks sexy as sin. His Adonis belt peaks out once he starts to push his pants off his hips, and I want to reach out and lick it. My clit pulses with need, and I feel myself gravitating to the edge of the tub in anticipation.

  Once he’s naked in front of me, I take him all in. Our first time was rushed and frantic. I can enjoy myself this time. Chills of excitement race to my core, as I can’t believe this fine specimen of a Fae is mine. He climbs into the tub and wastes no time in making contact with my mouth. His kiss is fierce and demanding, just like he is. There’s no gentleness to it. He fights and fucks the same. I’m all too eager to find out what it will be like to fuck him for hours without setting the world on fire.