Moon Bound

by Leisl Leighton

  ‘What do you mean?’ Deep inside, his wolf became alert.

  She turned to Skye. ‘What if Morrigan created a link with you that night and can manipulate your powers from wherever she is?’

  ‘No. She couldn’t. That wouldn’t be possible—would it?’ Skye looked to him—for comfort, for denial. He could feel she was trying not to tremble. He understood. She didn’t want to appear weak, but that ancient witch had put her through hell that night. A hell nobody else had been there to stop.

  Except for him.

  And he’d been drugged out, drained of all energy, until she’d started to use her power to fight what Morrigan was doing. He’d tried to fight then, but the Beast had clawed to the surface. He’d fought it for control and in the process had been caught under a rock fall and knocked unconscious. Apart from the incident making Skye angry enough to tap into her powers for the first time, he’d been next to useless. With the Beast now ravaging through him, getting stronger every day, what made him think he could protect any of them?

  ‘Skye. Are you okay?’

  ‘Jason!’

  Skye jumped to her feet as her mate rushed into the room. She ran to him and he scooped her into his arms, planting a long, lingering kiss on her lips before he leaned back, the look in his eyes as he gazed at his mate full of longing and completion. A gaze returned by Skye in full.

  River looked away. He was happy for his sister, but they had something he could never know. He hated the jealous rage that shot through him at that thought.

  ‘Sorry I took so long,’ Jason said. ‘But it wasn’t until Iain contacted me through the Alpha-lieutenant link that I knew you’d left me a message. Marcus has rules about mobile phones in the McClune compound being switched off.’

  Skye’s face glowed. ‘So do you.’

  He kissed her neck just below her jaw. ‘Can you blame me? We don’t know where Morrigan and the rogue coven are or what they might do next. I’m not going to hand them easy entry by allowing people to take photos that could be posted on the web, or allowing us to be tracked to our new base by our mobile phones.’

  Skye shuddered. ‘I think if she wants to track us, all she has to do is zero in on me.’

  Jason didn’t move, but River could feel the tension, the battle-ready alertness, shoot through his Alpha. ‘Has she come after you?’

  Skye took a deep breath. ‘Not in person. But Bronwyn and River think she did something to me today.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Jason turned to look at River for the first time, firmly pulling Skye to his side, as if he needed the contact with her more than he needed to breathe.

  River knew that feeling. He wouldn’t give in to it, though. ‘We think maybe somehow Morrigan is behind Skye’s sudden spike in power.’ He looked to Bronwyn for confirmation.

  She nodded. ‘I hadn’t felt anything building. And I know Shelley hadn’t, otherwise she would have said something. There was nothing and then suddenly, bam! It has to have been something from outside doing it. And the only person I can think of who would have anything to gain by making Skye go kaboom is Morrigan.’

  Jason’s face hardened, his eyes turning to steel and blood as he pulled Skye even more tightly into his side. ‘How is that possible? You said she was badly injured when she came through the portal. Cordy didn’t think she’d have much power right now and what Shelley discovered in that diary backs her up. How could she do something like this?’

  ‘Morrigan had begun to create a link with Skye on Samhain to syphon her power,’ Bron said quietly. ‘It’s possible that link is still intact. If that’s the case, she really wouldn’t need much power at all.’

  ‘Fuck!’ River understood the need to fight and protect roiling through his Alpha because he felt the same every day towards the woman who was meant to be his. The need to protect warring against the need to allow her to be herself. It was a terrible, unending clash where one side never won entirely, but each held the other at bay. Instinct versus love. Could there ever be a winner?

  Jason turned to Skye. ‘I want to tell you that you can’t leave the packhouse, that I won’t let you out of my sight, but I know I can’t because it will crush you. So please, tell me how to deal with this.’

  Skye reached up and cupped his face. ‘I’m not going to work until we find a way of cutting this bond, or whatever it is, between me and Morrigan. I won’t endanger the children.’

  Jason’s sigh brushed the hair back from her face as he bent to lean his forehead against hers. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘I don’t want you to stress about this. I’ll let you put extra protection on me at the house and when I go out.’

  ‘Why will you need to go out?’

  She smiled indulgently. ‘You don’t imagine for a second that I can possibly stay in the house for weeks on end? I mean, who knows how long it will take to figure this out? I’m happy to bend to your need to protect, because it matches my need not to put those who can’t protect themselves in danger, but I’m not going to hide away. I’ll want to go out. I won’t go shopping or anything, but I’ll need to stretch my legs, perhaps go to my house for a change of scene. And I’d like to go to Cantrae House.’

  He shook his head. ‘Out of the question.’

  She stepped out of his embrace, her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not trying to tell me what to do, are you? Out of the two of us, who has won this argument in the past?’

  Jason brushed his hands through his hair, and for a moment River felt sorry for him. But then he saw the amused glint in Bronwyn’s eyes, the way she’d leaned back against the desk, arms crossed over her chest and was watching as if this was her favourite kind of entertainment.

  ‘But it’s not safe at Cantrae House,’ Jason argued.

  ‘Now, we both know that’s not true. River spent the whole of the full moon there and he’s fine. Nothing tried to attack him and you’ve had it fully guarded ever since Halloween. And you said Marcus allowed Cordy to come down and check it out, so we know there’s been no sign of anything magical clinging to the house. Nothing evil.’

  ‘Except the ghosts of the past,’ Jason said.

  She flinched.

  River growled. ‘She doesn’t need to be reminded about our grandmother, or Ferris. That memory lives large in both of our minds, I can promise you.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Jason gathered her into his arms. River expected his sister to deny his touch, but she did the opposite, flowing into him as if she could become one. ‘I didn’t mean—’

  ‘I know,’ she mumbled into his chest, her hands stroking his back, giving comfort as much as taking it. ‘You were talking about my past. My unhappy memories.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But Gran and Ferris are part of all that. And I need to go back. I need to say goodbye to them both. I need to face what happened there.’ She looked up at him. ‘Besides, maybe being there will help me figure out why I’m still linked to Morrigan. Maybe it’s got something to do with her being in my grandmother’s body.’

  ‘Could there be something in the Pack Diaries?’

  ‘I’ll get on to it right away,’ Skye nodded.

  ‘No. You’ve got to keep on with your own studies and doing the Skype tutorials with Cordy,’ Bronwyn said. ‘Shelley can look through the diaries. She loves researching this stuff.’

  ‘What about you?’ River asked.

  ‘Adeline told me I should read the family grimoires. I thought she meant in relation to what was happening to me, but I think she meant more than that. I’ll check them out and get back to you all.’

  ‘Good,’ Jason nodded.

  ‘I can’t believe Marcus won’t let Cordy near me yet,’ Skye grumbled.

  ‘I’m working on it,’ Jason said, kissing Skye’s brow.

  ‘I know you are. I suppose the Skype thing is okay for now, but I know I’d learn so much faster face to face.’

  ‘She’s working on Marcus, too.’

  Her lips curved up as she brushed her fingers through the hair at
his nape. ‘I know. I’m lucky to have her, really. She’s great.’

  ‘I knew you’d love her.’

  ‘I was bound to love her.’ He looked at her with a query on his face. ‘She helped you find me.’ Jason chuckled softly and kissed her.

  River looked away. ‘This is all fascinating, but we’ve kind of gotten off topic.’

  Jason nodded. ‘Tell me what happened today.’

  River and Bronwyn explained as much as they could, with Skye adding in the bits she knew.

  Jason shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, brother. Are you okay?’

  River could feel Jason’s gentle Alpha stroke through the pack bond, but his wolf was buried too deep to feel the benefit of it. ‘I’ll survive.’

  ‘He’s being stupidly brave,’ Bronwyn said, stepping forward. ‘It seriously hurt him. Unnecessarily so.’ She crossed her arms. ‘Can you please order him not to do something so stupid again?’

  ‘I agree.’

  River narrowed his eyes at his sister. ‘Jason wouldn’t do that. He knows the safety of the Pack Witch comes first. I took care of Bronwyn’s safety. End of discussion.’

  Bronwyn folded her arms in front of her and somehow managed to make her pixie-like features look stern. ‘That is not the end of the discussion. You hurt yourself because of me. I will not allow that to happen again.’

  ‘It was my choice. My pain to bear.’

  ‘But you didn’t have to bear it.’

  He just stared her down. She threw her hands up in the air. ‘You are so stubborn. And you’re not listening.’

  He tipped his head to the side, cracking his neck to release the tension building in his muscles. ‘I am listening. You just haven’t given me a reason to change my mind.’

  ‘Do you think we should leave them to it?’ Jason whispered to Skye. She nudged him in the ribs.

  River would have smiled at the interplay, but his attention was riveted to Bronwyn as she made a growling sound in her throat.

  ‘Well how about this for a reason. I’m a healer. Pain is my burden to bear.’

  He went suddenly still. ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘Where do you think the pain goes when I heal someone?’

  A shocked silence filled the room, broken by Skye when she said, ‘I thought it just disappeared.’

  Bronwyn snorted. ‘That would be lovely, but that’s not the way the Mother Goddess works. Life is cyclical. Birth, life, death to birth again and so on. What goes in must come out, but it also must go back in again. I’m able to heal because I take their pain away and put it into me.’

  ‘Stop growling, River. It’s not helping.’

  Jason’s voice rang in River’s mind as Skye gasped, ‘Oh God, I never knew.’

  River snapped the sound off in his throat, not because of Jason’s words, but because of the way Bronwyn was looking at him.

  ‘You have no right to be angry with me.’

  River wanted to snarl again, wanted to tell Bronwyn she wasn’t allowed to heal anyone ever again. But he didn’t have the right to demand such a thing of her. He knew she wouldn’t listen anyway. What he wanted to know though was … ‘Why do you do it?’

  Bronwyn shrugged. ‘I’m a healer.’ Her face broke into a smile. ‘I’ve only just started to realise what that truly means. It’s who I am.’ She shrugged. ‘Besides, it’s not so bad. The pain doesn’t stay with me for long because I turn it into a different kind of energy.’

  He could see that she didn’t mind it, but still … To think he had caused her pain. ‘I don’t like it.’

  ‘What’s not to like?’

  He stood up, began to pace, grateful that the shakes had now left his legs and his head was beginning to clear. ‘I caused you pain. That’s what I don’t like.’

  ‘But you didn’t cause me pain.’

  His eyes narrowed as he felt her lie. ‘You healed my wounds on Samhain. By your own admission, that hurt you.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ She waved her hand. He gave her a flat look that made her huff out, ‘It really wasn’t that bad, River. You’re making too much of this.’

  ‘What did it do to you in our healing sessions?’

  ‘That’s completely different. That’s not pain so much as a darkness.’

  ‘A darkness that you take on?’

  ‘Well, kind of. It doesn’t truly let me take it on, which is part of the problem, but I can feel its coldness, its rage, and I take some of that from you.’

  Her affirmation tore at him. ‘And when you used your power to turn me from my Beast self, what happened then?’ She looked uncertainly between him and Jason and over to Skye, but he could see they wanted to hear her answer as much as he did. ‘Well?’

  ‘I don’t … That’s different. That’s not like using my power normally.’

  ‘It hurt you, didn’t it? Was that why you passed out?’

  ‘No.’ Her jaw squared. ‘I’m just not used to doing it, that’s all. It was just the shock of using so much power all at once. I’ll get used to it. Wait until next time.’

  ‘There won’t be a next time,’ he said, the words short and clipped to hide the anguish, the agony tearing through him.

  Bronwyn’s arms fell to her sides, the crystal dropping to the ground with a thud. ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘Why not? I might not be in charge of anything else, but I am in charge of that. I will not be responsible for causing you pain. I won’t do any more sessions with you. End of story.’

  Her jaw squared, the fire in her eyes sparking. ‘That’s not the end of the story.’

  By the Moon he loved to see that spark of temper in her, but he wasn’t going to give in to it. ‘It is to me.’

  ‘But I want to help you. I just need time. I’m so close to understanding what was done to you. And using the dregs of my grandma’s power did something before that I know is important. I know I can figure out how to undo it if you only give me time.’

  ‘I don’t want you to figure it out. Not for me. Not if it forces you to take something ugly and painful into yourself. I’m not worth it.’

  ‘River,’ Skye reprimanded. ‘How can you say that?’

  ‘Because it’s true.’

  Skye’s eyes flashed. ‘I’ve never let anyone else say such things about you. Why do you think I’m going to let you get away with it?’

  He shoved his hands into his pockets. ‘You can do what you like—as will I.’

  He moved away from her as she reached for him through the twin bond, trying to change his mind by pushing thoughts of need and empathy into his head. ‘Don’t try that trick on me. It won’t work.’

  Skye clasped her hands together. ‘You have to let Bron help you.’

  ‘No. I don’t. I don’t want her help. I don’t want any of your help.’ Turning his back on her, he headed to the door, snarling over his shoulder. ‘Just leave me alone. All of you.’

  ‘But River—’

  ‘Skye. Let him go.’

  The door slammed behind him.

  Bron trembled and dropped down in the chair behind her. She felt blindsided, like something had just torn inside her, but she wasn’t sure what. How could the discussion they were having turn into something so heated and filled with pain? ‘What just happened?’

  Nobody answered. She looked up to see Skye tugging against Jason’s hold.

  ‘Let me go.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But I have to go to him.’

  ‘No. You don’t. Arguing with him further won’t help. In fact, it will just entrench his belief further.’

  ‘But he’s pulling away.’ A tear trembled down her cheek. ‘Can’t you feel him pulling away?’

  ‘Of course I can feel him,’ Jason said, his voice a gentle caress. ‘But I know the power of the wolf when it needs to be alone.’ He touched her face, stroked his finger down her cheek, brushing away the tear. ‘He’ll come back to us.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Because I’m the Alpha. It’s my
job to know. Besides, why do you think I’ve set a Shadow on him all these weeks?’

  ‘Because you were worried about Morrigan and also about the Beast inside him and what it could do.’

  He shook his head. ‘No. He can take care of himself now. He’s not the drugged-out man he was. He will not be so easily taken. He doesn’t need a babysitter to keep him safe.’

  ‘Then why have Iain and Patrick shadow him?’ Skye asked.

  ‘Because he needs to make connections with the pack,’ Bron answered for him, her words slow and wondering as she looked up at him. Despite the fact that he was a new Alpha of a pack that was slowly recovering from near disaster, he was already incredibly strong. And the pack was strong. Stronger than they should be—and all because he was their Alpha, holding them together with the sheer strength of his will, as he’d held them together from the moment his father had died. ‘You’re creating bonds, even when he’s trying to deny them.’

  He nodded, smiling at her. ‘You are a true healer, to understand that so quickly.’

  Bron huffed out a breath. ‘Not true enough. I shouldn’t have told River about what being a healer really means.’

  ‘We all make mistakes.’

  ‘Yeah, but I seem to make more than most others. Me and my stupid mouth that doesn’t know when to shut up.’

  ‘Your honesty is what makes you so special and so good at what you do. Don’t let a few mistakes make you think otherwise.’

  Bron bit her lip as his words sank into her. Was he right? Not that it mattered. What did matter was that River had left there worse off than when he’d arrived and she couldn’t let that stand. ‘I’m not sure you’re right about him stomping out of here because his wolf wanted to be alone.’ She frowned, trying to concentrate on what she’d seen. ‘The Darkness has spread, like an infection. Little tendrils of it have burrowed in deep and are getting deeper.’

  ‘Can you tell what it is?’ Skye asked.

  She shook her head. ‘I have no idea. All I know is it responds negatively to my healing power. It’s that and not his wolf that’s been pushing me away.’

  ‘You can’t stop trying, though.’

  ‘I’m not going to.’ She turned to Jason. ‘Who is following him now?’