by Holly Evans
I ran my hand up over his ribs and kissed him tenderly. "He seems as though he has some potential."
A small smile spread over his lips. "He sees everything, has quite a sharp mind."
"You're growing fond of him,” I teased.
He gave a shrug and got out of bed, giving me a wonderful view.
"He has potential, it would be a shame to ignore that."
Much to my disappointment, he pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans. With a melodramatic sigh, I pulled on one of his shirts and followed him out into the living area. The shirt came almost down to my knees, but I couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious with Raif right there. He was in my home. I was going to wear what I damn well pleased. The cub was sprawled out on the sofa; his jeans were tangled around his ankles, his shirt was half over the back of the sofa, and his blankets were half on, half off him. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned. Lysander threw the curtains open, and I looked in the fridge for some food.
"Why?" Raif wailed.
Lysander grinned. "It's a beautiful day, you should enjoy it."
The sunlight streamed in. He was right, it was a beautiful day.
Quin and Kadrix soon appeared; they looked fresh and happy.
Kadrix frowned. "What's wrong with the cub? Is he ill?"
We laughed. "He just has a hangover."
Kadrix nodded and took a seat. "He's young, his body needs to be toughened up to the pleasures of life."
"That's not quite how I would have put it,” Lysander said with a laugh.
Raif groaned and squinted at the window while he pulled his clothes on.
Quin pushed me aside. “I'll make breakfast, Evie, Raif's ill enough without your help."
I shrugged; it saved me some effort.
Kadrix didn't stay for long. He ate a pastry before he kissed Quin's cheek and left with words about a business transaction. Quin was far more relaxed. He was almost glowing.
"Tell all,” I said as I poked him in the ribs.
He smiled. "We've had a talk and reached an arrangement that suits both of us."
He glanced at Raif. The cub was absorbed in his bacon and eggs, entirely oblivious to the world around him.
"We will not be monogamous; however, we will share anyone that we decide to take to bed."
I smiled and patted his upper arm. “If it makes you happy, it makes me happy."
He nodded. "It does. It's... odd, but he's worth it."
Lysander growled and muttered under his breath. I smiled sweetly at him.
"Worried I'll get some ideas, dear hound?" He scowled at me, and I laughed. "Don't worry, you're enough for me."
Once we'd finished eating breakfast, I started forming the fire around my hands. I wanted to practise. Raif looked at me with some alarm.
"What, you're fine with a hellhound, but a bit of fire scares you?" I said nonchalantly.
"He would kill me quickly, fire would be a slow painful death,” he said with his eyes fixed on the flames.
I tilted my head and pushed a little more fire through my hands. “Do you think I'd kill you?"
"You're Evelyn Hawke,” he said as he took a step backwards.
"You had no qualms with me last night."
"You weren't on fire last night."
"Evelyn, leave the poor cub be,” Lysander said.
I pouted at him and said, "Spoil sport,” as I extinguished them.
"Don't worry little wolf, I won't harm you. Unless you misbehave."
Fifty-Five
Quin and Lysander had mothered Raif, telling him that I wouldn't set him on fire. I smiled sweetly at him and let the flames dance across my fingers when the guys weren't looking. If he was going to live in my home, then I was going to have a little fun. We decided to go for a run. It was good to keep us fit, and it was nice to be together a group. It felt like it'd been so long since Quin had been with us. They'd made it clear that despite my claims to being alpha, I wasn't trading or abandoning the cub; if nothing else, we didn’t want to offend Felix and his pack. Truth be told, he wasn't a bad guy, I just didn't see why I should dote on him and make his transition easy. Life was a bitch.
They all wore sensible running attire: running shoes, sweatpants, and T-shirts. I wore my jeans, boots, and shirt. That was what I'd have to run in if I was chasing down a witch or running away from a hoard of zombies, so that was what I was wearing. Quin had raised an eyebrow and muttered something under his breath; the other two just smiled and let me get on with it. They clearly knew how this worked. We headed out around the first park, past the trees and manicured flower beds, and headed down towards the river. There were no real plans for the day, so we'd planned to continue down the river until we got to the Charles Bridge, battle our way through the tourists, then drop in and annoy Kadrix.
The air was fresh and laden with the scent of the flowers, sweet and bright. We kept an easy pace with Quin in the lead, the cub just behind him, and Lysander at my side. The river lazily meandered next to us, rooks watched us and hopped from tree to tree, hoping for some nice treat. The pigeons waddled away at a rather sedate pace; they knew nothing was going to hurt them. I hadn't had squab in a long time, and they looked like good healthy specimens. My pace was lost for a moment while I tried to figure out if those were my thoughts or Lysander's. I still hadn't figured out the bond properly. Some thoughts and feelings filtered through, but I couldn't be entirely sure when it happened.
It had to happen. We were enjoying the run, the sun was shining, fluffy white clouds scudded across the bright blue sky, then there they were. We slowed to a walk when we saw the two huge ice wolves. I recognised them that time, and given the snarl that came from Lysander, he did, too. They were somehow even more concerning in the bright light of day, their thick white fur shimmering with soft blues and greys. Faint lines flickered around them, perhaps two inches above their fur. Raif stepped forward in front of Quin. The wolves approached us, heads low, legs stiff, hackles raised. I looked around; a few tourists were milling around, but they didn't seem particularly concerned. A man came down the steps from the street above. His legs seemed slightly too long, his strides too fluid. Once he reached the broad cobbled road that ran alongside the river, we saw why. He was an abomination. His face rippled and flickered between man and beast, his eyes burned an ochre colour.
Raif took another step forward; he hadn't noticed the abomination that came at us from the side. Lysander was tense, waiting. Quin had an alchemy pouch in his hands, and I'd already slipped my celestial blades into mine. There was no reason to start a fight if we didn't have to, but there was no reason not to be prepared. The abomination walked on the balls of his feet. His legs were an odd shape. His jeans ended just above his malformed ankles. The creature growled; his muscles tightened. I groaned.
The abomination's head snapped around, his gaze focused on the cub. A dark growling laugh came from his throat as he looked the cub up and down. The wolves approached, their movements almost comically slow as they stalked the cub. They weren't within striking range. We waited.
"You will stay away and remove yourself from business that is not yours," the abomination growled.
Its voice was a scratchy, deep noise, the words rattled around its mouth before he spat them out. Raif’s muscles tightened, his gaze fixed on the abomination. He was lost to his prey drive.
"And who are you to tell us to leave things alone?"
I glanced at Quin, who rolled his eyes and began moving to flank the abomination. Lysander and I slowly split to take the wolves. The abomination's teeth were bright white and far too sharp to belong to anything remotely human. They almost looked like redcap teeth, needle-like and elongated.
"I speak for the great witch. You are interfering in her business. This is your only warning."
His eyes flicked to Quin, but Raif took the opening and tried to land a spinning kick on the abomination. The abomination caught his foot and threw him against the stone wall, where he landed unceremoniously. The wolves s
narled and went to circle around us, but the cub hadn't learnt his lesson just yet.
"And just how are we interfering with this great witch?" Quin asked casually.
The wolves were watching Lysander and I very carefully.
"Here doggie, there's a good boy,” I cooed.
It snarled at me and flattened its ears. I grinned.
"You hide that which is hers, you have gotten in her way too many times. Be grateful that she feels she has further uses for you."
I cringed when Raif leapt on the abomination's back; it was a very lycan fighting move. He was tossed over the abomination's shoulder and landed with a loud thud and crunch at the abomination's feet.
"Go back to your rat hunting and the great witch will let you be."
With that, the abomination turned and loped off with the wolves on either side of him. The cub sat up slowly and rubbed the back of his head.
"What the fuck were you—“ I started.
"Evelyn, please let me handle this,” Lysander said.
I glared at Lysander, but didn't say anything further. He crouched down next to the cub, who refused to look at him. Quin had a smile on his face and pulled his phone.
"Raif, that is not how this pack works,” Lysander said softly.
The cub nodded and kept his eyes down. "Do you know what you did wrong?"
He swallowed and said, "I rushed in without assessing the situation. I was too focused on proving myself."
Lysander stood up and held out his hand. "Have you learnt your lesson?"
The cub nodded and accepted Lysander's help up.
"If you haven't learnt your lesson, then Evelyn will kick your ass."
I grinned at him and spun my blades.
The cub glanced at me before he looked down and away. "Sorry."
Fifty-Six
We walked in silence for a few moments. Kadrix had agreed to meet us on the benches near the river.
"We now know that we have something she wants, and she was directly involved in the making of the abominations,” Quin said rather cheerfully.
"Her wolves were tinged with outside magic, too. Some of it looked like it was stolen from the elves,” Raif added.
Everyone stopped and turned to look at him.
Quin took a step closer to him. "You saw their magic?"
Raif shrugged and looked down. "Sure, it was pale blue lines woven in intricate knots like the druids used, interspersed with Nordic runes and tapestry-style weavings."
Quin looked around at us.
Lysander gave a small smile. "Can the rest of your pack see magic like that?"
"No,” Raif said very quietly.
"Wait a second, you said faint blue lines, maybe two inches above their fur?"
He nodded, but didn't look at me.
"I... saw something."
Quin grinned. "Kadrix will be very excited."
"No, no more poking,” I said.
"But this is amazing, Evie! No one outside of the fae and celestials can see magic, normally. You're both freaks."
I glared at him. "I do not appreciate being called a freak."
"I thought you'd prefer it over abomination or anomaly,” he said cheerily.
"I'd rather be a normal lycan,” Raif said.
I held up my hand. "Enough, let's keep walking and meet Kadrix."
Quin had a very excited conversation with Kadrix on the phone. He slipped between English and another language that I couldn't identify. Lysander walked next to Raif.
"Don't worry, none of us are normal. You'll fit in fine,” he told the cub.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose; I was beginning to understand the cub's angst. I wanted to be normal, and I certainly didn't want to be poked, prodded, and experimented on by the damn elf.
By the time we reached the bench where Kadrix was, with what appeared to be another elf, Raif had lifted his eyes and relaxed a little. Lysander was being quite supportive of the cub; he explained how he shouldn't have rushed the abomination and gave some pointers on better weight distribution. The flicker of maternal instincts threatened to rear their ugly head. I quashed them. I was not mother material, no matter how good of a father he'd make. Kadrix and the other elf, a delicate, almost feminine little thing, stood and smiled at us. Quin greeted Kadrix with a kiss on the cheek; they chattered excitedly for a moment before Kadrix gestured to the other elf. He had the typical high cheekbones, flawless skin, and lithe build, along with what I could only describe as lichen-green eyes.
"This is Soren, he's here to resolve the lycan cub's virginity issue,” Kadrix said.
Raif's eyes went wide, he clenched his jaw and glared at them, and Lysander laughed. I was too stunned.
Kadrix sniffed. "He's almost twenty, that's rather old to still be a virgin. Soren will take his virginity as payment for his night's services; he had indicated that he was interested in Quin, so I had assumed he'd rather a male partner."
Raif snarled and began to walk away from us. I put myself between him and Kadrix.
"That will not be necessary, thank you."
"Raif will make that step when he's ready, with someone of his choosing,” Lysander growled.
Kadrix huffed. "I was merely trying to help."
Soren and he passed a look between them. Soren smirked before he strolled off. I wondered how he maintained blood flow to his legs in such tight pants.
"Quin informed me that the witch sent her wolves to threaten you,” Kadrix said.
Raif exhaled slowly and walked back to us, his mouth fixed in a sharp line. "Her wolves had fae magic woven around them, along with her Norse magic and some druid knots." He told Kadrix matter of factly.
The cub fell under Kadrix's laser-focus. "That's not possible."
He shrugged and held his gaze. "I know what I saw."
The elf narrowed his eyes. I took my opportunity. "The abomination said that we have something she requires; that wouldn't be the same thing the celestials kept bugging you about, now would it, Kadrix?"
Kadrix waved me off. "Tell me what the magic looked like, exactly."
"Pale blue lines about two inches above the fur of the wolves, it surrounded both of them. The man-thing was covered in them, too. The Norse runes were prominent, they had a greyish tinge to them. The druid knots sat between the wolves' shoulder blades and over the man's heart. The fae magic was delicate strings that crowned their heads," Raif said while holding Kadrix’s eye-contact unblinkingly.
Kadrix ground his teeth together. "No creature outside of our kind can touch or use our magic. I need to do some digging, she's clearly something more than I had originally thought."
With that, he wandered off. We didn't see much other choice than to follow him. He clearly knew something that we didn’t, and there was no good reason to remain in the dark. This witch was strong enough to create abominations and upset Kadrix.
“You did good, little wolf,” I said to Raif.
He looked at me, a little startled, before he smiled. “It’s nice to have someone who reacts positively to my unusual skills. I suppose being a freak has some uses.”
I wrinkled my nose. I was not a freak. Admitting that I wasn’t quite normal I could handle; that gave me useful tools to kill witches with. Calling myself a freak was beyond my abilities or desires.
Fifty-Seven
We hadn't stayed in Kadrix's workshop for very long; he insisted on pacing around and eventually threw us out. We wandered up into the park, where Elise joined us. Kadrix wasn't far behind. Quin refused to drop the subject, and insisted that he tell us what was going on. The elf was walking around in circles throwing his hands up in the air while I sat and talked to Elise. I told her about Raif seeing the magic; her painted blue lips pulled upwards into a smile.
She looked past me to the cub and said, "You're from shaman lines, that's quite unusual."
He nodded slowly. "My cousin taught me about what I was and the basics of my skills. We didn't tell the rest of the pack, they were ashamed of me as it was.
"
She tilted her head and tutted. "Your abilities are something to be proud of."
He shook his head. "The shaman lines are bred out, they're impure and thus weaker. That's how they got their abilities."
She sighed softly.
I smiled. "It doesn't matter now, you're with us, and apparently we're of mixed blood, so you fit right in."
He smiled and watched Kadrix walk circles around Quin. "What's his problem? Are all elves like him?"
I laughed. "Yes and no. I have no idea what his problem is, but in my experience, all elves are similar to him, yes."
"I heard that Evelyn, and I do not like the insinuation,” Kadrix shot back.
"You don't have to like it for it to be true."
He paused his pacing to glare at me before he huffed and came over to join us. "The only way she could have used fae magic was to bind one of our number to her will. Not just any fae, they must be pure and from strong bloodlines. Do you understand what that means?"
I drew a blank. I was really wishing I’d put more effort into studying magic.
“Evelyn, I do wish you hadn’t been so closed-minded, you have potential,” he sighed. “It means that she is very strong, stronger than Serena’s coven combined with the other two below it, by herself. It also means that we were betrayed by one of our own kind. To succeed in the binding, the fae must have given themselves to her willingly, otherwise she would have broken any connection to the network."
I held my tongue; as far as I was aware fae of all stripes were always looking for a way to improve upon their situation. Aligning themselves with a strong witch seemed like a good way to do that to me.
"We do not betray our own,” he said softly.
Quin put his arm around his shoulders and held him close.
I allowed them a moment before I said, "And what does this mean now? What are we supposed to do with this information?"
"I need to speak to some people. If we can find out which type of fae the traitor was, perhaps we can track her down."