by Bonnie Vanak
Now she wished she had. Dear goddess…
She raced into the bedroom. Niki lay upon her bed, her face pale. Aiden sat next to her, his expression taut with worry.
“She can’t seem to breathe. What do we do?”
“Nothing,” Niki gasped. “You can’t do anything. Cure…Rickie and Carl…their blood will create more antibodies. Save…others.”
Nia sat beside her twin. All this time she’d thought Niki was experimenting with animals, her twin had been doing far worse.
Taking the disease into herself in an attempt to find the cure. Because Niki was female, and only males caught the disease.
“I’ll use the antidote on you,” Nia cried out. “I can save you, Niki.”
“No.” Niki coughed. “Too late. Immune…system too compromised. Tried already. Won’t work on me. Carl…Rickie…still in early stages.”
“Why? Why? Why did you do this?”
“Found chest. By the cabin. Had to make amends… I opened it, wished for a cure. For knowledge.” She gulped down a breath. “A Blakemore opened the chest and cursed us. It’s only fitting a Blakemore lifts the curse. I…wished for a magick solution…my blood could create the vaccine.”
Horror stole over Nia. That was the way the chest worked, the diabolical two-edged sword. Their father had wished for a cure for his beloved eldest daughter, but lost his sons, who were to lead the pack after him. And then the disease spread, from male to male until none were left.
And then Niki had found the chest. Her twin opened it and wished to cure the disease. She had. And now she was paying with her death.
“I won’t lose you.” Nia took her twin’s cold hands into hers, willing them to be warm, to have the blood flow, to be filled with life once more. “No, Niki. I’ve already lost Dad and our brothers. I can’t lose you.”
Niki’s gaze grew dimmer. “Afraid you have no choice, sis. I took the choice out of your hands. Be happy…with Aiden.”
Closing her eyes, Niki wheezed, her breath thin and whispery. Nia bent close to hear her.
“Pandora’s Chest…it’s in my closet, hidden by my clothes.”
Her eyes closed. “So thirsty…fridge…bottle of water. Please.”
Aiden raced to the refrigerator and returned with the water. He held it to Niki’s mouth. Her twin drank, and seemed to be a little stronger. She opened her eyes.
“Experimented with my blood. Injected the disease into my body. I’m female, immune, but have the same DNA strands as Dad, the original carrier.”
Nia smoothed back her twin’s hair. “When did you find the chest, Niki?”
Her sister’s eyes closed. “Two weeks ago. Didn’t want to tell you. Hid it. Had to wait for you to be settled, and happy. You loved Aiden…anyone could see it. Anyone but you.”
“Stubborn wolf,” she whispered.
Niki was gasping now, her face growing pale, patches of violent black spreading up her neck like wildfire.
Her twin was dying. She could almost feel the burning pain charge through her body, licking at it like fire. Two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. She’d spent her entire life shielding her sister from harm and now was helpless to prevent her death.
Please, someone help her. Please.
And then there was a brilliant flash of light in the room. Nia turned. Her heart slammed wildly against her chest.
Tristan. The Silver Wizard. The prophecy was being fulfilled at last.
“No,” she screamed, throwing out her arms protectively to hide her twin. “Don’t you dare touch her! Aiden, help!”
“You’re not getting near her.” In two strides, Aiden charged the wizard. Tristan flicked a finger and her mate sailed through the air, landing on the ground.
“Aiden!”
“Forget me. Save Nikita.”
“Don’t touch my sister.” She sprang off the bed and rushed at the wizard, hammering at his chest with her fists. Not caring if Tristan could fry her with a single flick of his finger.
But instead, he caught her in his arms. “Hush, Nia. I won’t hurt her. I’m going to save her. This is the only way.”
He gently untangled himself from her grip and sat on the bed. Tristan uncapped a glass vial he pulled from his pocket and held it to Nikita’s mouth.
“Come on sweetheart,” Tristan said softly. “Drink.”
Nikita’s lips remained blue, and closed.
“Drink,” he said more firmly. He tipped the vial up to her lips and forced it past them. “I will not let you die.”
She gasped and he poured it into her mouth, then she swallowed.
“Good,” he told her, and there was something satisfactory, almost predatory, in the wizard’s gaze. Nia could only stand by helplessly and watch.
Aiden joined her, rubbing the back of his head. He clasped her hand tightly, oh so tightly. She held onto him, feeling her world shatter as Nikita gasped for breath. She convulsed and Tristan held her, murmuring to her in soothing words she could not understand. His eyes glowed bright blue, then turned silver.
Niki seemed to recover, and he helped her to sit upright. Relief poured through Nia. Her twin would live. Oh gods, she was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.
Nikita opened her eyes. They were silver, bright and shining as chrome. Silver like the wizard’s.
Tristan placed a soft kiss against her forehead. Then he gathered her into his arms and his gaze glinted. “Mine.”
His voice deepened, almost to a guttural growl. Instinctively, Nia stepped back. Aiden released her hand and partly blocked her view, standing before her in a protective stance. Her twin closed her eyes and appeared to sleep. Tristan laid her gently back on the bed.
“What are you doing, Tristan?” he asked, clenching his fists. “She’s not yours. She’s wolf.”
“And so am I,” Tristan said.
The wizard released Nikita and stood, straightening to his full height. His eyes glowed chrome, and then amber. And then he raised his arms skyward and growled.
The wizard vanished. In Tristan’s place was a timber wolf the size of a small pony, with thick silver fur, his eyes glowing blue.
It growled at them, blocking their view of Nikita.
Nia gaped at the wolf, fear sliding down her spine. What was this? Tristan was Lupine, like them? Maybe not. Maybe his powers could enable him to shift into various forms.
The wizard changed back, his eyes now their normal dark color, his body clad in black leather pants, soft doeskin boots and a black tunic. But there was something different about him, a ruthless purpose that made Nia afraid for her sister.
Very afraid.
“Yes, Nia, I can shift into different forms. But I chose my original form for a small demonstration.” Tristan folded his arms, and she saw a glimmer of amusement on his face.
“Stop reading my mind.” This was downright spooky.
He appeared to ignore the remark and parked a hip on the bed, brushing her twin’s hair back from her pale cheeks. “I was Lupine once, like you and Aiden. Like Nikita. Many centuries ago, when Nikita and I met and fell in love.”
Sudden insight filled her. The dreams her twin had of the handsome, dark-haired stranger who looked like Tristan, dreams in which she felt loved and cherished. “Niki was your lover.”
“My wife.” A shadow crossed his face.
Niki’s dreams always turned into nightmares, because in the end, the dark-haired man screamed in pain and then vanished.
“Your wife?” Nia stared at him, and then her twin. “Your wife, reincarnated? You bastard, you loved her and you let this happen?”
As she rushed at him, Aiden caught her in his arms. “Easy, pixie,” he murmured.
Tristan gave Nia a level look. “Had your father not insisted on hiding Niki from me, he would never have needed Pandora’s Chest to cure her when she fell ill. I would have cured her when she ate the poisonous berries.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked, calming a little.
He sighed
and stroked Niki’s forehead. “I tried. I appeared to your father one night as he roamed the forest, looking for an herbal cure. He told me he would never allow me to touch her while she was alive. He would fight me to the death to keep her from me. He had already lost his mate. He was not losing his daughter. I left, knowing his eventual fate.”
Nia felt as if her world tipped on its axis. All these years she’d protected her twin, and Tristan knew she was alive. And their own father had deceived them, never telling them Tristan had actually been here, on the ranch.
“You could have interfered!” Nia burst out.
“No. I could not, not when he had not done anything evil to warrant it. I am forbidden to interfere in someone’s destiny.”
Tristan went to Niki’s closet and pulled out the chest. He shook his head. “Such a waste of life. But it will harm no one else.”
He waved a hand and the chest vanished. “Now that the chest has been returned, the curse on the land is lifted and the wildlife, and the earth will be restored to normal. There will be no more disease upon this land or in the people.”
“Where did it go?” Aiden asked.
“Back to Tir Na-nog, land of the afterworld, where it will never again be opened. It is far too dangerous.”
Nia sagged against Aiden, needing his strength. Emotion clogged her throat. Her beloved sister was going to leave her. Despite everything she’d done, she couldn’t save Niki from her fate.
But the wizard didn’t seem as if he would harm Niki. And the dreams her twin had…the man in them had loved her. If it was Niki’s fate to be reunited with this powerful being, she could not prevent it.
Sudden desolation filled her. “If you take her, I have no one now. Nothing. I can’t remain here, with Aiden. I’ll never be his equal in power or status. How can an alpha leader have a mate who isn’t even wolf?”
Aiden hugged her. “He can. I don’t care what others say. If I have to stick to you like glue to keep other wolves from attacking you, Nia, I will. Or even…leave the pack and the ranch.”
Stunned, she turned around. “You’d give up everything, your people, your ranch, your power, for me?”
“I love you, sweetheart. We’d find a way. Start another ranch of our own, forge a new life.” He kissed her, his mouth warm and firm, and she felt her nerve endings flare with new life, as if he poured a little of his powers into her.
Tristan cleared his throat. “When you surface for air, I must tell you something.”
Aiden broke the kiss, and Nia turned around to see the wizard. Kindness shone in Tristan’s dark eyes.
“Xavier told you the tears of the dragon strip away all one’s magick. It is one of life’s greatest sacrifices, to surrender all your magick for the one you love. He failed to tell you that magick is not lost forever. It resides within Aiden now. Your mate.”
Aiden blinked. “I can give it back to Nia?”
“You’re a powerful alpha Lupine, Aiden Mitchell. And so is Nia.”
“I’m not alpha,” she protested. “I’m the younger twin. All my life I’ve pretended to be something I wasn’t.”
The wizard sat on the bed, stroking Niki’s forehead with a gentle hand. “An alpha is a leader, someone who gives everything for his or her people, a Lupine willing to make tremendous sacrifices and do what is best for them. That, more than hereditary succession, is what makes an alpha.”
Aiden wrapped his arms around Nia’s waist and pulled her tight against him. It felt good to be surrounded by his strength. His love.
“What do I have to do?” Aiden asked. “Eat more of those damn crystals? Say a chant by the light of a full moon?”
Tristan grinned. “Do what comes naturally to you, Aiden. When you make love with your mate, without protection, your magick will flow into her and her wolf will return.”
Blushing, she looked away. Aiden dropped a kiss on her head. “Sounds like a plan to me, sweetheart.”
“But why didn’t Xavier tell us this?” she asked.
“If he had, your sacrifice would not have meant as much. The tears work because the person willing to give up her magick knows she surrenders all.” Tristan winked. “Besides, X was in a hurry to get to that car show. It is a very sweet cherry red Mustang.”
Then Tristan slid his arms around Nikita, lifting her from the bed. Her twin opened her eyes and Nia was relieved to see they were once again blue.
“Don’t worry about me, Nia. I’ll be fine.” Niki curled her arms around Tristan’s neck. “I’m strong.”
Nia blinked back tears. “You’d better come back to me.”
“She will,” Tristan promised. “You will see her again.”
Then he gave Aiden a solemn look. “I already used Nikita’s antidote on Rickie and Carl. They will recover and your niece, Beth, may use the antibodies in their blood to create more of an antidote just as a precaution. Take good care of Nia, alpha. She will need you.”
Tristan waved a hand and vanished with Nikita.
Nia went to the bed and felt the indentation her sister had made. Felt the warmth where her body had lain. She climbed into the bed, hugged a pillow and cried into it. For 25 years, she and Niki had been together, had supported each other through joy and sorrow. And now her twin was gone. She was alone.
And then a big, warm male climbed into bed with her, holding her tight. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I’m here.”
She wasn’t alone, after all. She had the most important person in her world. Aiden.
“I love you, Blakemore.” He stroked her hair, holding her tightly against him. “I know how much it hurts, losing someone you love. But I won’t leave you.”
“Even though you mated with the wrong twin?”
His gaze filled with fierceness, Aiden shook his head. “I mated the right twin. Like Tristan said, being alpha doesn’t have to do with birth order. It has to do with giving everything for your people, and putting them first. You put me first, Nia. That’s what true mates do for each other.”
He stroked a finger down her wet cheek. “You’re mine, Blakemore. No one, not our packs, a damn wizard or the goddess Danu herself, will separate us.”
Nia turned and faced him, her cheeks wet. “Promise? Because I love you, Mitchell and I never want you to leave me. Ever.”
“Not a chance. We’re going to make love and restore your powers.” Aiden gave a wicked grin. “And if it doesn’t work the first time, we’ll keep doing it.”
She smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
For a long few minutes, they simply lay together, the sound of their breathing filling the room. Nia’s heartbeat finally slowed and she could think straight. She buried her head against the crook of his shoulder, trembling deep inside.
Moisture blurred her vision as she lifted her head and studied him. Her male. Her mate for life.
“I just realized something. The biggest fear I’ve had all my life was losing my sister after I lost my family, so many of our pack. She was the center of my world. And then you came along and taught me how to be strong and let love push aside my fear. I fell in love with you, and you became my center.”
She rubbed her cheek against his hand. “And then I saw you, so sick, and you were dying and everything else faded away. My biggest fear wasn’t losing my sister. It was losing you. I knew then I’d have given anything to save you. Anything. Losing my magick was a small price to pay for your life.”
Aiden thumbed away a stray tear, his expression filled with tenderness. “I never imagined growing weak would make me stronger. Until I met you, I thought being alpha was what my old man said it was. Having courage and being the strongest. It wasn’t until you came into my life that I realized being alpha is much more. It’s about having the courage to love, and love deeply.”
He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her, his mouth warm and firm. Whatever they faced in the coming days, she knew they would face it together.
As equals.
END
Author’s
Note
Thank you for reading The Mating Challenge. I hope you enjoyed it!
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You’ve just read The Mating Challenge, the fifth book in my Werewolves of Montana series. The other books in the series are in order:
THE WEREWOLVES OF MONTANA
Werewolves of Montana boxed set
Prequel through Book 4.5
Prequel: The Mating Heat
Book 1: The Mating Chase
Book 2: The Mating Hunt
Book 3: The Mating Seduction
Book 4: The Mating Rite
Book 4.5: The Mating Intent
Book 5: The Mating Challenge
Lovestruck
a short story about Xavier, the Crystal Wizard
Book 6: The Mating Season
Tristan’s story, coming soon
Book 7: The Mating Game
Gideon’s story, coming soon
Book 8: The Mating Ritual
Xavier’s story, coming soon
Book 9: The Mating Captive
Cadeyrn’s story, coming soon
MATING MINIS
set within the Werewolves of Montana world
SEDUCTION
OBSESSION
PASSION
REDEMPTION