by Bryce Evans
“I want to be with Me-Len.” Sage said, with no emotion in her voice. He could see the look in her eyes and knew that she was fighting for control, but she still needed her family and right now that wasn’t him.
“Okay.” Brody nodded. He couldn’t say that it didn’t hurt that she wanted to be with Me-Len; like any mate, he wanted to be the one that held her and comforted her during this time. Brody walked around and opened the door for her. “Let me tell Ryder that we will be following them to their house.”
Her eyebrows rose, “Oh, I thought she would be staying at your house.”
“Let me ask what she wants to do. If she wants to go home then I can take you there. She will need you and you will need her.”
Brody started to close the door when Sage grabbed his arm. “If I forget to tell you…thank you.”
His eyes were glued to where her hand was holding him. Her touch was so soft and he never wanted her to let go. He knew he had his work cut out for him, but now it was going to be extremely hard. Sage was back in control and she had a hard time trusting anyone, including him, but this was progress.
Placing his hand over hers, he spoke softly, “I would do anything for you.” He held the door open, just staring at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, but finally he pulled away and closed the door. She was beautiful to him in every way. He wanted to throw his fist up toward the sky in joy that he’d found his mate, but that sure as hell wasn’t appropriate right now. Instead, he walked over to Ryder’s vehicle and spoke to Me-Len.
Chapter Four
Lex was already making food for everyone when they walked into the house. The smell was pure heaven. Lex was a master chef. It didn’t matter if he was just making soup and sandwiches, it always smelled wonderful. He wanted Sage to have that right now. This would soon be her home as well, and he wanted even the scent to draw her into him.
Her family was around her in his home and that was a start. Hopefully, this was the start of many dinners here with his friends and family. Me-Len decided to stay here with Sage, saying that she would need her, but in fact they both needed each other. Ryder brought London over as well, knowing that she also needed to be close to her family. London didn’t know Sage very well but she wanted to get to know her, and Brody was just glad that his mate was going to be with him on his land. Of course it didn’t matter, Brody would stay wherever his mate was.
“Lex, you will make your mate very happy.” Me-Len said as she put her spoon down watching the bear cook.
Lex smiled. “Since I was a cub, my mother taught me and my brothers how to cook. She said that we may never meet our mate, but if we did then we needed to be prepared because she may not be able to cook.”
Everyone laughed. Brody’s mother had done the same for him, and he could cook, too. Brody wanted to share the duties around the house with his mate. He wanted to ask Sage if she could cook, but she stared into her bowl without speaking. Whispering, he leaned over and asked, “Do you want me to fix you something else to eat?”
Sage stared down at her bowl, her hand moving the spoon around in the bowl, but she wasn’t listening. She glanced up, finally realizing that the room had gotten quiet and all eyes were on her. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”
“Do you want me to fix you something else to eat?” Brody gently repeated.
“Oh, no. It was great. I’m just not hungry.” Sage answered. The room got quiet again when she asked, “Why does she want the Book of Thoth open?
As if on cue, they all looked to Me-Len for the answer. “In her warped mind, she thinks she can use the spells in the book to control the supernatural world and the humans as well.”
Shaking her head, Sage insisted. “Nobody but Thoth can use those spells. Nothing in that book is made for shifters or paranormals. Thoth is a god, not a human or paranormal.”
“Claudia knows that, but the woman has tapped into something darker and more evil who urges her on. Who knows what evil she is using for power and what it will cost her in the end. If she does get that book open, the magic will turn on her. I’m not sure what it will do to her. You see, it’s not meant for this world…for our kind. But Claudia has been tainted and warped from seeing anything good, or to even realize that using that magic would most likely kill her. She thinks she is stronger than everyone else and is willing to take a chance.”
Brody listened as Sage’s breath shook, “She needs to feel pain, the pain of losing someone who meant the world to her.” Sage looked away, inhaling deeply trying to keep the tears from falling. “Before she dies, she needs to learn a lesson and feel the agony ten times over that she has caused others.”
Patting her hand, Me-Len answered, “She does, but we need to do this the right way, Sage. If we don’t, then more people can get hurt or killed. I didn’t get much time with your mom, but we talked all the time on the phone before you and she left for Claudia’s. The last words she spoke were about you. She said to take care of you, and if anything happened to her to make sure to not let you do anything crazy. I told her to hush because nothing was going to happen to her, but it was like she was trying to tell me something.” Me-Len let out a harsh breath. “Please give me your word, Sage, that you won’t try anything. I can’t lose anyone else that I love. Please!”
Sage only nodded. Her mother also had a gift of premonition. She probably knew what was going to happen and instead of trying to change it she let it all play out. She couldn’t make that promise right now. Her mom’s maimed body nailed into that sign was still fresh in her memory. If she got the chance, she was going to take that woman out. And YES, nails would be used.
Turning toward Me-Len, Sage could see and feel her grandmother’s desperation. “Swear it, Sage. I need that. I can’t lose you, too!” Me-Len begged.
Seeing the misery on Me-Len’s face and the tears falling from her eyes made her heart hurt even more. Giving in for now, Sage closed her eyes and answered, “I swear it, but when the time comes, I’m going to kill her over, and over, and over again. There will be nothing left of her when I’m done.”
Me-Len nodded. “When the time comes, I will be right beside you.”
“We all will,” London chimed in along with the whole table. Me-Len put her hand out and Sage wiped her tears then put her hand on top of her grandmother’s. The rest all put theirs on top of hers, showing Brody’s mate that they all would be there with her.
Pulling her hand away, Sage noticed how tired Me-Len looked. She glanced out the window and found that the sun was going down. Where had the time gone? She had been lost in her own thoughts and they had let her. She found it odd since the group of shifters and witches normally seemed so chatty, but they had left her to grieve and think. Even the bear who kept watching her every action never said a word. She figured he was waiting for her to break down again. She wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
“I think I’m going to lie down.” Me-Len stood up with her mate. “Good night everyone.”
Me-Len hugged London and Sage before she left the room. “Get some sleep, girls. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
“Sage, I’m going home, but I will be here in the morning to help with your mom. You’re not alone in this. Remember, we’re family.” London hugged Sage, then Ryder put his arm around his mate and left. It was odd, this feeling she had. Despair was there but it was knowing that she wasn’t alone anymore. She had a family now and her mom would have loved that she had that bond. She wasn’t here to enjoy the companionship, to revel in the moments of the laughter and she never would.
* * *
He wanted to pick her up and put her in his lap. Her shoulders slumped as she stared down at the table. “Are you okay? Do you need something?” Brody went to her side, sitting down beside her.
“I feel lost—like I don’t know what to do.” Sage looked up at him with those big, beautiful green eyes. “How can I feel like that? I’m overwhelmed with the loss of my mom, but I need to do what she would expect of me…but where do I sta
rt?”
Brody turned toward her stool and picked up her hands. “Right now, you don’t need to do anything. Right now you need to rest. We will say goodbye to your mother and give her the burial she deserves…then we execute the plan we have in place. Don’t think about anything else. We’ll take it one minute at a time. Okay?”
Sage just stared at him. “Okay.” Her eyes drooped as they sat in silence.
She was exhausted. He didn’t know how she was keeping it together now. Then, without asking her, he stood up and picked her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom. She didn’t complain or speak at all. Her head just slumped over onto his chest. Despite the sad occasion, it was great feeling her in his arms. She weighed practically nothing.
Putting her on her feet, he pulled the covers back then pulled her over to the bed and urged her to lie down. “I’m going to take your shoes off. I can turn around if you want to change clothes.”
When he glanced up at her, she was already asleep. He sat silently on the side of the bed, just staring at her. She was beautiful. “Nobody will ever hurt you.” He smiled, thinking about her temper. She was a fireball just like her long red hair, and had the greenest eyes he had ever seen. When she yelled out into the crowd that she was going to kill Claudia Blackwood, he’d wanted to stand up and applaud. There was no doubt in his mind that she would try to do it, too, but not one beautiful strand of her hair would be damaged, or he would be the one doing the killing. He really needed to find out more about his mate. Would she be the silent but deadly type that would go off on her own and do something stupid, or was she the type to plan everything out carefully? Whatever she was, he would need to go and make some plans of his own with his beta and guards. He meant what he said; not one hair on her head would be harmed. That was a promise.
Chapter Five
Sage jerked awake, looking around the room. For a moment she thought she was back at the castle. She forgot where she was. Then it hit her why she was here, and what had happened to her mother. She could feel the tears forming, but closed her eyes and willed them away. Getting up, she walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. “No more tears.” Scrunching up her face, she stared and pointed at herself. “Not one more until that witch is dead.” With that being said, Sage turned on the shower and stripped her clothes off.
There was a lot to do today. She was going to take the bear’s advice and take it one minute at a time. First, she needed to have her mother’s funeral. Give her something she couldn’t give her mom in life and that was peace. The woman was a saint and she didn’t deserve this. “I’m going to kill you Claudia. I want you to watch as I rip that cold black heart out of your chest right before you die,” Sage muttered to herself, but she meant every bit of it.
When she walked into the kitchen, Brody was just setting a pitcher of orange juice on the table. She had to admit that she liked the feeling of seeing his big brown eyes light up when she walked into the room. Nobody had ever shown her that kind of love. Shaking her head, what was she thinking? Love? How absurd.
“Hey,” Sage whispered. Looking down at the table, she couldn’t believe the amount of food that was laid out. Her eyes widened as she asked, “I hope you don’t expect me to eat all of that?”
“You can eat as much as you want. I can make more if we need it.”
“Are you expecting a crowd?” Sage asked, worried that she was going to have to eat it all before the food spoiled.
Brody frowned then looked around the table. “No, why?”
“Because you have enough food to feed an army.”
“No it’s just Lex and some of my staff. We fix this much all the time.” Brody said. She smiled and sat down. He was a bear shifter and of course they ate a lot. She watched as Brody pulled more biscuits out of the oven and placed them in a bowl. He sure was good looking, dressed in a white long sleeved shirt and tie. Propping her hand on the table, she continued to study the shifter as he cut up fruit and placed it in a bowl. He said they were mates. To be honest, she’d never thought she would marry or find anyone who liked her company enough to stick around. Nobody ever stuck around. What was it the other guys had said? Oh yeah, she was too smart, she read too much…and the best one was when they told her she didn’t know how to have fun. Maybe they were right? Who was she kidding, they were all telling the truth. She wasn’t fun at all and didn’t know how to have a good time. She never had friends or anyone except her mom to hang out with. Her dad made sure of that. Nobody is good enough for our kind, he would say. She loved him, but how much had she missed out on until she figured out he was wrong?
So how could she be a mate to the sweetest man she had ever met? Of all the Alphas, they said that Brody King was the warmest one of all. Everyone loved him and thought the world of him. She watched him around the others and he was loved by all of them. He loved them just as much. But he truly thought they were mates and she didn’t know how to tell him he was wrong. She wasn’t meant to be with anyone. She had already resigned herself to that fact years before.
“I see you’re debating with yourself,” Brody commented as he continued to cut the strawberries and put them in the bowl.
Could he read her mind? “Why do you say that?”
“When you are thinking hard on something, you get this little crinkle in the middle of your forehead. You look like you’re fighting with yourself, and you are too pretty to beat yourself up like that,” Brody explained.
“How do you know that?” Sage was astonished at how perceptive he was. He hit the nail on the head. But how could he know that? They just met two days before, and not on a good note. In fact, she had zapped him with her magic slinging him into trees, but no matter how rude she was to him, he kept coming back to her.
He smiled. “Because I’m your mate and I feel it here.” Brody patted his chest where his heart was.
No way, she thought. She leaned forward. “Brody, you don’t even know me. You wouldn’t believe what my other dates said about me—”
“Who said something about you?” Brody put the knife down and stared at her. He waited for an answer.
“Nobody you would know, but it’s true. I know it. I’m everything they say that I am.”
Brody walked over and sat down beside her. His voice was childlike as he asked, “What do they say about you?”
Sage laughed. Her eyes widened. “That I’m boring, I read too much, and that I don’t know how to have fun…stuff like that.” She forced a smile, trying to pretend that it didn’t bother her, but it was obvious that she didn’t fool Brody since she could hear the growling and could see him getting angry at her words. Putting her hand over his, she said, “It’s true, I don’t know how to have fun, and I do read a lot. In fact I love to read. I would rather read than talk to people. What does that tell you? As a child growing up, my father was very strict and never let me play with other kids. He said I was special.” Sage shook her head and squeezed his hand. “I’m not special. I’m actually quite boring. I love weird stuff.” When Brody tilted his head, she explained. “You know, like coming up with spells and messing around with potions that help people. You don’t want to be stuck with someone like me. You’re fun and everyone loves you. Fun wraps itself around you. I would only bring your happy attitude down.”
Placing his hands on her face, Brody leaned forward and lightly kissed her. His lips were so soft. She could hear her heart beating faster and faster as he gently touched his lips to hers again. Pulling away he said, “It’s time you get to know something about me. I love to read. I haven’t taken you to my library yet, but I would like to. I have hundreds of books and yes, I have read most of them. And the douche bags who said that were fools, because you’re anything but boring. You, Sage Wingate, are the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
Sage couldn’t help but smile before he leaned forward again and kissed her. This time she closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel and taste his sweetness, and he tasted like fresh strawberries. Appare
ntly, Brody liked them too. She would always recall this time in her life and remember this special moment.
They both looked over at the door when they heard someone clear their throat. Me-Len and her mate Meryl were standing at the door. Sage pulled away first, like she was a child and had gotten caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do. She liked it a lot, though. The getting caught part made her feel alive for once.
“Come eat,” Brody said then got up and went back to cutting fruit. “Fill your plate before Lex and the others get here, or they will eat it all.”
Sage smiled as Me-Len sat down beside her and hugged her. “How did you sleep?
“Not good, but I know your mom would have wanted us to carry on and finish this…and we will finish this, my sweet girl. Claudia has weaknesses and we have to capitalize on those weaknesses. Just remember the best revenge is to survive and keep going. Claudia hates that. She can’t control it and it makes her angry, which is good because when she gets angry, she makes mistakes. We have a meeting after the funeral, and Maggie has come up with some names of possible suspects. MJ has some news, too.”
“MJ?” Sage asked.
“You will meet her today.” Me-Len said. “A special lady who…well, she can do special things. I think you two will get along great. Maybe one day she will be your best friend. I just have this feeling about the two of you.” Sage didn’t know if her grandmother was just saying that to cheer her up or if she really meant it. However, she didn’t believe it. Nobody wanted to be her best friend.
“Everyone eat up, because this will be a long day.” Brody cut in then placed a plate filled with fruit in front of her. She stared down at the plate in shock. It was all of her favorites. He even had watermelon on the plate—all of it was cut up in cubes. How did he know she liked fruit and vegetables more than anything? He even cut it up, just like she liked it.