by Maia Dylan
“Come to me, my goddess,” Rohan murmured as he gently pulled her into his arms. “I will walk beside my mate to these gates, and I will fight with everything in me to get you back to your Earth realm. It is my intention that we stand together at that Pagan Stone of yours and pledge our love eternally before your friends and family and all the gods in the heavens.”
Olwen smiled as an ache settled in her chest. Here stood her man, her bear, her guard, and after everything that he had endured at the hands of her sister, his pledge to do everything within his power to protect her and bind himself to her simply broke her heart. “And when we are through that portal and standing at the Stone, I will pledge myself to thee with nothing but joy and happiness in my heart as we await our future together.”
Olwen’s eyes filled with tears, and before Rohan could ask the reason behind them, she stood and pressed her lips to his. He let her lead for a moment, and she kissed him with a desperation that had him shuddering a moment before he took over the kiss, licking into her in that way of his that had her melting.
“Oh, for god’s sake!” Fiona’s voice cut through the moment, and Olwen pulled back to look over at her Fire Elemental, who stood grinning at them. “Can you two please stop it with the public displays of affection? Those of us with mates in a completely other realm are getting a little turned on, and a shit-load jealous.”
Casey snorted inelegantly. “Whatever, Fi. How do you think we feel when you get all touchy-feely-sexy-gropy with those two wolves of yours? Just the same damn way! Besides, these two haven’t exactly had a whole lot of time to get all up close and personal on this trip. They’re probably hanging out for a little alone time, if you know what I mean.” Casey waggled her eyebrows expressively, and Olwen turned to share a knowing grin with Rohan.
Casey gasped and pointed to them. “Wait, what in the hell was that look? Did you see that look, Ari?”
Ariana chuckled as she wrapped an arm around her sister. “I sure as hell did, and the message was a clear one.”
“Yeah, it was,” Neve added from where she stood, wrapped in her own mate’s arms. “It totally said ‘we’ve been getting our freak on in the forests of the Otherworld.’” Olwen laughed despite the heat rising in her cheeks. “And now she’s blushing because we called her out. Perfect! Our job here is done.”
Rohan squeezed her a little tighter. “You all leave my goddess alone. We have done nothing to be ashamed of, and just so that you are all clear, we plan to get our freak on in the forests of the Earth realm as well. A lot.” After a beat of silence, their laughter filled the forest around them. If felt so good to be able to laugh and forget about what lay ahead of them just for a moment. “Now, come, my fellow bears.” Rohan nodded in Ariana and Liam’s direction. “Let’s shift and lead the way. My lady wishes to be gone from this place, and as her mate, it is my duty to see to that.”
A few minutes later, led by a giant grizzly and two smaller black bears, the group stepped out from the forest and came to a halt. The black metal gates of Aeron’s fortress loomed fifty feet straight up into the air right in front of them. The fortress was huge and Olwen could see the hole in the side of it, about thirty feet up, where she had leaped from the Aeron’s throne room. It was an impressive sight for sure, but that was not what had them coming to a stop. It was the fact that there was no one standing between them and the gate, and the gate was wide open.
“Well, that’s what you call anticlimactic,” Casey said down the link that connected all the Elementals together. Now that those collars had been removed, they could communicate freely once more. “Where the hell is the welcome wagon? I am getting really sick and tired of getting my hopes up for some violence, and then not actually getting an opportunity to open the can of whoop-ass I have saved up just for this occasion.”
Olwen sent her senses out as far as she could, searching for any sign of an ambush or an attack of any kind, but there was nothing. “There are only two beings in the fortress at this moment, and they are waiting for us in the throne room.” A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Rohan, can you hear me?” There was no answer, so it was only her Elementals that could communicate with her down their link, and now that they were together, somehow the link that had been open to them when they were apart was closed.
“Rohan,” Olwen said again, but this time aloud. Rohan’s large head swung in her direction. “There are only two in the fortress, waiting for us in the throne room. I am guessing one is Argon and the other would be her Captain of the guard.” There was a shimmer of energy and Rohan stood where his bear had once stood. She handed him the running shorts he had borrowed from Liam.
Rohan’s face broke into a bloodthirsty grin. “It has to be Henrick. I had thought I was not going to get the opportunity to kill that little prick. The gods are definitely smiling upon me today.”
Liam and Ariana changed back as well, and they continued into the fortress and made their way up the grand staircase that led to the throne room. All the way up the stairs, there were portraits of Aeron lining the walls.
“That’s just creepy as all fuck.” Fiona cringed as she purposefully looked away from the paintings. “Just how in love with himself was that asshole?”
Olwen couldn’t help the small bark of laughter that erupted. “More in love with himself than anything else in this world. Wait until you see the ones in the throne room. They are floor-to-ceiling size.”
Fiona made a gagging noise and pretending to shove her finger down her throat. “That sounds absolutely vomitus. I shall endeavor to simply look down and go to my happy place.”
Olwen would have liked to follow suit, but as soon as they stepped onto the landing that led into the room, everything within her turned to ice. Standing in the middle of the room, dressed in leather trousers and halter, stood her sister. Strapped to her side was the curved blade of the Uruheim, and in her other hand was her father’s jewel-handled knife. Beside her, dressed in the battle garments of his kind, stood the Uruheim fighter, Henrick.
“So nice of you to finally join us, sister dear,” Argon sneered. “Henrick and I have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time.”
Olwen sent her a small smile, faking sincerity and making sure Argon saw it. From the way her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, Olwen would have to say she caught the message. “Sorry to have kept you waiting, Argon, but I’m here now, and I have to say I am a little disappointed in your planning. I would have thought you would have had your entire army here to help you, and yet here you stand with just one guard?”
This time, it was Argon’s turn to offer a fake smile, this time one of innocence, and the hair on the back of Olwen’s neck stood on end. “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, little sister, now, would I?” Olwen frowned as Argon pulled a small glass vial out of her pocket, and placed it on the floor.
“Stop her!” Olwen yelled as she ran into the room, the rest of them right behind her, and the wrenching, familiar feeling as she passed through a barrier told her there was black magic at work here. She was still only halfway to her sister when Argon’s foot came down on the vial, breaking the glass and releasing a black smoke and a blast wave that knocked them all back a step and left her ears ringing slightly.
Olwen cast a quick look at her Elementals and saw that the three who carried animal spirits were all bent double, hands pressed to their ears. Whatever the force had been that had left her own ears ringing slightly was obviously crippling to a shifter with advanced hearing. Her blood turned to ice when she saw what stood all around them. Argon’s entire army of Uruheim fighters, somehow hidden to them all, this time, surrounded them.
“Is that better?” Argon asked, her voice dripping with satisfaction. Olwen turned back to face her and had to stop herself from simply charging at her and trying her luck and killing her before Argon’s army could stop her. She was going to have to see her plan through to the end, and having the entire Uruheim army here to bear witness may actually be a positive.
“Our powers have been bound, goddess, and Ariana and I cannot shift.” Liam’s voice came down their link and Olwen nodded slightly to indicate she had heard him. It would be as she had predicted.
“I challenge you, Argon, blood of my blood, to a fight to the death, for the honor of leading the Uruheim race!” Olwen yelled as loud as she could, and the entire room fell silent as the last word echoed around the walls. Olwen shut down the link to her Elementals as soon as they started to argue, but never took her eyes from her sister.
Argon’s face had gone slightly pale, and Olwen knew that was not what she expected. Argon would have believed that Olwen would sacrifice her Elementals and her mate before she would go into battle herself, because that was what Argon would have done.
“Olwen, what in the name of the gods are you doing?” Rohan snarled from beside her, and Olwen reached out a hand to him, loving that he took it without hesitation. She held off answering him, waiting for Argon’s answer.
Argon cast a look around her army, and she couldn’t have helped but notice the expectation among the men. The Uruheim race lauded strength and power over anything else. To decline to accept the challenge would show weakness, and that was not something Argon could allow them to see.
“I accept,” Argon spat out, moving further into the room. Olwen nodded and went to step forward, but was stopped by Rohan’s hand as he held her back, stepping forward instead.
“I challenge Henrick, currently guard to the Queen, to a battle to the death for the right to stand at her side.” Olwen smiled slowly as what Rohan was asking for registered.
“Rohan,” Argon whispered, her face filled with hope. “You wish to stand beside me? To lead at my side?”
Rohan’s laughed aloud. “Hell no! I want the chance to remove that prick’s balls through his throat”—Rohan pointed at the now-scowling Henrick—“and then once my goddess ends you, I will be exactly where the gods have always deemed my place to be. Right beside her.”
Argon went white, then an interesting shade of purple. “You have rejected me for the last time. My guard accepts your challenge, and I look forward to the moment he drops your still-beating heart at my feet. My only regret in seeing that happen is that you will not be alive to watch me kill the whore you call your goddess.”
Again, Rohan’s bark of laughter mocked her sister. “Whore? You call my goddess, this beautiful woman who stands beside me, has only ever had one lover, and will only ever have one lover, a whore? You, who have laid with the devil who called this fortress home, and probably half the army who stand behind you? How fucking hypercritical. Now, my goddess wishes to pass by and enter the realm that is lost to you forever, and before she can do that, I need to kill the piece of shit that stands beside you.”
Without another word, Rohan strode into the center of the room, heading straight for Henrick, who drew his curved sword as soon as Rohan neared. The sight of the big man swinging the sword expertly in a circle would have given any man a reason to pause.
But not her Rohan.
He kept going until he was within striking range, and when Henrick swung, Rohan didn’t step back or duck as one might have expected. He moved swiftly in toward the larger man. Henrick was slicing down with the blade and Rohan caught the wrist the wielded the knife, spun in toward him so that he held Henrick’s arm up over his right shoulder, and was almost under his arm. Then he used his momentum to slam the elbow of his left arm directly into Henrick’s nose with an audible crack.
Henrick’s eyes bulged and he made a gagging sound that had Olwen wincing in sympathy. The bastard deserved whatever he was dealt, but the sound of his nose breaking was not one she was likely to forget anytime soon. Neither was the sound of Henrick’s arm breaking as Rohan twisted the one he held up, then slammed it down on his own shoulder. Henrick’s scream of pain reverberated around the room, and the clatter of the sword hitting the stone floor was lost behind it.
“Damn, Olwen, your man seems to be a little pissed off at that dude.” The admiration was clear in Liam’s voice. Rohan threw the man over his shoulder and reached down for the blade, then stepped carefully toward the man, the blade held at his side. When he reached Henrick’s side, Rohan placed his foot against the man’s neck. Henrick gagged slightly and his good hand lifted to claw at Rohan’s ankle in an attempt to clear his airway.
Rohan looked around the room, almost daring any of the other fighters to make a move in his direction.
“My name is Rohan McGregor.” Olwen shivered at the strong Irish brogue that rolled with his full name and her heart rate doubled at the dominant display. “I have bested your superior, and with his death, I claim my rightful place as your leader!”
Rohan swung the blade and dispatched Henrick with one quick downward slice. “Is there any among you who wish to challenge me for my position?” There were a few fighters who mumbled, and as soon as others heard that there were a few who were considering stepping forward, the noise level lifted slightly. That is, until Rohan threw his head back, and roared, a sound more bear than human, and silence fell over the room once more.
Rohan stepped back and motioned to two of the Uruheim fighters to remove Henrick’s body from the room. As soon as the area was cleared, Rohan turned in a slow circle, holding his sword out as if pointing to all who lined the walls. “Now, you will all hold your positions where you stand, and allow the challenge for the rightful leader of the Uruheim people to be completed. If anyone of you takes leave of your senses and thinks to get involved, I will dispatch your head just as fast as I did Henrick’s! Whoever rises at the end of this will be our rightful queen and her word will be law. Am I understood?”
There was complete agreement from the room, and then all focus turned to Olwen and her sister. Olwen returned her gaze to her sister, and the hatred she saw shining in her eyes would have at one stage in her life caused her sorrow. Now, she felt nothing but a rising anger that should have been shocking to her, but after everything this woman had done, all the pain and suffering she had wrought not just on Olwen and Rohan, but also her father and her Elementals, she embraced it.
“So, it comes to this,” Argon said as she started to step in a slow circle and Olwen moved with her, tracking her move for move, both of them looking for an advantage over the other. “My little sister is going to take my throne from me. Why am I not surprised?”
Olwen grinned as she continued to track her sister’s movements. A quick glance out of the gaping hole in the wall at the end of the room told her that the sun was setting quickly. “Please, Argon, are we going to hear all about how I took your man from you? Gods, can’t you find another reason to hate me? We all know that Rohan was never yours. He has always been and always will be mine, so get the fuck over it.”
Argon’s eyes narrowed and Olwen waited for the strike she knew was coming, reaching around behind her to the side pocket of the sheath that housed her staff. As soon as Olwen set her weight onto her left foot, she knew Argon would strike. As Argon swung the blade, aiming to remove her head, Olwen drew the staff around her body and blocked the sword with it. Argon’s eyes widened with shock at the sight of it.
Knowing it would drive Argon a little crazy, Olwen grinned. “What? Did you think I would come into this with no weapon of my own? I don’t have the skills of my lover.” She deliberately used that word, wanting to drive Argon into a jealous rage that would result in a mistake Olwen would ultimately take advantage of. “I actually wanted to have a weapon to make this even.”
“You bringing a gemstone staff to a sword fight isn’t exactly leveling the playing field,” Argon accused as she stepped back, lifting the blade to shoulder height with both hands, and resumed her stalking side step, moving to her right so that Olwen had to step backward.
“True, but the fact that you brought an entire fucking army makes us even, I’d wager.” Olwen swung the staff above her head, and when the floor of the room didn’t buck beneath Argon’s feet, she knew. “Add to that the fac
t that you have placed a shield of some sort on the room that keeps the gem dormant, then we’re back to being even.”
This time, Argon was the one to grin. “I needed to make sure your Elementals were unable to use their powers as they did the last time. If they hadn’t had their abilities, our lord Aeron would be ruling over that realm!”
“Not wanting to split hairs,” Ariana called out, “but it might have also had something to do with the fact that the five men who stood with us at the Pagan Stone that day all had the ability to shift into animals.”
Liam made a chuffing sound that Olwen would forever think of as his bear’s laughter. “Yeah, the shifters of Freedom Springs definitely had a field day ripping that fucker pieces that day.”
“Damn, I missed my chance to eat that crazy bastard?” Rohan grumbled.
“Yeah, buddy, you did.” Liam grinned and waggled his eyebrows comically. “He made a fucking awesome chew toy.”
“Silence!” Argon’s face had returned to a sick puce color. “How dare you speak of our lord like that? He was a god! Without you, he would have ruled over that land, and I would have been at his side.” Argon glared in Liam’s direction. “I am your mate, Liam. I carry your claiming bite and yet you stand against me? Have you no honor?”
Liam’s gaze turned cold and all semblance of humor left his face. “You may wear my bite, but you sure as hell are not my mate. You stole that from me and my true mate, and if Olwen didn’t deserve the honor of taking your life, I would have it for my own.”
Another quick glance at the hole in the wall and Olwen knew that time was running short. “Move in the direction of the damage against the back of the room.” Olwen sent to her Elementals. “Through that back wall to the right is the dungeon. The portal is there. It is open, I can feel it, but it is losing strength.”
“Come, sister, let’s end this,” Olwen said calmly, already at peace with what must be done. Stepping in toward her sister, she spun the staff above her head, blocking a downward strike Argon made with her blade. With a circular motion, she forced the blade up and away from her, then moved the other side of the staff to connect with Argon’s side. She swung hard and reveled in Argon’s yelp of pain as it connected.