Compelled

by Shawntelle Madison

  “There is still business to handle in the area,” Dr. Frank said. “It’s also time for you to go, Nat.”

  I sighed. Thorn needed me now. “Do you know…” my breath caught in my throat. “If Thorn is still alive?”

  He shook his head slowly. “No, I don’t. You’ll have to discover that on your own, but the least I can do is get you back to him quickly.”

  “Thank you.” I stood, then turned to the three people still at the table.

  “I’m sorry I can’t stay and eat,” I said. God knew I was ready to take down a deer.

  “I’d be mad if you did stay,” Zoya said, wiping away a tear that fell. “Hurry back to him.”

  “Is Tyler still here?” I asked her.

  “We’ll take good care of him,” Lukas reassured me. He looked at his sister. “Or should I say my sister will take care of him?”

  Zoya blushed before she ran to me to offer a hug. “Until we meet again.”

  “Until we meet again,” I repeated. My gaze flicked to Tamara.

  “I don’t want any sad words, girl.” She chaffed. “Our paths will cross again someday, whether we’re exchanging spells or standing back-to-back in battle.”

  I nodded. “Please extend my apologies to the acolytes, Royse, Vasili, and the others.”

  “No worries.” The older woman sniffed but she didn’t cry. “They have their own path to follow as well, their own journeys they must fulfill, as do you. Hurry to your mate.”

  I could have sworn, as Dr. Frank took my hand and we vanished into a blink of light, that a proud smile broke out on Tamara’s face.

  Chapter 26

  Teleporting with an experienced wizard like Dr. Frank was a much smoother ride compared to other times. We materialized, on the ground like we should, in front of a small seafood restaurant in Finland.

  “I thought wizards could only go so far?” I asked him.

  He chuckled. “They can’t, but a good friend loaned me a gift for such a purpose today.”

  By this point, I knew the power needed for such a jump of hundreds of miles. “Oh, thank you.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He gave me a stern expression. “I expect you to contact Dr. Chainey while I’m away and make an appointment. You only have to share what you feel comfortable sharing, but I want you to do it. You’ve been through a lot since your last therapy session, a lot more than even most werewolves endure.”

  Reluctantly, I nodded. I’d have dreams for weeks about darklings, warlocks riding water demons, and the ravages of war. In particular, the dead. Having someone to talk to might be a good thing.

  “Now you go find Thorn,” he said. “I’ve kept you long enough.”

  “Thanks again, Dr. Frank.”

  “You’re more than welcome. Good luck, Natalya.”

  And then I was alone again.

  Finding Thorn shouldn’t be too hard. I followed my nose through town until I returned to Jorge’s house.

  No one answered when I knocked, so I took a chance and the front door was unlocked.

  “Thorn?” My stomach went queasy and I tried to quash the feeling. Any minute now, Thorn would show up and I’d feel stupid for getting worried.

  The front porch appeared empty and beyond that all the bedrooms. All of the beds had been made and none of them smelled like my husband. My heart sank further and further as I went from room to room, hunting and searching. Drawing my nose along counters, checking light switches. The sob in the back of my throat turned to a whine.

  I tried to call his number on my cellphone, but the line went directly to voice message.

  Don’t give up, yet. I went outside, not caring if I left the door open. One step onto the porch and I caught his faint scent from one of the cushioned seats. He’d sat there. I pressed my hands against the seat as if that would make him appear.

  “Thorn, where are you?” A faint crunch when I pressed down drew my attention. Tucked between the seat and the cushion was a single piece of paper.

  My hand shook as I read it.

  A weak wolf never dies with the pack. Take heart in this decision, my love. Don’t you dare let this bring you down. Protect the South Toms River Pack. I’ll always love you.

  And that was it.

  He’d gone off to die alone.

  The note floated out of my hand with the next cold breeze. My mouth hung open as my chest swelled with overwhelming pain. I couldn’t stop the long moan from deep inside me.

  My body collapsed on the wood floor. My eyes shut tight. So tight pain spread across my forehead until I gasped for breath. I couldn’t breathe anymore.

  What are you doing? Something whispered inside me.

  Dying.

  After everything you’ve been through, you’re gonna just give up like this? Where is the woman who crossed thousands of miles?

  Dying.

  Where is the woman who fought for the rank of alpha female?

  Dying.

  What about the scent on the paper? How strong was it?

  My head shot up and I opened my eyes. No more than ten feet away the note clung to one of the worn brown porch posts.

  Strength surged through me and I ran to the piece of paper. I drew it to my face and inhaled. His scent was there. It hadn’t been days since he wrote this. Maybe a day or even a few hours. The ink also wasn’t light, but dark as if someone had recently written it.

  I glanced around, managing to wipe the stream of tears from my face. There weren’t any tracks in the ground. There had been rainfall recently, and any scents he had around the house had been washed away.

  There had to be a way. Had to be.

  I tried to figure out what to do. At my hip, I checked the goblin blade. It was silent. Nothing more than a piece of metal suitable for opening envelopes.

  “C’mon,” I begged it. “Don’t you want to help me? For goodness sake, you fried darklings and fucking warlocks, but when I need to find one man you’re just gonna sit there and do nothing?” I sighed. “My heart is what needs help this time.”

  The goblin blade still didn’t move. Stupid blade.

  I pressed my hand to the ground. There was nothing other than the faint pull from the jump point I discovered not long ago that took me to the acolytes. I didn’t have the kind of spell to find Thorn. I was stuck. Anger welled inside me, pulsing through me, until my vision threatened to go red, but I managed to hold it in.

  Think, damn it, think.

  I stripped off my clothing. Not caring if a Finn saw me getting naked. I tucked my clothes into the backpack and left the pack on the porch. I didn’t care if anyone found it.

  Then I allowed the change to take me. It had been a while since I’d shifted. The last time had been the full moon at Tamara’s farm. This time I hurried through the process, not suppressing the cry I made as my back snapped forward and my snout extended from my face. Rushing such a thing would be like trying to rush childbirth my grandma would say. Nature took the time it needed to take a caterpillar from a worm to a butterfly.

  Pain pulsed through me, sparking every nerve-ending from my clawed fingertips to every hair follicle that sprouted dark hair on my limbs. But I rode through it, pushing the process harder. There was no time. No time left.

  The world exploded with new sights and smells as I finished the transformation. I tried to run, but I collapsed on the ground not far from where I started. A few long minutes later, I got up and searched. Feeling exhausted could come later. I ran my nose along the note and circled the house twice.

  On the third try, I caught the scent. It was so faint. A piece of him the rain couldn’t wash away.

  The trail led north. I sprinted into the forest as fast as my body could take it. Only stopping once in a while to check for the scent along the trail. I bounded around pine trees, jumping over dead trunks and rocks. For a moment, I lost his scent when I crossed a small brook, but footprints in the mud offered a new path. After a mile, snow began to patch the landscape, but a few places under the tall, thick t
rees offered shelter. A flash of red, his coat, up ahead made me race faster.

  Thorn.

  I ran to him, practically plowing into his body, but he didn’t react. My nose touched his head, hoping and praying he wasn’t dead and cold.

  He had to be alive.

  He had to hold on long enough for me to save him.

  He was mine.

  His chest rose slowly.

  I licked his face with relief and whined.

  “Damn you, woman,” he whispered. His voice was faint. Even to my ears.

  I licked him again and again. Taking in his scent as I covered him with my warm body. My fur tickled his face, and he laughed softly.

  As much as I wanted to change back and do the spell, I needed a moment to rest first. Changing so quickly would leave me too weakened to help him. So I laid my head near his and continued to protect him. Every so often, I made sure he was breathing.

  “I’m here.” He reached out and pressed his hand against my flank.

  Slowly, I let the change happen. With each breath, I pushed again. First, my right leg. Then my left. My hands and then face. Never had I ever used such concentration to go from being a wolf to a human. It was freeing in a way. Most of the time, I let the wolf take over like it always wanted to do, but this time, I was in control.

  I’d lost track of time, but when Thorn’s now warm hand tucked my hip closer to his body, I sensed I was done. He opened his coat and drew my naked body toward his.

  It was time.

  “Don’t move,” I whispered.

  I took his face between my palms. His eyes blinked as if sleep tugged at him.

  The words burned into my mind came smoothly. Unlike when I had to free the old magic spellcasters, there was no doubt in my mind this time. My heart swelled as the power pumped through me, and death’s dark hue around him was exposed to me as I spoke. It was dark gray and slithered around him like spreading ink in water. I continued to speak, feeling the magic tug at the blackness around him, slowly plucking it away. The curse retreated and turned from black into an opaque white that disappeared.

  By the time my skin chilled from the cold and the sun sat on the horizon, the darkness was gone.

  My beloved was free.

  “Home?” he murmured finally.

  “Definitely. As soon as possible.”

  “So how are we getting there?” he asked weakly.

  “Ha!” I couldn’t help laughing. “First I need some clothes. Then you and I are getting passports, and we are getting on a plane and flying like normal people. I don’t care how much it costs. No more teleporting. No more casting spells. I want to have a normal life—as normal as I can—for at least the next decade.”

  He kissed my neck. “Normal sex, too?”

  “Boring, normal sex. Dry humping if necessary.”

  He smiled sweetly at me. “I can work with that.”

  “So much has happened to us and I’d rather face our issues back home than what we’ve gone through. I’m about to get royally chewed out when I get back, but a new Natalya Stravinsky is ready to make her mark on South Toms River.”

  Chapter 27

  Our flight back to the U.S. was the smoothest experience I’d ever had. Even the drive from the airport in Newark to South Toms River had gone off without a hitch.

  The multiple plane rides had taken nearly a day to complete, but with Thorn at my side, everything was damn near perfect. Even the mystery salmon dish for the airline meal didn’t taste that bad.

  But as we approached my parents’ house that evening, my heartbeat sped up and my grip on Thorn’s hand tightened.

  “Don’t be scared,” he said.

  “I’m not.”

  “Then how come I feel like you’re about to break my hand?”

  “We have been apart for a while. I’m catching up…”

  “Mmm-hmmm.” He gave me a side glance that told me I wasn’t fooling anyone.

  After Thorn pulled into the driveway, I took a moment to breathe and wipe the sweat off my palms. Then I opened the car door. Might as well get it done and over with. I walked with Thorn up to the house. Someone must have heard the car, the door was open and my mother waited behind it. Her grip on the door tightened and her blue eyes widened as she took me in.

  Almost as if she didn’t expect to see me.

  I caught the scent of dinner through the door. Mom had prepared fried duck for Dad and Grandma.

  Dad joined Mom at the door. They didn’t say a word, merely getting out of the way as Thorn led us inside.

  We stood in the middle of the living room as Grandma entered from the dining room. At the sight of me, her eyes brightened. Then she caught the glare from my father.

  “I brought her back, Fyodor,” Thorn said. “Or, I should say, your daughter brought me back.”

  My dad didn’t move. Besides the loud thumping of my heart, the only other sound that bled in was the bubbles from the soup cooking in the kitchen.

  Suddenly my dad rushed in to hug Thorn. The big man practically smothered my husband then pulled him back to bring their foreheads together. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again, boy. Things had been...grim for you.”

  My family continued to face Thorn and I waited for what was to come. Would my dad reach for me next? But my mother hugged Thorn instead, then my grandma got a chance. She kissed his cheeks and looked him over.

  “I can see you’re healing again like you should,” she said softly to him.

  “Yes, Mrs. Lasovskaya.” He ran his fingers through his blond hair, the grays long gone.

  “I told you to stop calling me that. You’re my grandson now. Call me Grandma.”

  “I’ll try to remember next time.” Thorn took my hand and tugged me toward Grandma as if to say, “Your turn.”

  Dad stepped forward, avoiding Thorn’s eyes out of respect. “Thorn, I need you to leave for a moment.”

  Thorn and I exchanged a glance. I knew this was coming, but I managed to remain steady. I was ready for whatever was to come.

  “There are words that need to be said to my daughter,” Dad said firmly. “Not to your mate.”

  Thorn didn’t let go of me. “I want to shield her.”

  Dad sighed. “That doesn’t matter right now.”

  A loud knock on the door interrupted the moment. Mom hurried to open it. I held back a groan as all my relatives in South Toms River bounded inside and filled the room.

  I was so screwed. None of them looked happy. Aunt Vera scowled and Aunt Olga looked about ready to use the fancy pair of high heels she had on to knock me out. All my aunts and uncles, followed by the cousins and such found a place to stand in the living room. My brother and his wife, who held the baby, came in last. I’d hate to say it, but even Sveta didn’t look pleased either.

  “Five minutes,” my father said. He coughed and looked at everyone else who didn’t hide his or her displeasure. “Make that about ten.”

  Thorn looked to me and I jerked my head toward the door. I got this, my eyes said. He reluctantly left to wait on the lawn with his arms crossed.

  And so the conveyor belt of castigating began. Mom got a piece of me first.

  “Are you out of your mind, Natalya Stravinsky?” she barked in Russian.

  Based on past experience, I knew silence was the key. My mouth threatened to open, but Grandma made a subtle motion, drawing her fingertip across her mouth. Zip it, girl.

  “I worried about you for days after you left.” She pointed to Grandma. “Your grandma couldn’t sleep or eat properly while you were gone. And she’s too old not to eat.” By the time she finished, she was breathless, her face a deep red.

  I expected her to even slap me, but she pulled me into a hug. Mom smelled so good—like a warm blanket you wrapped around yourself for protection on the darkest of days. The hug was so unexpected, it took my breath away. Then she released me and Aunt Vera closed in before my dad could step in. And so on and so on.

  Even my younger cousins got
to have a word or two.

  But no one looked me in the eyes—which was rather amusing. I kept a straight face the whole time, listening to my punishment and accepting the embrace when it came.

  And finally, my dad approached me. Big Fyodor Stravinsky who stood far taller than me with his imposing girth.

  “My daughter is a fool.” He was so close I could make out the stubble growing on his face. I could take in his familiar and comforting scent. “A brave fool.”

  I wanted to say, “I’m your brave fool, Papa,” but I remained silent.

  He took me into his arms and I didn’t stop myself from sighing. I’d come so far since I’d been pushed out of the pack.

  Grandma came last, walking silently across the floor. I waited for her words, but she reached up and cupped my face. Her hands were so soft. She gently kissed my cheeks again and again. “I can’t be mad at you, vnuchka. Never. A granddaughter I’d never forsake.”

  She took me in, smiling with her soft brown eyes. “You did good, girl.”

  “Thank you, Grandma.”

  After that, I noticed a few family members had helped themselves to Mom’s food and began to sit and eat. She always made too many servings so everyone would be fine. The visitors weren’t done yet, though. Thorn came back inside to greet pack members. More werewolves from South Toms River came by, paid their respect to the returned alpha, and left again with bowed heads.

  Even Rex came to the house towards the end.

  “You look good, Thorn.” He strolled up to Thorn, but left a healthy distance between them. Briefly, he looked in Thorn’s eyes, but looked away just as quickly.

  “Thanks. I appreciate you taking care of things while I was gone,” Thorn said.

  There was hidden meaning behind his words. Almost as if they had been carefully chosen. My husband rarely smirked at his friends, but I caught the hint of one in his face this time.

  “As always,” he replied. “I’d do it whenever needed.”

  “Hello, Rex.” I looked at him this time, but he didn’t look in my eyes either. Not once.

  “Natalya, it’s good to have you back.”