“Forgive my brother’s teasing, Lady Corrine.” Aeron threw Alak a dirty look and stood to lightly bow to her. “You’ve honored our people by letting our village host your mating night. May the Goddess grant you joy in all things and may your love burn forever bright.”
“Thank you for your blessings, Aeron.” Corrine took the basket and smiled back at him.
“We need to be on our way now, I’m afraid,” Gabe said, taking Corrine’s free hand in his own. “Thank you both for your hospitality. Are you still intending to accompany us back?”
“As the Goddess wills it, so shall it be done,” Alak answered and turned to walk towards a path in the treeline. “Come, we will lead the way.”
Gabe followed behind the Dark Fae, leading Corrine by the hand behind him. Braxas came next and then Alak. Corrine was just looking forward to being home once again now that she was mated. When she’d first realized that Braxas was also meant to be hers, she couldn’t imagine how the Goddess could be so cruel. To give her two glorious mates, only to have them both be Alphas from different territories. She had thought it would be an impossible task to bring them together. The Goddess worked in mysterious ways indeed. Gabe and Braxas had surprised her with the strength of their love and determination to make their mating work no matter what. Corrine never imagined she would be so blessed.
About fifteen minutes into their journey, Alak called out to his brother. “Aeron, I think we are far enough from the village.”
Aeron simply stopped and nodded. Then he closed his eyes and extended his hands out towards the ground. She felt a peculiar breeze move all around them and the strange tattoos on the Dark Fae’s skin began to slowly move. For a second it seemed as though time stopped altogether, and then as suddenly as it had started, the wind stopped as Corrine blinked in disbelief when she recognized the portal through the Veil directly in front of them.
“What just happened?” Braxas whispered from behind her, pulling her closer to him.
“We are at the portal,” Alak said shrugging and continuing to walk towards it. “Would you have rather wasted two days traveling?”
Gabe looked back at her, and she imagined he could tell from the shock on her face that she had no idea this kind of magic was possible.
“You mean to tell me that Ishaya could have spared us those days of madness, letting the poison in our blood almost destroy us all?” Gabe growled low, his wolf rising to the surface with his temper.
Alak met Gabe’s angry face on, his own eyes narrowing. “We do not serve you, wolf.”
The High Dorum stood his ground, not even blinking in the wake of the furious Alpha, but his brother once again took a more diplomatic route, stepping forward.
“Ishaya does not wield these kinds of powers. They are gifted to only to a few of us in the service of our Goddess,” Aeron calmly explained. “You traveled as you were meant to.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Braxas chimed in, his grip on Corrine tightening. “Do you have any idea what we went through to get to you?”
“The Goddess Ryssana need not explain her motivations to you,” Alak replied haughtily.
“For the love of the Goddess, Alak,” Aeron sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother. “Stop taunting them.”
Corrine could have sworn she saw Alak’s mouth curve into a devious smile as he turned to walk towards the portal. He was a troublemaker. There was no doubt in her mind about that.
“Truly, all we can tell you is that there must have been a reason the Goddess sent you on your journey,” Aeron explained. “Sometimes in life, the lessons are to be learned along your path and not at your destination.”
Gabe and Braxas seemed to calm down at Aeron’s explanation. She could feel their anger slowly recede along their link.
“Your brother is a dick,” Gabe said before he grabbed Corrine’s hand and pulled her along behind him, her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Gabe,” she whispered, “you shouldn’t speak to them like that. The Goddess can probably hear everything.”
“Well, then she probably knows he’s a dick, too,” Braxas added in Gabe’s defense as they approached where Alak was waiting for them.
“You won’t hear me disagree with you, wolf,” Aeron said with a smirk towards Alak’s scowling face as both men raised their hands towards the portal and the gateway opened up.
Corrine exhaled loudly when they set foot back on the human side of the Veil. She was shocked when she realized that she now thought of this realm as home. This was where her mates were, where the rest of her pack and family were. A smile grew on her lips at that thought, and she squeezed the hands of the men she loved, causing them both to smile back.
“It smells odd here.” Alak scrunched up his nose as if he’d just stepped downwind of an outhouse. “What is that?”
“Yes, there is a definite metallic taste to the air here,” Aeron agreed.
“It’s probably the pollution from machinery you can smell,” Corrine said. She thought back to when she first crossed over all those years ago. “It took me some time to get used to it. I can’t even notice it now.”
Gabe took a deep breath. “That way is home,” he said pointing in the direction of their property through the trees. “Come on. It’s only a short walk to the house.”
She watched the twins as they exited the woods and finally came to the edge of pack lands, their expressions guarded, but Corrine could tell some of what they saw surprised them. She had to stifle a giggle when they approached the driveway and Alak’s hand went to his blade as if he expected the parked trucks to attack him.
“What are these beasts?” Aeron whispered to her, but he took his cue from the rest of the group, and since they weren’t concerned, it seemed that he wasn’t going to be either.
“The trucks?” Braxas asked, turning to look at him, “They aren’t alive. They’re machines we use to travel.”
“Machines?” Alak went closer and poked one with the tip of his blade as if trying to make sure it wouldn’t attack.
“Hey!” Gabe grumbled. “I just waxed that. You’ll scratch the paint.”
“Let’s go inside and get you two settled,” Corrine said taking Aeron’s arm and leading him up the stairs to the back porch. “There will be plenty of new things to show you in the house, and I seriously need a bucket of coffee.”
Donovan opened the door and met them as they approached, but the look on his face, however, told her that something was wrong.
“What’s happened now?” Gabe sighed as he stepped past his Beta and led the rest of them into the kitchen.
“It’s the cougars.” Donovan looked at Braxas. “They were attacked by the rogues. Katrina called and she sent most of your people here, Braxas, but she said she was going to track their attackers.”
“Fuck,” the cougar growled. “Corrine’s vision!”
Corrine couldn’t remember seeing him so angry before. “Was anyone—”
“Katrina said there were a few injuries—one serious—but everyone survived,” the wolf Beta continued. “April and Erica will heal them once they arrive. I tried to convince Katrina to come here first and wait for you, Braxas, but she’s very … shit, well, she’s stubborn as hell.”
“Yes, I am aware of that,” Braxas grumbled as he called his second. “Kat! Pick up the damned phone.”
“I’m sure she’s all right.” Corrine tried to soothe some of the worries she could feel coming from her mate. “And the rest of your pard is all right and on their way here to where it’s safe.”
“Yes,” he sighed and pulled her in for a hug, “but Katrina had better stay out of trouble. We have no idea yet who we’re really dealing with in all this mess. She’s going to drive me crazy.”
“We’ll find her,” Gabe added before turning back to his Beta. “Donovan, we’ll need to make sure that all the cabins and bunkhouses are ready for the rest of the pard.”
Corrine yawned, and kept her eyes closed for a moment, just en
joying her mate's embrace.
“Baby, you’re tired.” Braxas pulled back and gave her a gentle kiss. “Why don’t you go on up and take a nap? We’ll get Alak and Aeron settled in here.”
“Are you sure?” She looked back at the twins, who were now rummaging through the fridge with fascinated expressions. “They’re going to have a lot of questions, and you two didn’t get much sleep either.”
“We were the ones who kept you up, remember?” Gabe said, giving her a wink. “We will pay the consequences. Besides, we’ll just make them some sandwiches, give them a case of beer, and set them in front of the TV. That’s how you babysit men, darling.”
“All right, if you say so,” Corrine said. She laughed when Braxas gave her a swat on the ass as she passed by to get to the stairs.
“We’ll come up and join you in a few hours, love,” Gabe said with a smile. “Oh, and you may as well go to my room because that’s where we’ll be moving all of your things tomorrow.”
“Is that right?” She gave him a saucy smile over her shoulder. “Do you think now that we’re mated the Goddess has performed a miracle and I’ll do everything you say?”
“Nah, baby,” Gabe replied right before he gave her a wink. “I’m just counting on your common sense to get my way. My bed’s the only one big enough for the three of us.”
****
Corrine opened her eyes and smiled as she stretched out and dual grunts sounded out on each side of her. It felt so good to be safe at home, snuggled in between the two men that she loved. She took a glance at the clock. Yikes! She’d been napping for more than four hours, and at this rate, she’d never sleep tonight.
“I’m going to go get something started for dinner,” she said, getting out of bed quickly and deftly avoiding her mates’ grasping arms which were trying to keep her in bed. While hunting for her clothes, she asked, “How were the guys doing when you left?”
“They accused us of using dark magic to spy on others when we put the hockey game on,” Gabe grumbled, “but once we explained that the people knew they were being watched, they seemed to enjoy it.”
Corrine dressed quickly then went downstairs to see how her guests were adjusting to being on this side of the Veil. She stopped abruptly when she came into the living room and found them engrossed by the television, scattered empty food packages littered all around them.
“Have you guys been watching TV this entire time?”
“Lady Corrine!” Aeron stood, a look of relief on his face. “We’re so glad you’re back. After studying your people on the viewing crystal we are concerned.”
“Indeed, this Mother of Dragons could be quite a powerful adversary.” Alak didn’t take his eyes off of the blonde woman on the television. “Does your pack have an alliance with her? If not, we need to come up with some spells that would work against the kind of beasts she controls.”
Corrine tried to keep the smile off her face as she picked up the remote and turned off the Game of Thrones marathon that had them so worked up.
This is exactly the kind of thing that happens when you leave men to babysit.
Chapter Twenty
“I am telling you, brother, there is magic involved in this,” Gabe heard one of the twins say in the main living room. Gabe stepped silently from the stairs he’d just walked down and stood by the door. Because the two bastards sounded exactly the same, Gabe had no clue which one had spoken.
“You have said that about everything we have encountered since we stepped through the Veil,” the other one answered with a patient note to his tone, and Gabe was willing to be money that it was Aeron.
“But this goes beyond everything that we have seen so far, Aeron.”
Ding, ding, ding!
“How are they able to speak to other people through those small metal devices?” Aeron continued. “I heard Lady Corrine talking with the mate of the large dark-haired male, Donovan, and when I asked where this woman, April was, Corrine said in a store called ‘Cost-co’ that is over an hour away from here in one of their mechanical beasts! They have no telepathic skills, so how is this possible?”
Gabe stepped into the room with a grin he knew could be described as shit-eating. “It’s called a phone, oh exalted one, who can travel from one destination to another in the space of a second. We’ll hook you up with a cell phone and an internet connection so you can Google this shit and get the answers. Hell, I’ve even heard of people Googling themselves to see what turns up!”
Both men scowled at him, and Gabe saw Alak’s sword hand twitch.
Alak growled. “I do not wish for this internet connection to do the Googling on me. I do not think the Goddess would approve.”
Gabe threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Fuck me, I don’t remember Corrine being so quick to leap for the sword every time she encountered anything new. Must be that male insecurity shit she is always accusing me of.”
Donovan stepped into the room, a quizzical look on his face, no doubt put there because Gabe was not one to laugh out loud much. “Alpha, your mates are waiting for you in the kitchen. The rest of your council members are on their way, and Braxas is reaching out to the senior members of his pard, as well.” Donovan rubbed his hands with glee. “I do so love a little wartime planning as a starter to a meal.”
Gabe was still grinning like an idiot when he stepped into the kitchen, Aeron and Alak right behind him. His heart swelled at the sight of his woman standing at the stove, and he walked straight to her, pressing against her back, and placing an open-mouthed kiss against his claiming bite. Fuck, it did something visceral to him seeing his mate wearing his mark.
“About time you got your lazy ass outta bed, Gabe. Braxas has been down for a half hour helping,” Corrine murmured as she replaced the lid to the pot she had finished adding stuff to.
Gabe growled against the soft skin of her neck and delighted in the shiver of awareness he felt roll through her. “If I’d been able to convince you to stay, I bet Braxas wouldn’t have been so damn keen to get downstairs.”
“Hell no,” Braxas said from where he leaned back against the kitchen island. “Nothing would have gotten me out of that bed.”
Gabe turned to his friend, because despite his words, there was something in his tone that had Gabe’s wolf standing alert. The look on Braxas’s face was not as relaxed as his posture and body language might have implied, and Gabe knew exactly why the large man was on edge.
“Still nothing from Katrina?”
Braxas frowned and the worry he had been hiding became clear on his face. “No, nothing.”
Corrine pulled away from him, and Gabe let her walk toward Braxas. When she got to him, she pressed herself into him, knowing exactly what the cougar needed. Braxas seemed to sigh in relief as he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed his cheek against her. “And that is so unlike her. Katrina is a badass, and I know she knows how to look after herself. Hell, she’s my second for a reason. But she always, always checks in with me when she is on a mission.”
“You send your women into battle?” Alak asked, judgment clear in his tone, which was immediately followed by the growl of an unhappy wolf meshed with the rumble of a displeased cougar.
“There are many fierce women here who would be insulted by that question,” Braxas said in a voice slightly garbled, an indication that his animal hovered just below the surface. “In our world, we all fight to protect our own equally, and no one fights harder for my people than Katrina.”
“Forgive my brother, Braxas.” Aeron stepped forward, shooting a look at Alak that had him stepping back and holding up a hand in surrender, but Gabe noticed the big bastard didn’t offer a word of apology. “We of all people know that women are strong. We only have to look at our Goddess, and the examples of our women who fight by their men,” Aeron said, indicating Corrine with a flick of his jaw and a smile. “But, there are those among us, like my brother, who are somewhat overprotective in their views of the fairer sex.”
Co
rrine turned in Braxas’s arms and leaned back against him, leveling Alak with a look that Gabe knew only too well. “You do your Goddess a dishonor by acting like a jerk. And if you need a translation for that…”
Alak shook his head. “No, Lady Corrine, I do not require a translation.”
Corrine held the Fae’s gaze for a long moment, and Gabe couldn’t hold back the grin when the man appeared to fidget slightly. “Good, now come to the table, and leave your weapons at the door.”
Both Alak and Aeron looked unsettled by the request but removed their swords.
“At least we don’t have to worry about Alak taking out the damn toaster or something,” Donovan said with a grin.
Alak frowned, and Gabe knew it was because he desperately wanted to ask what a toaster was, but didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know in the first place.
Corrine, Braxas, and a few others loaded the table with food. As the men and women, wolves and cougars, all descended on the kitchen to gather a plate and fill it with food, Gabe felt a warmth spread within him. This was what it was to be a pack. He shot a quick glance at Braxas and saw a similar look of pride on the man’s face. Gabe figured this was what it meant to be a pard as well. Either way, pack or pard, this was family.
They had just finished eating when Braxas’s phone rang. When he pulled it from his pocket, Gabe snorted a laugh when he saw Alak look at it warily. He would have thrown a smart-ass comment in the Fae’s direction, but Braxas’s first words had Gabe listening in to the conversation, all thought of hassling the Fae gone.
“Katrina, I swear to God, you will be the death of me,” Braxas growled into the phone, but the relief was clear in his tone. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.
Instead of Katrina, he—and naturally, the other shifters in the room as well—heard a male’s voice answer. “How apt,” the voice said. “I am not your bitch Katrina, but by the will of the fucking Gods, I will be the death of you.”
Gabe’s wolf growled menacingly within him, the sound vibrating through his chest. He recognized that voice, as he knew that Braxas did as well. It belonged to Nyx Santini, a hyena shifter with questionable moral fiber as well as personal hygiene. Unfortunately, that was about as positive as it came for Nyx.
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