A Fey's Wolf

by Elle Boon

  She stifled her final cry of pleasure against his sweat slickened shoulder, loving the feel of completeness she felt. He’d claimed her. Finally, the male who was meant to be hers had marked and claimed her. Goddess, don’t let him jerk back with a look of horror. She prayed, her eyes closed for what seemed like hours, but could’ve only been seconds.

  “Do you want me to apologize?” Torq asked.

  His words made her look up.

  The feel of his tongue soothing the wound made her shiver. “Do you want to?”

  “Fuck no,” he assured her.

  No mention of what she’d shouted out. Maybe he hadn’t heard her tell him she loved him? Professions of love maybe were things he heard regularly from his sexual partners. The image of him with others had her pulling back, mentally erecting walls around herself once more.

  The pulses of their orgasms were fading, much like the hope of more she’d allowed herself. For longer than she’d imagined, they lay there in silence, bodies still entwined, their breathing settling into normal breaths while Torq stroked her skin gently, his fingers skimming over her flesh. She let the moments linger, sweat cooling on their bodies.

  Tension began to invade her as he lay half on, half off her. “Did you mean it?” he finally asked.

  Talia jerked at his question. “Mean what?”

  He lifted up, eyes trapping hers. “You said you loved me. Just because I said I loved you, doesn’t mean you have to say the same.”

  She blinked, then gave a slight shake of her head. When he went to get up, she held him to her, wrapping her arms around him. “Yes, I meant it. I don’t say things or pay lip service if I don’t mean them. Even when I was Keith’s prisoner all those years, he could never make me say anything I didn’t want to. Not once. Maybe if he’d threatened one of my girls lives, but that never happened. Lying here with you, after what we just did, I promise I’m not confused in the least little bit. My heart, body, and soul know who and what they love. Yes, I love my girls, but what I feel for you is on a completely different level.”

  He bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then rested his own against hers for a moment. She watched his eyes close, then he lifted up. “Thank fuck,” he growled. Through their link, she felt her blood infusing him, giving him some of her powers. Talia paused to wonder if he could tell the difference in himself, yet. As the moment passed and he didn’t mention anything, she let it go then his words registered.

  Laughing, she ran her hand down his back, her fingers dancing along the sweat-dampened line of his spine until she couldn’t go any further. The scent of damp earth, crushed moss that smelled as if it had begun to mold hit her senses, making her freeze. “My wards have been tripped,” she announced.

  Torq didn’t question her, his body moving up and off her, searching for his clothing. With a flick of her wrist, she had them both dressed. If anyone were to see them, they’d have no clue what they’d just done, unless they were a shifter, then there was no way they’d miss the fact Torq had claimed her. The presence invading their space wasn’t friendly. Whoever it was, Talia wouldn’t allow them to taint the memory. No, she filed the last few hours away in her mind, so she could take it out when she wanted.

  Torq lifted his head, inhaling sharply. “I’m calling out to Niall and Zayn. They need to know what’s going on.”

  Although she understood the need to keep his alpha in the know, Talia worried for their safety. Shifters were strong, but she’d learned that a determined Dark Fae could and would do whatever was needed to attain their goals. Even if that goal was to kill.

  He paced from one side of his office to the other, fists clenched as he waited to hear what his puppet discovered. The female thought she was good at hiding herself, but he was better, and more powerful. Dave paused as he felt the pull of his puppet. Opening his mind, he watched the being as he stared at Talia’s cabin, seeing the woman and her animal step onto the back deck. Hatred burned in his gut. The Fey were always lowering themselves to those less than them. It was one of the reasons the Fae had broken away, why he was now where he was instead of in his realm.

  “When I take over, Talia, you’ll call me by my name. You’ll worship at my feet, as you should’ve all those years ago.” If that idiot Keith hadn’t screwed up. It still burned like a fever when he imagined Keith. When he had her, he’d return to the Fey Realm and make the entire Fey realize who is the powerful one. Dave looked down at his hand, releasing his fingers one at a time as the pen he held broke, staining his palm. “Oh yes, they’ll all pay,” he promised.

  He wiped his fingers on a napkin. Refocusing through the eyes of Louisa, his lips lifted into a grin.

  “Hello, I’m sorry to disturb you, Talia. I just wanted to check on you. I see you’re settling in quite nicely. Torq, its great to see you again,” Louisa purred.

  Dave’s smiled disappeared when the other man didn’t seem to notice the gorgeous female. Interesting. So, there was a bit of truth to the tales of shifters not straying when they were with a woman? Dave shrugged, pressing the knowledge into Louisa. His puppets were pliable and learned quickly. She diverted her gaze to Talia. “A bunch of us are going to Sturgis for a few drinks. You can ride with me. We have a DD to drive us back.” Her sweet as pie attitude usually had others doing anything she asked.

  “That’s nice, but I’m going to pass, thank you.” Talia leaned into Torq.

  Dave wanted to rip her away from the animal walking on two legs.

  “This is a team building experience, Talia. You really should come,” Louisa pleaded.

  Talia shook her head. “Going to a bar and getting drunk doesn’t scream work to me. I thank you for the offer, but I’m going to politely decline.”

  The animal smiled. “Maybe another time, Louisa. What bar are you going to?”

  His puppet named a bar that was popular to the locals but wasn’t owned by the Mystic Pack. Dave knew all about them. They thought they were smart, hiding in plain sight. When he was through with them, there’d be nothing left of the pack but a memory. That was if he were feeling charitable.

  “Alright, well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Louisa turned on her heel and went back toward the lodge.

  Dave wished he could see through the back of her head. If his suspicions were right, then the wolf and fey were watching Louisa, but they hadn’t caught onto her, yet. From the looks of them both, they’d clearly been busy. “Talia Taluleth, daughter of the royal house Talu, you’ve been very bad,” he gritted out. A black orb floated from his palm, smoke surrounding the small ball. “How good of a warrior were you?” he asked when an image of Talia in full battle gear appeared to float above his palm, then was replaced with one of her in a silver dress. Perched on top of her head was a crown with sapphires and diamonds. She stood next to a man and a woman, their unsmiling faces looking stern, yet very much the royals. He squashed the orb, grit his teeth and strolled behind his desk. Time to make his next move.

  Torq kept a firm hold on Talia. His wolf was on alert as if another being was there. He tried to breathe deeply without being too obvious, while Talia and the other woman talked, yet he couldn’t identify another presence. Neither he nor Talia made a move to go back inside until Louisa was gone, her scent no longer reaching them. “I don’t like her,” he stated. He allowed his wolf to rise closer, and then the beast growled, showing him that they’d grown in power, both he and his wolf. Their mate had gifted them extra strength, and who knew what else, but now wasn’t the time to go on an internal search and find.

  Talia shivered. “Something was off, but I can’t put my finger on it,” Talia agreed.

  “She’s human, that much I know, but there’s something not right about her. Did she say or do anything during your initial visit to make you think she was...I don’t know, off?” Torq gave her a long look while he tried to figure out what was bothering him about the other female.

  “She was just possessive about her job and where she stood in the company. Once I let h
er know I wasn’t out for her position, she seemed okay. I think we’re just jumpy.”

  He took a deep breath, then another. “Maybe you’re right. How about we see if anyone has heard anything new?”

  Slowly, she turned to face him. “Is this too much for you?”

  Torq tilted his head to the side. “For you, nothing is too much, feel me? Not even the fact I feel like I have this energy zinging through me that I don’t quite know what to do with right now. But, and this I need you to listen and understand, T, I wouldn’t change a damn thing.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart. “If not for you, this would cease to beat. Does that tell you just how much you mean to me, farfalla?” He dipped his head and kissed her sweetly, running his hands down her arms until he reached her hands. He linked their palms. The slight shudder in her slender form was maddening, making him wish they could go back inside her cabin and forget the world for a few more hours.

  “I wish...I do, too,” she said, letting him know she’d read his thoughts. Her mind opened showing him exactly what that zinging of power was. It was a part of her and not. Fey blood was infusing, mixing with his own.

  He drew away slowly, reluctantly, taking in slow measured breaths before he went back in for more. “Let’s go before I let my good intentions fly out the window and decide to say fuck it and do what you and I both want.”

  Talia smirked. “You’re much better than me.” Her teasing words were only slightly shaky.

  “Nah, I’m thinking the quicker we get this shit taken care of, the quicker I can have you naked and doing what we both desire.”

  Oh yeah, that shiver was back, and he really wanted to make her do it again, without clothes.

  His mental call to Niall had been quick and to the point, easier than it had ever been to reach his alpha. Being the alpha, Niall felt everyone in the pack. Once he shared the sensation he’d felt from their little visit with Louisa, even Niall felt the strangeness through him. If he’d been more like his brother Arynn, Torq would’ve also been able to tap into some of those powers. However, the Goddess had other plans for him. Luckily, he’d listened to her all those years ago outside that bar, when his brother had thought he’d found his truemate. Shit, he really needed to meet his nieces and Arynn’s truemate.

  “How did your brother not know who was his mate?” Talia asked, then held up her hand. “I’m not judging. I mean, look at my record. I’m not the best judge of character, given my track record. However, shifters are a different matter. It’s instinctual, from what I remember. Again, I’m just going off what I know.”

  Torq nodded, leading her around to the front of the cabin. He tried to gather his thoughts. Putting into words how Arynn’s world was rocked when he’d slept, or rather had sex with one woman, his wolf telling him she was the one, only to then back up and say differently afterward. The entire ordeal was completely unheard of among shifters. However, now with what they knew, and the fact the Dark Fae had a hand in the situation, it all made sense. Luckily for Arynn, Sarah gave birth to a beautiful little girl she named Rebel. Unluckily for her, she died shortly afterward, leaving her twin sister Sheila to raise Arynn’s child along with her own infant daughter Romie. When Arynn was needed because Rebel was showing signs that she wasn’t one-hundred percent human, Sheila called him. Although it had been twelve years, and his brother’s mind had been manipulated, he hadn’t wasted a moment before he claimed not only his child, but the woman who was his truemate and her child, for his own.

  “Wow, that’s—I have no words. So, this Sarah was Dark Fae? Is Sheila, too?” Talia asked, her hands wringing in front of her.

  No matter how strong and self-assured she acted, he could see the fear in her blue eyes. Fear he wanted to erase for good.

  He pulled her to face him. “Sheila is one-hundred percent goodness and light.”

  “I noticed you didn’t say human...” She left her sentence hanging.

  Torq kissed the tip of her nose. “That’s a story for another time. Right now, we need to figure out what’s stalking you, baby, because as sure as shit, I can feel it in my bones, something or someone is.”

  Her breath froze. “You felt it too?”

  “I may not be able to sense things like you, but when it comes to my mate, I think my wolf and I are a little more aware. Once we marked you, something clicked. Of course, I think it started back when we were sharing dreams.”

  She gave a humorless laugh. “You mean nightmares?”

  “Those dreams gave me hope. For twelve years, I stayed here knowing my mate was close or would be coming here. You don’t know how much I regret not knowing you were...” She placed her small palm over his mouth, halting his words.

  “Hush. If you’d have tried to intervene before the time was right, who knows how things would’ve turned out? I believe all things happen for a reason. I also believe in free will. When people say things like ‘If there was a higher power, then why did this happen to me?’ I can honestly say because of free will. You see, what happened to me wasn’t because the Goddess abandoned me, but because I came here. I chose to believe in Keith. Yes, he manipulated me. However, I first came here. Free will brought me to what was to come. Had I not made that one bad decision, who knows what would’ve happened? I can honestly say I wouldn’t change it, though.”

  Torq growled, her words making he and his wolf angry. “Why the fuck not?”

  She shrugged. “If I changed one thing, then I wouldn’t have created two beautiful young women. They may not know it, or believe it, but they’re the main reasons I stayed alive. No.” She shook her head when he went to speak. “Listen to me. I didn’t know I had a mate out there. I thought I’d messed up, and Keith was it. But I knew I had these beautiful little girls. They thought I abandoned them, but in my head, they were with me every single second of every day. Keith took them from me physically, but not here.” She tapped her temple. “In here, they grew up with me. The days and nights while I was being tortured, the likes of which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, I escaped in my own world. A world where me, Taya, and Taryn were together. Do you know that I can regenerate body parts? Keith did. He took great pleasure in seeing just how far he could push my Fey abilities. An arm made my Fey spark a lot more than a finger. It fueled him for months. Of course, then he wouldn’t be able to use that abuse for several months.”

  Torq closed his eyes, imagining his mate being hacked to pieces. “Did he—did he give you medical attention?”

  She laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “I don’t know. Those times became a blur of pain. I escaped him and his Hell. Those were the times I actually felt my girls more. I swear I could smell the sweet scent of honey when I held Taryn. With Taya, I always smelled roses. It was as if each girl had their own unique scent. Weird, huh?”

  He pulled her against his chest, rubbing his cheek against the top of her head. “No, not really. To me, you remind me of honey and wild flowers. I’ve never smelled anything sweeter in my entire life.”

  Chapter Ten

  Talia snuggled into his chest, wishing she could stay there forever. Explaining some of what she’d gone through during her years of captivity felt cathartic. “Do you think they’ll ever forgive me?”

  “How?”

  Both Talia and Torq turned at the sob. Talia tried to move away from Torq, but his arms held her tighter. “Taryn, this isn’t a good time.”

  “Well ain’t that too bad. Why didn’t you share what you went through with us?” Taya’s question came out on an angry cry. “He cut you...your arms off?”

  Hearing her daughters’ anguished cries, she looked up at Torq. “I need to go to them.”

  Torq nodded. “I’m right here.”

  Like a whisper on a breeze, she materialized in front of her girls. It still amazed her how petite they both were at five feet three or four inches, while she was five nine. Keith had been tall as well. “I don’t know how you’ll forgive me. I just hope you will, someday.” Her words came out shaky
. Goddess, she felt like a child again, wishing her parents would love her.

  Taya slashed her hand through the air. “Not that. Of course, we can forgive you. Goddess, he was a monster.”

  Taryn bit her lip. “I don’t know what to say. I knew he was evil. I mean, he’d broken every bone in my body at one point or another, but to actually—” she stopped and put her hand over her mouth, the other over her stomach. “I think I’m going to be sick. Jett,” she cried.

  In an instant, the man most referred to as Magic Jett, like the stripper Magic Mike, appeared next to his mate, his arms going around Taryn from behind. “It’s okay, just breathe.”

  Talia looked at the man holding her daughter, and then at Taryn. She let her Fey powers flare, wanting to ease the sickness from her baby girl. When she found the little life inside her daughter’s womb, she stumbled backward.

  “What the hell?” Torq growled, catching her before she fell.

  “No...nothing. I’m a little overwhelmed. Are you okay, Taryn?”

  Her daughter nodded.

  Taya bit her lip. “I didn’t get the opportunity to meet the fucker, and for that I’m glad. I feel like I should apologize to you both. I mean I had a relatively happy childhood, minus the fact I thought my family hated me and sent me off to be raised by others. But hey, we all have a little shitshow in our pasts, right?”

  Bronx huffed a laugh. “I love how you phrase things.”

  Taryn wiped at the tears from beneath her eyes. “So, I guess you’ve figured out my secret?”

  Her question was directed at Talia, eyes so blue they looked like a summer day stared straight at her, daring her to deny the truth. Talia nodded. “I only wanted to soothe you. Your little one is doing well.”