She was here.
She was okay.
All was going to be well.
Clenching my eyes closed, I kissed her again.
“Eli?”
Lara’s soft voice caught my attention, and I rumbled, “Yes?”
“Maribel…there’s something unusual about her.”
My eyes popped open at that, and I sensed Ethan and Austin’s distinct interest. It was always strange to feel their mutual reactions, each processed in a similar yet different way.
Ethan processed things clinically, Austin was more hot-headed, handling emotion first, then fact.
Regardless, they both sat up, and I felt their focus narrow in on Lara.
“What about her is unusual?” I questioned, trying to keep my voice low so that I didn’t scare her.
She bit her lip. “If I see a shadow in Seth, I see a light in her.”
I tensed at that. “In Maribel?”
“Kind of.” A breath escaped her, and it was shaky and a little lost. “This is very stressful,” she whispered. “I’m so used to keeping these things to myself, expecting to be called crazy. I can’t even believe I’m telling you this when it sounds so absurd. Of all the insane things I’ve seen over the years, though, this has to be up there, and that’s why I’m telling you.”
When she gulped, I inserted, “This is a safe space, Lara.”
Her laughter was soft. “No, Eli. Nowhere is safe for someone like Sabina and me.”
My denial was instant, as was Austin and Ethan’s. “Sabina will always be safe from physical harm.”
“Abuse doesn’t have to be physical. To live is to hurt,” she muttered, her words dripping with sorrow. “Look at her now, you can’t protect her from this. You can’t protect her from what life throws at us. We’re magnets, Eli. We attract these things. These situations.
“You can’t protect her from her fate.”
The words resonated with me deeply, and though they speared in on a core of rage that flared to life at her statement, one that was forged in my wolf’s belly, which I longed to release onto her for daring to say that I couldn’t protect my mate, the proof was in my arms.
Sabina’s purpose was not like my own.
Mine was of the earth. Grounded and tethered to this place. To this time.
Sabina wasn’t. It was through her that we’d transported to that other world, that realm where we’d claimed her. She was how we’d learned our strengths and weaknesses, the ways in which we could grow to better defend her and our pack.
I couldn’t say that I understood the ties Sabina had with the Mother, because it wasn’t my place to.
“How do you know this is her fate?” Ethan asked, his seat creaking as he got to his feet and strode over to the foot of the bed.
“Because every gift we’re given is bestowed for a reason, isn’t it? Doesn’t it make sense that we’re not given it to be wasted?”
Her reasoning wasn’t exactly flawed, but it most definitely wasn’t soothing.
Sabina had come to us with the ability to read auras. To sense things about a person from that alone. We’d mated her, claimed her, bound her to us, and with each passing moment, her powers had morphed as only a true omega’s could.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, wondering if all women with such gifts were omegas in the making, if Lara’s destiny was also tied to a pack’s, but before I could utter a word in question, the wolves started howling around the house.
Tension pounded my question into dust as I carefully untangled myself from the hold I had my mate in, and I listened, my head cocked to the side as I registered what the choral song of so many distinct voices meant.
I knew Sabina didn’t understand what each howl signified, but I could. I knew who was singing for me, knew if they were natural or supernatural too.
Then I heard her, and my heart pounded.
Merinda.
Mother.
Berry.
So many names, but…she was still here.
I wasn’t sure if she’d left, if, like Sabina had suggested, that glimpse of her after Lara first arrived was the last I’d ever see of her.
I’d followed her path for years, listened to her advice, forced myself to rule this pack in my father’s image because of her, and I knew I was a prime candidate for a shrink telling me I had mommy issues, but beyond that? I knew if she was howling, then I had to take note.
“What is it? What’s happening?” Lara rasped, her shoulders tense with strain as her gaze flickered around the room.
My nostrils flared as I surged onto my feet and strode toward the wall of windows.
Austin’s voice was surprisingly calm as he told her, “Someone’s here.”
Someone we’d been expecting for a good long while, even if now was the most inconvenient moment for a confrontation.
I heard thudding outside, small feet rapping against the tiled corridor as they made it to our door. And when it flew open and I saw Daniel standing there, panting, I turned away from the window and took in the sight of his terrified eyes, of the skin that was sprouting fur in a way that beckoned a half-shift, as he whimpered, “They’ve come for me.” And he flashed into a wolf, piddled on the floor, before retreating to a half-shift once more.
Nine
Lara
His terror was pure.
His terror was ancient.
It wasn’t the fear of a small child. It wasn’t the worries of a boy who’d barely hit, what, ten?
It was real, so real that I could feel the weight of it in him, in his soul. I sensed his expectation, not that he was looking forward to this moment, but that he’d known it would come.
Worse still, I sensed it in all of Sabina’s men.
The desire to soothe them was a new one, and it didn’t help because I wasn’t the person who could ease them. I could read someone, but I couldn’t act on it. Sabina had always had that gift. It wasn’t a metaphysical trait. Wasn’t something that could be considered a gift. But by nature, she’d been gentle. Always willing to help. Generous with herself.
As for me, I’d only been able to sense something odd, before I’d learned how to lock myself inside the cage I’d spent a lifetime forging.
My gifts made me selfish. Made me run and hide away.
Sabina was different, but then, she’d had a different life to me. A different passage…
My gifts made me think I was going crazy. Hers made her seem like she could read people as if they were an open book.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, staring at the boy as he seemed to transition in a way that belonged in a horror movie.
I’d seen the hyena transform from man to beast, and this was like that but so much slower. It was only now that I recognized how I hadn’t expected this to happen. How I hadn’t expected this to be possible.
Children could shift too.
It was a revelation that made me feel dumb.
I should have figured it out sooner, but it wasn’t as if I’d had a lot of time to come to terms with this hybrid of man and beast. I’d barely stopped being attacked by one kind before I’d been brought here, into the home of a different type of… what were they? Different species?
Different races within their kind?
Gnawing on the inside of my cheek to withhold the scream that throbbed in my throat, I stared a little blindly at the child.
Hair popped out of tiny pores, his eyes were flashing bright green before returning to the more regular hue of human proportions. Nails morphed into claws with the speed of drawers opening and closing, going from soft, flat edges to sharp points that could hurt.
The sound of bones breaking was something I’d never forget as I watched his back arch, the shoulders round before they retracted, and there was a small boy standing there once more.
I truly couldn’t explain how the sight didn’t make me pass out, but only the lack of fear in the room from the men kept me contained.
They were my baseline, and their fear wasn�
�t for the boy. It was for my sister.
That was the only fear that didn’t belong to the child, a kid I knew was called Daniel, which resonated around the room.
They loved Sabina, that much was clear. In fact, they loved her with a ferocity that I didn’t think I’d ever come across before. I could say that with ease because a love this true, this powerful? Multiplied by three? Such a revelation. Such an intense, visceral thing to come across.
I’d never envied anyone anything.
It wasn’t in my nature.
I knew that if a girl was pretty, it came with the price of being treated differently by men—and not always in a positive way.
I knew that if a guy was great at playing the guitar, the reason for the rhythmic notes that he was capable of crafting together was a past that was shrouded in sorrow.
Everything that could be envied, came at a cost.
But for the first time in my life, I understood envy.
I understood it and recognized how lacking my own life had been for such a ferocious emotion.
It made me feel like my heart had been carved out of my chest and the emptiness inside was just waiting to be filled.
It was enough to take my breath away.
When the howls ceased, the bewildering, haunting notes that belonged in a Dracula movie disappearing with an abruptness that had me gulping, I watched as Eli strode from the window over to Daniel.
“You two stay here and guard Sabina,” Eli commanded.
He was the elder of my sister’s men, but there was a distinct blood tie between them all. I didn’t wonder if it was creepy for her to be sharing three brothers, it just felt right.
Natural.
Even if now I understood Austin’s joke about ‘brother husbands’ because that was exactly what they were.
That being said, there was nothing disturbing going on, but what there was, was a tying together of three separate distinct strands which were being braided into one entity. That braid was tied around her, shoring her up, defending her and protecting her from anything and anyone that could harm her.
Again, envy hit me.
To be so loved, to be so cherished, was a thing of absolute beauty, and knowing what she’d gone through, what had my mother in tears and deep in her cups every other night, I was glad for her.
Relieved.
If anyone deserved a break, it was her.
“I should come with you,” Ethan ground out.
“No. If the Rainford alpha wants to challenge me over Daniel, there’s nothing you can do. I’m more powerful than him. A challenge shouldn’t present a problem to me,” Eli stated, his tone assured, relaxed, as he placed a strong hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Son, you need to calm down.”
Daniel reached for him, burrowing his face in Eli’s chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around Eli’s stomach. The move disarmed my sister’s mate, that much was clear, but it didn’t stop him from holding the boy tighter to him.
“I’ve kept you safe this long, haven’t I, Daniel? What makes you think I’m going to stop now?”
Daniel gulped. “I-I did something bad, Eli. Something stupid. I went to see my mom’s grave. That’s why he’s here. That’s how he knows about me.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed as he twisted slightly to glance at his brothers. I felt the braid around Sabina light up in a way that was startling, one that informed me they were sharing a method of communication that wasn’t open to me or to Daniel. It was unique to their bond.
It made her gleam gold, like the light of the sun gently illuminating her, and I saw her spirit, deep inside, the part that was beast as she rolled over, deep in this unnatural slumber.
The light of their communication had me reaching over to touch her ankle. When I connected with her, I realized why she still slept.
They were protecting her to the point of her being unable to get out.
The notion had my eyes popping wide open, making me realize I’d closed them without even having known it.
“You need to let go,” I whispered, my voice low and husky as I sensed Sabina’s spirit rattling around inside her. “She isn’t as weak as you think.”
“What do you mean? Let her go?” Austin snapped, and that was the first time I’d heard him be anything other than cordial to me, so I knew to tread lightly.
Thus far, Sabina’s most easygoing of mates had treated me with a lot more levity than the others. The last thing I needed was to have him turn against me. I was here on Sabina’s request. Eli and Ethan were dubious, and Austin trusted Sabina to the point where she could lead him into hell and he’d hold her hand for the ride.
That wasn’t because he was weak.
That was because he had faith.
And that level of faith was enough to suck the breath from my lungs.
“You’ve bound her up so tight in whatever makes your wolves so powerful, hers can’t get out.”
“She needs to shift?” Eli barked desperately.
I knew it must take a hell of a lot to get a man like Eli to sound that way, and once again, toxic feelings overwhelmed me.
They were unhealthy and ridiculous, but I’d never experienced anything as strong as this before. I’d dealt with murderers and narcissists and desperate mothers with sick children, everyone and everything from all walks of life, but nothing compared to this.
Nothing.
“I think that might be the solution,” I confirmed softly, not wanting to get their hopes up, but I could sense how tightly confined Sabina’s inner spirit was and I knew she needed to be let out.
“How do we do that?” Ethan asked, tone gruff.
“Maybe if we shift too, it will trigger hers?”
Austin’s suggestion had Eli’s brows lowering. “Maybe. But she’s strong. You know she’s strong enough to stay human.”
“But she’s at her weakest now,” Austin muttered.
Eli sighed. “Might as well try it.”
“Maybe do it in tandem? Will that help?” I suggested, even though I had zero idea what was actually happening. I mean, I wasn’t even a fan of Supernatural, and if the Winchester brothers couldn’t get me excited about all things paranormal, then there was just no hope for me.
The brothers shared a glance, then shrugged, but it was Austin who clarified, “We’ve done this before, and it never affects her.”
The inference being that it should.
I hummed at the thought, packed it away in my head for a later date, then gasped as all three timed it and turned from very handsome men into very large, overly large—hellishly large, in fact—wolves.
Gulping at the sight, especially when, with a shriek, Daniel morphed into a smaller wolf too, I nearly backed up into the wall. Which was ridiculous. These creatures meant me no harm, and I knew that. Rationally. Of course, rationale had flown out the window.
Sure, I knew that the things that went bump in the night were true—I had powers that most people would claim didn’t exist, so why shouldn’t there be other things out there?
But there was being able to get a read on someone’s mood, even the strange peculiarity I now knew was being able to sense if someone was a shifter or not, then there was this.
Physical, undeniable, indefatigable proof that humans could turn into animals.
It was enough to bring on a heart attack.
Gulping some more, it took me a few more minutes to process that there was a fifth wolf in the room.
This one was a bright one, and she was panting on the bed, but, thank Kali Sara, she was awake.
The other four bounded over to her, leaping onto the bed in a way that made my nose crinkle because it seemed kind of gross to have so many wild animals on a mattress—but who the hell was I to judge?—and they proceeded to nuzzle into her, lick and groom and do all the stuff I’d seen my momma’s pet chihuahua do to her pups when they’d been born.
It was affection at its most innocent. Most loving. Most true.
It nearly broke my heart.
&n
bsp; I sucked in a breath, so overjoyed to see even more confirmation that my sister was adored, but before it could twist again—prove that I was a bitch once more—there was another flurry of howls outside.
The males, all dark in tone, strangely jewel-like with it, reared up as one. Snarls snapped through the room as their obsidian and onyx-hued hides bristled with their ire at being interrupted.
A soft chuffing sound escaped Sabina, the only silvery white wolf in the room, and they made grumbling noises before they leaped off the bed and stalked toward the door without a backward glance.
Their size was disconcerting. I had no idea how large hyenas were in real life, but it made me wonder, because the hyena who’d been attacking me had been the size of a mountain lion, I guessed. These wolves? The size of lions.
Kali Sara.
I bit my lip as I watched Daniel nuzzled into her, almost crawling under her so that he was half-shielded by her.
I could sense she was fatigued, but with each aria of howls, she grew more and more agitated. I watched as her ears flicked back and forth, while Daniel tensed and burrowed further into her.
The sight of all the fur on the bed made my nose crinkle, and as my nostrils flared, I gasped as the desire to sneeze hit me before it exploded out of me. Sabina jerked on the bed, a snarl on her maw, before she saw it was me, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she registered who I was.
The vision had me blinking, because even though her eye color was blue, and not her regular caramel, it was like looking into her soul.
I mean, I guessed that made sense if I thought about it, but I’d never thought about it before now.
I figured what I meant was that the wolf and the woman weren’t two separate entities. They were the same soul. And I had no idea why I hadn’t realized that, but I was just grateful they shared that soul otherwise I might have ended the night as chopped liver.
Releasing a breath, I reached out and stroked a hand over her ears, then I smiled when Daniel bounded out of nowhere, playfully, and pushed his snout into my hand. His nose was cold, but I just speared my fingers over the crown of his head and stroked him, trying to soothe him as much as I could.
Moon Child: A PNR Shifter Romance (The Year of the Wolf Book 2) Page 12