Parker’s work had saved them countless times in many ways, but it had also connected them via the system that Blade used to get at them.
Max didn’t blame Parker, and he knew the others didn’t either, but Parker blamed himself. Thankfully, the other man had two mates to help kick that thought out of his head.
“I know I’m new to this whole Alpha gig, but having my power stripped like that? I never want to feel that again.” Cole rubbed at his chest, and his sister, Dawn, reached out and squeezed his hand. Cole didn’t have a mate yet, but he had a decently strong base when it came to his hierarchy.
But the Centrals were a new Pack, a young one. The Talons and the Redwoods had taken them under their wings and were helping them navigate, but only time would make them into the Pack they wanted and needed to be. The fact that the Aspens were attacking them at all was just cruel.
Back when they were deciding if the Centrals could even be a Pack after everything that had happened, Blade had been vehemently against it. He had thrown things and loudly voiced his disapproval. He had growled and tried to make sure the Centrals were wiped from the face of the Earth. He hadn’t liked the mistakes the others made, even though Blade was making even more mistakes himself.
But maybe it was more the fact that Blade hadn’t liked looking into a mirror and seeing what was reflected there. Or perhaps Blade was just insane.
The other man wanted all the power, and he didn’t want weakness around him.
“Has anyone heard from Audrey?” Gideon asked. “We haven’t heard from her since we all figured out that cat shifters were among us. And that worries me.”
Everyone shook his or her head, and Max spoke up. “I don’t know if Blade would’ve killed her. We haven’t heard about a shift in the hierarchy, even if we’re not getting much information out of there at all. But if there was a new Beta, we would know. Our wolves would let us know. I don’t think Audrey can get to us, but if we take out Blade, we can make sure Audrey’s okay.”
Cheyenne reached out and squeezed his hand. He looked over at her but didn’t smile. He wasn’t the smiling type. Not anymore. “We’ll find her. And we’re going to take out Blade. Because we can’t give up.”
The Alphas looked at him and nodded, respect in their eyes. Max didn’t meet their gazes completely because even though he was dominant, he wasn’t an Alpha. Cheyenne didn’t meet their gazes either, but the fact that she had been able to during that Pack circle just told him something was going on that they truly didn’t have the answers to. She’d had the strength to meet the Alpha’s eyes before, but not now.
“And what are we going to do about this artifact?” Allister asked.
Cheyenne spoke up this time. “I don’t think hiding the fact that I’m connected to it is going to help anyone. You all know how the artifact came into being, or at least how it was activated, and the fact that I almost died. But we all believe the moon goddess stepped in to keep me alive. And I’d like to think that while it was to keep me on this Earth and even connected to Max, maybe it was because my connection can help us. I don’t know what it means, but Max and I are going to find out.”
She took a deep breath before she continued, and Max leaned closer, trying to give her strength. “You all need to keep your Packs safe, and I’m not the person to do that. I don’t have experience in battle strategy or even magic. But I spent many years studying, and I’m going to keep studying. So, if you’ll let me, I’m going to try to help. And I will do all in my power to make sure your Packs are okay. Because I’m Pack now. I’m Max’s mate. I’m a Talon. And I’ve always been connected to the people in this Pack, ever since I found out they existed. I don’t want Blade to win. And he can’t. So, I’ll help in any way I can. Anything I can do. Anything.”
The respect in the Alphas’ eyes at that point was even stronger than it had been for Max. Max reached out and gripped her hand, his wolf practically preening like a freaking cat.
She had spoken to the Alphas, four of the strongest Packs in the world, as if she were equal to their dominance level, as if she held that strength. And Max knew she did. Just because she was human didn’t make her any weaker than anyone else in the room. Oh, she might not have the same physical strength as some of the others. Or, frankly, any of the others. But emotionally and mentally? Honestly, she might be the strongest one in the room.
Maybe that was just the new mating bond speaking.
The others started talking about plans for protection and evacuation if it came to that. They all knew that, eventually, they might have to speak to the human government about what was happening, but that was a tricky subject and not something easily done.
But as the Alphas gave Cheyenne and Max permission to do their research and try to figure out if Cheyenne’s connection to the artifact could help in any way, Max knew that he finally had a purpose.
It had only taken finding a mate in the most painful and unusual way for him to know where he truly stood.
At Cheyenne’s side.
Chapter Ten
Cheyenne could barely keep her eyes open, but she didn’t want to stop reading. She’d spent the past few days going over text after text with Max and some of the elders. And while learning more of the history of not only the Talon Pack but all shifters in general was invaluable, her eyes hurt, and she had to remind herself that she was indeed human and not a paranormal entity like everyone else in the den.
She might be connected to an ancient artifact and, apparently, had scented of Alpha as she screamed and writhed in pain in Max’s arms, but she was still human.
At least for however long she had until she turned into a wolf. There was no way she couldn’t take that step if she didn’t want to age and die while bonded soul-to-soul with Max.
She didn’t really understand why humans had to lose their humanity in order to join a Pack. Witches were able to link their life forces with their mates’ and didn’t have to go through the brutal change that came from turning into a shifter.
Apparently, you had to be near death to make the change, though, and a very strong wolf—or a lion, in her best friend’s case—had to be there to change the person. Max had done that for her. She had truly been near death, and he had shifted and tried to change her. She didn’t remember the pain, and in retrospect, she had a feeling the moon goddess had shielded her from that. But Max had bitten her, the enzyme that turned human to shifter seeping into her skin. But it hadn’t taken because of what the moon goddess later did.
If Max had succeeded, Cheyenne would be a shifter right now.
But would she be his mate?
That, she didn’t know, but there was no going back now. They’d not only slept together, Max had also marked her. Their bond was stronger than ever. It was new, and Cheyenne was still trying to figure out exactly what it all meant, but she was figuring it out.
One moment at a time.
“We’ve been at this for hours, let’s get home.” She looked up as Max came to stand by her small desk in one of the elder’s libraries. The fact that he’d said “home” and she thought of his place should have worried her, but her brain was too full for those thoughts right then.
“I could use a snack, and then bed.” She stretched out her back, rolling her neck. She hadn’t worked this many hours studying since she was in vet school. The fact that she was doing so now on a subject that was so unlike anything she’d ever studied before made her head hurt. But it would all be worth it. Because someone had to know something, even if it was just in the words of a long-forgotten book, or even in a memory an elder did their best to walk them through.
“I’ll make sure you get something to eat, and then I’ll tuck you right into bed.” Max leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled up at him, even though she knew it was still a little awkward between them. They were trying to figure out not only their relationship but also where they fit within the Pack and with each other. They were not only dealing with the rest of the world and the fact t
hat the human government might find out exactly why Cheyenne wasn’t part of what she once was in her life anymore. But, soon, she would have to explain to everyone why she wasn’t coming back.
Because there was no coming back from this.
She would have to face her fate and, hopefully, save the world at the same time.
She snorted, and Max gave her a weird look.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I was just trying to put what we’re doing into words in my head, and it always ends with saving the world. I have no idea how it ended up like this. One day, I’m helping a litter of kittens. The next, I’m searching for an ancient artifact and exactly what it means in the grand scheme of things so we can save the world from an evil conqueror.” She paused, shaking her head. “There’s nothing funny about that. I know, but I can’t help it. I think I’m tired. Just too tired to think clearly at this point.”
Max held out his hand. “Then let’s get you home.” He paused. “Or, I guess, my place. Where you’re staying.”
Cheyenne put her hand in his and allowed him to help her out of her chair. She leaned against him, pressing her front to his as she kissed his bearded jaw. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and she liked the stubble.
“You can say ‘home.’ I was just thinking that I liked that. I know we’re moving fast and, honestly, moving in a direction I never thought we’d ever take, but there’s no use looking back and wondering what-if.” She was the one to pause this time. “Unless we’re looking back to see what was, not what couldn’t be.”
Max let go of her hand so he could trace her jaw with his finger.
“I like the fact I’m getting to know you. And, I like that you like the word home. You surprise me, Cheyenne. With every move you actually force yourself through, with every decision you make, I admire you.”
Since they were standing, he only had to lean down a little bit farther to kiss her. His lips were soft, his beard just a bit scratchy, and she knew if she weren’t careful, she could become addicted to him. He tasted of everything she never thought to crave.
And, she had no idea what that meant.
He gently bit her lip and then pulled back so she could put her fingers in his belt loop, and the two of them could make their way out of the elder’s library and back to their place.
Okay, maybe it was still his place for now. But Cheyenne would get used to calling it home. It was odd to be able to think about the mundane things of the outside world when everything around her was pushing at her. Her heart hurt, as did everything else. It was as if everybody was at the edge of a precipice, waiting for the end to come, awaiting a change that would irrevocably alter their landscape.
Blade held all the power, and if they weren’t careful, they wouldn’t be strong enough to take him out. It wasn’t as easy as it was in the movies with one strategic sniper strike. They couldn’t get through the Aspen wards, and they couldn’t start an all-out war that caused the human governments to come at them, as well. Everything was happening at such an odd and tenuous time that it was difficult to see an ending.
But, Cheyenne had to have hope. The Talons had far more faith than she ever realized. After everything they had been through, they still believed in what they were doing and in the reasons they had to do it.
If the Talons were to go to the dark side—she snorted at that thought—and use dark magic or summon something to help them, they’d make the same mistakes Blade was.
So they were taking the longer, harder route. And Cheyenne would be with them every step of the way.
She might not have the physical strength to do it, but she had the mental fortitude.
And, for some reason, she was connected to whatever Blade was doing.
As she leaned into Max’s side, content in the quietness between them, she just hoped she was enough.
* * *
Cheyenne thrashed in her sleep, the dream coming on hard. Blade stood over her, the stiletto in his hand shining in the waning moonlight. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Blade’s face looked half man, half wolf, as if he were mid-shift and hadn’t realized it. It was such a grotesque image that she had to swallow down the bile in her throat. Though she didn’t know if she was doing that in real life or only in her dream. She knew this was a nightmare, knew this was a figment of memory that might be real. Or perhaps it was the culmination of everything mixed together.
Blade glared at her before he spoke. “You were supposed to die. But now that you’re alive, you will be used. You were the connection. You were the savior. You were the death.”
She frowned, knowing he hadn’t said that to her before, not when he loomed over her and tried to kill her. He had come so close to ending her, so close to snuffing out her life and her future. But the moon goddess had stepped in to save her. Cheyenne knew that now with such certainty that she wasn’t even sure where it had come from.
Max and the others had been the ones to tell her that it was the moon goddess who had saved her. But she hadn’t quite believed it. Yet with all the magic in the world, the one who saved her was the one who had started it all. At least in the lore of wolf shifters—everything began with the moon goddess.
The deity had seen a hunter kill a wolf for sport, and she became enraged. She forced the soul of that wolf into the body of the human, so both human and wolf had to share. The balance that came from that act had forced the man and wolf to figure out exactly who they were together. And that was the first wolf shifter.
The Talons came from that line. Cheyenne knew that there was more to the story, something about reincarnation and the fact that Parker was actually descended from that bloodline. But all that mattered to her right then was the fact that Blade was telling her something, and it wasn’t what he had told her when everything actually happened.
She’d been given this dream for a reason, and even though she wasn’t one to believe in prophecies and magic, she had seen them all with her own eyes.
And she couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“I will kill everybody if I can. You were the sacrifice. You were the death. You were everything. And now, you’re in my way. If you’re still here, my plan cannot succeed. When you are gone, I will rule. The weak will perish. And everyone else will bow before me.”
Cheyenne woke up screaming, her hands shaking. Max was sitting right beside her, his shirtless body so close to hers she could feel the heat of him. They had gone to sleep as soon as they got back to the house, exhausted from studying. But now, Cheyenne was wide-awake, her heart racing, and her palms clammy.
“It was a dream. It was a dream, but it wasn’t a dream.” She put her hands over her face, trying to control her breathing.
The room glowed gold from Max’s eyes, and she knew that his wolf was at the forefront, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. She needed to calm herself so she could tell him exactly what had happened in her nightmare and both of them could calm down. Or, both of them could get angry and not calm down at all.
“What was the dream? Are you hurt?”
She looked over at him, lowering her hands. “I can be hurt from a dream?”
He shrugged and kissed her forehead. She loved the fact that he kept kissing her, touching her. She kept doing the same to him. She was still learning him, and he was learning her. They were drawn to each other. That was the bond between them. They had started this mating thing at the end instead of the beginning, but they were finding their way.
And she knew she wouldn’t be able to deal with any of this without him. For such an independent woman, that scared her to death.
“I don’t know if you can get hurt from a dream, but with everything that has gone on with my family? I don’t doubt it. There’s magic out there that can take a soul, that can break a bond, that could probably take over the world. The witches in our Pack are strong, some of the strongest out there. I trust those in the Coven now that I know them, and the members that tried to betray us were weeded out.
But I didn’t trust that witch who worked with Blade. And though she’s dead, he probably has more of her ilk waiting in the wings. So, are you hurt?”
“No. But let me tell you what happened.”
Cheyenne told him about the dream, told him the words that Blade had said, word for word. Max’s eyes widened, and though he didn’t take notes, she knew he was remembering every single little thing so they could tell Gideon and the others. There was truly no privacy anymore, not when it came to protecting the Pack. Her Pack.
“I don’t like the sound of that. I don’t like the sound of any of that.”
“You think I like it? I don’t like the fact that he kept using the words sacrifice and death. I don’t like that I’m connected to it. Those men died, and I felt it. Gideon’s power was taken from him, and it was like it was sent through me. And that scares me. Because if we have to destroy the artifact…”
She didn’t finish the statement. She needed to let her thoughts come together. But Max didn’t wait for her to continue. “Don’t finish that. Don’t even think it.”
“But, what if I have to? What if I need to die for the artifact to be destroyed. What if, for us to survive, for the rest of the world to survive, the one thing that’s connected to the artifact—other than Blade himself—has to be no more?”
Max growled, gripping her arm so tightly she thought she might bruise. Then, he let her go and kissed both shoulders. He hadn’t gripped her on the left, hadn’t been able to, but he still pressed his arm against her.
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