Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  Nobody was there. The sun was up, and I didn’t have any guards outside the door. I got out of the bed and looked around the room. I found an old sweatshirt and men’s pajama pants that I put on and rolled up. I felt more comfortable in these clothes than any stupid dress. I was almost sure they were Duncan’s, since I thought I had seen him last night in his wolf form.

  I walked out into the hall and down the stairs. I heard Edness Callamore in the living room talking to someone. I walked in, not caring if I was invited or not.

  “Good, Shay, my dear, how did you sleep?” she said in an overly friendly tone.

  “Fine,” I said curtly, trying to figure out who the other people were in the room as I looked around.

  “Shay, have a seat. These are the heads of the other mac tire territories in our region and surrounding regions. I have traveled to find them so that we can gather and figure out what is happening to you.”

  I sat down, waiting for an explanation.

  “And?”

  One of the eldest, on the far side of the room, spoke. “She is remarkable. Where is she at in her transition?”

  I turned to Edness Callamore as she said, “A normal transition is not occurring. Over the last two weeks, none of the normal transitional features have occurred. I had believed it was due to my grandson Duncan, so I sent him away, but now, with last night—” She paused. “We still do not have an answer as to why this happened.”

  I started to feel my heart pound again. It was beating so hard I could feel it in my throat. I turned to look around. “Is Duncan here?” I asked Edness Callamore.

  “No, he was sent away days ago. Why, my dear, are you asking?”

  I looked back and forth between Edness Callamore and the man that found me remarkable. “It’s nothing. I just saw a wolf in the hall last night, and my heart was beating hard like it is right now.”

  She looked at me confused. “What wolf, my dear?”

  I felt like I was under water. My heart still beat harder. It hurt. It felt broken. I felt so uncomfortable. It was a feeling of needing constant motion. “I saw the wolf that has the beautiful blueish-silver fur and the ice-blue eyes. Isn’t that Duncan?”

  She put her hand out to mine. “No, my dear.” She stood. “We need to find him, if he is still on the grounds, and get him to come back now,” she ordered to her guards.

  Most of the guards that came with the heads of the other territories left when she gave her order. It was like everybody knew what was going on but me.

  I stood up. “What is going on? Who was it then?” I asked anxiously.

  She held my hand. “My dear, are you sure?”

  I looked her straight in the eye. “Yes.” She turned away and walked over to the other heads of the territories.

  “What is going on? Tell me now!” I screamed so loudly, my heart pounded. I turned to see the wolf standing by the doorway. He made an aggressive bark toward Edness Callamore.

  “I do not know. This has never happened before. It cannot be right.” She turned to the heads of the territories. “Has this happened at all in any other territories?”

  They all looked confused and shook their heads no.

  I was so angry that no one was telling me what was going on that I decided to leave, and no one even noticed. “Who do they think they are? This is my life,” I said quietly to myself after I walked away. I went to find my old converse shoes so I could get out of here. They and all my clothes that I came here with were thrown into a box in my room. I put them on and then walked back down the stairs.

  Edness Callamore saw me out of the corner of her eye. “Where are you going? You cannot leave.”

  I didn’t stop walking toward the door. “You people are ridiculous. I’m going to go for a walk.”

  She started to walk toward me. “No, you cannot go anywhere.”

  I didn’t even look at her anymore. “You haven’t given me any answers. I don’t need to be here.”

  I opened the door and saw Duncan on the other side. “Oh my god.” He scared me, and I saw him smile.

  “Hey.” He took a step closer to me. There was a shock of electricity between us.

  My heart pounded. I looked at him. “Did you feel that?”

  He pulled away. “Yep.” He smiled at me staring into my eyes.

  “Duncan, what are you doing back here?” said Mrs. Callamore.

  He moved past me to answer her clearly. “Declan called me, and he said I needed to come home. So here I am.”

  Edness Callamore turned to me. “My dear, I need to know, there is obviously something happening between you and Duncan now, but when you saw the blue and silver wolf, was there more attraction?”

  I was now extremely confused. “I don’t understand.”

  She shook her head and turned to the other heads of the territories. “I’m sorry. I have never seen this happen before.” She started to pace.

  “What is going on?” I demanded.

  Edness Callamore stopped. “My dear, we believe there is a possibility that both of my grandsons could be your mate.”

  Shocked by what she said, my eyes widened. “What?”

  “I cannot answer your questions. I have never in my years heard, let alone seen, two mates. At the same time, Declan has already had a mate. He cannot find another.” She turned to the council members.

  “Both of them?” I said. What was she saying here?

  “Yes, you feel a physical connection every time one of them is around, right?”

  I looked at Duncan. “Yes.”

  She turned to the heads of the council. “What is the protocol?” The room went silent.

  Then one of them, the eldest, spoke. “I have heard of this only once, with the Morrígan. She had three separate mates. This is how our clan knows the legend.”

  Edness Callamore walked over to Duncan. “She may have had three mates, but they were not at the same time.”

  I was staring at Edness Callamore as she folded her hands in front of her. “Excuse me, I do have a say in this. Right?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Well, I’m making a say. Declan has not even talked to me.” I looked at Duncan and smiled. “You can’t be a part of the race if you aren’t even there. Not that I am a prize to be won or anything.” I said it so awkwardly.

  Duncan smirked.

  Mrs. Callamore said, “It is not up to you in that way. As you mature in your transition you will find yourself bonding to one of my grandsons. You are so close to the new moon that it would be premature to claim either of them.”

  I was still confused. “I’m not going to claim either one.” I paused, thinking that the amount of pain that I have gone through in the last two weeks has been horrendous enough. “I…umm…I…” My heart sped up and everything became clouded. My head was spinning.

  “Shay?” said Mrs. Callamore.

  The next thing I saw were two wolves aggressively baring their teeth. The one with blue and silver fur I kept seeing, and the other was bright silver with the same ice-blue eyes. I sat up, staring back and forth between them.

  “Boys, stop this now!” Edness Callamore ordered.

  They stepped back, each still aggressively challenging the other.

  Edness Callamore spoke sharply. “I do not know which one is the chosen mate. There is a connection for both of you with her. The best thing is to both step back and let things naturally happen.”

  The blueish-silver wolf turned toward me and snapped, and then ran off out of the room.

  I looked back at the silver wolf. I was in shock. My mouth was gaping open.

  He looked back at me, bowing and then turning his head to the side submissively. My heart was beating out of control. All my nerves were on edge. My body went limp. I felt embarrassed, lightheaded, and free all at the same time. I dropped down on my knees to his level and then looked into his eyes. “You.”

  ➢8 Walking Dreams

  The room went silent. I couldn’t stop staring at this beautiful cr
eature in front of me. I started to heat up and then got queasy. “What’s happening?” I looked at my hands. There was a scorching fire engulfing my arms, moving up to my shoulders. I stood, turning to Edness Callamore. The look on her face I will never forget: fear.

  Someone grabbed me from behind, there was a pinch in my neck, and then everything went dark.

  I awoke in my bedroom. I sat up and looked around the room and then got out of bed. I cautiously opened the door. Nobody was there. The mansion was quiet. I walked down the stairs and looked around in the living room—nobody. “Where is everybody?” I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I turned around and saw nobody there. “What is going on?” When I turned back around, there was a red-furred wolf with bright red eyes circling the room, approaching me. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw this magnificent wolf.

  “Tá tú i gceist le haghaidh rudaí móra. Beidh do amach anseo a líonadh le brón’s má leanann tú an cosán. Siúlóid faoi an ghealach, a leanúint do chroí, ná muinín an méid a fheiceann tú.” The words whispered in my ears.

  The wolf turned then ignited in flames. I had never seen anything like that. My heart pounded and I felt like my stomach was in my chest. I couldn’t move. Something was holding me where I stood. I wanted to run after this wolf. There was something very familiar about it. If this wolf could produce fire, I wanted to know more about it.

  I tried to run after it, but the more I ran the farther away it got. Then everything started to blur into darkness around me. I felt around, hitting leaves and sticks with my fingertips. Somehow I found myself on the ground in the woods covered in leaves. I started to sit up, seeing that I had cuts and scrapes all over my body, my clothes were ripped, and my feet were freezing. I was so cold lying on the ground. I could barely get up, but once I stood I started to walk back to the Callamore mansion limping on the way through the trees. Everything was so painful I had started to feel dizzy from the pain. I just knew I couldn’t make it. I hung onto a tree, trying to hold myself up, but I couldn’t. I fell forward, spinning to the ground on my back. I looked up, watching the leaves fall one by one off of the giant oak tree just feet away from where I lay.

  I stayed there just as I had fallen until someone could find me. I was soon lifted off the ground and carried back into the Callamore mansion. The warmth that I felt from him helped me stop shivering. I couldn’t make out his face. I rested my head on his chest. “Where did the red wolf go?” I asked not looking up at him.

  “What wolf? There was no red wolf?” he said in a deep, comforting voice.

  “The red wolf, it was here. Ná muinín an méid a fheiceann tú.”

  I was carried through the front door.

  “Declan, set her down here,” said Mrs. Callamore.

  I felt a soft cushion catch me as he sat me down. I forced myself to open my eyes. I reached for him as he started to walk away.

  “No, don’t go.” I grabbed his hand and felt him sit on the sofa with me. I started to blink and tried to focus on him. He started to become clearer and clearer. “Declan?” I paused. “What happened to the red wolf? It was here.”

  He looked at me. “There is no red wolf. Ná muinín an méid a fheiceann tú.”

  I opened my eyes. “There wasn’t a wolf, was there?” I asked, in hope that he would say anything thing but what I knew was true.

  “No. There wasn’t a wolf.”

  I could see him more clearly. “Declan?”

  He was putting a blanket over me, and then he bent down, brushed the hair away from my face and grazing my cheek. “Yeah?”

  I reached to put my hand on his. “Thank you for saving me.”

  He smirked. I thought it was the closest I would see to a smile from him. Just then we both heard footsteps racing down the staircase. He looked over to the door and then stood quickly.

  “What are you doing? Get away from her!” Duncan came in the room ready to fight his own brother for standing next to me. I sat up quickly. They both looked at me because I flinched in pain when I moved.

  “What did you do to her?” Declan got very defensive and started to approach Duncan.

  “No, stop! Declan didn’t do anything! He saved me.” I flinched again. My ribcage was burning with a sharp pain.

  Duncan came around to the front of the sofa and bent down to me. “Hey, don’t move.” He turned to Declan. “I’m sorry. Will you go get Nate?” He turned back to me. “Don’t be mad at me. I thought he hurt you. Nate will be right here and he will help.”

  Declan looked back at me. Duncan picked up my hand in his. Declan turned in the other direction then walked out of the room. “Duncan, I’m not supposed to be spending time with you, remember?” He brought my hand to his chest and I felt his heart pounding, I could almost see the movement in his chest as it beat.

  “I remember. I’m just going to make sure you’re okay.”

  My heart started to beat with his. My ribcage stopped hurting, and most of the cuts and scrapes started to disappear.

  He looked at me. “You’re starting to heal. That is what happens when you are with your mate. I will always help you heal if you are hurt.”

  There was a loud crashing sound coming from the entry. It sounded like glass shattering everywhere. Duncan stood up looking out into the entry.

  “What was that?” I asked him, sitting up and looking over the back of the sofa.

  “Looks like a vase was knocked over.”

  Just then Edness Callamore came walking into the room with the guy that had put the IV into my arm.

  “Shay, this is Nate,” she said. “I’m sure you remember him.”

  I looked at him. “Yes.”

  She continued to walk toward me. “Nate is our resident doctor.” I looked back at him, really wanting to ask to see his medical license.

  “Duncan, what are you doing here?” she said.

  He answered quickly. “I came in and found Declan standing over her on the sofa. She had been hurt on the property.”

  Edness Callamore looked around for Declan. “Then where is he?”

  Duncan moved back around to me in a protective way. “I had him go get Nate. He never came back.”

  I was lying back against the back of the sofa breathing hard. It felt like my chest was tightening.

  “Shay, are you okay?” Duncan came closer when he asked it.

  “Yeah, it’s just hard to breathe.”

  Nate walked over moving around Duncan and sitting next to me on the sofa.

  “Duncan, I made arrangements for you to stay with your sister at the Pearsons’,” said Mrs. Callamore.

  I looked up at her. “The Pearsons’?”

  She looked at me. “Yes, my dear. You can’t have Duncan around you until after the new moon. Then you two will have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

  I looked back at Mrs. Callamore. “No, I mean, what is Angelica doing at the Pearsons’?”

  Edness Callamore turned to Duncan and then to me. “My dear, Matt is bonded with Angelica. It is his duty to join our bloodlines.”

  I was in shock. He never said anything to me about him and Angelica, but if he was only my guard there was no reason to be real friends. “I need to go outside. I can’t breathe in here.” Duncan quickly came and helped me, and we walked outside. I took a breath and I could feel cool air filling my lungs. I looked around as I felt like someone was watching us.

  “Are you feeling better?” Duncan asked with concern.

  “Yes. I feel like I can breathe again. It was getting too stuffy in that house.” I turned away from him. “Your grandmother is right, though, you should go. If this happens because you are around me right now, it’s hurting me.”

  Duncan looked at me. “I don’t want to hurt you, but you know if I wasn’t around I couldn’t have helped you heal either. That has to count for something.”

  I looked him in the eye. “It does. But I don’t even know why I was out in the woods in the first place, and if I went out there because you a
re here, then it’s just not fair to me.” I looked at him to try to make him understand.

  “Fine. You made your point. But mark your calendar, we are going to spend some quality time together as soon as the new moon has come and gone.”

  He leaned in and kissed me—my very first real kiss. A charge of electrical energy passed between us. I had never felt anything like that before. My heart raced more and I started to get lightheaded again. I felt myself falling. “Nate!”

  From out of nowhere, Declan came running.

  “Can you take her?” said Duncan.

  Declan held onto me and he walked me away from Duncan. I could only imagine how Duncan must have felt, not being able to help me and letting his brother come to the rescue.

  Declan turned to Duncan. “You need to leave before you kill her.” He turned back around, and he carried me up the stairs. Declan glared back at Duncan as we left him standing there.

  I could feel his heart beating. This time it was slow and steady. The more I listened the slower mine became. He kicked open the door to my room and walked me over to the bed to set me down. He pulled up the covers and sat on the edge of the bed as he watched me. I could feel his heat radiate off his body.

  “Does everyone have so much heat once they transition?” I asked as I opened my eyes. I saw him clearer than I have ever before.

  “I guess,” he said, looking back at me.

  “I don’t want to keep going through this. It hurts too much.” I could almost feel his heart jump when I said that.

  “You’re almost there,” Declan said, trying to encourage me.

  I reached to put my hand on his. “But nobody really knows that, right? I mean if I am the first female mac tire in generations, then how do we really know what will happen to me?”

  He looked at his hand when I grabbed it. His heart started to race. He didn’t answer me. “I’m sorry.” He looked up into my eyes as he spoke.

  “For what?”

  I looked back as he paused and then said, “It can’t be you. Can it?” He looked away from me. “You can only have one mate. Duncan has to be yours.”