Hidden Heart (Dark Wing Series Book 1)

by Ellie Pond

“Weird how we both had orange bracelets.” Aurora rubbed his wrist above his new purple band.

  He put the pizza down and rubbed the back of Aurora’s hand. A dark patch under the band gleamed in the sun. He pulled his new one off. “Can I see yours?”

  “Sure, what is it?” Aurora pulled off her band.

  Duncan held it up to the sun. The light revealed a hair line crack, the diameter of a watch battery, separate from a removable back, like one for a battery. He held up his new band that contained only the backing for the battery. His new band was stamped with a trademark registration for the ship that Aurora’s lacked.

  Duncan pushed back his chair and scanned the restaurant. He found another wolf family near the ship’s rail. He grabbed both bands and strode across the deck, avoiding the cubs dodging in and out of the restaurant to the water fountain play area near the pool.

  He nodded to the couple. “Can I ask you a question? Do either of your bands have this circle?” He handed Aurora’s band to the female. Her mate fed a two-year-old in pigtails, and he glanced up but went back to feeding his daughter when Aurora appeared at his side. The woman held it up to the light. “Um, interesting. Let me see.” She pulled off her own blue band and held it up next to Aurora’s. “No. Not that I can see.” She handed both to her mate.

  “Odd.” He took his off. “Mine doesn’t have that either.” He sniffed it and handed it back to Duncan and his mate.

  “Thanks for your time.”

  “No problem.” He nodded and went back to his toddler.

  Aurora put her hand out and Duncan gave her the band back. She flexed and twisted it. But nothing changed.

  “Do you have your pocket knife?”

  “I flew and didn’t check a bag. So no.”

  “Spencer drove.”

  “He’ll have one, then.”

  She glanced at her watch. “I need to get back to the game.”

  “I’ll walk you.” He wrapped his large band around her wrist. “Take mine.”

  It flapped around her wrist like a loose bangle. She smiled at it.

  His stomach dropped. She was raised human. Did she want a ring, a dress, and a wedding? Doubt stomped at him. Should he propose? More than he already did on the parasailing trip?

  “Duncan?” Her wide eyes glanced up at him.

  I can hear you.

  Oh.

  It’s okay. I don’t need a wedding.

  But you want one. And I want you to be happy.

  Okay.

  But I am not asking you to marry me.

  What?

  I mean that’s not how I am asking you. When I do, I’ll do it right.

  Okay, then. The smile on her face matched her thoughts.

  He kissed her goodbye at the door to the competition, with Lauren by her side.

  * * *

  He yanked on Aurora’s door. Relief flooded him when it didn’t fly open. He had the same result on his own door. He waved Aurora’s band in front of the lock on her door and it opened. The door between the rooms stood open, too. No strange scents grabbed at him. He found Spencer’s discarded jeans in a lump near the bathroom floor. In the pockets he found three dollars in quarters, a nail clipper, and his brother’s pocket knife. He swept a pile of clothes from the side table and flicked on the bedside light.

  With caution, he ran the tip of the smallest knife around the edge of the indent. It left a channel, but nothing more. With two strides, he retrieved the nail clipper. He used the nail file to run around the edge of the circle in the second pass. He took the knife and pried off the plastic oval. Underneath it was a small chip. Duncan tilted the chip out of the band onto a calendar of today’s ship events. Leaving the chip on the paper, he blocked his cabin door open with one of Gunnar’s shoes. With a wave in front of Aurora’s door, the lock popped open. The chip had nothing to do with the door. A kick sent Gunnar’s shoe sailing into the room. Within ten minutes, he was back in the room staring at the chip and an expensive mochaccino latte in a souvenir cup sat in front of him. The chip didn’t hold info for purchases either. What did it do? And why was it on his mate?

  The curtains by the balcony fluttered.

  “What the hell are you doing?” The sun radiated around Spencer, accenting his hollowed complexion.

  Duncan jumped. “What are you doing out there? How long have you been out there?”

  “As long than you’ve been slamming doors. What are you doing?” Duncan scrutinized Spencer. It was the first time Spencer gave off his alpha vibes, his hands on his hips, his chin tipped forward. The brother in him wanted to tell Spencer to go screw himself, but he swallowed it down with a breath and explained what brought him to sitting with Aurora’s band dissected on the table.

  “Have you taken it to the front desk?”

  “Kind of thought they would know about it since they pass them out.”

  Spencer closed his eyes. “Maybe not. When Gunnar lost his band, he went to the front desk, and they replaced it by pulling one out of a drawer and activating it.”

  “Gunnar lost his band?”

  “In port. At that beach slide place. He said it fell off on a slide. He tried to find it, but it must have gotten sucked into a filter. I can see what you’re thinking, but—”

  “It was Gunnar being Gunnar. Right …”

  “As soon as he replaced it, the old one is deactivated. While I don’t like it, we don’t have anything to worry about with yours missing.”

  “Other than this chip.”

  “Other than the chip,” Spencer agreed.

  32

  For the Win

  Aurora bounced out of the Panther Hall. Duncan waited for her at the top of the stairs opposite the castle. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. Her heart twisted in joy. With a quick swat, Aurora snatched the ever-present baseball cap off of Duncan’s head and affixed it on her own. He kissed her hard, wrapping his hand around her neck, and, when she was distracted enough, swiped the hat off of her and put it back onto his own head backwards.

  “Hey, I look good in hats.”

  “You do. I’ve bought you a bunch. But you don’t wear them.” He chuckled. Taking his hat was a family hobby. Most Christmases he bought everyone a new hat with their favorite team, so mostly Pittsburgh Originals. But he’d bought a few Penguins and Steelers caps over the years, too.

  “Not the same. I like yours better.”

  He took the hat from his head to see which one he had on. “I bought you this exact one last year.”

  “You did, but it doesn’t smell like you.” She swapped the hat to her own head again.

  He smirked. “You are in a great mood. Is there anything I can do to make your mood even better?” He rotated them so that her back was against the wall. He pushed the brim of the hat away from her face and kissed her cheek and nibbled on her ear.

  “Mr. Larsen.” A voice boomed behind Duncan. They both jumped.

  “First Officer Laurit, so nice to see you this afternoon.”

  “Is it, though? How is your cruise? Staying out of trouble, I hope?” Laurit scrutinized them both.

  “That is the plan.” Duncan held Aurora’s hand in a firm grip. Was he trying to make her stand behind him? “We seem to bump into you a lot. So fortunate to have you checking in on us.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” His chuckle resonated through his barrel chest. “I’ve been searching for you. I left a message on your cabin phones, but they haven’t been picked up. Captain Matthias requests your presence at the captain's table tomorrow night. It’s quite the honor. He wants to congratulate you both on your fated mate pairing.”

  “Really?” Feels like the honor I had when I was called to the principal’s office and asked not to participate in home economics classes anymore because I was too distracting.

  Aurora laughed.

  Laurit glanced between the two of them. “New mates.” He humphed and shook his head. “You will be there. Six in the captain’s dining room. Ask at the front desk if you need direction
s. It’s not on the general map.”

  “Alright,” Aurora said, not sure that she meant it.

  “You’re sure.” Duncan glanced down at her.

  “Only if you want to, too.”

  “For the love of … You will be there,” Laurit snapped, then turned and thundered down the stairs.

  “I guess we’ll be there.” Duncan took the hat back from Aurora.

  “I guess we will.”

  * * *

  They sat at the pizza place. Although dinner was only two hours away, a half-full pizza sat in front of Duncan.

  “So before Laurit showed up, you asked why I was so happy.”

  Duncan put down his fifth slice. He winked at her.

  “I won my round. With no, you know, help,” she whispered. “And it’s a game I’m not great at normally.”

  “That’s amazing. We need to celebrate.” He winked at her again.

  “You’re horrible. But okay.” She giggled. Where the heck did that come from? “Lauren came in second. She looked so much better this afternoon. She doesn’t want to talk about it; I get it. But if what you said about the paper Dr. Cottage wrote is true, do they have a choice?”

  “I was wondering the same thing. Before I came and got you, I wandered around again. I ended up in the Bjørn bar. After an hour or so, I asked Kellen about the article again. He pulled it out, and I read the rest of it. Well, attempted to read it. Most of it went over my head. Dr. Cottage theorizes that the bond could be severed chemically if caught early enough. Not that it’s been done. But that it could be done.”

  Aurora made a face. “How old is the article?”

  “A couple years. Kellen thought it got her the job.”

  Aurora took a long drink from her iced tea. “Do you think she’s made progress? Like actually tested it?”

  Duncan shrugged.

  “I hope not. For Tad’s sake. I suppose it’s not bad, though. It could give people more choices.”

  “Her article talks a lot about shifter chemistry and pheromones. Like I said, most of it went—” He buzzed the top of his cap with his hand. “You’re right. It might not be the right thing for everyone. Choice is a good thing.”

  Aurora glanced at the table. “I am glad we’re mated. But it was a rough couple of days. What if someone …”

  “I wondered that, too.” He caressed her hand, and his band rubbed her wrist. He pulled her band out of his pocket. “We need to go get a new band for you at the front desk. But I want to keep yours.”

  “Okay. What are we going to do with it?”

  “I haven’t talked to Tad yet. He’s been a bit busy trying to convince his mate that he’s not a jackass. But he must know someone at home who could look at the chip.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  * * *

  They left the blond agent with the floppy hair. Aurora had a new purple band, with her old one with the chip still in Duncan’s pocket. Duncan could now open up her door, too.

  * * *

  The wind blew Aurora’s robe open a little, and she tightened it back up.

  “Hey, you’re ruining my view.” Duncan sat up from the lounge chair on their balcony.

  “Sorry.” She moved over.

  “Not that view.” He strolled to her and pulled each side of her robe so that it opened again.

  “You, sir, are incorrigible.”

  “That’s the plan.” He picked her up and carried her to the bed.

  * * *

  The television’s blue light glowed in the dim room. The room attendant had turned it on during the afternoon service, and they hadn’t bothered to turn it off. The crawler underneath the rebroadcast of the last musical announced the night's activities.

  Duncan rolled over. “Do you want to go to the match tonight?”

  She put down her Kindle. The images of Duncan’s match from Gunnar’s description flashed in vivid detail. “I am not sure.”

  “It’s not as bad as your imagination. It would make it less scary if you watched one.”

  “I’m not so sure about it.”

  “Okay, if you don’t want to go, we don’t go.”

  Aurora breathed out. “But you want to go?”

  “I do, but if you don’t want to, I would rather be with you.”

  Aurora thought of her own parents. Their marriage of 35 years. Her father and mother did all kinds of things for each other that they either didn’t like or didn’t want to do. Her father would hike mountains with her mother when it wasn’t something he loved. But she did, so he did it with her. And she went to train shows with him, without a single sigh or complaint. “Let’s go.”

  “Rory, are you sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

  “Then you better make me comfortable, right now.”

  His laugh rumbled over her skin as he kissed his way down her belly.

  33

  Sam

  The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as the omega wolf approached his mate. Wolves made her uneasy. You didn’t grow up hearing all of the stories of witches dying slowly from a wolf attack and feel secure around wolves. Their bite left a witch to fester in a decade-long death.

  Usually, shifters sensed her as human. But having this pack on board made her and the few other witches on the ship nervous. Both Duncan and Gunnar had an innate ability to sense witches, and their cousin, being part witch, bound as he was, did too. The council thought of them as enemies. Duncan approached her now with a scowl on his face. Concern filled her.

  “Hey, I am okay.” Aurora ran her hand down her mate’s arm, and his disposition changed.

  Okay, so this big guy would back down. Sam shifted on the now-small settee; she was too close to the wolf. “I think you two have a lot to talk about.” Sam stood.

  “What’s going on?” Duncan eyed Sam.

  “We were just chatting about what it means to be a witch. And the whole wolves versus witches thing,” Aurora explained.

  Sam shifted on the now-small settee; she was too close to the wolf. “I think you two have a lot to talk about.” Sam stood.

  “Have you been upsetting my mate, witch?” Duncan placed a claiming hand on Aurora’s shoulder.

  “Rude. It’s Sam, wolfie.” Sam reflexively took a step back.

  “You’re not in danger, witch. Relax.”

  “Habit. I plan to live a long time.”

  “Well, you have nothing to fear from me, Sam,” he drawled. Duncan put his arm around Aurora and pulled her even closer. Aurora exhaled. The magical energy neutralized.

  “Take care of her, Duncan.”

  “Witch, I will always take care of my mate. She can be who she wants. If she doesn’t want to accept your coven, she doesn’t have to. Look at my aunt—she hasn’t been involved with a coven since she was young. And she’s fine. She’s thriving.”

  In secrecy. Sam’s eyes narrowed as she turned from the hunter to the prey. “Aurora, we will need to talk again soon.” Sam pulled a paper origami wolf out of her pocket. She held it between two fingers for Duncan. She animated it across the air towards the couple on the sofa, where it landed on the table next to a dirty cup. It pranced before becoming stiff again. Aurora’s eyes flashed. The power radiating from Aurora held promise of greatness.

  Sam waved at the couple over her shoulder. She needed to tell Violet of this as soon as possible. Hopefully, her visions were clearer now, and the dragon would eventually give her permission to ease her pain. No matter how much he didn’t want it.

  Sam took the employee door next to the elevator and trotted down the utility stairs. She nodded to staff as they passed. While her official title was “assistant to passenger invitations,” most on the ship understood what she was, but unlike shifters, most humans didn’t believe in witches.

  Sam hoped Aurora would be okay. It was a lot to take in. Would she be able to take the world in and help unite the two groups?

  Sam headed down to the second level, to Violet’s suite. She knocked but didn’t wait
for an answer. The mediation main room was more their shared office space than a room. Sam walked into the minimalist space. “Violet. Are you here?” It was a silly thing to say. Sam picked up on her mentor’s energy, but politeness won out. The door to the bedroom was shut.

  Violet opened the door from the bedroom, her paisley silk robe flapping. She wore a Hermès scarf tied around her hair. Her energy radiated, and an older bear shifter in beige pants and a blue-collared button-up shirt sauntered out behind her.

  Sam grabbed a pear from the bowl next to the computer and waved at the shifter as he left the room. She sat on the tall stool.

  Violet closed the door behind the shifter. She came over to Sam and kissed her on her cheek. “You came just in time. He was fun for a while, but I was getting bored. Hope I didn’t embarrass you?”

  “Do you feel better?” Sam asked. Violet didn’t mean it. Nothing embarrassed Violet and as such didn’t embarrass Sam either. It was what most witches did—find a nice shifter who had no mate.

  “My vision’s a little better.”

  “Good.” Sam opened up the searching databases that she used to decipher the visions that Violet had. On the top of the program in a large green circle, a number four, in a yellow circle, an eight, and in the red circle, a 250. Well four green, that’s not bad. That didn’t mean that she had found four mates but four that were possibly mates.

  “How are you doing? I haven’t seen you have fun in a while.”

  “Is that what you kids are calling it these days?”

  Violet took lover after lover. Never the same one twice. That wasn’t what she wanted. Finding a mate or someone special usually wasn’t how it happened for seers. And it wasn’t something she thought would happen anytime soon, or if she was like her mother, ever.

  Violet glanced over her shoulder. “Let’s find your mate.”

  Sam’s head whipped to Violet. “It doesn’t work that way. Hell, Violet, you’re the one who told me that. Taught me we can’t use our visions for personal gain. And we are far too close for you to say it wouldn’t be personal gain.”