by Sammie Joyce
“You can’t stand in the way of fated mates, Locklear, no matter how much it hurts you. Love conquers all.”
“Forgive me, Artemis but I really am not in the mood for platitudes right now.”
“There is nothing placating about what is happening with Aspen and the eagle,” Artemis replied softly. My head whipped up, brows knitting at the ominous words.
“What does that mean?” I demanded, the hairs on my arms rising. “Is he hurting her?”
Fire shot through my veins but Artemis held up his hand and he giggled in his bizarre way.
“No, Locklear. He is a good soul, filled with nothing but good intentions for your dear friend.”
I stared at him blankly.
“Then what are you saying?” I asked dully, not wanting to lose my temper but Artemis was making it increasingly difficult.
“That their love was always doomed,” Artemis replied almost happily. My eyes bugged at his nonchalance.
“What? Why are you saying that?”
I wondered if he was just saying these horrible things as a misguided way to cheer me up but I had never known Artemis to lie about anything and sugar-coating matters was not really his way.
“Interbreeding,” Artemis said. “It holds great dangers for the mother and child alike.”
It took me several seconds to understand what he was saying.
“Aspen is with child?” I breathed, my heart hammering erratically as I spoke.
“Not for long,” Artemis chirped and I wondered why his affect was so bizarre all the time. He seemed to be happy at the most inappropriate times but Artemis had always been like that. Now was hardly the time to pursue it.
“The child could die?”
“They both could,” Artemis replied. “But fate is fate.”
I gaped at him in shock, watching as he returned to pick the berries as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell on my head.
“NO!” I cried. “No! There must be a way to protect her—to protect them both!”
Artemis shrugged and nodded, barely looking at me over his shoulder. For a moment, he seemed to forget I was there and he continued to work at the bramble bushes as I inhaled expectantly.
“Artemis?” I finally demanded in exasperation.
He looked up at me and blinked.
“There is, of course. For every problem, there is a solution but not one that is feasible in this case.”
“Tell me,” I rasped, advancing on the shaman. I hadn’t even realized I was upon him until I was face-to-face with him. He looked at me, unperturbed and unblinking.
“There is a plant that has been proven to help shifter females in these situations. Artemisia vulgaris, it’s called and it grants short bouts of super-immunity. It could help through the labor process but again, there are no guarantees.”
“Then get her some of that!” I yelled, amazed at his stoicism. “What are you waiting for?”
Artemis shook his head and offered me a wan smile.
“It can only be found in the far east, I’m afraid and I shouldn’t need to tell you than an ancient deer shifter is not about to venture into war torn territory. I would never survive a day in the chaotic east.”
I inhaled sharply at the revelation, pulling my shoulders back as I studied his face. I wished I could read his mind in that moment, my eyes searching him for a sign.
Did he tell me this because he knew what I would do?
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was saving Aspen and her child, regardless of the cost to me.
“No,” I agreed, shaking my head as I whirled about, my form morphing into my lupine shape. “You wouldn’t survive a day out there but I would.”
Artemis’ protests reverberated harmlessly through my ears.
He could lecture me all he wanted when I got back.
I had work to do.
7
Aspen
It had been a whirlwind day. As most, Philippe and I had spent it in the woods, hunting—or rather, we had hunted for a small part of the day and snuck off to his treehouse to make love and draw.
I’d picked up his guitar and to my surprise, I’d learned I had an aptitude for music, even though it hadn’t really interested me before. Everything was more fun with Philippe though, the colors brighter, the scents of the woods more vivid. I’d missed so much I hadn’t even known I’d needed in my life before him.
In the back of my mind was Locklear, however, dampening the full happiness I should have been feeling. I hadn’t seen much of him in the past two weeks. He’d done his best to avoid me but some nights, I would creep to his cave in the night, just to ensure he was still there and doing all right.
If he wanted space, I would give it to him but that didn’t mean it didn’t break my heart. The problem was, I had no idea how to rectify the riff between us. Sometimes, I wanted to smack him in the face with a paw and shake some sense into him and other times, I wanted to embrace him in a warm hug and tell him that everything was going to be okay.
But I did neither.
Giving up Philippe simply wasn’t an option and I knew that Locklear didn’t really want me to do that either. We could never be as happy together and I knew my friend wanted me to be nothing if not happy.
“You’re distracted,” Philippe commented, his hand slipped into mine as we brought our kills back toward the compound. The sun was setting to a magical reddish-orange glow, casting the leaves in a surreal light. Soon, the flora would be changing to match the sunset but we were still several weeks away from that.
“Am I?” I replied, giving him a sidelong look without slowing my gait. “I’m probably just exhausted. You seem to have that effect on me.”
He returned my smile and I noted how much healthier he looked since he’d come to join us. He’d been eating better, his appearance tidied after he permitted me to brush out the matted knots in his thick head of hair and shave him with a sharpened rock.
Many nights we still spent in his treehouse but as the evenings began to cool, I knew our time there was limited. My father was already working on a new shelter for us, even though I hadn’t asked him. The other shifters had simply accepted that Philippe was a part of us now, whether we said it aloud or not.
Everyone except Lock.
Philippe paused at the lip of the community, turning to look at me with concerned eyes.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” he said in a tone so low, I had to strain to hear him. I forced a wan smile and shook my head.
“It’s not your fault,” I told him quickly. It wasn’t the first time Philippe had broached the subject of Locklear but I still wasn’t ready to talk about it with him. The entire matter was complicated and for reasons I didn’t quite understand, I felt disloyal discussing Lock with Philippe, even though I knew logically that it was ridiculous. Philippe was my mate. We should be able to talk about anything.
“Maybe we can try to get together again,” Philippe suggested and I loved him for asking even if I shook my head. “Would you like me to go and talk to him?”
That was the last thing I wanted. I could only imagine how Locklear would react to that.
“Locklear will come around,” I promised, casting him a warm smile. “He just needs time to process that he doesn’t have me as much as he did before.”
Philippe nodded slowly and squeezed my hand gently. I readjusted the kills on my back and nodded toward the center of our commune. To my surprise, my parents hurried forward to meet us. As they approached, I could see the concern etched on their faces.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded immediately, my eyes widening as the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
“I’m not sure,” my father replied, thrusting a sealed envelope at me. For a moment, I stared at it in confusion. It wasn’t our standard recycled paper but thick stationary, as if it had come from the outside world.
A shiver of apprehension shot through me.
“What is this?” I demanded but I didn’t need an answer. I fully r
ecognized the uneven but neat script with my name emblazoned upon the page. It caused my heart to flutter dangerously.
“It was at the mouth of the cave when we returned for the day,” Mom explained, concern etched in her face. “I think it’s from Locklear.”
There was no guessing, not when I had already torn into the page and stared at it, a small gasp escaping my lips.
My Dearest Aspen, it began and I could already feel tears forming behind my eyeballs. Whatever I was about to read couldn’t be good news with such a serious start.
“Read it aloud,” Dad urged and I started to refuse but I changed my mind. We were a community after all. Regardless if the letter was addressed to me, Locklear was one of us and everyone had a right to know what it said.
I cleared my throat and gave Philippe a nervous look. He was clearly confused.
“My Dearest Aspen,” I started, willing myself to remain calm. “I hope that when you read this letter, you won’t be angry that I didn’t say goodbye in person but there are some things that are better left unsaid face-to-face.”
I steeled myself for what was coming but I was finding it difficult to breathe as I read the remainder of the letter with blurred vision.
“I have decided to join the Army and fight in the East where I believe I can be of most use. I know this will come as a shock to you but I ask you to have faith in my choice and know that I have thought this through with a clear head and heart.”
“He what?” My mother screeched, echoing my own sentiments. We were staunchly against the war and all it entailed, no one more so than Locklear.
His father just died in that very war! He vowed he would never involve himself in anything like that!
I had to look closely at the writing again, wondering if someone had forged Lock’s hand but I knew I was reading his own words.
“Go on,” my father encouraged. “What else does it say?”
I looked desperately at Philippe who extended his hand as if to take the page from me but I shook my head. I needed to see it all. Locklear had run away because of me, thrown himself into a terrible situation because he was unable to be around us. The least I could do was read the carefully crafted letter he’d left me.
“Know that I have only ever cared about your well-being and everything I am doing is for you. I wish you and Philippe only the best this world has to offer, even if I did a poor job of telling you that before. There is nothing more important to me than your safety and happiness. Please don’t fret—we will see each other again soon. Eternally Yours, Lock.”
The paper fell from my hand as I spoke his name, the heaviness of it too much for me to handle and I felt my knees buckle.
Philippe caught me before I could sink to the ground.
“We have to go after him,” I choked, a thousand thoughts flooding my mind. “He can’t have been gone that long. We’ll find him and bring him home.”
“NO!” The refusal was collective throughout but no one was louder than Philippe who spun me to look into my eyes.
“You can’t do that,” he said, his tone softening when he read the devastated expression on my face. “He doesn’t want it and it’s far too dangerous. I’ve seen what’s happening over there, Aspen. There are horrors that you can’t even imagine.”
Woe threatened to suffocate me and I finally let the tears flow from my eyes, knowing that no matter what optimistic thoughts Lock had written, I was never going to see him again.
“Why would he do this?” I moaned, trying to make sense of it. The war? He could have gone off to live on his own. He could have found another shifter tribe in Eastern or Northern Canada. Why would he have done such a drastic thing?
Unless he truly had a death wish.
“Come on,” Philippe murmured, pulling me to my feet. “Let’s get you inside.”
I allowed him to lead me away from the center of the compound, toward my parents’ cave but I was walking in a daze now, floating somewhere above all of us like I was the eagle.
My best friend was gone—and I had run him off.
Overnight it seemed, the weather turned and the distinctive scent of autumn was in the air. It had always been my favorite season and despite the knot that lay permanently in the pit of my stomach, I found myself lightening with the trees.
There had been no word from Locklear since he’d left and the idea of going after him had not left my mind, even if I didn’t openly say so to Philippe. I knew it would only upset him and truthfully, I hadn’t been feeling all that well over the past three weeks.
It had begun with a deepening fatigue, a strange occurrence for me. I had never had any shortage of energy but when the nausea started, I realized I’d picked up something and needed to see Artemis.
“You have finally called on me,” the deer shifter chuckled in his odd way. “I was wondering how long it would take you.”
I stared at him blankly.
“You knew I wasn’t feeling well?”
“I know many things,” Artemis chirped. “I know that you are not sick.”
It should have been a relief to hear that but it didn’t explain why I was feeling so rundown.
“Clearly something’s wrong,” I insisted. “I can’t think of a time when I’ve ever been so peaked.”
“You have also never been with child before,” Artemis replied, crushing leaves into his ancient stone mortar, a silly grin on his face.
The news shocked me and I started to shake my head in denial but I instantly stopped myself. As strange as Artemis was, he was no liar and he was rarely wrong.
It wasn’t as though Philippe and I had been careful but could an eagle and bear conceive?
Before I could open my mouth to ask, Artemis shoved the concoction in my face.
“This will help with the nausea,” he told me. “But it will pass soon. You are almost through your first trimester. You created the child very early on.”
My surprise was abruptly replaced by a jolt of pleasure and I felt a swell of happiness overcome me as I accepted the herbs to my lips. They tasted awful but almost instantly, I felt my stomach settle.
“When will he be born?” I asked softly.
“Gods willing, in the spring,” Artemis replied, turning away.
“Gods willing?” I echoed but the shaman was already opening the door to his hut, shooing me out.
“Shouldn’t you be sharing your news with the father of the child?” he asked lightly, nodding for me to leave.
“I… yes,” I laughed, rising from my spot on the floor where I’d been sitting crossed-legged. “And my parents.”
Artemis nodded but he didn’t speak. I cast him a sidelong look and for a frozen moment, I thought I saw a look of regret in his eye.
What does he see?
“Off you go now,” Artemis said again, half-pushing me out of his dwelling to close the door in my face.
The glimmer of doubt evaporated as I spun to run through the woods and find Philippe.
We were going to be parents! Was there anything more wonderful in the world?
A small voice whispered that it would be perfect if Locklear was there to share this moment with us but I quickly silenced it.
Lock had made his choice, even if I didn’t understand it. There was nothing I could do for him now. Any thoughts I had about going after him dissipated the second I’d learned I was going to be a mother.
All I could do now was look to the future with my new family and hope that Locklear was safe—wherever he was.
8
Philippe
I tried not to shiver outwardly but I was cold as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, waiting between the arch of dried flowers for my bride to join me before Damien and Cassia. I had no idea where they’d found the wreath of glorious flora in the dead of winter but the effect was stunning.
Candles flickered down the makeshift aisle, leading up from the tree line and into the clearing where everyone stood to commemorate our commitment to one another.
Aspen’s parents gave me a mischievous wink in unison and I wondered if they couldn’t read my thoughts.
“You’ll get used to the cold,” Cassia whispered. “The first winter is always the worst.”
“I’m good,” I lied, forcing a smile through chattering teeth.
“At least you won’t be in that treehouse,” Damien offered and I nodded in agreement. We had spent the fall in the small house that Damien had built for us but that was only temporary. I had begun to sell my paintings and play small shows in towns, bringing in a small sum. I bought an acre of land, close to the commune but far enough away that Aspen and I could still have our privacy.
It had bothered me that I’d had to use my surname to buy the property but it was a small price to pay to ensure our security. One day, I would have to do something about that name so that it wouldn’t continuously come back to haunt me.
Building was already underway for the three-bedroom house, the first of its kind in the area and others were talking about doing the same.
A low murmur stole my attention and I turned to see Aspen gliding down the walkway, her face glowing with contentment through the sheer veil which covered her face.
My breath was stolen as I stared at her, knowing she had never looked more lovely than she did in that moment. It wasn’t merely the dress which clung to her in majestic elegance or her gleaming mane of hair piled upon her head.
No, it was the love that shone from her eyes, permeating every pore of my body.
“She’s beautiful,” Cassia breathed and I could only nod dumbly as Aspen joined us.
“Close your mouth,” she teased me.
“I’m in awe,” I replied gently. “Can you blame me?”
Aspen reached for my hands and I eagerly returned her embrace.