Woodland Fae: The World of Fae, Book 10

by Terry Spear

  “And he asked her if he could court her,” Myla said.

  “What?” Simon appeared as astonished as they'd been to hear Tomas's proposal.

  “Letta thanked him but said you’re courting her.” Myla seemed amused and pleased.

  Simon frowned. “What?” He turned his attention to Letta, but she thought he only looked surprised, not angry with her over it.

  Letta and Myla smiled at him.

  Simon let out his breath. “I was going to ask how you’re feeling, but it appears that you are doing well enough to cause great mischief.”

  Letta would have laughed, except she wasn't sure if Simon was exasperated with her or angry or resigned. “What would you have me say? Yes, I’ll court you Tomas? And then what? He would only do so to get me out of the way so that Gia could get on your good side.”

  “Which is not happening.”

  “Okay, but if I flat-out refused his offer, he could take the rejection as an insult. But if I were courting you, or even your brother Aegis, or Ronan, since both have asked me already—”

  “You can’t be serious.” Simon appeared as though he couldn’t believe it.

  “She is serious. I heard them both ask her. But she told them she couldn't court anyone right away. They said it figured—first interesting she-wolf in ages and you get her.” Myla fixed Simon some tea.

  “They don’t seem to mind that I’m a scorpion fae.” Letta straightened out the blanket on her lap.

  “You’re a wolf-shifter fae,” Simon reminded her. “I can’t believe you told Tomas we’re courting.”

  “We don’t have to be. We could have broken up already.” Letta shrugged. “I can still date one of your brothers.”

  “No, the word will have spread through the pack in record time. Everyone's been waiting for me to get on the ball and mate a wolf.” Simon let out his breath as if he were exasperated with her. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m feeling better, but I’m tired.”

  “You need to return to bed.” He helped her to back to bed and covered her up.

  “Are you upset with me about what I said to Tomas? I really didn’t want to cause you trouble. You don’t have to court me.”

  Simon sat down on the bed, smiled, and took her hand. “To tell you the truth, I just thought I was going to be the one asking you…first.”

  “You took too long.”

  He chuckled. “As soon as you’re feeling better, I’ll take you out to dinner. Not here though. We’ll go to this restaurant I know in the human world.”

  “Is that where you take all your dates?”

  “Never there. My sisters and brothers and I have gone there a number of times. Great steaks and side dishes.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll be ready.”

  “Get your sleep.”

  THREE DAYS LATER, Myla and Letta were practicing play wolf-fights, despite Simon’s concern that Letta wasn’t completely healed. But she’d been insistent that she be allowed to practice. So he’d finally agreed. Myla had assured him privately that she'd take it really easy with Letta and he knew she would to protect her friend.

  He went to Ronan’s place to talk to Mark and Bryan to see how they were faring. They’d been doing really well with their shifting, practicing play fights with Simon’s brothers, and learning to fae travel short distances. They were happy they were fae now, and not just humans in the fae world. They could transport on their own and not need help getting to other locations. Simon imagined when they were helping the dragons to fight their battles, it was rather inconvenient to all concerned. Simon still wondered if they would suddenly become another type of fae, the kind that they should have been born with. And if so, which fae would they prefer living with? He hoped it wasn’t a kind of fae that didn’t get along with the wolf shifters.

  “Hey, brother,” Simon said, when Ronan opened the door for him. “How are things going?”

  “Well, Mark and Bryan are fighting in the clearing down by the river.”

  “Right. They wanted to learn how to wolf fight,” Simon said.

  “I don’t mean that,” Ronan said. “Mark mentioned that the queen wanted Bryan to create her gardens for her, to pay for his hospital visit, but since he had been turned, she gave the job to Mark.”

  “Okay.”

  “So they’re fighting over it, because it comes with a royal title.” Ronan smiled.

  Simon shook his head.

  “But I’ve been thinking we should let them go. The dragon shifters can bring them back here, if they have any trouble with them. And if they want to return to the pack, they're welcome to. Anytime.”

  “All right. We can do that. A couple of our guys can go with them to make sure it's okay with the dragons. Where are Myla and Letta?” Simon asked.

  “They’re practicing wolf fights and practice hunting out in the field near where the guys are. Aegis and Tomas are with them. What are we going to do about Hannah?”

  Simon knew he’d have to make a decision about her soon. No one objected to her staying confined in the cage still. They let her out for exercise and eating, but if someone couldn't keep an eye on her, they put her back in a cage. For now, no one wanted to take her in either. That was his main concern. Someone had to watch her.

  His brothers had been happy to have Mark and Bryan staying with them, and the guys had been agreeable and helpful with any of the pack duties they needed to do. So his brothers had no problem with taking them in.

  “I’ll go see them,” Simon said.

  “I wish Mark and Bryan would stay with us, but if they have their heart set on going back to the dragon fae territory, then that’s where they should be allowed to go,” Ronan said.

  “I agree. They’ll always be welcome to return here. The wolf pack is their family now. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

  “Hey, Letta said you were courting her. But you haven’t started taking her anywhere yet. Let me know if you change your mind. I want to take her out before our brothers have a chance to ask her out.”

  Simon smiled. “Don’t hold your breath.”

  “I knew you'd say that. I’ll go with you,” Ronan said.

  Then they left to find Mark and Bryan. When they finally reached the clearing where they were, Simon was surprised to actually see his sister and Letta play-fighting as wolves close to the river, even though his brother said they were out there. It was just seeing the women fighting that had his heart pounding.

  He watched them while they played, practicing lunges and feints, biting gently, barking, growling, and having fun. Then he smiled. He could watch them for hours. Even Mark, Bryan, and Aegis were sitting on their rumps in wolf form, watching the she-wolves sparring.

  Then the women saw Simon watching them and stopped playing.

  “I came to see Mark and Bryan but enjoyed watching you ladies too." To the men, Simon said, “Ronan said that the two of you want to go back to the dragon fae kingdom. I’ll have my brothers take you.”

  The men shifted. “All right,” Mark said. “I’ll work for Ena. Bryan was supposed to work for the queen. But we want to come back here and keep learning more about our wolf abilities. It won’t be the same while we’re with the dragon fae as it has been being here among the rest of you.”

  “Yeah, I feel the same way. Maybe we can even find mates among your wolves,” Bryan said, smiling. “Eventually.”

  “Okay it’s decided then. You can leave today,” Simon said, glad they were considering returning to the pack. It always helped to have good and able pack members, especially if they lost Tomas and his brothers at some future date because of the tenable situation with Gia.

  “What about Hannah?” Bryan asked. “Can we take her back with us?”

  “Ena doesn’t want her back. Otherwise, I'd happily send her along with you. Would the queen take her?” Simon asked. He’d rather Hannah live somewhere else. Anywhere else. He’d left her locked up, but only because he still felt she would be out-of-control, and it was punishment f
or attacking the others. But he knew he needed to give her a chance.

  Bryan shook his head. “No. Ena’s the one who is always taking in problem people. If Ena doesn’t want Hannah returned, she can’t go there.”

  “I will take responsibility for her,” Ronan finally said.

  Aegis let out his breath. “That means I’m stuck with her too.”

  Simon smiled. “It’s decided then. She stays with the two of you, under strict orders to do everything you say. Any infraction, she returns to the cage.”

  Letta and Myla shifted.

  “Myla, are you okay with this? I should have asked you first,” Simon said.

  “Yes. She needs to have a chance to prove she's going to be a viable member of the pack.”

  “All right then. I’ll release Hannah and set up the rules for her,” Simon said.

  They all headed back to the village then. Simon, along with Ronan, Aegis, Mark, and Bryan, went in to the hut to speak with Hannah.

  “I’m releasing you to Ronan and Aegis’s care. You’ll have to listen to what they tell you. You’ll be watched until you learn how to behave. Agreed?” Simon asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “All right.” Simon unlocked the cage and she came out of it.

  “So I’ll be staying with Mark and Bryan too? Since they’re staying at Ronan and Aegis’s cottage?” Hannah asked.

  “No,” Bryan said. “We’re returning to the dragon fae kingdom. Ena won’t take you back. We told you over and over again how you needed to straighten up.” Bryan sounded angry with her for her acting up so much when she had lived at Ena’s castle.

  “Well, it’s too late now, I guess,” Hannah said flippantly.

  Simon just shook his head. “Okay, well, you go with Aegis to the cottage. And Ronan, if you would, have a couple of our wolves go with Mark and Bryan to the dragon fae kingdom.”

  After that, Simon went to see Letta and Myla at the cottage before Myla could make plans for dinner for them. “Are you ready for a dinner date, Letta?”

  She smiled. “I sure am.”

  “Change into your human clothes, if you have any, and we’ll leave.”

  "I do. Though I'd love to go shopping for more, now that I'm more settled," Letta said.

  Myla smiled brightly. "If Simon doesn't want to take you shopping, I will."

  11

  Shopping was not something Simon liked to do, but he could go with the women to offer protection, in case they ran into fae-seers in the human world. Some other time though. For now, he wanted everyone to know that he truly was dating Letta.

  Once he had dressed in jeans and a shirt, Letta came out of her room wearing a little black dress. He was expecting her to wear jeans too, so he was glad to see her dressed so nicely.

  "I'll take you to the parking lot near the back of the steakhouse to avoid anyone seeing us, hopefully, when we pop in." Not that the fae were averse to shocking humans. It was part of who they were.

  "All right. I'm ready."

  He took her hand and transported them in the way of the fae, except once they were out of Myla's sight and enveloped in darkness, he pulled Letta into his arms. And kissed her.

  He could tell the way Letta seemed so awkward, she'd never been kissed before, and he knew then that she had told the truth: that if she’d wanted to find a mate, she had to leave her clan.

  He was just fortunate enough to be the first. She leaned into the kiss then, and he felt his thoughts swirling with possibility. She was darkness and light. Beautiful, strong, and courageous. And she seemed to like him, despite their rocky beginning, as much as he cared about her.

  And then he realized they were kissing still, her lips pressed against his, her arms wrapped around his neck, and his around her waist, a brass lamp shedding light on them.

  She suddenly pulled her mouth away from his, her cheeks flushing. "We're here."

  He smiled. "We sure are." He took her hand and began to escort her to the restaurant. "I love their steaks here. They have the best food." Even the aroma of steaks grilling filled the air, lured them in.

  She was about to say something when Tomas and his brothers suddenly appeared in front of them.

  That didn't bode well. They wouldn't have followed them here, unless they'd planned to create problems.

  "Trouble," Letta said under her breath.

  "Yeah. No doubt."

  He saw the fae collars they were carrying, but before the men could grab Simon and Letta, or they could transport away, she cast a pale white mist all over each of the men. They stopped dead in their tracks and Simon wondered if she'd frozen them in place. She pulled Simon into the darkness, and he knew she was fae transporting him somewhere, but home? Or somewhere else?

  "What did you do to them?" Simon asked, as she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't leave them frozen there in the parking lot.

  "I did what they were going to do to us. Removed their ability to fae transport. They were only frozen for a few seconds, giving us time to get away."

  "You used magic." He smiled down at her.

  "I hope it's all right." But Letta sounded that she didn't care if it was or not, she wasn't allowing the brothers to get the best of them.

  "Yeah, it was a great move. Where are we going?"

  "To one of my favorite restaurants. Seafood and steaks on the ocean."

  He chuckled. "Now this is what I call a date." They stood on a pier, looking out at the ocean, whitecaps on the water sparkling as the waves crested, the sun setting, casting a gold and orange glow over the edge of the world and off the clouds clinging to the sky above. It couldn't have been more perfect.

  Then they went inside and got a table as if they were royalty, convincing the hostess they were ahead of everyone on the list. When the waiter offered them menus, they both ordered steak and lobster.

  “You know, their sister probably knew all about what they were up to and will go fetch them, once they don’t return after a certain amount of time,” Simon said.

  Letta agreed. “I wonder how long they were supposed to be gone. If Gia thought it would be some time, then she may still be waiting for their return when we get back. She’ll have to bring back one at a time though. Do you think she’ll get any help with it?”

  “That depends. If they think it has anything to do with causing trouble for you and me, no. They won’t want to get on the wrong side of this.” At least Simon didn't think so.

  “What do you think they intended to do with us?”

  “Not sure. Fae collar us and leave us there, maybe, but someone would have gotten suspicious if we hadn't returned after a couple of hours and come looking for us. Once they learned what the brothers had done, they'd have been in hot water. Tomas and his brothers might have planned to take us somewhere else and dump us. We would be stuck until we could find a way back to the restaurant before we were picked up. If they fae transported us somewhere, which they would have done if they were moving us somewhere else, no telling where we might have ended up. They might have even separated us. Or, they might have eliminated us, because they would know, if our people learned they had anything to do with our disappearance, they would be blamed and could have been killed for it. Ronan would take over the pack, if I didn't return. But he'd lead an investigation into what happened to us. I suspect, Tomas and his brothers want to take over the pack, though they’d have a fight on their hands.”

  “What are you going to do about them?”

  Simon let out his breath. “You took away their ability to fae transport. They can’t get it back, unless you give it back, correct? Or Gia fetches them?”

  “Absolutely.”

  "Good. I'll decide when we return." He reached across the table and took her hand and caressed it. "I just want to enjoy this time with you."

  "You may be regretting that I came into your lives."

  "No way. Not after you saved Myla's life."

  "I was afraid of what Alton might do to me because I had seen where his treasure wa
s."

  The meals arrived, and they began to carve up their steaks.

  "Believe me, I was concerned also. I had no idea how he'd react. Once we knew you were a wolf, I'm sure that put his mind at ease. We don't need the gold for anything."

  "But I'll need to earn my keep. I wondered about working for him, guarding the gold too."

  "Not until you've had more training as a wolf. Myla's been taking it easy on you."

  "Yeah, that's what I thought, but no matter how aggressively I fight back, she won't take me on."

  He laughed. Letta was nowhere near being that aggressive. Though it was a sobering thought. Letta had been ill-equipped to fight Gia. He could see what a strong disadvantage she had just from the mistakes she’d made while play-fighting with Myla. Even Tomas had been there watching them, and Simon wondered if he’d wanted to see for himself how well Letta could fight.

  "I could get one of your brothers to fight me."

  "No." He smiled. "I'll help to train you so you can get the feel of a bigger wolf."

  "Deal. Just promise me you won't make it too easy because that's what Myla's doing."

  Simon chuckled. "I'm the alpha pack leader. How would it look if I let a new she-wolf take me down? I'll make you work for it."

  She smiled. "Good, because I'm aiming to take you down."

  WHEN THEY RETURNED to the wolf pack, Simon knew he’d have to deal with Tomas and Gia and their brothers for their deceitfulness. He hoped they hadn’t convinced his people that Letta had spitefully taken their ability to transport home away from them. If they ditched the collars, they could say they just happened to go to that restaurant and it would be his and Letta's word against the brothers.

  But when they arrived back at his cottage, Myla was wringing her hands and quickly said, “Gia’s beside herself with fear. Fae seers have taken her brothers hostage at the restaurant where you and Letta went to eat. She just got back from there. Everyone thought there was something suspect about them being there in the first place and were getting ready to send a search party for you. Not to mention, since you were at the restaurant also, they were concerned you had been taken also. But Gia said you and Letta weren't there or she would have solicited your aid.”