by Dara Fraser
“You are a good alpha, mate of mine.”
“That is yet to be determined, but with you by my side, I’m a better one than I was before.” She smiled up at him before being interrupted by the slamming front door.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Asshat,” Leo coughed at his friend and beta. “We weren’t even kissing.”
It was a nice tension breaker. They spent the rest of the trip telling each other what they’d missed. Getting the Aldric members out was easier than they could have hoped. Their pack held the neighboring town, so when the festival committee was hiring day laborers, Eric had all of the pack submissives sign up to bring in money for the pack. The women who quilted were the winners from the year before, so they were here to help pass the honor onto the next winners. Dylan said they just walked up to the women, told them where to meet them, and were out of there in twenty minutes, tops.
They were all currently at Martha’s, settling in. Dylan nearly went off the road when she told him the story about Eric pissing himself. Samantha was smart enough to know that they had not heard the last of him, but for now, they could relax. What she, and she was sure everyone, really wanted to know was if the spell worked. Samantha hoped that Sybil had some answers for her.
Martha was standing outside when they pulled in. Her face held a smile, but it was forced. All was not well within her home.
“Martha.” Samantha popped out of the SUV before it made a complete stop and ran to hug the woman. “Please tell me what is wrong.”
“Oh, darling,” the older woman whispered in her ear. “So many things are wrong with the guests we now have, but the most severe is Mindy’s mother, Leilani. Her wolf is so faint and broken.”
“What can we do?” She hadn’t even met the woman yet and her heart was breaking.
“You, my darling girl, are going to heal her.” Martha said it as fact, but Samantha wasn’t like unicorns in books. She had no power to heal. She wished she could.
“That is a fairy tale, Martha.” The old woman shook her head at that. “How am I going to do it?”
“With your horn, of course.” Martha started to walk back to the house and turned her head back to her calling out, “What was once stolen will now be returned.” Before heading inside.
Dylan and Martha had not been exaggerating about Leilani. She was the first one Samantha saw when she entered, and she had to fight to keep her unicorn in as her eyes met Leilani’s for the first time. She was shaking with effort to keep her unicorn in and ran out the door and into the woods behind her before her unicorn broke loose.
Leo. I need you to—
Already on it, love.
She turned to see her mate carry out the old woman who looked like she might snap into two if hugged too closely. He placed her on the grass before Samantha and without thinking, her unicorn took over and placed her horn over the woman’s heart.
“Bless you, dear,” Leilani whispered as her eyes closed. Samantha didn’t move. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she knew she needed to stay put.
“Samantha. Call her wolf and let the energy flow.” Nothing Martha was saying actually made sense, but she tried with all that was in her. At first she felt like she was inwardly calling the woman like one calls a stray pup, but as she let her alpha power take over, her body responded, and she could feel the energy flowing between them as the old woman before her transformed into her wolf. Into her beautiful white wolf. Samantha picked up her head as the woman ran in circles, stopping at each of her loved ones as tears flowed down their eyes.
“Change back, love.” Leo was by her side, holding a blanket for her. “I’m not sure what happened, but there she is, and she is gorgeous and seems healthy. Change back, love.”
Enveloped by his arms and the blanket, she took in the scene. The wolf was beautiful. “What was wrong with her wolf?” Samantha asked the crowd of gawking loved ones.
“She was forced to not shift by Eric,” the man she now knew to be Darnell began. “He told her that if she was going to deny him his mate, Lily, then he would deny her her wolf.” Samantha wanted to be sick. He was killing the woman over a woman who wasn’t even his true mate. Sobs from Mindy broke her heart. She hadn’t known, and it was clear that the family needed time together. Samantha looked to Leo and gestured with her eyes that they should leave, and he nodded in agreement.
“Today has been a rough day for everyone. We’ll meet at my place tomorrow at ten.” He turned to Martha. “Do you have enough vehicles for that?” She nodded. “Excellent. Leroy, we are going to run home. Are you up for it?”
Leroy’s eyes widened. “You mean, you weren’t sending me here to stay? You really want me?” It broke Samantha’s heart all over again to hear the shock in his voice.”
“Leroy, I told Eric you were mine and I meant it. You are clan and if you want, you can be family, too.”
Leroy nodded and started to remove his clothes in a blink, tossing them aside as he transformed into his fox.
Leo laughed and belted out an order to Dylan to deliver some clothes for Leroy to their house on way his home to Zara before they transformed and enjoyed the run home.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Morning After
Samantha rolled over, not wanting it to be morning. She tried to convince herself that until she opened her eyes, she was not awake and wouldn’t need to deal with everything now on her plate. She willed herself to go back to sleep as she thought about the night before, which was far from helping her reclaim said sleep.
After they got Leroy settled into bed, they stayed up with Sybil until the wee hours of the morning, talking about the day’s events and making plans. The best news was that Martha and Sybil were both confident that the spell was mostly a success. Those little fireflies each represented a Theron’s power to sense a paranormal. It was power that had been apparently stolen from the unicorns centuries earlier and now it was back. Not just to Samantha but to all the unicorns.
The power that once helped the Theron find and then kill them was actually the same power that gave unicorns in fairy tales the ability to heal. Of course, nothing is like it is in the stories of old, and she couldn’t cure cancer or even the common cold, but she did hold immense power. The healing power was exclusive to other shifters, more specifically their animal.
That was why she was able to help Leilani. Leilani’s animal was so weak and powerless after being trapped for so long under the weight of their old alpha’s command that it was killing her human self also. Sybil conjectured that was why Martha couldn’t see who was coming. Not that that explained Leroy, but with the glimmer in Sybil’s eye, she guessed Martha knew but didn’t tell for reasons all her own.
“You’re thinking too hard, love.” Leo was awake.
“That’s not the only thing hard I see.”
His chest begin to vibrate. “Behave, love. People will be here soon and our young is next door.”
They had talked last night with Leroy. Poor kid was only twelve and had been raised as a slave in the Aldric pack. Eric even lied on working permits, having him do day labor jobs when the pack needed money. They were going to have to deal with Eric soon. Too many atrocities were going on in his pack to ignore.
When Leroy asked if they would be his parents because he never had any, they made the offer they had already been planning. When Leo called him their young, her heart sang. He was not theirs in words alone, he was already in their heart. No one fooled themselves into thinking it would be an easy transition, but they were ready for the road ahead.
“Yes he is.” She rolled over on her side so she could look her handsome mate in the eyes. “Speaking of which, we have to give Granny her house back.”
“Already done.”
“What do you mean, already done?”
“It’s a surprise.” His smirk had her giving him a playful smack.
“Fine, be that way.” She faux pouted.
“You really want to know?” She gave him her best are
you being serious look. “Remember Trapper Asshat? Well, since the town now has his house after Zara’s magic, I figured we should buy it from them. A town shouldn’t be holding onto dead weight like abandoned land, you know.”
“Why, Mr. Mayor, I think you may be right. It wouldn’t be right.” She bit her bottom lip in concentration and saw the moment Leo began to worry. “You know I have money in accounts and probably insurance money.”
“I’m sure you do.” He was getting huffy. Silly males.
“So I was thinking…” He was not looking impressed. “We should work on getting it back.”
“I provide for my family.”
“Seriously, we are going to get on that before you even let me finish?” He rolled his eyes in defeat. “As I was saying, I think we should buy the house but not for us. We should give it to Mindy’s family, using my money since I no longer need it.”
“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?”
“A wee bit.” She held her fingers close together and used a silly voice as she said it.
“If we do that, which I admit is a brilliant idea, what about us?”
“A little birdie told me that Martha’s house would be up on the market soon and it is plenty big enough for the three of us and any more we might add.”
He turned to his side, looking almost worried. “Why would it be up for sale? She’s been there for decades.”
“Richard.” She could barely hold in her smile. From Dick to friend in a few days. Not too bad.
“Richard?” Poor Leo was a bit clueless about his own pack. She might not have known before yesterday, but she had seen a few glances, so it didn’t shock her when Sybil spilled the beans.
“When you ran the perimeter to show Leroy where it was safe to run last night, Granny may have gossiped about Richard and Martha a bit.”
“Go on.” He rubbed a finger lightly up and down her arm, which was not helping her concentration.
“How they decided that even though they are not true mates—” At the word mate, he touched her mark and it was all she could do to finish her thought and not jump him. “—they can still be happy as mates and she was only going to stay in her place as long as the family needed them.
They heard a door open and close, and he snapped his hand back and fell on his back in frustration. When a second door opened and a shower started, his expression changed to that of mischief.
“I say we have five minutes, love. What do ya think?”
She wanted to tease him about him being the one to say no initially, but they had five minutes and she wasn’t going to waste them.
“I think we have at least six because the water takes so long to warm up.”
He took that as a challenge. If she were the kind of girl to rate performance, he would have earned an A plus.
Epilogue
The clearing behind their house was packed. When Dylan had heard what Leo had planned, he and Zara made it their mission to have the entire clan there. It made sense to Samantha, but she worried that the newbies were going to be unable to handle the pressure. Thankfully, they seemed to be holding their own. She was sure she had to thank Martha for that.
“As you know,” Leo began and all chitchat ended. “We have recent additions to our clan and we would like to take today to officially welcome them to the clan.” Samantha grabbed Leroy by the hand and brought him front and center. “First, I would like to formally introduce my mate, Samantha, to the clan for those of you not present at the elders’ meeting.”
Leo came up behind Leroy and put his hands on his shoulders. “Samantha and I would also like you to welcome into the clan our son, Leroy Sampson.” Samantha felt the emotion from the clan pouring in. They loved her mate and were truly happy for him.
Every clan member came up one at a time and bared their necks to each of them. It would take some getting used to, but knowing they did it out of love and respect made it easier.
The welcoming of Daisy, Rose, Leilani, and Darnell was less formal but just as powerful. It didn’t escape Samantha’s attention that Alex and Darnell couldn’t look away from each other and that Daisy seemed to not care at all. If she were a betting woman, she would guess that Daisy’s mating had zero to do with love or attraction and everything to do with Darnell’s protective nature. Only time would tell.
Until they knew for sure if the Theron really had lost most, if not all, of their powers, they weren’t going to share that information with the clan. It was safest for everyone to think they were at full power, just in case. Letting their guard down for even a moment could have dire consequences.
“And now we run.” Leo’s announcement was met with cheers and the removal of clothing from the very old to the very young, and after Leo shifted, they all followed suit. Only Zara, a couple of obviously pregnant women, and some babies stayed behind.
Samantha knew the clan was diverse, but seeing it firsthand filled her with a sense of belonging she hadn’t even known she was missing. This clan was hers and she was theirs. Leo took off with a wink. He wanted a chase and she was going to give it to him. There was still much to be done, much to be decided and much to explore, but for tonight, they would run. Samantha nodded to the women and infants who were staying behind and took off to catch her mate.
About the Authors
Dara Fraser is a unicorn. Living in the B3 world, she is often seen flitting around her small bookstore in a fictional college town in New Hampshire. When she is not working or spending time with family and friends, Dara writes in secret. Dara Fraser’s non-fictional partner in crime is Delphina Henley.
Delphina Henley has always been a unicorn. Delphina has been writing since she can remember and has always had a love of the paranormal. She is an avid reader and a self proclaimed shifter crack addict. Delphina currently lives in the Midwest with her husband and four kids.
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