by CJ Cooke
A surge of magic snapped into my body, as it flooded into me from the packlands, from everyone around us. A link forged in love and kinship reached out towards Coby—the pack link. The shimmering light exploded out of me with an iridescent glow, burning strong and confidently, and I could hear the echo of a joyful howl move through Coby’s body.
My magic slowly withdrew, coiling back inside of me and settling back into that well. It was a little shallower than it had been before, but it wasn’t something I’d ever regret.
Coby leant back and looked at me in wonder, and I gently wiped his tears away from his cheeks.
“What just happened?” Grey gasped, his eyes wide in question. “You started to glow, and then I felt something.” Grey rubbed at his chest as he spoke, and I nearly flinched in embarrassment.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. I really should make an active effort to learn more about magic before I started doing stuff. It was going to get me into trouble one day. “I healed Coby, and then I felt something inside him that wasn’t right. I’m pretty sure it was his wolf. Then it was like the pack link just grabbed hold of me, and it did something. I think it fixed his wolf?”
Grey frowned in confusion. I knew how it sounded, but that was what it had felt like. It felt like the pack link had reached out and healed Coby’s wolf, but that would mean there was something wrong with it to start with. How could that be right?
“I… I can feel him,” Coby whispered, and Grey’s eyes widened in alarm as he looked down at Coby in my lap.
Grey reached out and pressed his hand against Coby’s chest before he gasped in shock.
“This… this shouldn’t be possible!” Grey looked panicked, and now that my brain was kicking into gear, so was I. The Council could never know about this. If it got out that I could do this, I’d never see my mates again. The Council would never let me leave their sight, and I’d be forced into whatever fucked up breeding facility Tanner’s father was already thinking about.
Before I could say anything, the bedroom door flew open, and River and Tanner ran inside. Hunter was following close behind them, supporting Cassia as she limped into the room.
“What happened? I felt a massive surge in magic.” She was looking around the room in a panic, and I realised that to her, it would’ve felt like the witches were back.
“We felt…” Tanner started, but Grey quickly cut in before he could say anything else.
“Calli was just healing Coby,” Grey suddenly said loudly, to cover Tanner’s words.
Cassia looked at us skeptically but didn’t say anything. She would know it was more than that if she’d been able to feel it.
“You know me, novice at magic, I think I did something wrong,” I tried to sound casual, but it came out all high-pitched and probably a little bit panicked because inside, I was absolutely shitting myself. “Everything’s fine, though.”
River and Tanner both looked at me in question, they must've been able to tell from the look on my face that whatever it was, we wanted to keep it to ourselves for now. Hunter and Cassia were still unknowns to us, and as much as I felt like we could trust them, I wasn’t quite ready to do that just yet. Especially not now that we’d added Abby and Coby to the number of kids in our care. It was about more than just ourselves now.
“You should be in bed,” I chastised Cassia, focusing on her pale face and the way she was now leaning heavily on Hunter.
“I hate being in bed,” she mumbled, causing Tanner to snicker in amusement. “Plus, I heard there might be some cookies.”
Hunter shook his head in amusement, and I caught the annoyed side-eye she gave him. He’d hardly left her side since we’d moved her here. He wasn’t doing a great job of being my guard, and I had no doubt the Council was going to be pissed when they found out. But who could blame him? It was looking more and more likely that Cassia was his mate. We were just waiting for him to accept it. Anyway, I didn’t need a guard. I had three overprotective mates who were more than good enough to drive me crazy in that respect.
Hunter squinted at me in suspicion, but I just gave him an awkward smile that was probably not helping me be convincing. Finally, with a grunt of annoyance and a promise to get Cassia some cookies, he started to help her back to her room.
Tanner and River came into the room, gently closing the door behind them. Coby had climbed off my lap in all the commotion and was snuggled back against Grey’s side.
“Do you want cookies downstairs, or shall we bring them up so you can play on the switch?” I asked Coby. I knew he didn’t want to talk about what happened to him. When he was ready, we would, but it didn’t have to be today if he didn’t want to.
“Can we eat them here, please?” he asked quietly, and Grey ruffled his hair with a smile.
“On it!” Tanner shouted, running out of the room. I had no idea what had got into him today, but he was keeping the kids amused, at least.
River came and sat down with us, and I knew he wanted to talk to Coby. This was what he did, after all. Not being able to do it for the kids in the pack would be hard for him.
The stampede of feet coming upstairs started again, and I rolled my eyes at their antics.
“If they start to bother you, just say,” I told Coby. He might not be that much older than them, but I was sure he’d want some space from them at some point.
Coby quickly shook his head, and I leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
“I’ve got a roast in the oven to see to. You know where I am if you need me, okay,” I told him, and he smiled gratefully and nodded.
Maybe all of these kids who’d been through so much individually would be able to help each other heal.
I left the room just as the others came charging inside, and Jacob gave me a running hug as he went past. Channelling so much magic through me had worn me out, and I just needed to sit down for a minute. Well, actually, I needed a nap, but Sean would be here soon, and then we had to deal with Davion. I didn’t need to be having weird uncontrolled magic right now, I didn’t have time for the after-effects. I still had Jean, Cassia and Nash that needed healing as well.
I made it about halfway down the stairs before I slumped down and sat on the step. Have you ever had that feeling where you were so tired the stairs just felt like a mountain? It felt like my energy slowly drained out of me as the adrenaline rush of doing magic left my system.
“I got you, pretty lady,” I heard Tanner’s voice say as I was lifted off the step and cradled against his chest.
Tanner headed down the stairs mountain, and I sighed in relief at the knowledge I didn’t have to try and conquer it on my own. He headed into the living room and sank onto the sofa with me in his lap.
River and Grey must have been following him down the stairs because I heard Grey speak next to me.
“Calli, can you explain to us what happened?”
“I’m not sure. I healed Coby’s injuries, but then it was like my magic was drawn inside him, and I found this dim light that felt sort of broken. I don’t know how to describe it. When I realised it was his wolf, all of this magic just slammed into me, and I felt it join with him. I think it came from the pack link.” I yawned at the end of my explanation, my eyes were already fluttering closed, and I was pretty sure I was minutes away from falling asleep.
“I felt his wolf. Coby’s wolf is present and strong as well,” Grey clarified.
“Strong like he could shift?” Tanner asked, confused.
“Maybe, yeah, I think so.”
I think I might have drifted off for a bit, because the next thing I knew I felt someone’s fingers running through my hair.
“Calli,” River whispered. “What do you need me to do about dinner?”
“Can you take the roast out of the oven and wake me up at five?” I mumbled. There was no point in fighting it. Sleep was going to take me whether I wanted it to or not.
“That only gives you an hour, is that going to be enough?”
“Yeah, I just
need a bit of sleep,” I mumbled, feeling myself slipping back to sleep anyway.
I didn’t hear if River said anything else as I snuggled against Tanner and fell back to sleep. It seemed like everybody was falling asleep on Tanner at the minute. He was so comfortable, though. Mmmm, a Tanner pillow was definitely something everyone needed in their lives. They’d have to find their own though, this one was mine.
10
River
“This is bad,” Grey said, joining me in the kitchen as I pulled the huge joint of meat out of the oven. I had no idea if it was done or not, but Calli had said to take it out, so I was. It smelled incredible.
I turned towards him, seeing the same look on his face reflected back to me that I knew I was wearing as well. But I’d been working it through in my head while I was staring at the oven, wondering if I was really supposed to be taking the meat out now or not.
“It’s not ideal,” I agreed. “But we have enough to worry about at the moment that I think we can set this to the side. No one else knows what happened. We can talk to the kids tonight about the need not to talk to anyone about this because you can guarantee Coby has told Jacob and Abby as soon as we all left the room.”
“Coby,” Grey sighed, slumping down onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table. His head dropped into his hands, and I felt an echo of sadness through the pack bond.
It was so much easier when it came to the adults in the pack. We could feel strong emotions because we were all joined together in the pack link. The pack children couldn’t join the link until they came into their wolves. I would bet my life on it that stuff like this happened in all of the packs. In fact, some of the alphas I’d met probably wouldn’t care if it did. But Grey wasn’t that type of alpha, and this was going to hit him hard. My brother might be the strong alpha figure in our pack, but he had a kind and loving heart.
“I know, I’m right there with you,” I told him as I sat at the table. “I keep thinking back to see if there were any signs I missed, but I honestly keep drawing a blank. Wallace gave no indication he was doing this, that he was this kind of person.”
My mind cast back over the Wallace we knew growing up as children, the Wallace who left the pack sharing our ideals when we wanted to set out on our own. He lived here in the packhouse while we renovated the whole thing. He’d been so happy when he met Kelly, and we all got together to build the cabin for them. That Wallace, the Wallace I’d known my entire life, just didn’t line up with what we knew now. What had happened behind that closed door away from the eyes of the pack?
“I just… I can’t,” Grey stammered. His distress was plain to see on his face.
“I know. We’ll deal with this like we’re dealing with all of our problems—as a pack. Coby, in fact, all of the kids, need us to show them what a solid pack is like, and we will do that. In time, Coby might need to see a therapist, and if that is the case, then we make it happen. In the meantime, we give him a safe and stable home where he’ll be loved like he deserves.”
Grey nodded, and I could see the resolution setting in. God help anyone who came for the pack children because these kids were surrounded by ferocious protectors now.
“Calli’s going to kill him,” Grey suddenly said with a wicked smile on his face.
I didn’t doubt him for a second.
“Wallace is counting down the days to his last breath. He just doesn’t realise it.”
Grey nodded in agreement, his eyes casting around him for the first time. “You need to put some aluminium foil over that,” he told me, nodding his head over at the kitchen.
“Do we even own that?” I laughed. I’d heard from Tanner about how Calli had basically called us the equivalent of boys living in a frat house, and she was definitely right.
Grey just rolled his eyes, no doubt thinking of the same thing. “Under the sink.”
“With the cleaning chemicals? Right, where else would we keep something that we wrap our food in?” I stood up and went over to the cabinet, rummaging around until I found the box. It hadn’t even been opened, so it was safe from any contamination, but maybe we should find somewhere else to put it in the future.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked Grey, as I struggled to get the end of the aluminium foil to unwrap from the roll.
“We hear Davion out, sort out whatever nightmare he’s about to get us involved in, then we need to brainstorm a plan to deal with the Council and the survivors from the coven. I don’t trust that they won’t come back for us. They still have the body of the witch queen, and it’s pretty easy to assume they aren’t going to give up trying to raise her.”
“The Council is a pretty big problem. It’s not like we can wait them out, and they’ll get bored and leave us alone,” I pointed out.
“I know. That’s one of the reasons why, no matter what Davion asks from us, we need to try and give it to him. We need allies. Calli is right, the Council needs to be dealt with. There will be no running from this. If we go to ground, they will just find a way to flush us out. It’s time someone took the Council out of commission, but before we can even start to think about that, we need to gather allies to our side.”
“And in the meantime? When they come for Calli to start more tests?” Just the thought made my wolf growl in anger. They had no right to make any demands of our mate.
“As long as it’s just blood, we play along,” Grey growled, his wolf coming through in his voice.
“What do you mean, just blood? What else do you think they would take?”
The rumble in Grey’s chest echoed around the kitchen as whatever he was thinking enraged his wolf. It surprised me when it took him a moment to get himself under control before he spoke. I’d never seen Grey close to losing control of his wolf before.
“Her eggs,” he muttered under his breath before he suddenly stood from the table, his chair slamming to the ground. Marching out of the kitchen, he shouted over his shoulder, “I’m going to run the perimeter.”
And God help anyone he found near it. Grey was an alpha wolf on the edge of losing control, and he wouldn’t be able to tolerate any idea of someone encroaching on our lands. Maybe I should have gone with him, but right now, I was frozen to my chair as his words echoed through my mind. They might take her eggs. There was no way we could ever let that happen.
11
Tanner
I’d dozed off with Calli snuggled up against me on the sofa. As soon as she stood to leave Coby’s room, I’d known she wasn’t going to make it down the stairs. I’d seen the after-effects of her using large amounts of magic before. If I’m honest, I was surprised she got as far as she did.
But as soon as my mate's soft curves and sleepy sighs curled against me, there was no way I was going to slip out from under her and leave her to sleep alone.
Calli and I were meant to be. I was made for her, as were my brothers. Grey and River may not have been my biological brothers, but they might as well have been for all intents and purposes. We grew up closer than most siblings did. I’d always known Grey was going to be my alpha. That first day he found me and brought me up to his room, it was almost like our bond clicked into place.
Thinking of Jacob and the other kids, I understood how they felt now they’d found each other. It’s not just that they were pack, they were closer than that. I had a feeling they were meant to do something important in the future. That they were meant to be together because they had a purpose. Maybe it was crazy, I didn’t know. But when my bond with Grey snapped into place, I knew it was meant to be. And now, look at us. Not only did we share a mate in Calli, but we were taking on the witches and the Shifter Council. If we were successful, we’d be saving shifter kind from the monsters that waited in the dark for them.
Calli stirred against me, her perfect ass rubbing in just the right place. I knew we didn’t have much longer until River would be coming to wake her up, and yet, I just couldn’t stop myself. Her golden hair had spread across my arm, and her perfect lips were just
there, waiting to be taken.
Leaning down, I put my lips against hers, revelling in the freedom of being able to do just that. She moaned softly as she started to wake, her lips slightly parting as she started to kiss me back. Rolling her further underneath me, I ran my hand up her side, pushing her shirt up and revealing her porcelain skin underneath. She was so soft and warm. A shiver of delight raced through her body as her hands came up to run through my hair. I felt her smile against mine as I traced my tongue along her bottom lip.
It had been too long since I’d had her moaning underneath me and my cock reminded me it was way past time since we did it again.
“Mmmm, I think I’d like to wake up like this every time I fall asleep,” she moaned against my lips.
“I think I could arrange that. I’d be glad to work as your personal alarm clock every morning if I got to taste you on my lips. Although, next time, we should make sure we’re in a more private location because if I’m getting a taste, I want a taste of the whole thing.”
Calli’s thigh hooked around my hip, and I ground my now hard cock against her. I wanted her more than I wanted to breathe right now, but I kept reminding myself we were in the living room of the packhouse, and we now had three unruly children running around.
I groaned against her mouth, and not in a good way, knowing that we needed to bring this to an end.
Dropping my forehead against Calli’s, my teeth clenched as I tried to pull myself back under control.
“Stay with me tonight,” I begged, and not caring for a single second that I was.
“You’ve gotta be quicker than that,” came Grey’s amused voice from behind us.
When I peered over my shoulder, I found him leaning against the doorframe to the living room, arms crossed, watching the two of us together. Fuck! Why was that so hot?
“Don’t tell me you’ve already called dibs,” I sighed, feigning disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t have Calli in my arms tonight, but I didn’t begrudge her being with one of my brothers. My wolf felt no jealousy towards them, and neither did I. We were a unit. We couldn’t be whole unless all of us were together.