Loch

by Amy Star

  She tightened around him as she began trembling once more. This time, she wasn’t alone as she climbed to her highest peak.

  Loch buried his face in her neck to muffle his roar. He gripped her hips, forcing his cock as deep as he could while he reached his climax.

  Holly lost herself in the sensation of being joined to someone so completely. She never wanted this moment to end. But, alas, it had to.

  Her sense of space and time slowly came back to her.

  There was a war council about to take place downstairs. Holly needed to be there. Loch needed to be there.

  When he brought his lips to hers, she forgot herself all over again.

  “If you keep doing that,” she moaned against his lips, “we’re never going to leave.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that.” He chuckled.

  “You will when we’re overrun by dark shifters.”

  “Good point.”

  Holly wanted to cry out in protest when Loch drew his cock out of her, but she refrained. If everything went well, she’d have plenty of chances to do that again.

  Loch helped her to her feet and picked up the discarded gown. “I hope I didn’t break anything,” he said.

  “If you did, we’d know,” she assured him. “Zip me up?”

  “You bet.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO—Holly

  Twenty minutes later, Holly’s dress was zipped, her hair was smoothed, and a new sheen of perfume coated her skin. She couldn’t do anything about the post-sex flush, but hopefully, she could blame it on the stuffiness of the room.

  Loch came downstairs first, so it wouldn’t be abundantly obvious that they’d been upstairs together.

  Holly followed a few minutes later.

  As she walked down the stairs, the heads of at least fifty shifters turned to look at her. Most of them were men, though there were a few women scattered throughout. Holly found Jess immediately. She was the only one who was smiling.

  Some looked at her in awe, which she liked. Others looked completely indifferent to her. One or two looked at her with disdain. She stole a glance at the pendant around her neck. It still shone blue. There was no reason not to trust anyone in this room…yet.

  “Holly.” Keller stared up at her from the foot of the stairs.

  She smiled down at him. When she reached the last step, she took the arm he offered.

  “I would’ve put on a suit or something if I knew,” he murmured.

  “Don’t worry about it. You’ve done amazing so far.”

  “Thank you,” he replied. “You look beautiful.”

  “So, this is the Maiden, hmm?” A burly man with a scruffy beard and worn work boots spoke up. “She don’t look like much.”

  “I thought this was a war council meeting, not a prom.”

  Holly’s expression soured. Maybe the gown wasn’t a good idea, after all.

  “You all are blind fools,” another man, who Holly couldn’t see, spoke. “She’s the spitting image of the Maiden carved into the stones.”

  Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.

  “Be that as it may,” the scruffy man said, “that don’t mean she knows anything about winning a war.”

  “I don’t,” Holly agreed. “But I’m committed to learning whatever it is I need to learn so that I might serve the Maiden. She’s honored me by selecting me as her vessel. I will do my best to honor her in kind.”

  This seemed to appease the majority of the shifters in the room.

  “Until I’ve learned enough to call the shots myself, you will defer to the firstborn sons.” Holly gestured to Keller, who was more than happy to take over.

  “Gentlemen, I’ve prepared several potential plans of attack.” Keller drew everyone’s attention away so that Holly had a chance to disappear into the crowd.

  It wasn’t long before Jess found her.

  “You were amazing!” she gushed.

  “Was I? I think I blacked out.” Holly laughed nervously. “Thank you so much for the dress. I never actually thought I’d need a gown in this situation.”

  “A girl must always be prepared.” Jess grinned and looped her arm through Holly’s. “What’s the word on the war?”

  “I don’t know.” Holly shook her head. “Keller’s been in charge of strategizing. I’ve been busy learning how to wield a stick.”

  “A stick?” Jess snickered. “How’s that going?”

  “About as well as you’d expect. I haven’t taken so much as a self-defense class before this.”

  “There’s a gym in town,” Jess said. “It’s small and kind of sad, but it’s better than nothing. We should go sometime! I’ll whip you into shape if you’re allowed to leave the house.”

  “I’m allowed to leave,” Holly said. “It makes the men nervous, though. I went for a walk in the woods one night, and it was kind of a disaster.”

  “I bet.” Jess frowned. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in your position. What are you going to do?”

  “About what?” Holly sighed. “The war? The prophesied child? The rest of my life? The answer to all of those is: I have no idea.”

  “Forget this!” A roaring voice tore Holly’s attention from Jess. “I say we grab our guns, charge into the silver mines, and show no mercy!”

  “Excuse me,” Holly muttered to Jess before pushing her way through the crowd of giant male shifters.

  Keller stood at the head of the dining room table. Four shifters flanked him. All of them looked to be at least fifty years of age. They must’ve lived here when the Golden Oak shifters invaded fifteen years ago.

  Holly understood their anger, but she couldn’t allow them to storm the silver mines. “I will not have needless slaughter,” she said with the most confidence she could muster.

  “The Golden Oak shifters didn’t seem to care about that when they came in the night and slaughtered families!” One of the shifters slammed his fist down on the table so hard Holly feared the wood would splinter.

  “Are we like the Golden Oak shifters?” Holly asked. “I thought we were better than that. If you allow yourselves to stoop to their level, then aren’t you giving them exactly what they want? They want to disregard their humanity and act without morals. They want to take what they want, hurt who they want, and destroy whatever they please. Are you willing to let yourself turn into them to defeat them?”

  Keller stared at Holly, opening and closing his mouth as if he wished to speak but couldn’t find the words.

  Holly spotted Loch standing in the back corner of the dining room. His eyes glimmered.

  Thank you, he mouthed.

  Holly offered a smile before turning her attention back to the shifters surrounding the dining table.

  “Well?” she said. “None of you have pled your case. Can you tell me how storming into the mines like the mindless animals I know you aren’t counts as a victory?”

  “I lost my wife of thirty years,” a shifter with a drawn face and pale-blue eyes spoke. “They have to pay for that.”

  “They will.” Holly nodded. “Anyone who died on that terrible night will not die in vain, I swear to you.”

  “Then what would you have us do?”

  Holly’s gaze shot to Keller, who nodded.

  “I would have us go to the silver mines,” Holly said. “But not to kill. If the Golden Oak shifters want to live like beasts, then we cannot stop them, but they will not do it within our borders. We will push them back and keep them back. They will know not to set foot in our territory again unless they mean to go to war. If they do so, then, and only then, will we give them the slaughter they so desperately want.”

  “And what of those in the mines now? The ones who have already crossed our borders and broken our laws? Do they just get to slink back to the hole they came from?”

  “We have to be careful in the mines,” Holly said. “One of our own is there. Not just anyone, a firstborn. Trevor Charmain.”

  “Charmain?” an older shifter male
said. “I haven’t heard that name in an age.”

  Holly briefly considered letting Elise come forward but decided against it. Elise’s survival was tied to her ability to stay hidden. If she chose not to reveal herself now, then Holly had to respect that.

  “They moved to Golden Oak some time ago. The firstborn son, Trevor, needs guidance. He needs the wisdom of the Maiden to bring him back to reality. I will not see him harmed.”

  “If he’s turned his back on us, why should we show him mercy?”

  “Because, when it comes to the fate of the firstborn sons, it’s not your decision. It’s mine. I will not see him harmed.”

  “You can’t argue with the prophecy,” Loch said from the back of the room with a shrug. “If you kill one of the firstborns, you might be destroying our only chance at peace between all of the bear clans.”

  “He makes a fair point,” Keller jumped in. “Who among us can say with utter certainty that Trevor is not destined to father the Maiden’s child?”

  Holly took slow, steady breaths to control the blush quickly rising in her cheeks. Talking about the prophecy among her four shifters was one thing, but discussing her future child so publicly surrounded by strangers was another beast altogether.

  Luckily, the other shifters didn’t need more convincing.

  Johnny appeared at Holly’s side. He brushed his hand against hers.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. “If you need a break, say the word and I’ll take you from the room.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered back. “I should be here for this. I have to learn.”

  “You sound like you’ve been doing this your whole life.”

  “I’m as surprised as you are.”

  “You were born to do this, Holly. Never forget that.”

  As quietly as he approached, Johnny disappeared back into the crowd.

  “The Maiden is right,” the pale-eyed shifter said. “We need to scare them so badly they won’t want to cross into our territory ever again. We will do it without bloodshed. We will not become the animals they are baiting.”

  Keller took the floor once more.

  “How soon can we have everything ready?” he asked.

  “Some of my brothers and nephews are returning from a camping trip tomorrow. They will want to be involved,” someone said.

  “I have some extra weapons I can bring over in the morning,” another man said.

  Several others voiced that they could be prepared tonight or tomorrow morning.

  The din grew louder until Holly couldn’t make anything out.

  “All right.” Keller clapped his hands together once, commanding silence. “We regroup here tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night, we attack the mines.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE—Holly

  After the shifters of Silver Spruce left, Holly walked out onto the balcony. She knew it was only a matter of time before one of her shifter males came to check on her. The question was, who would it be?

  “Hey,” Garret’s voice came from behind her.

  Holly smiled to herself. She should’ve been able to guess who it would be. “Hey.” She smiled over her shoulder.

  “Are you all right?”

  “If I had a dollar for every time one of you have asked me that, I could buy another house.” She chuckled.

  “Can you blame any of us?” he replied, stepping up to the edge of the deck.

  “No.” Holly shook her head. “But I’m more capable than I was before.”

  “No kidding.” Garret chuckled. “I wasn’t in the dining room, but I heard everything you said. If I didn’t know your voice so well, I wouldn’t have recognized you.”

  “Thanks, I think?” Holly chuckled.

  “That was definitely meant to be a compliment.” Garret placed his hand on the small of her back. “I’ve never been prouder of anyone than I was of you when you addressed the shifters.”

  “Really?” Holly couldn’t stop her blush now. “It felt good. Is that weird?”

  “Not at all,” he assured her. “How much of that was the Maiden? Be honest.” He winked.

  “None!” Holly laughed. “I didn’t hear her voice at all. I think she was testing me.”

  “It’s safe to say you passed.”

  “I sure hope so. If that didn’t please her, I don’t know what will.”

  Silence settled between them.

  Holly was content to stare into the cloudless night and listen to the sounds of the forest, but there were no sounds. Edwina was right. The animals had left the area.

  “How do you feel about tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I can’t quite wrap my head around it. Even though I heard everything everyone said, I still can’t believe there’s actually going to be a war.”

  “Not war.” Garret shook his head. “Not yet. Because of you, we’re making one last effort to prevent a war. I believe we can succeed.”

  “Any shifter with half a brain should run for the hills if he saw you barreling after him.” Holly chuckled. “But what if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then we will deal with that if it happens,” he said. “If. Not when. Remember that.”

  “I’ll try.” Holly nodded. “You know, I keep going over everything in my head, and I still feel like I’m missing key pieces of the puzzle.”

  “It doesn’t help that we can’t scry into Golden Oak to see what’s going on.” Garret nodded in agreement.

  “Scry?”

  “Think about looking through a window,” he explained, “but imagine you can look through a window and see whatever you want. It doesn’t have to be what’s on the other side of the glass. That’s what scrying is.”

  “Can you do it?”

  “Not well.” He shrugged. “I don’t have enough natural magic to pull it off. The witches could, though.”

  “What about the veil between Golden Oak and Silver Spruce? Doesn’t it prevent someone from casting magic from one town to the next?”

  Garret rubbed his beard in silence. “You’re right.” He nodded. “But there might be a way around it.”

  Holly furrowed her brow. “What?”

  “The veil was put up by witches, right?”

  Holly nodded.

  “So, it’s designed to block witch magic.”

  “Yeah, I understand the concept,” Holly said, not understanding.

  “We have something different.” Garret smiled. “Elise has magic, but she’s not a witch.”

  Holly’s eyes went wide. “She might be able to sneak her magic through the veil!”

  “Exactly. Where is she? Did she go to bed?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since before the shifters arrived. Did you see her?”

  “I saw her for a little while,” Garret recalled. “She was standing near me right up until…”

  “Until what?”

  “Everyone started talking about Trevor.”

  A stone of dread sunk to the pit of Holly’s stomach as she bolted from the deck. She hiked up the hem of her gown high enough so that she could run without getting tangled. She ran through the house, desperately trying to remember which room Elise was in.

  “What’s going on?” Keller asked from the couch.

  “Have you seen Elise?” Holly called over her shoulder as she hurried up the stairs.

  “No, why?”

  “Find her!”

  Holly checked the guest rooms on the second level while Keller checked the rooms on the third.

  “Elise?” Holly called out. No answer. “Elise!”

  “Holly.” Keller hurried down the stairs to meet her. “She’s not here. Where is she?”

  “I think she must’ve gone back to the silver mine.” Holly felt like she was going to be sick. If Elise warned Trevor, he might take this as a sign to continue what the Golden Oak shifters started fifteen years ago.

  “She can’t have gone far,” Keller said.

  “Get Loch and Johnny. Search the woods. Track her
down.”

  “I’ll get a head start,” Garret volunteered, already halfway out the door.

  “This is a disaster.” Holly placed a hand over her chest as if that would ease the building pressure. Her fingers brushed against her pendent.

  “The spell!” She gasped. “I wasn’t paying attention to it! What if it changed and I missed it? Why did I think a pendant was a good idea? I can’t even see it if I’m not looking down.”

  Any trace of glory she had felt from today’s success quickly washed away. The energy seeped from her body. For just a moment, she felt like everything was well in hand. She should’ve known better. It was her own damn fault for relaxing, even if it was just for a moment.

  “Whatever terrible thing you’re thinking about yourself, stop it right now,” Loch warned her.

  “How did you—?”

  “I can read your face like a book.” He smirked. “Don’t worry. We’re going to find Elise. We’re going to tell her that her brother’s safe. Everything is going to work out.”

  “All right.” Holly took deep, shuddering breaths. “You’re right. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Put your head between your legs if you have to,” he advised. “I know that dress doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room, but you’ll make it work.”

  Holly couldn’t help but laugh. “Just find her, okay?”

  “We will.”

  Keller and Johnny stood by the front door, waiting. Loch joined them, and they disappeared into the night.

  Holly wrapped her arms around herself and began to pace. She couldn’t remember the last time she was in the house alone. She didn’t like it. Everything felt too big, too empty. The restless itch that had taken hold inside of her wouldn’t let up.

  Frustrated and frantic, she stepped back out onto the deck. Maybe the cool night air would help settle her. She scanned the forest, looking for any sign of her four shifters. Aside from the occasional rustling, they’d all but disappeared into the night.

  She lifted her eyes from the dark forest to stare at the sky instead. No matter how long she lived here, she’d never tire of it. The lack of light pollution made such a difference. Every night, the stars came out by the billions.

  When a twig snapped nearby, she paid no mind.