“Maybe not now,” Abby admitted. She added cream to her coffee. “But it is a story I’d like to hear one day.”
Reese returned the carafe to the coffee maker and then sat down at the dining room table with his mate and the Valiant colony protector. He stared at the grandmotherly figure of Judith, trying to reconcile the image with the gangly, terrifying creature that had originally presented itself to him and his mate. The Hunter was not at all what he expected.
“I often clashed with my brother. He was younger, but as a male, he felt entitled to be the alpha. I don’t know what it is about having a penis that makes the male species feel so superior to us.”
Abby snorted into her coffee mug. Reese glanced at her, brows raised.
“Oh, I know you don’t feel that way, Reese,” added Judith. “We are entering more enlightened times, thank goodness.” She looked down into the mug. “What is this?”
“Coffee.”
She sniffed it and then turned to Abby. “Why does yours smell different?”
“Because I use flavored creamer.”
“Ah.” Judith took a sip and grimaced. “This tastes like dirt off a coyote’s butt.”
Abby laughed. “It’s interesting you know what butt dirt tastes like,” she teased. She took the creamer container and stirred a generous amount into Judith’s mug. “Try it now.”
Judith glanced at the cup warily, but took another sip. She smiled. “That’s far better.”
Reese couldn’t believe he was sitting in his house with the Hunter—the feared protector spirit of the Valiants—and acting like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Life could be really weird.
“Back to the topic at hand,” said Judith. “My brother, let’s call him Assface, shall we?”
Reese swallowed a laugh, and he could see that his wife was doing the same.
“Assface decided he’d rather see me dead than lead our colony.” She sighed. “It was then that he called the creature forth—the Ladon. Our people fought bravely. The Ladon took many lives, including my mate’s. I admit that my grief was nearly more than I could handle. But my rage—well, that was brighter still.”
Reese watched his wife squeeze Judith’s hand, her empathy palpable.
Judith smiled. “I went our shaman, and told him I wanted to annihilate Assface. And I didn’t care about the cost.
"He gathered shamans from other colonies to create the spell that would give me the power to defeat my brother and the Ladon. But such power comes at a price. I gave up the afterlife, and the chance of ever seeing my mate again, for my vengeance. The shamans separated me from my spiritual heart—a failsafe if my transformation took my sanity. They hid it, as well they could. It’s my only vulnerability. Anyway, the form of my vengeance was this one.” She looked down. “Well, not this one exactly. I became spirit with the ability to shapeshift into anything. I became the protector of the Valiant colony.
“By the way, Valiant was my idea.” She patted Reese’s hand. “That’s how I thought of my mate. Valiant. So that was the name I gave my son, who became alpha.”
“Wait.” Reese felt his heart turn over in his chest. “If you gave your son the Valiant name then I’m related to you?”
“Duh,” said Judith. “I’m your direct ancestor. Why else would I answer the call of your mate?”
“But … but … what about the other times you were called upon?”
“I help the Valiants. Sometimes the way to do that is to help those close to you. This is all irrelevant, Reese. The important thing to know now is that I killed my brother and with him, the evil he carried. I thought I had rid the earth of the Ladon, too. But apparently it slithered away to heal.”
“Where is it now?” asked Abby.
“Near a place called Hellion Hill.” Judith gripped her mug. “And it’s found my heart.”
* * *
“Whoa, Nelly,” grunted Angela as she sat on the bed. Thomas and Gareth had done their best to clean up the room and cover the bed with clean blankets and soft pillows. They also had several electric lanterns set up around the room since the electricity wasn’t working.
Thomas helped her lie down. He took off her shoes and rubbed her feet. Worry crowded his chest as he stared at Angela.
She gasped, her expression filled with pain. She breathed through the contraction. “Would you stop looking at me like that?” she asked. “You act like I’m dying.”
Gareth entered the room with a wet cloth. “The water’s working.” He leaned over and placed it on Angela’s forehead.
“Oh, that feels good. Why is it so hot in here?”
Thomas shared a look with Gareth, whose countenance revealed the werecougar’s fear for their mate.
Angela hissed as she grabbed her middle. “Goddamn it. This fucking hurts.”
Thomas placed his hands on Angela’s belly. Their son’s heart beat strongly. He had turned, head down toward the birth canal. Angela’s abdomen seized under his hands. The contraction was strong. Too strong for the beginning of labor. At least, that’s what the books had said.
“The contractions are a minute apart,” he said, looking up at Gareth.
“That can’t be right. Braxton-Hicks?”
“Fuck that,” said Angela, panting. “This is the real deal, trust me.”
“What’s going on?” asked Cyn. She and the two other werecougars stood in the doorway.
“She’s going into labor,” answered Gareth, his voice verging on panic. “Call Reese. He’ll bring his colony’s midwife to us.”
“Cell phones don’t work here,” said Kane.
“We’ll drive to the Valiant colony.” Cyn looked at Thomas, her expression reflecting his own concern. “It’s just a couple of hours, right?”
“Round
