Being a supernatural parent sounds exhausting. I am glad I am not on the kid track. I am barely on the pod-o-men track. The thought of my sea lions makes my heart ache again and my soul twinge. I could use some snuggles right about now.
“We used to live next to a ley line,” she says softly. I don’t know what a ley line is, but I know that this poor witch is here because of me so I scoot over and give her a hug. When my ring touches her back, she jumps in surprise, startling me and causing us both to fall over.
“What did you do?” Asha breathes, examining my ring with interest.
“Hugged you? Sorry. Should have asked first.” I grumble, dusting myself off from the floor. Asha just looks amazed and grabs my hand.
“This is sunlight forged!” She exclaims, touching my ring reverently.
“Yeah, my Faery Godmother gave it to me through Fortuna. It was a whole thing. At one point the cat was on fire and then there was a ring. I don’t even know.”
Asha just stares at me. “It gave me a jolt of energy not unlike the ley lines. Do you, do you think you could do it again?” She asks tentatively.
I jump up and down, thrilled that I can actually do something to help. Pressing the ring to her skin, I watch as her gray pallor starts to turn a little pinker and she begins to look less tired.
“That’s enough, thank you!” she says after a long minute. “Remarkable.”
Even Glenda looks relieved. “I don’t think you should overtax yourself tonight by trying to portal all three of us home. We should get some sleep and deal with all of this in the morning.”
The knowledge that I will be away from my guys overnight sends a wave of sadness through me, but I know she’s right. We’re all exhausted. We settle into the hammocks that Asha created and I stare up at the yurt’s billowing canvas ceiling.
The haunting call of the wolves makes the little hairs on my skin rise up.
It’s going to be a long night.
Turning on my side, I press my faery ring to my face and bask in it’s soft glow and warmth.
“Tell the guys, I’m ok? Please,” I plead. I don’t even know who I am trying to communicate with. A deity? The universe? The Fae? Anyone. Just... do something.
The ring glows comfortingly and I allow it to lull me to sleep.
Tomorrow, we’re gonna show these wolves we mean business.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: TREVOR
MY SKIN IS CRAWLING with the urge to shift, to dive through the waves and let the power of the ocean draw me into its cold embrace.
Ronnie is gone. She went with the Lynx and the Witch willingly. Walked right into the wolf’s den and left us behind.
The pain in my chest is razor sharp and burning white hot at the same time. It takes over everything I have and shreds me from the inside out. I am bonded to my podmates and we share our pain through the bonds. What would have been overwhelming enough as an individual is now augmented as a group. It’s enough to bring me to my knees. Shattered, I see a mess of colors each pulsating in my brain, each representing the pain we each feel.
I can feel Earl the strongest. His pain is merging with his rage and self-loathing. His pain is a deep, crimson red. The color of heartsblood. He is the closest thing we have to an Alpha. Our leader. He blames himself for not preventing her from going in the first place, for not being there to protect her.
Bryan’s pain throbs blue. Not the bright, shining, hopeful blue of Ronnie’s Matestone, but rather the murky, lost blue of the ocean’s depths. He is filled with loss, sadness, and grief. Bryan feels things so deeply and his bond has already accepted her loss as imminent. I want to lash out and fight him, kick his ass for implying that our girl is gone—that our mate is gone. But it’s a fear I have too.
Darren’s pain feels bronze and metallic. A molten, searing pain not unlike my own, but tempered with a strength and determination that I latch onto. Darren hasn’t given up. His heart is breaking, but he’s forging his distress and loss into something stronger. Weaponizing it to build a plan to get her back.
Earl wants to destroy, Bryan wants to mourn, Darren wants to plot, and I? I want to get her back. And then spank the shit out of her for scaring us like this.
Timoteo has called a meeting of the coven and I’m ready. We trudge through the grass towards the meeting house when I feel a jolt. It’s like a ray of pure sunshine caressing the side of my face, radiating warmth and kindness and hope. It stops me in my tracks because it smells like her. It smells like Ronnie.
Each of my brothers feels it too. Earl freezes in place, bringing his hand up to touch his cheek in wonder. Bryan lifts his eyes up, the sadness shining so brightly. Darren just swears a blue streak and punches his hand in the air.
“She’s alive. She’s ok. She has a plan.”
I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding and nodded at him.
Timoteo is muttering into his hands, a shining pink light captured between his palms. He looks concerned and I feel uneasy.
“The wolves have her and they are spitting mad,” he mutters. “We need to call a Council meeting. They’re ok for now, but... trouble’s ahead. Big trouble.”
My heart clenches, but I give him a short nod. Whatever kind of trouble Ronnie, Glenda, and Asha are in, we’ll be ready for it.
