Healing His Soul's Mate Page 11

  “And I am no one’s king.” His roar shook the walls.

  “You are what the Fates have provided and you bear their mark to prove it.”

  “I have pledged my life to the protection of Cyrus. Nothing on this earth can break my blood bond.”

  “Nor are we asking you to. There is no reason you can’t do your duties from the island. You would need to come to town but twice a year to deal with issues and disputes.”

  “The alphas of each streak can maintain their own, but there must be a prime. Many years have gone without one.”

  “Nine years have passed since my mother murdered the streak’s prime.” When he stepped forward, thirteen guards stepped from hiding to make their presence known.

  Cyrus gripped his shoulder. “Rekkus, you will do no one, least of all Dana or I, any good locked in prison. Don’t let them bait you.”

  “Cyrus, you seem to have lost your recklessness.”

  True. In times past, Cyrus and Rekkus would each have spurred the other on and laughed while the other got into trouble. Times and murders changed men.

  “Perhaps, ladies”—Shade stepped forward feeling the tensions rise again—“we should let this issue pass at present. You have made your request, as was correct, at the seven-year mark. He must be allowed time to think on it and discuss it with his mate.”

  As Shade moved to the center of the room, his ability to tell which elder spoke increased. The vampiress’s impatience matched that of Rekkus. “He has known his destiny since the mark appeared.”

  Shade placed a hand on Rekkus’ other shoulder in silent warning. “The events leading to both men residing on the island have altered their desires. Rekkus, until the death of his father, was prepared to take his rightful place as prime in due order. We all knew that, but, like the council, he thought it would be years, if not decades.”

  “Years have passed.” Silence reigned for a moment. “But you are correct. His mind is occupied with the upcoming birth of his cubs. We can table this for a bit, yet. But not forever.”

  “Can you assure us Cyrus’ protection charms will return when he exits your door? His safety, as always, is everyone’s concern,” Shade asked.

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll consult with my mate, but there is one more thing,” Rekkus said.

  A hush came over the room.

  Rekkus took a step in their direction. He must, like Shade, have honed in on their location. The thirteen guards tapped their spears on the ground in warning. “The portals,” he growled. “I want them temporarily sealed when Dana goes into labor.”

  “How will we be informed when you unlock them?” Even they, with their great combined powers, couldn’t see everything through the fog wall. Rekkus had ensured it.

  “I will send someone through when they are to be closed. We will get a message to the same person who will, in turn, inform you.”

  Silence fell as Rekkus stood his ground. Most would have argued their case. Rekkus offered his explanation and subsided. He never sugarcoated anything.

  “Do you have an idea of who will be sent through?” the shifter asked.

  “Cemil. He could use a break, and the birth may overtax him,” Cyrus said.

  “Agreed. If you agree to have Shade remain on the island in his absence.” A push from the fae to try and persuade hit them like a wave, but she hissed when it failed.

  “Don’t,” Rekkus growled. The tiger could prevent such efforts—and she should not have tried.

  “Shade stays on the island,” the vampiress insisted.

  Rekkus nodded then, before they could dismiss him, he grabbed Cyrus’ arm and led him over the threshold. Shade stood back. He had his own business to discuss.

  “This Dana?” the voice of the vampiress demanded. “What did you learn?”

  “She carries three cubs. Two males and a female.”

  “Prime.”

  He braced himself. “Yes.”

  “Can she handle labor?” Concern laced the shifter elder’s voice.

  “She has no choice.” In truth, he did not know if she could.

  Silence again.

  “And you, Shade? Where do you plan to take your mate when this is all done?”

  He should have recognized they would be able to pick up on his life change. “She doesn’t know yet, so I’m not sure. I’ll inform you when I know.”

  “Leave us,” the fae queen said. “We have other issues to deal with. But our minds are much at ease.”

  Shade found Cyrus and Rekkus at the far end of the commons, speaking with a guard. Cyrus, once again with copper locks, bore slight resemblance to his real self.

  While Rekkus continued to speak with the other man, Cyrus approached Shade. “What did you tell them?”

  “I assured them to follow Rekkus’ instructions, the cubs were strong.”

  “And about my family.”

  “As I told you before, I am not on the island to report to them on you, only on the cubs, and that is all the information I gave them. I’m not their spy or your enemy.”

  “You understand my feeling toward those three lay high on the hostile scale.” Rekkus tapped Cyrus’ shoulder. “Let’s get moving. The longer we stay in one place, the more we open ourselves up to someone discovering who you are.”

  As they walked out, Cyrus paused. “So, Shade, what exactly is going on with you and Ashlynn?”

  ***

  Ashlynn woke at sunrise feeling as if her very breath had been ripped from her. Reaching for Shade produced air and a cold pillow. At five, the first time she woke, he had been there, awake and still stroking her back. She’d nuzzled into his side, feeling warm and protected.

  Hours later, in the meditation room with her sister, the feeling, though less intense, hadn’t vanished. Dana kept glancing at her grandmother’s watch every two minutes. Ashlynn wondered why she always thought of Granny Mable as Dana’s grandmother, not her own. Perhaps because Dana always went to visit her by herself. Granny never made Ashlynn feel less loved or left out, but neither did she invite her to spend the summer as she did Dana. Or had their mother refused in Ashlynn’s name?

  “What time do you expect them to return?” Ashlynn asked, trying to conceal her anxiety.

  Dana peered out the window. “Sunset. For months, I wanted space. Now all I want is his arms wrapped around me. It’s like…like someone ripped the air out of me. Sounds crazy, huh?”

  She bit back her response, not wanting to play twenty questions with a sister who was looking for a distraction from missing her husband. But if Dana’s feelings matched Ashlynn’s and she was—how had she put it? Oh, yes, mated—what did that mean for Ashlynn? Hell, they had only met a few days ago, and she’d spent half of those thinking the man crazier than the craziest Looney Tune, though no less sexy. They hadn’t even had sex yet, something she planned to remedy as soon as he set foot on the island again. Maybe not so soon, as ravishing him in the hallway might raise an eyebrow or two, but soon after.

  He had held her all night long, and, no matter how uncomfortable he must have been, never once had he acted anything but a gentleman. She had brushed against the proof of his sexual attraction to her several times. He’d smiled at her and helped her fall back to sleep. He did reposition himself a few times, but she pretended to be asleep to give him some relief.

  So far, she and Dana had discussed her accident, her scarred face, and her disability. Dana asked questions no one else had thought to, like did she have a support system when she returned? Was there another kind of modeling she could do? Did she even like modeling? No one had ever asked her if she liked it or wanted to do it. They’d assumed she would.

  She and Dana moved to safer conversations—gossip in the city, a few things Dana had heard about Frank, Dana’s ex-fiancé, and his new lady, until they were left with the elephant in the room or, perhaps more to the point, the tiger. Ashlynn had to give her sister credit for dealing with everything so ve
ry well.

  They had not talked about Shade, or about their mother, who did her very best to make every living soul who worked at the Wiccan Haus miserable. At least, today, she’d locked herself in her room and refused to come out, gracing the island with her absence. But she would emerge for dinner because the disgrace of being carried there bodily was too much for even her to stomach. Dana admitted Rekkus waited for the chance to “deal” with Mrs. Stone.

  “Deal with her?”

  “I have to admit I was scared to ask,” Dana said between sips of a shake Sage had brought to her. “Do you think they will notice if I wash this down the drain?”

  “Don’t you like it?”

  “I can’t get it down. I have no appetite. And if I don’t finish it, they worry.”

  In the end, they snuck into one of the bathrooms together, breaking into a fit of giggles when another guest entered to find them standing over the toilet, watching the shake swirl down the drain. Running hand in hand, they took refuge in the library.

  Their father stopped by sometime after lunch. Ashlynn wondered when he’d mention Dana’s pregnancy, but she seemed okay with giving him time. They talked about the weather, the food, and about Ashlynn’s head, which hurt more today than it had in days.

  “Will you stay, Dad? And, Ash?” Dana asked. “Until the babies come?”

  Her dad flinched, but Dana didn’t comment on his response. He recovered and nodded. “I would love to.”

  “As would I.” Ashlynn’s mind wandered to the tall man with long hair like silk. Would Shade stay? Did it matter? It shocked her to discover it very much did matter. How could a man become so integral to her thinking in such a short time?

  “I want you both there. It would mean the world to me, but I don’t want Mother here. In fact, I want her gone as early as possible on Saturday. I can’t have her hurting those who have been nothing but nice and caring to me. They accepted me, made me feel welcome. I won’t have her being rude to those I love.”

  “No worries there. I’m surprised she hasn’t started swimming already.” Her father tucked a book under his arm.

  “Perhaps we could recommend it.” Ashlynn giggled.

  He shrugged. “I’m off to find a quiet place in the apple orchard to read.” His shoulders seemed bowed as he started off.

  Dana smothered a yawn as she called good-bye to him.

  “Are we boring you?” Ashlynn asked, keeping it light, but concern ran through her. It was enough to be pregnant, forget the fact she carried three babies. Add that those babies might be kittens some of the time and cold edges of panic covered Ashlynn.

  Holy hell. She married a man who could change into a very large, rather scary-looking tiger. But the idea of him being a large cat did explain some of his personality traits.

  “No, you aren’t boring me.” Another yawn. “But I do think I need to lie down for a bit. Housing these babies takes a lot out of me.”

  She scrambled to her feet to help the mama up. “Want me to walk you down to your place?”

  “No. I promised Rekkus I would stay up here. The staff is on pins and needles as it is. Rekkus has a Murphy bed in his office.” She let Ashlynn help her down the hall.

  “Do tigers sleep in Murphy beds?”

  “What?”

  “Well, I tried to picture Rekkus pulling the bed down to sleep in it. Just seems like he would curl up in the corner or on a cat bed or something. Does he have one of those?”

  Dana gaped at her.

  “What?”

  “No, he doesn’t have a cat bed.” Dana giggled before grabbing her belly to really laugh. She leaned against the wall until the glee subsided. Her face turning serious, she lowered her voice. “My understanding is, at one time, Cyrus didn’t feel safe without Rekkus beside him. The only way for Rekkus to get any work done and ensure Cyrus could sleep was to install a bed where Rekkus could work.”

  Cyrus couldn’t sleep without his bodyguard in the room? “Okay, so why does he need Rekkus?”

  “You mean other than as his best friend? Because there are people whose only job is to hunt him down. Cyrus has powers I don’t understand. Here we are.” Dana indicated a small door marked Animal Control.

  “Seriously?”

  “Myron’s idea of a joke. Rekkus says he doesn’t give her any feedback good or bad; otherwise, she will get out of control.” Dana punched in a code and turned on the light in the spacious office. “Can I get you to pull the bed down?”

  “Of course.” She followed her in, hoping to get some insight into her mysterious brother-in-law. She found an OCD’s wet dream, the room immaculate, even the cork board organized. The only thing out of place was a black-and-white poster of a kitten with the words RAWR. I IZ A DANGEROUS TIGER. “Myron?”

  “Got it in one.”

  After a second of fumbling with the cabinet door, she found the handle and pulled down the bed. “I like Myron.”

  “So do I.” Dana eased onto the bed. “Can I be silly? Would you go into the wardrobe? I am hoping there is a T-shirt balled up in the bottom of it.”

  Wasn’t that so sweet it made Ashlynn want to gag? Sure enough, a T-shirt lay where Dana said it would be. She couldn’t say her sister didn’t know his habits, even if that one appeared out of place in the tidy office. She handed it over before shutting off the overhead light then slipped away. Her sister fell into a restless sleep before the door closed behind her.

  “There you are.” Her mother’s voice wiped all semblance of relaxation away. “Is there some wild animal on the island you had to report?”

  “What? Oh, yeah, something like that.” She needed to move her mother away from the office door in case Dana woke. “Did you need me?”

  “I haven’t seen you today and thought we should sit down and chat.”

  Great. A chat with her mother always meant she would listen and agree with whatever her mother decided for her life. She didn’t like the life she’d had before. She hadn’t liked the person she had become.

  She wasn’t weak nor did she care a fig about the fame or prestige her mother so craved.

  Her mother would no longer live vicariously through her. Squaring her shoulders, Ashlynn waved toward the front door.

  “Fine. Shall we take a walk?”

  “Getting far from this building suits me fine.” Her mother headed toward the lobby at full pace—away from Dana.

  As they passed Myron at the reception desk, and she paused. “Dana is resting…but you already knew, didn’t you?”

  “I did, but thank you for telling me all the same.” Myron smiled. “Good luck.”

  “Rawr?” She winked and mimicked a T. rex clawing the air.

  “That’s the spirit.”

  Her mother tapped her foot, the annoying I-will-not-be-kept-waiting attitude she always had. Ashlynn hurried because she didn’t want to add to the argument they were sure to get into. “You seem to be rather chummy with the staff.”

  “I like them.”

  “You must be joking, Ashlynn. They, this whole place, is below you.”

  “No, Mother, they aren’t.” Ashlynn stopped, forcing her mother to do the same. “I never understood why a simple thank you or please was too much for you. Why you belittled and said hateful things when it wouldn’t have cost you to be nice. And I never understood the way you behaved toward Dana. She did nothing but want you to love her, and you treated her worse than dirt on your shoe. She never acted up, she never argued, and yet she never could please you. Now she is about to make you a grandmother—”

  “No, she isn’t.”

  “She is pregnant and, though you disowned her, in a couple of weeks, maybe less, she will be bringing your grandchildren into this world.” Leaving out the fact they were part tiger was the best decision. “Do you care so little, you aren’t moved somewhat?”

  “Moved to vomit.”

  This conversation was deteriorating at lightning speed. “How can you call
yourself a mother?”

  “I am not— Never mind.”

  Something hadn’t been said, something the woman wanted to say but wouldn’t or couldn’t. A bad feeling passed over her, one of those premonitions you got when you knew things weren’t right. Not in a “para” way, but in a trust your gut way. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “It does not concern you.”

  “It does concern her.” Dr. Stone appeared around the corner of the building. “And perhaps it’s time we told the truth. This has gone on long enough.”

  “No, you promised.” Her mother paled.

  “Yes, and, as I told you two nights ago, I am also filing for divorce.”

  “I won’t let you.”

  “You cannot stop me. I should’ve done it long ago, but I remained blind to what went on under my own roof.”

  “You didn’t expect me to care for your bastard, did you? You had an affair, and I had to face the product of your infidelity every day and remember what you did.”

  “Wait, what?” Ashlynn blinked. The only muscles she seemed to be able to move were in her eyelids, so she blinked again and again. But, as the shock ebbed, it made a great deal of sense, and she realized this news would be welcome to Dana. Hell, maybe her mother would say Ashlynn spawned from another in a long line of her father’s mistresses.

  Her mother ignored her and tore into her father, threatening to take him for everything he had.

  “Do you think I give a damn about money?” He raised his chin. “I’ve learned how to enjoy life again. Why do you think I fell in with Dana’s real mother?”

  “Because she would spread her legs to anyone.”

  “No, the sex came much later. She cared about me, not my status. She cared about the man I wanted to become. A man I forgot existed. No more.”

  Decades of anger and frustration poured from them both. Vile things and then silence, as if they had run out of things to say. Words they had kept inside for so long left behind a great nothingness.

  “Amazing how this happens.” Ashlynn jumped, but Cemil’s touch on her arm calmed even while the air sizzled.

  “What do you mean?” Ashlynn couldn’t look away from her parents.