Page 103 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
BISHOP
“Lots of foreign merchants come to the festival and there’s a ton of strange and interesting things to buy and eat,” I said as I took Audrey’s hand in mine and led her around the back of the Residence. I was excited to not just show her my favorite spot on the grounds but at the prospect of showing her the year’s best festival. “It starts in six days, after you’re done resting for Nova. Say yes.”
She’d said she wanted all the things that came with courting, and that said to me that she wanted someone to make her feel special and desired. What was more special than a picnic in the gardens and a day dancing and laughing and eating and playing games at a festival?
She deserved all of it and more. It made me furious that no one had ever made her feel that way. And while Knox — once he got his head out of his ass — would be a dedicated mate and would protect her from everyone and everything, he wouldn’t know how to make her feel like she was special. That was going to be my job and I was happy to do it.
Even if Knox came to me for advice — which he would when he realized the truth about our mate and that he had no idea how to give her what she deserved — I’d still be the mate to spoil her and treat her like a true alpha queen.
Because that was my job. I could protect her but not as well as Knox. I might be able to challenge her, but again, Cyrus was better than me at that.
Of course, first I had to get Cyrus to accept he had feelings for her. Which had been obvious even before he’d panicked over her being coerced by a magical connection and hurting herself. But he was determined to do right by our pack like our parents had taught him, and very few people in our pack would accept Audrey as an alpha.
They’d accept her as mine and Knox’s mate, but not the mate of the primary alpha. At least not until they got to know her and realized her power didn’t come from aggression and alpha strength, but determination and kindness.
With what she’d gone through, she could have been angry and hateful toward alphas and other shifters. She could have turned her determination into figuring out how to burn down the world — and I had no doubt she’d figure it out if she put her mind to it. Instead, she was soft and shy and tried to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves to the detriment of her own safety despite her lack of power.
I squeezed her hand and glanced at her, and she responded with a soft warm smile.
“Say yes,” I said.
Her warm smile faltered. I could see her insecurities starting to take over, insecurities that had only gotten worse since her heat fever and that monster’s influence on her emotions.
Even with Whil’s magic blocking him, the emotional wounds he’d insidiously inflicted on her heart and soul were still there, and it was going to take time for them to heal. It made me furious and broke my heart at the same time.
Audrey deserved to feel free to be herself, to do what she wanted without fear of anything.
But that confidence didn’t happen right away, not with a lifetime of being abused. Going out, having fun, and seeing that my pack wasn’t like her old pack would help. Everyone would be curious about her, the woman who mated Knox, but by going out they’d see she was perfect for us and fall in love with her, just like I had.
I fluttered my eyelashes at her and offered her my most innocent smile, drawing out her smile again with my goofiness. “Say you’ll go to the festival with me.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes. I could still see some hesitation in her expression, but I could also see her battling her insecurities. She wanted to go to the festival, to have fun.
“We’ll have so much fun…” I batted my eyelashes again and added my flashiest smile, making her laugh.
“How can I say no to that?”
“So you’ll go?” I asked.
“Of course I’ll go,” she laughed. “Now, where are you taking me for this picnic?” she asked as I led her past the small orchard with various fruit trees toward a towering hedgerow.
“To the prettiest place on the Residence’s ground this time of year!”
“To Whil’s greenhouse library?” Her lips quirked up at the edges and a hint of a mischievous glint danced in her eyes, telling me she’d already figured out we weren’t anywhere near Whil’s cottage.
“Nope. Prettier and more private.” I waggled my eyebrows at her, happy to play her game, and was rewarded with a soft, musical giggle, one I wanted to spend the rest of my life hearing.
“What could be prettier than the gardens outside Whil’s house? I bet those flowers bloom all year long despite the season.”
“It’s a side effect of her being summer fae,” I said, leading her through a wrought iron archway set in the hedgerow and into the partially dead, partially evergreen winter garden. “She says unconsciously feeding the plants with a small but steady stream of magic isn’t common among her people but does happen sometimes.”
“She can’t stop it?” Audrey asked, her gaze sliding over the flowerbeds that would be vibrant and alive in winter.
“She can’t. At least it doesn’t drain her and just happens.”
“I’m guessing it’s only in a close vicinity to where she lives,” she added. “Or these plants would be a lot happier.”
“This is the winter garden. There’s an assortment of evergreens and plants that flourish in the colder weather,” I told her. “It’s stunning with a light blanket of snow.”
“But not where we’re picnicking?”
“Nope. We’re going to the summer garden… because it’s summer,” I replied taking her through another wrought iron arch in the hedgerow on the far side of the garden.
“Of course we are,” she laughed then abruptly sucked in a sharp breath as she took in the summer garden.
Everything was in bloom in a cacophony of colors, shapes, and sizes. Purple, pink, and red clematises as well as purple wisteria and yellow honeysuckle climbed over the connected archways in the middle, creating a shady oasis where I was going to lay out the blanket for our picnic. I knew from all the hours I’d spent in my mother’s garden that the grass was soft and the hush of the wind through the vines relaxing.
Surrounding the flower-covered shelter were rose bushes, daylilies, and daisies of various colors. There were also flowering shrubs covered in flowers, some big, others small as well as hibiscus, fragrant lavender, and dozens of other types of flowers.
“You’re right,” she said her eyes wide with wonder. “This place is stunning.”
“The season gardens were my mother’s passion when she could spare time from leading the pack. Our head groundskeeper and I have been keeping them blooming in her memory even though only a few of the Residence’s residents come here.”
“Why wouldn’t they come?” she asked as I walked her to the vine-covered arches and laid out the blanket. “It’s amazing here and so peaceful.”
“A lot of people are busy.” I urged her to sit and started setting up our picnic, beginning with the bite-sized appetizers and the wine.
This morning I’d begged Eloise, our cook, to put a romantic picnic together for me with the hopes that Audrey would be feeling better and wouldn’t mind taking a short walk. Eloise had been more than happy to do it once she learned it was for the shy woman who’d been seriously hurt yesterday.
Apparently, the kitchen staff had noticed Audrey during the two nights she’d stayed with us and decided they liked her. She was quiet but very polite and gracious when they’d served her. A lot of strangers — like the foreign dignitaries who visited along with some of our pack members — looked down on them because they’d chosen to be of service to the alpha. But they weren’t lesser than anyone else. We paid them a good wage and treated them with respect.
Audrey had lived through the same disparaging looks and remarks and had been looked down on, too, and I couldn’t help wondering if the kitchen staff had seen a kindred spirit in her.
Regardless, they were going to be shocked when they learned that she’d mated Knox. Everyone would be shocked. But everyone would also know soon since Knox had lost his mind when she’d been hurt and hadn’t cared who’d seen him or who he’d influenced with his power. And I had no doubt word was already racing through the pack about them.
That said, the kitchen staff were also going to be thrilled about Audrey and Knox mating because it meant she was staying.
“Wow, you’re really going all out on this picnic,” she said as I handed her a glass of wine. “ Hors d'oeuvres and wine and it’s only just after lunch.”
“What does the time of day have to do with anything?” I frowned. “And what’s an hors d'oeuvres? ”
She pointed to the mini appetizers. “That’s an hors d'oeuvres . Guess the magical translator stuck in my head doesn’t translate French.”
“That’s another language in your realm? But not one you’re fluent in?”
“Yeah.” She sipped at her wine, her expression thoughtful. “I wonder how this translator actually works. It didn’t translate TV or movie because you don’t have those things in your realm. But it also didn’t translate hors d'oeuvres . Which is a word that didn’t originate in my native language but is still in common use. Most people in my realm who speak my language probably know what the word means.”
“So that means it’s common for people from different cultures to communicate with each other?” It was the only reason a word from a foreign language could become common use.
The thought astounded me. We had messengers and so did the neighboring packs, kingdoms, and city states, but it took days, sometimes weeks or even months to reach them.
A dialogue between our pack and other communities, especially those we didn’t share a language with was slow and infrequent. There were only a few people in the pack who’d learned a second language and no part of those languages had become common use in ours, especially if we had our own word for it.
“My realm has more technology than yours,” she said. “I’ve told you about TV, movies, and photography. We’ve also discovered the telephone, which, now that we’ve set up a whole bunch of wires, lets us talk with anyone around the world. Close to the time we discovered the telephone, we also discovered radio waves which can be used to communicate with someone within the waves’ radius…” She frowned and sighed, the look so adorable I wanted to kiss the little wrinkles in her forehead.
“I can’t remember how big it is,” she said after some thought. “But it doesn’t require wires. Then we made cell phones which are phones that connect to a tower without wires, kind of like a radio but I’m not sure if they use radio waves or some other kind of wave. That wave connects with towers that relay the signal and sometimes relay that signal to a satellite in space so you can reach someone on the other side of the planet. Oh, and then we have the internet which is a bunch of computers that people can connect to with their own computer. Through that, we can talk to anyone anywhere with email or in chat rooms.”
I took a big gulp of my wine, thrilled that the tension she’d had when she’d stepped into the kitchen was relaxing, but also overwhelmed with everything she said. There was so much information in that little speech, most of which I didn’t understand, and the idea of communicating with someone anywhere in an instant was astounding.
Audrey sighed, her expression turning sad. “I thought maybe I could work with the pack’s scientists and engineers and share what I have in my realm, but I don’t know how any of it works. I just know what it does.”
“But you know of these things,” I assured her, squeezing her hand and hoping to bring back her smile. “Even if we can’t make all of it, we might be able to make some of it. Hell, even if we can’t make any of it, I love hearing about it. Your realm sounds incredible.”
A shadow of fear swept over her expression.
Shit. Not what I wanted to do.
“Not all of my realm is great,” she said, her voice too soft.
“Not all of my realm is great, either, but there are some incredible things within it, like our healing elixir, this garden, and—” I pulled Audrey into my lap and hugged her. “— you. You’re incredible.”
“Bishop,” she admonished, her cheeks turning pink, but she didn’t try to push out of my hold. Instead, she leaned into it, pressing her nose against my neck and drawing in a deep breath of my scent.
“Your idea is a good one,” he said. “Once you’re no longer restricted to the Residence’s grounds, I’ll arrange a meeting with our chief scientist, chief engineer, and Whil since she might know of something magical that would help with your new inventions.”
“Well, they’re not my inventions,” she murmured against my neck.
“In this realm, they will be.” I pressed my lips to the top of her head. Sisters, she smelled so good. I could hold her and be wrapped in her scent forever. In fact, I wanted to.
But I needed to take it slow, prove to her that I was in love with her not because her bond with Knox was influencing me — which it wasn’t — but because she was everything I wanted in a mate and so much more.
“Our history books will tell the story of a brave young woman who brought the ideas for our technological advancement. And,” I added, a new realization flashing through my mind. “You’ll bring economic prosperity, too. We’ll have things no one else will have. We could sell them to get more water for our elixirs instead of sending hunters to work for our allies. We could also sell them to get more of that sedative Kelna makes. Nova hasn’t stopped talking about it since we showed it to her. We could also?—”
“Alright,” Audrey giggled, grinning at my enthusiasm. “I get the point. I’m not as useless as I thought I was. I know things no one else does.”
“And there’s more to you than just that.” I hooked my thumb under her chin and urged her to look at me.
She turned her brown eyes, almost gold in the streams of brilliant sunlight cutting through our leafy canopy, and mesmerized me, stealing my breath. She was so beautiful, so fragile, yet also incredibly strong. I’d do anything to make her mine, to convince her she belonged in this pack with me and Knox.
“You’ll find your place in this pack and people will see you as I see you. Kind, compassionate, gorgeous, and strong,” I said.
She opened her mouth to protest, but I brushed my lips against hers, silencing her.
“There’s more to strength than physical prowess, alpha power, or being a good fighter,” I whispered against her mouth. “You’ve been afraid and confused and heartbroken, yet you’ve risked your life to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. You’ve been beaten down, but you always, quietly get back up. You don’t give up and you don’t make a big deal about it. You just do it. If you decide something needs to be done, especially if it involves children, I have no doubt it’ll get done.”
“I don’t want any child to go through what I went through.”
“And on your watch, it’ll never happen. You’re incredible.” I brushed my lips against hers again, aiming for another soft, sweet kiss, but she tangled her fingers in my hair, held me close, and deepened our kiss.
My wolf howled in pleasure, and I could feel, at the very edge of my consciousness, Knox’s wolf howling back. This was where I belonged, where we belonged, loving this incredible woman and helping her to see in herself what we saw.