Page 18

–Storm–

IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to describe just how broken I was after Callum vanished into the misty forest to exchange himself for his sister, Mave, other than I had never felt anything more gutwrenching. Anything that tore my heart apart like this, yet I had to ignore the pain because I needed to be strong for the others.

Namely, the pup that stared sadly after Callum, then tossed back its head and released a long, low howl of grief. Then another and another until I scooped him up and put his need for comfort above mine. Not just his but everyone’s need to be comforted, because this moment, as so many stared after him with sad expressions, demanded it.

“All right, everyone,”

I said kindly but firmly, looking from person to person as I knew my mate would, wanting every last one of them to feel as if he spoke to them and them alone. Every person counted. “You heard what King Callum said, so lead the way.”

“Ta.”

Gráinne nodded at me with approval before ordering everyone into formation to protect me and the pup, then headed into the woodland. “We must approach via the forest for the best hope of gaining Tréan’s acceptance.”

Understanding the pup wanted to do this on his own four paws, I set him down but kept close, with me on one side and Broderick on the other.

“Callum will be okay, Storm,”

Broderick said into my mind, offering the strength and support I needed right now. “Of that, I have no doubt. Your mate is incredibly strong and loves you very much. I do not doubt that will mean everything in the end.”

Without a doubt, Callum was and did, but we both knew Tadc was no joke because we could feel him more and more, which told me all I needed to know.

“No matter what Callum might have said to settle my nerves, Tadc’s part of our pack, too,”

I managed. “Because Tadc was there during my True Moon Shift, he’s more locked onto me than he already was.”

I swallowed hard and looked at Broderick as we made our way through the lush woodland. “You feel it too, don’t you? You feel it because even though you’re half dragon, you’re also part of my pack?”

“So it seems,”

Broderick admitted. His jaw tightened as if he fought the sensation because he was a dragon in a wolf pack. “’Twill be all right, lass. We will find a way to use this to our advantage.”

I could only hope because I couldn’t imagine Tadc having access to a dragon like Broderick. To any dragon, for that matter.

Silence fell after that, but I knew because I felt each and every pack member more by the moment that a sense of trepidation grew. They might be Wolves of Ossary all, whether Mave’s or Rogue's, but they had chosen to stand by Callum, and that could have dire consequences if Tréan decided to exile us.

My heart leapt into my throat and warmed when a sturdy yet charming wooden castle appeared ahead, caught in a tangle of trees nestled in a valley. It wasn’t huge and overpowering but so in sync with the land and nature surrounding it that my eyes welled with tears because I should have been seeing it for the first time with Callum.

“It’s beautiful, husband,”

I whispered, hoping wherever he was, he heard me because I instantly loved it and imagined years of happiness here. “It’s absolutely perfect.”

“Keep going,”

I said, encouraging everyone to follow as I strode ahead, desperate to get to my new home, bedamned whether Tréan allowed it or not. It belonged to me, and I belonged to it in a way I barely understood, but my inner beast did and would go to battle for it if need be.

In fact, as we drew closer, my eyes drifted to the battlement above, and for a split second, all went silent in the fiery waters of my mind, and I saw Callum standing there, staring out, eager to come to me and be with me at long last.

“I’m home, love,”

I whispered, biting back tears as his ethereal image faded. “And now I’m coming for you. But first...”

My gaze dropped to the drawbridge and the opening gate, telling me we had been spotted. “First, I have to pray Tréan takes us back.”

“I will lead,”

I said the closer we drew. “I’m Callum’s fated mate, so to my mind, I’m every bit as exiled. All you did was run with me when I needed you most, and you shouldn’t have to suffer for that.”

“And I will walk beside you,”

Gráinne made clear, notching her chin and giving me a look that meant I should not bother fighting her. I would lose. “You belong to me every bit as much as Tréan, Bain, and Callum, so I will walk beside you, Queen Storm.”

“Queen Storm?”

I mouthed, not sure how good that sounded. “Maybe Storm Queen?”

Gráinne thought about it. “That’s not bad. ‘Tis worth mulling over.”

“Agreed.”

Uncle Conner slipped his hand into Gráinne’s and winked at me. “Sounds fierce, peanut, and I’ll be walking by your side, too.”

“As will I,”

Broderick said, falling in on my other side with Mave’s mate in his arms because she was still too weak to walk but strong enough to give me a thankful look and a nod of pride. “As will I.”

If I weren’t already thankful enough for their support, the pup took the lead with his head held high, surprising us when silvery flames flickered over his pelt, making clear he was quickly learning to control his dragon magic.

We had just reached the edge of the drawbridge when Tréan appeared at the castle gates alongside Kaia. While I knew I should sink to a knee and lower my head then and there, as was the way of the wolves, my inner dragon disallowed it, at least at the moment. It was imperative to those behind me, though, and I said as much, flaring my dragonly wolf eyes at them. “Bow to your alpha so that he might keep you in his good graces.”

While all sank to a knee, not one bowed their head, and I didn’t understand why, other than I obviously didn't command the same respect Callum did. Either way, whatever drove me right now was made of my wolf and dragon with a solid dash of witch, so I looked ahead again, rallied my courage, pulled back my shoulders, held my head high, and strode Tréan’s way without a backward glance.

As I grew closer, I was fully aware that both Tréan’s golden wolf eyes and Kaia’s brilliant blue eyes had ignited, telling me their inner beasts were feeling me out. And whether or not I could stop it, I did the same, and my fiery wolven vision flared in return. Fully aware that Bain and Naya appeared and flanked them, their wolven eyes out, too, I kept my gaze solely on Tréan’s eyes as the others slowed at the last moment, and I approached alone because it had to be that way, and they seemed to sense it.

I hardly understood where it came from, but knowing they were my words to say and I meant every last one, I stopped in front of Tréan, who was just as imposing and intimidating as Callum with his towering muscular build, and made myself clear.

“I exile myself because I’ll be nowhere but by my fated mate's side when he returns.”

I shook my head. “So this is not for me but for everyone with me.”

I sank to a knee and lowered my head, but not my eyes, because I wouldn’t pay fealty to anyone who didn’t stand with Callum. However, I would show respect and hope Tréan forgave everyone else. “Every last person here stood by me and Callum in our darkest hour and protected us, so they don't deserve to be exiled with me and my king.”

“Are you so sure?”

Tréan’s brow furrowed. “When they defied pack law? Would that not set a bad example? Make others think they can break the rules and get away with it if I grant clemency now?”

“It would show forgiveness and compassion, given the circumstances,”

I countered. “It would show you’re merciful where others might not be. Strong in ways that might encourage loyalty rather than the other way around.”

I paused a moment, then spoke from my heart because it was such a huge part of this. “More than that, despite not being able to take Callum back, it would show you stood by your brother the best way you could, the only way, because he’s still very much your loving and loyal brother, and you know that.”

I fought tears that didn’t belong in the moment and pressed my hand to my heart because Callum would always be right there. Then, I dared to narrow my eyes at Tréan. “Moreover, you feel that, and I dare you to say otherwise.”

Tréan’s gaze lingered on mine for a long, tense moment before he finally spoke. “I would not dare to say otherwise,”

he conceded, gesturing over my shoulder. “And with good reason.”

I glanced over my shoulder and rounded my eyes up at the towering black dragon with its head lowered to me, but its eyes still trained on Tréan, daring him not to heed my request.

“Broderick,”

I whispered, awed because I had never seen his dragon, and it was spectacular, as was what stood all around him and flanked him. Every last pack member, be they Mave’s or Rogue, was on bended knee with their head lowered, including the pup, from beneath Broderick’s dragon, clearly in a position of esteem.

“And clearly bowing along with all the rest to you, Storm,”

Tréan said softly. He fell to a knee in front of me and steered my chin until I gazed into his eyes again. “Not me.”

He chanted my sheathed Viking sword into his hand and rested the flat end of the blade on my shoulder, speaking loud enough for all to hear. “I hereby anoint Storm, Queen of the Exiles, and her mate, Callum, once we retrieve him, and we will retrieve him, King of the Exiles. Each and every one of you will be exiled in the name of the law for supporting Callum, but you will remain an extension of the Wolves of Ossary and protected by us for the great sacrifice my brother made this day.”

Tréan pressed the blade to both of my shoulders, then handed it back and lowered his head in supplication of my new title. Overwhelmed by what he had done and the mercy he showed not just Callum but everyone else, I willingly and finally lowered my head and my eyes, in turn accepting him as my arch-alpha. And what a rush that was because I felt his warmth and protection flood through me the moment I did, and it drove home just how much Callum had sacrificed when he disobeyed Tréan to protect me.

“Between you and me and from someone who can control the weather, too,”

he said softly, looking up just enough to offer a crooked grin and wink. “I prefer Storm Queen.”

I met his grin and winked back. “Me too.”

Almost the moment we stood to cheers, I was wrapped up in my cousins’ arms in a much-needed group hug.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you made it this far, little cousin.”

Kaia held me at arm’s length and looked me over proudly like the big sister she had long been. “I’m so fucking proud of you, and damn, you look...”

When Kaia shook her head, trying to find the words, Naya snorted and looked me over with just as much approval. “She looks like she finally let a big bad wolf between her innocent thighs.”

She winked at me and chuckled. “And I’d say you tamed him good. No small task with a wolf like...”

“It’s okay,”

I said softly when she realized mentioning Callum might overwhelm me. I refused to give in to tears again until my mate was back in my arms. Now was the time to be strong, not weepy. “You can say his name, Naya, because you’re right.”

I allowed dragon fire to flicker over me and flared my dragonly wolf eyes at them for good measure. “I tamed his wolf just as well as he tamed my dragon. May we do it time and time again until we have fierce little dragonly wolf pups running all over the place.”

“Hell, yeah,”

Kaia applauded, just as impressed as Naya with my new standing in all this and the allies I’d made. So said their astounded glances from Broderick, who had shifted back from a mighty dragon to an equally impressive Scottish warrior, to me.

“Actually, we’re impressed with you in general on several fronts.”

Kaia kept smiling at me. “And very, very proud. Surprised but proud and thankful.”

“I second that.”

Naya looked at me with as much pride and maybe a little awe and emotion, two things Naya rarely showed. “I can’t believe how much you managed to keep from us, but we’re starting to catch a lot now you’re here and mated with Callum. Once this is all said and done, we’d like to hear the full story of the fateful day we lost our parents.”

She glanced at Broderick again. “And sweet Jesus, everything about him for sure.”

I went to deny how much I knew about our parents’ death as Naya's lusty gaze fled Broderick and homed in on her mate, Bain, but I bit my tongue and nodded, knowing soon I would have no choice. I might be an exiled member of the pack, but every one of them would soon know me inside out, just like I would know them.

“You got it,”

I promised, about to go on when I spied Adlin heading my way and embraced him, never so happy to see anyone.

“Thank you, my friend.”

I held on tight. “I don’t know what you did in the twenty-first century to distract Tadc, but it worked.”

“’Twas just a wee bit o’ wizardly magic that mostly had him chasing his tail.”

His blue eyes twinkled when he pulled back. “I wish it could have lasted longer, but things such as this can only be held back for so long.”

I perked an eyebrow at him. “Things such as this?”

“Aye.”

He gestured at the courtyard full of Exiles and pack members alike, chuckling when he spied the grey pup. His pelt was magically afire as he showed off to his siblings, who seemed most impressed, but then he had returned with a big, bad dragon, so he was to be greatly admired. His shy days were behind him, and there was a new wolf in town. “Things like this.”

He was about to go on, but his eyes gentled on mine, and he backed away. “We will all talk soon and figure out a way to save your mate.”

I didn’t need to see why he backed away and left because I felt it.

Her.

Turning, I lowered to a knee and meant to bow my head to Callum's former mate, Ceara’s white wolf, as she limped toward me because, to my way of thinking, she deserved that, but instead, I found myself eye to eye with her.

My wolf had shifted me all on its own, and I could not be more grateful.

I was vaguely aware the courtyard had grown quiet at her approach because it was no small thing, given who I was and what Callum meant to her. No small thing, given what she meant to me after all she’d been through and her ability to stand here today with her head held high.

It wasn’t just that, though.

As her wolf approached mine, inhaling my scent as I inhaled hers, I picked up so much more about her. A remarkable inner strength and wisdom that would have made her a well-matched queen for Callum had I not been out there somewhere.

“But you were out there somewhere,”

she said gently into my mind, her voice easing the moment into something that felt more like old friends reuniting rather than two women in love with the same man. “And now you are here, having brought our pup home safely, and for that, you will forever have our thanks.”

She looked from the grey pup frolicking with his siblings back to me. “And by our pup, I mean mine, Callum’s, and yours, for you are very much his queen now, Storm, and I could not be more pleased. I could not say how he managed to leave without us knowing, other than I imagine his magic helped him seek out his destiny.”

Before I could reply, she continued ruling the narrative in a way I was thankful for, if I were to be honest.

“I am also pleased you found Callum...that you found each other.”

Her wolf paused before moving closer, clearly only willing to get so close because of what she had suffered at the hands of Tadc and his pack. She searched my eyes, looking for something before she evidently found it because her gaze gentled. “You are every bit as kind as I hoped you would be and clearly love him just as fiercely as he loves you, so I do not doubt bright things lay ahead for the Wolves of Ossary once we pass through the darkness.”

“And ‘twill be terrible darkness to be sure,”

Mave said into every Wolf of Ossary pack member’s mind, her fear for Callum palpable. “They have him now.”

Giving Ceara one last thankful look for being so kind, gracious, and forgiving, I shifted back and rushed to Mave when the warriors Callum had left with walked into the courtyard. Despite her current state, Mave was clearly beautiful, with cedar-tinted sable hair and sage-green eyes.

“Sister,”

Tréan said, anguished. He took her from one of the warrior’s arms and sat with her while Adlin crouched in front of them and brought a skin of cool water to her lips.

“Drink, lass,”

he insisted gently, chanting under his breath. “Take your time and drink. Let my magic help you.”

So she did, and the pain etched on her bruised face eased with every gulp.

I crouched beside Adlin, slipped my hand into Mave's, and let her know through touch alone how very grateful I was for everything she had done. Not just for making sure Callum had found me once I traveled back in time but for so valiantly protecting me and the pup yesterday.

“And I would do it all again,”

she said softly, her gaze finding mine. “If it meant seeing my brother and closest friend with his fated mate. A wolf I know will protect him just as fiercely as me, loving and strengthening him as only you can. You will do that, ta, my new sister? Until your dying day?”

“Ta,”

I swore, meaning it with every ounce of my being. After all, I spoke not just to his sibling and devoted friend but also to one of my pack members because Mave was very much an Exile now, too, so she meant more to me than most. “Not just in this life but every to follow.”

“Good,”

she murmured, giving my hand a faint squeeze.

Sensing who was coming, I squeezed her hand in return and backed away.

“Mave,”

her woman cried, rushing to her as fast as she could, given her own injuries, before falling to her knees beside Adlin and stroking Mave’s hair, tears rolling down her cheeks. “My dear Mave. I tried to...”

When she choked off, Mave cupped her cheek, tears welling. “I know you tried to save our men...”

She swallowed hard. “I know you did, my love.”

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she reined in her emotions before opening her eyes to Tréan. “He needs us, brother. Callum needs us like he never has before.”

“Ta,”

Tréan agreed, issuing orders that all warriors prepare for battle.

“Without a doubt, ‘twill be battle,”

Ceara said, her wolf staring out at the forest as if she saw something we did not. “One that will have to involve much cunning.”

“No doubt ‘twill,”

Adlin said softly. “And I think I might know how best to go about that.”

“Then we need to make a plan,”

I managed, doing my best to fight the terrible pain that suddenly sliced through me, nearly bringing me to my knees. Pain that left me feeling empty and beyond heartbroken. “Because he’s gone.”

I couldn’t stop my tears if I tried when I looked at the others. “Callum has given himself to Tadc and sworn his fealty, and it’s so much more terrifying than you can imagine.”