Page 8

–Storm–

THE LONGER I was off of Callum’s lap, the more I wanted to be back. It was an odd sensation, given I hadn’t known him that long. Yet when our gazes connected in Gráinne’s cave across the fire, and he assured me we would know when our Fated Mate Cycle had begun, the feeling of wanting to be back in his arms only intensified.

That’s when I knew, without question, that our Cycle would begin soon, whether or not I had initially wanted him with Ceara and her pups or not. The choice had been taken out of my hands. I was also certain of something else and said it aloud before I could stop myself because my inner beast gave me no choice.

“I’ll be going into exile with you, Callum,”

I said softly, keeping my eyes on the flames when the words poured out of my mouth. “It’s the only way…the only choice I have.”

Silence fell at my declaration before Callum cursed under his breath, “You will not.”

“But I will.”

I forced myself to look into his eyes, not surprised to see denial and pain in his steady gaze. “I’ll have no choice.”

It wasn’t a romantic declaration but a cold, hard fact.

I knew he was tempted to say he would shun me if it kept me from feeling the terrible emptiness and pain he experienced being exiled, but he couldn’t force the words past his lips. He could not turn me away if he tried, and it was a bizarre yet heady feeling. Callum would become mine, and knowing that made me feel stronger than anticipated. Powerful in ways that went beyond magic because he was so incredibly strong himself.

The idea that I might hold sway over someone like him, a true alpha and king in every sense of the word, whether he’d been exiled or not, lent me a sense of confidence I had never felt. Not that I had been insecure before, not really, not entirely, maybe a little bit. Sure, men had hit on me here and there, especially in Southie, but only for sex. Nothing meaningful. And only after they went after Kaia and Naya first.

So it was hard to imagine Callum wanting me, and then to realize Broderick did, too, was mind-blowing. Both were so viral, confident, and strong, not to mention super-hot, so it was a lot to wrap my head around. What made it so humbling, I suppose, is I would have been their first choice even if my cousins were available because they saw something in me most didn’t. Or so I assumed. You couldn’t convince me it was because they found me more physically attractive.

When Callum made a small rumble of what sounded like disapproval and frustration, I assumed it was at me going into exile with him, but Broderick set the record straight.

“Whilst neither of us likes that you will choose to be exiled,”

my Scottish friend grunted, frowning at me, “we like it even less when you think so poorly of yourself when you are one of the strongest people we know.”

Broderick shrugged at Callum, clearly unwilling to hold back. “And, by far, one of the most beautiful.”

“Hell, yeah, you are.”

Uncle Conner frowned at me as well. “And don’t ever forget it, peanut.”

Feeling a bit too exposed because I generally didn’t like talking about myself or having attention turned my way, I focused on Gráinne. “So when are we moving on? Better yet, how do we know when to keep moving? Because I'll be heading Tadc's way when I know he's back in this century and aiming for the pups.”

“That’s why I didn’t sense him anymore post-battle,”

Callum realized, clearly catching more and more of my thoughts. “Adlin is somehow distracting him.”

“He is,”

I confirmed. “And he didn’t sound overly confident that it would buy me, us, much time.”

If I had figured out nothing else, it was that Adlin knew Callum would defect from his pack to be with me. Protect me. With every minute that ticked by, I understood his need to keep me safe, which explained why I inherently knew I would go into exile with him if it came to that.

“We will take this time whilst Adlin distracts Tadc to eat and rest,”

Gráinne said, answering my question. “Then, we will travel by day, even if by cave, when wolves are at their most sluggish until the full moon rises again tomorrow night.”

Her gaze flickered between Callum and me. “Then we will hope for the best.”

I didn’t need to ask what she meant to know she wondered what might happen during this full moon, given I hadn’t shifted during the last one as I should have. If I did this time, it could very well be exceptional and more powerful, so it mattered a great deal who I shifted with because I would be tied to them for life.

They would become my pack above all others.

A strange, unexplainable sensation washed over me at that. While it had been extremely painful shifting after Niall had bitten me, it felt like destiny had caught up with me, just like I knew it would. Caught up with me and thrust me into this horrific world of monsters and darkness. Yet there was love, light, and devotion in it, too, and I felt it right now when Gráinne spoke of the next full moon.

With a plan in place, we spoke little of moons and enemies after that but ate and drank sparingly in order to keep our wits about us. We mostly talked, which was, in my opinion, the best thing we could do right now—get to know each other in what brief time we had.

Where Uncle Conner and Gráinne chatted more than I’d ever heard my uncle converse, I couldn’t help but notice Callum and Broderick said little to each other. Moreover, Callum didn’t say much in general, but I knew from our dreams he wasn’t a big talker. He was more of an observer, and I got that because I was, too. As a rule, I preferred the quiet of nature, which made growing up in the city so tricky, but I needed to stay near my cousins because I knew this was coming, and I wouldn’t let them be alone when they were cursed.

Had I hoped to prevent it somehow? Of course. The problem was I didn't know what direction it would come from, the time frame, or what face it had. I never could have anticipated it would be Niall, a guy we grew up with. Nor did I have any idea how I would fight it, him, to begin with. Prophecies didn't quite work like that. If anything, they were big on self-preservation, remaining vague and shadowed so they could come to pass.

Eventually, Gráinne and Uncle Conner drifted away, but not before Gráinne made clear there were plenty of places to rest in the caves further back.

“I am off to rest as well,”

Broderick said gruffly. It surprised me that he would go to sleep so soon, leaving me alone with Callum, no less, because I still sensed unease between them. Jealousy we had no time for. So I supposed, given Callum was my fated mate and there was most certainly a simmering attraction between us, my Scottish friend did what was best.

“Sleep well, and thank you,”

I said to Broderick, offering him a small smile, unable to express how grateful I was for him.

“No need to thank me, my friend.”

Broderick shot Callum a look of unmistakable warning when his dragon eyes flared. “Keep her safe, wolf.”

“Always, dragon,”

Callum grunted back, his wolven eyes flaring.

“You two will need to stop that,”

I said softly after Broderick left, leaving me alone with a man who had only ever been made of dreams and nightmares. “Because if I know nothing else about what I sense from our enemy, he will find a way to take advantage of it.”

Although my cheeks still warmed every time I looked at Callum, I grew more comfortable, if not drawn in a whole new way, the longer I was around him.

“You are right about me and Broderick,”

Callum granted, taking a sip from the singular ale he had barely touched. “Our strife could easily become Tadc’s advantage, so I will heed your warning to the best of my ability.”

His steady gaze remained on my face as it often had since I woke on his lap. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of it. When he continued talking, it became clear he was catching my thoughts. “And you grow more comfortable around me because our inner wolves have begun circling one another.”

“Circling?”

I asked, suspecting I knew what that meant but wanted to hear his version.

“Ta, circling.”

He gestured at the seat Broderick had abandoned beside me. “Might I join you, Storm?”

Granted, the distance between us wasn’t all that far, but somehow, the chair next to me felt far too close. Scary close because he made me feel so much, even from across the fire. Yet I knew as he and Broderick needed to get along, I needed to face all he made me feel because it, he, frightened me a little, so I nodded yes.

“Our inner beasts circling means they are beginning to feel each other out,”

he explained, moving to Broderick’s seat. “’Tis good because it means they have begun taking to each other in the ways we need them to if we are to find our way to each other.”

His voice softened. “And you need not be frightened by how I make you feel, anamchara. ‘Tis natural and yours. Ours. And ‘twill ease the way if you let it.”

I startled at what he had called me because I recognized it. “You’ve called me that before, haven’t you? When you helped pull me back from wherever I went earlier?”

“I did.”

He searched my eyes when I finally looked at him, only to get lost in his gaze again. “’Tis a word I’ve used before in our dreams.”

“I know,”

I managed, struggling to find my voice when emotion overwhelmed me. “It means soulmate in your language.”

“It does,”

he confirmed. “Because we are. You are.”

He might have come off as jealous and impetuous when he first arrived, but the Callum who spoke to me now was the one from my dreams. A wise voice of reason, strength, and, most certainly, allure because he sounded perfect. Mature and steadfast. Wise, clear-minded, and kind. All of these were traits I valued because they were so rare in my upbringing when criminals mostly surrounded me.

“This is happening fast,”

I said softly, my voice thick with emotion now, unable to tear my eyes from his. Everything about him pulled me closer and closer, making me feel off-kilter. “Maybe too fast.”

“’Twill happen as fast as our wolves need it to,”

he murmured, making it impossible to breathe when he traced the pad of his weapon-roughened thumb along my jaw. “But understand, if you say no at any point, I will listen, whether my inner beast likes it or not.”

I tried to swallow but couldn’t at how his tender caress made me feel. Men had touched my cheek before, but it had never felt like this. Never felt like warmth spreading through my veins until it pooled below. A sharp ache blossomed between my legs, catching me unaware because I’d only ever felt it in dreams when he was scattered in my mind, never whole. Now, he was and so much more intense and handsome than I had imagined.

Not just that, but he was as into me now as I'd imagined in my dreams, reminding me how betrayed I felt when I first met his pups and learned he’d taken a mate. A sensation I had hidden well at the time and realized now hadn’t entirely gone away, despite only wanting the best for them and Ceara.

“And ‘tis there we will begin,”

he said when I pulled my cheek away, despite wanting to feel his touch because it hurt knowing he was right there in our dreams but had mated anyway.

“I did not want this life for you, Storm.”

He sighed and eyed the fire. “Not from the moment I saw you sink beneath those fiery waves. I didn’t want you to travel beyond dreams for me, so I took Ceara as my mate, hoping to drive you away. If not physically, then to drive you from my heart, thoughts, and dreams, because ‘tis nothing less than a nightmare turning wolf in your era.”

His words bothered me on several levels because I knew where they had led.

“And what of Ceara?”

I wondered, hurting for her and for all she had suffered. “If you meant to drive me away in all ways possible, why not marry her because I know you loved her in your own way.”

Yet it was far different than what I felt when his gaze returned to my face, and I saw clearly how impossible it would have been for him to love her how she deserved to be loved.

“I sense you understand now,”

he murmured, his gaze roaming my face with such adoration my cheeks warmed yet again. “In the end, however much I meant to push you away, I could not. Whether my brothers counseled me not to marry Ceara or not, I am my own wolf, and making her my queen proved impossible when I already had one.”

My throat thickened with emotion once more, only this time at how genuine he was. How much he meant those words even though he had never met me in person.

“And now you are exiled and no longer a king,”

I said gruffly, feeling guilty and with good reason. “Yet again, my fault.”

“Your fault?”

He frowned at me and shook his head. “As your cousin Naya so recently and wisely counseled me, while others might influence our actions, they are still very much our actions. So the fault of disobeying my alpha’s orders falls on me and me alone, Storm.”

His eyes narrowed at me. “Yet ‘twould not matter because you are determined to carry guilt over all of this, are you not? Guilt over your cousins being bitten and all it led to?”

“I am,”

I confessed. “Because I knew…”

“Knew what?”

he prompted when I trailed off, clearly not catching it in my mind yet. He didn’t see all of me and the heavy mental weight I carried, having foreseen so much of this. Not all, but a lot.

“Nothing.”

I pretended to yawn, something I had perfected over the years when trying to get out of one thing or another. “I think I’m going to get some rest if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

He stood when I stood, reminding me how tall, broad-shouldered, and intimidating he was, with multiple weapons strapped to him, including the Viking blade at his back. Callum was just as formidable as Broderick, only I was far more aware of it with him. Just like I was far more aware of his scent and every other little thing about him, from his boots to his long, muscular legs to the sizeable bulge pressing against his leather pants, not nearly as hidden by his fur cloak as he might have hoped.

I had figured out shortly after he’d handed me off to Broderick that he was fighting an erection and had done his best to hide it, but at the moment, he was failing miserably. From what I could tell, it was only partially erect due to the awkward and less-than-arousing conversation we were having, but it was daunting enough. I could only imagine it fully erect and had to clear my throat because my imagination could be a little too vivid, only fueling the ache between my legs that only ever seemed to grow more intense around him.

“Okay, then,”

I said nervously, wondering where I was supposed to go. Where I was supposed to sleep.

“This way,”

Callum said, surprising me when he slipped his hand into mine in passing and led me down one of a few small tunnels leading further into the Cliff Dens, as Gráinne called them. “I know many of these caves well and the one that will appeal to you most.”

I didn’t respond because I couldn’t find my tongue at the simple feel of his hand in mine. How could holding hands affect me so much? Yet I knew. They were his hands. His touch. One I longed for since forever, it seemed. A touch I had felt on me late at night in the darkness when no one was looking. A touch made of everything I ever wanted in a man. Everything that had seemed so far out of reach.

“Here we are,”

he said gruffly, squeezing my hand ever so slightly as if he’d followed my thoughts. We entered an even smaller cave than the one in which we had been sitting.

“How enchanting,”

I said softly, realizing he knew me better than I realized because the room was covered with tree roots and moss that only thrived here because of a small opening that allowed in a cool breeze and sunlight at certain hours. A small fire crackled in a pit beneath the hole, and there was nothing but a fur-covered, cot-sized bed nearby.

“You need not worry,”

Callum said when I must have blushed yet again at the meager sleeping arrangements and what they might imply. “You will sleep there, and I will stand guard.”

“Stand guard?”

I exclaimed, imagining him standing over me like a well-trained soldier who refused to sleep. “Seriously?”

“Well, more like sit and guard.”

A small smile curled his mouth, and a twinkle lit his eyes, catching me off guard because it made him even more gorgeous. He sat by the entrance, leaned against the wall, and gestured at the cot. “Rest, because ‘tis likely Gráinne will want to move early to minimize our ability to be tracked.”

“Understood.”

Pulling my boots off and nothing else, not only because it was chilly but because Callum was watching, I crawled beneath the fur, instantly caught by its familiar scent. So caught by it as I curled on my side, facing him, it was impossible not to inhale deeply and pull him into me in a way I barely understood, but his wolf did. My wolf did.

“This is your fur, isn’t it?”

I murmured, trying my best not to give away too much of my feelings as his steady gaze remained on me, but I feared it might be too late. Too late to stop everything I felt because he already swamped my senses in ways I couldn’t imagine being without.

“’Tis my fur,”

he acknowledged, catching my thoughts far too easily now. “And you will never be without me, anamchara. Even after we defeat Tadc and you return to the Wolves of Ossary, you will never be without me, even if only from afar.”

“Then you must not have heard me earlier,”

I murmured, caught in his gaze as it lingered on me. No, not lingered, but remained trained on me as he kept a hand on the dagger sheathed at his waist, ready to use it at a moment’s notice if anyone dared harm me.

“I heard you earlier,”

he said softly, his wolven eyes flaring. “But refuse to see you exiled. This pain does not belong to you, so I won’t let it happen.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the wolf in his gaze that made my vision sharpen with my inner beast despite how sleepy I grew, lulled and comforted by his scent, or if it was my absolute certainty that I wouldn’t leave him alone, but I made myself clear again. “Your exile is my exile.”

I meant to say more and explain how there was no way around that, but I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew, I stood alone in a lush, green forest, gazing up into the thick canopy of leaves overhead.

“I’m home,”

I whispered, knowing this place because I had been here many times in dreams. “Medieval Ireland.”

Soaking up the dappled sunlight and chilly wind on my face, I smiled and pulled in the scent of distant sea salt and pungent leaves. Soaked up the sound of waves crashing against cliffs in the distance. Still smiling, I took in everything, wishing it could last this time and not fade when I woke.

“Please, not this time,”

I murmured, only to be caught by the sound of something small approaching. Some sort of woodland animal, I assumed, until I caught a familiar scent because it was my bloodline. Scanning the forest, I tried not to panic.

“No,”

I whispered because I didn’t want the enemy to hear. “Don’t come this way. It’s far too dangerous.”

Yet it was too late.

Far too late.

My chest tightened when a little gray pup emerged from the woodland, sniffing away as if tracking something, oblivious to his surroundings when danger lurked around every corner.

“No,”

I whimpered, falling to my knees because he was one of Ceara’s pups. As weak as I had been under the fiery water, I couldn’t find the strength to stand and go to him. Protect him. “Go no further, little one. Turn around and go home.”

But again, it was too late when Tadc’s dark, evil eyes arose in my vision.

Too late when he came out of nowhere and pounced on the pup, and all I could do was scream.