Page 37 of Rise of the Lycans: Shadows And Secrets

Maeve

“Nessie,” I hugged her to me, thankful that Kit remembered to pack her along with the new maternity dresses.

When I finished dressing, combing my still-wet hair, and brushing my teeth, I returned to an empty living room. Through the window, I could see Remington and Rex standing with Kit, who was talking fervently about something. I shoved my feet into my shoes and waddled my way outside.

“What’s going on?”

“I slipped into Rex’s hotel room to leave a note, explaining he was going on a much-needed vacation to reflect,” Kit explained. “Storm rushed into the room and jumped on me when I tried to shadow jump to escape.”

“Storm saw you?”

“Saw me?” Kit shook her head. “She traveled here with me.”

“What?”

“It seems the Moon Goddess is full of surprises these days,” Remington chuckled. “She’s granted your mate and his twin the ability to shadow-jump.”

“Where is she?” I turned to look for her.

“She’s sleeping in the loft,” Remington smirked. “Like a good girl.”

“Sleeping? You Sandmanned he r ? ” I accused.

“She’ll be fine,” he said. “I don’t have much time. The Council of Gods has called a meeting, and I’ll have some explaining to do.”

“Well, somebody better explain what the hell is going on?” I heard a low growl behind me.

Cadbury and Mars remained near the trees on the other side of the cabin, and I watched in disbelief as Alpha Ares and Luna Eudora treaded towards us.

“Where are we?” The Luna asked.

“You brought my parents here?” Rex questioned under his breath, with a hint of indignation.

“Rex! What’s going on?” His mother demanded.

“Perfect time to meet the in-laws,” Remington murmured with amusement.

“Maeve already knows my parents,” he replied, sounding more frustrated by the sudden intrusion. “My dad looks pissed.”

“I think you might have more to fear from your mother,” Remington snickered.

“Maeve!” Luna Eudora looked at me. “Oh, sweetheart, look at you. You’re glowing!” I held my breath, wondering if she could scent the pup, and then remembered she was also human.

“It’s wonderful to see you again,” I said as she threw her arms around me.

“We’re at the Highlands Packs,” Alpha Ares seemed to recognize where we were. “Maeve, are we at your—”

He sniffed again, and his body became visibly tense. His eyes widened with shock before they darkened.

“Dad… I can explain.” Rex wrapped his arm around me, tucking me at his side.

Luna Eudora looked from her mate to her son. “Will someone tell me what’s happening here?”

“A pup!” Alpha Ares said in a low rasp. His eyes dropped to my stomach, and his hand rubbed at his chest almost achingly. I knew his wolf, Apollo, was the first to understand.

“I can see that, but Rex why are you…” she stopped with a sharp gasp. “Is this why you kept disappearing every month and gallivanting off to random European countries?”

“Whoopsie,” I heard my uncle's low murmur.

“This is why you didn’t want to attend the mating ball,” she shook her finger at him reproachfully. “Did you steal her from her mate? Take advantage of her?”

“Mi amor,” Ares interrupted her. “It’s a lycan pup.”

“But lycans can only have pups with their…” her eyes found my fresh mark. “Mates!”

“It was a bit of a shock for me, too.”

She pulled me into another hug. “I’m so happy for… well, for all of us!”

Then, she rounded on Rex with her eyes blazing. Her finger shot out again at her son, who towered over her.

“Busted,” I heard my uncle cough.

“How can you keep this from us? Does Storm know?” She narrowed her eyes. “Of course, she knows. She’s just as secretive as you.”

“Looks like Lukas isn’t giving us our first grandpup,” Ares chuckled. “Sweet little Maeve is.”

“I am, Dad. That’s my pup.”

“You didn’t even tell us,” Ares shot back.

“To be fair, he didn’t know until last night,” Kit added.

“I don’t understand,” the Luna returned her gaze to Rex. “How did you not know? Where have you been? Why haven’t you been taking care of her?”

“Oh, that’s an interesting story, isn’t it, Rex?” Remington smirked. “You should hear him explain it.”

“Do me a favor and stop trying to help me,” Rex gritted.

“Don’t tell me you tried to reject your mate?” Ares groaned.

“There was no mate bond,” Rex defended. “I didn’t know until last night.”

“You were able to produce offspring before your twenty-fifth birthday because she was your true mate,” Ares said thoughtfully. “We could have figured things out and freed the Moon Goddess sooner if you had told us what was happening.”

“I didn’t know!” Rex tried again.

“Rex! How could you!” Eudora cried out. “Dónde está mi periódico?”

“Newspaper?” Remington whispered. “I have one right here.” He reached behind his back and retrieved a neatly folded newspaper before offering it to her.

“Are you serious?” Rex looked from Remington, who made a newspaper magically appear, to his mother, who swatted him with it. “Dad?”

“Yeah, I’m with your mother on this, Son,” Ares chuckled.

I stepped back as she swung at him like a spitting cobra and noticed Jinx observing calmly as his tail twitched excitedly.

“Your mate needed you.” SWAT.

“How could you be so selfish.” SWAT.

“If anything happens to my grandpup, or Maeve.” SWAT. SWAT.

“If you’re going to act like a bad dog, I will treat you like one.” SWAT. SWAT. SWAT.

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” Remington said, and I could feel his aura shift. “We need to discuss a few things before I leave.”

“Where’s Alpha Hamish?” Ares asked.

“On his way to our pack to get his mate, Brianna,” Rex replied.

“And Alpha Louise?”

“She escorted the good doctor who’s been working to save your grandpup to a guest room at the pack house,” Remington said. “You’re here because everyone is on a need-to-know basis,” he continued. “The Moon Goddess has asked that I share some information with you, but that you guard it close.”

“The Moon Goddess?” Alpha Ares finally took a long look at Remington. “Who are you exactly?”

“Maeve, do you have your necklace?” My uncle asked.

“Please don’t tell me it’s the one I lost,” Rex turned to me.

I reached into my pocket and held it up. “It’s right here.”

“Great,” Remington clapped his hands together. “Mars, Cadbury, please get Della and the others. I know where the hidden entrance is.”

“What hidden entrance?” Rex questioned.

“We should get in the boats,” Remington gestured as he turned to the loch.

“What boats?” Rex asked just as two wooden rowboats suddenly appeared.

“Well, isn’t this quaint?” Ares said. “But can someone explain what’s going on here??

“Three in a boat,” Remington announced. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Rex carried me down to the shore and waited for Kit to climb into the rowboat before he set me down on the wooden bench. Alpha Ares did the same with his mate, and Remington joined them in their boat. We started gliding along to the middle of the loch without anyone rowing, and no one batted an eyelash.

“Scotland is home to many legends and myths,” Remington said. “This loch is no different, and it guards the island of Avalon behind the veil.”

“I’ve seen the island before,” Rex told us. “But I don’t see it now.”

“That’s because there’s a veil that detours people from finding it. Anyone in a motorized vessel is immediately repelled away, and those who row or swim are naturally pulled in a different direction.”

“I’ve also seen the island shimmer every once in a while,” I admitted.

“Were you looking out at the water and touching your necklace?” Remington asked.

I thought back to the times I noticed the island. It always seemed to be at twilight, and I assumed it was a trick of the light or something. The light seemed to dance off the loch, and I would stand for a long time just gazing at it.

“It’s possible I reached up and touched the necklace while gazing out at the water.”

“Avalon holds mystical power because it was an island inhabited by faeries long ago to frolic and enjoy in the human world, like a vacation spot outside the Fae Realm.”

“The Fae don’t visit this realm much anymore,” Ares told us.

“Oh, I assure you they did,” Remington said. “You’re about to meet a few that have been stuck in this realm because the only known entrance at the Faerie Pools started drying up two years ago and completely stopped on Maeve’s eighteenth birthday.”

“Is that a coincidence?” Luna Eudora looked at me.

I cleared my throat. “The Fae Queen is my mother’s older sister.”

“I knew something was going on when Alpha Louise asked me to keep Maeve safe at all costs,” said Alpha Ares. “Then she started asking if I knew anything about the Faerie Pools.”

“Eos, The Goddess of Dawn, is also the Goddess of the Fae,” I told them. “She’s jealous of the Moon Goddess, and the Fae Queen is doing her bidding with the unseelie faeries.”

“Her bidding to do what?” He asked.

“To help weaken the Moon Goddess for a coming war. Demons are also being forced to pick sides,” Remington replied.

“A demon was responsible for trapping the Moon Goddess and causing the problem with the mate bonds,” he growled.

“Imagine the toll that would have taken if she held her captive for a century,” Rex said.

“Most demons are malevolent,” Ares rumbled. “Why should we trust you?”

“You shouldn’t,” Remington said with a twisted grin. “But I’ve chosen to side with the Moon Goddess.”

“And why is that?” Ares regarded him carefully.

“My great aunt made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he said darkly.

I heard the deep intake of air as Alpha Ares considered what my uncle was telling him.

“If the Goddess is your great aunt, that would make you a demigod…”

“You flatter me, Alpha King,” he said almost mockingly as he bowed his head. I knew Remington well enough to know when he was hiding his amusement. “But you’re the only demigod alive since Hercules.”

“The Demon King made an appearance at the Louvre,” Ares murmured. “He seemed to be in alliance with the Moon Goddess as well.”

“He is,” Remington’s mouth twitched.

“And this Fae Queen is in alliance with Eos,” Ares seemed to understand.

“She is,” Remington nodded.

“The Fae Queen?” Luna Eudora asked. She was technically the Luna Queen in the shifter world, and I was surprised she wasn’t aware of the Fae Queen.

“Morgana is the current Fae Queen who has yet to produce an heir, which means her sister would have been next in line,” Remington explained. “Unfortunately, since she killed her sister, the next in line is—”

“Maeve!” She gasped. “But Maeve is human, is she not?”

“It doesn’t matter what she is,” Remington’s eyes met mine. “She’ll probably become a lycan soon enough.”

He knew that was my heart's true desire. I had always dreamed of getting my wolf, having a mate, and raising pups. I had seen him at the Faerie Pools the day the unseelie came for us. Some part of him, the part he inherited from Anubis, was also part lycan.

“There’s a boat rowing this way from the west,” Kit pointed out.

“The veil should repel them if they get closer,” Remington said dismissively, scanning the sky. “Here come the others.”

Black fog started to swirl around the boats just before I saw the flying creatures swooping toward us. There were six of them, and they resembled bird-sized dragonflies. The one with purple and pink wings waved at me, and I recognized the tiny face from the supernatural pub. It was Della.

“The black mist…” Alpha Ares started to say.

“It’s okay. It’s just Cadbury and Mars,” Kit assured him.

Remington gave me a nod. “Rub the necklace.”

The gold tree on the pendant glimmered, and I rubbed it between my fingers. Shimmering lights reflected off the water, and it felt like we had passed through another world or time. I looked closer at the island with the beautiful trees and flowers, unable to believe my eyes. It was breathtaking, and I felt the transcendent energy welcoming me.

Rex turned to look over his shoulder. “I can still see the cabin from here.”

“It’s like a one-way window,” Kit said. “You can see out, but they can’t see in.”

The boats stopped at the island's sandy shore, and Rex insisted on carrying me again. Cadbury, Mars, and the Faeries were already in full human form, and I couldn’t help noticing how Alpha Ares assessed them.

“I’ve only met one faerie before,” he finally announced.

“Tooth, Godmother, or Maleficent?” One of the male faeries I didn’t know choked down a laugh.

“We met him at an Endless Nights Gala the Vampire King had long ago. His name is Oberon.”

The faeries stood in stunned silence when Oberon was mentioned. I wondered who he was, and then it came to me. Somehow, I knew who Oberon was. I felt a knowing deep in my heart.

“Oberon was my Grandfather, wasn’t he?”

Della stepped forward. “He was,” she said solemnly. “He disappeared just after Princess Calista was murdered.”

“And my Grandmother?” I asked.

“She passed in childbirth when your mother was born,” Della said softly.

“Of course,” I breathed. All of the limbs on my family tree seemed to be pruned prematurely. Maybe Jack was right… maybe I was a jinx.

“And I thought our side of the family had problems,” Remington chuckled. “Shall we continue?” He walked along a path lined with flowers I had never seen before.

“This looks like Paradise,” I whispered, taking it all in.

Between the unique assortment of pretty trees I didn’t recognize, the rocks, ferns, flowers, and water pools, I didn’t know where to look first.

“You know, I once visited the Realm of The Moon,” Eudora said, and I was sure I heard her voice quake. “It had the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen, so unlike anything on earth, but these come close.”

“Did you see the gates of the afterlife in the stars, just beyond the field of flowers you arrived at?” Remington asked, and her gasp was audible.

“How did you know?” She asked.

“The Dark Realm is similar… only in a twilight kind of way,” he smirked. “Eos created the flowers on this island, sort of like a calling card of the Gods.”

“She was also the one who stole wolfsbane and nightshade from the gardens of the Underworld to populate the earth and use them as weapons against shifters,” I said, recalling what Remington had told me.

“The stone circle is just ahead,” Della called out.

I felt a strong urge to have my feet firmly planted on the ground. “Rex, put me down, please.”

“I don’t want you to trip and fall,” he replied, holding me closer against his chest.

“I need to put my bare feet on the ground here,” I insisted. “I’ve waddled around the last few months just fine.”

“The stone circle is humming,” Della said as she rushed forward.

Rex set me down and kneeled to help remove my shoes. The soft, silky dirt felt great on my feet, and I wondered if it was really dirt. I could see a small clearing ahead and realized Remington had stopped walking. Both hands rested on his hips as he appeared to take long, slow breaths, examining something before him.

“Oh, Calista,” one of the faeries sobbed.

“What is it?” Ares reached the clearing and froze. “WOW!”

“Ay, Dios Mío!” Eudora said with a gasp.

Kit sniffled. “It’s beautiful.”

“Balor,” Mars whispered.

I hesitated momentarily and braced for something I knew would stun and surprise me. Rex wrapped his arm around me, and his eyes studied me with concern. I took a deep breath and nodded before we took the last steps. My chest ached the moment I saw it.

A spiral stone circle made from uniquely colored rocks glistened around two large trees standing in the center. The first was a beautiful, tall, golden oak tree, similar to the one on my pendant. It shimmered with a glow just as the pendant did. The second was a thick, strong black oak tree with limbs that had grown around the golden oak. The trunks of the trees had melded together as one.

Even in the afterlife, the love my parents shared was unmistakable.