Page 17

17

LEO

V en was a dryad.

That was about the only good news that came out of our unexpected encounter with the most powerful witch on the continent. It answered a lot of questions, and I was glad she had those answers just in case…

Well, just in case something happened to me.

How could I not sacrifice myself to keep everyone I loved safe?

“Come on, one of us has to have a connection with some conclave of witches!” Ricky barked, slamming his hand on the table. Normally, I wouldn’t let him disrespect Ven’s furniture like that, but Ven didn’t have any kitchen furniture anymore. Mostly because she didn’t have a kitchen.

When Katarina had first left, we’d all been paralyzed by the sheer shock. Ven had been the first to move, screaming her cats’ names and running into her destroyed house. I feared the worst, but somehow, despite all odds, she found all three of them. They’d been clustered together under her bed, tails wide and bushy, the whites of their eyes showing. They were doing much better now in the greenhouse with their food, litter boxes, and Ven’s mattress.

“It’s called a coven, actually,” America corrected, but she sounded more weary than anything else. “And no, none of us do. Most magic users left this area when Katarina’s sons rose to power. And even if there were some lingering around, most of us would avoid them like the plague for obvious reasons.”

“Fuck,” Ricky snapped before standing and pacing the room. I hated to see my beta so wound up. He was frothier than I’d seen him in a long time, his scent sour and full of brimstone. “Then, we send word out to every single shifter we can find. She’s powerful, sure, but even the most powerful sorcerers can be brought down with enough numbers. Look at what we did with the brothers. And we fought multiple of them at a time. Imagine what we could do with a hundred of us!”

I admired Ricky’s passion, but I already knew what I was going to do. In my mind there was only one option. I would do what was necessary to save my pack without risking the lives of hundreds.

Besides, I was never meant for the softer, finer things in life. For kindness. For luxury. I was always destined for war, and with all the brothers gone, I’d served my purpose. So, if a simple sacrifice was enough to secure the future of my pack and everyone they knew, it was a no-brainer.

“We have been sending the word out,” Alicia said. “And we have many people coming in. People who owe your pack everything. But I don’t believe it’ll be enough. Katarina Morgana is the most powerful witch alive. So powerful that all her sons combined still didn’t feel comfortable challenging her. Those same brothers who managed to almost completely destroy your pack and enslave goodness knows how many of us. We need to be realistic about our chances.”

“We’re not giving up,” Ven said hotly. “We’ve already done the impossible, and we can do it again. Katarina knows that her sons did wrong, and although she says we have to atone for that, it’s not like she’s fighting from the heart. We can do this.”

Oh, dear. My beloved mate. I would miss her more than anything. But I felt better knowing she had my entire pack to take care of her. And know she knew what she was.

A dryad.

I’d heard legends of them when I was very young, but that was all they were. Legends. Old-world magical creatures that didn’t exist anymore, wiped out hundreds of years ago with their cousins, the nymphs, only barely surviving because of they’d disappeared into the trees and rocks. Never in a million years would I have guessed that Ven was one of them, nor that her mother had known Frederick. It really was such a small world. I just wished I could stick around longer to comfort her.

I had a week, and I would spend that week loving and cherishing everyone I was lucky enough to have in my circle. I didn’t mind giving them an hour or two to plot around the table, but soon, I would excuse myself. There was too little time to waste on futile scheming when I had already made up my mind.

Of course, Ven noticed that I was checked out, and when the meeting adjourned, she gently gripped my arm.

“Can we take a walk?”

“Of course,” I answered. “Whatever you want.”

We linked arms and headed toward that same river and cave that had become so significant to us. I would never forget the first time I showed it to her, and I was incredibly grateful I’d found someone to share my life with, even if it was only for a short while.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect once we reached our destination, I was just happy to be there with Ven. Once we reached the riverbank where citronella grew wildly, she whirled to face me, her expression far stormier than I was used to seeing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

I blinked at her in surprise. “Come again?”

“I didn’t stutter. What is wrong with you, Leo? You’re completely checked out. It’s like you’ve given up!”

Ah. I was foolish to think my mate wouldn’t pick up on my mood. She was always so insightful, and she knew me better than anyone, save Ricky.

“I’m not checked out, baby. I’m sorry if I gave that impression. I’m… I’m at peace with the situation.”

I’d expected Ven to understand or at least accept what I meant, but the storm clouds in her eyes grew that much darker.

“What do you mean you’re at peace? Because to me it seems like you’ve completely given up.”

I reached for her, my heart aching. If I were in her position, I would be just as vehement, but I was sure this was the right decision. And I would make it again, and again, and again, as long as she was safe.

“Baby, baby, I haven’t given up, but I know what I have to do.”

I wasn’t prepared for her to shove me away. My beloved Ven so rarely rejected my affection that it seemed entirely wrong.

“You’re going to give yourself over to that witch?”

I wanted to embrace her again, to cover myself in the comfort of her, but it wasn’t the right time. She was righteously upset, and I supposed she had every right to be even if I hated seeing her that way. “If that is what needs to be done.”

“Bullshit! It’s all bullshit! We didn’t literally scratch and claw our way to freedom just to have you give up at the end. We are all more powerful than she could ever imagine. Hell, I’m one of the last dryads on this entire continent. That has to count for something.”

Suddenly, she was in my arms again, looking up at me with beseeching eyes.

“Please, Leo. We’ve finally gotten time together. You can’t throw that away to go off and... and—” She cut herself off, and guilt settled in my gut at the tears she was barely holding back. I didn’t want her to be in pain, but I also didn’t want her to go up against a behemoth of a magic user and end up dead. Surely she could understand that? “You can’t! What about everyone in your pack who are only beginning to heal? Don’t they deserve to have their alpha around before losing everything again?”

Ven’s tone became higher pitched with every passing second, and her scent became more and more bitter with panic. I hated the idea that I was torturing her, and I knew a week of dreading my inevitable demise would tear her heart in two.

“Leo, I don’t think I can live without you. I thought I could get by in life on my own, that I was destined to always be alone. But now that you have shown me what true love is like, I can’t go back. I won’t ! Do you hear me? I won’t!

“Call your wolf to the front and tell it to summon as much bloodlust as it wants, because I won’t hold him back. We’re going to fight, and we’re going to win. Our family will stick together.”

Such a beautiful, impassioned plea. It was hard to believe it was for me, and yet I knew it was. I would never understand what twist of fate had put me into Ven’s path, but I would always be grateful for the moments we shared.

I didn’t want our last moments to be full of pain and tears.

So, I lied.

“Okay,” I said, gently stroking her hair.

“Okay? Do you mean it? You’ll stay? You’ll fight?”

“Yes,” I said, so incredibly grateful she couldn’t smell the shame inside me. I hated lying to her. “I’ll stay.”

I didn’t want to keep uttering vile and untrue words, so I kissed her. I kissed her with everything I had, because when she thought about me in the future, I wanted her head to be full of happy memories and sensations.

When we parted, she wept openly into my chest, repeating “thank you” over and over again. While I knew I was doing the wrong thing, I was relieved that the last days we had together would be full of joy and not tears.

“Come on,” I said, wiping her tears. “Let’s head back and see if there’s anything we can add to the plan.”

Five days.

In the end, I spent five days with my love and the rest of my pack. It was difficult walking the line between appearing to be invested in the fight and not wasting so much of the precious little time I had left. Every moment I stored in my chest and treasured it, trying to make sure everyone in my pack had the groundwork to flourish when I was gone.

Once Katarina got her revenge, there was no one else who could remotely hold a candle to our network of allies, and even the most brazen usurper wasn’t likely to roll around any time within a couple generations.

I watched Ven’s chest rise and fall steadily in her sleep. Each inhale was a gift, another moment in her presence, and each exhale was a whispered promise of more as it flitted past her plush lips. I wanted to trace that gorgeous face of hers, to gently trail my finger along her lashes, the bridge of her nose, to that perfect mouth. But I couldn’t risk waking her, not even for a lingering goodbye kiss.

It was time for me to go. I was tempted to wait yet another day, to squeeze in another twenty-four hours of happiness with my mate. But if I waited too long to leave, I ran the risk of being caught by multiple people in my family, and I really didn’t want them to raise a ruckus. I did not want my last action with my pack to be a fight to get away from them. Hopefully, they would all understand why I did what I did.

Although it went against every instinct in my body, I slowly slid out of bed. I knew I should leave immediately, but I couldn’t help myself. I leaned across the bed and brushed my lips over Ven’s forehead.

“I love you,” I murmured, my voice hitching. “And I will always love you. Even death cannot take that away from us. Be safe, my darling. Live the life you truly deserve.”

Fuck. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to gather her to my chest and feel her heartbeat against mine. But I couldn’t.

I had to do right by her and my pack.

With one last fleeting look at Ven curled up on her bed in the middle of the greenhouse, I pulled the gem out of my pocket and headed out into the night.

No matter what, my pack was going to live.