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Chapter Thirty-Five

Talia

F orrester murmurs under his breath after we walk out of the cabin.

I don't even know what else to say because yeah, holy fuck. Nestled in my arms is the box containing notebooks, letters, pictures, and even a few voice recordings detailing everything we just went over with Miranda. This is so much more than I expected when we got here, and I don't even know if I can process it all.

"Talia!" Nick calls out as we walk to the car, running out the door towards me.

"I just wanted to thank you again for coming out. I know that the things my mom was involved in and did would have warranted you ignoring our invitation, but it means a lot to us that you came in spite of that."

"Oh, it's not a problem. Thank you both for giving us all of this." I motion the arm with the box. "I feel far more prepared for what's coming and who we're up against."

Nick smiles and rubs a hand against the back of his neck. "Talia?"

"Yes?"

"When all of this goes down, and you take a stand against The Croises, I want to stand with you. Those people, the things they've done and continue to do," Nick speaks, his eyes telling me as much as his words.

Anger, fear, determination.

"They deserve to pay for it. I want to be standing on the right side of this when that goes down. I want to stand with you guys."

My eyes search out my mates before I answer.

I don't know the logistics of a human standing with shifters, but I know it sounds like a good idea to me.

Wes smiles and answers for us, taking the weight of this off of me. "We would be happy to have you at our side. I still have your email and phone number, and I will get our pack enforcer to reach out to you to cover things like training and fighting. If you're going to stand with us, we'll make sure you're prepared to fight and survive."

"Thank you," Nick chokes out, tears shining in his eyes. "Thank you. I want-- No, I need to both make up for what my mother, and now sister, have done as well as avenge the things that have been done to my family. So, thank you."

Nick turns and jogs back up to the cabin, leaving us alone at our vehicle. We get in, silence surrounding all of us. There's too much to think through, to sort through, from this visit and it seems we all need the quiet to do just that.

There's a few things that were said and then glossed over that have been eating away at me. My peryton brushes against my mind, calling me inwards. Closing my eyes, I succumb the pull, following her into the meadow of the goddess.

"This is crazy, right?" I ask my peryton, settling down onto the ground beside her.

She rests her head on my lap, looking up at me with her large doe eyes. A hefty sigh comes from her, just as overwhelmed by all of this as I am.

"There's two things I am realizing went unanswered during the talks," I murmur as I run my fingertips over her snout. "How do I awaken the dormancy of shifters? Considering that's how I am supposed to be able to find the Unicorn shifter, I probably should have asked how to do that. And, what exactly happened to my father?"

My peryton bumps me with her nose, offering me comfort and assurance.

I'll figure this out. There may be more on both of them in the box of stuff I was given so I'll get my mates to go through all of it with me. Six pairs of eyes will go far faster than one. Besides, we can then sort it into categories to help going forward.

The other shifters won't care about the love between my mother and my father or the bonds between mythical shifters and their mates, but they will care about the hierarchy of the Croises, the nature of the upcoming war, and the role we all have to play in this war of the gods.

"This is all happening so fast," I muse out loud with a shake of my head. "One minute I'm trapped in that prison cell and the next, I'm here, preparing for a war against the very people who kept me locked up my whole life."

Burying my face in my peryton's neck, I sigh while holding back tears. This is so much more than I ever thought my life would be. I didn't even know if I would survive day to day back in that prison.

Am I the right shifter to start this fight? I can't help but feel inadequate for the role I've been given. If this happened twenty five years ago, would it have been my mother? Was it my line that was chosen? Or me specifically? Maybe someone like my mother would have been better at this than me. Less unsure, more confident.

"It was always meant to be you." Adessa's voice echoes through the meadow like a song in a breeze. "All things are as they should be."

I raise my face to the sky, letting the golden glow sparkle off of the tears falling down my cheeks. I don't respond to her words, I let them sink into me and fill me with confidence in who I am and the path I'm meant to walk.

This task ahead of me, much like my mates, has been fated by the goddess herself. Knowing that gives me the peace I was lacking. My mates fit with me perfectly, in ways I never knew I needed, which means this task is one I can not only handle, but do right.

It has to be me. This is my destiny.

The glow around me brightens to blinding levels, lighting up every part of me and making my magic sing inside of me. My magic swirls into the air, dancing with the golden glow of the meadow. I smile at the sight and kiss my peryton on the forehead.

"I'll see you soon, okay? I have dormant shifters powers to awaken," I say and wink at her.

Drawing my consciousness back to my body, I open my eyes to the gates of the packlands.

"We're home," Wes murmurs as he shuts off the vehicle in the garage.

"Let's get to work," I answer with determination.

Drayton pinches the bridge of his nose for the fifth time in the last hour. Every piece of information we go through seems to stress him out more and more. Alaric has his arm firmly around my waist, holding me on his lap securely, or I would go try to ease some of that stress for my alpha mate.

"I know it's a lot," I murmur to Dray. "We were picked by the goddess herself to do this though. We can, and will, get through this."

"I know, baby. I'm just trying to work through it in my head," Drayton answers with a tight smile. "In all of this," he motions to the piles of letters in front of us, "there's nothing I can find about how we are supposed to go about awakening the dormant energy."

"I mean the rest of yours woke up after mating with Tal," Alaric grumbles behind me.

"What?"

I echo Drayton's what and see all of my mates turn to Alaric in confusion.

"The runes on your wolf form," Alaric says like it explains everything. "You have glowing teal runes. I thought we all knew this and that's why no one was commenting on it."

Alaric shrugs with the shoulder not attached to me and I can't help the laugh that comes out at his observant, yet oblivious observations. He really thought we all knew and just decided it wasn't worth talking about. I--what?

Penn immediately moves to the open area behind the couch and shifts into his wolf form. Sure enough, there's glowing teal runes on his wolf as well.

"See?" Alaric smugly grins and grips my hip tighter. "I bet all of you have the same markings. I don't know what they mean, but I'm betting money it will have something to do with awakening this dormant magic."

All the blood drains from my face as I try to work out how this would help awaken all the magic.

"I am not sleeping with all of the shifters," I immediately interject with a vehement shake of my head. "Absolutely not."

Alaric growls beneath me and the rest of my mates join in, including the wolf Penn, his hackles now raised.

"That's not at all what I meant," Alaric growls, tightening his arm around me. "I think the runes that come with the mating are the key to it. So, that would mean mating with all of us and then doing something with that."

Wes claps his hands. "That may just be it!"

He moves over to the pile we set aside that was confusing and pulls out a small notebook from the pile. Flipping through the pages, he searches for whatever clicked in his genius brain about what to do.

I squirm against Alaric, the thought of mating with him filling most of my thoughts at this point. He's the only one of my mates I haven't completed the act with and I am far too eager to go and do just that.

Having sex with my mates to free the dormant magic of all shifter kind? Hell fucking yes. The goddess is going to get a high five for that one. I will have sex to save the shifter world, no questions asked.

"Here it is!" Wes jumps up and flips the books to all of us. "These runes look like the ones that were on Penn. It shows a circle of them with a flame in the middle. I think once all the runes are unlocked, we should recreate this emblem with Talia as the flame then have her recite the words on this page."

"It looks legit to me," Forr grumbles with a shrug. "I say we give it a go."

Drayton nods his head and glances at Alaric and I, causing me to wiggle again with arousal. "We won't put pressure on the two of you for this," he assures us. "Do it in your own time and once his runes are activated, we can give this a go."

"I'm good whenever," I say far too quickly and too enthusiastically. My mates chuckle as I look back at Alaric with flushed cheeks. "Whenever you're ready though."

"Oh, I'm ready, sunshine. But," he adds quickly with a smirk. "I have plans for you and how this is going to happen. Tomorrow night, you're mine."

Penn coughs, breaking the locked gaze between Alaric and I. I didn't even know he had shifted back.

Oops.

"Okay, so we have a plan. Or at least, the start of one," Wes says, bringing everyone's attention back to the matter of it all.

"I think we should give the other leaders a heads up that we have the information and we’re trying it before we do so they can be prepared,” Drayton explains. “If this works, it’s going to be quite the shock to everyone’s systems.”

"Good idea," Forrester agrees, making the whole room go quiet for a moment. "What? I'm capable of agreeing with Drayton."

"We weren't sure you were capable of agreeing with anyone," Penn teases. "You're not exactly an easy going guy. Well, except for with Talia."

"Well, maybe if all of you were as smart as her, I would agree with you more often," Forr shoots back, and winks at me. "Plus, she's hot and you all look like a pile of dogshit."

The guys start throwing insults at each other in jest, their bonds with each other growing deeper every day. They lost so many years with each other while Forrester was being poisoned against Drayton. Our mate bonds brought them back to each other, and I don't think anything will break them apart again.

We're a family. Something I don't quite understand, but something I seem to be able to recognize all the same.

I hope one day, when we're through the chaos and the war, we can maybe add a few additions to this little family.

"Okay, okay," I finally interrupt when Drayton tosses Forr into a headlock. "We have actual work to do guys."

Alaric chuckles and pulls me into his arms, kissing the top of my head. "Always looking out for us, beautiful."

"You guys do the same for me." I kiss him softly, enjoying the feel of his facial hair under my hand as I cup his cheek. "I love you."

The confession tumbles out like the most natural thing in the world. Honestly, it really is. I love him. I love all of them.

"I love you, too, beautiful. I've got a few things to do, but I'll be sure to show you just how much later, okay?" Alaric kisses me again and the noise of the guys still goofing around fades from existence. Soon I'll have experienced mating with all of my men. The butterflies in my stomach dance at the prospect and I can't help the sigh of contentment that comes out as Alaric pulls away.