Broken Fairy Tales

27

Auris somehow made me trust him that Ash would be safe here. I kissed her forehead, whispering that I loved her in her ear before heading to the door, turning back to look at her one last time while Auris ushered me out the door with a swishing motion of his hands.

I went towards the living room, which had been hastily cleaned up as the most ideal All American Girl walked in the smashed open front door. "Do we need to fill Raven in on all this?" She asked as she looked at the state of everything, a giant of a man that rivaled Sky in size came in behind her like a blonde herculean god man. Fuck, no he was more like Thor from the Marvel movies with those impossibly blue eyes.

"What the fuck guys?" The thor double said surveying the room.

"Slight issue, we took care of the immediate problem." Laurel said before looking at Delia with a very, very pointed state that even I noticed.

"Ok fine." She looked at Laurel with slight exasperation evident by her body movements, "Call Raven over, she should know too."

Josephine arrived same as she had to Ash's castle with The succubus Marisol teleporting her. "Someday, someone is going to at least let me watch something hot for all my service right?" She asked, looking directly at Laurel.

"Yes Marisol, You can join in as my mates agree; you can watch the next time we are all together. I'll summon you. I promise." Laurel said. Which only opened me up to a million more questions.

Marisol practically purred with obvious delight before her eyes landed on me. "Same for you, if you want to get a little freaky, I am more than available to-"

"Marisol shut up before you scare him more than he already is." Josephine said, making Marisol close her jaw with an audible click as her teeth hit together.

Which brought my attention back to where it should have been. Ash. I was stood in the entrance to the hall, unsure where I fit or where I should go. Delia and Brydel gestured for everyone to follow them, out to a cement floored outdoor firepit hang out area at the back of the home. With the press of a button the propane powered fire pit roared to life. Giving everyone something to focus on other than Delia and how she was begrudgingly gathering everyone here to announce something under Laurel's scrutinizing gaze. As though Laurel already knew everything that Delia had to say.

Raven showed up out of breath, wearing workout gear meaning she ran here as a human which I found surprising. Her beta arrived a moment later, in wolf form, getting a pair of basic grey sweats and a tank top thrown at him for clothing when he shifted behind a nearby shed.

"Alpha." Laurel offered to Raven, making the short pack leader blush for almost an instant before she took control of everything again.

"We are all here now right?" She asked the open room. "What do you need to tell us Delia?" Raven asked, cutting right to the point.

Gloria would have been all over this. Women in charge, a female alpha. Like Laurel and Melody, Gloria had been raised human, and all women I had learned one way or another didn't agree with how behind wolf culture was.

"This isn't easy, this is the deepest secret of my people. This earth isn't the only earth, there are endless dimensions. This particular Earth has been," she paused, I guessed looking for the right word, "Cultivated." She decided on, which made me feel cold suddenly.

"My ancestors came to earth a long time ago to help guide things towards a better future." Delia looked at me, Laurel, and Melody with tears glistening in her eyes. "Our homeland had fallen to the Darkness. Splinter groups for good fled in dimensional bubbles, trying to seed a planet with everything it needed to beat back the darkness."

Delia looked at Laurel, Melody, Raven, and me one more time before continuing her story. With me even more uneased. "I was supposed to take over for my cousin, guarding the crystal gate that links this world to our old one, to others. I abandoned my place for you," her eyes went to all of her family, her child. "The old ways are breaking. I don't know if it's my fault for not doing my duty or if its fall out from the war. Laurel I'm so sorry. I thought we were done. I really did." Delia said, wrapping her arms around herself and her child as she spoke to her mates.

"Why did you ask me to come here?" Melody asked, her eyes narrowed as she looked at Delia, something passed between them that went right over my head. Melody continued to stare at Melody, until she sighed, "You're not from this world Melody. Your mother was sent here, same as my family, to protect what she was. Like every other Alpha Queen who has come to earth before you." I looked around the room, not understanding the importance of those words, but from the look Melody gave to Delia, she was not happy that her friend had known this and never shared. Melody snuggled into her mate, as he ran a large soothing hand up and down her back, calming her as Delia kept going. Explaining more of legends she had kept secret from everyone.

"Ash said the corruption was here. What does that mean Delia?" I asked, needing to know more. No one ever told me enough. No matter how much they said, I was always left with more questions than I got answers.

"It means everything is broken." she said, fear evident in her voice.

Sky looked at Delia, with a thoughtful eye. "The Banshee?"

"The Banshee was drawn to Ash because Ash hates herself right now and isn't able to move past her guilt. The fact Banshee could take hold and poison her mind so deeply without us noticing it had taken hold, proves everything again. Rhys, what happened when you traveled?" Delia asked me, not really asking me as a person, just needing me to supply more evidence to prove her point.

"It took my motorcycle and everything attached, including my boots that clipped to the pedals." I said. Brydel and Sky both flinching as I explained how I had heard the voice in my head, and how it said specifically it was't going to hold to the old ways any longer.

"The old ways are dying. Did we break something when Sky...." He skipped over the important detail. The war they never liked to talk too much about. "We have to fix this, if old ones are being corrupted, and a simple Banshee can invade Ash worse things are going to come next." Brydel insisted. His history linked to demons made him fearful and tense whenever they were involved, understandably.

Sky, and Brydel were talking between themselves while Delia and Auris spoke about the different layers of existence. While I was barely holding back a complete breakdown. I wasn't supposed to know this much about the world. I was small. I shouldn't be here. I wasn't powerful, or important, or smart enough to be here.

I felt a moment before Ash awoke, and then she was on my arm, looking back at our friends with pointy teeth before I had blinked again. Everyone tensed as I leaned down to whisper in her ear, my lips pressing to her scalp. My nose close enough that even my human nose could smell the her that was only her. "It's ok."I whispered, wanting her to listen to me, how I trusted everyone here. That we were safe.

"Listen." Listen to everyone, I told her in my mind, it's safe here. " It's ok" I leaned down, wrapping more of my body around her, feeling as she melted her body against mine, and relaxed into me.

"Tell us everything Delia." Ash said, sharp teeth hidden away again. I felt as she pulled herself together from wherever her fragments had gone. She was now radiating a content feeling I hadn't known in so long. Could I be so lucky that banishing a banshee would solve so much of our problems?