Urgh!!
Seth had tucked me in, insisting that I get some rest after my ordeal before he left. But there was no way on this goddess's green earth I wanted to be stuck here in my room...alone, resting. I'd done enough lying down to last me a lifetime, thanks to my crazy sister.
I blew out a frustrated breath, staring at the dark beams on the ceiling. I flung back the cover, sitting up and threw my legs over the side of the bed. Lifting my arm, I traced the faint marks on my wrists and the white line from the knife wound she'd inflicted. I shuddered, recalling the helpless terror I'd felt when I thought I was going to drown.
Thankfully, it was quickly replaced by anger. "What are you planning next, Ember?"
'Cassius.' I reached out. He was safe, that much I knew, but now he appeared to be ignoring me, on purpose? I wasn't sure.
Well, if he expected me to remain in my room—he had another thing coming. I was done being cooped up. A plan formulated in my head. And first off of the bat.
Find Sylar. I should be with him. He was my mate, for wolfs sake!
His handsome face flooded my mind and my veins heated with the need. Desire tightened across my chest, as a delightful shiver forced a giggle. I had zero experience with the opposite sex but my mind, my body craved his touch forcing my nipples to pebble as my fingers traced my lips, wondering what it would feel like to have him kiss me... to be kissed for the first time. The heat between my thighs made me wriggle on the bed as an ache of a different kind curled my toes.
I was obviously aroused. Heavens, what would it be like when we did kiss? I was sat here almost panting just from the idea.
When I'd opened my eyes to find him above me, his beautiful blue ones, so warm and the flush to his cheeks matching my own. I knew he felt the same desire that burned inside me for him.
My soulmate... my mate. Mine.
Or so I hoped. Ember weaved her way into my insecurities, dousing my heat. She had made it clear she thought he was her mate.
And we weren't supposed to have two soulmates... mates.
So, what did it mean when I felt him drawn to Ember? His confliction of wanting to go to her.
A possessive ripple of anger snatched hold of my heart, along with the pain and wrenching sadness I'd felt when he'd taken a step toward her. It hurt. But I wouldn't give him up easily.
So again, what did it mean?
Was she using magic on him? Or did she speak the truth? Was Ember and I somehow fated to share a mate?
Nibbling my lip, I didn't know enough about the Goddess and what Ember had told me about Luna and her twin Selene. But the Elders would, and I was tired of being kept in the dark... protected, as they would say.
It was about time everyone stopped treating me like a child.
In a little over a month's time, I would go through a ceremony to restore my magic, gifts or abilities, whatever you wanted to call them. And what if, like Ember, that would mean the soul or part of a soul... our goddess's soul, Luna, would become a part of me... or would she become me? Or I her?
No. I shook my head. Ember had died briefly, or had that been planned too? Had this Selene manipulated the situation and ceased her moment?
My head spun with differing scenarios, and it was truly the first time that all my options appeared out of my control. I had no choice in this. Did I?
Argh... I knew little to nothing and sitting here would not answer my questions. And keeping me and Sylar apart would cause more harm than good—of that, I was sure.
Which brought me full circle back to Cassius and what was his problem with Sylar? I'd felt his anger towards him before Ember had appeared. It was the first thing I'd sensed when Sylar had pulled me from the water.
What right did he have to keep us apart? I'd heard him issue the command to Seth, Noah, and Nile just before he jumped into the portal.
And the more it swirled around my head—the angrier I became.
Well, today was the first day in taking control of my life. Rising from my bed, I stomped toward the door, yanking it open to find Nile stood on guard, arms folded across his enormous chest as his eyebrow cocked.
Oh, please...
"Morning Willa. Everything okay? Need anything?" His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes flicked over my appearance.
Wolfsbane. I was still in my nightshirt. Perhaps dress first. Raising my finger. "Hold that thought." I shut the door and headed to my wardrobe, discarding my shirt on the floor and tugged over my head a pale blue dress and grabbed my pumps. Looking at my hair in the mirror, I snatched it back and reached for a scrunchy to tie it up.
There, looking better already.
Opening my door, Nile hadn't moved a muscle. "Excuse me please Nile, you're in my doorway and I need to get past."
"Sorry, no can do, Willa. If you need something, then I will send for it. The Alpha wants you to stay in your room." He flicked his chin up.
Argh!! "For what reason?" Bloody Cassius. He was gonna get an ear full when he finally showed his face. "I don't care what Cassius said, Nile. I want out of my room."
His vast chest heaved. "If you insist on leaving, then I must insist on tagging along."
Swallowing down my frustration with Cassius, I added to my check list a good kick to his shin along with the ass-chewing. "Fine." I flicked my chin up, and he stood aside, allowing me to stomp past him.
"And where are we going Willa?"
"To see my mate, Nile." I retorted, perhaps a little sarcastically.
He placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I resisted a sigh and turned, fixing a fake smile on my face. "What now Nile?"
"Nope. Alpha forbids it."
My excitement fluttered to its death as I closed my eyes, taking a calming breath. I refocused. "And can you tell me why, Nile?"
He shrugged but looked apologetic "Alpha's orders."
I threw my hands up. "Seriously?"
"Afraid so. Why don't we head to the kitchens and get something to eat?"
Grumbling, there was no point in arguing. But perhaps if I distracted Nile, sneaking away might be an option. "Fine."
He smiled, seemingly happy with my decision. "I thought you were gonna give me a hard time for a second."
"I'm saving the hard time for my brother. Did he say when he would grace me with his presence?"
"I'm expecting him soon. He's with his mate."
Humph...how come he was allowed to see his mate?
A small smile replaced my frown. Admittedly it made me happy to hear that he was with Pearl. Heading down to the kitchen, My mouth watered as I filled a bowl with fruit and sat down. "You don't need to watch me, Nile. I can eat and look after myself." The strawberry burst across my tastebuds as I held back a moan. They were delicious, but then again anything would have beat the food Ember had given me, even the rats had turned their noses up.
"Think of me as your shadow?" He bit into an apple.
"Honestly, have you seen yourself, you tower over me Nile, hardly inconspicuous." I bit into a peach.
"Suck it up Buttercup. You sneaked out and got yourself kidnapped. Its understandable why the Alpha has concerns."
Wolfsbane. Would I never live this down? "Being kidnapped was not my intention." I said through clenched teeth. "Rest assured, I won't be leaving pack lands again." I had learned my lesson—oh wolf, had I!
The door burst open and in came my brother...but not the one I was unhappy with. "Orion?" I scraped my chair on the tiled floor, standing, almost knocking it over as I ran toward him, flinging my arms around his neck.
"Ouch...ouch! Hey sis." I pulled back as he grimaced. "Good to see you, sis. Although when I feel better, me and you are going to have a little chat about you going walkabouts... what part of wait for me didn't you understand!?"
It was rare to see Orion with a serious expression and guilt sat like a bag of stones in my stomach. But if Cassius became aware of Orion creating the distraction for me to leave pack lands to find Sylar, then he would have been angry with him too. And no point in us both being in trouble.
Sighing... hindsight was a wonderful thing. "I'm fine Orion." Hiding my frown. "I'm more interested in what happened to you." I traced my finger along his bandaged neck and shoulder, and he looked paler than normal. "Is this my fault?" Perhaps Cassius had known Orion had helped me escape.
"No...and this?" he shrugged and winced. "Just brotherly affection at its best." He scoffed. "You know Wolf." His eyes flicked to Nile's. "Doesn't appreciate it when I help him."
Nile spluttered, shaking his head. "Wolf-shit. How about you speak the truth, Orion?"
I turned my attention back to my older brother. "Cassius did this?" What the hell had happened? "You should be resting."
"Pfft, it's just a scratch."
I knew Eve wouldn't have let him leave the infirmary if she had concerns. "Well, if Eve thinks you're okay?"
His eyes lowered, and it dawned on me. "Eve knows you've left the pack hospital?" Eyes narrowed I raised my hand and clipped him around the ear, knowing full well what his answer would be.
He rubbed his ear. "Hey, don't you give me shit. I got enough from Wolf."
I threw my hands up. "Between you and Cass, you both drive me nuts. Tell me what happened."
"It was nothing—a misunderstanding."
My head flicked to Nile, knowing he would spill. "He got his tongue stuck down the Alpha's mate's throat." Nile smirked as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.
My mouth dropped. "You kissed her!? Do you have a death wish, Orion—whatever possessed you?" I clipped him upside his head again. Men!
"It was his fault. He was being an idiot. Rejected her. And I was making her feel better."
"Rejected his mate—Pearl! He rejected her?" Goddess! This was worse than I thought.
"Hold your tongue, brother." A bellowing voice interrupted us. Ah, finally! The brother I was annoyed with. I turned on heel to face him.
"Got you to stop being an idiot though, didn't it? Accept she's your mate," said Orion.
I winced at Orion's cocky tone. Would he ever learn?
Cassius stomped over, flinging my pushed out chair out the way, readying to lunge at Orion.
I knew that look. Obviously, he still had some pent-up rage over Orion's stupidity.
Jumping in-between them. "Cassius, stop. He's not fully recovered. He should be in the pack hospital." I turned my angry gaze on Orion, mouthing at him to back off or face me as well as Cassius.
Cassius scowled and a low, rumbling growl hummed through his chest. It was at this moment I realized something monumental. "Goddess! Your eyes Cassius! You can see." It wasn't a question. Gone were the swirling silver pools of liquid replaced by the prettiest blue, similar to my own.
Apparently, Orion hadn't realized either. "What the?" he said, as stunned as me.
"You stay here." He jabbed his finger at Orion. "I will deal with you shortly, brother. You—to the study." Cassius pointed from Orion to me. Before stomping towards the door.
Nile pushed out his chair and rose. "Anything you need, Alpha?"
Cassius stopped as he silently communicated with Nile before nodding and leaving the kitchen with me hot on his heels.
Closing the door behind me. It wasn't my brothers' study as his was in the King's Moon original... and first ever built pack house, but each added house on our lands since had one. Seth, on most days, could be found here.
But not today.
Inside the study, he turned and yanked me into a hug. "Never do that to me again. I thought—"
I could feel his heart banging against his chest as I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. "I'm sorry." And I was sorry. I had caused so much trouble and the life of an Elder. I squeezed my eyes tightly.
"Cassius, you need to let me go."
"Never."
"I can't breathe!" The air in my lungs was about used up.
"Oh, yes." He released his death grip but held my shoulders. "You are physically, okay?" His eyes followed his hands as they traced over my head, shoulder, and down my arms.
I nodded seeing his tiredness and concern reflected in those pretty blues. "I'm amazed." I mumbled, studying them closely. My head moved back as something flickered across them... Was that a face reflected in his eyes? "How Cassius?"
Again, a flicker of something darker flashed and I could sense something and that something wasn't good.
He looked away, dropping his hands. "It is not important, Willa."
"When you say it like that, then I know there is reason for me to be concerned." Had Ember done something to him when he went after her? "Was Ember responsible?" I reached up and cupped his cheek as he relaxed slightly. Our bond was always comforting to one another.
"No."
"What then? Tell me, please."
He hesitated for a moment. "Come sit. First, I need you to tell me everything."
I retold my story, hesitantly at the start, then speaking faster and faster as if by getting it all out, I could distance myself from the whole thing. Cassius listened, biting his tongue to keep from what I knew would be an ass chewing for me being impatient and stupid.
When I took my last breath, ending my tale, he was clenching his fists so tightly I was sure his nails would draw blood. "Now your turn."
His shoulders dropped as he retold the events of exiting the portal, but it still confused me how his eyesight had returned.
"That leaves us with only two Elders offering their protection." He ran his hand across his forehead.
My stomach bottomed. The Elder, Ani. "This is my fault Cassius... Ani's death." I drew in a tremulous breath.
"You are not to take blame, Willa. The witch would have got in some other way. She had already planted the child—that thing for me to find and bring back to our lands." He looked away. "If anyone is to blame—it is I."
I reached for his hand, knowing he was referring to the gift she had left him at the Blue-Night Pack. "Neither is it yours, Cassius. She used magic to trick you." A question burned in my thoughts. "Did she really kill everyone at the Blue-Night Pack?" A part of me hoped she was being dramatic to scare me, but my brother's face said more than a thousand words.
Goddess. "What is it you intend to do? She is a powerful witch notwithstanding she has the soul of goddess or witch or whatever she was inside her too."
Cassius lowered his voice to almost a growl. "Death awaits her. She has broken more laws than I can count. Taken life with little, if no, regard. There will be no one to stand in her defense."
It was not a road my brother would travel lightly. And I knew she had to be stopped. But killed?
Could I be a part of her death? My twin's death?
And what about Sylar, if they were truly mates? To lose a mate is to lose half of yourself, a loss greater than losing one's own life, I'd been told.
Cassius read my mind. "This is not something I choose, Willa. It is something that is required of me—of us. No matter how we got here and what caused the hate in her heart. She cannot be allowed to bring any more harm." He stood and paced. "What she did at the Blue-Night Pack is something I will never forget, and I fear she is capable of much worse."
He spoke the truth. Ember had more or less confessed she would bring the world as we know it to its knees.
"What can we do?"
"We must talk to the remaining Elders. See if we can return your powers sooner rather than later. Fight fire with fire." He grimaced, then scowled, growling as he lifted from the sofa, his entire body tensing and his wolf asserting his presence in the mix.
"What?" He didn't need to tell me. I sensed it. My heart-rate escalated as the hairs on the back of my neck lifted and a delicious warmth swam through my body.
Sylar.
He was here.
"Sylar." I said in a whisper, pushing up and moving toward the door on autopilot.
"No!" his one-word command halted my steps.
I shook my head. "You cannot keep me from my mate. He saved me, dove into icy waters."
His hands balled into fists. "I witnessed his hesitation, his pull to the witch. He cannot be trusted, Willa," he breathed, enraged again.
"Cassius, he is my mate. I want, no, I need to be with him. He completes me. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that feels—don't deny you don't feel it with Pearl."
"Until I'm sure of his intentions toward you, then I forbid you to act on any feelings. I'm your Alpha and your brother. You must trust me."
Argh! He was impossible. But I knew if I didn't agree with him, then he would have me followed everywhere. "Fine, but I warn you Cassius. This is only temporary. I will not sit around whilst you decide what you think is best for me."
One sharp nod of his head. "Come, we leave to see the Elders."
The warmth evaporated, replaced by guilt and no matter how many times I would be told I wasn't to blame for the Elders' death, I would carry the weight of it for the rest of my days.
~ ~ ~
Dismounting from my brother's wolf. Elder Ester was already waiting as she drew me into her warm embrace. I couldn't help but stiffen. "I'm so sorry," whispering as tears pricked my eyes.
"You are not to blame yourself, young Willa." She ran her hands up my arms and then cupped my cheeks. "I'm so happy you are safe." I could feel her relief. "Come, come. Inside, we have much to discuss." She took my hand and we followed.
Once inside, I sat opposite Ester as Cassius stood, arms folded, expression tight.
Ester waited patiently for him to speak. Accepting that he wasn't going to, she turned her attention to me. "You have a fine mate, Willa."
Cassius mumbled a response to which I ignored and returned her smile. "Thank you."
Ester's attention flipped to my brother. "Is there something you wish to say, Alpha?"
"Enough of this. Speak your mind, Elder," he instructed.
Ester lifted her hands. "And, what is the point? You have already decided you are not willing to relinquish that which does not belong to you."
Cassius clenched his jaw, his blue eyes darkening, and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
"But are you prepared to pay the price, young Alpha?" She shook her head and crossed her ankles. "Last night was a small foretaste of what is to come." Her sharp gaze fixed on my brother.
"Last night? What about last night?" My gaze flicked between them both. "Cassius?" Knowing for sure he had not told me everything, reminding me he glossed over how his eyesight had returned with a vague explanation: it had something to do with Pearl.
"I am in control." The Elder raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him.
He walked toward the window. "It will remain within me until the witch has been vanquished."
Elder Ester bristled. "Stubbornness will be your undoing Alpha."
"And withholding the truth about the witch will be yours."
"Touché." She sighed. "But you are right, we should have prepared you for the day your sister returned." A veil of sadness washed over her face. "I did not foresee the outcome of our actions."
"Why was she sent away? She is so angry."
Ester paused, thinking before speaking. "It was a joint decision. From the start she was a difficult baby, never content and even though we had bound both yours and Ember's magic, she could still control those around her." Her eyes dropped before returning to mine and I could see she was truly sorry; her eyes became glassy. "Your father returned early from a hunt to find your mother attempting to smother you."
I sucked in a breath as Cassius's head whipped around.
"You were only three months old." She sighed. "We decided she would grow up in the human world, not knowing her heritage." She swallowed. "We hoped the distance would bring her peace. Live a normal life... a human life."
"You know she killed her charge... the Elder?"
Ester nodded.
"Ember told me so many things. Some make little sense. But I need to know. Is Sylar her mate—do she and I share a mate?"
"I'm not sure young Willa." She rose from her seat and shuffled to the large bookcase to pull an old looking bound book. Carefully separating the old pages, she stopped pursing her lips. "It would make sense. The original spell that Selene cast and then the counter spell by Luna to soothe the beast may be an explanation if he feels drawn to you both."
I had to tell them what she'd said. "She wants to end it."
"End what?" Asked Cassius, walking toward me.
"Mates, soulmates. Our chosen fates."
I could feel his anger. "The only end will be her own."
Ester's head lifted to look toward the door. "Speaking of mates. It appears we have visitors."
Cassius mumbled something about stubborn females, but I bounced on the balls of my feet excitedly.
Once again, I sensed Sylar suppressing my grin as I tried to look out the window.