In her dreams, Darian was no longer her prince. She stared at his back as he walked away from her. She chased him down a long, narrow corridor. Menacing, bony arms reached out from the walls to grab her. She had to get to him before he went through the door at the end of the hallway. Once he went through that door, she knew she would never see him again, but no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t catch up. She felt a new wave of panic overtake her when he reached the door and turned the handle. When the door swung open, there was nothing but an unending, black abyss. He spread his arms wide and jumped, plunging into darkness where there was no light to save either of them. She ran to the open doorway and looked down; he was quickly falling away from her. When she jumped after him, he welcomed her with open arms, an evil grin on his lips.
Amelia woke with a start; Darian’s sinister smile was burned into her mind. She prayed that what she saw wasn’t a warning for something horrible to come. The image of the long hallway hit a little too close to home when it came to her mate’s current mental state. She turned over and stared at the ceiling for a moment before reaching for her phone. It was after noon! She had slept the morning away, and despite the extra hours of sleep, her head felt like it was packed with cotton. Groaning, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Compared to Darian’s atrium, her room felt empty and dead. It had the warmth of a hotel room, despite the quality of the furniture and linens. She wondered what it felt like to go to sleep listening to the magic of the wind blowing through the trees and the birds singing you to sleep each night. She shook her head. What she needed was a nice, hot shower. She turned the water on to the hottest setting then backed it off a fraction. In no time, the room was filling with steam. She pulled off her nightshirt and stepped into the shower. Her travel size shampoo only served as a reminder that, for all intents and purposes, she was in limbo. Without being claimed, could she really call this place home?
She finished washing and stepped out. She dried off as fast as she could and wrapped her hair up in a towel. She would wait until it was almost dry before working a sculpting cream through her hair. Even during the coldest winters, she never blow-dried her curls; if she did, the natural curls she inherited from her mother would end up in a pouffy mess. More than once, when she was growing up she had longed for straight hair like her brothers.
Standing at the bathroom counter, she opened her everyday makeup bag. She went through her familiar routine of applying her favorite foundations and eyeshadows. Each action brought order to the chaos she was feeling. When she was done, she was happy with the soft, feminine look she had created. She unwrapped her hair from the towel and worked her favorite hair cream through her long curls. She bent over and shook out her hair at the roots to give it volume. Standing, she blew a kiss to herself in the mirror. She hung up the towel and stepped into the room. Coming from a heated, steamy bathroom, her bedroom felt cold. Goosebumps covered her from head to toe as she raced naked over to her suitcase and pulled out a haphazard outfit. Black knee high socks, skinny jeans, black tank top, and a zippered black hoodie sweater completed her outfit. Smiling, she picked out her favorite ruby red bra and panty set. Surprisingly, her underthings were as colorful as the rainbow. Only her outer clothes seemed to stay black and white.
Once dressed, she tucked her phone into her back pocket, grabbed her coat from the chair, and went downstairs. She walked through the foyer and down the hallway to the empty dining room. Without everyone around the table, the room seemed much bigger than the night before. She heard sounds from the kitchen and followed the voices. She found Rheia and Ryuu at the kitchen table sipping on tea.
Ryuu stood, smiling. ‘I’m happy to see that not everyone in this house rises with the sun. Please, join us.’ He pointed to an empty kitchen chair.
Amelia hung her coat on the back of the chair and sat down. Ryuu glided over to the cabinet and pulled down another cup and saucer. He placed them in front of her and sat down again. Rheia poured her a cup of what looked and smelled like jasmine green tea.
‘The aroma is lovely.’ Amelia added five teaspoons of sugar and stirred lightly.
‘I don’t know how you or Meryn have any teeth left. You both drink your sugar with a bit of tea.’ Rheia shook her head.
‘I need the sugar this morning. I usually rise with the sun, as Ryuu put it, but woke up this morning after a nightmare feeling completely out of sorts,’ she confessed.
‘Is there anything we can do to help?’ Ryuu asked.
Amelia shook her head. ‘It’s something I need to work out. The tea is helping, I feel calmer already.’
Smiling, Ryuu and Rheia shared a look.
Amelia frowned. ‘What?’
Rheia apologized quickly. ‘I’m sorry. Let me explain. This is my mother’s tea service. Whenever I needed a pick-me-up, she would use this set, and it seemed like my worries would just float away.’
‘Is it okay for me to use?’ Amelia asked, worried she had blundered in where she didn’t belong.
Rheia laughed. ‘Of course, it’s okay. In fact, maybe my mother is looking out for the both of us this morning.’
‘Why do you need its calming effects?’ Amelia asked.
‘I’m worried about having this baby; it’s my first. Like Meryn, I’m human having a shifter baby. I have heard that sometimes human women can have issues delivering.’ Rheia sat back in her chair.
Amelia frowned. She was confused. She could have sworn she met Rheia’s daughter the night before. ‘But Penny…’
‘Penny is my adopted daughter. Even though I didn’t give birth to her, she couldn’t be more like me if we tried. So, even though I’m already a mother, I’ve never actually experienced giving birth. I bet it’s much different being the one pushing than telling someone to push.’
‘I think you’ll be fine, at least you know what to expect. You’re not going into it wide eyed with expectations of a twenty minute delivery before holding your perfect baby, hair and makeup still looking great.’
‘You’re right, but I think it’s a double-edged sword. I also know everything that can go wrong.’ Rheia stared into her cup, a frown pulling her eyebrows together in worry.
Amelia knew no matter what she said, Rheia would continue to fret until her baby was safe in her arms, so she decided to change the subject to something happier.
‘So are you decorating in Star Wars and Doctor Who, too?’ Amelia joked.
Rheia’s face brightened and she laughed. ‘God, no. Colton and I decided on a baby wolf theme. Evidently, it’s very popular here in Lycaonia at the moment due to a suggestion Meryn made to another pregnant woman a couple months ago. A lot of shops in the city started creating different shifter-themed items. We chose wolf, not only because my baby will be half wolf shifter, but we’re also including Penny in the decorations. The baby’s nursery will have a mural of Colton and Penny in their shifted forms painted on one of the walls.’
‘That sounds perfect! My brothers are the ones that raised me, so they did the decorating when it came to my own nursery. Since they couldn’t decide on a single theme, they decided that they would each decorate one wall, leaving the wall with the door blank to keep things even.’ She took a sip of her tea and continued. ‘Caiden chose dragons since he had mastered the element of air, but they weren’t cute cartoon dragons; they were realistic ones with long fangs and bodies.’
‘Oh no!’ Rheia covered mouth to hide her smile.
Amelia held up her hand. ‘It gets better. Kyran had mastered water so he had sharks painted on his wall. Finally, Tristan chose an erupting volcano for his wall, since he had mastered fire.’
By this time, Rheia had given in to her giggles, and even Ryuu was smiling.
‘I wasn’t able to redecorate that room until I was thirteen! But on the bright side, not much scares me as an adult.’ She shrugged.
‘Where were your parents?’ Ryuu asked.
‘After I was born, my mother realized she wasn’t the maternal type. She wanted to be a free spirit, untethered by earthly shackles.’ Amelia made air quotes around free spirit and earthly shackles.
‘Then why have a child?’ Rheia asked.
‘Because my father wanted another one. When I was born, he handed me off to Caiden, and he and my mother left on a free love adventure. My nature loving, bell bottoms-wearing mother turned my high-born, ruling-house father into a nomadic hippie, although I think he fakes it because he loves her. He still makes them stay in five star hotels after their ‘sojourns’ into the woods.’
‘So Lady Ironwood is a free spirit?’ Ryuu asked, rotating his mug.
Amelia shook her head. ‘My mother is also quite the feminist, she kept her maiden name much to the utter shock and dismay of my father, so it’s not Lady Ironwood; it’s Lady Camden.’
‘She sounds fascinating.’ Rheia said, setting her cup down.
‘Indeed,’ Ryuu murmured.
‘She’s something else, I’ll tell you that. I don’t know how many times I thanked the Goddess that my brothers raised me, nightmare walls and all. During one of her visits, my mother took me on a nature hike. She made me sit crossed-legged in the woods for hours, trying to hear the voices of the spirits. I couldn’t have been more than four or five at the time. When Caiden found us, I was hungry, crying, and covered in mosquito bites.’ Amelia shuddered thinking of how her life might have been if her parents had stayed home all the time to raise her.
‘It sounds like you’re very close to your brothers,’ Rheia commented, a knowing look in her eye.
‘You have brothers, too?’
‘Yes, but like Penny, not by birth. We chose each other, kinda like the family we have now.’
Amelia looked around, remembering the empty dining room. It was eerily quiet considering how many people lived there. ‘Where is everyone?’
Rheia stood and stretched. ‘Penny is in the front room being homeschooled by her grandmother. Beth is with Meryn, Jaxon, and Noah in Aiden’s office, and the boys are doing drills as usual, though after Meryn’s comment last night about explosives, I heard Aiden wants to do an inventory of the armory.’
Amelia brightened. ‘We have an armory?’
Rheia shook her head. ‘No. Just…no.’
‘Do they have grenades?’
Ryuu nodded. ‘Oh, yes; according to denka, they explode when you pull the pin, not when they land after you throw them.’
Amelia nodded. ‘Good to know.’
‘Okay, on that note, I’m heading back to the clinic. Be good and stay away from the armory.’ Rheia wagged a finger at her, waved goodbye and left.
Amelia quickly drained her cup before standing. She pulled on her coat. ‘I’m going to go see what Darian is doing.’
Ryuu stood, his face serious. ‘Be careful itoko-sama; his light is all but faded.’
‘I know; it’s why I’m trying so hard.’
Ryuu walked over to the counter and picked up something small and metallic. ‘This is from Meryn, for your stalking efforts, and this is from me for breakfast.’ He handed her a pair of binoculars and a sandwich wrapped in paper towels.
‘Thank you for the food. Tell Meryn she rocks socks!’ Amelia accepted the binoculars.
‘I will tell her you were most thankful.’ Amelia laughed at his paraphrasing and waved goodbye.
She walked out the front door and looked over to the open field where the men had been training yesterday. Sure enough, they were at it again. Acting as if she had every right to be there, Amelia sat down on the stacked crates next to Aiden. He grinned at her, and kept counting, making notes on a piece of paper on his clipboard. Rheia hadn’t been kidding when she said Aiden would do an inventory.
She placed her sandwich in her lap and unwrapped the paper towels. Ryuu had made her a ham and cheese sandwich, one of her favorites. Smiling, she began to eat as she swung her feet happily. When she had finished her breakfast, she stuffed the paper towels in her pocket and pulled out her binoculars to look for her mate. She found him dangling from a rope attached to one of the drill towers. When he began to do pull-ups on the rope he was hanging from, she sighed. When he turned his body upside down and began lowering himself up and down in an inverted pull up, she had to check for drool. When her hand came up to check her chin, she heard the men start laughing. She gave them the bird, making them laugh even harder. With each repetition, his arms bulged, and she felt her heart beat a little more out of control. She had a death grip on the binoculars that were giving her the up close and personal view of her gorgeous mate.
When her mate suddenly flipped off the rope and walked over to Sascha, she wondered what he was up to until Sascha pointed in her direction. With the binoculars still at her eyes, she raised her hand and waved. With a face like a thundercloud, he stalked over. When she could no longer look through the binoculars to see him, she lowered them to find he was standing right in front of her.
Grabbing her chest, she took deep breaths. How fast had he been walking? ‘You scared the crap outta me!’
He frowned down at her. ‘You are an odd little half human.’
‘My brother says I’m a ‘limited edition’, thank you very much.’
‘What are you doing?’
‘Stalking you.’
His mouth dropped. ‘Out in the open?’
She shrugged. ‘Why hide?’
He stared at her, clearly at a loss for words.
‘Miss me this morning?’ she asked brightly.
‘No, in fact I was wondering when you were leaving.’
‘I’m not.’
‘I can make you go,’ he threatened.
Growling, Amelia stood up on the crate in front of him. ‘Here are your choices, princess.’ She poked him in the chest. ‘One: You mate with me, and we live happily ever after.’ She poked him again. ‘Two: You kill me. Which one will it be?’ She folded her arms across her chest.
‘Those choices are unacceptable.’
‘Too bad.’
‘If you won’t leave, I will.’ When he turned to walk away, she felt a moment of panic. He was right; he could leave the city, and she would never see him again. He could lose his soul and become feral, or he could simply wait for her to die. Since she wasn’t a full-blooded witch, she only had another forty to sixty years to live, tops. To him, that would be the blink of an eye. Desperate to stop him, she reached out to grab him. Unfortunately, she had not accounted for the loose slate in the crate she was standing on. She twisted her ankle and started to fall; she braced for the impact that never came.
*****
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her reaching for him. On instinct, he turned toward her. When she lost her footing, his body moved without conscious thought. He lifted his arms and caught her easily, bringing her to rest snugly against his chest. Everything in him was screaming that this is where she belonged.
Taking a deep ragged breath, he placed her on her feet. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I think my leg is broken,’ she said, pointing to her right leg.
Panic took over. ‘What!’ he bellowed. ‘We need to get you to the clinic!’ The men began to gather around to help.
‘Just kidding.’ She stood and did an abbreviated tap dance before lifting an imaginary top hat in his direction. ‘I’m fine.’
Darian dropped his head back and began to mentally count to ten.
One, two, three…
‘Four, five, six…’ Amelia continued.
Shocked, he opened his eyes. ‘Can you read minds?’
She shook her head. ‘No, but I was raised by three brothers; I know that look well.’
‘This can’t be baby Amelia that Caiden is always talking about, can it?’ Quinn asked.
‘That would be me, and you are…?’
‘Quinn Foxglove, and this monster is Graham Armstrong,’ he said, pointing to the extremely large warrior beside him. Graham smiled at his mate. Darian mentally corrected himself; she was not his mate. She was a random strange woman.
Amelia squealed and launched herself into Graham’s arms. Graham laughed until he looked in his direction. Grinding his teeth, Darian forced himself to breathe slowly. Graham gently extricated himself from Amelia’s enthusiastic hug.
Darian fought back waves of jealously. Why should he care what this random woman did? Wait, wasn’t Graham holding her just a bit too long?
‘Not that I don’t appreciate the hug, but what was that for?’ Graham asked.
‘Your mother taught me growing up. I heard about you all the time.’ She bounced up and down while holding his hand.
Graham’s mouth dropped open before he broke out in a huge grin. He laughed out loud and swept her up in another bear hug. ‘You’re Amy!’ Still grinning like an idiot, he put her down. ‘There wasn’t a single time that my mother called when she didn’t tell me about your latest exploits. My brother, Hunter, serves under Caiden in the Nu Unit. Is it true you hold the speed record for the Storm Keep obstacle course?’
Amelia nodded and let go of his hand to blow on her fingers before rubbing them on her chest. ‘No one has broken it yet.’
‘Are you two quite finished?’ Darian asked coldly. At least she had stopped touching him.
Graham stepped back. ‘Now that we know she’s okay, we’ll get back to drills. Nice meeting you, Amy.’
Amelia shook her head. ‘The only person on this planet who can call me Amy is your mother, and we both know you don’t tell her no.’
Graham nodded. ‘That’s the Gods’ honest truth. Welcome to Lycaonia!’ He and Quinn waved goodbye and went back to their exercises.
‘Maybe you and Amelia should walk around the property, just to make sure she’s okay.’ Keelan suggested.
‘Good idea, Keelan,’ Aiden agreed.
‘Subtle,’ Darian said, eyeing the two men.
Aiden shrugged. ‘It’s either us, or Meryn gets involved, and you know subtle is her middle name,’ Aiden joked. Darian remembered Aiden’s hard lesson about ignoring his mate and shuddered. Would Amelia set his car on fire? He looked over to see her smiling up at him. He wouldn’t put anything past her.
Darian realized there was no way to ignore the suggestion and, without saying a word, began walking toward the front of the house. Amelia jogged to catch up.
‘Wait for me, princess.’
‘Stop calling me that.’
‘You can only order me to do that as your mate; otherwise, it’s just a request, and one I will continue to ignore.’
When they reached the back of the house, he slowed down then stopped. He turned around to face her. ‘Why are you trying to hard?’
She looked surprised at his question. ‘Because you’re my mate. As much as your instincts are telling you to stay away to keep me safe, mine are just as loud–and probably more obnoxious–and they are telling me to save you.’
Darian felt his mouth twitch. Something about her got to him. He turned and began walking again, slower this time. ‘If I knew for certain that I wouldn’t drag you down with me…’ He shook his head; he might not risk it even then.
‘Maybe that is my destined future. Maybe we’re meant to fall together.’
He stopped suddenly. His head snapped back to face her. ‘That is unacceptable.’
She scrunched up her nose. ‘You say that a lot.’
He resumed walking. ‘Only around you.’
He felt her grab the back of his shirt. When he turned around, he saw tears in her eyes. ‘Please,’ she whispered.
Unable to stop himself, he leaned down toward her. When their lips touched, he felt as if he had finally come home. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his body, enjoying the feel of her soft curves pressed against him. When he felt the tiny flicker that was the remainder of his soul trying to merge with hers, he broke off their kiss and stepped away. His breathing was ragged and labored. There was no way he could deny that she was his mate now. She had to have felt the merge begin.
He walked over to the large oak tree at the edge of the property and placed a hand on the trunk. He felt a modicum of control return.
‘Damn that spell,’ he whispered.
‘I dreamt of you before the spell remember? We were always meant to be. Almost from the moment of my birth, I belonged to you,’ she said softly.
He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. He turned to face her. He owed her that at least. ‘I’ll walk you back.’
They walked in silence until they stood at the front door.
‘I’ll see you at dinner,’ he said, stepping off the porch.
‘Is that a date?’
He felt himself smile and dared not turn around. ‘Don’t read anything into it.’
‘I’m wearing you down, princess.’
‘You need to find someone from your own planet,’ he called after her. She laughed and reached for the doorknob.
He waited until her heard the door open and shut before he walked back over to the men.
‘I take it she’s okay?’ Aiden asked.
‘Yes, she’s fine.’ Darian stretched, looking around the workout yard.
Keelan walked up beside him. ‘She’s getting to you.’
‘I can’t afford to let her get any closer. If you were my friend, you would help me save her.’
Keelan looked away. Pain shined behind his eyes. ‘It’s because I am your friend that I am trying to save you. Did you ever stop to think that maybe it’s not up to you? Trust that Fate knows what she is doing.’
‘If I…’ Darian hesitated looking around.
Keelan stepped close. ‘I will protect her with my life, Darian. I’d take care of you myself,’ he promised.
Darian ruffled his young friend’s hair. He hadn’t felt brotherly affection for his friend in nearly forty years. ‘As if you could take me,’ he joked, enjoying the ability to do so. Every time he was around Amelia, it was as if his emotions were restored with her smile.
Keelan’s eyes danced with relief at his playful attitude. ‘My kung-fu is strong.’
‘Come on, princess, we don’t have all day!’ Sascha yelled across the training grounds sending the men into peals of laughter.
Darian heard Keelan whispering under his breath and smiled. Crossing his arms over his chest, he waited.
Seconds later, Sascha’s curses rang out over the men’s laugher.
‘Dammit, Keelan, undo the spell right now!’ he ordered, banging on an invisible wall. Keelan had hardened the air all around the Gamma Unit leader.
Colton was pointing and laughing, which fueled Sascha’s anger to new heights.
‘Poor tiger wiger!’ Colton teased.
‘Leave him there, Keelan. We have actual work to do,’ Darian said, walking back over to the ropes where he had been working out. ‘I want to see the progress you made increasing the strength in your upper body.’
‘Sure thing,’ Keelan said, joining him at the ropes.
‘Bastards! Let me out of here!’
Everyone went back to their workout.
‘Guys?’ Sascha called.
Darian held the rope while Keelan climbed.
‘Guys, come on, I have to piss!’ Sascha yelled.
‘Go ahead, Sascha, I mean it’s not like the women are watching,’ Colton cajoled.
‘Although, Amelia did get those binoculars from somewhere,’ Gavriel interjected, sending Colton into fresh fits of laughter.
All around him, the men laughed and teased the Gamma Unit leader until Aiden couldn’t stand seeing Sascha squirm anymore and ordered Keelan to take down the wall. Darian felt lighter than he had in years.
Maybe I have a chance after all.
