Page 29 of Vengeance and Fire

“Mine.”

CHAPTERNINETEEN

TORIN

Cordelia is moving around the room. The moonlight shining through the window casts her beautiful naked curves with blue brushes of color. I take a second to appreciate her like this. I feel we are in the calm before the storm. We were all asleep when we all heard a scream from somewhere outside, and now we’re on high alert. I sigh, letting the moment pass, storing it in my memory banks as a reminder of the night I was told I was going to be a father.

I look around at my brothers as we watch Cordelia in real time rushing around to grab anything to put on, turning to look at us in frustration. “Why are you all staring at me?” She mutters a curse under her breath. “Please, don’t start,” she huffs, throwing her hands in the air mumbling about overprotective men. She grabs her boots and leaves the room.

“We might want to talk about this now before we get too wrapped up in whatever is happening out there.” I stand up from my sitting position on the side of the bed as they all move around quickly to follow her.

“I agree,” Dravyn and Adrian say at the same time.

“What are we talking about? We need—”

I cut Gale off from saying the exact thing we need to discuss. “You all heard what she said. The seers didn’t want us to know about our own babies.” I give them all a pointed stare. Dravyn of course scoffs like he’s above the Alpha bravado but he is just as bad. “They are assuming that we will react badly out there. That we will turn into protective alpha assholes to prevent her from doing her duty. We can’t.” I grab my t-shirt and pull it on over my head, then turn to grab my jeans as the room goes quiet.

“It’s going to be damn near impossible not to want to protect our mate and our children.” Gale runs his hands over his head in frustration as voices are raised outside the window.

Adrian rushes over to look out and study the scene. “Well, we better try hard to hold it together because shit just went from complicated to severely fucked up.” Adrian turns and immediately runs out of the room.

“Fuck!” Dravyn curses as he takes in the scene. Both Gale and I stand behind him at the window. Coming out of the forest is a naked Falyn holding an unconscious—

“Silva!” Cordelia screams. We bound out of the room and out through the front door of the chalet. Adrian does exactly what he promised and stays at her back. He doesn’t try to stop her as she confronts Falyn.

“What did you do to her? I will murder you, Falyn. Our friendship will be null and void.” Cordelia’s voice is lethal as her right-hand lights up, fire dancing above her fingertips. Falyn’s eyes glow with the challenge, and if we don’t diffuse this situation fast there will be blood here tonight. Well, maybe charred wolves but semantics.

I take in the scene carefully, my mother taught me well, it was ingrained in me to see the bigger picture. Falyn’s Betas growl behind him, a little unsure of what to do. I look at the way he’s holding Silva, it’s almost delicate, like she’s precious to him. Like how I held Cordelia all those weeks ago, thinking if she was in my arms, then no harm could come to her. I would have given my life for her, and I still would. That’s the way Falyn’s holding Silva. If he wanted to pull her apart, he would have. Then it all becomes clear.

“Cordelia, wait,” I call out to her only for her to turn her wrath on me. Her Dragon peeks out in a flash for even attempting to stop her. She practically growls at me.

“I need him to release her now!” she yells at me. I’d rather she yells at me than him at this moment. I raise my hands in surrender, the fierceness in her gaze only makes me want to smile.

“Give me a second beautiful, I promise, you will see it clearly in minute. Breathe, Cordelia,”I tell her, and Dravyn and Gale relax as Adrian grabs Cordelia and slowly pulls her back to his front.

“Fine. I need him to talk fast,”she replies, and I nod my head in agreement. I am sure he would be more than willing to explain. He’s waited his whole life for this. I slowly step in front of her, standing between her and Falyn as he holds Silva closer to him.

“Falyn. Where did she come from?” I ask a simple question to get him out of the protective mode he’s in and thinking rationally. But it’s not Falyn that speaks. Riese walks between the other Betas fully dressed and eyeing his Alpha with concern. That’s all I needed to confirm that Falyn is barely holding back his Wolf. Yep, there definitely would have been bloodshed.

“An unsanctioned portal appeared out of nowhere. The patrols alerted us immediately and we went to check it out. She was wandering through the forest headed this way.” Reise steps forward, like had moments ago he makes sure to keep his movements small as he inches closer to Falyn. Falyn’s chest is heaving, but he keeps his eyes trained on the tiny Druid in his arms.

I gesture for Reise to continue, already feeling irritation down our bond that Cordelia is about to light this place up.

“We surrounded her.” He looks nervously at Cordelia, holding his hands up, mirroring my actions. “We weren’t going to hurt her, we were going to bring her back to question her, but then she started to grab at her chest in visible pain. Falyn was on her in a second.” He nods his head yes before I can even ask. Gale curses under his breath.

“Yep. Complicated to severely fucked indeed,” Adrian says holding Cordelia tighter. I can feel his need to protect her through our bond but his need to let her take the reins is greater. I have to say I am proud of his restraint.

“What are you talking about? What happened to her?” Cordelia looks to me, and then to Reise to explain.

“She’s my mate. My true mate,” Falyn finally speaks, looking down at Silva in a way I’ve never seen him looking at any other female. The way we all look at Cordelia. Reverently.

Cordelia’s mouth drops open, as if she’s trying to find words, but coming up empty. Gale steps forward, I almost see the wheels turning in that head of his.

“Silva is a Druid. She has no power, Falyn. She’s Cordelia’s lady’s maid,” he says a little too matter-of-factly, which causes the Wolves at Falyn’s back to growl again.

“I know what I felt, Gale. I felt that she felt it too!” Falyn bites out. “Look, I don’t understand it either. Now I know why I was mateless, she wasn’t here. She was in Celestia this entire time.” If anyone can understand Falyn’s frustration, it’s us. We crossedRealmsto get to our mate. Silva didn’t have a way to let Falyn know where she was. Hell, Silva will probably wake up in a clueless panic.

“She is from a very prominent Druid family—but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have Shifter genes.” Gale paces, lost in thought.

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