Page 28 of The Mating Quest
She nodded at a corner, where a group of five to six year olds were sitting in a circle, enthralled with the wizard reading from a book. Ethan laughed. He could see why. Each time Tristan mentioned a magick creature from the book, it appeared briefly, and the children screamed withdelight.
Twins, a boy and girl about four, nestled on either side of the wizard. Even without knowing, he could see the resemblance – Tristan’s firm chin and nose, and Nikita’s pretty blonde hair on both twins, though theirs wascurly.
Tristan glanced up at them, with a smile for Ethan and a guarded look for Ilana. A soft chime announced dinner wasready.
They left the children’s lodge together and walked to the main building and the dining hall. Unlike his pack, meals here were served. The pack ate together at least once a week, or when guests were present. Children ateseparately.
Aiden had explained everyone took a turn serving others to make them equal. Tonight was Aiden and Nia’s turn as the alphas to serve thepack.
Ethan spotted an open table next to Jenny’s table and guided Ilana over to it. At first the other Lupines at the table looked suspicious, but he cut through that with questions about the ranch. Soon everyone was eating and laughing. Good food, too. Real steak, with plenty of vegetables andpotatoes.
Except Ilana wasn’t eating. She had gone quiet, toying with her food. She kept looking out thewindow.
Ilana went still, her eyes wide. Her hand dropped to the dagger at her side. Tristan and Jenny both went still, their gaze locked to the windows showing a peaceful meadow and grazing horses. A male Lupine, Troy, he guessed, gave Jenny a puzzledlook.
Ilana swore and bolted from the table, Tristan and Jenny at her heels. Ethan stood and raced after them. He couldn’t see the trouble, didn’t sense anything, but if Ilana knew there was danger, he didn’t want her out therealone.
Even with a powerful wizard and Caderyn’s daughter at herside.
He shifted into wolf soon as he left the building, his wolf leaping over the railing to the one-story below. Ethan landed on his feet and raced after the others. They were swift, but so washe.
It had been a lovely summer day, with a cloudless sky and warm sunshine. The sun had started to set below the mountains, promising a cool and clear evening, but now indigo clouds gathered on the mountains and a dark fog crept down from the forest to the meadow. Horses cropping grass whinnied and ran for saferpasture.
Suddenly a whirling tornado of purple and silver began spinning toward the lodges, straight for the building sheltering the older children. The air was rife with the stench of burningmetal.
Ethan ground to a halt, his paws digging into the grass. He snarled at the tornado, but was helpless to halt it. Jenny stopped, the wind sweeping over the grass, lifting small rocks and flinging them. If this thing hit the children’s building, there would be nothing left inminutes.
The children left there woulddie.
“Do something,” Jennyscreamed.
Tristan said nothing, only stood there, the furious wind whipping at his long hair, his expressionneutral.
“Damnit Tristan, you can stop this.” Jenny stared at her hands. “I’m not skilled enough or have enough experience. Dosomething.”
“Wait,” Tristan said in a deep strong voice that overrode the wild wind. “Wait.”
Closest to the storm, Ilana held out her dagger, and chanted. Purple coated the blade, bright, shiny purple that pulsed with radiant power. The light became brilliant, so bright it brought tears to hiseyes.
A purple ball of energy ate at the blade, concentrated and lethal. Ilana threw the blade directly into the heart of thetornado.
The temperature dropped by several degrees to the point where even his wolf’s fur provided no protection. Ethan shivered violently. Then it became warmer. Astonished, he watched the tornado break apart and then fade, as if it were neverthere.
Ilana headed to the grass where the tornado had been, and plucked her dagger from theground.
He shifted back to Skin, clothed himself by magick, shaken by what he’d seen. Jenny looked at Tristan, who motioned for her to return to the dininghall.
“You can throw thermal energy.” Ethan stared at her. “Manipulate weather andtemperature.”
Ilana didn’t look at him. Instead, she glared at Tristan. “Awfully coincidental that we enjoyed a nice dinner and suddenly this storm springs out of nowhere. On land so heavily warded against threats, where Danu’s fairies would dispatch real danger instantly, unless they were told to standback.
Tristan folded his arms across his chest. “I had to see what you would do, Ilana. My children, and my mate mean everything to me. As does this pack. I have vowed to protect them with every fiber of mypower.”
“It was a test? A damn test, and you outed me in front of everyone!” she was yellingnow.
Tristan simply looked at her. Ethan watched Ilana, saw the emotions twist her face, the paleness, the fear deep in her big blue eyes, the trace ofshame.
Anger overcame him. He strode over to Ilana and put a hand on her quivering arm. “Damnit Tristan, this is not right. If you didn’t trust her, why the hell bring herhere?”
