Kyran

Before I turn out of my drive, I mindlink my entire pack, I need everyone to remain in human form and for any wolves to stay out of sight, no magic is to be performed until I am off our lands. I have a human with me, I add, to ease any questions or concerns to such a bizarre request.

Glancing at Selene, I notice she is asleep, and I drive in silence through the empty villages, out over the fields and through the boundary path. I replay in my mind the look of horror on her face at seeing me this morning and my fists clench the wheel tightly. I can only begin to imagine the thoughts she must have had, waking up the way she did. Eir had said she wouldn’t remember anything, but her eyes said she did. She has no reasonable explanation for what she may have seen last night in the bathroom and her blameless ignorance only hinders her. This needs to change, she is clearly in danger, I mutter with rising frustration.

She is awakening, Valdr murmurs.

Peeking a look at Selene, I see her eyes are closed and her mouth slack, deep in sleep.

Her wolf, can’t you feel her? Valdr asks incredulously.

I heard Selene’s thoughts while leaving my room, as if she was thinking them at me, unintentionally. So, yes, I suppose that means I can feel her as well, I smile as warmth lightly pools in my chest.

I want to see her, hear her name, her voice. Smell her. I want to run and—

Enough, I chuckle, shaking my head slightly. Selene’s cottage is a little over half an hour away by road, and I’m glad she gave directions because if I drove her there without her telling me, that would’ve been extremely awkward and uncomfortable to explain, especially after this morning. I spend the rest of the drive thinking about her wolf as well, how eerily beautiful she’d be with platinum blonde fur and bright, icy blue eyes. She’d be damn hard to camouflage in the forests but would be excellent during the winter. We don’t have too many blonde wolves, most of them being closer to either warm honey, sandy, or ashy tones when shifted, so hers will be exceptional to see.

Why is she hidden, locked away and inaccessible? I’ve never heard of anything like it before, to this extent. Some punishments have been doled out with a witch’s help to prevent a shift from happening for a determined set of time, but never an entirely dormant wolf. Some pups don’t emerge for a few delayed years, sure, but a full-grown adult? It just…does not seem right. I’d feel so hollow, I wonder to Valdr, only getting a grunt in response.

Rolling my eyes, I pull into the driveway to Hekate’s cottage and find the gate is already open. Grimacing, I drive toward the home slowly, preparing myself for any kind of response from her. I roll to a stop behind Asteria’s Prius and turn off the engine, giving Selene’s shoulder a gentle rub.

“Hey, sweetheart, we’re at your home,” I say quietly as she inhales deeply, squinting her eyes.

Asteria manifests just outside Selene’s window, startling me a bit. As the hairs on the back of my neck raise, I close my eyes momentarily, turning around to glare at Hekate and find her eyes flooded entirely black with a halo of white around her pupils.

Get. Out. Now, she clips in my mind furiously.

I did not harm her. I saved her fucking life, she was intentionally dosed with vampire venom, Hekate. There was no time to contact you, either of you. She nearly died, I snarl, baring my teeth through the window. Tell that to your reckless daughter, who’d rather get fucking wasted than protect her sister. She alone could have easily—

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My door wrenches open and I am dragged through the air, slamming into the ground completely immobilized. My chest crushes and my throat constricts painfully as Hekate’s face twists above me with rage. “You know nothing of what Asteria has done for her. She, too, was drugged last night. Someone gave her fae blood, temporarily impairing her magic. Who did this?” she seethes, her chest heaving.

I don’t know, I’m trying to figure it out! I mindlink harshly since I’m slowly suffocating. Caedes was there, albeit briefly, but I suspect he has something to do with this. Eir said she had never felt venom so strong before and it would make sense for it to be his. But I don’t know how, I groan into the dirt as the pressure builds achingly in my face.

“Ugh, Eir,” Hekate scoffs, releasing me with a slash of her hand.

Coughing, I wipe a hand over my face as I twist to my feet and search for Selene, finding her asleep in the truck with Asteria scowling beside her. Looking sideways at Hekate I mutter, “Yeah, well the feeling is mutual, apparently.”

She throws her head back and barks a laugh, reaching out and clasping my shoulder. I go rigid, feeling extremely on edge around this woman. Turning her now violet eyes to me, she grins for a moment before her face goes somber. “Thank you, for saving her. I cannot express how…dire that may have been,” she says cryptically. Sighing, she gestures toward Selene, murmuring, “I guess she needs to learn the truth, now. What does she know, of last night?”

“Eir had said she would not remember, but I believe she does, somehow. All I have told her is that she was drugged and needed her blood cleaned of the toxin, but left out the how,” I watch Hekate nod, knowingly.

“Her necklace, was she wearing it?” she asks suddenly.

“Yes, until Eir cleaned and changed her,” I nod.

Hekate’s eyes narrow, muttering, “She’ll remember.”

I realize then that the necklace must be a charm of sorts, perhaps protective or warding, remembering the shock it gave me when I handed it to Selene. Maybe that was the reason for her glowing skin last night? I wonder as I narrow my gaze.

Tell her, about this morning, Valdr urges me.

“Tell me about what?” Hekate asks, raising a brow.

I give her a disturbed look, not liking how she can hear Valdr speaking to me.

“I can hear everything. Now tell me, what?” she rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

Eyeing her with unease curdling my blood, I quietly answer, “I heard Selene’s thoughts, as if they were directed at me, when we were leaving to come here. I feel that her wolf is awakening.”

She nods her head slowly, thinking. “What else do you feel, with her?”

“Warmth. Peace. I also become strengthened, in a sense, as if she brings me power. I’m not entirely sure, it’s hard to place. If I concentrate hard, I can almost feel her presence within me,” I murmur automatically, rubbing a hand over my chest.

A small smile tugs Hekate’s mouth before she sighs, “Your bond is strong already. Just wait until she’s fully whole,” her voice trails off as she looks toward Selene. “I am going to inform her of her identity—her true self—tonight, of me and Asteria, even of you and your kind. She may not take it in stride, she’s a stubborn one, that girl. Please have patience, Custos. You will have the answers you seek, soon enough.” Hekate speaks softly and gives me a small smile.

Before I can respond, she waves her hand and the three of them vanish, her wind swirling around me sharply. I stand there dumbfounded for a moment, blinking at the empty space she’d just occupied less than a breath ago. With a shake of my head, I get into my truck and make my way home hastily, eager to see if Elder Eirene has returned yet. I decide to gather the elders again to confer with them on this weekend’s events.

A thought nags at me the entire way home, my irritation growing. Why does she keep calling me that?