Jewel of Darkness (36 page)

Gustavo’s beast was a relentless hunter, and now that they’d found their mate, he’d just been given the scent of the most precious hunt of his life. He would move slowly; his steps would be measured and careful because he couldn’t afford to screw this up. Gustavo had been waiting for his mate for nearly three centuries. The darkness in him was strong.

He closed his eyes and turned his face up toward the moon. He could almost feel the favor of his Creator shining down on him. He’d held out this long. He’d not given into the darkness that threatened to devour any humanity in him. Soon, her light would chase that darkness away and Gustavo wouldn’t have to feel the constant struggle his wolf continually fought. Anna would bring him balance and peace.

“Sleep well, mi amor,”
he slipped the words into her resting mind. What he didn’t add was that she was going to need her rest because his wolf was ready for a hunt and she was his ultimate prey.

Chapter 15

“She is coming. She guards her heart and does not love freely. She is lonely, but she doesn’t trust enough not to be alone. She stands and fights because no one has ever fought for her. She is broken. She is bruised. She is yours.” ~The Great Luna

“A
re you scared?” Kara asked Heather and Stella as they sat around the fire of their camp that had become their home away from home.

“This constant gnawing pain in my chest is more irritating than frightening,” Heather said as she pressed her hand against her heart.

“I am,” Stella admitted. “I’d almost rather face Volcan on my own than meet my wolf.”

Kara could see the nightmares that lived in Stella’s eyes. She was familiar with those nightmares because similar ones lived in her own.

“They’re not all bad,” Heather said with a small smile. “Some are even almost worthy of us.”

This made Stella smile, which Kara knew was the blind healer’s goal, even if the other girl couldn’t see it.

“What about you, Kara?” Stella asked as she picked up a stick and started tracing letters in the dirt. “Are you scared to be mated to a werewolf?”

“When you just say it like that, all willy nilly, it sounds so ridiculous,” Kara laughed.

“I’m a blind, Seeing Eye dog trainer. Kare bear, there is nothing more ridiculous than that. Mated to a werewolf has got nothing on me.”

Stella clucked her tongue. “You can’t expect us to hold the measuring stick of ridiculousness up against you. That’s like asking comic strip lovers to rate all comic strips against Calvin and Hobbes.”

Heather frowned. “I can’t decide if I should be insulted or not.”

“You just said you were a blind Seeing Eye dog trainer. Do insults really matter at this point?”

Kara was laughing as she usually did when Stella and Heather got started.

“The point isn’t me at all, striptease,” Heather snapped. “You were asking Kara if she was scared. Dang, girl, back up off a sister.”

“I’m not as scared as I thought I would be,” Kara jumped in before Stella could throw something back at Heather.

“What do you mean?” Heather asked.

Kara shrugged. “We’ve all gotten to see these mated relationships in action. Peri and Lucian, Sally and Costin, Adam” ― she motioned to the sleeping couple twenty feet away ― “and Crina. These men love and respect their mates. Are they a little bossy? Yes. Do they tend to throw hissy fits? Yes. But I’ve never seen any of them act like the guys I’ve known all my life. Before I came here and met all of them, I was convinced that there wasn’t a decent man walking on earth. I was convinced, that under the right circumstances with the right motivation, they could all be worthless pricks.”

“Come on now,” Heather cajoled. “Don’t hold back on our account.”

Kara smiled. “I wouldn’t dare, Helen.”

S
tella understood what the younger girl was saying, and she agreed, but something in her mind still wanted to whisper that even these men could be brought to their knees before evil if it offered just the right morsel. It sickened her to think that one of these poor wolves would be stuck with her as their mate.

“Keep that mentality,” Stella told Kara. “Don’t let yourself become jaded.”

“You aren’t jaded, Stella,” Heather reached over and patted her leg. “You’re just a little worse for wear. Nothing that some TWC can’t fix.”

“TWC?” Stella smirked.

“Tender wolf care, not to be confused with TBWC, Tender blind woman care. The two are easily confused, so it’s completely understandable if you get them mixed up.”

“I don’t think I want to know just how tender wolf care could be confused with tender blind woman care,” Stella said as she wiped the tears from her laughter away.

Heather shook her head and made a flicking motion with her hand. “It’s something to do with the tongue bathing portion of the care.”

“Okay, stop!” Stella nearly rolled off of the stump she’d been sitting on because she was laughing so hard. Kara had given up and was laying on her side on the ground holding her stomach as she laughed.

For those few minutes as the laughter consumed them, Stella was able to forget the pain that was growing in her, and the fear that seemed to be joining it. She was able to just enjoy something she’d never had before, friendship. If she had to have a mate, if that was the price for all of this, then though she was terrified, she’d decided it was worth it. Having met Heather, Kara and the others and having their esteem and love was more than Stella could have ever hoped for. And for them, for their friendship, she would figure out how to deal with the crippling fear of having a man’s undivided attention on her. As the laughter died down she took a deep breath and tried to push away the feeling that their time in the pixie realm was coming to an end. And once they left, things were going to be changing again. She didn’t want to think about what those changes could be.

Stella straightened herself back on the stump and smiled at the still chuckling Heather. “You okay, Helen,” she asked using the nickname Peri had given her.

H
eather heard the smile in Stella’s voice and she had never wanted to see so badly. She wanted to see the utterly battered Stella, who always sounded a little jaded and a little in pain, smiling. She could tell just from her friend’s personality that her smile was one of those that would make others stop and notice.

“I’m alright,” Heather confirmed.

“Are you ever scared?” Stella asked, suddenly serious.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just―” She paused. “You live in the dark. Doesn’t that ever terrify you, or paralyze you, into not moving?”

Heather understood the double meaning even if Stella didn’t fully understand why she was asking her. “I guess if I understood what the absence of light looked like, then maybe I’d be more adequately scared. But sometimes you seeing people forget, I have no frame of reference. You say green tree and I say yellow dip stick. It’s all Greek to me.” Heather knew it would make them laugh again, but that didn’t make her words any less true. Asking if she was afraid of the dark was actually a pretty common question. But, like Heather couldn’t imagine what it was like to live with sight, the seeing couldn’t fathom what it was like to live without it.

“Maybe that’s why I’m not scared of the whole werewolf mate thing,” Heather offered. “Because I don’t have a point of reference in which to draw that fear from.” She wasn’t lying, not exactly anyway.

Heather wasn’t scared of being mated to a werewolf. That wasn’t where her fears or insecurities lie. Her fear was what the male would think when they realized that their mate was blind. Call her stupid, but in Heather’s mind the animal kingdom was all about survival of the fittest. She would be considered a weakling, one not worthy of surviving because of her lack of sight. The only thing that really scared her, about finding this mate they’d been promised, was the possibility that he would find her lacking.

She steered the conversation in a lighter direction, not wanting to dwell on what she couldn’t change anyway. The only reason they’d even brought up the mate bonding was because each of them had begun to have sharp pains that would rob them of their breath. For some reason, that night, the pain had gotten to the point where they couldn’t hide it anymore, not from each other at least.

But Heather was done with all the seriousness. She was worried about Anna and Jewel and unsure about what her future in the supernatural world looked like, and she just didn’t want to dredge it all back up. So instead she came up with silly things, light hearted things, that she hoped would give them all a little respite from their inner turmoil.

Heather flinched as she saw a bright light behind her eyes and felt a moment’s emotion of worry and determination that didn’t belong to her. She was feeling him again, experiencing his feelings. She pushed away any thought of him and focused on her two friends. While Adam and Crina slept and Gustavo brooded, she, Stella and Kara acted like the teenagers they’d never been allowed to be. It was one of the best nights Heather could ever remember.

K
ale felt her alarm, though he didn’t fully understand why. So he pulled back as much as his wolf would let him, giving her space. She wasn’t ready to hear his voice, not yet. He laid out in his wolf form, under the stars of Farie, basking in the moon’s glory. His wolf had finally settled enough to let him have the hope of actual rest now that they knew Peri was no longer going to try and keep the wolves apart from their true mates. So he closed his eyes and allowed himself to dream of the days to come when he would finally get to meet her, talk to her, and hopefully hold her.

C
iro knew he was dreaming when he opened his eyes and saw the Great Luna standing before him.

“Creator,” he bowed his head reverently.

“Hello, old one,” she said gently. He heard the wry smile on her lips and smiled himself. Their Creator had a sense of humor. She called him old one, because it was true. Ciro was indeed old, one of the oldest werewolves alive, but he didn’t look a day over twenty-five. All wolves aged very slow, but he aged even slower. He’d never questioned it: why his Creator let him live so long without a true mate. He never questioned how he had managed to stave off the darkness.

“Because it was my will,” she answered his unasked questions. “She has been through much and I knew she would need someone willing to be patient. You, Ciro of the Italy pack, have learned patience in your long life. I knew she would need someone strong enough to bear her pain but gentle enough not to frighten her with that strength. She needs to be loved through actions and not words. I have kept you young beyond your time, so you would be wise enough. I have kept you from surrendering to the darkness inside of you because you will need to help her fight the darkness inside of her. Be patient with her, Ciro. And remind her often that she is safe with you.”

“You have my word that I will do all that you say for her,” Ciro vowed.

The dream faded away and Ciro was left with his own thoughts. After centuries of nothing other than leading his pack, he was finally going to get to start living.

N
ick knew that even though Kara would soon be back in Farie, he still couldn’t claim her. He could only be what she needed him to be and for now that meant being her friend. But it would be enough. Just to have her close by where he could protect her, talk to her, and know without a shadow of a doubt that she was safe, would be more than enough.

Most everyone else was asleep as he sat in the living room of Peri’s home staring out the window. He hadn’t moved from the spot he’d been sitting at since their meeting where he’d shared his ideas on what their strategy should be after others had failed. It was almost as if his wolf had planted his butt in the seat and was refusing to move until Kara walked through the front door though he was pretty sure the man would refuse just as adamantly.