Chapter 3: Private Discussion

Azandra POV

How she and Lilia healed Kyon had to be the biggest mystery of her life, apart from her parents still refusing to accept that their plans for her hadn’t gone, well, according to plan. When Azandra thought those plans included being a Luna, her parents made offerings to the Moon Goddess every day. Until the Moon Goddess’ wishes didn’t fit with their ambitions.

Tulaska once said, “Never bluff the Moon Goddess.”

Maybe her parents thought they could buy the Moon Goddess.

Money, jewels, goods for barter, influence … What did any of that matter to the moon?

Kyon and his brothers had all of that. Everyone in town noticed Cresta House first, not Birdcliff. The Cresta name inspired both awe and fear in every pack on the continent, or nearly. They had standing friendships with the elves and the witches. They had money and treasure.

And all the Cresta brothers would shave off all their fur before they would disrespect the Moon Goddess.

Right now, if Kyon were in wolf form, his fur and his ears would probably stand straight up, because he looked disturbed, dominant, and in desperate need of an explanation.

“Fated mates?” he asked, completely forgetting the excruciating pain he’d suffered minutes ago.

“Good to see you’ve recovered.”

“You couldn’t just tell them, ‘I’m an adult and I’ll find my own mate, thank you’?”

She rolled her eyes, not even bothering with an answer. Not to mention that Kyon frequently tried to be what his family wanted him to be. As Beta, he rarely threw his weight around when it came to his family. The only time she could recall him going against Dane was to save Dane and Lilia from Cyran Sinsworth’s evil schemes when they’d been ambushed outside of Evenhide lands.

“I imagine Dane will want a report about your injury and the attack,” she said. “When was the last time it happened? The last magical curse was … well, I’ll have to look it up. Later.”

“Well, thanks to you, that issue will be far from his mind. Fated mates?”

She faced him boldly. “Is it that hard to believe?”

The color drained from his face and he looked down.

She blushed as a memory overtook her. A memory during a war council feast to celebrate Dane and Lilia and to launch the war against the Crimsontails.

* * * * *

Performing the blessing to begin the feast, she danced around the fire as the Moon Goddess, hand in hand with Kyon as Father Sky. “I call on Father Sky, my mate, to answer me.”

Kyon gripped her hand. “I call on the power of Father Sky to guide and bless this celebration and those who are gathered, blessing them with happiness, health, and longevity.”

Later, during the feast, Lilia had a heart-to-heart with her. With more than a little tooth and claw, so to speak, which Azandra respected.

“You’re part of the pack. An important part,” Lilia said. “You’re important to my mate. And to Kyon here. I think you may be pursuing the wrong brother. They’re all so handsome it’s not fair, but Kyon put so much heart into that carving. If your parents wouldn’t be happy that he’s your fated mate, it’s very foolish of them.” She stared at Azandra. “And if you make any more trouble for Dane and me, you’ll find out that witches can do more than cast spells.”

Azandra touched the leaf necklace Kyon had made for her. One of her most treasured possessions that she always wore when healing.

But she couldn’t wrap her head around Lilia’s provocative statement. “Fated mates? Us?”

Kyon looked at Azandra with a worshipful gaze. “Is it that hard to believe?”

* * * *

Azandra paled in the present, thinking about his words. “I … I suppose you can thank Lilia.”

“I would if I’d had a little more warning,” he growled.

She placed her hands on her hips. “I didn’t get any warning about my parents pushing another suitor on me.”

He looked to the ceiling, examining the weathered oak beams. “Do you know that your roof needs repair?”

“I didn’t, but this house is centuries old … it may be the oldest building in the settlement, not counting the council building.”

“You could have asked me to help,” he said quietly. “I like doing those kinds of things. I’ve done a lot of the repairs on Cresta House. I find it relaxing.”

Azandra squinted at the beams. “It does look like they’re sagging a bit.”

“Do you need to get your parents’ approval for every nail I pound in?”

“NO. This house may be on their property, but it’s mine. And yes … I wasn’t able to kick them out when it counted.” She lowered her head. “I’m tired of fighting them on every little thing.”

“You don’t have to.” His voice made her lift her head, and his eyes pulled her in. “Just the big things. Like your healing or who gets to share your life. And fated mates should not even be something you have to argue about.”

Focus. Focus on his wound. It looked perfectly healed, the skin smooth and with reddish tinges that faded. The newly formed skin felt warm to the touch, like a fire that burned low.

“Your brothers argued about Lilia as Dane’s fated mate. YOU questioned it …”

Kyon flushed. “Okay, I admit it. I … I wasn’t sure. But if I ever doubted the wisdom of the Moon Goddess, Lilia and Dane cured me. And if Patch told you about us fighting, I swear to Fenrir there will be payback.”

She threw up her hands. “I could read all of you, you know. At that council meeting where Dane asked for permission to declare war on Cyran, you looked as uncomfortable with the idea of the bond as a mouse trying to get through a kitchen full of sleeping cats. Dirge was trying to act happy but he was scared because you were scared. No one can ever really tell what Jiro is thinking sometimes, and Patch is Patch. They probably will look the same when they find out about us.”

“Not really, despite your parents. And ‘us’?”

Her voice softened. “Just temporary ‘us’ while we figure out if there is an ‘us’ and they forget this idea of packing me off to the Wintertail territory. I don’t even know where that is. Evenhide is my home.”

“Lilia said there was an us,” he pointed out.

She trembled. She had never thought of Kyon like that. From the time she could remember, she’d dreamed of Dane. His strength, his steadiness, his handsome physique, his intelligence …

Then he’d kissed her, and she wanted only him. Dane Cresta, not just Dane the Alpha of the Evenhide Pack. His warmth surrounded her. His shoulders were so broad. His raven hair with a cute sexy wave on top? His eyes were so brown and soulful…

Brown eyes? A cute sexy wave? Broader shoulders than Dane’s?

She could have been describing the man right in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. Had she wanted the man in front of her and NOT Dane all along?

“Help me find out,” she said in a breathless voice. “Help me find out if what Lilia says is true and we really are fated mates. All we have to do is do the opposite of what Dane and Lilia did. Tell everyone we are fated mates until we figure out if we are or not.”

He stood there, letting his hands rest against her skin. His big hands that could paint a picture and fight if he had to in human form. His wolf form was utterly massive and even more powerful than Dane’s.

And his husky voice made her head spin. Not to mention his words.

“I will on one condition. Kiss me, like you mean it.”

* * * * * *

Kyon POV

Today was a day for taking risks.

His wolf, Ross, agreed. With a vengeance. Bad choice of words. His wolf wanted this. Wanted to mark her.

No, not yet.

Dane’s wolf might have felt the same, before Lilia. Since Lilia … Dane’s wolf pretty much did whatever made Lilia happy, because if Lilia was happy, that meant Dane stopped worrying for at least part of the day. It meant more smiles. More of the fun-loving Dane that they all knew before their parents’ deaths. More of Dane wandering off in the middle of the day with Lilia, or having someone to share the burdens of running the most powerful pack on the Northern Continent. And the headaches never stopped.

Lilia made it better. And from the glow on her face, it wasn’t one-sided. She loved Dane, more than all the stars in the sky. You could light the sky with her smile whenever Dane was around, even if they were going at each other over whether or not they should let a group of orc scientists into Evenhide lands to study shifters, or whether all the cubs in the pack needed to learn self-defense against magic. And of course, there were the ongoing foibles and crises of a large, noisy family. When the fireworks calmed down, Dane and Lilia usually shared a laugh and a smile

Kyon wanted that for himself.

His ears still aching from Titania’s self-important screeching, he thought Azandra deserved those laughs and smiles more. She needed kissing, badly, especially now.

But he couldn’t mark her. He had to be sure.

Even his brother waited to mark Lilia until after they kissed … of course, a fever dream had swept Dane up when he was healing … on the other hand, he’d followed the mate sense to an outsider city of all places to find Lilia …

What if Kyon’s mate was right here all along?

Only one way to find out.

Her lush lips invited him to claim them. Her graceful curves seemed made for his hands to caress. Her hair, in disarray and streaming every which way, had never looked better to him. Those healing hands … Moon Goddess, he wanted to feel them stroking his skin. Those beautiful pale legs … he wanted to see them running after him, then shifting into the long silver ones of her wolf form.

Her arms and legs had wrapped around him the day he came home in triumph from helping to defeat Cyran Sinsworth and achieve peace between the Crimsontail Shadows and their pack. Her body had pressed against his.

When you added his powerful respect for her as a person and a healer, he wondered why he was hesitating.

“You want me to kiss you?” she asked in a voice that would make birds jealous. So musical and compelling.

He growled seductively in answer.

Her eyes went wide.

“Did I scare you?” His face turned hot.

Even among wolves, his growl and his size made him feel like he had to hold back.

“No … no.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I don’t scare easily. And you are a big old bear cub most of the time.”

“Shhh. If my brothers hear that, I’ll never live it down.”

She lifted her face to his and captured his lips in a kiss that turned his bones into porridge and sent his mind into the clouds, so far he could wave hello to the Moon Goddess.

Azandra Hemming was kissing him, her soft lips moving on his.

This had to be a dream. Or possibly the Moon Goddess’s Heaven. He never wanted to come back to Earth.