Chapter 180: Dark Fae and a Surprise Visit

Jude POV

Finally able to rest and relax, Ravyn reclined on her back while Jude handed her a cup of wild bittersweet tea, her favorite.

"So," she said after a sip of tea, "are we going to talk about this Dark Fae? Could it be Queen Ylavi Crystalsprite?"

Jude grimaced, joining her on the bed. Right now, the bed felt like the second best and softest thing in the world. Cuddling Ravyn, he embraced the absolute best and softest thing in the entire universe. 

"It didn't look like her," he said. "But then, no one has seen or heard from her for weeks."

"I hope you're not blaming yourself," Ravyn replied. "She was already dark when you decided not to pursue her as a mate."

"Oh, is that what I did?" he commented dryly. "It seems to me that there was more to the story. But maybe your kiss in the bookstore fogged my memory."

"You kissed me, Alpha," she retorted playfully. 

"Hmmm, I wonder who kissed whom."

She growled, her wolf eyes flashing, fierce and blazing. Goddess, what a woman. What a mate. "I seduced you? Is that your story?"

"It is indeed."

She huffed. "You're smug and full of Alpha egotism." But her eyes twinkled with playfulness.

"So I am." He kissed her gently, feeling her soften against him. "But I come by it honestly, having a mate like you."

"You have honey on the tongue," she said in a flirty way. 

He kissed her again. "It comes from you."

"Mmmm. I better find a way to stop it, because this is a serious discussion."

He rested his head against hers. "I suppose it is. To answer your question, the Dark Fae looked too large and savage and dark for Queen Ylavi."

"But you said no one has seen or heard from her for weeks," Ravyn countered. "I think we need to reach out to our network to find out what's going on with the Ember Faeries."

"Hmmm. Do you feel up to traveling? You're not quite as pregnant as Lilia. Or we could always send Bram and Patch," he said, thinking out loud. 

With a dark smile, she said, "Oh no. We may have triggered this whole Dark Fae nightmare. I say we go there tomorrow. We can clear it with the council."

Jude sighed, seeing the stubbornness in her eyes and in the set of her mouth. "Very well. We need a little adventure to keep things interesting."

"But you still don't like the idea of me risking myself," she observed wryly. "Maybe we should take Anneliese or Garnet or Cyran with us. I know Dane is adamant about Lilia not traveling and endangering herself, and she's further along than I am."

"We could take Jiro and Garnet," Jude mused. "That might dispel any awkwardness with Queen Ylavi. Or Dirge and Thessi."

"Whoever is available," Ravyn said.

Jude shifted. and communicated with Jiro across distances. "Jiro, are you there?"

A few moments, and the sleepy Alpha's voice responded. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Not even bedtime," Jude answered. "Long day?"

A yawn in Jiro's voice. "They just get longer and longer. You know that. I think I slept through dinner. Garnet insisted. We've been noticing rogue activity--"

"You too?"

Instantly, Jiro sounded alert. "I heard about that border clash with the two farms. Not your fault, Jude. It happens all the time. And one of the farmers went rogue?"

"Dane's been dealing with rogues too," Jude replied. "Does it strike you and Garnet and your rogue-hunting intelligence duo as odd that the three most powerful territories in the Shifter Federation are suddenly fending off rogues?"

"I don't believe in those kinds of coincidences," Jiro replied with his usual sharpness. "And Cyran and Naomi don't either. Dane just reported that the Dark Goddess controlled his rogues. What about yours? Were they controlled?"

"I don't think so," Jude replied. "Just out for revenge. But we may have a bigger problem than just rogues, which is the reason I interrupted your beauty sleep."

A long pause.

"Jiro?" Jude felt anxiety about intruding on a fellow Alpha, especially family, and especially one of the hardest-working Alphas he knew. 

"It's alright." Jiro replied through the mind link. "Talon, Kelara, and William just came back home for a visit."

* * * * *

Jiro POV

Jude's voice woke him out of a blissful dream. In the dream, he wandered through a sunlit golden meadow. In the distance, his pups ran wild and free, no parents in sight. It felt like a carefree time for him, too. 

But Jude's voice invaded, and woke him from a sound sleep. In the dream, he still heard Jude through the mind-link, hardly surprising for wolf shifter families. They were, after all, deeply connected to each other.

Just as well. He really had not meant to sleep through dinner--especially when Sarina, the housekeeper and cook. was serving his favorite, noodles in beef sauce. But after council business, practicing magic with Garnet, Cyran and Naomi, hunting rogues, teaching his young ones their shapes and letters (never too early), he'd gone down for a nap at Garnet's insistence.

He sat up, brushing the fringe of red hair out of his eyes and finger combing his beard, then shifted into wolf form to talk to Jude. Their conversation about the rogues was typical family and Alpha talk, but then Jude started to explain the real reason for his unexpected mind-link.

Just then, Lucina, Tiberius, and Mekito burst into the room. "Daddy, Daddy," they cried. "Come see!"

Moments later, Talon, a visibly pregnant Kelara, and William strolled through his door. "Hello, cousin," Talon said.

He looked particularly wolfy, even in his human form, with his black hair longer and streaming down his back. Opting to go naked like his wife and son, he looked fit and strong.

Kelara kept glancing at the door expectantly. "It's alright. Jiro is our family," she said to whoever was outside. "You're safe here."

A blonde female human tiptoed in cautiously. She, too, was naked. Ocean-blue eyes darted around the room as if she expected to be attacked at any moment.

William ran over and grabbed her hand. "It's okay, Mama," he said with a child's innocence. "Jiro is nice."

Mama?

Jiro recalled that Talon had been married before. An unhappy marriage his parents had pushed him into. And his former wife, Genevieve, was now married to an abusive man ... but maybe she'd gotten away.

"You're safe, Mrs ... ah ... Blackthorn," he said. "Whatever you're afraid of, it can't hurt you here. Especially threats from the human world. We're invisible for the most part."

Genevieve Blackthorn looked at him with such gratitude that he felt the irresistible impulse to rip apart the man who'd hurt her. Talon and Kelara surrounded her.

"She finally decided to leave her bastard of a husband," Kelara growled.

"Mama, you said a bad word," William stated.

"Sorry, lovey. Your mother decided to come live with us," Kelara corrected herself. "But certain people wouldn't even leave her alone at Blackthorn Castle."

"So, you brought her here," Jiro concluded, warmth flooding through him. He liked the idea of the Crimsontail territory being a haven. "To hide and be under our protection where this beast won't ever look for her. Well ... she is family."

"She's still a Blackthorn," Talon asserted with that Alpha look in his eye. "Always and forever. And Walter Longbridge is working on her divorce. Apologies for not informing you sooner about all this..."

Jiro got to his feet. "The days when the unexpected would throw me are long gone," he noted dryly. "Genevieve, you are more than welcome to stay here and become part of our pack. I do believe there's still some dinner left over. Shall we go down to the kitchen and get you all something to eat? I for one missed dinner."

Before he went downstairs, he quickly shifted back to wolf form and told Jude,"I've got to go--I'll explain later. But you have me dying of curiosity. Let's talk in the morning."

In the meantime, those noodles with beef sauce were calling his name.