We stood in the center of the shifters’ rustic assembly hall.

The hot-blooded shifters seemed to prefer a simple lifestyle, unlike the vampires, who were all about lavishness and modernizing. I thought it was because vampires were unnatural, except my vampire mate, and shifters were the opposite. They drew their shifting magic, strength, and speed from Earth. Their kind was even closer to Earth magic than the fae.

But I didn’t voice my humble opinions. I had no idea what might offend the shifters. My mates had told me that the shifters mostly kept to themselves. They didn’t like other species and they didn’t cooperate well with other races.

“They’d better get in some kind of training and learn to work with others,” I’d said. “The war’s coming. Everyone must bring something to the table. We aren’t going to be the only ones putting our asses on the line for everyone!”

When it came to that day, we would put our asses on the line, though.

Reys even made me promise not to antagonize the shifters.

“I understand your penchant for kicking doors down and being a badass, Cass baby,” Reys coaxed. “The shifters aren’t like the vampires, though both species are strict on hierarchy and social rules.”

I glared at him. “I’m not in the habit of kicking doors. It would hurt my toes more than the door!”

He chuckled. “We’ll see.”

Standing in the shifters’ hall, Lorcan and Alaric on my left side, Reys and a golden panther to my right, we made quite the impression. Our elite warriors—Hector and his cadre, Xihin the vampire, and Celeb the half-demon—posed like solid walls of muscles behind us. And Amber planted herself between the fae like a cute, short tree.

We stood facing three alphas on a dais.

They were all massively built, with broad shoulders and very narrow waists. The stark contrast was considered attractive for male species. I bet their fit physique had a lot to do with shifters’ metabolism.

They stared back at us, their expressions unreadable, so I couldn’t tell if they’d be friends or foes. Their minion shifters, however, surrounded us along the far stone walls. Only fools would believe what they saw, assuming that the shifters were giving us space. They could reach us in a blink of an eye with fangs and claws if a fight ever broke out.

The alphas sat on identical thrones made of some incredibly rare wood. Pyrder had told me beforehand that it was African Blackwood, as if I could register the significance. 

“What brought you to Moonshine, Prince Reysalor, Prince Pyrder, King Alaric, and—” the alpha lounging on the left throne paused for a heartbeat and asked, “High Lord of Night?”

Vampires and shifters were natural enemies since the beginning of time.

The speaker had wheat-colored hair straight down to his shoulders. His face was relatively kind compared to the other two, and he carried the air of a scholar. I thought he must be Dustin, the only shifter in the High Council of the Academy. He’d voted against making me carry a magical bomb as a punishment before Apollo had abducted me.

I hoped he was on my side again today.

“It’s a visit long overdue, Alpha Dustin, Alpha Wyatt, and Alpha Cadmar,” Reysalor said formally. “We also brought our mate, Lady Cass Saélihn.”

My lips curled up. I liked him introducing me as a lady rather than a goddess.

“I want to see the view,” I said.

The shifter perching on the right throne grinned at me. He must be Cadmar. His intense brown gaze held too much interest for my liking.

The curly blond looked younger than the other two alphas and more handsome. He didn’t put on full formal attire but left his well-defined chest on display. His trousers hung low on his hips. That was convenient if he ever needed to shift.

Unlike my fae mates, the shifter kind had to shift naked if they didn’t want to have their heads trapped in their pants by accident.

Cadmar kept looking at me, as if nothing else interested him.

Lorcan hissed. Alaric growled. Pyrder, the golden panther, bared his teeth.

Reysalor’s smile didn’t touch his eyes, and when he smiled like that, it was never a good thing. He usually snapped the neck of his opponent the next moment.

I knew I needed to remind the boys of the fact that we shouldn’t start a bloodbath before our mission was accomplished.

I sent my question to them through our mating bond. Our real target is the gods, right?

I hoped they received that. We were still practicing mind communication.

“Is there something about my mate that interests you, Alpha Cadmar?” Reys asked.

“Yes,” Cadmar said, smirking. He even had a dimple to go with it, but his dimple couldn’t hold a candle to Alaric’s. “I like what I see.”

Dustin cleared his throat in warning.

“We can discuss that later,” Cadmar said dryly. “I think my brothers have something they deem more important to say first.”

The three alphas were also bonded brothers, so they co-ruled the shifters in the continent.

“Do you enjoy the view, Lady Saélihn?” Cadmar opened his mouth again. He just couldn’t help it. I’d said earlier that I came to see the view of the Moonshine, and he believed he was it.

“What view, Alpha Cadmar?” I snickered.

My mates were like arrows nocked on taut bowstrings, ready to strike their target mercilessly.

Dustin clasped his hands. “Bring refreshment for our guests.”

He finally offered us seats and snacks. I hoped the shifters were good at baking. If any cake was good, I would ask for the recipe and bring it back to Boone.

We settled down on a row of chairs before us—the only chairs in the hall.

Our guards took standing positions behind us.

“We don’t have all day for this meeting,” the alpha in the center throne said curtly. “If you came here to persuade us to join your army and fight with you, you’re wasting your time and ours.” 

He must be Alpha Wyatt then. His dark, slick hair was combed all the way back, very much like a mafia boss in the old movies. I debated if I should tell him that his hairstyle went out of favor a few years ago.

He was also good-looking like all shifters were, but his lips were too thin and cruel for my taste. I decided I didn’t like him much.

“Your kind isn’t safe, either,” Reysalor said softly, yet lethally. “Look around and see the land. The gods have burned half of the Earth. When the mortal world is gone, our realms will also collapse. And all of us will be wiped out.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Wyatt said. “We’ll take a chance preserving our species here instead of joining you in a hopeless crusade against the gods. Besides, we don’t fight alongside bloodsuckers.” His eyes landed hard on Lorcan. “If it weren’t for the host law our ancestors honored, we’d shed the very blood of the vampire lord who dared to cross our threshold.”

“You can try,” Lorcan and I hissed at the same time.

And I shot to my feet and pointed two fingers at Wyatt. “You’re nothing but a big bully brown bear!”

A surprised look passed by the alphas’ faces. They hadn’t expected an outsider to tell their animals, and I didn’t look that experienced.

“Right,” I said, snickering. “I know exactly what you all are. Dustin is a black lion. Cadmar is a little white wolf.” Cadmar frowned at me. No one liked to be called little, especially a male, but I ignored him. “I know everyone’s animal side in this room, and their color and power grade.”

“See, brother,” Dustin said. “I told you it wouldn’t be a hopeless cause to fight the gods this time. The girl is powerful. She channeled hundreds of mages’ magic and turned it into a storm the likes of which has not been seen in this century.”  

Wyatt sized me up as if I were an auction item. “So you’re the one everyone has been talking about, little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl,” I said. “And I’m more than an immortal. When you and your children’s children turn to dirt and dust, I’ll still be here.”

A gasp sounded from the shifters around the hall. I bet no young women had ever talked to their alphas like that, and I was thankful that my mates let me run wild, as they usually did. They didn’t step in to do my shit when I could handle it. There was solid trust between us, though I knew, mostly, they just liked to spoil me.

They accepted me in every form and shape. Even my flaws were perfection in their eyes. And if that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what it was.

“At least you have some fire, girl,” Wyatt said. Then he pursed his thin lips and ordered, “If you’re what they say you are, show me your power. We’ve seen too many phonies. I’ve grown weary of all the claims.”

“I don’t claim anything,” I said. “And I have no intention to show you my power because you aren’t on my list.”

“And what kind of list is that?” Wyatt snorted.

“You aren’t privy to know, either,” I said. “I don’t take orders from anyone, and definitely not from you. I, Cass Saélihn under this sky or any other sky, follow no one’s laws and rules, except mine and my mates’.”

“Talk like a goddess,” Amber whispered.

The only ones I’d ever allow to dominate me occasionally were my mates. 

“She’s powerful,” Cadmar said. “I can sense her deep magic. If she doesn’t want to display her power, so be it. Let’s forget that list.”

Wyatt growled, and Cadmar narrowed his eyes, which turned molten gold.

That was the problem with three alphas. They could never agree among themselves.

“We’ll consider joining forces with you and fight the gods if you accept one of our terms,” Cadmar said.

“And what term is it?” Lorcan asked without any emotion.

“Lady Saélihn has a vampire, two fae, and a demigod as her mates,” Cadmar said. “It isn’t equitable that she left out shifters in her harem. We don’t want to look bad in the supernatural community. If she takes one of us into her bed, then it balances out all things. Among my brothers, I volunteer.” He grinned at me, his dimple deepening. “And I promise to satisfy you in every way.” 

To enhance his charm, he flexed the cut muscles on his chest and biceps and winked at me.  

My mouth gaped open in shock.

I’d thought trading brides for alliance was a thing of the past, but it seemed the supernatural clans still practiced it. And the shifter alpha believed that he could compete against my mates in my bedroom. He thought it was a competition.

My mates snarled. One more word from Cadmar and they would attack and forget all about the task at hand—we must get into the Rabbit Hole through the shifters.

Taking more mates, or not, into my bed was actually my decision.

I grinned back at Cadmar wickedly.

“My mates are too polite to inform you how they’ve gotten into my bed,” I said. “The matehood is by fate’s arrangement, and my mates have earned my absolute loyalty. It won’t be given to another male. And for your information, the last one who volunteered almost got his palace burned down. You’ve probably heard of the God of Sun and Prophecy. When he didn’t understand that no meant no, my mates and I had to leave a beheaded Deimos, the God of Fear, in Apollo’s torture chamber as an equitable gift.”

Wyatt snorted. “No mortal, or immortal, can behead a god. And the God of Fear has inflicted the world with his blight since the beginning of time. But your perfect little mouth does know how to talk. No wonder a little girl like you can make even the most powerful males smitten like puppies. Even my little brother, who never treats any woman seriously, wants to join your harem. I don’t think you have the power of which you’ve bragged, but I bet you’re excellent at sucking dicks.” 

“What the fuck are you doing, Wyatt?” Dustin hissed. “They’re our honored guests. And do you even know whom you’ve just insulted?”

Before my mates charged, my icy air current lashed out, carrying their snarls that promised to break the shifter alpha’s bones. 

Wyatt flew into the air, then turned upside down—spread-eagled, strung up by my air. He kicked his legs and flung his arms frantically, endeavoring to reach the ground but to no avail. My magic was too strong for mortals and immortals alike.

He cursed, but I had no desire to hear more.

My air formed in the shape of an invisible hand and cupped his rough cheeks, forcing his thin mouth to open. Then a penis-shaped ice column thrust between his lips and pushed further, its size and coldness gagging him.

Alaric chuckled amid complete, shocked silence in the shifters’ hall. “Looks like you’re the one who’s an expert at sucking dick.”

Wyatt’s face burned purple. His eyes bulged.

“Alaric, you’re rude,” Reys chided. “He can’t agree or disagree with you. He’s too busy now.”

All the shifters, except for the alphas, shifted in an instant, bellowing, and charged toward us. They had over a dozen kinds, though wolves were the majority. A few lions, tigers, and grizzly bears loomed amongst the smaller wolves.

“They have bobcats!” I cried in joy.

My mates drew their flaming swords, except for Pyrder. He would battle in his panther form. The warriors instantly formed a protective ring around Amber and me.

“Sto—” Dustin and Cadmar shouted, but their order died in their throats, choked back by my magic.

I wanted the shifters to assault us so I could have a big opening to show them what I could do. In a world dominated by brutish males, reason often fell on deaf ears. They bowed to nothing but blunt, brutal force. That I could show them.

I allowed the army of shifters to reach the middle of the hall before I blasted them with my air current. It froze them like a scene in a cartoon movie, their paws and claws hanging in the air. Even the expressions of their nasty snarls were preserved in the frame.

The only two who could still move freely were Dustin and Cadmar. If the dashing shifter alpha Cadmar hadn’t ordered his gangs to halt the assault, he’d have joined his bonded brother in the air.

Dustin and Cadmar stared at the scene in utter shock.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” Cadmar murmured. “Now I’ll never get a chance to court the lady.” 

Dustin strode toward us, his hands rising in the air to show us that he meant no harm. “Prince Reysalor, heir to Sihde, could you please ask your mate to let go of my men and my brother? I know my knucklehead brother brought all this on himself. This might be a good lesson for him. But I promise none in my realm will ever attack you or your people again.”

“Ask my mate yourself,” Reys said coldly. “She makes her own decisions.”

“Lady Saélihn,” Dustin called. “Could you kindly release my men and my brother, please?”

My blue fire of Earth flowed out, circling the frozen shifters, examining them in curiosity.

“We came to your realm to pay our homage,” I said. “We even brought expensive gifts. You aren’t going to get them now. We’ll carry them back, and we don’t negotiate.”

Dustin blinked. Of course, he wasn’t going to get any jewelry!

“And this is how you treat your honored guests? Who’ll ever come to your doors again?” I kept scolding them. “And all of you will end up old and lonely.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised a finger to stop him. “I’m not done talking. You didn’t greet us with kind words. You didn’t even offer us refreshment.”

“I did, but before the refreshment arrived, this happened,” Dustin said, gesturing around in a grim expression. “I heard you like cakes, so I had hundreds of cakes made for you.”

“Hundreds?!” I cheered, my eyes sparkling with interest and my voice no longer sounding harsh. “Uh, what kind of cakes in general?” 

Dustin’s eyes also sparkled. “Allow me to show you? They’re all in the tea room.” He gestured to a side room at the front of the assembly hall. 

“I’ll allow—”

“It could be an ambush, Cass!” Amber chose this moment to voice her opinion. I knew she was still upset at how the shifters had affronted me and wouldn’t want me to let go so easily for cakes’ sake.

“No one will be that stupid to ambush Lady Saélihn,” Dustin said softly, and there was no deception in his words. “I promise you, Lady Saélihn, the cakes are the best in the realm. I also prepared shifter brews that only Moonshine can make. They’re all local and fresh. I want you to try them and to hear your opinions.”

I could smell the sweetness and richness of the cakes and intoxicating drinks floating in my direction. The alpha had changed strategy toward me, and it seemed to be working.

I wasn’t very good at resisting temptations. Well, that wasn’t completely true. I’d resisted Apollo and Ares just fine and even lost my appetite for their godly cakes.

I eyed the tea room, then the shifters still bounded by my magic. I turned to gaze up at my mates through my lashes. They had millennia of experience. They knew what to do. They let me do my thing and be myself, but, when I was out of wits, they’d always step in. They complement me.  

They were my forever safety net.

“You can release the shifters now, Cass baby,” Reys said with a doting smile.

I let go of my air magic, and the shifters all dropped their paws and claws to the ground, panting hard. They snarled at me, but they were held back by Dustin and Cadmar’s order to back down. Even if they wanted to attack, I doubted that they could bypass the flame I hadn’t withdrawn.

My panther prince snarled back, baring his big fangs. He wasn’t at all happy that he didn’t get to fight. My warrior team also growled back, their knuckles still white on the hilts of their swords. The tension remained so thick it muffled the aroma of the cakes.

I regarded the bear alpha strung up in the air. This whole time he had glared at me as if that could kill. If he weren’t upside down, his death glare might be more potent.

“You forgot to release my brother,” Dustin reminded.

“But he’s having fun,” I said. “I don’t think he wants to come down yet.”

Wyatt struggled in the air, and the ice penis sank deeper into his mouth. 

“My brother will appreciate it if you let him down,” Dustin insisted.

“What if he doesn’t?” I asked. “I have my doubts.”

“Then you string him up again,” Alaric said. “Or you burn his hair off and make him permanently bald, as you did to the fae girl.”

Wyatt stopped fighting to get our attention. Evidently, it would humiliate him to no end if he went bald and had to wear a wig his whole life.  

I winced. “I’m not a mean girl. That was self-defense. Ask Amber.”

“You might want to remove the dick from his mouth first, Cass baby,” Reys advised like a wise man. “So we can see what Alpha Wyatt has to say.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what he has to say,” I said, but I waved a hand, and the ice penis pulled out of his mouth by itself and dropped, bouncing a couple of times on the ground.

“Let me down!” Wyatt yelled, his purple lips trembling.  

I bet he would never want to suck another cock in his life.

“Should we really let him down?” I asked uncertainly.

Just then, a white-haired female in a silver robe entered the hall. She was older and more regal than any other shifter present. She didn’t halt even when she reached where my blue flame held the line. My power had sniffed her out. She carried Earth magic that sang in my blood.

I dropped the flame to let her pass, and she nodded at me with an acknowledging smile.

“Grandma?” Wyatt called, remaining in the upside down position in the air.  

“Priestess Irena.”  Dustin bowed, as did all the other shifters. “I thought it’d be another six months until you came out of meditation.”

“And let you offend the goddess?” she asked chillingly.

The room turned to complete silence. There wasn’t even a hush.

“Can’t you all scent the strongest Earth magic you’ve ever encountered in your lifetime?” Priestess Irena asked. “You’re all shifters. Your shifting power and all its benefits, including hearing, smelling, speed, and strength, come from Earth. So where have you put your noses to use, up your shifter asses?”

I roared in laughter, but I was the only one who laughed so loud in the hall.

I liked the priestess. 

“Even her laughter is full of Earth magic. This planet hasn’t seen magic of this kind for an eon,” Priestess Irena said. “She showed you her fire, and you still have no idea. Instead, you almost attacked the Earth Goddess’s one and true daughter. If she had let you, you would have all died. She wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to finish you off, which is reserved to kill the alien gods. Her mates would have done the justice.”

“We wouldn’t go down without a fight,” Wyatt said.

“You never learn, do you, Wyatt?” Irena sighed. “You could have handled this nicely and with grace. Your goal is the same as Goddess Cass’s—to overthrow the Olympian gods and take back what’s ours, what is Earth’s. Give Goddess Cass what she needs, and you’ll have your rewards. But no, you just had to be an ass.”

“I asked her to convince us she is what she says by proving her power,” Wyatt grunted. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

Irena hissed. “You, quiet now before you make things worse.”

“Since Alpha Wyatt is your grandson,” I said, grinning at Irena, “I’ll let him down to the ground.”

I flicked a wrist, and my air magic let go of Wyatt. He flipped in the air and landed in a crouch. The bear was heavy but surprisingly swift. He stayed where he was, though, not intending to come an inch nearer to me, though he still glared at me.

Irena dropped to her knees outside the wall of flesh that was my mates and their warriors.

“Goddess Cassandra Saélihn,” she said. “We’ve waited centuries for you.”

Now I was afraid that she’d say something about oracle or prophecy.

“The prophecy has said you will be the wild card,” she continued, “but we’ll throw our lot in with you nevertheless. You’re the only hope for Earth.”

I pushed through the wall of my mates and reached her. “Irena, you never need to kneel to me.” I helped her up. “You’re older than me. I’m actually sixteen going on seventeen. In human years, I’m twenty-three going on twenty-six. My timeline is different than yours, but I’m still younger. And I’m not Earth’s daughter.”

Her eyes widened. “You must be. The prophecy can’t be wrong.”

The shifters around us shuffled uneasily like they were disappointed or something. Wyatt broke into a half-grin—the dude didn’t want to be in the wrong in front of everyone.

“I’m Earth Goddess’s granddaughter,” I said.

Grandma had revealed herself to me. She’d come to my aid while I was tormented by the sadist god brothers in Apollo’s lair and walked me through breaking free of the gods’ imprisonment. Later on, Goddess Demeter had also confirmed my Earth heritage.

“My mom, who I denounced, is a diabolic bitch.” I threw my thumb at my mates. “Ask them, and they’ll agree. They rescued me from her cage several months ago.” I looked around at the shifters, who now all looked at me in a different light. “I’m still hunting Jezebel. She doesn’t have my power, but she might have some nasty spells up her sleeve. So take heed when you meet her. And if any of you sniff out any trace of her, be sure to inform me right away.” I then grinned at Irena. “Every family has dirty laundry, including a god’s.”

She nodded. “What do you need from us, Goddess Cass?”

“A path—” I said, and my words were cut off by Wyatt. The alpha had suffered enough humiliation. He wouldn’t let go easily.

“Not that fast,” Wyatt said. “If you want to crown yourself with the goddess title—”

The priestess, Dustin, and Cadmar all growled at him now, and some shifters grunted.

I pulled Earth power from the land, and the ground beneath us rumbled. The assembly hall shook violently. A side wall of stone and woods toppled. The shifters nearest the wall dashed away from flying rocks, rubble, and splinters.

“Look at your fur, shifter dudes,” I said.

I drained the color from every shifter, including the three alphas, except for Irena. The shifters whimpered in apprehension and distress, but none of them dared to make a move toward me.

“Your shifting magic comes from Earth, from my realm,” I said. “Earth gives you the gift, but I can take it all away. I can leave you stuck in one form and you’ll never be able to shift again. Any volunteers for me to demonstrate my Earth goddess’s power?”

No one volunteered, but a quarter of the shifters knelt down to acknowledge my status and pay respect. The rest didn’t know how to react.

“This is my Earth,” I said, my eyes glowing as I wheeled to scan them. “This is my land! I call my own and it answers.” Wind swirled around me, and blossoms burst from the wood all around the hall. Ivy vines reached me from the ground and twirled around my arms. “Can any of you call Earth and make it answer to you?”

For the first time, I was completely taking ownership of my past, and I acknowledged my heritage for all to see.

“I don’t need your army,” I said, my voice colder than ice and full of power. Everyone in the room couldn’t help shivering, except my mates. “I have enough force of my own. I could just take whatever I wanted, but I came here to ask politely and bring expensive gifts for you, because my mates asked me to be nice and diplomatic since they respect you. What did you offer me in return? How did you show the Earth Goddess your gratitude for her gift of shifting?”

More knees dropped.

“We offended the Goddess’s true granddaughter,” Irena said. “We’ll amend.”

Now the three alphas dropped to one knee in unison. “We’ve seen it with our own eyes. You’ll have our allegiance. Where you point, we’ll go. Even if it’s death, we’ll follow. We’re now your people. We’re your swords.” 

Then all the shifters dropped to their knees.

My mates smiled at me, doting and prideful.

And my heart burst with gratitude. I was wild, and they never intended to tame me. They didn’t put any set of rules on my head. They let me ride the wind with my awkward wings and flew beside me.

They flipped a middle finger to the society and all its social expectations for me.

I knew I wasn’t that nice. I wasn’t anyone’s normal, average woman, yet my mates had no desire for me to be anyone else but me.

“Well, in that case, we can have some cakes first before we talk about our secret mission in a more cozy setting,” I said as I pulled all Earth magic—fire and wind and blossom—back into me and allowed the colors to return to the shifters.

Relieved gasps rose in the hall.

I turned to my mates and batted my long, lush eyelashes at them. “Do you think we still have time for cakes and local brews? Dustin promised hundreds of them in the tea room. At least, we should inspect them. If any cake is particularly good, we’ll need to get the recipe for Boone.” I wheeled to Dustin. “As for the recipe—”

“Anything you need, Goddess Cass,” Wyatt answered for Dustin in a grumpy voice.

I waved at them. “Call me Cass. Well, time is of the essence. Now, will you be kind enough to show me to the tea room?”