Greyson

Grey knew Mohe Blackwell was a proud man, but even he shrunk under Etti’s withering gaze. He nodded his head slowly and Grey’s heart began hammering in his chest. He prayed Mohe would give them something to help protect their daughter from the hunt. Because for all Grey’s assurances to Etti that they would figure everything out, he was terrified that he would fail her in the end.

Mohe cleared his throat and began. “It all started when I was recruited to the hunt. I was arrogant and seeking power. My bloodline’s pack had been wronged many times over the centuries by humans and I foolishly jumped at the chance for revenge when it was offered. But as soon as the hunt began I knew I had made a mistake.

“We weren’t seeking out retribution for wrong doers, but slaughtering innocents. Even women and children. Ama . . . well, she’s never been accepting of the shifter lifestyle after what had been done to her own family. Once she learned what I’d done, she left me. And it made me even more desperate to find a way out of the oath I’d sworn to the hunt.”

“Mom left you?” Etti asked, looking bewildered.

Mohe almost smiled. “Well, it was more like she kicked me out. But I would have left anyway to protect her. She was my mate and the hunt said she would be protected. But things were so volatile between the wolves and the humans at that time, I didn’t trust harm not to follow me back to her.

“After one particularly bloody battle, the hunt sided with a rogue clan in Blue Creek and declared war against everyone else. I knew right away that the hunt was fighting with the wrong side. They were trying to overthrow the Wolfe and Rahound packs, siding with a rogue leader who was controlling a vicious group of criminal shifters who didn’t follow any pack laws. No one was safe, not shifters or humans.

“I went back to the farm to beg Ama to leave Blue Creek for her own safety, but when I saw her I scented the change immediately. She was pregnant, with you my darling daughter,” Mohe said, gazing proudly at Etti. “It changed everything.”

“How?” Etti asked, not an ounce of love in her voice.

“Ama could always take care of herself, but a baby . . . that was another matter. I wanted to do everything in my power to protect you, so I did the one thing I swore I’d never do. I asked my sister for help.”

Etti let out an almost inaudible gasp. “I have an aunt?”

Grey felt his mate’s hand begin to quake in his. She was mad, her fury rippling from her like waves. He sensed her betrayal through their mating bond. And rightly so. Grey knew Etti had grown up craving a different family and was only now learning that there was another member that might have offered her refuge. His wolf pushed at his skin with rage and he wished he could wrap her in his arms and hold her broken heart together.

“Yes,” Mohe continued. “Her name is Esme, and she’s a witch.”

Etti

Etti blinked, unable to believe what she was hearing. She had family, an aunt—a supernatural witch aunt to be exact. And try as she might, Etti didn’t scent even the faintest hint of untruth in her father’s words.

“Why would you keep her from me?” Etti asked.

“Esme and I have never seen eye-to-eye.”

“Is she a shifter too?”

“No,” Mohe answered. “Certainly not.”

“What does that mean?” Grey asked.

“Esme is my half-sister. We share the same father, but her mother came from a long line of famous witches who helped found and rule New Orleans. They worked alongside the humans and were free to practice their magic in the French Quarter until the shifters moved into the crescent city and tried to take the witches’ territory in a very violent way. A witch queen, by the name of Marie Laveau, cursed the wolves, confining them to the bayou for the rest of their existence. As punishment for their sins, they were only allowed to hunt on the hunter’s moon.

“Many years later, the hunt found a way to break the curse and punished the witches. But none harsher than Marie Laveau’s bloodline—blocking their magic from existing in the city they so loved. The hatred between the witches and wolves has been brewing for centuries since.”

“What does all of this have to do with my aunt Esme?” Etti asked.

“She has made it her life’s work to destroy the hunt and free her magic from their curse.”

“Her magic?”

“She is Esme Laveau, descendant of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans.” Mohe paused, letting his words sink in.

“Laveau?” Grey asked. “Wes told us her last name was Devereux.”

“She goes by that name to keep her true identity hidden.”

“And . . . you think she will help us?” Etti asked, her voice wavering for the first time since they’d set foot on the farm.

“She already has,” Mohe said kindly.

“What do you mean?” Grey asked.

“When I found out Ama was pregnant, I went to Esme pleading with her to help save my mate and her unborn child from the hunt. Esme was furious with me for pledging my allegiance to the hunt but after I begged her forgiveness she agreed to see what she could do for Ama. So I brought my sister to Blue Springs to meet my mate. Esme locked me out of the house and examined Ama. After a short while, she surprisingly agreed to help us, casting a spell over the farm, keeping us and our lands off of the hunt’s radar.” He paused, frowning. “It wasn’t until after you were born that I realized why Esme had been so eager to help. I should have known something was wrong, especially with how quickly Esme and Ama befriended each other. Neither of them was normally chatty, but I’d always find the two of them together, whispering secretly. I should have known . . .” Mohe paused again, seeming to need a moment to recover from the memories he was dredging up.

“Dad . . .” Etti prodded. “What should you have known?”

“That Esme had ulterior motives. When you were born, I found out that she was only protecting us because she believed you were who she’d been searching for.”

“And who was that exactly?” Etti asked.

“A legend foretold of a child, the Fin-Malédi, who would one day come to break the curse of the hunt and free generations of witches that have lived in fear of the wolves that drove their magic from their ancestral home.”

“But I wasn’t that child?”

Mohe shook his head. “No, but when Esme met you, she saw she hadn’t been wrong, only too soon. For when she tasted your blood, it sang of a promise to come . . . that you would bear the Fin-Malédi, and he would finally free Esme.”

“She,” Etti whispered, protectively rubbing her belly. “My child is a girl.”

Mohe paled. “A female?”

“Women are as strong and capable as men,” Etti growled, pulling a despondent smile from her father.

“That I know, my darling daughter,” Mohe replied. “That I know.”

Grey felt his mate growing more and more agitated. He placed a hand on Etti’s shoulder, willing her to relax, but her breath was coming quicker and he could feel her heart and Izzi’s pounding much too rapidly for his liking.

“Mohe,” Grey started. “You’ve giving us a lot of information. If there’s anything else we need to know please share it, because I’d like to get Etti back home to rest. This kind of stress isn’t good for her or the baby.”

“Of course,” Mohe replied. “I’ll make this as short as possible.” He turned to face Etti. “Darling, I kept Esme from you because she would only try to exploit you to further her own cause of destroying the hunt so she can return to rule the French Quarter.”

“But I want to end the hunt too! It’s the only thing that will save my daughter.”

“And now that your goals have aligned I think it is time you meet.”

“But we already went to New Orleans and we couldn’t find her anywhere,” Etti said.

Mohe’s brow furrowed. “You went to New Orleans?”

Etti nodded.

“Etti, you must be careful. Esme is very cunning.”

“Am I supposed to trust her or not?”

“I believe she will help you if it suits her needs, but there is always a price.”

“Fine, I’ll pay whatever it is if it keeps my daughter safe. But we need your help to find her. We searched all over the French Quarter and she’s nowhere to be found.”

“She hides to protect herself from the hunt, and there is only one way to summon her.”

“What is it?” Grey asked.

“Only Ama knows.”