CHAPTER TWENTY
Evie was floored by the outpouring of love from her mother and father. She hadn’t expected it, but she could feel it in their embrace. They just stood there, on the gravel drive, hugging for long moments, their inner wolves basking in the reunion with their family. Their Pack.
Josh came over and joined the huddle. Evie had started out by hugging her mother, but her father had joined them, wrapping his arms around the two women from the side and bowing his head over them. Josh took up the same pose on the other side, and they all just stood there for a moment. Then, Josh stepped back first.
“I think we should all go for a run,” he said, surprising her. Josh had seemed more fey than wolf these past days, but around Pack, maybe his wolf was reasserting itself.
“We should,” Evie’s father agreed, “but first, we should greet Deena’s family properly. It would be rude not to say hello. We can run tonight, if there’s no objection.”
When the humans and fey were asleep, her father meant. That got through to Evie, and she finally stepped back from her mother. “Dad’s right. You need to meet Deena’s family. They’re really great.”
Evie turned toward the house, and just like that, Deena’s folks opened the door, as if they’d been watching and waiting for their turn. Josh got the bags, gesturing for his grandfather and Ray to go ahead with the women.
Evie started walking but slowed when she realized her father and Ray had stopped to face each other. She listened eagerly, afraid some sort of confrontation was in the works. What she heard instead was a balm to her battered heart.
Her father held out his hand again to Ray. “I only met you the once, Sir Rayburne, and I have to admit, I misjudged you. I didn’t think a fey could form a serious bond with one of our kind, but you proved me wrong. I hope you’ll accept my apology, as well.”
“As my mate said…” Ray glanced at her and smiled that smile that was just for her. Then, he turned back to her dad and took his hand in a strong grip. “There is nothing to forgive.” They shook hands and both smiled. When the handshake was over, Ray turned, and they caught up with her, walking the short distance to the house. “I would like to ask you a bit about this Bolivar, when we have a few minutes. A threat like that shouldn’t be left walking.”
Her dad growled. “We’ve been looking for him as long as we’ve been looking for Evie. Dead end after dead end is all we’ve found, but our Margo has a complete file on all the information we’ve managed to turn up. I’ll call her and ask her to bring the information with her.”
Evie remembered a young cousin named Margo, but she’d been just a toddler when Evie had left. Then, her father’s words got through. “Wait, Margo’s coming here?”
“Josh invited the whole Pack to his wedding. A bunch of them are loading up their trailers and will be heading down here in a few days. Your mother already scoped out a local campground and got the owner to open it up special just for us over the holidays.”
“You’re joking.” Evie was floored. The whole Pack had been mobilized? Did Josh really understand what that would mean?
Her father just laughed. “Don’t worry. Young Josh will be okay. He’s an Alpha if I ever met one. Nobody in the Pack can touch him.”
“He’s half-fey,” Ray reminded him. “I don’t expect any wolf Packs to accept an Alpha with his kind of magic.”
“They don’t have to accept him as their Alpha. Just as an Alpha. I’m still in charge of the Pack, and I have a successor already picked out that the Pack accepts and respects. But every one of us has a place in the dominance chain. I suspect my Evie has risen to a much stronger position through her hardships, and Josh will have a place near the top, if I’m any judge. Which means nobody will pick on him or criticize his mate. Alphas—whether the Alpha of a small family group or Alpha of the whole damned Pack—don’t take crap from anybody.”
Evie’s mother was the first to reach the door, and she was welcomed by Deena’s parents. They were all smiles, and the ladies exchanged kisses on the cheek.
“I’m Jaquelyn, Josh’s grandmother. Call me Jacki,” Evie heard her mom tell Melanie. It sounded strange to hear anybody claim Josh as anything other than Evie’s son. She realized she’d better learn to share. Josh had a family now. Not just Evie’s family, but Deena’s, as well.
“And I’m Tom Mahigan,” Evie’s dad said, reaching out to shake hands with Deena’s folks, as friendly and polite as Evie had ever seen him.
Perhaps he’d mellowed with age. Evie knew she wasn’t the same callow youth who had crept away from home in the middle of the night all those years ago. She shouldn’t expect that her family hadn’t changed in the intervening years either.
No doubt about it. This was going to be a big adjustment.
“It good to meet you, Alpha Mahigan,” Deena’s father said, surprising Evie with his knowledge of werewolf etiquette. Peter was a human mage, after all. Nobody expected him to know the proper terms of address or titles, yet he’d just proven them wrong.
Deena’s dad stood tall and silent while the Alpha appraised him, then the Alpha grinned. “You may or may not realize this, but by mating my grandson, your daughter just made you members of my extended family, which for us, is the Pack. Welcome to the Stony Ridge Pack.”
“Really?” Deena seemed to be trying to suppress a giggle. Uh-oh.
“Why? What is it?” Evie asked gently, trying to avert an incident.
“Well, it’s just that there’s a retirement home by that name a few miles east on the county road. Somehow, I don’t think the gray-haired little old ladies that live there are affiliated with you guys.” Deena did laugh this time, but it was humor shared by all.
“I’d have to check to be absolutely certain,” Tom said, scratching his head comically, “but I think it’s safe to assume they’re not affiliated with our Pack.”
The next couple of days saw an influx of Stony Ridge Pack members into the tiny town in rural Pennsylvania. They essentially took over a campground that had been closed for the season until Jacki got hold of the owner and basically made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Not that she threatened the man in any way. More like she cut a deal that compensated him handsomely for allowing her family to use his land, with the promise that they would leave it exactly as they had found it—completely winterized and ready for the cold season ahead.
They’d also agreed to do a few needed repairs while they were there. So actually, they were leaving the place better than they had found it. The owner would be happy with his pristine facilities, and he would have extra income during the lean winter months. And the werewolf Pack was thrilled with a quiet, private, large wooded space in which to park their trailers and let their wolves run free. Win-win for all concerned.
For Evie, each new relative or childhood friend’s arrival was an unbelievable blessing. Not just her immediate family had made the long trip, but pretty much every member of the Pack who was physically able to come. She greeted each one with happy tears and a feeling of overwhelming joy. And person by person, it began to sink in. They really hadn’t shunned her for mating outside their species. They hadn’t wanted her to go, and they really had been looking for her all this time.
In fact, her cousin, Margo, whom she remembered only as a chubby toddler, was now a grown woman who had taken the ongoing search for not only Evie but also for the enemy, Bolivar, and made a profession out of it. She was employed as a private investigator, working with the premier shifter PI firm in North America. In fact, she was head of the Canadian branch of the detective agency owned by Collin Hastings, a hawk shifter who specialized in helping other magical folk with investigations.
The Pack seemed to really accept Deena’s family, as well, and got into the spirit of decorating and preparing for the wedding as if they’d always been part of it. The guest list had effectively tripled with the addition of the Pack, but so had the manpower.
The ceremony was still to be held in the circle of stones, but now, the after-party was going to range from the house out into the woods, the barn, and even the fields. The Pack liked parties and would attend in both human and wolf form, depending on their mood. Shifters rarely felt the cold, so the outdoors, even on the Winter Solstice, was fine for them. The humans and priestesses would spend most of their time in the house since they were more susceptible to the cold, but the shifters would range in and out of the large farmhouse, making sure to mingle with the new members of the extended Pack.
It was really amazing to Evie how well they were all working together. It was also amazing how easily they accepted not only Josh, but Ray and the human mages who were part of Deena’s family. Perhaps her Pack wasn’t as closed-minded as she’d thought.
She realized she’d been wrong about a lot of things where the Pack was concerned, and over those few days between their arrival and the wedding, she spent time with each member of the Pack, reaffirming the bonds that should never have been broken. She spent a lot of time with her mother, in particular, and learned a great deal about the Pack’s sworn enemy, a mage named Bolivar.
Evie didn’t really remember much about him from those last few days she’d spent among the Pack. Her mind had been full of Ray back then and her own problems. She vaguely recalled a man who had lived on the outskirts of the nearby town. His car had broken down on Pack lands, and her father had helped him.
Had that been the moment when Bolivar first tried to influence her Pack against her? They spent more than a few conversations trying to figure that one out. Whatever the exact sequence of events had been, it was now clear that Bolivar had been influencing more than one member of the Pack. Evie’s father had been the most damaging connection, of course. If evil tainted the Alpha, it spread throughout the Pack like wildfire.
Which was exactly what had happened. The bonds of family and friendship that had held the Pack together for so long had been damaged and disrupted by outside magic. If not for that, Evie never would have been able to leave so easily, or be lost so completely.
“I’ve almost had him a few different times,” Margo told Evie one night as they discussed the Bolivar problem once more after a sumptuous dinner.
The old farmhouse was filled to capacity, and every night was like a party in itself as different groups formed in the living room, kitchen, even the laundry room, to talk and just be near each other after dinner. The majority of the Pack would drive back to the campground later that night, but a few always remained in wolf form, prowling the perimeter with Deena and Josh’s permission and thanks. While the Pack was here, it would protect its own. The message was clear and quite unexpected, though much appreciated.
“Let me guess,” Ray said, not unkindly, in response to Margo’s words. “Bolivar is always one step ahead.”
Margo let out a frustrated growl that was answer enough, but she went on to explain. “Always. He always seems to know when I’m closing in and high-tails it just before I can get to him.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his gifts is clairvoyance,” Ray observed.
“Huh.” Margo slouched in her seat, a bit deflated. “I hadn’t considered that, though I guess I should have. I just thought he had better intel than I do.”
“He might have that, as well,” Ray agreed. “But he’s a mage. Mages have all sorts of different powers that could interfere with your investigative methods.”
“What you need is another mage,” Gabe volunteered. Evie had noticed the way Gabe’s eyes followed Margo around when the younger woman wasn’t looking. Deena’s brother seemed to always be wherever Margo was, and so far, the young werewolf woman hadn’t seemed to notice. At least not overtly. “Takes a mage to catch a mage,” Gabe went on, nodding.
“He could be right,” Ray offered, tilting his head as if considering the younger man’s words. “The right kind of spell could block Bolivar’s clairvoyance—if he has any. Then, you could get closer to him without his knowledge. As long as he doesn’t also have mundane methods of knowing your movements.”
Margo looked pensive, as if considering his words. “So, a private operation. No backup. No support. No communications with anyone outside the team that goes in to catch Bolivar.”
“And preferably as small a team as possible,” Ray agreed, clearly getting into the spirit of a planning session as he leaned forward in his chair. “A mage, for sure. With the right kind of skills. A good knowledge of spell work is essential. He’s a good choice.” Ray gestured to Gabe then looked back at Margo. “And you, if this is what you really want to do. The two of you could probably take Bolivar down on your own, if you worked together. Or at least get close enough to trap him then call for reinforcements.”
Margo looked surprised, shooting a questioning glance at Gabe and then looking back at Ray. “Does he have the right kind of knowledge?”
Margo looked as if she wanted to ask more but was holding her tongue for some reason. Evie wanted to grin. It was clear now to Evie, at least, that Margo had some kind of strong opinion about Gabe, but she was playing her cards close to her chest.
“Uncle Geoff is the premier spell casting teacher in our region, and I’ve been learning from him since I was a kid,” Gabe proclaimed. “And my dad taught me pretty much everything he knows about potions.”
“And let’s not forget your fey heritage,” Ray put in. “You’ve got more power—and of a different flavor—than human mages. If Bolivar is wholly human, you’d likely easily overpower him. If he’s something more, then so are you. And you’d have werewolf backup. Between the two of you, and the element of surprise, I think you’d be able to take him down.”
Margo sat back with a lurch. Her expression was a little lost for a moment before she regained her composure. Evie thought she recognized the look of a person who knew they were fighting fate.