CHAPTER FIVE
The morning was glorious. Evie opened her eyes to find that the night before hadn’t been a dream. Ray was in bed with her, breathing deeply, still fast asleep. In the bright morning sunshine coming through the windows, she could see the harsh crags in his skin, the dark circles under his eyes. If he’d been human, she would have said he looked really rough.
For an eternally young, near-immortal fey warrior, he looked just plain awful. At death’s door. So magically drained that he barely even registered on her senses as having any magic at all. She could’ve wept for how close he’d come to dying in that fey prison, drained of magic and life. At the same time, she wanted to hug her son and new daughter-in-law close and thank them over and over for bringing Ray back to the mortal realm.
Realizing the best thing for him right now was probably sleep, Evie left the bed as quietly as she could and started preparing for the day. She checked the status of the battery on her cell phone and headed out into the crisp morning air to give Josh a call.
“Mom! How are you guys doing out there?” Josh sounded happy this morning. As well he should be. He was newly mated, and his father was back in the mortal realm.
“Ray’s still sleeping. Honey, I think you got to him just in time. He’s at a low ebb of energy, and I think resting is going to be his first order of business for a while yet.” Evie walked around the cabin, checking on things while she spoke to her son. Everything looked in order, but the air smelled of snow. Lots of snow.
“Do you think you’ll be able to make it back here before the holidays?” Josh asked.
The original plan had been to spend the Solstice celebrating Josh and Deena’s mating. Deena’s grandmother was coming in to officiate over their wedding ceremony, and then, there was going to be a big party on the farm. Deena’s family was scheduled to start arriving in the next few days.
They’d been kind enough to give Evie a few days alone with the couple to get to know her new daughter-in-law, but the rest of the next few weeks was supposed to have been spent on the farm, among Deena’s extended family. Evie had committed to staying through New Year’s Day with her son and his new mate. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. Ray’s recovery had to be a priority, though she didn’t want to miss her only son’s wedding.
“I’m not sure,” she told him, pausing to look off into the distance, observing the storm clouds heading their way. She still had a few days to work things out. Better to get through the coming storm and see how Ray was doing after that before making any plans. “It’s going to snow here. We have plenty of firewood and provisions. You stocked the cabin well. And when Ray’s got some of his energy back, he can probably just magically transport us to wherever we want to go. For now, though, we’re safe and sound. We should probably just stay here while he recovers.” Her voice dropped lower. “Your father’s been through a lot.”
“Yeah,” Josh agreed, his tone also growing solemn. “Judging by the fiery monstrosity that came through on his tail, he wasn’t in a good place, Mom.”
She had to swallow hard to contain the emotion welling up inside her. She’d suffered without Ray here, but he’d been suffering too. The creature had been sucking his magic, which equated to torture.
“We’ll take care of him now, sweetheart. That’s what matters. Our love will help him recover. I know you never got a chance to know him…” Evie said, hoping to say the right thing to make her son understand her feelings. Talking about such things hadn’t ever been easy for her. “But I think that you’ll love him as much as I do once you get a chance—now that you have a chance. So much was stolen from all of us when he was trapped in faerie.”
“At least we have a chance to recoup some of the time we should have had together now, right, Mom?” Josh’s words meant a lot to her. That he wasn’t rejecting his father out of hand was a good thing. She knew many others might resent a man who had fathered them and then disappeared. Knowing it hadn’t been Ray’s fault was a good starting place for all of them to forgive.
But she would never forgive the Venifucus—or whoever it was who had laid the trap for her mate. She would find them and rip them to shreds given half a chance, submissive wolf or not. Nobody messed with her mate!
“You’re a good man, Joshua.” She held back the tears by force of will.
“Do you have enough clothes? I left a lot of my old stuff in the closet, and there should be some winter coats that will fit you both.” Her son, the caretaker, was at it again. He’d always been there to help her, and look after her, since he was a little boy. It was the Alpha wolf in him, wanting to keep his Pack safe.
“It’ll be okay, Josh. The only thing we might run out of is electricity. I haven’t gotten the generator started yet, but I’m not too worried. Even if it doesn’t turn over, we have plenty of firewood, and there will be fresh snow soon that I can melt for water if need be.” She was already thinking of the things she’d need to do if they couldn’t get the old genny going.
“Do me a favor. Go out and try to get it started right now, okay? I’ll hold on while you do it.”
“Worrywart. I’m already outside and around the back of the house. Looks like nothing has been disturbed since I was last here. I was going to wait for a bit in case the noise of the engine woke Ray, but I guess you’re right. I need to see if it works sooner or later, and it’s not that loud. Not the way you insulated everything.” Wolves had sensitive ears, and the noise from the generator had been annoying until Josh got to work soundproofing that wall of the cabin and the small shed that housed the machine.
She opened the door to the shed slowly, scraping away the layer of snow that was already high enough to meet the bottom step leading up into the elevated machine shed. They’d have to shovel a bit if they got a lot of snow. It was important to keep the door to the generator shed clear.
Evie let her eyes adjust to the dark interior and realized everything was as pristine as Josh had left it. In the old days, all kinds of rodents would have made their homes in here, but Josh had sealed up the cracks that used to allow access and put in screened vents to allow for plenty of air circulation without letting every insect and snake for miles around inside.
“The fuel gauge is reading full,” she told Josh as she inspected everything before trying to start the generator.
“I had the underground tank topped off about four months ago when I tuned up the engine,” he told her. “You should have no problems, but give it a whirl, just to make sure.”
“Okay. I’m hitting the button now.” She did so, pleased with the immediate response as the machine roared to life. Her son took good care of the things that were important. A little glow of pride filled her heart. “Can you hear that?” she shouted into the phone over the engine noise.
“I hear it,” Josh shouted back. “Glad it works.”
Evie watched the gauges for a moment before satisfying herself that everything was as it should be. Then, she turned and left the shed, closing the door behind her. She looked up at the sky again. It definitely smelled like snow…and something else.
“I’m going to hang up now, sweetie,” she told her son. “I think company from the res is approaching.”
“If it’s Lone Eagle, tell him I said hello. If it’s anyone else, tell them to take a hike. The shotgun is right beside the front door, and the shells are on the little shelf above it. Do me a favor and load it, just to be safe, okay?”
She rounded the corner of the cabin and saw her visitor sitting patiently by the front door. “No worries, Josh. It’s just Fred. I’ll call you later.”
She cut the connection as she walked toward the grizzly bear sitting on his haunches in front of her cabin. She held no fear. This grizzly was a friend. More than that, he was a shifter.
“Hiya, Fred,” she said in a happy tone. “I’ve got a robe you can wear, if you want. My mate is back, and I wouldn’t want to scandalize him.” She winked at the bear, who seemed to grin back at her.
Evie went into the cabin and grabbed the heavy fleece robe that was one of Josh’s from the closet. She glanced over at Ray, who was still asleep in the bed, before going back out to deliver the robe. The grizzly stood on his hind legs and shifted before her eyes, becoming a very tall, very muscular bear of a man—no pun intended—that she’d known for many years.
Fred Lone Eagle was the local shaman from the nearby reservation. That he was a bear was something known only to privileged members of his tribe and a few others. She was one of the lucky few. As a lone wolf in his territory, the shaman bear had come out to meet her when Joshua had been very small. He’d helped her a lot in those early days, just after losing Ray. Fred had been a rock of support for her and her son throughout it all and he was a close and trusted friend.
“I saw your smoke signals last night and thought I’d come out to see who was here,” Fred said, his smile reaching his eyes as he glanced pointedly at the chimney that was emitting smoke from her fireplace.
“It’s a happy day, my friend. My mate has returned.” Evie couldn’t contain her joy and wanted to share it with friend.
“Well, where in the blazes has he been all this time?” Fred didn’t look quite as happy as she was. He seemed more exasperated, but she realized, that was because he didn’t know the whole story yet.
“He never left me on purpose, Fred,” she said right away. “He was trapped in faerie all this time, and last night, my son and his new mate broke him free.”
“Josh? Where is he?” Fred looked around, scenting the air to no avail.
“He’s in Pennsylvania with his mate,” Evie explained. “When Ray saw me, he just grabbed me and poofed us here with the last of his magic. He thought I was in danger, and he used the last of his strength to get me away.” It was such a romantic gesture, her heart melted all over again just thinking about it.
“Pennsylvania to North Dakota? That’s quite a trip to make in an instant.” Lone Eagle looked impressed.
“You knew my mate was different, even if I never told you exactly how. He’s fey, Fred,” she admitted, revealing the secret even her son hadn’t known. It had been too painful to talk about, and she’d always worried that Josh’s fey blood would make him a target.
She’d been on the verge of telling him about his father when he’d left her several months ago. They’d kept in touch, but she hadn’t had the heart to break the news about his long-lost father over the phone. As it was, he’d found out from others, and things had worked out as they were meant to be. She was sure of that.
“Well, that explains a lot,” Fred said. He might be barefoot and wearing only a robe, but he was a bear shifter, and it took a lot to make them cold—even in their human form.
“Ray’s still sleeping,” she told Fred. “There was a creature draining his magic while he was held prisoner in the fey realm.” Fred frowned.
“Do you want me to take a look at him?” As shaman, Fred was well versed in both magical and medical treatments.
“Would you?” Evie felt relief. Ray had been sleeping a bit too long for her comfort. “He was okay last night, but I’m afraid he really used the last of his reserves to get us both here.” She opened the door and led the shaman into the large cabin, her voice dropping low so as not to disturb the sleeper. “Honestly, he looks worse than I expected in the cold light of day. He was trapped for years, Fred, even if time passes differently in faerie than it does here.”
Fred’s mouth formed a grim line as he padded silently over to the bed. He held out his hands, palms down, over Ray’s recumbent form. Closing his eyes, he chanted under his breath, and even Evie could feel the gentle swirl of Fred’s pure magic rise inside the confines of the cabin.
Evie positioned herself on the other side of the bed, close to Ray, where he would see her if he woke. She didn’t want him to think he was under renewed attack. But she needn’t have worried. Fred’s magic—as always—was the gentlest tickle of grizzly fur against her senses. It was kindness itself, and strength wrapped in a fierce power that was as benevolent as it was holy. There was a reason Fred was a shaman. He served the Light, and that came through in his every action, and his every word.
“Welcome, Brother,” Fred said as he opened his eyes and looked down at Ray.