Chapter 12
Nate rode the high of making love to Savon for the first time. It was messy, but they figured it out, and she clung to him long after.
Love, that was all he felt.
At least until he walked through the door and his father’s hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him off his feet to slam him against the wall as he threw the door shut.
“I smell the little cunt on you. I’ve told you a million times you cannot have her! She will ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for.”
Nate clawed at his father’s hands, trying to pry his fingers loose.
Dad pulled him away from the wall and slammed him back again. His vision dimmed on impact.
“Don’t tell me you love her. She’s not yours, she’ll never be yours, and I’ll do everything in my power to prevent you from taking her as a mate,” he snarled.
“Not werewolf—never gonna be,” Nate gasped out.
Dad tossed him to the floor with a snarl. “Still too young, but you will be a wolf one day. Even if I have to hunt you down and change you myself, you will be a wolf so nothing can take you from me.”
Nate pulled himself up the stairs and Dad’s foot landed against the small of his back, making him hit the step face first.
Shooting to his feet, he ran up the stairs, into his room, and slammed the door shut.
Tears filled his eyes as he slid down the wall, trying to catch his breath and push away the pain.
Their voices were dampened, but he didn’t miss his mother’s snarl. “Let him find his own peace. You want a son to take your place, then let him have the girl.”
“I won’t let him make my same mistakes. No more Sylvan Fae getting in our heads, twisting it all around. He will not have Savon, even if I have to slaughter her and her mother.”
She snorted. “You and I both know you’ll never harm Fawn, which means you will stay away from Savon.”
Nate got his eyes open to find Savon’s ghostly image kneeling in front of him with tears in her eyes. She faded away when he reached for her.
Nate bolted out of sleep, sitting ramrod straight as tears streamed down his face. She came to his dream, something she’d never done.
Maybe now she could see the position he’d been in. Could she forgive him for the terrible choices he’d made?
* * * *
Savon sat in her Jeep, staring at the door of A Good Book. Maybe Nate was right, maybe she pulled him into her dreams as much as he pulled her.
Was that truly his past? Why hadn’t he told her any of that? She knew Killian was an asshole, but not the extent.
Shaking off Nate’s memories, she walked into the book store, hoping to find some clarity.
One corner of Tremaine’s mouth lifted “Hey, Sav. What’s going on? Why did you go back to Silvertail Ridge?”
“Wanted a change of scenery, and Old Lady Murdock told me I’d find answers. Seems all I’ve found are more questions.”
“Have you looked?”
“Not yet. I’m not even sure where to start. I was hoping you could help me sort through my mess. You’re good at that.”
He motioned for her to take a seat. “Start with why Nate disappeared in the first place.”
Smiling, she climbed onto a stool. “Tea first. Then I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Liz strolled in with a blond man in a suit. That had to be their third. And with the three of them in the room she realized their aura had a shade the three of them shared. Though Robert was a mystic. His aura had an iridescent quality she’d only seen around Old Lady Murdock and the boy she raised.
Savon tipped her head, looking from one to the other and back at Tremaine. “Interesting. Most soul mates tend to gain a shade in their aura, something unique to their bond. I’ve never seen it in your situation.”
“Should I be worried about that?” Liz asked.
“No, sorry, you know me. I tend to blurt things out around those I trust. But honest, it’s a good thing, and it’s funny because I noticed a hue Tremaine and you shared when I first met you both, but it’s more vibrant now than it was then.” She looked at the blond. “I’m Savon, by the way.” She held out her hand.
Smiling, he shook it. “Robert. I understand you’re an old friend of Tremaine and Liz.”
Savon turned to her.
Liz nodded, the corners of her mouth tipping up. “We had a misunderstanding once upon a time, but I’d like to think we’re friends.”
“Me too.”
“Told you, nothing to worry about,” Tremaine teased. “And perhaps they can help us figure out what Old Lady Murdock thought you’d find. But I still want the whole story.” He pushed the drink to her.
Savon started at the beginning, with what led her to Old Lady Murdock in the first place. Nate’s proposal and disappearance. Killian’s refusal to tell her anything about Nate. Then everything Nate told her about the coma, the threat. She explained about him being a Dreamwalker. About him being Bran’s half-brother. And what she knew about Killian, Canagan, and the rest of the crazy wolves.
The more she told them, the worse she felt about running. Nate tried, and she never gave him a chance. His way protected her.
That damned dream—was Killian that horrible to Nate? If so, he had every reason to be terrified if he threatened her life. What a fucking mess she’d made.
Savon fell silent, her thoughts drifting.
A month passed and Nate didn’t come home.
Savon sat at the edge of the stairs, listening to her parents’ quiet argument in their room.
“She’s never going to move on,” Dad said softly.
“Killian doesn’t want Nate anywhere near her. He did something to his own child.”
“He’s many things, but I can’t see him hurting his own son.”
“Just like he couldn’t hurt me?” she hissed. “He swore he loved me, and look what he did.”
Dad sighed. “You picked me. He was never good at losing.”
“He took a mate. I left. He turned into a monster. What if Nate turns into him? Maybe it’s best he’s gone.”
Savon’s hand went to her chest as she silently slipped down the stairs and out the door. She needed answers and no one would tell her anything. She walked over to Nate’s house and pounded on the door.
No one answered, so she kept knocking and continued for five minutes.
Finally, Killian threw the door open. “What the hell do you want?”
She glared up at him, challenging the hatred burning in deep blood red around him. “Where is Nate? Is he alive?” she demanded.
“You’re nothing but trouble, Savon Roantree. Get the hell off my property.”
“I love him! Just tell me if he’s alive.”
He shook his head and shut the door in her face.
She slammed her hands on the door and screamed.
There were a series of crashes and he howled like a damned beast.
A familiar disembodied voice whispered, “Run, Savon. Go. He’ll tear you to shreds.”
She’d been across the yard by the time he followed, blood running down his face and arm. He didn’t move past the fence, though. “You should have been the one to die,” he hissed.
In that moment, Savon decided to move to San Francisco to get away from everything. If Nate lived, he’d find her, or so she thought.
Two weeks after moving to San Francisco, Savon sat down in the book store, happiness floating through her.
She still had no word about Nate. Bran didn’t have any news.
But she was having his baby. A piece of him would live on, even if he didn’t.
Tremaine took a seat next to her. “Finally took a test?”
She nodded.
“Can I ask who your little girl’s daddy is?”
“Girl?” Savon blinked, staring at Tremaine.
A single corner of his mouth tipped up. “I’m never wrong when it comes to a baby’s gender.”
“Was kind of hoping for a boy. Her father’s dead and gone.” Emptiness tried to sweep up and over her. She clung to the seed of Nate growing inside, pushing happiness through her.
“What happened to him?”
“Not sure. He proposed, then disappeared. He wouldn’t have left me that way. He couldn’t have.”
“You’re sure?”
Savon dropped her gaze. Almost two months had passed and no one knew anything. “Something happened to him. I don’t know what. But he’s gone, and I can’t wait forever.”
“And your girl?”
Savon smiled, pressing a hand over her stomach. “At least I have a part of him.” A tear fell.
Tremaine put an arm around her. “I’m all ears if you need someone to listen.”
She nodded, but didn’t want to say more at the time. She lost the baby a few days later and all hell broke loose. Tremaine helped her put the pieces back together.
“Hey, Savon. Where’d you go?” Tremaine asked, holding her hand. He’d moved to the stool beside her.
“Did I lose my baby girl because he came back?”
He shook his head. “No. It wasn’t his fault. That I blame on your father. Your magic tore free and it wasn’t pretty, but Nate didn’t know about you being pregnant, any more than you knew he was alive.”
“Why did I run yesterday?” Savon whispered. “I finally listened to him and ran anyway.”
Liz took the seat on her other side. “You were afraid. Everything fell apart. I get that better than you can imagine. Got to let that go. Trust me.”
“She’s right,” Tremaine answered. “You have every right to be hurt, but I have a feeling he’s hurting too. You need to talk to him, let it all out.”
Savon swallowed hard. “What if he’s mad? He didn’t come to my dream last night. I wound up in his, and I think it was a memory of when we were kids.”
“He was giving you space. Now that you know what he is, and you pointed out he’s been stalking you, he likely feels like an asshole.”
She dropped her head into her hands and both of them wrapped an arm around her.
Liz spoke up, “At least you figured it out faster than I did.” She looked up at Robert with a sad smile. “Might not be easy, but talk to Nate.”
“I will, but I still need to know what he meant about being his Sleepwalker. And do you know anything about Canagan? Something about that name rings a bell, but I can’t figure out what.”
“If she’s who I think, she’s old.” Tremaine scrubbed a hand over his face. “And bad news. What’s Nate’s last name? Who was his father?”
“Killian Taggert. I know he was extremely old, but not how old.”
Tremaine pressed at his temples. “Why didn’t Old Lady Murdock ever mention that?”
“What?”
“Shit, there’s more going on, and I don’t know what I can actually tell you about the bigger picture, but you need the part that affects you.”
“Bigger picture?” Savon asked.
Liz nodded. “Yeah, look, it’s complicated, and you have my word if I can tell you, I will.”
“All right, so what can you tell me?”
“Canagan was a Sylvan Fae before being turned into a werewolf,” Tremaine explained. “She was a teenager when Killian took her as payment to keep her family safe. He changed her, raped her, and she’s wanted to destroy him ever since.”
“Why didn’t he kill her if she was causing him trouble?”
Tremaine snorted, “The magic she wove around Killian backfired, tying her as thoroughly to him as he to her. If she kills him, she dies, and vice versa. Someone else can kill them and it breaks the spell. Bastard has lived three thousand years and has been challenged by many. No one has ever killed him.”
Savon tapped the counter. “Jay thinks he killed him. He didn’t become Alpha, though, and Killian’s body didn’t shift back to human when the wolf died.”
Liz rubbed at her forehead. “Give us the address in case we need to come to you.”
Tremaine pushed over a pen and paper. “As soon as we know more, you’ll have answers.”
“And, Savon,” Liz urged, “tell Nate about the baby. Sorry I couldn’t help you through that, but it hit too close to my past. I’ve been there, and you will feel better once he knows.” Liz squeezed her shoulder. “Trust me.”
Blinking, Savon nodded.
“In the meantime, there’s a Dreamwalker down the road who could answer your questions. I think you’ll feel better hearing it from one than us,” Tremaine told her. “I can take you.”
“Thank you.” She took a long sip of her tea. “Guess I have some talking to do when I get back.”
Robert changed the subject. “What can you tell us about the one who attempted to take the pack?”
“Australian accent. He feels old. Not Killian old, but definitely an older wolf. Jay Walker.”
“I may be able to find some information about him,” Robert offered.
“I guess I’ll be hearing from one of you soon?”
“You will,” Robert assured.
Savon turned to Tremaine. “And you’ll take me to the Dreamwalker?”
“You got it.” He hopped up and followed her to the door. “We’ll get your answers, Savon.”
“That’s why I came to you.”