Chapter 40
“That was too easy,” Savon told Tremaine.
He snorted. “According to who? You damn near gave me a stroke. Hand to hand with a shifted wolf?”
“I still remember the moves you showed me. Not to mention I infused magic behind my strikes.”
He sighed. “What’s with the three wolves?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I’ll let Nate sort that out. They were assholes in school, but they did help me move in when I came back to town. And they attacked under Canagan’s influence.”
He chuckled. “Ever wonder why weres tend to flock to you?”
“What? They do not.” Savon protested.
He half-laughed. “I can think of a dozen shifters who wanted you badly. And Jay, he felt a bond coming. That dissipated the moment you mated Nate. Still, he wasn’t the first, either.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can think of a few men who tried to woo you before you were ready to start thinking about other men.”
“Don’t remind me of the other men.”
He nudged her. “You kept a few of us as friends after.”
“Yeah, only when we both realized it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Your heart was already claimed, you just needed to realize it.”
“Same for you. Though Robert? That I couldn’t have guessed.”
Tremaine looked across the lot at his man. “Yeah, neither did I, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Hey, if it works, it works. And I’m going to want to visit. You know I want to meet your baby.”
“We’re having a boy,” he offered. He nodded at Nate. “What about you two? Now that you’re together again, think you want a little one?”
Savon lifted a shoulder. “If it happens, it does. Right now, we need to discuss a few things before making any decisions.”
“Yeah, but what do you want?”
“I’m not in a rush, but I do want kids, eventually. I can’t imagine he’ll ever be the asshole his father was.”
“Doubtful.”
Jay rode off, and Bran caught up with Nate as he made his way over.
“Well, I think we’re done here,” Tremaine said. “Call if something comes up, but I’ll let you settle into your new life.”
“Thanks.” She smiled.
Nate nodded at Tremaine. “I can’t thank you enough. I’m glad Savon had you as a friend all those years.”
“Me too. She helped me as much as I helped her. Good luck, you two.” Tremaine reached for Robert’s hand.
Robert smiled. “A pleasure to meet you both. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of both of you.”
Preston smirked. “Later.”
They were gone. Savon turned to Nate. “What’s up with Jay?”
“He’s going to stick around a few months, but then move on. I suppose we need to see what your mother and Ceridwen have to say?”
“Yeah, though Ceridwen seems okay with the outcome. I don’t have a clue what’s going to happen in the end.”
Bran put his arm around Savon. “Not sure how to feel about Mom being back.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah, I’m with you there. You coming over?”
“Sure. May as well get this over with.”
* * * *
Nervous energy flowed through Savon. Ceridwen sticking around was probably a good thing…in a way.
Nate took her hand. “What’s going on in your head?”
“Wondering what happens next.”
“Tell me you don’t regret me taking the pack.”
“Not in the least.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Told you, I want to be with you. And we both have a brother here.” Her brow pinched. “I’m going to have to ask my mother about that. I can’t not.”
“Yeah, I want to know why too. My father was not a good man.”
Savon shuddered. “Don’t have to worry about him now.”
“True.” He pulled up in front of Savon’s house. “So, you want me to move in?”
Savon grinned. “Yes.”
“After they leave, I’ll bring some stuff over.”
“Sounds good.” She slid from the car and hurried to the door.
Fawn opened the door and wrapped her arms around Savon as Bran walked up to Nate. “Think we were all manipulated?”
He snorted. “A little, but I don’t mind the outcome. I was heading this direction anyway.”
“True.” Bran started for the door.
Fawn took Bran into her arms. “I missed you. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you everything.”
“Will you now?” Bran asked.
“Everything.”
Bran squeezed her back and stepped inside.
Nate came up the steps. “You’re happy Savon and I are together?”
She hugged him. “More than anything. You two should have had your happiness all those years ago. Come, you need the whole story.”
He dipped his head, and they gathered in the living room. Savon sat curled on the couch and held her hand out to Nate. He sat down beside her. Bran took a seat in a chair.
Ceridwen stood in a corner, while Fawn dropped onto the loveseat.
After a deep breath, Fawn launched into her explanation. “I wish things weren’t so complicated between our families, though I suppose if it wasn’t the case, you two would never have been together.”
Bran snorted.
“I fell hard for your father, Nathan. In the beginning he was a charming rogue. The first year was wonderful. And then he learned I had the Wolfssengen Pendant and he wanted it. That’s when Vanessa walked into our lives. He didn’t resist the mate bond. I’m not sure he could have. She wanted the pendant for HARP.”
“I left, Darron came to me, helped me pick up the pieces, and while I was away, I learned I was pregnant with Bran.” She turned to him. “I didn’t want Killian to find out. It’s why you didn’t know. Only, he knew, thanks to Vanessa, who was a Dreamwalker.”
“Then Darron and I had Savon.” Fawn turned to her. “You were so powerful, sweetheart. Your father tried to teach you at first, but he didn’t know how. You made it impossible for him to control the entities. And then the spirits destroyed a library in New York, and we fled. We had someone bind your magic, only it never fully worked. There are parts of your magic that are so inherently part of you, nothing could alter that. So we brought you back to Silvertail Ridge.”
She took a long breath. “I never wanted to come back. Killian was vengeful, vindictive. He found out I took another lover, and he went ballistic, but he wouldn’t touch me. No, he was afraid of me because Vanessa made sure he knew what I am.”
“Because of Canagan?” Nate asked.
“Believe so. She tormented him. He deserved it. If I had known that story I never would have trusted Killian, but Canagan wasn’t here when I first met Killian. She came later, when she learned I had possession of the pendant. Both Killian and Canagan worked together to try to take it five years ago. Darron died to ensure Killian couldn’t interrupt my portal in the basement. I took the pendant to the Sylvan Forest in Faery. When your father died, he followed me across the veil, and because his soul is bound to a spirit, much like those you hear, he’s stuck between planes. I can see him, hear him. I’m never truly alone now.”
Savon blinked back tears.
“He’s sorry, Savon. We thought we were protecting you from the Branches of Emrys, but that was never the problem. Not really. He was afraid you would wind up like him. Bound to a spirit who never released you. It’s why he can’t move on. A spirit latched onto his soul.”
Savon leaned into Nate. He hugged her closer. “You won’t,” he whispered.
Fawn laughed. “No, I don’t imagine you will. Darron sees that now too. He’s watched over you. You don’t make his mistakes.”
“Wish he could have seen that sooner.”
“Me too. Maybe if we hadn’t blocked your magic, you would have had your little girl.”
Nate turned to Savon to wipe the tears from her face. “I love you,” he whispered.
She buried her face against his neck.
“When you’re ready, we’ll have all the babies you want.”
She laughed, squeezing tighter.
Fawn stood and reached toward him with a small box in her hand. “I believe this is yours.” She winked.
The velvet box that caused the accident.
“Vanessa left Killian when she realized he would continue to beat her—that not even tormenting him in dreams would ever stop him. She wasn’t a werewolf. She wouldn’t have survived another beating. So she left. And later, she saw Killian’s car and drove him off the road. I was driving back from town when I saw the accident. I rushed over.”
She wiped at her own tears. “She pulled you out of the car. You were so banged up, bloody, and you weren’t breathing. She thought you were dead. She’d brought a gun to finish Killian and shot herself when she thought you were beyond saving.”
Nate looked up. “My father told me my mother ran me off the road, but I didn’t really believe it.”
Fawn nodded. “You had the box wrapped in your hand. She figured out what was going on. She knew Killian would kill her, so she took her own life.”
Savon sat up. She bit her lip, her eyes slamming shut.
“I know,” he whispered. “You told me not to go.”
Nodding, she shrugged.
Ceridwen spoke up, “Things would have been a mess for a long time. The baby was never viable. That had nothing to do with anything. Killian would have changed Nate anyway. He would have torn you both apart, one way or another.”
Savon let out a sigh. “So now what?”
Ceridwen walked to the center of the room. “Join us. I’ll tell you everything. I trust you to hide the pendant in a realm between realms. Something you can reach, but no one else can.”
“Why me?” Savon asked.
“Because you don’t want to use the pendant, and you know what it can do. Fawn will leave with me, and anyone who wants it will believe it came with us. Please, Savon. There are places in the house only you can reach, thanks to the thin veil between worlds.”
“All right,” she answered.
“Is that what you want?” Nate asked.
Savon half-laughed. “Makes sense. And I always felt as if Ceridwen was grooming me for something.”
“I want Bran to help you.” Ceridwen turned to him. “Will you?”
“If I can.”
“Me too,” Nate answered.
Ceridwen laughed. “Already expected that.” She placed the pendant in Savon’s hands and closed them.
“What do I do with the pendant?” Savon asked.
“For now, you can wear it. Later, after we leave, you and Bran should hide it. I believe you two can figure that out on your own.”
“I have an idea,” she answered.
“You’ll fill me in?” Bran asked.
“Of course.”
Ceridwen stood. “Come on, Fawn, I think they have enough to digest, and you and I aren’t finished with our discussion yet.”
“Of course.” She smiled and hugged each of them before following Ceridwen out the door.
Savon took a look at the pendant. It appeared to be a simple carving of a wolf’s head in gray stone on a leather thong. On the back were symbols she couldn’t read. “All this trouble over this little thing?”
Nate huffed. “I can hardly believe it.”
“Follow me. I have an idea about what we can do with it.” Savon hopped up and led them outside, around the back, to an oak tree they all used to climb.
She held her hand over a knot in the tree and whispered words. A hole opened and Savon placed the necklace within. Then she sealed the hole with another spell.
Savon looked to Bran. “Later, I’ll teach you how to build these wards.” She worked the magic.
Bran put his arm around her. “Was that Sylvan magic?”
“Yup, the spirits will watch over it.”
“In that case, I should go.” Bran put his arm around her.
“Soon, we’re hanging out,” Savon promised.
“You got it, Sis.” Bran hugged her. “I’m going to take off now.”
Nate took her hand and brought her back inside.
Smiling, Savon murmured, “To the future.”
He turned and swept her off her feet. “As long as I have you, I’m a happy man.”