Chapter Twenty-Eight
The snow had already melted from the expansive mountain-scape of Big Bear, as Cat guessed would happen. Gotta love California. The wind whipped around her, and she closed her eyes against the moist air carrying the heady scent of rain. The dock beneath her bare feet cut into the sensitive flesh, but she didn’t mind. She needed the grounding of the sharp sensation. Night had fallen hours before, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to carry through with the thing she had come out to do.
Clenched in her fist was the cause of all her problems. The leather strap and jade amulet that held insurmountable power for the Shifter race and brought only murderer and madness.
She had woken two days after the fight with Quinn and Lia to find Killian lying next to her in bed. Sometime during her healing process, she had shifted back to human, and he curled against her body with his arm holding her impossibly close. Relief blossomed in her at the sound of his soft breaths in her ear, and she sighed as the tears fell down from her cheeks. She had survived. She didn’t understand how it happened, but damn, it felt great to be breathing. Feeling.
When Killian noticed she was awake, he had kissed her senseless. Through that one act he told her exactly how miserable he had been. They shared whispered words as they lay in bed, the sun rising behind the closed shades of their window.
He told her about Aidan’s appearance before they left and the rescue. He even mentioned that he’d had to put down her grandparents since they were too far gone within their wolves, and he didn’t want her to see it. Even the Faol Geal couldn’t help Shifters completely lost in their wolves.
The pack held a moment of silence for Lia, despite their deep hatred for the woman who had betrayed them; for her grandparents, whom she’d never had the opportunity to know other than their wildest moments. It was more of a closure for the pack than it was for the deceased, a sign of acceptance for the loss of a pack member.
The smell of sulfur reached her senses behind the fresh scent of rain as the air shifted, and Cat crinkled her nose at the stench that should not be so familiar. She didn’t want to admit it caused her spine to stiffen in caution and memories to flood her mind.
She knew the person standing behind her, though it was the first time she’d seen him since the night he told her about the Faol Geal. His footsteps crackled on pine needles and gravel as heavy boots crossed the ground and then stepped onto the dock, which shifted with his body weight.
“How is my favorite Shifter doing?” Aidan said quietly, his voice barely audible over the slap of the angry waves beneath them.
Hot tears welled up in her eyes, and burning fury erupted like volcanic matter from her every pore. He had saved her life, but it wouldn’t have needed saving if he had just opened his mouth. Fuck Witch politics or whatever lame excuse he had used. When she sensed him standing directly behind her, she whipped her body around and punched him across the jaw, relishing the feel of power behind the blow and the appearance of his head snapping to the side.
“You knew. You knew the whole time what the hell was going to happen, and you still wouldn’t tell us.” The words hissed from behind her clenched teeth, and she fought the urge to pummel him again and again. Her hand itched with the need to reduce his pretty, confident face to nothing more than an unrecognizable lump.
“I am a Warlock. We know things,” he said with a shrug, but the grin had been effectively wiped from his face.
“What good is knowing things if you can’t help people when they need it, Aidan?” A tear spilled over, and Cat swiped at it with her fingers.
“I’m not allowed—” He started repeating the phrase like his own mantra to excuse his inability to provide a moral reason behind it.
“Oh, shove your I’m not allowed shit, Aidan.” He lifted an eyebrow at her interruption, the smallest hint of a smile forming as he rubbed the sore spot with his hand. “Morally you should have known to say something to us.”
“Look, Cat. If I could have told you, I would have.” He sighed and looked out at the dark lake in front of them, glittering with stars and lights from nearby homes. “Not only because Witches don’t allow it, but because it could have changed the path you were on. At least this way I knew I could save you.” His shifted his gaze sideways to shoot her a pointed look before continuing to stare at the churning water.
The argument wasn’t going to go anywhere. His decision had already been made, lives had already been lost, and she was so tired of the exhausting notion of vengeance. So instead of continuing to jab him for the bad judgment on his part, she decided to look at the silver lining. It was a new concept for her.
“Thanks, Aidan. Killian told me what you did.”
He snorted, and his lips spread into a bright smile, luminescent even in the night. “He did, huh? I figured he would take all the credit for himself.”
Cat nudged his arm with her elbow, chuckling a little. “Unfortunately, he probably would have if it hadn’t been for the miraculous healing of an otherwise deadly bite to my neck.”
When Aidan glanced down to the spot on her neck, she instinctively touched it with her fingers. Underneath the black turtleneck was a large scar of malformed skin. To a human it might have looked like nothing more than a burn mark stretching across her neck and shoulder, something easily explainable when questioned. But to her it was a badge of honor. It was a trophy for a battle won and a reminder of what she had to go through in order to get where she was.
The look of regret in Aidan’s gaze only solidified her belief that he wasn’t necessarily a bad person, just someone who kept to strict guidelines given to him by his race. She could respect loyalty, even if it had cost her.
“Why are you here, Aidan? I figured we’d never see you again.”
His body tensed at her question, and Aidan looked away as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The aura of indecision from his body became clearer as he sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, keeping his gaze away from Cat’s.
“I shouldn’t tell you. I’ll probably get into trouble for it, but I think you deserve to know. And after—after everything in the basement…I can’t get you lying there out of my head.” He finally looked over, but not at Cat. His looked down at the necklace palmed between her two hands.
“I told Killian the Faol Geal wouldn’t work for Quinn, but what I didn’t tell him was it was because it wasn’t meant for her. When Torch created the amulet, he knew there would be issues on who could control the Shifters. So he made it have a mind of its own.” He paused, as if trying the words in his mind before saying anything.
A necklace with a mind of its own?
“The Faol Geal gets to choose who the inheritor is. It can skip generations as it searches for the person able to control the Shifters. Which is why it went missing for a while. As it was passed on, it didn’t work, so people assumed it was fake or the magic had worn off. Torch didn’t let them know it just hadn’t found the right one yet.”
The information clicked together, a missing puzzle piece to her life, and she stared in amazement. “But how did you know Quinn wasn’t chosen by the Faol Geal?”
“I know because I’m his descendant. I’m able to see the signature on that amulet and communicate with the magic within. We share a connection of blood, and I knew the minute I felt the Faol Geal that Quinn wasn’t who it chose. It chose you.” His expression became stern—a sign the ever-playful Aidan was being absolutely serious.
The fingers grasping the necklace went numb, nothing more than a set of tingling digits as she looked down at them. Stomach churning in disbelief, she let out a breath that seemed too hard to expel. A hand patted her shoulder in an awkward form of comfort from a Warlock who had just delivered life-changing news to his unsuspecting victim.
“Congratulations, Cat. You now have control over the whole Shifter race.” His playful, joking tone did nothing to stifle the extreme meaning behind the words he stated. A punch to the stomach could have caused less of a reaction than what Cat experienced, like she was going to pass out or throw up at the same time. “Now let’s see what you do with it.”
His laughter faded into the night as he disappeared from her side.
That was so like him. She’d only met him a handful of times, but she felt she understood him so well. A guy who hid behind laughter and jokes in an attempt to cover the serious nature of his news. The quick one-two he’d thrown her way could not be dressed up or dressed down.
Controller of a whole race. How could she even fathom holding such power over people? She couldn’t even handle the possibility of living among humans, opening them all up to dangers beyond their imagination. And now she had to deal with this shit.
The simple object in her hand only came with pain. If others knew she had it, there would be irreparable damage to her family. A group of people she had grown to love and were already reeling over issues did not need another basketful of problems delivered to their doorstep.
Aidan may not have realized it, but he had adjusted her reasoning for coming out there that night. Or maybe he had known all along, and that was his purpose for being there. The mystery behind the Witch race was just that—a mystery.
The dock bobbed up and down as someone else boarded, and Cat inhaled the deep scent of Killian. She hadn’t heard him walk up—had been too focused on how to handle the Faol Geal. Dropping her body down, she sat cross-legged on the splintering wood and leaned back on her hands to gaze at the stars. Killian shuffled his big body to sit next to her and sighed.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said matter-of-factly, causing Cat to whip her head toward him.
“You were listening?” she whispered, astonished at his gall.
“Of course I listened. When I saw him appear, it was either that or kill him. And since he did save your life, I guess we’re even now.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye with a sideways smile.
Cat snorted, hitting his shoulder lightly with hers. “Yeah, right.”
They both went silent as they each became transfixed by something in the sky. Cat loved the stars. They seemed so close, but their distance was unattainable. A tease to those who would give anything to just reach a hand out and hold the smallest amount of stardust in their hands.
“What are you going to do with it?”
Killian was a strong Alpha, and to most, this kind of power could mean undeniable control over his pack. Hell, he could be king of the wolves if he asked Cat to do it for him.
Cat squeezed the cool stone in her fingers, feeling its humming, its aura of power. Now she understood why she could feel it. It called to her, like a wolf to its Alpha. Begging to be told what to do, what direction to go.
“At this point, I’m unsure. It’s dangerous to keep it, but is it also dangerous to not keep it? I mean, Aileas and Faelan had it created for a reason.”
Killian nodded but didn’t say anything. She wanted his guidance, his help to make the right choice. Hell, she’d love for him to tell her what to do for once.
“People are going to hunt it down forever. There will always be one Shifter who finds out about it,” Cat whispered, stroking the moon with her thumb. “But think of the people we could help. The lone Shifters, the depressed mates…” Her voice trailed off. Killian again remained silent.
“Why aren’t you telling me what to do, Killian?”
He finally looked away from the sky, his eyes full of emotions. She saw his pride, his desire, his joy. “I’m not going to tell you what to do because it’s not my decision. Do I want to? Yes. Do I want to take that necklace, force you to take control with it? Sure. But I’m not going to, because the necklace chose you, Cat. It chose your heart, nobody else’s. I will respect whatever decision you make.”
Cat’s heart swelled with pride, but it also hurt. It throbbed with pain for the loss this necklace caused, and pride that the necklace deemed her worthy of such a power. But did they need it?
“I think you can run the pack and do all of those things without the Faol Geal. You’re an amazing Alpha, Killian. Your pack doesn’t follow you out of fear, but out of love for you. Look what you did for me.”
Killian laughed and nodded. “Yeah, but I haven’t always been able to help every Shifter, Cat. You were just one of the strong ones.”
Cat sat in silence, enjoying the sound of the water, the thunderclouds rolling in above, the animals rushing to their homes. She could make a difference with this tiny amulet. The Faol Geal saw in her a potential leader to a race that needed self-control.
“I want to help.” Her voice came out in a whisper. “I want to heal those who are just lost, like my grandparents. Like Phoebe. Before it’s too late for them.”
Killian’s lips tilted in a little smile. “And you can do that, Cat. Let me worry about the safety of the pack.”
Cat stuck the necklace back in the pocket of her jacket. They could try it out for a little while. Like a test run. See how it balanced out and what danger came knocking on their door.
“I would have supported you, whatever decision you made,” Killian said, his rough voice spilling into the night.
“I know.” Cat smiled at him.
He looked at her, tense lines around his eyes. His shoulders tightened, and Cat reached a hand up to massage away whatever was bothering him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
“When I first saw you in that cage, you had this…fire. You were so strong underneath all that skinny wolf. I could see your need to fight and your stubbornness in one glance. I thought, Oh hell, here we go, but then you changed. You weren’t frightened and lost, but found a purpose in yourself instead. I have never seen someone go through what you did and come back so strong and fierce. You’re my little warrior.” Killian opened his eyes and brushed a hand down her cheek as she sat rapt with attention, heart beating with erratic flutters.
“And then you were just everywhere. In the gym where we sparred. In the kitchen laughing with Jessica over a glass of that horrible wine she always brings over for you. In the forest running wild and free. In my bed, my bath. This person who was previously nonexistent became everything to me, and you were trying to leave me behind.” His voice broke slightly, and he cleared his throat with a smirk.
“That night in the basement…I watched you bleed and almost die, Cat. You were in my arms, and I could do nothing to help you, and all I could think about was what you said to me in that damn truck.”
“I love you, Killian Stone. We’re going to get through this, and when we do, I want to hear about how amazing you think I am. For now it’s open-ended, so that we both have something to live for.”
Cat’s breath came in short gasps through her burning lungs. She let the tears fall, unashamed of the beauty of the moment and understanding exactly where Killian was going with it. How could she not know, when everything in his eyes was so blatantly clear to her? The tender golden gaze that traced every feature of her face as he spoke, and the slight blush on his cheeks as he revealed his deepest emotions. The fear evident in the grip of his hand on her chin, hoping she hadn’t had a change of heart.
“Everything was crashing around me, and you were there again. The support to my crumbling world, even as yours crumbled with mine.”
He sat up straighter, with both of them on their knees. He grasped her cheeks. Tears fell freely as she smiled with quivering lips.
“But we can build it up together, Cat. We’ll support each other as we build a pack, a home for those who need it. I can’t do it without you by my side, my fierce little wolf. With the Faol Geal or without it. I love you, Catrina Macintyre.” The husky words came out like a gasp of relief, breathing life into Cat’s very being. “You already agreed to be part of my pack…but will you help me lead it? Will you be my mate?”
His fear of her rejection almost made her laugh. How could he not see the very devotion and love pouring out from her? It felt like it was flooding from within her soul.
She bit her lip and sniffed back the tears, and looked down at his hands. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” she deadpanned, fighting the urge to let loose the smile threatening to curve her lips.
He jerked back, his eyebrows drawn together in consternation, and then looked around the dock like it would solve the riddle.
“The ring?” She forced an eyebrow up, fisting her hands on her thighs and digging her nails into the soft flesh of her palms. Laughter bubbled just beneath the surface of her stern appearance as she watched the shock come to light on his face. Those eyes—the ones that followed her even into her dreams—widened in surprise as he opened and closed his lips in an attempt to speak.
“Oh…shit. I completely forgot about a ring. I came out here, and you looked so beautiful—and I just—” he stammered. Cat loved the nervous Killian, the one who broke every rule an Alpha should have. All his pride, all his self-assured presence, went out the window, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore. The laughter erupted from her, let loose from the control she had enforced upon herself. She curled over and clutched her stomach as she laughed, and Killian finally broke into a smile.
“You little—” He half laughed before he grabbed her face and kissed her, fusing their love together in a tangible connection.
“I love you, Killian,” she breathed against his lips when he finally let her up for air. Droplets of rain sprinkled from the sky, leaving a mist across the top of Killian’s hair and nose that glittered in contrast to the darkness. Like stardust flaking across his skin.
He pressed his forehead to hers and let out a low chuckle. “I love you too, little wolf.”
Cat kissed him, dipping her tongue into his mouth, and tasted the love resting on his lips. She was consumed by the beauty of the moment—the stars above, the rain faintly falling on their skin—so she didn’t complain when Killian groaned into her mouth, deepening the kiss. Or when he carefully removed every article of clothing on their bodies.
They relied on the darkness to keep them secret, for the thunderstorm to mask their cries. Cat took control, pushing Killian down onto the dock and showing him how much she loved him. She tasted his skin mixed with the fresh rainwater. She relished every gasp, every moan, as she discovered his body all over again.
This time it seemed different. Those three words and the emotions pouring out of their hearts spurred them into an escalated frenzy—as if the sheer force of admitting their feelings made each sensation that much better.
Cat squeezed his hard length in her hand and covered it with her mouth, burying it to the hilt. Killian’s moan melted into the night, but Cat felt it to her toes, intoxicated by the noise alone. She swirled her tongue, drunk on his taste. His fingers dug into her hair, urging her on, encouraging her to take it as deep as she could. He thickened in her mouth, and she sucked harder, pulling in her cheeks and moaning, turned on by the effect she had on him.
Killian suddenly pulled her up onto his lap and looked up at her. His adoration burned into her from his gaze, and she gasped. He lifted her hips, positioned himself at her entrance, and surged into her. Cat threw her head back. He was so deep. Her pussy squeezed him, and when she looked down, the expression on his face almost had her combusting right there. He bit his lip, eyes closed and heavy desire creasing his eyebrows. She rode him, each thrust taking her higher and higher. Their pace became more erratic, and Cat’s shaking legs threatened to give up on her, but Killian gripped her hips and continued their carnal movement.
His thumb circled her clit, eliciting the fire within her. She burst, brilliant lights behind her eyes, the stars spinning above her. He thrust into her once, then twice, before shivering beneath her hands. Killian pulled her down to his dampened chest and brushed his hand over her now wet hair. Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance, but Cat snuggled into his bare skin, listening to the soothing beat of his heart.