~ Raine ~
One week later
WhenIemergedfromthe portal, Locke offered me his arm, and I let him lead me from the cave.
“You ready, sweetheart?” Asher asked from my other side, and for a moment I couldn’t answer. I wasn’t. Not really. Excitement and nerves made my stomach clench, and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry.
“Yes,” I lied, letting out a long exhale.
Asher nudged my arm. “Any time you want to leave, just say the word and I’ll happily sling you over my shoulder and start runnin’.”
I almost snorted as I pictured him doing just that in front of Chief Shaasi, the village leader. “Better not,” I replied with a grin. “You’ll give someone a heart attack.”
Cara had visited our island days earlier with Azaren and an escort of fae. After a little initial hostility, the fae managed to explain our history and the situation between the fae and the monsters. After some searching, the fae had found another hidden cave that had been glamored by fae magic. The crafted diaries in Queen Izla’s handwriting and paintings on the walls were enough to convince the islanders the fae were telling the truth. Still, after over a century of offerings to the monsters, I doubted the islanders had yet truly accepted their new reality.
Kade and Darian came up behind us, and we stepped from the cavemouth out into the light. As we entered the clearing, tingles rushed over my body, and I felt the moment my dragon disappeared, her fire leaving me. I paused, unsettled by the strange silence inside me, and peered at my mates. Their features changed in the morning light, the glow leaving their eyes. Locke’s wings disappeared, and Asher lost his horns and tail. Kade’s expression hardened, and I knew he was feeling just as empty without his wolf as I felt without my dragon.
“We’re human,” I said softly, forcing a smile and reaching up to brush my fingers down Locke’s cheek. His skin was no longer cold and pale, but warm with a pink flush. I knew how badly Locke had wanted to be human again, and I expected him to smile, but he only kept staring at me, his serious gaze fixed on my face.
“I don’t care what I am, as long as you’re with me, Raine,” he replied, and my throat bobbed as he traced a finger along the black mark that still remained on my neck. I thought then of our protective bond that had been severed. None of us had spoken about it, but I could tell my mates missed it as much as I did. Like the curse over Katakin that turned us into monsters, that magical bond between us had become a part of who we were.
A long moment passed, but the sound of chatter in the cave had us moving further into the clearing. A constant stream of monsters and fae exited the portal and made their way through the forest, passing by us.
“Damn,” Asher said, twisting his head to try and stare at where his tail had been. “I know Azaren said this would happen, but it’s still fuckin’ weird.”
Darian’s lips curled into a devilish smirk. “At least, unlike in the fae realm, this time you have another pair of pants.”
Asher grinned and began changing into the spare pair of pants he’d brought. “Now I know how shifters feel,” he murmured.
I smiled, admiring him as much as he appreciated me when I was naked.
Noticing the attention, he winked at me and made an extra effort to tense his muscles as he pulled his pants up.
Kade shook his head, but I laughed.
When he was dressed, Asher stalked over to me and stole a kiss that made my lips swollen. When our lips parted, he continued to hold me, and I stared up at my mate. Heat flared low in my belly, but slowly I pulled away from him. “We can’t be late,” I commented, smoothing my dress and fighting against the temptation to coax my mates further into the forest.
Turning back to the clearing, I breathed in deep, taking in the island air. The area looked different during the day than it had when I’d been in the line up on the Night of the Offering. It was…smaller somehow.
I remembered glimpsing my monsters for the first time. It felt like an age had passed since then, but now, instead of standing there with my makeshift dagger, I had the blade Asher had gifted me strapped to my inner thigh. I thought of the other newbloods reuniting with their families. Many had already voiced their intentions to remain in Katakin, but at least this time the choice was theirs.
Kade pushed my hair away from the side of my face. “You sure you don’t want us to come with you?” he asked, his voice still rough and scratchy, even though he no longer had his wolf.
“If I turn up with four guys behind me, it might be too much for him to handle,” I replied, smiling despite the way my heart was hammering.
Asher’s lips stretched into a boyish grin, his eyes filling with mischief.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned him.
“What?” he replied innocently.
I stared pleadingly at the others.
“We’ll make sure he behaves,” Locke commented, though he was smiling as well, and the expression was so casual, so relaxed, that before I knew it we were all laughing.
“There you are!” a familiar voice came from the forest, and I turned as Cara emerged from between the trees.
For a brief moment, the image of her being taking by the monsters ten years ago flashed across my mind, but then she was in front of me, pulling me away from my mates. “We’d better hurry if we want to catch him before the ceremony,” Cara chirped, leading me further into the forest. “We won’t be long!” she called over her shoulder, and I gave the others one last nervous look before they disappeared from sight.
