Chapter 37

“Open your eyes!” the voice commanded.

Sylvie blinked as the fall’s mist doused her face and screamed again. This time with pure, unadulterated joy.

“Rowan?”

“Are they all behind the water?” His roguish look brought tears to her eyes as he swiped the hair from her face.

“Yes,” she sobbed. “We’re all here.”

The purple lights strapped to Rowan’s shoulders forced Sylvie to squint as he lifted her into the arms of another. “Elias?”

“I’m here, Kitten. Hold on to me.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and stifled her cries as he held her, using one arm to pull shifters from the waters.

“We don’t have much time,” Kian yelled from their left. “They won’t be deterred for long, and these lamps will soon lose their effectiveness.”

“We know!” Kerensa appeared wadding through the water, pulling shifters lightning fast. She ducked behind the falls and reappeared a few moments later. “This is everyone. Let’s go. Now!”

They dragged their sodden bodies onto the banks. Their horrified gazes locked one at a time on the man holding Sylvie in his clutches.

“You bastard!” Ren growled, raising his fist.

“It’s not him! Hayes is his brother. They’re twins.” Sylvie wriggled until he put her down and raised her hands to clasp Ren’s clenched fist. “I promise it’s not him. Now let’s get home, okay?”

“Everyone hold on to each other! Anyone too weak to hold will need to be between two strong people. Now hurry up before those freaks come back.” Even as Kerensa said it, the screeching cacophony returned from further away.

Kian, Kerensa and Rowan grabbed the weaker shifters forming a chain while Elias took Sylvie’s waist. “I won’t lose you again.”

She sniffled as Kerensa shouted again. “Now move as close as possible, and don’t let go.” They bunched together, shaking and shattered when her purple eyes locked on Sylvie. “I’m going to draw some energy from you for this. It’s gonna fucking hurt.”

Elias tensed at her side, but she nodded, eyeing the turned again, racing down the canyon walls. “Do it. Hurry!”

With that, Kerensa and Kian chanted a few gibberish words, the world tilted, their feet dangling in the nothingness, and a blinding agony sucked the life from her lungs.

A grip tightened on her side, but the suffering only grew until her body seized, every muscle locking in fierce torture until the ground solidified again and the world went dark.

“Give her this... our blood...”

“-need some yourself. Look at the state o yeh.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, alright, Mr Grumpy Pants. Give it here.”

“-awake yet?”

“Nay, lad. Perhaps some fresh air might do the lassie good.”

Her body swayed as if in a hammock, the soothing voice of her mate coming in and out of focus.

“- I know it’s not your tree, but maybe it’ll help... you saved them.”

Another voice spoke then, a warm hand brushing her forehead.” I’m so proud of you, princess.”

“-They belong here as well! A’m no wastin ma elixirs on a bunch o rogues ye hear? They’re comin’ home.”

“- Mattias?... Threatened her!”

“Look at him, would ye. He’s frail as a kitten. He’s unrecognisable. And she saved him. Have faith in yer people. ”

“One wrong move-”

“Aye, get out o here, lad. Damn overbearing fool.”

Sylvie awoke to chirps and chatter, the hum of hushed voices like a gnat in her ear. She rolled over and groaned, a needle in her arm stopping her from turning further.

"Ow." She tore it free with a grunt, pressed her finger to the spot spilling blood, and sat.

“Holy shit.” Her exclamation was followed by the door of Amira’s cottage slamming open and the rush of three giant bodies.

Rowan took the front, almost skidding across the wood floors, while Kian and Elias followed with calmer strides. Amira took the rear, scowling and looking ready to blow as she massaged the wood of her abused door.

“Damned fool.”

Rowan grumbled but took Sylvie’s face between his palms, looking her over urgently.

“You’re okay?”

“I’m fine-” her words were cut off by a deep kiss, Rowan’s scruffy beard tickling her face.

He moved back as Kian appeared next, kissing both of her hands and then chastely on the lips. “I missed you.”

“How long was I out?”

“Not long,” Elias answered, taking Kian’s place and kissing her forehead.

“Your shifters are waiting for you.”

“What?” Sylvie took Elias’ outstretched arm and stood on wobbly legs, aware that her satin slip that doubled as a medical gown covered a very large, soft pair of 'underwear' that may or may not have had pee in it.

Fucking hell, Amira put her in a diaper. She nudged Elias back a fraction and found her balance. “Can I have some privacy to change into my clothes? I’ll meet you outside.”

“Of course,” Elias answered for the three. Rowan looked ready to refuse, but Kian’s hand on his shoulder helped relieve his tension.

“She’ll be okay,” he said softly.

The moment they left, she took the clean clothes Amira placed in her arms and rushed to the bathroom, washing and changing. She stepped out of the room and subtly wrapped the diaper and dress in a tiny ball, searching for a bin. Amira appeared in a flash and took the bundle, unashamed or bothered by it.

“Don’t worry, lassie, I didn’t let them change ye, e’en though they insisted on helpin me. Bloody persistent men, I tell ye. Though I’m sure ye are well aware.”

“Thank you,” she said with a laugh, the heated flush burning across her chest. While she was content sharing most of her body with her mates, her bodily fluids remained entirely her own.

“I wanted to thank ye before ye go,” Amira said. “For bringing them back. Even Mattias.”

Her memory flickered, but she couldn’t place him amongst the rescued shifters.

“You wouldn’t have known it was him. The Vampires tortured him quite badly. Starved him.”

A flash of concern crossed her face. “If you could be so kind, encourage yer mate to let him stay. He’s my nephew, ye ken.”

Sylvie nodded and headed for the door. “We just got them back. I don’t plan on abandoning any of them now. The ball is in their court, so to speak.”

She smiled at Amira and left the room, almost stumbling in Rowan’s chest.

“Amira had no right to ask that of you. I’m sorry-”

“She’s right, Rowan. They stay.”

“But-”

She raised her brow at him, and he clenched his jaw, an argument clearly on his mind, but luckily for him, he refrained.

“Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and sashayed past, linking her fingers with Elias.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked.

“Fine. Just a bit groggy.”

Kian appeared at her other side and narrowed his eyes. “It took a lot from you to portal us home. Are you sure you’re okay?”

She stilled, tuning into her body, flexing her fingers and toes, focusing her energy on a plant slowly uncurling beside her foot, and it shot up without issue.

“Yep, fine. Guess I’m just stronger than you think.”

Rowan chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist, sniffing her hair. “I always knew you were strong.”

They rounded the pack house and stopped suddenly, the round eyes of the entire pack staring them down.

Sylvie swallowed and leaned back into Rowan’s chest, but he pushed her forward. Elias released her hand simultaneously, so she stumbled in front of the pack, staring sheepishly at their faces. Before Sylvie could turn and scowl at her mates, a loud cheer filled the space, turning into a chorus of joyful cries and applause.

Seona and Ren appeared, looking far cleaner and healthier, clapping along with them, and Sylvie dashed over to pull them into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all alright.”

“Ditto,” Ren grumbled awkwardly.

“Us?” Seona shouted over him. “I thought you were a goner for sure.”

“No way.” Sylvie laughed and released them as Rosie appeared and tackled her to the ground, the action forcing hysterical giggles from Sylvie and worried growls from everyone around them. A hand appeared to pull them up, the appendage belonging to Natalie.

“Welcome back, Alpha.”

Sylvie blushed but said nothing as she swiped the dirt from her clothes.

She chuckled again and sighed theatrically. “So... Now what?”

“Now we debrief,” Rowan said, stepping forward to take her hand. She accepted, squeezing him hard to show her annoyance from earlier but covered it with a smile and followed the pack towards the lake.

Sitting around the fire, with food and drink, everyone took turns addressing the situation of the returned shifters.

“Sylvie has already declared all rescued shifters will stay with the pack,” Rowan stated from across the fire, his eyes staring into hers. “Those who were previously rogues consider this a second chance.”

Amira stood beside who Sylvie guessed was Mattias and nodded with a tender smile. The tiger shifter was half the size from what she remembered, his long unkept beard covering most of his face. Despite her first encounter with him in the dark, in the daylight, she could see their similarities.

“What about the vampires? They could return here at any time and take us again,” Ren argued.

“Perhaps we should move the pack,” another suggested.

Amira cleared her throat, and everyone directed their gazes to her. “We mustnae forget these vampires are starvin an they are afraid. So maybe we should be addressin the issue o their realm dyin instead o the symptom o them takin our own.”

Sylvie found herself nodding along with a scarce number of shifters while the others muttered in distaste.

“Why should we help them? They drained our people!”

“It’s ridiculous!”

“They deserve what they get!”

Sylvie’s face grew hot, the rising anger around the fire triggering her fight or flight.

“Hey!”

She barely yelled, but the noise immediately quieted, all eyes shifting to her, not one with a look of disdain. She swallowed, hoping the lump in her throat wouldn’t stop her words as she went to speak again.

“Amira is right. I am half Vampire and mated to the prince,” she cast her eyes at Elias, who smirked and nodded from her left side. “So I care about them too. The people I saw—not the ones in the castle but the city—were sick. They were starving and living in fear.”

“It’s true,” Ren said. “But it’s their fault. They made those monsters from humans. Instead of keeping humans to feed from, they turned them all.”

“Why did they do that, though?”

He shifted his jaw from side to side before answering. He seemed to realise her direction in the conversation, and he sighed. “They wanted children.”

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

Kian’s love surged through her right shoulder, and she leaned into it as she found the mated pairs in the group and smiled softly. “I know how important it is for you to bring new shifters into the world, to continue the species, and for your own reasons. It’s very... human of you, and I wish I had parents who wanted me as much as you want children.”

Blinking back tears, she sighed. “We can’t abandon or shun them, and until I figure out a way to help them, I think we should move the pack.”

Rowan nodded at her from his seat when Elias spoke smoothly. “You are welcome to shift your lodgings around our home. It is not far from here, and it is heavily warded.”

The shifters murmured louder then, their voices bouncing off the rolling flames.

“Thank you, Elias,” Rowan said, bowing his head lightly.

Sylvie turned and smiled at him, too, pressing her hands to her cheeks to stop the flush and tears. She was so lucky.

“Once you are all settled,” Elias said then. “I would like to formally invite you all to Sylvie and I’s wedding. I may have promised her an elaborate ceremony to show the humans I am completely unavailable, but my time here has shown she would prefer something more... intimate. With those she cares for.”

The tears wouldn’t stop then, and neither did the laugh as she stood and jumped into his arms, peppering kisses all over his face.

Cheers and applause echoed in her ears as he kissed her deeply, breathing her in. As he pulled away, he tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I love you, Sylvie Hart.”

“I love you.”