“What were they doing here in the first place?” Cade growls out as he shovels more dirt into the hole. “No horses that we could find and short in numbers for a full patrol. Why here?”
Sebastian doesn’t bother looking up from the work as he answers. “The two I questioned claimed they had a brush with the militia and took heavy losses. They were looking for horses and supplies to get back to their command post.” He sighs and pushes back the hair that has fallen into his face. “They were never meant to be here. It was just bad luck.”
I grit my teeth in frustration. “Fuck luck and fuck the British! We could have lost her!”
Cade jabs his shovel into the pile of dirt. “Aye, and it won’t bloody happen again! Someone must always be with her going forward. Not even here is safe for her ta be alone.” He tosses the dirt into the hole and then throws the shovel down with a snarl and turns to Bas. “It’s too fucking dangerous. Everything is too fucking dangerous for her! You need ta consider turning her so she can protect herself! I…we can’t wait another hundred years ta get her back if something happens and she dies again.”
Sebastian drops his shovel as well and squares up to us with a tired sigh. “Alright, let’s say I turn her into one of my kind. Who will you sacrifice to sate her bloodlust? Our neighbors? The citizens of the nearest towns? It will not be enough. You do not understand the scope of what the first two years under that curse would mean. She could drain five people a day and it wouldn’t be enough. She will be crazed by it. Eden will turn mean and vicious to get one more drop of blood. Man, woman…children, she will kill them all, smile, and ask for more. Even you two would not be safe from her thirst. Is that what you want? Is that what you want her to become? And after the bloodlust clears and she realizes what she has done, what she has become, she will either hate herself and us or she will be so completely altered that she will revel in the evil of it. So tell me wolves, will it be worth it in the end?”
I turn away from him and roar my rage at the fates, sending birds flying away in fear from the trees. The one solution ta keeping her forever would destroy all of us worse than having her die and losing her again. We need ta leave this place. We need ta take her somewhere that this war won’t touch her, won’t put her in jeopardy. I calm my breathing and turn back to my brothers.
“We need ta leave! Go west ta the untamed lands where the British have no presence. We can build a new life there, make peace with the Indians or find the rumored shifter packs and keep her safe.” I send a desperate look Bas’ way. “Please, I canna see her die again and know it will be a century before we get her back.”
He sends a cautious look to both of us and his shoulders sag. “Longer, it will be longer than that. Eden has made a promise, a vow that if something should happen and she…leaves again…she won’t come back.”
Both Cade and I immediately start yelling denials at that.
“BE QUIET!”
The command has us both slamming our mouths closed and glaring furiously at him. He swipes his hair back again and then rubs at his eyes tiredly.
“Think for a moment, both of you. Think of what the last century of grieving has done to all of us. Do you wish to go through that again and again? Do you think she wants us to? Eden does not know how to control that mirror. What if she doesn’t come back to us again? What if it sends her far away from us in location and time? Do you want her to have to kill herself just to try again? No, it is her choice should something happen again and I found myself…relieved…at her promise to not come back. Resign yourselves to this, brothers. If she dies again, she will not be coming back.”
He stares at us for a few moments before waving his hand to release us and reaching for his discarded shovel to continue filling the grave.
“Two hundred and fifty-three years until we next meet if we lose her again? I dinnae know if I can survive that.” Cade says in a low, broken voice.
I step closer to him and brace a hand on his shoulder. “Aye, we can and we will. She is our mate and we told her we would wait forever for her, cousin. It willna be like the last time when we thought her dead and gone. If it happens again, we will take comfort in knowing we will have her again one day.”
He leans into my hand and drops his head in sadness. “Aye we will but Finn, a lot can happen in such a space of time. We willna be the same men when we find her again.”
I squeeze his shoulder and then reach for his discarded shovel ready to be done with this chore and meet Bas’ gaze. “Truly. So best we do all we can to keep her safe and with us in the here and now.” We work in silence until the hole is half-filled before I speak again. “We will need wagons filled with supplies as well as more servants to help on the trail and with the building of a new home far from here.”
Sebastian grunts his agreement. “I will speak to Luca about it and we will come up with a plan on how to go forward. He may not wish to join us and you both should be prepared for that. No matter what he decides, we will prepare to leave here as soon as we can arrange everything we will need and take Eden somewhere safer.” He pauses for a moment to look our way. “It may be best if we did not tell Eden of our plans until they are closer to completion.”
Cade and I silently nod in agreement before turning back to finish burying the evidence of the day’s events.
Eden
Ireturn to my room, still feeling edgy but more settled than before. I want to change out of the ripped dress and I put on one of the split skirts and a blouse that Luca had made for me so long ago. Being with him again felt so right, even if I did practically force him to have sex with me. Today showed me just how fragile my circumstances are and I refuse to waste one more moment waiting for him to come back to me. I do understand what he’s struggling with. After all, I also locked myself away from life after the horrible things that happened in my time. It was these men that showed me how to love again, how to live, and now it’s my turn to return the favor by dragging Luca back into happiness with me.
I grab the ripped dress and head to the kitchen in search of a needle and thread to mend it. I find Flora there, bustling around preparing dinner. Flashes of her wolf form tearing out one of the soldier’s throats jerk me to a halt and then the memory of the knife stabbing into her crashes into me. I and can’t help but walk up to her and pull the small cranky woman into a hug. She sputters at first but then relaxes and leans into me before giving me a quick pat on the back and pulls away to scan me from top to bottom with narrowed eyes.
“I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me today, Flora. I saw that soldier stab you with his knife. Are you sure you should be on your feet already? I can make us all dinner.”
“Bash! It was merely a wee nick, already healed. As for me intervening, I might not agree with some of yer ways but yer me pack now, ya ken? We protect our own!” I see her lips twitch and a gleam come into her eyes. “ ‘Sides, I’ve had powerful dreams of sinkin’ me teeth into a Sassenach for most of me life. It was a small satisfaction for all the damage they’ve done to me and mine over the years.” She wrinkles up her face so her eyes practically disappear in the folds and shudders. “Blood tasted like tainted piss, though!”
I gasp out a choked laugh and then groan when she forces me down into a chair so she can inspect the healed gash on the side of my head. When she pronounces me fit and shoves a small knife into my hand and nudges a basket of vegetables closer, I take the hint and get to work. An hour later, the work is done and she waves me out of the room, insisting that I leave the dress for her to mend.
Dinner is a subdued affair with very little talk. All of us are lost in thought about what happened and worse, what a different outcome would have meant. No one speaks of the attack or what the possible ramification from us killing them all might be. I don’t ask what they did with the bodies either. Luca avoids looking at me but the wolves spend most of the meal reaching to touch me as if to reassure themselves that I’m still here and safe. Sebastian just watches me with a tired expression so as soon as the last bite is eaten, I excuse myself from the table and get Aiden to help me bring buckets of hot water to my room so I can have a proper bath. By the time I’m done and the water is cool, the effects of Luca’s blood mixing with mine are gone and a wave of exhaustion sweeps over me. I’m more than ready for this fucked up day to end so I slide my naked, clean body between the sheets and let sleep take me.
“Look at this sweet little pretty, boys. I bet her pussy’s nice and tight. At least until we’re done with it!”
The leader of the men who attacked me jokes and they roar with ugly laughter as they shove me back and forth between them while I cry and beg them to let me go. Sam’s broken body lays not far away and I know that mine will soon join his. I catch the hard glint in the leader’s eyes as I’m shoved his way again but am still not ready for the hard punch to the face that has my head rocking back and my vision going white from the pain. Other arms catch me and hot breath washes over my ear and neck.
“I do like a woman with spirit but I’m afraid I like breaking one with it even more. You WILL learn your place!”
I scream as he yanks my head back by my hair and the ugly men, a mix of redcoats and gang members taunt me with all they are planning to do to me and move in closer to drag me down to the cold hard floor of the dim parking garage. I scream and scream as they rip the paramedic uniform from my body and rough hands grope at my…
