Peri had no fight left in her. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. So, she did as the draheim said and closed her eyes.
ChapterSix
“Evil comes in many forms. It masquerades as something beautiful, desirable, and even necessary. It makes me wonder: If evil can trick us, can goodness do the same? Can those things that look evil actually be good? Perhaps something sinister can be transformed into something of value, something helpful? Or is it as I’ve feared? Are we who’ve given ourselves over to evil forever forced to wear the scars from the corruption that has infected us? Can we ever be beautiful again?
~Skender
Tenia’s lifeless hand was cold, though Skender could still hear his mate’s heart beating. The sound was faint, but it meant life. Skender didn’t dare stop touching her for longer than a few minutes for fear she would slip away, and he wouldn’t be connected to her when it happened. And when it did happen, he knew he and Torion would be without her. He wished that they’d already performed the Blood Rites. Then he could make that trek with her. Skender shook his head.No.That’s a selfish thought. If he was gone, Torion would be unprotected. He wouldn’t leave the boy … ever. Selfishness had caused him to make some very poor decisions in that past. Decisions he was going to have to live with. But those days were over. Skender didn’t know how long he had left, but he would spend the time watching over Tenia for as long as he could. Then, if it was his destiny that she leave this life, Skender would watch over her son for as long as either of them drew breath.
“Will you tell me more of the story?” Torion sat down across from Skender on the other side of Tenia. Three days had passed since Peri had left them. Three days since Torion had returned with tears in his eyes because the boy did not know how to help the high fae. Torion wouldn’t say why, but he was absolutely determined the fae had to stay alive.
Skender ran a finger across Tenia’s forehead and down the bridge of her nose. He loved touching her. His wolf craved it. He wanted to wrap himself around her and never let her go. It was a liberty he didn’t deserve, but he still ached for. Skender took a deep breath and steeled himself for the words that needed to be said, the story that Torion needed to hear. Skender could not bear to allow this child—the son he’d claimed as his own—to believe lies about him. Torion believed Skender was a hero. He’d told Skender he wanted to be a warrior just like him. The wolf quickly learned that there were few pains as great as having to tell your child you're not the unblemished paragon of virtue they’ve built you up to be. Painful was an understatement. Skewering himself with a hot poker in the heart would be more bearable than seeing the adoration fade from Torion’s eyes. It had to be done, and the information needed to come from him.
But Skender wasn’t yet ready to face his demons. Up until now, he’d been telling Torion the story as if the events had occurred to someone else. Skender was merely the narrator, rather than the hero … or villain, to put it more accurately. He was working up toward the reveal that would forever change the way Torion looked at him.
“I will tell you more,” Skender finally answered. “Where were we?”
“The boy's parents had just died, killed by rogue werewolves,” Torion reminded him.
Skender nodded. “That’s right. The Order informed the boy that his parents had been attacked by rogue wolves, but that he wasn’t safe with them. The boy needed the protection of a strong pack, a powerful alpha. But the alpha couldn’t know that the boy’s family had been a part of the Order or he might not accept the orphan into his pack. It had to be a secret.”
“Because the Order was bad?” Torion asked, his lips drawn tight across his face and his hands clenched into little fists.
Skender let out a heavy sigh. “The boy’s parents didn’t think so, and the boy believed and trusted his parents. When he was told to keep his membership in the Order a secret at all costs, the boy took the words to heart and never spoke of that part of his life again.” Skender’s mind rewound to that day—the day he’d been dropped off a couple of miles from the Romanian pack mansion. He’d been terrified that he would somehow give himself away, and they would kill him. The Order had told him that the Romanian pack alpha was ruthless, showing no mercy to his enemies. But they’d also said he was powerful, perhaps the most powerful of all alphas, and would keep Skender safe from the rogues. The child didn’t understand why his safety was so important to the Order. Who was he? Just a werewolf orphan. But he’d been told by the leaders of the Order that they would have a task for him one day. When that day came, he would need to be ready. His task would be very important, and when the time came, he would know what that task was. If he’d known then what he knew now, he would have run far, far away from the Orderandthe Romanian pack. He would have refused to bring such evil anywhere near Vasile’s pack—the pack that had accepted, welcomed, and loved him.
“What happened when the boy got to the Romanian pack? Did they know he was from the Order? Did they kill him?”
Skender smirked. “The boy was terrified. He was left on the steps of a giant mansion, all alone, and too afraid even to cry out. But he was soon surprised by the alpha pair. Instead of attacking the child, they welcomed him with open arms. The boy had been expecting the alpha to be the monster that the Order had described, but that wasn’t the case at all.”
To this day, Skender remembered the way Alina had looked at him with such compassion.
After several long minutes of standing, his knees quaking almost to the point of buckling, Skender gathered the courage to knock on the wooden door to the large stone house. His entire body began to tremble, and he fought the urge to turn and bolt for the woods. But the forest surrounding him was dark. He had no idea how he had gotten there or where he would go. He couldn’t have made it back to find the Order if he wanted to. So, with tears in his eyes, he waited. The entire house, even the surrounding forest, seemed to be holding its breath, and Skender along with them. What would happen? If this alpha was as fierce as Skender had been told, he might just transform into a wolf and gobble him up on sight. Or they might carry him out into the forest and leave him. The night was cold, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to survive on his own.
The seconds Skender waited seemed to go on forever. Finally, just when Skender was about to knock again, or perhaps cry out, one of the huge, oaken double doors creaked open. Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Instantly, Skender understood that this woman’s beauty wasn’t merely skin deep. Somehow, he sensed that she was a mother, perhaps not to a child of her own, but to an entire pack. To any who might be helpless, who might need the love and tender compassion that only a mother could provide. At that time, however, he wouldn't have been able to put any of that into words. He only knew he felt peace—a peace he hadn’t felt since his parents had been killed.
The woman was looking over him as she’d obviously been expecting the visitor to be an adult. Then she lowered her head, and her gaze settled on Skender. Her face softened, and her eyes filled with a compassion he’d seen in his own mother’s eyes many times when she’d looked at him.
“My name is Alina. What has happened to you child?” Skender knew he looked rough, but as he couldn't really see himself without a mirror, he had no idea how rough. His clothes were filthy, and his face and hands were covered in dirt. The leader of the Order had told Skender that he had to look the part of a child in need, and so they'd made sure to dress him up as if he'd been through a terrible ordeal and had wandered on his own.
“My parents were killed by rogues,” Skender told her. “I’ve been looking for a pack. I didn’t know what else to do.” His voice shook, and that part wasn’t an act. Despite the peace and compassion he felt coming from this woman, he was still terrified. The stories told by the Order of the great and terrible Vasile still stuck in his mind. But more than that, he missed his family. He missed all that was familiar to him. Above all, he wanted his mother.
A large man walked up to stand next to Alina. His face was stern, his gaze assessing as he stared down at Skender. For a moment, he said nothing. The longer they looked at one another in silence, the more Skender's previous fears intensified. His shaking legs, which had stilled under the compassionate gaze of Alina, began to tremble again. It felt like forever until the man finally spoke.
“I am Vasile, alpha of the Romanian pack, and you have met my mate.” He motioned to Alina and wrapped an arm around her, settling his hand on her waist. “Come in, young one, and get out of the cold.” Vasile and his mate stepped aside at the same time as if they were one body sharing the same mind. His parents had moved that way. True mates. A bond that was unlike anything else between supernaturals. His parents had often told him the story of true mates and how one day he would meet his own.
Skender lifted his leg to take a step and paused awkwardly before finally stepping inside. His fate was now in their hands. There was no longer a chance to run. No possibility of escape. For better or worse, his life from here on out was tied to the Romanians.
“What were they like?” Torion asked, his voice pulling Skender from the decades-old memory. The fae boy leaned closer, his eyes wide, waiting for Skender to continue.
“They were kind,” Skender answered. “For a long time, the boy didn’t trust their kindness. He thought it was an act, a facade. It’s hard to know what to believe when someone you trust has told you something about someone else youdon’tknow. The child's natural inclination was to believe the Order because they were the only thing he knew.” Skender paused and ran his fingers through Tenia’s hair and took a deep breath. Her scent washed over him, and his wolf rumbled in contentment. “Over time, the boy realized the kindness of the alpha pair was genuine. Vasile and Alina loved their pack. They looked out for the well-being of those under their care, including the boy. It wasn’t something he’d ever seen in the Order. As the boy grew up, his memories of the Order began to fade. Eventually, all he knew was that he was a part of the Romanian pack, and he always had been and always would be.”
Torion frowned. “How could he just lose his memories like that? What about the memory of his parents? Did he lose those as well?”
It was a question Skender had asked himself many times. Why did he forget, and why had he suddenly remembered? It was the reason he’d left the Romanian pack and told Vasile he needed to look for his mate. That part had been true. He’d felt the pull of his mate. But the rest of the memories he didn’t share with his alpha. Partly because he was ashamed that he’d ever been a part of the Order. But another part of him felt a strong need to keep it a secret. There was a part of him that he hadn’t known existed that was loyal to the Order because his parents had been loyal.
“I don’t know,” Skender admitted.
“It sounds like a spell of some kind,” Torion said absently. He reached for his mother’s hand and held it tightly in his own. “It would have had to have been cast by someone powerful. A fae or a djinn.” Torion paused. “Or a witch. Were there still witches around back then?”
