Cate grabbed Norah’s shoulders and tilted her face so they were eye to eye. “Holy shit, Norah, you can compel shifters!"
"Shit. Shit. Shit." With each utterance of the word, Cate’s brown eyes grew ever larger. The alpha ran her hands through her dark hair and held it piled on top her head by her clasped fingers. "You saved my life. You realize that, right?"
Norah blinked at Cate. There were no words that could convey the emotions she felt in that moment.
“Do you think the Goddess knew this would happen? That she gave you that gift to protect me? Are you my protector Norah? Sent by the Goddess to save me?” Cate’s brown eyes had grown so large in her speculation that Norah imagined them popping out of her face and rolling along the floor. She looked down at her feet where the two imaginary eyes lay. She blinked away the gruesome image and swallowed before looking back to Cate.
“You know you’re the most powerful one of all of us, right? You can compel shifters, for Goddess sake!” Norah sucked in a horrified gasp.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want to compel shifters.”
Cate gave Norah a sympathetic look. “I know how you feel. I didn’t want to be the Wolf Queen, but here I am. It’s a lot of pressure.” Norah swallowed and silently agreed.
“Why me? I don’t understand it.”
“Why not you?” Cate raised her hands as if the answer was obvious. “You are the perfect choice, Norah. If I had your gift I would use it unfairly, but you, you would never use it without cause, not intentionally, anyway. The Goddess has to know that you aren’t one to step on people, to bully those around you. That’s why. I honestly think that you were given the gift as a way to protect me. To protect my baby.”
"I don't think I saved your life, Cate. I truly think those guys were going to let you go. They were just worried about the curse and wanted to know sooner rather than later if you're having a boy or a girl. I almost felt a little sorry for them." Norah moved on shaky legs to the bed. She sat down and waited for Cate to refute her.
Cate let out a sigh and let her hands fall to her sides causing her dark brown hair to tumble in waves around her shoulders. Norah wondered briefly how she managed to do that, to look so beautiful and so intense at the same time. "You're right. They just want to know if I'm having a boy or a girl. They weren't going to hurt me, were they?" She paced around the room; Norah watched her movements from the bed.
Cate stopped pacing and turned to look at Norah. "I think they would have hurt you. I don't think they would hurt me because of what they think I am or could be for the shifter community. But you, Norah, you could have been seriously hurt. They may not have come here with intentions of hurting either of us, but I wouldn't put it past them to have done it."
Norah hadn't thought of this. Perhaps she was too ready to forgive, but she did not feel in her heart that these men would have hurt her. The one man had shoved her pretty hard on the bed, though. A current of terror had coursed through her body in that moment. Formerly unshed tears made their way to her eyes.
"I don't think it matters now. As long as they stay compelled, they won't come back to hurt you. Do you think it lasts a while? I mean, like, forever, or just a day or two?"
Cate threw up her hands in exasperation. "How the hell should I know? I have super hearing, Norah, I don't get the useful gifts."
Norah began to pace as well. Her wolf could take sitting no longer. She marveled at the fact that her nausea had not returned. Perhaps morning sickness had been scared from her body. She laughed internally at the thought. She had a feeling Lukyan didn’t have experiencing complete fright on his list of possible cures.
Lukyan!What would he think of her new capabilities? Would he be proud that the Goddess had bestowed such a powerful gift, or would he be repulsed by her newfound strengths? Her wolf yipped inside her head. The beast seemed to think that Lukyan would accept all of Norah, even her new powers. Norah’s human side wasn’t quite as willing to believe it.
"How long does the command last? Forever, right? Until I tell them to do something different?" Norah had no idea if any of her guesses were true or not. No one had explained the laws of compulsion to her. Besides, compulsion was usually just for humans, Lukyan had never mentioned that it could be used on shifters. She looked out the window to the place in the sky where the moon would soon rise. According to Lukyan, the Goddess resided on the moon, watching over the shifter clans and packs from her perch in orbit. Norah silently pleaded with the mysterious deity.Please let this last forever. I have no desire to ever see those men again.
If the command didn’t last forever, would those two guys come back and try again? Norah briefly wondered if she should always be with Cate just in case someone tried to harm her. With her newfound abilities, her presence might come in handy, at least until this pregnancy was over. Lukyan seemed to believe the threat to Cate would subside once the baby arrived.
Cate continued her pacing. "Honest to Goddess, I hope it lasts forever. I have no desire to see those two guys ever again." She stopped for a second and turned her head. Norah froze. That was Cate’s listening stance.
"What is it now? Do you hear something?" Norah prayed to the Goddess that it was not another kidnapping attempt. She could not go through more turmoil today. No one should have to go through all of this.
Cate cast a cocky grin at Norah. "I think those two guys are about to be in a world of hurt. I hear Mylo and his team coming. They should be at the door any second now."
Norah put her hand to her mouth. Would there be a fight? What if Lukyan were involved. Before she could stop herself, Norah ran down the hallway toward the stairs. At the same time as she reached the landing, the door burst open.
Mylo shoved his way inside, and in one graceful move vaulted himself on top of the tall shifter who was making his way to the back of the house. "I have this one. Yerik, the short one." Norah watched Yerik run past Mylo and tackle the shorter male. Neither of the two intruders put up a fight. Norah supposed it was because she had compelled them to leave willingly. Perhaps she had removed all the violence from their bodies. Despite the lack of resistance, Mylo shoved hard at the tall man’s back, which caused his head to hit the floor with a loud whack.
"Don't hurt them!" Norah was surprised that the words that came from her mouth. Mylo looked up from his place in the living room and gave her an annoyed glance before jerking the lanky shifter to a kneeling position. She ran the remainder of the way down the stairs.
"I said, don't hurt them, Mylo. I've compelled them to go away willingly. Please, don't do that." Mylo ignored her plea and continued to wrench the man’s arms behind his back.
"She said don't hurt him, Mylo." Cate was standing beside her. Norah hadn't heard her come down the stairs, she had been too focused on the ruckus on the first floor.
Mylo stood up and pulled the other man to his feet. "Hell, Cate, of course I'm going to hurt him. He hurt and restrained one of my men, and Goddess knows what he tried to do to you and to Norah." This was the most Norah had ever heard Mylo say in the entirety of her time at the estate. She wished, uncharitably, that he would go back to being his normal, sullen self.
Cate put her hands on her hips. Norah knew that look. It was Cate’sWhat I Say Goesalpha stance. "I said, ‘Do not hurt him.’ As a matter of fact, I want to let him go. Norah here —" she hitched a finger towards Norah, — "has discovered that she can compel shifters. She compelled them to leave. She told them to go back to where they came from and never come back here again. I'm pretty sure were safe."
Norah felt her mouth drop open from the shock. From what Cate had said earlier in the bedroom she was angry and not unconvinced that the men were dangerous, and now she was willing to let them go? Norah didn't even know if she had the ability to compel shifters for an extended period of time. Heck, she didn’t even know if she compulsion worked on humans long-term. Norah didn’t want the men hurt, but they probably should be restrained. Dimitris Lukyan would be furious if they weren’t. Mylo looked furious now.
"Mylo, I'm going to tell you one more time. Let them go, both of them. That’s an order." Cate looked at Mylo as if she had already won the battle. The look on Mylo’s face told of an internal struggle. Would he give in to the alpha female?
"Sorry, Cate, I can't do that. You are my alpha, but Dimitris is my alpha and friend. He will kill me if I let these men go." Mylo turned and started to usher the tall shifter toward the door.
"I'm going to have to ask Norah to do her thing." Norah gave Cate another surprise glance.Please don't make me compel Mylo. Dimitris Lukyan and Mylo will be furious if this goes we do this.Norah could feel herself inching away from her alpha. Norah desperately wanted to tell Cate no. This was wrong, the two men should be restrained. Why in the world was Cate willing to let them go?
"Norah, please. I want them gone. I don't want to ever see them again." She pulled Norah close to her side and whispered in her ear, "As the Wolf Queen, it is imperative that I treat everyone with kindness and fairness. You said it yourself, people are worried about the curse. They didn't want to hurt me they just needed to know. I'm not willing to give them the answer they want, not right now anyway, but I am willing to show forgiveness. Please."
If Norah possessed the ability to compel shifters and human to do her will, Cate certainly possessed the ability to compel Norah. Even though it went against her own best judgment, Norah simply could not tell her alpha female no, especially not after that convincing argument. She turned to Mylo.
"Mylo, you want to let these men go."
