With each step, the pressure on my chest decreased until I felt I could finally breathe again. When we reached the secret door, I said, “They still won’t give me an answer. They want to deal with the meeting of the alphas first. We all decided it was too risky to tell all wolf shifters about the fae yet, but we will have a meeting to speak to the alpha of each borough, and also the other leaders of individual packs. I’ll tell them about the fae, and they can make sure the packs are secure without causing a major panic.”
Kade nodded, not seeming surprised at all by this information. We knew it was going to be hard to convince others that a myth was now all too real and was gunning for our world. Even harder: convincing them that working with the bears was our best chance of survival. Kade and his people wanted to start preparing for battle. We were going to use the Island – shifter neutral territory – during the summer festival to work out the logistics, but the council wasn’t agreeing to anything of that nature yet. I understood: one step at a time. But it was still frustrating.
“My council and bear leaders know of the threat, but we too have not spread the word to the general shifter community,” Kade said, dropping a hand onto my shoulder. “I have to return to my boroughs now. Never a good idea to leave bears alone for long without their king.”
We were nearing the door of the library and I could hear our guards softly talking on the other side, Chelle’s short, blunt answers a clear sign that she was not warming up to my people. I would have thought for sure Blaine would have won her over; my friend was a real charmer when he wanted to be. Not to mention he was gorgeous. And very, very dominant. Chelle was a tough cookie to crack, though, which is probably why she was one of Kade’s guards.
“Send Nix with word when you want to train again,” I said to Kade. No matter how difficult controlling the mecca was for me, his training was helping immensely. My control was stronger; the amount of energy I could funnel through my body was increasing. Even the headaches were less frequent and intense – still terrible – but I was taking any improvement.
He gave a slight head bow. “I have to go away for a few days, but I’ll be in touch. Good luck with your alpha meeting.”
Then those eyes locked me down and I couldn’t move. Mecca energy oozed from him, and wrapped around me with a strength that would have had my knees buckling, but I was used to it now.
“Stay safe, Ari,” he said, and then with a dispelling of the energy, he was gone.
I must have been standing like that for some time, because suddenly my dominants were around me. Blaine, one of my oldest friends, with his rich, auburn hair and green eyes, blinked at me in concern.
“Your Highness … are you okay, Ari?” He was one of the worst with protocol, always forgetting to address me as the queen.
I didn’t care. It was just a title. He would die for me. A title was hardly important compared to that.
“Do you think that bear did something to her?” Monica, the more cautious of the two females who were part of my inner five, said to the others.
A chuckle escaped me. “I’m standing right here, and my brain is not defective. Kade didn’t do anything to me. It’s just the mecca. The energy is strong and sometimes it takes a few minutes for me to get everything back into place. Mentally speaking.”
This wasn’t even a lie, and they all relaxed at the clear truth in my words. Still … Kade had something to do with it all. Kade and the mecca energy equally destroyed and rebuilt me. Almost like I couldn’t survive now without both of them, and yet I knew I had to. Neither were mine to keep forever.
Chapter Three
Burning bridges. Scarred feet.
After training with Kade, I showered and dressed for my royal appointments. Calista managed to get me into a dress and everything – hair up in a crown braid, mecca stone diadem on my head. First order of business was the summer festival on the Island, which was two weeks away, and apparently the queen had to be involved in every aspect of it, including decorations. Boring. But my people expected a royal touch in all aspects of the event. I was still hoping the day would have a double purpose – discussing an alliance with the bear and wolf armies so we could fight the fae as one – which was the only reason I was giving it any of my time.
I almost couldn’t believe it was summer festival time again. Where had the last twelve months gone? The leaves would soon be turning their multitude of reds, oranges, and yellows; fall was on the horizon. The wolves looked forward to it every year, the festival to celebrate the last days of summer.
It was a longstanding tradition, only missed in times of full-on shifter wars. All of the wolves and bears converged on the Island for a huge two-day festival. Two days without many rules, two days to try and reinforce the peace between our people. Some of the wolves chose to stick strictly to the wolf side of the Island, as did bears on their side, but a good number of shifters did venture out and mingle together. Got drunk, played games, got in fights, made friends, and of course enemies.
Summer, a time of magic, and then after it was over we went back to our separate lives. There was really only one strict rule: no inter-mating of the two species. I’m sure it had happened – as an alpha I heard rumors – but the women were always careful to make sure no children resulted from their forbidden night with a bear. Now … kissing? There was plenty of that going on between both shifter species. It was almost a dare: “kiss a bear once before you die” type of thing. The first time I kissed anyone on the Island had been with a bear – Kade.