A Guardians Passion (45 page)

“Freya. Freya!”

She turned to see Benna moving through the crowd and up to her.

Benna stopped short with nervous eyes. “Can I speak with you?”

“You can speak with us,” Freya suggested, gripping her alpha and beta tightly.

Benna bowed slightly to Fenris before turning back to Freya. “Did Helena talk to you about an offer? About our idea? Never more did we need to band together than now.”

“She did. She asked me to consider it.”

“Consider what?” Fenris asked.

Freya looked at her mate, afraid to see obstinacy there, but there was none, only curiosity. With so much going on, she had almost forgotten about her meeting with Helena, but the need for a stronger network had been made evident.

She left nothing unsaid, detailing to Fenris not only Helena’s offer to her but how she felt about it.

“I will support you in anything you should choose.” Rayne spoke up with a steely tone that left no doubt.

Fenris looked to his beta and sighed before chiming in himself. “You have us both.”

Freya suspected Fenris would have liked anything that didn’t involve her taking bounties, but right then was not the time for her to question him. Her mates would do anything for her, and she them. She would use their strength but never doubt it. That Rayne was already making sacrifices that she hadn’t asked for was tearing at her. “I want to think about it, at least until after Bun is born.” She needed to defer at least until she had a handle on her situation. “The Sohons have done their share, and I know that they’ll continue to do theirs. But the things we see, the resources we have, should be for the good of all wolves and for protection.”

Fenris placed a hand on her stomach, looking down at the swell. His eyes met hers, and she was sure that he saw her conviction.

Rayne’s hand came over Fenris’s, and he said, “Our cub deserves a safe world.”

“Think it over, all of you. Please,” Benna said. “I would very much like you to consider it, consider being a part of those who would protect our kind, lead, and advise. Others have to know that it is not just the Sohons that they need to worry about.”

“It’s not,” Freya scoffed as she met Benna’s gaze. “It’s all of us. Helena mentioned threats, shit you guys had been handling on your own. You don’t have to. Bounties are one thing, but threats to our race are another.”

Benna seemed to like the decree, satisfied with the answer she received. “Helena would have loved to hear you say that. She really liked you.” Benna’s eyes shimmered with tears that Freya felt but would not allow to fall. Helena’s memory deserved strength as well as honoring.

Benna sniffled. She wiped the moisture from her eyes with the back of her hand. “Our flight will be leaving at nine tonight, so you can rest until then. I’ll arrange an early dinner and snacks for everyone.”

“Our?” Freya asked. “And where are you going?” She had assumed that Benna would be remaining with Vaegar and Kallie, putting their empire back in order, helping with the next seminar, the retreat, and the victims.

Benna looked back to the table. “Back to the lodge. I still have my shop there. I like it there, and I’m needed.”

“T-shirts, key chains, and beer sleeves.” Fenris chuckled. “Anxious to be back among the beasts, eh?”

“Among my fellow wolves,” Benna corrected with a smile. “Kallie is back where she belongs. She’ll help out my uncle. His other children will rally. The pack elders will step up. I have a very important job at the lodge.”

I bet you do
. “You’re a spy too.”

Benna had a mischievous look about her. “Sorta.”

“She’s a what?”

Freya grabbed her alpha’s hand in hers and found it warm. An explanation was needed that could be summed up neatly for the moment but would require much discussion later. “Not to worry, Benna. You’re not going to lose the berserkers. I’ll see to it,” she said, leading Fenris and Rayne from the room as the cub stirred hungrily.

“Yeah. I told my aunt not to worry,” Benna said softly. “I told my uncle as much too.”

Epilogue

Standing on the tarmac of the Sky Central private airport, Freya had already said her good-byes to her mother and her newly adopted sibling. The Sohons had provided Geraldine with a brand-new SUV with a baby seat in the back, a gift basket filled with items for a newborn, and a briefcase full of cash to take back home with her.

Cole was in the backseat with the child, Gaea was seated in the front of the car, and a makeshift coffin was loaded into the trunk for François when good-byes had been said. Gaea had informed her son that it would only be a brief vacation, but Freya knew for certain that there would be little rest or relaxation involved. Three warriors and a baby. Surely Emily’s child would know how to grapple before it could crawl.

She wasn’t sure about calling the child brother, but then she had her hands full with a pack of her own.

Benna, Ezra, Una, and the rest of the asprega were already aboard the private plane that would fly them into Reykjavik. The only thing that remained to be done was the hardest.

Saying good-bye to her heart.

Freya clung to Rayne, her hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt. Her cheek was pressed against his as she tried to inhale as much of his scent as she could. She sniffed his hair, the patch of skin beneath his chin. She licked his Adam’s apple, kissed his chin, and stroked his hair as if it was the last time she would be able to do so.

Rayne had a tight hold on her as well, his breath coming in shaky, soft fits. He turned his head when she began to kiss the corners of his lips. Boldly, he initiated an entry, pressing his tongue between her lips like a beta with fucking balls.

It was always her job, making him bend and swoon, but Freya found herself usurped by the intensity of his mouth searing a brand into her own.

By the time he moved away, his lips were flushed cherry. His eyes were glimmering, dilated orbs.

“Eh. To me, wolf,” Fenris snarled, gently grabbing a fistful of Rayne’s hair. He brought their beta to him for homage. Rayne’s blood might have been up, but he yielded all the same to Fenris’s demands.

Fenris was curt and dominating as he took what he needed for a farewell. Rayne collapsed against him once freed, yet reached for her. Jealousy, so much a part of their bond and so often dealt with, faded ever swiftly as Freya embraced both her males and held tight.

The last thing she wanted was to get on a fucking plane when there were woods a half mile from the airport. She needed more time to savor both her wolves, to lounge in the comfort of their embrace.

“I’m not dragging him to his death,” Dona drawled impatiently. “You
will
see him again.”

Freya believed she would see her beta again but wasn’t certain of what state he would be in. The things that Dona was capable of, if Fenris and Rayne were to be believed, were enough to give even her pause. Just recalling the sight of the wytchen holding the red, crying newborn fresh from his mother’s womb drew chills from Freya. She had caught sight of what remained of Emily, and while Freya thought being in a coma was getting off lightly, there was something in Dona’s eyes that spoke to greater horrors. She would never rise again, he promised, and Freya believed it.

As she and Fenris finally released Rayne, Fenris shot Dona a threatening glare that cowed even the wytchen. “We know.”

“Guys, everyone is settled,” called Ezra, approaching.

“YOU WILL CATER to my alphas, yes?” Rayne looked the dark wolf over, pleased with the way Ezra lowered his eyes.

“Of course, Rayne. You don’t have to worry.”

I’d better not
. Rayne closed what little distance was separating him from Ezra. He reached out and took hold of one of Ezra’s locks, soft like fur.

He would need the omega upon his return. Hell, he needed Ezra at that moment. With his mind on gathering Freya and coercing Fen to run away with him, Rayne was wound so tight, trapped by destiny that he had to obey.

Ezra looked as if he was ready, eager for the darkness swelling inside Rayne, temptation on two legs. “You will be rewarded, ball licker.” Rayne gestured for Ezra to return to the plane.

Sighing, Ezra made no secret of his anxiousness. His bottom lip folded beneath his upper, then uncoiled slowly before he did as told.

“You have no idea how much I want to get on that plane with you,” Rayne said.

“Oh, we do,” Fenris insisted.

“We know,” Freya chimed in.

“It will only be a little while. He says… Dona says that time moves differently on the other planes. But I will be watching. I will know when it is time, and I will be there for you and our child and our pack.”

“You better be, beta. I suspect our cub will need
you
the most.”

“What? You don’t think I have maternal instincts?” Freya cast a baleful glare at Fenris.

Fenris wrapped an arm around Freya’s waist and pulled her to him. “I know that you can’t wait to open that bottle of brandy your mother gave you.”

“After the baby is born. It will sweeten the milk,” Rayne said with a wink to Fenris.

“You’re gonna leave some for Bun, for Odessa,” Freya warned. “I’m not bullshitting. I ain’t gonna have you two taking her share.”

Rayne laughed, as he had often wondered about the same thing. There would have to be some kind of negotiations set down. “Right. You try not to give your alphas too much worry. Okay, little one? Little Odessa. You behave—” Rayne felt his cub shift within her mother’s womb. That was not unusual. The sudden wave of energy that overcame him was. Everything that he felt was certain about their cub seemed wrong. The most important aspect being that he no longer detected anything remotely feminine about the child.

“Rayne?”

He forced himself out of his insecurities, telling himself that when he returned, he would be better prepared. Boy or girl, the cub was undoubtedly going to need all of his attention. “Yeah?”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. She kicked.” It was a half-truth that he told to Fenris, one that would have been revealed immediately by Freya if Benna hadn’t called again for them to board. “I should go.” While he wanted nothing more than to hug his lovers once more, Rayne stepped back. He gestured to the plane with a grin. “Time for you to go too.”

“Hurry back. I need my witch-wolf.” Freya was steel as she spoke her command.

Fenris was just as resilient. “I need my fucking beta.”

Yes, you will, Rayne thought as he turned his back upon his mates and looked to his father, standing several meters away. The glint of excitement in his father’s eyes made him cringe, but he would not turn back. Could not. Rayne didn’t relish leaving Freya with so many beasts, not even with the one within her, but to protect her, he had no choice.

He strode toward Dona, resolute. “Let’s go,” he said to his father.

And then the world around them vanished.

Loose Id Titles by Mya Lairis

A Guardian’s Desire

A Guardian’s Passion

An Unnatural Worth

Darkness Bound

Obedience Training

Rushing Toward Perfection

* * * *

A Spring Tradition

(A
An Unnatural Worth
Equinox Spring Fling)

Mya Lairis

A Beta wolf from a Matriarchal clan, Mya has been writing and drawing for as long as I can remember. It may have had something to do with her upbringing…

Mya is an avid fan of Godzilla, werewolves, dragons, gargoyles, and giant mech robots! She loves to travel, international and domestic. Mya even lived in Russia for a year and speaks Russian.

Mya resides in the Washington Metropolitan Area even though her second home is St. Martin! She lives with her two furry children, a Calico diva named Zoe, and a skittish, orange tabby momma's boy, Cougar.