Chosen Darkness (Chosen Series) (25 page)

He never thought of them these days, not till West had brought up the past. Now he could not get them out of his head.

Falyn made a sound in her sleep, a cross between a moan and a whimper. He went to her, smoothing her hair back from her face and kissing her forehead as he whispered soothing words into her ear. She rolled back over peaceful once more.

He would seek help from his family and clan if Falyn really needed it. He would do that for her because she was his world, but he would not do it for himself. His parents were stuck in the past, though. They would only help Falyn if she was part of the family: that is how things went in their world. The clan was family, but Falyn was not a vampire. She would not matter to his clan or his family unless she was his wife.

It was not something his mother and father would approve of willingly, but if he married Falyn and called upon their aid in fighting this battle by their own code, they would have to join them. But was this reason enough to marry Falyn? He loved her, but it was much too soon to be asking for her hand. They had only just became a couple. She might not even want to be his wife… However, in the back of his mind, the idea was forming. Even with all the doubts and current complicated issues it was growing.

Not only would he have to marry her, he would have to bring her home so she could go through the hoops of joining his clan and becoming part of his family – and that was not going to be an easy thing for Falyn to do. It was like being put on display – to be judged, rated, and have all your faults and shortcomings pointed out before she even made it to the altar. His mother was right out of the sixteenth century! She was not going to take to Falyn.

Another reason Alex had gone his own way was his family they were, well, insane and their methods much too medieval for him to stomach. But he would ask Falyn if she would be willing to do all of this, because as much as he disliked their ways, they were his. All vampires had roughly the same guidelines, even if most chose a more modern way of doing it.

Alex stayed up the whole night, and when dawn came, he went downstairs and waited for Falyn to join him. He would ask her, and he would warn her just how bad the whole process would be. If she was willing, then he would do it. If the Dark Druids and their mind sickness were seeping into the races of Immortals, then those still of sound mind, or relatively so, needed to fight. Everything hung on Falyn’s magic, on her joining the packs together, on her fighting not only her father but the Lycan Court. They would need numbers.

Alex’s family had one of the largest clans, and if they joined with Falyn, others would follow. Surely no one would want to lose their souls to the Dark powers. Falyn was the only Immortal who had the blood right to lead them all.

Falyn came down a few hours later. She didn’t look well rested but he figured it was due to her disturbed sleep that night. She poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table. She gave him a smile, but he could not help but sense something was not right.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just feeling a little worn out.”

This reassured him and he pushed the odd feeling aside. He was likely projecting onto her his own uneasiness at asking her to marry him.

“You were restless last night,” he told her gently.

She only nodded and went back to sipping her coffee, staring off into space as if she could not bring herself to focus yet. It was time to act.

“Falyn, I know we’ve had a complicated relationship, to put it mildly, but… I love you and I would like nothing more than for you to be my wife.”

Alex got down on one knee and looked up at her. She put down her cup and stared at him with wide eyes, her breath coming in small huffs as she gawped at him. Then a smile broke out across her face.

“I… Alex, I… I… Yes!” She finely got the word out. She threw her arms around his neck, holding him tight.

“But I need you to know what it will take for you to be my wife. We have to go through my family. We have to do it right, and it’s not without issues,” Alex quickly told her.

Alex spent the next hour telling her what she would have to face before he would be able to take her as his wife. He thought for sure she would say “Forget it!” but instead she only gave a smile and told him she did not care.

Alex had no idea he would feel this happy about it, but he did. He wanted her to be his wife, to be only his for the rest of their lives. Gaining the support of his family and clan in the approaching battle was only a small bonus to having Falyn for himself.

“We should get this over with now rather than later,” he told her.

“I agree,” Falyn nodded. “We might need their help.”

He paused for a moment, not expecting her to think of the war side of their marriage so soon, but she was in warrior mode, he reminded himself, letting it go.

They began planning the trip back to England. Lark announced he wasn’t coming along, which was not what Falyn wanted. She tried everything to persuade him into accompanying them, but the elf wanted to remain with West. Should they need him, only then would he join them.

“This is a family matter and I’m not family,” Lark told Falyn.

“You’re like family,” Falyn argued with him.

“You’re no longer a member of the Court, so Alex is out of danger. I don’t need to follow him around everywhere any longer,” Lark pointed out. “You and Alex should have some alone time Falyn… you’re running out of time to feel like this, so don’t waste it.”

Alex did not understand the meaning of Lark’s words but maybe because he was an elf, love must be rather mundane to his kind.

They left the next day for the Rave family home and Alex could not ease the dread in the pit of his stomach. He had not been home in so long; so much had been left unsaid between him and his parents. To Alex they seemed like a distant memory. Now he was forced to go home and build some kind of a bridge with them for the sake of Falyn and her quest.

Falyn was quiet during the trip. She hardly said five words, and if he hadn’t been so worried about his homecoming, he might have picked up something was wrong. However, his head was stuck in the past.

Chapter Twenty-seven: Homecoming

Falyn stood next to Alex in front of a huge stone-washed manor. The place loomed before them, dark grey against the green of the landscape. Falyn shivered, but whether from the cold or the sense of dread she felt coming off Alex, she couldn’t say.

Her heart was growing darker every day and she had been thinking about it before he had popped the question. Yet honor and duty were something she would still feel even when she was a full Shadow wolf: so if married, she would be duty-bound to stay with Alex. Now, however, as she stood here she had to wonder if she was doing the right thing.

“You’re sure about this?” Falyn asked him, taking his hand in hers.

“Yes. I’ll do anything for you Falyn… anything.” He softly kissed the top of her head.

They were halfway up the drive when the door swung open and a woman with the same coloring as Alex stepped into the doorframe. She had a hand to her mouth and tears in her eyes. Falyn knew this was his mother. Alex had stopped moving upon seeing her and was now staring back.

“My son… my Alex?” she exclaimed as she came down the steps, right up to the still-stunned Alex. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Mother, it’s all right… I’m fine,” Alex told the sobbing woman as he awkwardly patted her back.

“I see that… but Alex! It’s been so long! Why?” his mother pleaded.

Alex firmly but gently pushed her away, forcing her to look into his eyes. Slowly he turned her to face Falyn. Falyn stood there staring at the lovely woman, who gazed back with a look of wonder and a hint of disdain in those eyes so like her son’s.

“And who may this be, Alex?” his mother asked.

“This is the reason I have returned home, Mother. This is Falyn and she will soon be my wife.”

The woman let out a gasp and her mouth really did hang open for a moment before she was able to hide her emotions once more behind her calm mask.

“I see. And you wish to get married in the proper way, I take it?” she asked.

“Yes, I may have issues with my home life, but I do honor our ways, Mother.” His tone was scolding and a bit cold.

“Of course you do. It is how we raised you, Alexander,” his mother replied shortly.

Alex made a sound close to a growl before he addressed her again.

“Alex, Mother. I do not answer to that other name!”

Falyn was growing more uncomfortable by the second, her eyes darting between mother and son, unsure what to say or do.

“I see. Well then, let’s not stand here making a scene in front of your young lady. Let’s go in and see Father.”

And with her head high and her back straight, she huffed off toward the house.

Alex once more took Falyn’s hand pulling her toward the door. Part of her wanted to turn around and run all the way back to America. However, she reminded herself why she was here and what she wanted. She needed the support of Alex’s clan, and she wanted to be his wife.

The home was just as grand inside as it was outside, and Falyn walked around in a daze as she took it all in. Alex seemed unaffected by the sight altogether. His jaw was firm and his eyes narrowed, making him look hard and menacing.

“Alexander, you should speak to your father alone in the study while I take your young lady to get something to eat in the dining room.”

She opened the door and stood aside for him to enter the study. With a wary glance at her, Alex did as his mother asked him and Falyn found herself alone with this odd woman she could not quite make out.

“Come, my dear, we shall have some lunch.” The woman was good at giving orders.

“My name is Falyn,” she told the bossy woman.

“All right Falyn, come along then.” The woman kept moving, forcing Falyn to follow her.

“And what should I call you?” Falyn asked.

“You may address me as Milady or Lady Rave.”

Really, may I
? Falyn thought, taken aback at the rudeness, but she fought down her fury and kept following her
Ladyship
.

They had just made it into the dining hall when the woman began ordering the maids out, snapping orders for lunch and tea and closing the doors. Falyn got a distinct sense of anger from Lady Rave before she turned her flashing blue eyes on her. With her hands on her narrow hips, she started to stalk her into an overstuffed chair. Falyn backed up till her legs bumped the chair and she fell back into it, her hands clutching the arms in an effort to keep herself from laying them on Alex’s mother!

“I don’t know how or why you got your claws into my son, but I can taste your lack of feelings for him like a rotten taste in my mouth!” Lady Rave spat.

“I am not sure what it is you’re tasting, your Ladyship, but I assure you I love your son with every bit of my heart!” Falyn shot back.

“And how much heart is that, my dear Falyn?” she asked, only inches from her face now.

“Presumably an awful lot more than your own, I would say!” Falyn growled.

“You know nothing about my love for my son!” she told Falyn huffily.

“Don’t I now? How long has he been away? He did not even want to come home. It was only the need to do this properly that brought him here!”

Falyn knew she was hitting low, but damn if she cared!

“Why, how dare you… you little bitch!”

The woman was screaming now and Falyn was losing control of staying in the chair.

“How dare I? I dare because it’s the truth and you know it! How dare you call me out on my feelings for your son when you have no idea who he is now? It is no one’s affair what our feelings are for each other except Alex’s and mine, so I suggest, Lady Rave, that if you don’t want me to slap you in your lovely face, you stay out of mine!”

Falyn was standing by the time she had finished and had backed the woman right into the dining table. She turned to walk away.

“I can sense darkness in you… No matter how you try to hide it, I can feel it,” Lady Rave said softly.

Falyn paused for a moment, her heart beating wildly in her chest, before she turned once more to face Alex’s mother.

“We all have some kind of darkness, Lady Rave,” Falyn told her before striding away.

Falyn kept going until she came across a door leading outside. She found herself in a massive garden and she took a seat next to the lovely stone figure of an angel. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head on the stone angel’s body and started to cry. Falyn did not like Alex’s mother one little bit, but, on the other hand, if the woman could really feel the darkness in her then she was only acting in defense of her son.

Still, she clearly had issues! She seemed to be stuck in the past and was a horrible snob.

Falyn wanted to marry Alex. She wanted to spend as much time loving him as she could, but on the plane ride over, she had awoken feeling nothing. Not happy, not sad, and, for a few moments, not in love with Alex. Her feelings had returned in a rush a few moments later, but it had left her shaken and worried about falling asleep again. What if she woke tomorrow and her heart was cold, without any love at all? The idea made her shake.

“I can’t do this,” she whispered to the statue.

Falyn was looking at the wings of the angel when she recalled seeing wings like these before. Where? As her eyes moved up, she was shocked to be staring into the face of a Gargoyle. It was not an angel at all! And as Falyn sat there staring at it the figure kneeling with massive wings curled around itself, it started to move. Falyn quickly backed up but tripped over a large stone and ended up on her bottom looking up at the now-standing Gargoyle.

Its eyes sought her out. They were the color of fire. She was not sure if this was real or a dream.

“Cursed wolf, your fate was set in motion long ago. Your actions will follow along the course they were meant to, no matter your own will or desires.”