Slater's Enchanting Mate, Iron Wolves MC 4 (3 page)

“Now that we have that out of the way, I’m going to need a few more of my people to help. I’m sorry to say I’m a bit whipped, otherwise I could have done this without a problem.” Jenna brushed her hands on her thighs, her tone was a little less sure than he liked.

“Do you think you can help her?”

“What is your name?” The dark haired beauty asked, her voice was a deep raspy sound, reminding him of a certain Hollywood star.

“Slater O’Neil.” He cocked his head to the side.

“Ah they are here.” Jenna rushed to the wall. “Keep the squeezing down to a minimum, ladies. We have a sick wolf here.”

“Ignore Jennaveve. She’s in a mood for some reason. I’m Nalina.” She bent down to eye level, brushing her hand over the blood matted fur, leaving behind pristine red with silver tipped fur in her wake. “Now, that should make her feel marginally better.”

Unable to stop himself, he ran his fingers through the softness. “How did you do that?” He asked, looking up at Nalina.

Delicate shoulders rose and fell. “Simple. I willed it and it was so. Magic if you will. However, we can’t just will her to become human, so get that right out of your head.” She ruffled his hair.

He was sure he’d fallen in a rabbit hole or some shit, or was asleep. Yeah, maybe that was it. No way was he surrounded by women too beautiful for words, who could run their hands over things and make them…perfect. Nor could they take him to another world. Fuck him running. He was never taking drugs if this was what they did to people.

“You are not hallucinating, nor are you high, young man.” Jenna’s laughing voice broke into his thoughts.

****

LeeLee woke to strange voices. Her body ached, but not like she’d been run over by a Mack truck. Which she’d been at one time. Of course it hadn’t been that nice trucker’s fault. It had been the pack who’d been chasing her, and the nice man had actually saved her life. To this day she wished she knew his name, but he’d left her at a vet’s office and continued on with his trip. Something about his haul needing to be on time. When she’d woken up with a needle sticking out of her paw, panic had nearly made her freak out. The nice assistant had soothed her through the night. Now, she opened one eye to see if she was in a similar situation, only she was nowhere that resembled a clinic. Walls of every color that actually looked like they pulsed with life was on one side, and a stone fireplace that looked straight out of a castle in front of her. Beneath her was a stack of fur…fake fur if her nose was to be believed.

“Well, it’s about time, sleepy head. Now, let’s see what we have to work with, shall we?” A woman with long dark hair and turquoise eyes touched her head.

She wanted to jerk away at the intrusion, but the soothing presence eased inside her mind. LeeLee felt as if this woman was her friend. Although she’d never met her, she had an aura that exuded trust.

Time fell away while they held hands, walking through the familiar forest surrounding her homelands. LeeLee stared up at the fairy. “Are you my Fairy Godmother?” She smiled, wishing she had the same pretty eyes as her fairy.

“Ah, my sweet child, I would love to be your Godmother. Where are you taking me?” Jenna asked in a whisper when LeeLee put her finger to her lips, and jerked them to the ground.

“Ssh, we must be quiet, or I’ll be sent back to my room. I don’t like being in there during the day.” LeeLee wiggled closer.

Her new friend stayed quiet while several children ran past, their voices carried to them. “Why can’t she play with us?” One child asked, while another said. “She thinks she’s better than us.” Another defended her saying her parents were the alphas and as such made the rules. “Well, I saw her out here playing in the field yesterday. I bet she’d get another whipping if she was caught again.” They all laughed.

LeeLee shivered at the remembered pain. She couldn’t sit for a day without the constant reminder. No matter, she refused to stay away from the sights of the festivities. Surely, she’d be allowed to attend this year. She wasn’t a baby anymore. She’d lost her first tooth, and was in school. Well, she was being taught lessons, because it wouldn’t look right if the only child of the alphas, didn’t know how to read and write, she silently amended.

Assured the other children were gone, she tapped her new friend and motioned it was safe to stand. They moved closer to the hall where the music was playing. Inside she slipped through without anyone noticing, gasping at the beauty.

“Let’s hide under the table and watch. You can see how beautiful my parents are. They are the most beautiful in all the world.”

Crouched, she waited, watching the party, wishing she could be a part of it. One day she would be. One day she’d be older and her parents wouldn’t be ashamed of her. She’d make them proud to call her their daughter, and she’d dance. LeeLee closed her eyes until she was jerked out from under the table.

Jenna ran her hand over LeeLee’s shivering form. “Easy, it’s okay. You’re safe.”

Laying her wolven head back down, she was shocked to find Slater sitting where she was, his thighs the perfect place to lay. Too tired to fight it, LeeLee allowed him to stroke her fur. She was such a mess. Stuck in one form, remembering things she wished she could forget. Little girls should have had parents who loved her. All these years she’d thought she’d had parents who’d loved her, but the memories that had slammed in her told a different story. She’d been made to stay away while they partied. So what did she do? Runaway like a spoiled brat? Goddess, were her parents even now living blissfully happy without the child they didn’t want? Had they sent the pack after her, hoping to run her off, only they’d failed because of one nice trucker?

She let out a defeated sigh. Her hopes of regaining her memories and her life seemed to have come crashing down. Did she want to remember why her family had sent her, a young girl of six years old off on her own? Questions flew at her. Why had Rasmund taken her in?

“Sleep, LeeLee. We will go a little further later,” Jenna’s voice sounded strained.

Too tired to look at those eyes she wished she had, she let sleep claim her.

“That child suffered…a lot.” Jenna motioned for him to get up.

He looked down, not wanting to wake LeeLee. “Will she be okay?”

Nalina knelt on the floor. “We will make sure of it.”

Payton Glade glided over with another woman who he’d never met, but from her scent, he guessed they were related. His thoughts were confirmed a moment later.

“My name is Adalynn, I’m Payton’s sister. My daughter is mated to your alpha.” She had a sweet voice, with a steel undertone. Very similar to Payton. He liked her immediately.

“Between the four of us, she will be right as rain in no time…physically. The mental is going to be the hard part, son.” Payton ran her hand over his head, like she’d done anytime he’d seen her. She was like a mama to all of the Mystic Wolves Pack.

Nodding, he knew what they were saying. None of them knew exactly what she’d gone through, but it had to have been something major in order for her to have escaped into her wolf and not come out for years. Now, they were going to force or coax her out. The outcome was really going to be up in the air.

“As long as she is alive and healthy, we can deal with it together.” And he meant him and her. He was one hundred percent sure she was his mate. Damn, fate was a fickle bitch. Mating him with a woman he had yet to meet, but his wolf called to hers. He thought back to the way he’d found her. He’d been invited up to Keanu and Cammie’s by Hal Aldridge and his fiancée Felicity, who he’d helped save from an underground compound. Had he not accepted their invitation and shown up early, his wolf wouldn’t have scented LeeLee and forced him to go in search of her. Yeah, fate sure had a strange way of working. He hoped like hell he hadn’t pissed the Goddess off, and she decided he wasn’t worthy of a mate.

“Don’t go doubting your worth,” Jenna said, sounding like she’d swallowed gravel.

He looked at her. Really looked and saw shadows beneath her eyes. “You should go rest. Can’t the other Fey do what you do? You don’t look, um, too good.”

She smiled, and he swore the room lit up. “Is that your nice way of saying I look like shit?”

“I’d never say that to a woman. I treasure my manly parts.” He placed his hand over his heart.

Standing, she patted his shoulder. “I’m going to take a small siesta. Time flows differently here. You should eat something. You will need it when you reenter your world.” With that she left, leaving him with the other three women who were seated around the table. He looked down at a sleeping LeeLee.

“Come, you will be of no help if you are falling over from exhaustion,” Payton murmured.

The smell of tomato soup and grilled cheese pulled him up. Assured she was still sleeping, he ambled over to the long wood table, amazed to find a pot filled with the best looking soup he’d ever seen, or smelled, yet the women had never left. A plate of grilled cheese sandwiches sat beside it, the cheese oozed out of all four sides, making his mouth water.

“How,” he stammered.

“Magic,” Adalynn motioned with her fingers, then giggled. “Truly, it was easy. The kitchen is through there. While you and Jenna were focused on LeeLee, we cooked.”

Grabbing a large bowl and plate, he ladled a huge heaping then glanced up. “Crap, where are my manners. Can I get you ladies a bowl?”

They shook their head. “You go first, we already had some,” Payton said, pointing to their empty bowls.

Happy he wasn’t going to look like a selfish pig, he dipped the spoon into the thick red soup. The first taste hit his taste buds and he swore he moaned loud enough to wake LeeLee. “Oh my god, this is delicious.”

Nalina beamed, but didn’t say a word as he polished off the bowl and two sandwiches. He sat back, placing his hands on his full belly. “Do you ladies need a break as well?” They all looked rested, but he wanted to make sure. From the looks of Jenna she needed more than just a few hours.

Payton shook her head. “Jenna is special. She’s as old as time, or so she says. Her power is unequaled, and we owe her our very lives. She has overtaxed herself healing on the human world, but she is rejuvenating quickly here. You’ll see when she wakes, and watch out when she does. She has a wit that is unparalleled on either realm.” True love shone from her voice and face.

The small wolf jerked in sleep. He hated seeing her dream, especially knowing it was from nightmares and that he couldn’t protect her there.

“I can help you dream-walk if you’d like,” Nalina offered. “However, you might not like what you see there.”

His first instinct was to say hell yes, let’s do it, but the rational part of him had him stopping. “What do you mean? What won’t I like? If you mean I might see what she looks like I don’t care about that,” he assured her, and meant it. His lovers had all been gorgeous, yes, but they’d not been his mate. They’d been a stopgap until he’d found that one who was meant to complete him. LeeLee was it for him. Goddess, what if she didn’t feel the same? Surely the fates wouldn’t do that to him, he prayed.

Nalina shook her head. “No, what I meant was, you won’t be able to stop what is happening. You won’t be able to change her dreams. I can let you see what she’s dreaming, but not participate. To do so, you could harm her. I’m not like Jenna where I can participate. That takes a lot more energy than I have,” regret laced her voice.

Did he want to see what caused her so much pain while she slept? Even knowing he could do nothing to help her? It went against his nature, but Slater looked over at the twitching and growling form, and made the decision. “Let’s do this. What do I have to do?”

Payton put her hand on his arm. “Understand this is going to be painful for both of you.”

He looked at Nalina. “Will this harm you?”

She shook her head. “Not as long as you don’t fight when it is time to let go of the dreamscape. I will have Adalynn and Payton watching us.”

He swore the two Fey women vibrated with something close to anger.

“Ladies, sisters, I have lots of practice dream-walking. You forget I was stuck in a dungeon for years. How do you think I survived?” Her smile wasn’t forced.

They nodded then hugged her. In unison they said “We are here for you.”

Patting the floor next to LeeLee’s head, Nalina sat cross-legged. “Okay, sit here.” She pointed to the spot next to her. “Give me your hands and close your eyes.”

Within minutes he felt her power wash over him, stunning him into shocked silence, and then they were inside LeeLee’s dream world. Or a childlike LeeLee. He only knew it was her because of her bright red hair as she bent over a desk. An old woman stood above her yelling out words for her to write, no child as young as what LeeLee looked should be able to. Yet as he watched, she spelled each one, with not quite ease. Triumph filled her blue eyes, quickly diminished when the old woman smacked the ruler on the back of her hand.

Slater wanted to grab the old woman by the throat and strangle the life from her. His corporeal body vibrated with anger as another scene flashed by. This one had the same woman bringing the child dinner. When LeeLee asked where her parents were, the old woman took pleasure in telling her they were entertaining guests, and that she was to eat in her room. His heart ached for the small child that took the tray, but didn’t let the woman see the hurt.

When he would have stayed until LeeLee woke, not wanting her to face these memories alone, he was jerked back to his body.

“Damn it you stubborn shit.” Jenna lifted him off his feet with one hand.

He looked down, amazed at the slight woman holding him a couple feet off the ground. “Um, you can put me down now.” He held his hands out to the side of his body.

She bared her teeth. “Don’t ever do something so stupid again. Any of you. Feel me,” she pointed a finger at him then at a swaying Nalina. With a lot less finesse, she sat him on his wobbly feet.

“Why are you so angry,” he asked scrubbing his hand over his stubbly chin. He really needed to shave.

Jenna threw up her arms. “Why am I angry he asks?” She glared at him. “Would one of you fools like to explain to wolfie why I’m angry?”

Payton cleared her throat. “Well, you wouldn’t let go of the dreamscape, which sort of put you and Nalina in danger. I had to get Jenna because we couldn’t pull the two of you out.”

“Ding ding ding ding, give this one a prize.” Jenna placed her hands on her hips, pacing away from them. “Can a Fey not take a nap without worrying y’all will do something stupid?”

Nalina gasped, tears swimming in her eyes.

“Oh, hun. I’m sorry. You are not stupid. I just…I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose any of you. You are too special. Don’t you see…” she stopped and spun away. “Never mind. Let’s do this.” She swiped tears away from her cheeks.

Slater walked over, wrapping his arms around Jenna. “I am truly sorry, Jennaveve. It was not Nalina or these ladies fault. I promised I would not fight them when it was time to go. I didn’t even realize I was when we were in there. I just didn’t want to leave…it’s hard to explain.”

Jenna patted his shoulder. “Like I said, time flows differently here and in the dream world as well. You were there for a couple hours, give or take a few minutes.

Alarm raced down his spine. “Hours? How long have we been here in human time?”

Again, she patted his arm. “Let’s just focus on the problem at hand, shall we?”

He turned to look back where he’d left LeeLee sleeping only to see they’d moved her to the center of the now cleared room. Damn, magic sure was a handy thing.

“As I mentioned before, this is going to be a powerful event that is going to take the power of all four of us, plus you. You will ground her, while we will do as you like to refer to as, our magic shit.” Her smile flashed and he swore whatever man was lucky enough to claim her would be blessed indeed.

“You tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Even if you say to jump on one leg and act like a monkey.” They didn’t need to know he wasn’t sure he had the strength to do that, but he’d give it his best.

“Alright, children, let’s do this.” Jenna led him to the group, stopping near LeeLee’s head.

Goddess, they were getting ready to wake the sleeping wolf, or woman. What if she hated him, or didn’t remember him. Or heaven forbid, came out a young girl like he’d seen in the dreamscape.

“Don’t borrow trouble, Danielson.”

He whipped his head around. “Did you just quote a line from Karate Kid?”

“Wax on, wax off. I’m pretty sure Mr. Miyagi was a genius, and could fix anything. Now, let’s get busy.”

Slater wasn’t sure if she was serious, but he knew she had awesome powers. He didn’t want to question her mental state. Heck, she was said to be older than dirt, so more than likely forgot more than he’d ever learn.

“I want you to place your hands over her heart. That is where you want to be, and try not to fondle her breasts.” She winked, making the other ladies groan. “Too much, too soon?” she asked.

Payton nodded. “I think so, Jennaveve.”

“Well, y’all did go and almost get them killed in the dreamscape, therefore, I am allowed bad jokes. A few of them, by the way.” Jenna settled on her knees by LeeLee’s head, then indicated each lady to take a place.

Slater looked around and wondered how he was supposed to fit in between them.

“Goodness, do I need to draw you a picture? Straddle her body, and place both palms over her heart like so. If all goes as planned, a woman will be in the place of the wolf shortly.”

He felt weird straddling the form of a wolf, but figured the Fey women knew what they were doing. Her fur was soft beneath his fingers, the steady beat of her heart reassuring as he placed first his right hand, then his left, one on top the other over her heart. His own pulse pounded out a fast rhythm. If this didn’t work he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Closing his eyes, he felt the first jolt of energy. The shock enclosed him in a wave of warmth, then a tide of energy unlike any he’d experienced in his entire life. The body beneath him twitched, a link clicked open, and memories flooded him of a childhood unlike his own. One filled with loneliness and sadness. Beatings behind closed doors she had to hide, unable to make a sound out of fear her parents would send her away. More warmth and love flooded him and he knew the Fey were trying to coax LeeLee into coming out of the cocoon she’d built around herself. He added his own love and comfort to the mix, wanting her to know she’d never be hurt while he had breath in his body.

He heard growls and screams, and a terrified LeeLee racing to save the worthless parents who’d allowed an old woman to beat their child. Knowing what the noises meant, he wanted to call the child back, but knew he had to watch it play out, he watched, and waited. The scene she stumbled into was worse than he’d been prepared for. No child should ever have to face a massacre, let alone be covered in the blood of your pack. He watched in horror as LeeLee’s mother took her own life, rather than stay and become the chew toy of the pack who decimated theirs. LeeLee’s scream brought his head around, along with the ravenous wolves. They took off after the small girl, even as she ran as fast as her tiny legs would carry her. Slater kept his hands on her chest, her heart beating faster than humanly possible, making him fear she’d have a heart attack. The old woman reached out from the shadows, her smile chilling and evil. She tried to grab LeeLee, but fear lent her speed, and then he saw the bloodied gown tearing, the small girl becoming a small wolf. He wanted to cheer, at the miracle. Howls and growls followed. Little LeeLee didn’t stop running, Slater watched as she ran until she reached the highway. The sound of a diesel had him gasping, but he didn’t remove his hands, knowing instinctively he was keeping her tethered to reality. The large vehicle struck the tiny wolf, slowing, then came to a stop.