Slater's Enchanting Mate, Iron Wolves MC 4 (8 page)

“Bring her closer, Bianca dear.” The woman motioned with her hand, the hand not quite as wrinkled as she remembered either.

“You look just like RozLee,” she gasped. “What is your name,” she demanded.

Licking her suddenly dry lips she opened her mouth, then closed it. “LeeLee O’Neil.” She used Slater’s last name. As his mate, it seemed fitting.

A hand snaked out, grabbing the front of her shirt, bringing her closer to her face. “Who are your parents?”

“My father is Rasmund Masters.” He was the man who raised her, cared for her and made sure she had a place to belong for the last twenty years.

“You lie. I can smell the Mikosay on you. In you. You are Mikosay.”

Tired of being forced to breathe in the scent of the woman, she pushed away. “I am not. I grew up in the Cascades. I will give you names and numbers.” She’d kill the old bitch where she lay if she thought to harm anyone from her pack. Cammie and her child were her pack, along with her husband Keanu.

“Either you are a really good liar, or you tell the truth.” The old woman fell back against the pillows. “Besides, I told you that little bitch had bright red hair. There is no way that and this woman could be the same.”

“We will find another way then. She clearly has some of the family blood, we can still use her,” Bianca said.

“Yes, we will try, but if not, you will be my replacement.” The woman smiled, the grim pull of her lips did nothing to soothe LeeLee.

“Are you needing a blood donation?” Yeah, she knew it was so much more sinister than that.

The woman tossed back the covers. “You’re just as stupid as she was.” She barked out a laugh.

That was when LeeLee knew she was looking at Greta, the old crone had somehow lived and was younger than the eighty plus years she’d been twenty years ago. Taking a closer look, LeeLee would guess the woman to be around sixty, give or take a few, not closer to a hundred as she should be since twenty years had passed. What had the woman traded? When had she birthed a child and who was Bianca’s father?

“Do you need help dressing mother?”

“I think I can do that by myself. Besides it’s almost midnight. You need to get our girl to the hall for the ceremony. I’ll meet you there.”

When Bianca didn’t automatically do as she was told, Greta picked up a glass from the side table, launching it across the room without moving a muscle. “I am not dead yet, and you’d be best to remember that, child.”

Shivers stole down LeeLee’s spine.

“I love the smell of fear.” Greta moved around the bed, her body not as stooped as the crone’s had been. “You will make a wonderful surprise for our pack tonight. Go on. I’ll meet you there, Bianca. And don’t disappointment me,” her voice held a subtle warning.

They opened the door to find Bar, along with two other shifters, standing there. “Looks like Alaric has received a reprieve this year,” she sneered at a blond man who looked similar to the one who’d been speaking in front of the crowd earlier.

“Pretty sure he wasn’t worried.” The blond man spoke without looking at Bianca as they passed.

Bianca shoved at his chest, grunting when he didn’t move. “One day you will bow down to me.”

One side of his lips quirked up. “I’m to escort you to the hall.”

Claws dug into her forearm, causing her to cry out.

“Oh, for pity’s sake.” Bianca loosened her hold. “Move it or I’ll toss you to the wolves.”

“Where is Mitch?” Bar asked.

Bianca shrugged. “I told him to watch over our other prisoner. I’m sure he’ll meet us at the hall.”

They went down the back hall, familiar with these walkways, she ran her hand along the walls. Once they hit the outside, small lights lit a pathway through the field. Her feet stopped moving. The last time she’d made the trek it had been after seeing her mother kill herself, yet she’d ran to her aid. She still woke from sleep feeling the blood of her pack coating her body. The reality of who these people were hitting her. Greta had to have always plotted to kill them. But why did she need a ceremony and blood?

“Bar, if she won’t move, carry her.” Bianca tossed over her shoulder.

Not wanting the beast’s hands on her, she began moving on wooden legs. The closer she got to the hall, the more she could remember the metallic scent, the sticky feel of blood coating her.

“
I am with you and we are not alone, LeeLee. Focus on me and my love. Stay strong.”
Slater’s deep voice grounded her.

She could do this. No, she would do this. She survived a horror, but many had survived worse. She would not crumble.

Inside the grand space they had decorated it with more fairy lights, and the occupants were all dressed in their finery. Music was playing and many were dancing. The main table was set at the front as was custom she assumed since she’d never actually been allowed to attend. Her eyes darted to the men and woman seated there, and swore her heart stopped beating. The woman laughing with her arm wrapped around the alpha looked just like her mother. She looked just like her, only her eyes were different.

Like a magnet, LeeLee moved through the dancing bodies. The tinkling laugh one she hadn’t heard in years. Not since she’d been a child and never aimed at her. Anger and hurt poured through her veins. She found herself standing in front of the elegantly decorated table, waiting for them to notice her. Always waiting for the woman who birthed her to notice her only child.

The alpha noticed her first, his smile freezing on his face. “Who are you?”

LeeLee didn’t give him the respect due an alpha, her eyes were trained on RozLee. “Hello, mother.”

The silence that followed her announcement was almost deafening.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you?” RozLee looked stricken.

The pain those words would normally have caused was missing. For six years she’d vied for her mother’s attention. Wanted her love, yet never even received a good night kiss. Now, twenty years later she had no illusions. What she didn’t understand was how she lived. She looked around at the gathering crowd, wondering where her father was.

“Where is my father? The last I saw of either of you was over twenty years ago when you were sobbing over his body, and then you slashed your own throat. I thought you were dead.” A slight sob escaped.

“You must be mistaken. Rozlee’s husband was killed by a rogue pack, dear, along with her beloved child.” The alpha squeezed his mate’s shoulder.

Clarity hit her. The woman in front of her had orchestrated the entire thing with Greta. Again, she didn’t know what her mother had to gain. From what she’d seen in the home, the old woman was now living in the master’s quarters.

“I’m sorry, Alpha, but I can assure you I am her daughter. I can tell you exactly what happened that day. I can tell you how I escaped my room from my guards, how I ran and tried to save my parents, but thought they were both dead. The only thing I have to show for my efforts is this scar.” She lifted her shirt and showed him the heart shaped scar that rested on her hip bone.

He gasped. “This can’t be possible.”

Her mother stood up. “My daughter had red hair. You…you have colored yours to look like mine. And those contacts only look the same as my husbands, which you can buy anywhere nowadays. I give you credit for doing your research on my family history, but you are not my child. She was an abomination.”

Like a knife to her heart, LeeLee stumbled back.

“Ah, I see you’ve met our guest of honor. It is time RozLee. Now, I know she is not a full blood, but she has your family blood, although diluted.”

“Mother, she says she is the daughter,” Bianca said.

Greta seemed to grow in inches. “What is this?”

“You are a horrible woman. I’d say human being, but I don’t think you are that. Are you? Why? Tell me why you hated me? Why did you treat a child so terribly? I was three when you came into our home. Until then I was at least tolerated by her and my father. But once you came into the picture, all of a sudden they hated the sight of me. Why,” she cried, looking at her mother for answers.

Greta laughed, the sound wholly evil. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? Your father thought you weren’t his. Your mother blamed you for his distrust. I came in and let them refocus on each other. Little did they know, there was never another man in your mother’s life. It was all glamour. I don’t know how you unlocked it, but it doesn’t matter. You will give me what I need to stay young. Only now, it will last longer than a mere twenty years.”

“You did what?” RozLee screamed.

LeeLee was sure the woman, who allowed someone to treat her child like trash, would have launched herself over the table, but her mate pushed her behind him.

“I want you off my lands, woman,” the alpha growled.

Power surged in the room. “Oh, you fools. Do you think I am just an old woman? Tell them RozLee. Tell them the deal you made with me all those years ago.”

Like watching a ping pong match, LeeLee’s head snapped between the two women. “I loved my mate. When our child’s hair grew to be red, I knew she couldn’t be my mate’s, but I had no recollection of sleeping with another man. Sabin wouldn’t believe me, but we were mates. He couldn’t even look at me. Then out of the blue, she came to me and offered to make it better. The man I loved, or the child. I’d loved Sabin since I’d been a child myself. There was no competition. I chose my heart.” RozLee looked at LeeLee, wanting her to understand.

“He was a wolf, he should have been able to scent a lie. If you’d been with another man, he’d have known.” LeeLee felt nothing. Her blood was cold like ice running through her veins.

A bitter laugh came from the woman who’d birthed her. “You don’t know about magic. None of you understand the magic in the world that can be wrought. She is not what she appears. I made a bargain with her all those years ago.”

“A fat lot of good it did you. My father was killed right in front of you. By who? This new pack you call yours?” Disgusted, LeeLee flung her hand out.

The alpha growled. “We heard about this land from another pack. When we arrived, I found your mother half-starved and on the verge of being feral. A handful of your pack survived. Look around, you can probably pick them out, because they were too young to be at this very hall.”

“Enough, I grow weary of this. I need this one in order to complete my ritual and gain my immortality. With her life, I will allow you and RozLee, and the rest of this pack to live. Make no mistake, I can’t be stopped.” Power whipped around her, bands of steel encircled LeeLee.

“Take the girl,” RozLee muttered.

The alpha’s eyes widened. “You can’t mean that. She is flesh of your flesh. Blood of your blood.”

“It is her or us. Who would you choose?”

“I would choose to fight.”

Growls echoed around the hall.

LeeLee felt a faint stirring in her body. Dear Goddess, she wasn’t sure who was inside her, but she swore the energy was unlike any she’d ever encountered, filling her with power. The ice was replaced by fire. She welcomed the surge, knowing the Fey and possibly the Goddess herself had gifted her with a little something extra. Her wolf howled, and since she’d woken as a woman, in her human skin, she wasn’t scared of shifting. No, she knew she could be both in the blink of an eye.

The invisible bonds holding her snapped.

Greta took a step back, then recovered.

LeeLee, feeling the Goddess
herself working inside her, threw out her arms and shielded the innocents in the room, leaving her facing Greta.

“Come now, old woman, what else do you got?” The taunt had the desired effect, the black eyes narrowed, the cloak she wore disappeared.

A being of nightmares replaced the sixty year old woman. LeeLee was glad she wasn’t scared of green scaly things. Much.

“Alright then. You’re a witch. So, you need a big pot and a fire to make your potion or what?”

“Silly girl. You have a simple mind. Like there is only good and evil, black and white. You think witches are evil?” It stalked her, no longer sounding quite feminine.

“I have nothing against witches. Heck, I was taking a stab in the dark. You’re like a sickly shade of green, and I thought maybe you were like the witch in the movie where the house fell on the bad one.” She had to keep her, or it talking until Slater and his pack arrived. Although she felt confident in her own newfound power, she wasn’t sure how to wield it properly. She’d missed kickass 101.

“The veil between your world and mine is thinner on All Hallows Eve, child. I came through over fifty years ago, and in order to stay, I must offer up a sacrifice. Only not just any sacrifice, but one such as you. I’m thinking they’ll love you now that you have some goddess powers.”

LeeLee tilted her head. “I’m gonna have to say…no. Yep, that is a big fat no.”

“Mother, just do it and be done. I’m growing bored. It’s like you enjoy playing with your food,” Bianca said in a bored tone.

LeeLee had thought the girl was a shifter. Now, a dawning thought occurred. This thing had a child with a shifter. That meant Bianca was a cross between it and a shifter. “You know what she is and what she does, and you’re okay with it?”

“She’s my mother. Besides, there are too many idiots on this earth, and my mother needs their blood to stay young and here.”

“How old are you?” LeeLee narrowed her eyes. Bianca couldn’t be much older than twenty, yet she had a worldly attitude.

“I’ll be twenty-one on my next birthday. I’m bored with this, and I’m pretty sure you’ve allowed her to drain enough of her powers now, Mom. Let us be done with it.”

Her words jarred LeeLee. Had the other woman been playing with her, knowing by holding the others in a safe bubble it was draining her. She reached inside herself, yet didn’t sense any fatigue.

In her mind she felt Slater and his pack.

She stumbled to the side, reaching a hand out to the table to steady herself. Under the shield of her eyelashes she counted the men with Greta and Bianca. “
I don’t know how many you have with you, but I have one green thing that used to be the old crone, her daughter who is half shifter, and four shifters with me. I’ve got the rest of the pack behind a shield. Don’t ask, I’ll explain later.”

“Oh, you will be doing lots of explaining. Damn baby, I can feel whatever you are doing through our link, and…let’s just say it’s a little embarrassing to be running around with a hard on.”

“Don’t make me laugh, I’m trying to act tired. Just get in here and save the damsel in distress.”

His chuckle had her tightening her legs where she stood.

“See, I told you. Now, grab her and let’s take her out to the field. It’s prepared.”

LeeLee allowed them to drag her out, putting up a minimum of fuss so it didn’t appear as if she was too docile.

In the clearing she noticed a large stone well. “What the hell?” That had not been there before. Was the green being from Hell?

“Ah, you see the portal? I know it’s quite antiquated, but it works.”

She jerked back as black smoke drifted up from the center, its acrid scent smelled of rotting flesh.

“Oh, no, none of that,” Greta ground out.

Bar held her easily, the smoke curling up into the air. “Don’t do this.”

“When the veil opens, I hold the power to stop others from coming through. You don’t want to stop me, girlie. I can allow a hellbeast to come across. You shifters think you are the top of the food chain, but let me tell you, those big bastards make you little wolves look like house pets. When they come through they’ll imprint on the first person they lay eyes on. That would be me. I can order them to do anything I want. How long do you think it would take me to figure out who, and where your other family lives? Nothing on this planet can kill them. Now, it’s you or them. What do you choose?”

Like mother like daughter, only she’d choose her death, over her loved ones. RozLee was a selfish bitch. LeeLee quit fighting, hoping and praying Slater had a plan.

“
Oh, yee of little faith. The Goddess has gifted you with more strength and powers than you have given yourself credit. When you need it, ask for it. She will guide you. I would come to your aid, but I am unable physically. However, I can lend you my knowledge,” Jenna whispered into her mind.

Information flooded her, and with it a calmness.

Howls split the air. Achingly familiar and welcome.

LeeLee let the energy flow from her into the portal where the black smoke was now rolling out, a grey cloud covering the black, pushing it down.

“No, you can’t,” Greta yelled, her body tackled LeeLee.

With focused power, she unleashed all the energy in her, pushing the blackness back. In her mind she pictured the portal collapsing, sealing up on itself.

Hands tore at her hair as reality intruded. LeeLee blinked, finding herself trapped under a hundred plus pounds of furious green creature.

Her wolf surfaced, the canines she’d loathed dropped. Fur rippled along her arms. “Get off me, or die by my hands, you crazy bitch.”

She felt her hair being ripped from her scalp, and turned to see Bianca was joining the fight.

“Two against one. I like these odds.” LeeLee reached behind her, using her wolf and the extra strength still flowing through her, tossing Bianca several feet away. Snarling and howls all around from the Mystic Pack filtered into her hearing. And then she recognized another pack’s scent. Holy shit, the Iron Wolves’ alpha and second leapt into the fray, shocking her.

“
I’ve got this. Get Bar, he wanted to play with me.”
She knew telling Slater that, would keep him from her fight. She needed to handle Greta on her own. For too long she was the boogie man.

They both turned toward Bianca as she didn’t get up, her body lying in the middle of the once sacrificial place. The jagged stones unforgiving on her body.

“No,” Greta snarled, her focus turning back to LeeLee.

LeeLee allowed her claws to grow longer, knowing Greta would be enraged.

Anticipation vibrated through her core. “Oh bring it, beotch.” She was sure she’d heard that phrase somewhere before.

Jenna’s laughter filled her head. She was hearing the other woman and the Goddess’s   memories, or words fill her head. LeeLee wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not, but let them guide her. Hopefully when the battle was over, they’d retreat to the back of her brain if not all together. She wasn’t in the mood to be considered Sybil.

Again, the two women laughed in her head. She would so love to sit and chat with the two women, or rather the Fey and a goddess…when she wasn’t locked in a life or death battle.

Circling each other, Greta spewed hatred, words to confuse and make LeeLee fear her, but she blocked them. Her mind focused on what the being’s weak points were. No matter who or what you were, you had a soft underbelly. With the long flowing robes, it was hard to guess what the woman hid.

With an evil grin, she reached inside, withdrawing her hand, a ball of flames appeared. The colors a mix of blue, black, and grey. She held it up as if admiring, before aiming it at LeeLee.

Almost too late, LeeLee rolled to the side, then before she could gain her footing, another was lobbed at her. Grass and dirt flew into her eyes. The next blast had her rolling toward Greta, taking out her legs. LeeLee landed on top, her right hand locking around her throat. A flash of silver, Greta attempting to stab her had her wolf pushing up further.

LeeLee squeezed harder, feeling the bones of her throat, the other she wrapped around the wrist holding the blade, holding her in place while the air was cut off from Greta. The woman’s cold black eyes bulged.

She pictured her family before Greta, and in her mind she imagined they were a loving family, but she’d only been a toddler.

The skin on her arm was shredding under the struggling, clawing form beneath her, but LeeLee increased the pressure. Finally, she felt the bones snap, felt the last breath leave the woman, yet she knew that wasn’t it. She was evil incarnate, and needed to be eradicated from the earth.

She closed her eyes and let the Goddess flow through her, cleansing the ground and the area of the stench and taint.

Standing, she was shocked to see the wolves fighting. She could easily pick out Slater’s wolf, and gasped as he fell beneath the large brown and gold wolf that was Bar. Instinctively she knew it was the bastard.

The two wolves rolled, their lethal claws raking each other’s sides, the other trying for a killing blow.

****

Once Slater knew LeeLee was no longer in danger from the old woman, he turned his full focus on the big wolf who’d slunk off after the fighting started. Bar had taunted LeeLee with what he was going to do to her, yet when they’d shown up, he’d ran off. Just as Slater had finished off one of Greta’s enforcers, the worthless prick had snuck up on him, his putrid scent had been downwind and almost cost him his life.

Now, he didn’t need to watch her back. She was fine. Better than, except she’d just killed a being. He wanted to reach out and ask if she was okay. When he finished Bar, he’d wrap her in his arms, and she’d never have to face anything so terrifying again.

He dodged another swipe of claws, growling low in his throat. Too many more blows and he’d be the one needing to be carried home.

They rolled across the ground, breaking free then turning back toward the snarling brown wolf. Amber eyes stared at him with death in them. Slater launched himself in the air, meeting head on, his teeth sank into the other’s neck, locking on with deadly precision. He held on, shaking and biting, the copper tasting liquid filling his mouth. Once he was assured of Bar’s death, he released him.

All around wolves lay from the other pack. Niall shifted back to human, followed by Zayn. The two brothers almost identical in looks, although their commanding presence was a force to be reckoned with, Niall’s alpha aura was hard to miss. They stood shoulder to shoulder with Kellen and Xan from the Iron Wolves.

“I was starting to think you were gonna need a hand,” Niall said, clapping Slater on the back.

Zayn laughed. “Yeah, well I knew you were just playing with the puppy. Um, you wanna introduce us to your mate.”

“I’m really not sure if I like the way you boys travel.” Kellen looked around the clearing.

Xan slapped him on the back. “Ignore him. He’s not a fan of flying either.”

Kellen raised his right hand. His huge tattooed bicep flexed as he flipped Xan off. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Nah, I got Breezy.” He cleared his throat, then winced. “Sorry, my name is Xan, and this is my alpha, Kellen.” He nodded toward LeeLee.

“Hello, LeeLee. Slater, it’s good to see you. As the cousin of my mate, you and yours are also part of the Iron Wolves as well.” Kellen stared at him and LeeLee.

A faint stirring in his mind, very similar to what he felt when Niall first became his alpha clicked.

“Thank you, Alpha.” Slater held his hand out. The grip was strong, but not overly so.

Kellen repeated the gesture with LeeLee, making his mate smile, then she stepped back, sadness and uncertainty crossing her features.

LeeLee stood with her arms wrapped around her waist. “I left the rest of the pack in the hall. I’m not sure who’s good or bad. I sort of just threw up a shield that was supposed to protect the innocent.”

Slater nodded. “Where’s your mother?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip.

He hated to see her pain. “Let’s go check on the others.” Niall waved and led the way, ever the alpha and leader.

“We’ll start a fire out here, unless the Goddess has a way of cleaning this shit up?” Kellen glanced around at the carnage.

Slater wasn’t sure what she could or couldn’t do. “We’ll help as soon as we handle the other matter,” he promised.