Winter's Dawn (39 page)

“No, I wasn’t bitten,” Max finally answered John, still enjoying the snow landing on his face and bare chest. “I was born a werewolf.”

“But—” John switched gears, driving faster once they reached an open road. “You and Sue were never like that, talking weird, appearing and disappearing. It’s like you’re possessed.”

“We do know how to blend.” Max blinked heavy-lidded eyes as the rush of knowing they were safe and that Susie would make it to the palace started to ease the tension in him. “I grew up in human school, remember? I know how your kind act.”

“So you’ve always been a —”

“A wolf, yeah,” Max confirmed, his eyes closing to the feel of snowflakes hitting his face. “It was easier to blend when I was younger. Not so easy now.”

“Why?”

“’Cause I’m full-grown,” Max said, the words bitter on his tongue as he longed for the carefree days of his youth. Something still nagged at him but it was as if a block had been put into his subconscious, making the source of anxiety impossible to find. He gave up as he relaxed his shoulders back against the seat. “And I’m king.”

“King of werewolves?”

“Yup,” Max snorted, hearing the shock and admiration sounding in John’s voice. “Lucky me.”

“You called Susie your queen.”

“I did.” Another smile tugged at Max’s lips. “She’s my queen and she’s beautiful. I love her so much.”

“But,” John started, his voice still mystified. “If you’re king and she’s queen, wouldn’t you two have to be married? Or do werewolves do it different? Is it like a family business?”

“Yes,” Max confirmed and John gave a sigh of relief before Max went on. “We don’t get married. That’s a stupid human tradition. Wolves just bond themselves to their other half and then stay mated for life. We think differently than humans in almost all things. We’re more comfortable with our pack and most usually mate within it rather than look outside the family. But, Sue and me are alpha wolves. We’re unique. We were born mates. We’ve always been bonded.”

“But, that’d mean—”

Max never heard John finish the sentence. He drifted off to sleep wondering if he’d run into Susie on the other side.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The sense of peace that had settled over Max was such an odd sensation it left him confused. He looked around to gather his bearings.

He stood in an open field covered with snow. Trees heavy with icicles surrounded him on all sides, making the large, open space in the middle seem like a winter haven. That explained the feeling of peace and happiness that had settled in his stomach.

The newly risen sun was bright white as it reflected off the pristine snow. It nearly blinded him, but Max didn’t mind. He was king. The sun was his guardian and friend.

“The time is now for the next chapter of the journey, both for you and our people. Your lives, as always, mirror theirs.”

Max turned to see an enormous arctic wolf walking out of the woods. He was so huge his shoulders touched the branches of the pine trees. For the first time in his memory Max felt small and insignificant as he faced this massive creature.

There was no question who this wolf was. Even without seeing the black sun emblazoned on his chest, standing out starkly amongst his thick white fur, Max knew this was the God of Winter.

“What’s the next chapter?” Max asked with no small amount of trepidation as he continued to stare at the God of Winter in his wolf form. “I don’t understand.”

“A battle against nature can never be won.” There seemed to be humor in the god’s gruff voice. “It never stops the young from trying. It’s part of the cycle, but now is the time for you to lay down your sword.”

“Will I pick it up again?”

“This war is dead for you. It will lay dormant until the next generations fight it, likely far more furiously than you. The Gods of the other seasons will be there to guide their wards through as I have aided you,” the God of Winter said and then chuckled. “But worry not, you have many other battles before you. Nature will be your enemy once again.”

“That sounds ominous,” Max frowned.

“It’s part of the cycle of life. To experience all sides is a gift, not a curse.”

“There are many things considered gifts that often times feel more like a curse,” Max mumbled, trying not to sound bitter in the face of a god.

“Being king is not easy,” the wolf said solemnly. “Nor is restoring the balance. You were chosen because the soul you share with your mate is strong—it always has been. You’re up for the task.”

“If you say so,” Max said, not really believing it.

“Maxwell, I’m sending you back to tread lightly despite your warrior heart,” the wolf went on. “Embrace your destiny. Find the moon as night kisses a new day and bring light back into the lives of your people.”

Max watched the massive arctic wolf turn and walk back into the woods. He knew there were other questions, hundreds of them, perhaps thousands he should ask but none came.

All he could focus on was Susie. He shouldn’t be here without her. He got the distinct impression she was once there with him. She left not long ago as the moon went to sleep, leaving the sun to rise alone and allow his child, the God of Winter, to find Max without Susie around.

Somehow his memory of their time together was hazed and even his exchange with the God of Winter was becoming fuzzy, but it made no difference. If Susie left their winter haven, he had to follow. Rather than run after the wolf, he went the other way, finding a clearing in woods and knowing it led to his queen.

When he broke through the trees the sun’s light became blinding as it rose too high in the sky. He could never be in this place past the start of a new day or the dusk of evening. He was supposed to exist forever where the sun and moon graced the sky together.

He was supposed to be with Susie.

As he ran into the woods, blinded by the light of a sun too bright for him to endure when half his soul was Susie’s, he started to hear voices through the veil of sunlight.

“I’m dying.”

“No, Your Highness, you’ll live,” a soothing voice cut into the strange images flitting through Max’s mind. “The wound was shallow—you’ve just got silver poisoning.”

“Where’s my mate?” Susie sobbed, her voice gravelly with pain.

“Still unconscious.”

“Maxwell! Wake up!”

The veil of unconsciousness slipped off Max instantly. He blinked in shock when he jerked up in bed, sitting up so abruptly the room spun.

“Your Majesty, your queen—”

Max leaped out of his bed. He ran past the doctors in his bedroom, the scene all too familiar for his comfort. The door to his bathroom actually broke off its hinges as he shoved his palm against it.

“Maxwell,” Susie sobbed from her spot kneeling in front of the toilet. His father was rubbing her back and held her hair while she wretched. “I’m dying.”

“Susan, please don’t say that,” Emma begged.

“Shut up!” Susie growled, her voice completely inhuman. “I can die if I want!”

Max could actually feel the quiver of fear in his bathroom, not just from the doctors milling around, but off his father and Emma as well. There was something terrifying about an injured alpha female. Wolves lashed out when they were hurting and Susie had never experienced pain before. It was a shock to her system.

“Everyone get out.” Max fell to his knees and took Susie from his father when she had to lean over the toilet once more. She was retching, but nothing came out. He felt the tug in his stomach and lifted his head, feeling dizzy. He stared at his father who ignored his order to leave. “How long have we been out?”

He grimaced. “Three days.”

“Get us some food,” Max said rather than dwell on it too much. They were awake now. Susie may wish for death, but she’d survive. He stroked her braids that now hung past her shoulders. He tugged on one lightly. “I love you, Susie Bee.”

“I’m sick.” She turned around to look at him with watery eyes that glimmered brightly in the dim light from the bathroom. “Make me feel better.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Max fell back on his haunches and gathered Susie to him. He ran a hand up the line of her spine, caressing skin bared by the low dip in the back of her silk nightgown. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

She curled into him and buried her face against his bare chest as tears ran down her usually pale cheeks now flushed with fever.

“I want to be alone.” She dug her fingernails into the muscles of his lower back when she wrapped her arms around him. “Make everyone leave.”

Max turned, looking to his father and lifting his eyebrows in annoyance. “Get everyone out of our rooms and then have food brought up for both of us.”

“Okay, Maxwell.” His father nodded as he got to his feet. “We do have a few other pressing issues that need your attention.”

“I have only one pressing issue.” Max couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice when Susie was sick and he hadn’t eaten in three days.

Max put his arm under her legs and stood with Susie cradled in his arms. She buried her face against his chest, looking away from the doctors and other wolves making slow work of leaving. He walked out of the bathroom, carrying her back into their bedroom.

“Since the doctors are lingering, have them find medicine for her. Let them do their jobs.”

His father gaped. “You want her drugged?”

“Having lived through silver poisoning, yes, I want her drugged,” Max said as he laid her down in bed and then crawled onto the mattress with her.

“Gods,” Susie moaned and pushed her face into the pillow as her hands tightened in the sheets. “Just let me die.”

“Your Majesty,” one of the doctors started hesitantly. “Drugging an alpha female could make her unstable.”

Lightning stuck, the crash of it deafening enough that everyone in the room jumped when it shook the walls. Max turned to his father with a low growl, “I’m sorry, I thought the Gods deemed me king.”

“You are.” His father gave him a look. “They’re giving advice.”

“Will the drugs kill her?” Max didn’t trust himself to speak to the doctors directly when he was feeling this volatile. “Will they cause any long term side effects aside from making a few doctors nervous?”

“Well, no.”

“Then why are they making my mate suffer needlessly?” Max asked slowly, his voice a low snarl of warning. “I want something to make her more comfortable or they are going to be dealing with someone worse than an unstable alpha female. They’re starting to turn into a threat to me.”

“No one’s threatening your mate.”

“I don’t want her in pain!”

“We’ll take care of it,” his father said.

“Thank you.” Max smelled the truth of his father’s words and gathered Susie in his arms with a final glare at the doctors. Susie curled into him with a primal whimper and he leaned down to place a kiss against the top of her head. “I’m sorry you’re sick.”

“Your eyes are silver,” Susie whispered as she rested her cheek against his chest and reached up to twist his hair between her fingers. “I like it.”

He snorted and closed his eyes, willing some of the tension to leave his body once they were alone in the room. It wasn’t working very well when he could feel the heat of fever off Susie.

Susie broke the silence with a sob. “I hate this. Help me, Honeywell.”

“It’ll get better.” He rolled over with Susie so they were both curled on their sides and he could cover her body with his. He nudged her chin and then pressed a soft kiss beneath it. “I’ll protect you.”

Susie whimpered once more, behaving strangely wolf-like as she arched her neck towards him. Feeling more than a little wolf-like himself after his experiment with Adam and the drama from the last few days, he nipped at the curve of her neck. He buried his nose into the welcoming nook and let his eyes close.