Autumn Moon (24 page)

Cormack knew the very moment when the magic returned to their cottage and Elen's spirit gleamed with happiness once again. The scent of cinnamon, nutmeg and cider simmered from the iron crock in the hearth. It was the season for holidays and wishes and for yuletide cookies by crackling fires. And his wish came true with the healing of her soul.

She held an armful of fresh holly boughs, and her cheeks glowed from being outdoors. Holding the door wide, she ducked under his arm and he snuck a kiss on her frosty lips. Golden curls framed her face as she laughed, and winter remained outside instead of in her gaze.

Closing the door, he waited while she dumped her holiday greenery on the counter, kicked off her boots and hung her coat and gloves in the entryway. Their baby tiger,
officially named Greta, immediately pounced on the shoelaces and tried to climb into the nearest empty boot, her tail slashing as her head disappeared.

“Cormack,” Elen gasped in surprise as he scooped her up in his arms, and then just as quickly her body melted into his. “Please tell me you're
finally
taking me to bed.”

The emphasis on the
finally
made him chuckle. “I've taken you to bed every night.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do,” he whispered against her lips, “and I am, because you're ready now.”

“I've been ready,” she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Now I'm neglected and you're going to have to work for it.”

“That sounds like more of a reward than a challenge,” he warned. As he walked her up the stairs, her mouth played havoc with his balance, nipping along his chest. Letting her slide down his length, he ordered, “Arms up.”

Heat sparked in her gaze as she complied, helping him with her pants and under things until she stood before him nude. Her curves had filled back in, and her breasts tightened under his gaze.

A slow grin tugged at his lips. “Beautiful.”

“Arms up,” she challenged in return, only she lingered with her mouth on the areas she unclothed. Her breath hitched as he shrugged off his pants, his desire for her revealed in eager lengths. They tumbled together onto the bed, and he rolled so she was on her back.

“Now, I believe you said I needed to work for this.” He claimed her mouth, absorbing her soft sighs, and then ran his lips down her neck and to her breasts, taking the tender peaks into his mouth.

“I lied,” she gasped, writhing under him. “I'm ready now, Cormack.” Her legs opened wider, and she arched up to take him inside her. “I need you.”

He slid down, nipping kisses over her stomach. “I'm not sure.”

“I'm sure.” Her hands clawed at his hair, trying to pull him back up.

He kissed the inside of her knee first, and she stilled. Then he kissed her inner thigh, and a shudder followed.

“Cormack?” Suspicion hung in her voice, but also excitement.

“I want to kiss you here.” He ran his fingers along her core, finding the nub of flesh she taught him how to pleasure, circling gently. “May I?”

A whimper fell from her mouth. “Yes.” Her legs opened wider to give him better access.

So sweet she was, and soft under his tongue. He repeated the motion he'd learned she liked best, over and over without relent. Her legs began to tremble a moment before she arched, and he felt her release as her body convulsed and she collapsed, sated.

He placed his arms on either side of her and rose, keeping his full weight off of her body. Her eyes fluttered open, filled with contentment, and love, and trust. She was everything to him, his heart and his happiness.

“I am yours and you are mine.” He entered slowly, gritting his teeth against the heat that threatened his control.

As always, she enflamed his beast, rocking up when he would be gentle. “I am yours and you are mine.”

Her pleasure rose a second time, he felt it with the gripping of her sheath, and like once before, he sensed the rising of her wolf. His beast unfurled, wanting to tie their spirits
as he joined their bodies. She felt it too, or he knew she must, because her teeth grazed his neck, nipped once and then sunk into his flesh.

The claiming triggered his release. A growl rumbled from his throat as he arched, spilling his seed in a wave of pleasure so deep his spine ached from its force. Her cries echoed his as she unraveled a second time beneath him.

Afterward he collapsed on his back, dragging her against his side.

Her cheek rested against his heart. “I hope . . .” The wish fell unfinished from her lips.

But he knew what it was, because he knew her. “As do I, but even if we are not blessed with a child, I have you.”

And Elen was more than enough to make his life complete.

*   *   *

A winter babe chose to arrive a week early, in a blizzard. Cormack drove Elen as soon as they received the call, but traffic moved slowly due to whiteout conditions, and it took almost seven hours to reach New Hampshire. Elen's last memory of Avon had been in Mae's kitchen, but her heart clenched in remembrance instead of pain as she crossed Avon's bridge. Anger poisoned the giver more than the receiver, and she'd finally come to that place of peace.

Almost everyone had gathered in the great hall, offering genuine welcomes. Many of the guards sat on the long table, sipping tankards of ale as they waited for news.

Gareth greeted her with a smile, folding her into a tight hug that lifted her off her feet, a gregarious gesture from a once stoic man. “You have no idea how good it is to see you again.”

“The feeling is mutual,” she said. “Is Rosa in her chambers?”

When Gareth nodded and set her down, Cormack wove his fingers within hers, claiming a kiss. “I'll walk you up and then wait it out down here with the rest.”

He had lingering memories, she realized, and wasn't ready to let her walk about the halls alone. “I would like that.”

The door to Rosa's chamber was closed. She knocked before entering, and Cormack nodded a hasty farewell as soon as he glimpsed the scene within. Cadan, Rosa's cousin, sat on the floor with his legs spread wide as Rosa used his chest as a backrest. Her mead-colored hair had been braided back. Sweat-soaked tendrils had escaped and matted to her forehead. Luc crouched between her bent thighs, whispering soothing words as a contraction gripped her stomach. Rosa wasn't a screamer, but her face mottled bright red and a moan fell from her lips as she rode the wave.

Luc's relief when he saw Elen was palpable. Cadan's even more.

“The last hour has been the worst,” both men shared at once.

“She won't stay on the bed.” Cadan's steady gaze beseeched Elen for help. “Said it's too soft.”

Bethan had made a makeshift pallet with blankets and towels over the rug, or Elen assumed it was her because she hovered by the door with more towels in her arms.

“That's fine.” Elen spoke to Rosa as she opened her medical bag, which held the items she needed. “I'm going to check where the baby's head is positioned.”

Luc scooted back for her to take his place. Children were so rare among their kind. Almost all of Elen's experience came from delivering human babes while in school. Rosa
was fully dilated and the baby's head had begun to descend. This was clearly a human birth; a Bleidd was born in a membrane sac like pups.

“Rosa,” Elen ordered in a firm but gentle voice, “next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can.”

With eyes squeezed shut, she nodded. Luc moved to take his mate's hand, whispering encouragements through her labors. Five contractions later, the head crowned, and Elen shifted the shoulders to ease the babe out on an angle. “More towels,” she ordered Bethan, who immediately slipped them under the babe as Elen quickly removed the placenta and cord.

A healthy wail filled the halls of Castell Avon, followed by distant cheers. Her niece's first breath of life resonated with strength and power. Elen placed the babe, her ink-black hair curled around scrunched features, in her parents' arms, and then rested her hand on Luc's shoulder. “She's beautiful.”

The two men nodded in agreement. Tears fell without shame.

It was customary for mothers to shift after birth to heal, those who could, but Rosa turned to smile at her cousin instead. “Will you get Audrey so she can meet her new sister?”

There was no shadow dark enough to steal the light of this day.

*   *   *

At the end of the storm came a quiet night in a white-cloaked valley. Glints of moonlight sparkled on the snow-covered trees as Elen followed two wolves, one brown and the other red. Gareth and Cormack had shifted to run, while she required snowshoes for the journey. She carried a basket of food and woolen blankets. Cormack rarely took
the form of his wolf, having been trapped for so long, and she enjoyed watching him run through the snow.

They traveled through a private reserve the residents of Castell Avon had purchased, a secret haven during the time of their former Guardian's reign. It was an hour's hike from the road to reach the makeshift homes built in hills and behind trees. Soon the hidden nook came into view, and Gareth broke away to issue a howl to warn of his approach.

A black wolf padded onto the trail, her legs sinking into the snow; she halted once she noticed Gareth wasn't alone. Her lips peeled back to reveal canines as a low growl emerged.

“Hello,” Elen said, making a clumsy approach with the wooden webbed shoes. Her legs burned with exhaustion from the hike. “I believe your name is Saran.”

The wolf quieted but watched with wary golden eyes.

“My name is Elen.” Gareth and Cormack flanked Elen's sides, sending a message without words that she was a friend. “I was taken by Pendaran and placed in a stone cell below Hochmead.” She shared this only to let the Bleidd know she understood her plight. “I believe you know of this place.”

The black wolf sat, tilted her head. Her fur glinted like the coat of a mink under shimmering stars. According to Gareth, she refused to be near confined spaces, so he'd showed her this reserve, where she could easily escape but also seek shelter from the cold. He had earned her trust.

Stamping her shoes to pat the snow, Elen unbuckled them from her boots and made her way toward a rock. Clearing off the snow, she sat down and opened the basket. She removed a sandwich filled with roasted beef and gravy and
tore it in half. Elen didn't eat much meat, but she took a bite then for Saran's benefit, offering her the other half. “My brother and his mate live on an island not far from here. I believe you know where it is.”

Saran snagged the sandwich and chewed while she listened.

“You are welcome in their home.” The wolf prepared to bolt; Elen could see it in her stance and the way her eyes shifted to the shadows within the trees. “My brother was once a Bleidd, like you. His name is Luc, but the Guardians call him the Beast of Merin.”

A glint of recognition entered her gaze. Malicious rumors always skulked among their kind, and it seemed even into crevices far below the earth.

“Luc will be kind to you. He will welcome you into his home, as will his mate. And I can assure you they don't judge children by the actions of their parents.” It had been some time since Elen called her gift, but she did so then. Reaching her senses into the dormant forest, she felt for life under the snow. It began to melt, and Saran backed away but didn't run. Soon moss appeared, yellow and bleached until Elen fed it with life. A daisy seed took root, a green stem emerged and unfurled, followed by a bud and white petals.

Plucking the flower, Elen held it out to Saran. “Your mother loved you very much. She would want you to go.”

The wolf paused, her gaze searching. She wanted to trust, but she had more years of shadows to chase away. However, she was Maelorwen's daughter and proved it by stepping forward to nuzzle Elen's hand.

The air between them shimmered with energy as soon as they touched. Elen sucked in her breath. The power that rose from the black wolf held two signatures, one of an
enchantress and the other of a shifter. Elen curled her hands into the dark fur and tested the dormant energy underneath. This needed no taking of a life but a trigger to ignite what was already there.

Saran blinked with surprise but not fear, and a knowing that came from her mother's bloodline.

“Do you want this?” Elen asked to be sure.

Fire blazed in golden eyes, followed by a sharp nod.

Elen fed her a single spark of energy and an enchantress emerged. Dark mahogany hair fell down pale shoulders after her shift. She remained on all fours, her face forward with an expression of awe and uncertainty.

Gareth shifted as well. For what purpose, Elen wasn't sure. Nude, and obviously besotted, he reached into the basket and grabbed a wool blanket he had packed earlier. Wrapping it around Saran's form, he lifted her in his arms. His possessive stance removed all doubts of his intentions.