Fated for the Alphas: The Complete Collection (Nine Book Paranormal Romance Box Set) (58 page)

“Not healing?” He raised an eyebrow. “Show me.”

Unwrapping the bandages, Lia laid the wound bare. She stared at the rock of the cave wall, unwilling to look at Dove’s mangled flesh twice in one hour. She had it memorized, anyway. The deep slashes, still oozing blood. The deep purpling of the skin, the edges of the cuts turning green. If she and Ivy couldn’t get it to heal soon, Dove might lose the arm.

Magnus took a bite of his apple. “Why don’t you fix her?”

“It’s a new moon tomorrow. I’m out of magic.”

“How inconvenient.” He cut off another apple slice, offering it to her.

Lia declined, incredulous. Did the smell really not bother him?

“So this is what’s taking up all your time.” He finished the last of his apple.

“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes. If he thought he could talk her out of caring for her friend, he was mistaken.

“Hmm.” He laid a hand over Dove’s wound. “There’s copperhead venom at work here, among other things. You’re going to need more than bandages to heal this. Very nasty piece of work.”

Lia put her head in her hands. Copperhead venom? How was she supposed to fix that? Would Ivy know? Neither of them had suspected venom. What if it had already spread to Dove’s heart? Lia had prepared for the possibility of Dove losing her arm, but the thought of Dove losing her life made Lia slump against her cot. She clutched one of Dove’s hands. It was so cold.

“I should have known something was wrong.” Tears leaked down her face. “I should have known something was keeping her from healing. This is all my fault. Another pack member is going to die because of me.”

Magnus cleaned his knife with a sigh. “Please don’t get hysterical.”

She glared up at him, her eyes red-rimmed. Maybe he didn’t care about anyone, but she did.

“Oh, don’t give me that look.” Magnus touched Dove’s skin, inspecting her wound one last time before replacing the bandages. “Come with me. You need to do something more productive than moping.”

Lia stood, her finger stabbing toward him like a knife. “How many times do I have to tell you that before it penetrates that thick skull of yours? I’m not leaving her.”

“Why not? I healed her, didn’t I?”

Incredulous, Lia drew back the bandages. Beneath them, Dove’s skin was raw and pink, but it had knitted together. Even the foul smell was gone. She stared at Magnus, torn between gratitude and irritation that he hadn’t helped days ago.

“Oh, you’re welcome,” he grumbled. “Don’t mention it. It’s not like that required highly specialized magic or anything.” Magnus stamped out of the den and into the meadow.

Lia followed him. The sky colored the grasses a pale pink, and they rippled in the light wind. “I don’t know what to say. She was dying, and you saved her. Thank you.”

He twirled his staff absently. “I can teach you how, you know. Despite your scorn of blood magic, you can heal with it fairly easily. It takes less energy than other ways, much less than changing bandages thirty times a day.” Magnus wrinkled his nose.

“You’ll show me how to do that?” Lia hadn’t known there were less sinister uses for blood magic. “How to heal cuts, and wounds? Can you fix broken bones as well?”

“Of course.” He almost sounded disdainful. “We’ll start small. Just a tiny cut.” Taking out his knife, Magnus cut a small slit in his palm.

It was a strange wound. No blood welled out of it, for one. And Magnus seemed to be concentrating on it rather hard.

“I’ve trained my body to heal on its own,” he explained. “It takes more effort to keep this cut open than to let it close. All right, Lia.” He passed her the knife. “Prick your finger, let a drop fall on my palm. Let’s see if you’re a natural healer.”

Lia did as she was bid, touching her finger to the blade’s tip. She didn’t mind using blood magic for healing. Maybe she could have saved Ronan without… She swallowed hard, straightening. It was time to concentrate. She would learn all she could from Magnus about healing. If Shade and his pack ever returned, they’d undoubtedly need it.

Holding her finger over Magnus’s hand, she let a drop of blood fall onto his cut. Slowly, his skin knit together. The job was nowhere near as neat as Magnus’s work on Dove had been, but at least the cut had closed.

Magnus smiled like a cat that had just caught a pheasant. “Very good. The instinct is there, obviously. You will have no need for incantations, or appeals to the dark god—not that those do much. All your blood needs to know are your intentions.”

He rubbed his hands together. “We’ll do some more work on cuts. Then broken bones, though that may take you months to learn. That’s much more difficult. If you set the bones incorrectly, or heal them before they’re in place, you could do more harm than good. After that, we’ll see if you’re up for poisons and—”

Magnus furrowed his brows.

“What is it?” Lia asked.

“Your blood. There’s something there, something
more
.” He grinned. “It seems you’re full of secrets, Lia. Is there anything you’d like to share with me? Or do you not know yet yourself?”

She wasn’t sure she liked the look he gave her. She couldn’t tell whether it was excited or predatory.

He wrapped her in a hug, clapping her on the back. “You’re pregnant, Lia!” The joy in his voice made her feel guilty for thinking the worst of him.

“Are you sure?” she asked, though she knew it was true. Part of her still wanted to hold back, to not tell him everything she knew.

“Positive.” He beamed. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandfather.” Magnus sat on one of the logs around the banked fire, hands on his head. “I never thought I’d have a family. Never. Even you were a… surprise. I never wanted to give Magda a chance to do to my children what she wanted to do to me. I thought I was doomed to wander alone. But a grandchild, Lia. A grandchild! You don’t know how happy you’ve made me.”

Jumping to his feet, he picked her up and whirled her around. His eyes were so bright, his smile so genuine that Lia had to laugh.

“What am I thinking?” He set her down, steadying her gently. “That can’t be good for the babe, can it? It’s early days still, but you can never be too careful. I don’t want to risk my grandchild!”

Lia hid a giggle behind her hand.

“Let me see your finger.” He smeared a drop of blood across her palm, examining it closely. “I can’t see the sex yet, it’s too soon. But the babe has magic—strong magic. Maybe just the power to shift…” His brows knitted together, his nose almost touching her skin. “No, it can’t be that. The chances are so slim.” He looked up at her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Lia, do you know anything about time jumping?”

She couldn’t hide the worry that flitted across her face.

“Of course. The girl.” He sat on the log again, heavily.

“I don’t know if she’s okay,” Lia whispered.

Magnus frowned. “She’s my grandchild. Of course she’s okay.” Taking Lia’s hand, he pulled her down to sit beside him. “Remember when I said that I wished you would tell me things? This is exactly why.”

Lia’s heart soared. “Can you help me find her? Help me make sure she survived?”

He waved her away. “Not that. Do you know why time jumpers are rare? Most of them don’t care to stay in one time for nine entire months. I read of a case where a woman lost her baby. Happens all the time, except that she suddenly found herself seven months pregnant when she was seventy. Her body wasn’t prepared for that. She lost the babe all over again.”

Lia shuddered.

“I won’t let that happen to you. Either of you.” Magnus traced a whorl on his staff. “Will you let me ward you, Lia? I can anchor the babe to this time and place.”

She placed a hand over her stomach. “And that won’t hurt her?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow. “She made it to her birth, did she not?”

He had her there. Lilah had… would be born, so wards couldn’t hurt. She nodded.

Magnus smeared her drop of blood over his palm, scrutinizing it. “It’s early yet. You conceived only about two weeks ago. Time jumpers have left the womb as soon as twelve weeks old.” He pricked himself, watching as a drop of blood welled at his fingertip. “Stand up,” he said.

Lia stood before him, trying not to tremble. She knew Lilah should turn out fine, but she was still nervous. Lilah had only just been conceived, but Lia already knew her name, her face. She couldn’t bear to lose her.

Magnus raised a bloody finger to her belly.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Lia blurted out.

He sighed. “Would you like to find out what happens if I don’t help?”

Biting her lip, Lia shook her head. She’d have to trust him.

Reaching out, he drew an X on her belly. Lia shuddered. His touch was hot.

“Turn around,” he said absently. “I need to box her in.”

She turned slowly as he drew X’s on her hips and on the small of her back. Lia looked over the meadow grasses without seeing them. How long ago did Magnus say Lilah had been conceived? Two weeks? That would have been the night of the full moon.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck. Had that been what the witches wanted to prevent? Lilah?

Lia ran a hand over her belly. None of the witches would have died if they’d just left her alone. She could only hope they’d learned their lesson. Because if they ever returned, ever tried to hurt a hair on the head of the babe that grew inside her… she’d destroy every last one of them.

She wouldn’t let any harm come to her babe.

Her hands clenched as she remembered the slice of Shade’s knife through Lilah’s skin, the look of triumph on his face, Lilah’s blood-covered hands. Lia’s chest ached. The thought of losing Dove had been agonizing, but losing Lilah? It would be more than she could take. She had accepted the idea that the almost-grown Lilah was her daughter, but only now, with the quiet thrum of life inside her, did Lia fully understand that she was Lilah’s mother.

She would find her again, no matter how long it took, no matter how much magic she needed. Lilah may have been mortally injured, but Lia would stop at nothing to save her as long as her daughter still drew breath.

If she didn’t hear from Lilah by the next full moon, she was going to go find her herself.

“Would you calm down?” Magnus glared. “Your pulse is spiking. That’s not good for the babe.”

“Sorry. I was thinking.”

“Think less, then. And has anyone told you about how to use magic while pregnant?”

She shook her head.

“Don’t,” he said. “You risk using the babe’s life force instead of your magic. They can be hard to tell apart in the heat of the moment. I think it should be obvious that the babe won’t have a large reserve of power. At this stage, even just using enough magic to light a candle could snuff her out.”

Lia bit her lip. She’d find her daughter, magic or no.

Sounds from the den entrance interrupted her thoughts. She swung around to see Kane and Ronan striding toward her. Panicking, she looked at Magnus.

“Do I have to tell them?”

He chuckled. “They’ll find out sooner or later, will they not?”

She wasn’t ready for this. Her heart thudded. What if they weren’t happy to hear her news? This wasn’t the best timing, really. The witches had gone for now, but Shade was still out there. Until he and his pack were taken care of, none of them were safe. Lia crossed her hands over her chest.

“There you are,” Ronan said. “I know you haven’t wanted to talk lately, but you’ll want to see this. Ivy just checked on Dove, and says her wounds are healed!”

“I know.” Lia shifted her weight from foot to foot. Part of her wanted to run off as a wolf, and not return until her babe was safely born.

Kane came up beside her, putting a hand on her waist. “Did you have anything to do with that?” He smiled. “I knew you’d save her.”

“Magnus did it.” She gestured toward him. “I’m not that good.” Kane’s unwavering trust in her abilities was sweet, but misguided. Without Magnus, Dove probably would have died within a few days.

“You are that good,” Kane said. “Just too humble.” He turned to Magnus. “We owe you our thanks.”

Ronan nodded.

“We—” Kane frowned, noticing the marks on her stomach and hips. “What are these?”

She looked from him to Ronan, but her tongue refused to form words.

“Mage?” Kane asked. “Can you explain?”

Magnus grinned. “I can’t. But Lia has something to tell you.”

Chapter Two

She glared at her father. He was supremely unhelpful.

“What is it, Lia?” Concern was etched on Ronan’s face.

Lia sighed. She couldn’t leave them wondering. “I’m pregnant.”

Ronan’s jaw dropped. Kane clapped a hand to his mouth. Lia wondered if she should run.

Before she could, both of them pulled her into a spine-crushing hug.

“You’re going to have a pup?” Kane said, almost stunned, his mouth right beside her ear. “Ronan, she’s going to have a pup!”

Lia winced. “Not so loud.”

“And why not?” Ronan laughed. “Everyone should know. It’s a great day today. Dove cured, a pup on the way… It’s the best day our pack has had since—” He looked at her, eyes warm. “Since we found you, Lia.”

She blushed. Turning toward the log where he sat, she searched for Magnus. But he was gone, and she saw only a flash of crimson as he disappeared inside the den.

“A pup,” Kane whispered. “I can hardly believe it. We’re going to be fathers, Ronan. Well, one of us, anyway.”

“You’re not mad?” Lia asked.

“What?” Ronan goggled at her. “Why would you think that?”

“Well…” She groped for an answer. “Shade’s still out there. We haven’t seen the last of him. And isn’t it too soon? Are you ready for pups?”

Ronan pulled her close. “We’ll take care of Shade. And as for our pups? I’m ready. I’m ready for all of them.”

“Yes.” Kane put an arm around both of their shoulders. “We’re ready, for as many as you want to give us.”

“Oh?” Lia crossed her arms. “And how will you have time to be Alphas with all this child-rearing you’re signing up for?”

“We’ll have help,” Kane said.

“Lots of help.” Ronan grinned. “Some of the pack has been dying for pups. I think you’ll find that we have no shortage of babysitters. Ivy, Clove, and Rain would probably fight for the privilege. Briar’s great with pups. Huck and Fox enjoy them too, though I don’t know if they’ll end up tormenting the pups or if it’ll be the other way around. You’ll see, Lia. Pups change a pack. They breathe fresh life into us.”