Page 101 of His to Hunt

“I wish you had left one of them alive,” Finn sighs.

“You could have stopped me. You can do time tricks,” Victor growls, cleaning his hands.

“It’s not as easy as you think. I have to borrow a lot of Mother Fate’s power and she doesn’t have any to spare without Mother Nature to keep things balanced. But they’re dead. I guess it doesn’t matter where they’re from right now,” Finn shakes his head. “I’ll talk with Mother Fate. Keep doing the rituals. Please. It’s only a matter of time now before Mother Nature returns.”

Finn steps back through the seam and Victor covers my eyes when time unfreezes. I hear the horrid sound of the bodies hitting the floor but don’t see it. He keeps his hand over my eyes and guides me out of the suite. Clearly, we’re not staying here anymore. We need somewhere with security.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you mate. That will never happen again. I will not leave your side until we finish these damn rituals,” he growls angrily.

I try to process it on the way to the SUV. We’re heading to the airport. I understand why. We should be in Covington where it’s safer. I listen to him call Silver Pack while he drives. They’ll be patrolling the streets too.

Once we’re on the plane and Paris is behind us, I snuggle close to him.

“You know, they say when you’re about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. Mine didn’t. I just knew I had to run away from them long enough for you to get there,” I admit, wincing a little. “I would have died believing you were coming.”

“Instead, I had to be bailed out by Mother Fate’s emissary. Again,” he says bitterly. “It’s my job to protect my mate, not his.”

“At least it’s nice knowing someone is looking out for us, right? I mean, literally… Mother Fate herself has an emissary who can manipulate time watching over us. Like a… cosmic guardian angel or something,” I say, and can’t help laughing a little.

“It’s comforting in a small way,” he admits. “She’s clearly paying attention to us now.”

“Who do you think those people were?” I ask. “Finn said they weren’t in the timeline, or something.”

“No fucking clue, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. Did you see that armor?” he sighs. “But they’re dead so they won’t be a problem anymore. We just need to finish these three rituals and be done with it.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve been getting carried away. We won’t create any miracles with the last three if we can help it. We’ll do them, Mother Nature will return, and she can figure out how to fix the rest of the world,” I say. “She’s more cut out for it than I am.”

It feels like the adventure is over. Paris was fun, but this is no vacation. These rituals will restore balance and that means all wolves will find mates, instead of just Victor, Donovan, and the ones Mother Fate remembers. Maybe some humans too. It seems like we could use a little more cupid in the world.

And the world will heal. I don’t even know what that will look like. It will likely be more than just clean oceans and a pretty California. She’s an actual goddess. I guess her Cosmic Twin heard my prayer right before those men came storming into our suite. I certainly feel a little better knowing a goddess is on our side.

But if those men weren’t in the timeline, I can’t help wondering what else isn’t.

CHAPTER 30

Victor

No more games.

It’s time to get down to fucking business.

We’re in the penthouse and Silver Pack is nearby. We’re doing these fucking rituals. I have Ingrid here to assist in case anything unexpected happens.

“The others don’t seem like miracles,” Ingrid says, thumbing through the book. “Grandeur. Wonder. Life. The last one obviously brings her back. The rest you’ve done are gone from the book.”

“Yeah, after I do the ritual, it disappears,” Taryn says. “I guess that means I can only do them once.”

“You can’t exactly reincarnate Ishtar twice,” Ingrid says dryly. “Well, let’s hope it will never be necessary.”

“Right,” I growl. “Let’s get on with it. Ritual of Grandeur. Light the fire, cut your finger, and let’s unleash whatever Mother Nature thinks grandeur is on Covington.”

“When you say it that way, now I wonder if we should do it somewhere else,” Taryn says nervously.

“No. We’re doing it,” I say firmly. “Now.”

Taryn nods. Ingrid lights the fire, then Taryn cuts her finger. As soon as her blood hits the flame it flickers into a rainbow that glows, then poofs into a cloud that shimmers like a kaleidoscope in the air before fading away.

“Was that grandeur?” I ask, raising a brow. “I’ve seen better magic shows in Vegas.”