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Chapter Three
With another snap of lightning, a raven-haired woman appeared, a foggy mist surrounding her as she approached Reardon and his men. The mist dissipated by the time she stood in front of them. Leafy garland was woven into her black tresses, and her dress was made of layered ferns. Her skin was luminescent, shimmering with a soft, ethereal glow, but her eyes were a fiery violet, all too ready to cut into Reardon.
She was as beautiful as she was frightening.
One by one, Reardon’s men shifted into complete wolf form. Sometimes fear and other extreme emotions could bring on the change. Reardon could barely swallow as he fought to remain in human form.
“You do not consider the ability I’ve bestowed upon you a gift, Seventh Son?” Her voice was musical, but it made Reardon’s skin prickle all the same.
He bowed before her. “My apologies, fair goddess.”
An invisible force ripped Reardon out of his bow. His body was not under his control as his head was wrenched up to look at her.
“Your apologies are not enough, wolf. You have shared your gift in a manner it was not meant to be shared. You have used your gift to kill. You have insulted me.”
“I didn’t intend—”
“To kill?” Flidae’s eyes flared brighter, her beautiful face transforming into something Reardon was certain he’d have nightmares about for the rest of his life… however long that might be. She rose to a height that towered over all of them. At a height that towered over most men and a body full of muscle, Reardon never felt small.
He did right now.
Thick, black clouds formed overhead. When another flash of lightning lit up the shores, rain fell, beating against Reardon and his men.
“You most certainly did intend to kill, McAlator. You forget I can see into the souls of all wild things. As part wolf, you are part wild thing.” Flidae hovered above them, her hair swirling around her like thick, black rope—rope ready to hang Reardon and his men who were still in wolf form, their noses to the ground in submission.“Your intentions are as clear to me as they are to you. You purposely turned your comrades, not only withoutmyconsent, but without theirs as well. You let your thirst for fame and riches take control. You feared losing in battle and took a coward’s course of action.”
Reardon wanted to disagree, to yell back in defense, to deny all Flidae had said, but he couldn’t. She spoke the truth, and he hated himself as soft whines emanated from his four closest men.
Flidae floated above him and he wondered what she was doing to his wolves.
“Yourwolves?” She let out an echoing laugh that hurt Reardon’s head. He hated how easily she could read his thoughts. “Do not make yourself out to be more important than you are, wolf. You are mine, and as such, any wolves you make are also mine. Do you know what this means?”
Reardon shook his head, trying too hard not to shift under the pressure of her power to answer with actual words. The rain was like spear tips against his skin, and he couldn’t stop the shiver the cold wetness caused.
“It means I decide how to punish you for your transgressions.”
In the blink of an eye, Flidae shrank to a petite woman’s size. Unaffected by the rain, she slinked up to Reardon, and he had to look down to meet her simmering gaze. Her form was harmless, but he was not fool enough to believe she couldn’t strike him down where he stood. Part of him believed she meant to do just that.
“It is my job to protect wild things, Reardon McAlator. Whether you know it or not, I’ve protected you since the day you came into this world. As a Seventh Son born on a December full moon, you were bestowed with a gift I do not give out carelessly. My decision was carefully made, matching your soul to this body and this gift.” She gestured to him then to the wolves writhing on the muddy ground at their feet. “And you chose not to honor my decision.”
“Then why give me the power to transform others if it was not your will for me to do so?” He knew he was pressing his luck by questioning her again, but his moments left to live were probably few anyway. What did it matter now?
Flidae narrowed her eyes at him. “That power was to be used for one purpose and one purpose only.”
“What purpose is that?”
“To change your soul mate should she want to be like you.”
Reardon nearly laughed in her face.Soul mate?As if he’d even considered finding one with the life he lived. No lass would accept a man like him who killed for money and roamed the lands in search of battle. He didn’t plan to settle down and churn out heirs, especially if he could potentially father a Seventh Son like himself and put the child in a situation even remotely like the one he found himself in now.
Besides, he wasn’t worthy of a lass’s love. Not with the blood he had on his hands.
“Not true, wolf. Not true at all.” Flidae smiled. “You might think you are not worthy, but the right lass can see the things you don’t know about yourself, the things you don’t allow yourself to see, the things that might redeem you.”
She threw her hands over her head, and Reardon cursed himself for flinching as if she were about to strike him a blow. With a wave of her arms, the four wolves around them changed back into men. Naked men, their torn clothes littering the ground, mud splattering their flesh.
“As punishment for what you’ve done as men and as wolves,” Flidae said, “you shall no longer be under my protection nor shall you remain a pack together. I banish you five from this time and place. Ireland has no room for those who disrespect the gods and goddesses. I am, however, fair and choose to believe you will repent during your time away. Therefore, I will allow you back under my protection when you do something worthy, something so selfless that I can feel your heart growing. Do not disappoint me, wolves.”
A final crackle of light lit up the area, blinding Reardon and making him cover his head. When he opened his eyes, the beautiful shores of his beloved Ireland were gone. Instead, he was naked in a forest, damp leaves beneath his bare ass and a horrible hollow feeling filling his chest.
