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They stepped out of the cabin first, and my heart constricted when Danna walked away from me with Rune at her side. I wanted to go with them. I wanted to see what Rune showed her. I wanted to know that she was going to be safe, but I had to hand that over to Rune, who’d only ever been loyal to me. He was a powerful dragon, and she was stubborn enough to stay, so they had to make it work.
When I tuned toward the cabin, the first shifters in my pack appeared between the abandoned stores and cabins. I stood and watched as they came closer. At first, it was just a handful, but as I watched, more and more of them appeared. Falcons and eagles and owls flew in, taking shape from birds to men and women as they shifted on landing. Panthers and lions and other big cats appeared, some in animal form and some as humans.
A handful of dragons landed, also. And then the bears arrived, along with other types of beasts. Most of my shifters were predators, and they would do the majority of the fighting.
I trembled with fury when I thought about Zen and how he wasn’t a part of this pack anymore.
When they were all collected together around me, I cleared my throat. I felt their collective magic, more powerful than anything I’d felt before. There was merit in having a whole pack with their power collected, but I also felt strain and uncertainty.
I hadn’t connected with my pack in a long time. They knew who I was, and I knew them. It was in my interest to keep tabs on them and to reach out once in a while, but I didn’t know them the way most alphas knew their pack. I kept everyone at arm’s length. It was just safer that way.
It had been wrong of me. I should have reached out, but attaching myself to anyone in any kind of way other than business with this curse in my life had been terrifying, and I’d outright refused to do it.
Now that the curse was broken, everything could be different.
“Thank you for being here,” I said. “It means a lot to me that you’re here, even though I’ve barely reached out before.” I knew my pack, but I didn’t want to get too close to them. I’d always wanted to keep them far enough away that if my curse came into play, they would be safe.
Stupid fucking curse. I could be pissed off about it, about my dad not helping me get rid of it, later. Right now, I had a war to fight, a mate to save.
“When our alpha calls, we come,” a bear shifter said not too far away from me. “Even if you’re MIA half the time.” He offered half a grin. It was said in jest, and that meant a lot.
“Your loyalty is noted,” I said, making eye contact with as many of the shifters as I could. “And appreciated… more than you know.”
“Rune told us,” someone said. “About the curse.”
I frowned and glanced at my beta, who shrugged. “They deserved to know the truth.”
He was right. They did.
I nodded, relieved to be understood, and kept talking. “We’re going up against a group of shifters who have decided to go against me, and I won’t have that. I’m asking you to fight with me for what’sours. This town, this territory—it’s ours. And we can’t let dark magic rule over us.”
The shifters all nodded.
“I’ve fucked up a lot in my life, and I know that,” I said. “I know that you’re all here for me when I haven’t been there for you, but that changes now.”
“We wouldn’t have been here if we weren’t ready to fight for you,” someone called out, and I recognized a panther shifter as the speaker.
“They’ll realize they made a mistake, breaking away and rebelling against you,” yet another shifter said.
Everyone agreed, cheering.
Circe stepped up next to me.
“I’ll help, if you’ll have me,” she said. “I have friends who could help, too. You might need it if you’re up against dark magic, but it’s up to you if you want to accept the fae’s help.”
I turned to her.
“You’ve done so much for me already, when I was very rude to you. I need your help.”
I hadn’t wanted anything to do with the fae for the longest time, but it wasn’t fair of me to go up against the fae when it wasn’t the fae in general who’d hurt me. I’d just been so angry at them for so long, for not looking after me.
It wasn’t how it worked, though. That wasn’t Circe’s fault, and she’d been here for me through it all, even though I’d shut her down time and again. She’d also been there for Danna when she’d needed her, and it was thanks to Circe that we’d found Danna at all.
I owed the fae a lot more than I could ever repay, and creating an alliance was the right thing to do.
“Thank you,” I said, and Circe nodded.
“They’ll be here soon,” she said.
