Dusk Unveiled (Ravenwood Coven Book 2) Page 3

  “So now you’re saying there’s something wrong with bears?” I asked, knowing I was annoying her.

  “You’re too much sometimes,” she answered after a minute.

  We made our way to the wing. Hawk shifters were like some other shifters where we stayed together as a family grouping. But our clutch was smaller than the others. The bear shifters in the area had the largest pack of all the shifters. Ravenwood had some wolves, the jaguar, a few other shifter types, and the magicals. But we weren’t like other shifter groups in that we tended to remain insular from others who were not hawks. I was usually the lone exception since I worked within the town’s limits, cleaned up the magical messes, and my best friends were bears and witches.

  We moved around the world, found other hawks like us, and found our mates. I wasn’t exactly like them, but I was their leader. However, not everybody appreciated who I was or how we functioned.

  Nelle and I made our way through a copse of trees, and I tapped on my shoulders as Nelle rolled her eyes and jumped onto my back, clinging like a little monkey.

  Unlike the bear dens set in the forest and the cave systems, the wing was aboveground—way aboveground.

  Our trees were immense, taller than any in Pennsylvania. But the magic of our wing and the Ravenwood coven meant that we could hide trees as tall as the redwoods that resided in the Pacific Northwest within our lands. And our tree houses and nests were located in their branches. It made it harder for others to find us and maintained our privacy.

  Some of the wing didn’t drive cars. They didn’t even visit the town. Everything they needed was here, and they spent much of their time in their hawk forms because of it.

  As shifter hawks, we tended to be two to three times as big as regular birds of prey, and our homes were quite large.

  Hence the need for the magic and the trees that were out of this world.

  “Is it weird that this smells like home, much like beneath the sea does?” my little sister asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t think it’s weird at all. You are of both worlds.”

  “And sometimes, I’m of none,” she whispered. I hated that for her. Not everybody in the clutch agreed that Nelle should be allowed to stay in the aerie at all because she wasn’t full-blooded. Not that they had any say in it. They were old school and preferred to mate within their species. That meant, once they found their mate, if they were in a different part of the world, they moved there and didn’t look back.

  I wasn’t like that. My family wasn’t like that.

  And that was why my staying here as wing leader wasn’t always the easiest thing. It had only been a week since the last challenge, and I was exhausted. But those under my command, my second, kept the peace while I tried to maintain our connection to Ravenwood. Because what others didn’t understand was that the connection was what kept us safe. I didn’t think there would be another direct challenge as there had been recently, but there might be something a little more subtle if I wasn’t careful.

  We wouldn’t be able to make it alone. Not as the world evolved, and technology made it so only magic could keep us safe. Not with the eyes of humans who now saw far too much on us.

  “Nelle?” my mother asked as she came down a rope ladder. “Why do I smell blood? What happened?”

  “The revenants can swim,” I said. After a moment, my mom let out a curse before going to help her daughter clean up.

  “Can we talk later?” my mom asked. “I’m heading below the surface soon to undergo some peace talks with Nelle’s father. But we need to talk before I go.”

  I nodded before looking at my second, Aiden, and my third, Colton.

  “Are you okay?” Aiden asked.

  I nodded again. “I’m fine. There weren’t that many of them. But it likely means another necromancer’s out there.”

  “Another witch ruining something else,” Gerald, an elder, muttered as he walked past. I held up my hands when Colton started to snarl.

  “They defy you.”

  I set my jaw. “They don’t like that we’re so immersed in the town business these days.”

  Aiden narrowed his gaze. “And they don’t like that you’re spending so much time, at least according to them, with a special distraction.”

  I sighed, but they were right. The distraction wasn’t my best friend. It wasn’t the coven. And we all knew it. The distraction was my mate. The woman I loved but was afraid would never love me back the way I needed her to.

  The wing hated Laurel. Not because she was a witch, and not because she couldn’t control her powers, but because she was my mate.

  And yet, she could never be mine.

  Not unless something changed, or I burned right alongside her.

  Chapter

  Three

  Jaxton

  The flames beckoned and I told myself it had to be a dream. This couldn’t be real, yet it was all I could smell, taste, hear, feel.

  The scents of burnt flesh and wild oak turned to embers surrounded me. The taste of ash was on my tongue, my lips, scraping down my throat. The sound of the flames as they shrieked and flickered and crackled and burned was nearly deafening—the feel of heat and yet of…nothing.

  Because Laurel wasn’t here anymore. I couldn’t feel her. She was gone.

  Turned to ash. A memory. A pale specter of the woman she had once been.

  The curse had taken us all, yet it had taken her first and with every ounce of her being.

  Laurel was dead. Gone. Burned.

  I hadn’t been enough to save her.

  I woke with a shout, telling myself that it was only a dream and that I was here and whole. That I wasn’t in pain.

  That this wasn’t the end.

  And yet once I woke alone in my giant bed in my aerie, I knew that what I’d seen might be my future. I’d be destined to sleep alone, to be alone, to lead a people who judged me for the person I loved.

  One I could never be with because she couldn’t save herself, and I couldn’t save her either.

  I ran my hand down my face, ignoring the sweat-slick skin that ached. I’d had this dream before. Far too many times. Even more so since we’d lost Trace.

  I still couldn’t believe that one of my best friends, the man I’d thought might be the lynchpin for Laurel and me, was gone.

  I’d loved Trace more than a brother, but we hadn’t had a chance to find out if we could be anything more. The same had been true for Laurel, and a small part of me had thought that perhaps the reason none of us had completed the mating bond was because all three of us should have been with one another. In the end, I didn’t think that was what would have happened. Trace had only ever been our friend. Always. Fate had decided that a triad wasn’t in the cards for us, and now Trace was gone, and I had to find out exactly who I could be without him—and perhaps without Laurel.

  It would be a fitting end, wouldn’t it? If the two of them ended up finding their peace in the afterlife.

  And yet, would there be peace if the necromancers came for us again? Faith had come for Trace after he died. She had turned him into a revenant, just like she had done with Alden, Trace and Rome’s other triplet. The bear alpha, Rome, had been forced to kill his brothers again, and I hadn’t even been there to help because I was taking care of the other revenants trying to attack the den and the town.

  Faith, the necromancer who’d worked for Oriel, was dead now. We had seen her perish, and Sage had used her power to make it permanent.

  I shook myself out of my reverie and got out of bed. I made it, fluffed the pillows like my mother had taught me, and went to shower. I was quick and efficient and didn’t linger, mainly because there was no way I wanted to. Not alone, and not after that dream I’d just had. I needed to meet with the coven and the guys so we could make plans for what to do about Oriel and any other necromancer now working with him.

  We didn’t know who had sent the revenants the day before, but it had to be someone. Perhaps it was Oriel, or maybe it was
someone else. The fact that we didn’t know for sure worried me, but we would figure it out. We always did.

  I pulled on a T-shirt and jeans and walked barefoot down the walkway to the shared part of the aerie.

  People milled about, smiling at me and nodding, others giving me odd looks. I didn’t blame them. After all, they didn’t trust me. And why would they? I was only their wing leader. Sure, I had nearly died to protect them multiple times, but because I couldn’t find a mate within the wing, and it seemed my mate might be a witch who couldn’t control her powers, the people I protected didn’t trust me. Laurel wouldn’t even allow herself to think about the fact that we could be mates. And yet, my wing did. Often. What exactly did that say about the promise of what couldn’t be?

  “Jaxton!” Aiden called as he ran up to me.

  I turned, my senses on alert at his tone. “What is it?”

  “Our healer needs you.”

  I ran, following him along the rope bridges and up the ladders. We were up in the trees, so high that even other shifters couldn’t find us. We had made an intricate neighborhood within the canopy, one I was proud of, even if it scared some of the four-legged shifters.

  “It’s Bliss. She’s having trouble with the baby.”

  I cursed under my breath, my heart beating faster as I ran.

  Bliss was one of my wing members, a small-in-stature hawk shifter with a sweet smile and a tender disposition. She was nearing the end of her pregnancy, but I was afraid that it might be too early for labor.

  I cursed under my breath and made my way to the healer’s home.

  Carol, our healer, knelt in front of Bliss as the younger hawk and her mate lay on the bed. Carol looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes filled with determination. Not fear, not anger, but determination.

  And that worried me more than anything.

  “I hear we’re about to have a new baby hawk with us,” I said, keeping my voice nonchalant. The scent of fear radiated through the home, and I told myself that as long as I remained calm, the emotion would travel down the bonds that made us a wing. Both Bliss’s and her mate’s shoulders began to relax marginally as I moved closer. It wouldn’t be enough, but it would help some.

  “Do you need my power?” I whispered to Carol, even though the others would be able to hear me. We had shifter senses, after all. And during childbirth, both Bliss’s and her mate’s hearing would be hypersensitive.

  “Please,” Carol said, and I put my hand on her shoulder, pushing power into her. The bonds that connected us flared, and they allowed her to reach for my wing leader power so she could heal Bliss and bring this new life into the world.

  Sweat broke out on Bliss’s and her mate’s foreheads, the same with Carol’s, and I put my hand on Bliss’s knee for a second, squeezing and infusing her with power before I reached out for her mate.

  He nodded and gripped my hand, and I knew that he would feed the power to Bliss through the mating bond, as well. That way, there weren’t too many people in Bliss’s line of sight, and she could focus on birthing the baby.

  There were screams, tears, and much pleading to the gods before finally, the sweetest sounds in the world hit my ears.

  A small cry and some watery laughs. Soon, a new baby hawk was in our wing. The hatchling wouldn’t be able to shift for at least another year or two when she became a fledgling. She was so small, but she had big lungs and the tiniest hands I’d ever seen.

  “Hold the new member of your wing, Jaxton.”

  “I can do that.”

  I held the baby to my chest, even before we gave her to her mother and father. This littlest wing member needed a bit more energy, some extra kick to make sure she would be okay.

  Bliss and her mate looked at me, clearly worried but with pride, as well. I would soon give them their child, and they would be okay. But first, the baby needed a little bit of wing leader bonding.

  She cuddled against my chest, making cooing sounds as I infused her with energy and the knowledge that she would be whole and cherished.

  Carol worked on finishing with Bliss, and soon, the new baby slept peacefully in my arms. I gently handed her off to her mother.

  Bliss and her mate cried, giving me thankful looks. I walked away without another word, knowing I needed another shower, but it had been worth it. Our wing had a new member.

  Nelle stood outside the door, pacing. When she looked at me, her eyes got wide. She beamed and threw her hands up into the air. She didn’t scream or shout since nobody wanted to wake a sleeping baby, but everyone saw the joy in her face. I nodded my head and grinned.

  “I would hug you, but you need a shower.”

  “Thanks for that.” I cursed as I looked down at my watch and sighed. “I’m going to be late.”

  “You did good, big brother.” Nelle rose on her tiptoes, kissed me on the cheek, and pushed me towards my house. “Go shower. I will make sure that people don’t bother the baby.”

  I rolled my eyes. As did Aiden. Nelle technically wasn’t a wing member and couldn’t tell anybody what to do, but most people still listened to her. She looked intimidating with her goth outfit, leather, and chains, though I thought she looked adorable. Not that I would ever tell her that because she would likely kick my shins hard with those steel-toed boots.

  I quickly showered again and made my way over to the town center. We were meeting at Rowen’s shop, the witchy tourist shop, Into the Wood. It was all about spells, witch lore, and helpful for the paranormals and those still learning what and who they were. Tourists also came, but they only saw what Rowen wanted them to see. That was why she was attached to the town wards as she was. She and her new coven would ensure that the humans didn’t find out what went on with the paranormal world inside Ravenwood.

  I knew that she needed help, though. Doing it on her own was too much. Sage helped how she could, but the water witch was still too new to do some of what Rowen needed.

  We all knew that. And yet, Rowen kept acting as if she could handle it all on her own.

  I knew Laurel wanted to help. She wanted to work on spells and connect her life force to the town as Rowen had. But she couldn’t. Every time Laurel used magic, she got one step closer to having it be the last spell she ever did.

  I didn’t want that to happen. I knew it couldn’t. My hawk anchor slid over my body, agitated at the thoughts whirling in my mind.

  I knew Laurel needed to try the spell that Rowen had found that we hadn’t tried yet. Only I was afraid it would be too much for her. The more I pushed, the more she pulled. I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to do.

  I walked into the shop and found that I was the last one to arrive. Rome and Sage were looking over a book, the big bear protecting his mate no matter where he went. He was Trace’s identical triplet, and every time I saw him, it was like a kick in the gut. Even though I never confused the two when they were together and always knew who my best friend was. Now, Trace and Alden were both gone, and seeing Rome reminded me of what had been lost. I could only imagine how Rome felt every time he looked in the mirror. Hence why we didn’t talk about it.

  Ash stood in a corner, studying a stack of books as if he hadn’t a care in the world. I didn’t know why he was here. Considering the curse, I didn’t know what Ash felt. Or even if he could feel.

  Rowen sat at a big table in the back, frowning as she studied another book and did her best not to look over her shoulder at Ash. Ash did the same with her.

  Since I wasn’t one to talk about not looking at a certain person, I didn’t say anything.

  Laurel stood the closest to me, her chin raised. “About time you showed up.”

  I didn’t sigh, I just gave her a look. “Bliss had her baby. I needed to stay.”

  Laurel’s eyes widened. “But it’s too early. Is she okay?” She moved forward and put her hand on my arm. I did my best not to jolt at the touch, the sensation of her skin on mine. My hawk pushed at me, wanting her. It wanted to secure the bond we should have had year
s ago but didn’t. I just stared at her, then looked down at where she touched me. She squeezed my arm once, the touch nearly too much for me to bear, before letting go.

  “It’ll be a harder road than it should have been, but the baby will be fine. Bliss and her mate are doing well. Nelle is making sure that visitation hours are adhered to.”

  Laurel smiled at the dryness in my tone. “If anyone can handle them, it’s Nelle.”

  It didn’t matter that Nelle was part of the mermaid clan and not my wing. She was a force of nature. Though not everyone in the wing liked her around due to their prejudices, Nelle was stronger than their hatred. And I threatened anyone who came after her.

  “Do they have a name yet?” Rowen asked as she stood, wiping her hands on her black linen pants.

  I shook my head. “No, but I’m sure Bliss and her mate will want the world to know when it’s time.”

  “We’ll have to make sure we do a spell when it happens to welcome the new little one into our town.”

  Sage beamed at Rowen’s words. “Can I help?”

  Rowen gave Sage a warm smile. “It’s for our coven. Of course, the two of you will help.”

  No one else looked at Laurel as Rowen spoke, but I noticed how she stiffened. Rowen still considered Laurel part of the coven, even if Laurel didn’t.

  And I wasn’t sure I could fix any of that.

  “Now that I’m here, I guess we should get started. Again, I’m sorry for being late.”

  “No need to be sorry. You helped welcome a new life into the world.” Rowen let out a breath, her gaze going distant, but I didn’t ask why.

  Sage beamed up at Rome and then leaned into him. The two were newly mated, and we were dealing with a war at our doorstep, but I wasn’t sure that Sage or Rome wanted to wait too long before welcoming a child of their own.

  The thought of a little bear cub with possible magic made me smile. The couple would be good parents and would probably know what they were doing. I, on the other hand, felt like I was floundering. Maybe that was because of the woman who stood next to me at the moment.