Page 115 of A Wolf in the Garden

Kill the fae.

They hurt Ellie! Shift already!

Our mate is in danger! Kill them all!

“Evander, stop, you’re hurting me.”

Ellie’s pain cuts through the bloodthirsty haze of my wolves, and they both whine with remorse. I release my grip on her side, taking in big, gulping breaths. “I —”

“It’s okay,” Ellie says, not wasting a beat. “She’s here to help. We were just talking about good fae today, right? She’s good. She’s like me.” I hear the words that come out her mouth, but my wolves are so agitated that it’s far too fuckingnoisyin my own head. “She’s going to help us,” Ellie adds quietly, gripping my arms, and it’s the added weight to her words — not quite an alpha’s bark, but close — that cuts through the chaos, silencing my wolves.

I stare at her for a moment, wondering if she even realises what she just did. Behind her, the fae woman shifts nervously on her feet, drawing my attention, my nostrils flaring as I catch the sickly sweet scent that she’d hidden behind glamour, confusingly intertwined with the smell of a wolf.Half-breed, that’s what she called herself. Half werewolf, and the other half fae.

“Alright then,” I demand. “Tell us how you’ll help.”

The stranger —Lylia, I remind myself — smiles in a way that makes me think she knows exactly what’s gone on in my head. If she does, then she knows how dangerously close my shifter was to tearing her throat out.

Beside her, Maeve sighs, rolling her eyes, though I can tell she’s teasing in an attempt to cut the tension. “You shifter males are always the same,” she says, daring me with her tone, crossing her arms. “Such bravado, and for what?”

I like my cousin; she’s one of the few werewolves from my mother’s uptight family that I can stand, and far more down-to-earth than her three sisters. “For protection,” I reply, taking the bait. “But you’re wrong; it’s alphas that you’re talking about. It’s got nothing to do with gender.”

“Oh, ofcourse. My apologies.”

“What are you doing here, Maeve?” I ask. “Because as far as I was aware, you don’t actively practise witchcraft, and this is an issue steeped in magic.”

She nods, uneasiness flitting across her face for a moment. “I’m escaping, to be honest. I have to report back to House Maheras yearly; they think they’resendingme here to do their research, but they don’t realise how happy I am to be sent.” She shrugs. “Your mother mentioned that you were setting up on a pretty little island, and I thought maybe it wouldn’t be too bad of a place to live.”

Report back on what?I catch my mother’s eye, and she gives me the tiniest shrug, mouthing,“Tell you later.”

“Evander,” Mom says. “I can tell you’ve already figured it out, but Lylia is half fae; her mother was originally from the Unseelie Court, centuries ago. She’s an expert in fae magic, and has been House Maheras’ secret weapon for the past few centuries.”

“You knew there was a fae in the Maheras coven and you didn’t say anything?” I growl, unable to keep the anger out of my voice. “That information would have been helpfulpriorto the full moon.”

“She didn’t know, Son,” my father growls back, and as on edge as they’ve been, I have to reign in my wolves, particularly my shifter, to stop them reacting to the alpha snarl in his voice.“Nobodyknew.”

“Van, why don’t we all go to your place to discuss the rest?” my mother suggests, and I’m about to argue thatno, we’ve waited long enough for answers when I notice the slump of her shoulders, and the exhausted look in her eyes.Of course.All magic comes at a price — usually a simple one in my case, tiring you out if you shift a little too often, and requiring you to replenish with a decent sleep and a larger meal the next day — but opening a portal between worlds uses far more magic than the average shift, and I had forgotten how drained she must be.

With a sigh, I plaster a smile on my face, looking over at my cousin and the half fae woman. “Sure, you can follow me. We can all have a drink andchat.”

* * *

There’s a knock as I’m throwing on a shirt, making Ellie jump. As soon as we returned to the house I brought Ellie with me to the bedroom so that I could dress, depositing her on the bed, because although us wolves are used to nudity, it still feels fucking weird to have serious conversations while I’m standing around in my underwear.

It’s Mom; I can tell by the scent that wafts in under the small gap in the door. “Come in,” I say quietly.

Mom closes the door behind her, leaning back against it, her eyes immediately landing on the bed sheets that cover the windows, and I watch her process that for a moment before she turns to Ellie and I. “Oh darlings, it’s been a rough week for you both, hasn’t it?”

Ellie nods wordlessly, and I can tell that Mom’s quiet, empathetic tone risks bringing my mate to tears. I’mso fuckingproudof Ellie, and whispered as much to her as I carried her away from the portal. She’s been so brave already, running towards me when she sensed danger rather than running away, concerned for my wellbeing above her own, and as much as I’d rather she keep herself safe in those situations, I didn’t realise how grateful I would feel to have a mate care for my physical safety in such a way.

“It’s been pretty hellish,” I tell Mom, stepping into a pair of jeans. “It wasn’t fun waiting, not knowing how long you were going to be, and whether we’d end up safe.”

“I’m sorry it took us so long. My grandmother made West and I waitfour daysbefore granting us an audience; I usually like to lead with kindness, but goddess, she is abitch!”

“Why the wait?”

“Because she hates your father. You already know that. She hates that I mated him, as if…” She trails off, running a hand back through her hair, looking between Ellie and I. “I love West with all my heart. I know he’s not perfect, believe me,I know. I love him,” she repeats, her voice dropping to a low whisper, “but you are both mated the same — you both know there’s no choice to be made when it comes to fated mates. It’sinevitable. It drives me mad that my grandmother still chooses to punish me for a magic-influenced biological function that I had no control over. I met your father and that was that,” she adds, clicking her fingers for emphasis. “Game over, no other person would do. Ineverhad any intention of settling down, and then suddenly I was going home to my mother and saying ‘I am so sorry, I’ve just met my fated mate while on my trip to the Second Realm, I know I’ve only been gone a week but I’m head over heels in love with this man, and he’s a wolfshifterto boot, and he’s already knotted —”

“Mom,” I interject, rubbing my temples. I’ve heard this story before. I don’t need to hear about the events that lead to my conception. “Can we do story time another day? There’s more important things to discuss thanthat.”

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