Page 40 of Mated in Darkness

“I’m right here,” I teased.

“What? You’re sitting here thinking about warrior forms.”

“Our warrior form is if we can use our claws or our fangs while in human form, but we don’t get a hunchback and howl at the moon.”

“Unless I hear my brother when he’s drunk. But we don’t like to talk about that,” Kaylee teased, her eyes dancing. Her wolf was in her eyes again. I really wanted to meet her wolf. Damn it. I wanted to meet mine too.

Even though everything had come from near tragedy, I was excited.

“I can feel your wolf’s excitement, but let me stop you here. Any genetics studies that you complete do not go to the government, you get me?” Riaz asked, and I blinked. “Of course not. I would never betray you guys. Even before, well, all of this.”

“You want to bleed a little bit just to study what’s going on inside you?” Kaylee asked, tilting her head in the way of the wolf.

“I like the science behind things.”

“And the Moon Goddess is the magic behind it,” Kaylee began. “Long ago, a hunter killed for sport, not for protection and not to feed his family. The Moon Goddess was in such pain from seeing such a thing. She saved the dying wolf’s soul by placing it inside the hunter’s body so he could feel what he had done.”

I swallowed hard, remembering some of the stories, but hearing it from Kaylee’s lips felt as if we were in some form of ceremony.

She continued. “When the hunter came back to his family, he shifted. Eventually, he bit others, either in combat or in just the way of his wolf. The first three have a long, convoluted reincarnation story with some of the Talons,” Kaylee added, her eyes dancing.

Riaz grinned. “It’s true then? The stories”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just pulling your tail.”

“I’m going to have to get up and meet some of these Talons.”

“The first Pack from this wolf later became a well-known Pack of ours. However, all this is to say that our wolves are family based, are bond-oriented. The Alpha rules, but he cares. He’s the one that protects everybody. At all times. The Heir is next in line, and shares some of the mantle.”

Riaz added. “The Beta protects the Pack from within while the Enforcer protects the Pack from outside forces.”

Kaylee nodded. “While the Omega heals the soul and the Healer heals the body.”

“I know all of this. And there are Trackers, an Enforcer, and lieutenants, and there are other magics within the Packs as well. Some I don’t know.”

“A lot of Pack magic is held close to the vest. I might know the Redwood secrets, but I may never know all the Talon secrets, even if we’re nearly one Pack at this point.”

“And don’t even get me started on mine,” Riaz added with a wink, and I shook my head, wondering why Riaz was so open with me, even if I wasn’t a Starlight member.

“Everything that we’re telling you here is in the open. These aren’t our secrets.”

“Nor was the urban legend you seem to think of the three of the Talon Pack that I mentioned,” Kaylee added with a snort. “You are wolf. Not born, but made. Shifting will be difficult, and I know it’s going to be painful, and I’m so sorry that this happened. I’m sorry that your choice was taken from you and that I had to be the one to do it.”

“I did it too,” Riaz added. He met my gaze, and I wanted to reach out and pull Kaylee closer to tell her that she was fine, that she did it for a reason, and I didn’t hate her. But I felt as if we should be alone for that. This was a far too personal thing to be speaking of with Riaz.

“I’m the one that changed you. You needed a dominant wolf, one even more dominant than Kaylee, even though she’s close.” He pulled his gaze from me and looked over at Kaylee. “Another five, ten years, Kaylee? You’ll have the strength to do that. I can feel your wolf.”

She rolled her shoulders back, raising her chin. “Good to know. I just wish I could have done something more.”

“Kaylee, the bond kept him here.” Riaz looked over at me again, and I nodded.

“I knew I was dying, but I felt something click within me, and I stayed.”

Kaylee leaned forward, a tear running down her cheek. I cursed under my breath, moved forward to brush it away from her skin.

“Don’t cry. I’m okay.”

Riaz cleared his throat. “I changed you to wolf. You needed to be near death, and you were past that point.”

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