Page 42 of Branches of the Willow

“What does this mean for Malachi?” I asked. “Evan was able to resist his father’s call because of his parentage, how does it affect Malachi, knowing what we know now?”

“He was raised with a warped sense of reality. Mikael was ignored, and Evan was feared. It made them all who they are. The bonds they were born into had nothing to do with it. He is nothing more than a wolf with an ego, much like that boy who thought he could possess you.” Serena said. “Evan was gifted with a special kind of magic that came from a second bonding. He’s able to resist because the bond that created him should not have existed. Malachi was born outside of a bond and his power is diminished because of it. Knowing this, we can try something else to find him. Blood of his line may be able to do it. The stronger the connection, the better.”

“So, Evan being his full-blood brother?” I asked.

“Yes,” she turned to Evan, “I need a wee bit of your blood as well as your proximity to me while I do this.”

Evan moved forward without question, though he still looked pale after learning what he had about his family. “Take what you need, so we can find him, and end this.”

Mikael was still in shock. “Everything we ever knew…. It’s like it just blew up in our faces all over again.”

“Brother, I count myself lucky that I didn’t suffer the same taint as Mal did, and so should you. We will find him and take care of him once and for all. You have your own family to worry over now.” Evan smiled at me, and then looked back up at Mikael. “You’re one lucky bastard! So, snap out of it, and let’s make sure our asshole brother doesn’t keep fucking shit up for you and everyone else!”

I tried to lighten the mood. “I remember when I thought you were the asshole brother,” I teased and placed a kiss on Mikael’s nose, which made him smile. He snatched me up and sat me down on his lap across the table from Evan and Serena. Together, we watched what she was doing.

“What exactly do you need Evan’s blood for?”

“He has the closest blood tie to Malachi. I can use his blood to scry for his brother’s location. So long as none of my other sisters are helping, I should be able to find him quickly.”

“How many sisters do you have?” Evan asked while waggling his eyebrows.

“There were seven of us. Now, there are only six.” She jabbed his finger and collected droplets of blood.

“Ouch!” Evan poked out his bottom lip in a mock pout.

“That’s for thinking dirty thoughts about my sisters.” Everyone laughed at the back-and-forth exchange between Serena and Evan, but then I had a thought.

“What about Leanna? Can we use his blood to find her too?”

“Yes, but I must focus on one at a time. When one is found we can search for the other if they’re not already together.” Serena used the blood she took from Evan, and began chanting something in foreign words, repeating them in rapid succession. The wooden top of the table grew into a picture, a map. My jaw dropped in awe as the magic wove its way, thickly, through the room. As soon as the map was completely formed Serena dropped Evan’s blood onto it, chanting different words this time. As she did so, she never let go of Evan’s hand. He was her link, as much as his blood was, I realized.

The few droplets of blood that had shaken free of Evan’s finger began running in rivulets across the table. They were seeking the home that Serena was sending them to. She was summoning blood to blood. After a few moments, the blood stopped moving, and pooled altogether in one spot. I stood up in order to get a closer look. “Son of a bitch!” I exclaimed as I realized where the blood pooled.

“We should have known.” My father joined in.

“What am I missing?” Mikael asked.

“That’s the territory of John Freedman and his pack.” I said, looking up at my father, and then back at Mikael. “He’s the bastard who didn’t bother showing up to my meetings about the Ancient Immersion Program, because he doesn’t want change, and he sure as shit doesn’t want a female ruler. They treat their women like garbage over there. Honestly, the girls that you guys brought back from Antoine’s were probably better off than the females of the Freedman pack.”

“So, now that we know where Malachi is, and that he’s holed up with a bunch of losers, let’s go get him.” Evan stated before sucking the remaining blood from his fingertip.

“Not so fast.” My dad turned to Asi, who had been silently watching everything play out. “We need a plan. Freedman’s men are well trained survivalists. It’s not going to be an easy takedown.” Asi nodded at my dad and started combing over the distance between our pack and theirs.

“The first thing we need to discuss is transportation. It looks like there is right around 300 miles between here and there. We need to figure out how many men to leave behind, and how many we need to have with us.” Asi was taking charge of the tactical aspects. So, I thought of the other thing everyone had forgotten about.

“We also need to get a hold of Avery and see how things are going over there. Let’s make sure we’re abreast of the situation with the hunters and the dark ones. We don’t want to send our best men on a mission when a third party could be lying in wait for such a prime opportunity.”

Asi nodded in my direction. “Just in case there are dark ones lurking, we’ll have to mobilize the men during mid-day, so there’s no chance of word getting back to them that so many of us have moved out. The women will have to be appraised of the situation and be prepared to protect themselves too.”

I picked up my phone and started texting Ashley. “Ash is on her way here. She can help my mom organize the women.”

We spent the better part of the rest of the day coming up with plans, and contingency plans for if things went wrong on either side, either for the people traveling to Freedman’s lands or for those who were left behind.

“You’ll be here with the women, but I don’t want you to be in with the women we brought back from the King’s Harem.” Mikael advised me.

“Wait. What do you mean, I’m staying here? I want to be there when Malachi is found. I want to see for myself that he’s been brought to justice.”

“We’ll bring him back here to you, sweetheart.” My father spoke up, trying to take the brunt of my anger so that my mate wouldn’t get skewered by the look I was sending him.

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