Page 36 of Fated Moons
Drew, the youngest of the brothers, sat on the front steps with his legs stretched out. It was hard to believe the boy was a father. But he too had matured and took his role in the pack quite seriously. He was more of a liaison between the fairies and the council, since the fairies still needed to be granted a seat at the Twilight Crossing Council meetings. Because there were so many creatures who feared the fairies, it was decided they shouldn’t attend at all.
Jackson believed that to be wildly unfair. The meeting locations were kept secret and the security was run only by Chaz’s pack. But Jackson had kept his opinion to himself.Perhaps at the next pack meeting, he would vocalize his thoughts.
Trask leaned against the railing, chuckling while his little pup, Ali, tried to get the attention of her fate-mated, Finn, who was more interested in tugging at Nico’s pant leg.
Eight little wolfairies and one wolfairy witch in all and not one of these fathers showed any stress of being a parent. Jackson couldn’t imagine. He still wrestled with the idea that he’d imprinted a royal witch when he’d been four years old and that it was all part of some bigger cosmic plan relating back to the Legend of the Fated Moons.
He swallowed.
That meant that when the two moons did appear in the sky, he’d too become a father and that wasn’t something he thought he’d ever be prepared for, much less want. Only, now that he could feel the connection tightening with Amanda, it was something he desired more than ever. More so than his career and certainly more than this movie.
“How are you feeling?” Trask asked.
“Well enough,” Jackson said. “Prince Albert thought it might be a good idea for you to make sure there isn’t any chance pieces of either spell were left behind somewhere in my aura. The whole idea that she could look inside me like that freaks me out. She mentioned reading auras is some great witch power of hers.”
“First, she shouldn’t have looked inside without your permission. That was wrong. Second, reading auras and understanding what they mean is very different.” Trask inched closer. “And third, I should be insulted that the prince would think I could have left anything behind, but since you’re his daughter’s fated mate, I will humor him.”
“There’s another reason I want you to look,” Jackson said.
Trask arched a brow.
“I’ll be honest. Everything that has happened is freaking me out. On the one hand, I’m damn glad to know that it was a spell that caused all this unlucky bullshit since my Oscar win. But the rest of it?” He shook his head. “It scares the crap out of me.” He raised his hand. “But if it’s true, and I’m not saying I believe all of it one way or the other. However, let’s say it is. I’m worried that I’m broken or something because imprinting and mating, it’s not happening like it’s supposed to.” He jerked his finger over his shoulder. “She might be coming into her fairy exactly like it’s written, but something is wrong with me.”
“I doubt that.” Trask waved his hand over Jackson’s head. “Shut your eyes. This might hurt a little.”
“I’m so tired of this shit,” Jackson muttered, but he did as instructed. His skin prickled with the sensation of pins and needles slamming into his skin. It felt as though someone peeled back his skin and poured rubbing alcohol on the open layers. He gritted his teeth and did his best not to growl like a baby.
“There. All done. Nothing was left behind. And you’re not broken. Everything is where it’s supposed to be. There’s no break. Not even a crack,” Trask said. “However, the wolf parts of you that the blocking spell touched, specifically the mating part, is weakened. I can see that it’s growing stronger. It will simply take time.”
“Thanks. I think.” He shook before chugging half his beer.
“I heard you have a whole list of questions for us?” Nico asked. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to answer them, but we’ll try.”
Jackson blew out a puff of air. “How is it that her mother has no real powers and doesn’t come from a royal bloodline?” He raised his hand. “I get the whole concept about how Amanda’s fairy powers wouldn’t appear until she mated but wasn’t that all before the wolfairies and while the royal fairies were still beingheld in some bottle? Before Norse and Dayton were reunited as one?”
“Sounds like someone has been brushing up on their history.” Dayton chuckled. “That is all true for wolves mating with royal fairies. Daphne is a pure royal fairy, so it came as a shock when we found some wolf in her bloodline. Coral and Isadore are about as fairy as one can be, even though they were raised as witches. My mate is a wolf but has royal fairy blood. I am a wolfairy, but I was not born the way you all were. My fairy heart was cast into a spirit named Norse and attached to my sister’s being, while my wolf form was banished into a soulless creature. Trask is a unique species. A wizard fairy. His mate is a wolfairy. What we know is that wolves have always mated differently than other creatures. It is in their nature to imprint or to instantly mate. The same is true of wolfairies. But fated mates go much deeper. The bonds are stronger. It is the difference between what is written in the sand and what is written in the stars. It cannot be challenged, though it can be destroyed.”
“And it can be changed.” Trask clasped his hands together. A bright-green ball appeared. “Fairy magic is very different from witchcraft. It’s why the two have often been at odds and why witches have feared fairies.”
“But you are both, and you’re not telling me anything I don’t know.” Jackson didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but he desperately needed answers.
“This is true,” Trask said. “While witchcraft is both something you are and a skill, being a fairy is very different. There are no spells. No potions. It’s all energy.” He tossed the ball into the air. “This is magic. It can be used for good. Or it can be used for evil. It depends on the person. The coven. The spell being used to create the magic. Most witches need to recite something to make that ball.”
“How come you don’t?” Jackson asked. “Or Prince Alfred?”
“There are levels of witchcraft and there are a variety of things that dictate how far you can go. One factor is your position in your coven. Another is the role you take. For example, a protector would have to achieve a higher level of witchcraft than, say, ritual master,” Trask said. “When I went to wizard school, it should have been impossible for me to obtain a high priest status. At the time, I was considered half-human. But the coven I technically belonged to had no seer and no high priest and desperately needed both. And a little piece of Toldar always made up my organic structure, so I defied the odds, even though as Toldar, I’m the highest wizard master possible, in part because I’m also a fairy. As far as the prince is concerned, he doesn’t need commands because he comes from the royal bloodline, technically the same as mine, and he’s the highest-ranking person in his coven. He’s mastered the highest level of witchcraft possible next to me.” He clapped his hands together, and the ball disappeared. Then he waved his hands and dust particles appeared. His feet lifted off the ground, and he spun around before dropping back to the porch. “That was fairy magic, for lack of a better word.”
“What makes them different?” Jackson asked.
“Any witch or wizard could learn to make a green ball and toss it around. But only a fairy could create dust and use it to do things,” Trask said. “Like how Lady Amanda levitated earlier. It was the dust doing it, but she’ll learn to harness it. It some ways, it’s so much more powerful than witchcraft, but there is a need for both.”
“But can’t some witches fly?” Jackson set his beer to the side. “I mean, Prince Alfred did.”
“Only a high priest within my bloodline, and they need my permission to do it. But it takes time and a great deal of discipline to learn. Prince Alfred is the only one that I know whocan.” Trask laughed. “And to be honest, fairy dust makes it much easier.”
“This is way too confusing,” Jackson muttered. “If Amanda is in your bloodline, doesn’t that make her a royal fairy?”
“No.” Trask shook his head. “My bloodline has never mixed with royal fairies. By myself, I’m not unique. I’m either a wizard or a fairy. What makes me Toldar is the fact that I was created by an evil fairy who possessed a human and my father was a wizard.”
