Page 1 of His to Protect
Chapter One
…the sound of wind in hisears … the feel of it against his skin as he ran … his heartpounding with excitement, his body thrilling at the adrenaline rushthat came with the run … sun beating down on his bare skin as heleaped out of the cover of the trees, whooping with joy as hepushed off the rock ledge … the feeling of falling as he droppedtoward the surface of the water below … then everything stills, asif the gods themselves had called a halt to life itself…
“…whaia te iti kahurangi,ki te tuohu koe … arohamai, taku tama, arohamai…”
A deep sense of peace fellover him as those familiar words came to him in the quiet, in avoice that spoke of home and love and everything that was good andright in the world.
“My brave boy. I am soproud of the man you have become. Kaea, I fear what you must do nowwill change the person you would have become, and I will mourn thatsweet-natured boy I have loved all these years. The path will notbe an easy one, my Kaea. You will need to be strong. You will needto follow your heart as well as be guided by your head. It falls toyou to take back what was taken from our family, and although Iwish it were not the case, it must be you. Ataahua will face herown battles to her future, but it is you who must do what must bedone in order to ensure the future. Toward the rising sun, my boy,follow your instincts and trust your heart. An Alpha taken, eviltakes his place, but his legacy is the key. Taku aroha koe, myson.”
…a rush of wind …screaming … grandmother … grandmother … Nanny-ma!
****
Kaea Hemopo hissed out a breath as hiswaking dream collapsed, and he was suddenly plunged into the hereand now. He took another deep breath as the heat that alwaysaccompanied his use of his abilities ebbed away. Given who he was,it wasn’t surprising that when he went deep into himself, so deephis consciousness actually left his physical self, that flameswould flicker in his bloodstream at the same time.
He heard his younger sister, Ataahua,curse from just in front of him, and his protective instinctsrose.
“Ata, yougood?”
He waited until she nodded slowly.“You?”
Kaea winced at how hoarse her wordswere, and squeezed her hands, which he still held in his. Theycould only achieve a waking dream when the two of them wereconnected on both the physical and spiritual planes. He held hergaze as they matched the rhythm of their breathing to each other,and he willed her to calm down. She was always struck with the needto run after one of these sessions, and because of the emotionalnature of today’s dream, he knew that need would be riding herharder than ever.
He breathed easier when she was ableto drop his hands. As he watched her, an expression of such sadnesscrossed her face that he felt the emotion like a punch low to hisstomach.
“Will it ever feel thesame?” Her tone throbbed with pain, and it was one that heshared.
Unable to see her in suchagony, wanting only to strengthen her will for the journey ahead,he reached out to gently turn her face toward him so he could lookher in the eye. “I want to lie to you because you are my littlesister, and it’s my job to shelter you from anything that couldhurt you. But I think we both know that it will neverbethe same. This wasour home, our sanctuary, and it was taken from us as surely asourKuiawasripped from our lives.”
Ataahua shuddered before him, and hecursed himself for being too hard on her, but couldn’t take itback. Now was not the time to coddle her. They had an enemy todispatch and a direction in which to find him. Now was the time foraction.
“I know that, I do. Iheard our grandmother clearly in my waking sleep. She told me whereto find the man who took her life to strengthen hisown.”
“She spoke to me, too.” Itwould be easier to proceed if he and Ata had the same dream. “Iknow what path I must take to avenge her death and take back whatwas stolen from her.”
He stood up at the same time as Ata,the two of them obviously both keen to start the journey and rightthe grievous wrong that had been done to his family. They startedback to the house that their grandmother had made their home forthe past twenty-two years. When he and Ataahua had arrived herefrom New Zealand all those years ago, they had been children, onlythree and five respectively. Both of them had been terrified oftheir new lives, but one moment in their grandmother’s presence,and they knew they had nothing to be afraid of.
They took the stairs up to the housetwo at a time.
“We can’t fail her, Kaea,”Ata said in an urgent tone he had never heard her use before, asshe opened the door to the house and they were blessed with thescent of lavender and vanilla. “God, Kaea, what will we do withouther?”
Kaea’s gaze was drawn to the floor infront of the large stone fireplace against the far wall of theliving area. It was just as it had been for the last few weeks—andjust like that he was transported back to the moment they felttheir grandmother’s life force being extinguished. The two of themhad been out in the forest, doing what, he had no memory of. Butthe recollection of sprinting back to the house and throwing openthe door to see their grandmother there on the floor in front ofthe fireplace, lying in a pool of her own blood, was vivid. It wasas if it had occurred in slow motion so that he could rememberevery moment, every second, every inch of that scene in blindingTechnicolor. Would it ever be the same?
Hell. No.
Kaea swallowed his pain, and drew hisrage around him. “We will not fail her, Ata. That is not who weare, or who she raised us to be. We will go east, and findthis—”
He stopped when he heard his sister’sshocked gasp. “East? No, we must go north. A day’s drive, a yellowriver, and something to do with silver.”
Kaea tore his gaze from the floor andslowly turned toward his sister. “Grandmother told you to go north?Are you sure?” He could hear the shock in his tone.
“No, Kaea.” Now thatsarcastic “take shit from no one” tone he’d definitely heardbefore. “I’m sure it’s highly bloody likely that I might havemisheard the woman who has been a mother to me since I was threeyears old. It’s not like what she had to tell me was vitallyimportant or anything like that.”
Kaea stared at her in silence. He hadno doubt that Ata was telling the truth, but his surprise came fromthe fact that his grandmother was sending them in two separatedirections when Ataahua was in huge danger. Without theirgrandmother, she was at risk of discovery, and if that happened, hewould lose her, too. He had a moment of internal struggle where hefought his need to protect her, and his need to do what hisgrandmother thought to be best.
He was just about to argueand insist that the two of them stick together when he felt agentle touch against his forehead, where his grandmother had alwayskissed him whenever she saw him, even after he was so tall he hadto stoop down in order for her to reach it.Fuck!
Knots in his stomach at what thismight cost him, he nodded slowly.
