Page 80 of Through Battle and Blades (The Wolf Queen 2)

He frowned then, staring at the children, but not really seeing them, it seemed to me.

“But when I saw the process play out again, this time with a child I’d seen pulled out of death and destruction…” His brows creased, his gaze sharpening. “I know what we must prepare our men for. It’s blood and shit and pain. They’re going to fight in a war, Darcy. If it goes on for long enough, Del may be one of them. How do we ready them for that? There’s no softness to be found on the battlefield. Not one bit.”

“Men.” We turned abruptly to see a familiar female figure standing next to us, having appeared from nowhere. Pepin grinned in response. “You are so caught up in the fostering and building of strength, you need to be careful that that, in itself, doesn’t become a weakness. You want to be strong like an oak but, in a hard enough wind, that mighty tree is uprooted and tipped over.”

Her form shifted then, her limbs becoming more slender, her wolf headdress forming to cover her eyes.

“You could be more like women. Reeds that bend with the wind, not break.”

“And are you here to teach Darcy how to do that?” Dane’s voice was crisp and cool. “You said you’d train her how to use her powers, and yet we seem to be stumbling from one discovery to the next.”

The Maiden faded away to be replaced by Pepin and she stared at the two of us. Her eyes seemed to soak all of the details of us in, her mouth twisting in a wistful smile.

“I did, didn’t I? I’d intended to.”

“Why are you talking in past tense?” I said with a frown.

“You found your power today. That’s good. Each one of your consorts will bring something to you, a power base you can use. Keep exploring that.”

“Pepin, what do you mean you had intended to,” Dane growled. “We are feeling around, blind in the darkness while Callum…” He let out a hiss of breath. “War is coming.”

“It is. It’s already here and it’s you that are the key to winning or losing. I knew that, was going to work with you…” She shook her head and then looked back to the children. “You’re not mine to command or help anymore.”

“What?” I said.

“You don’t belong to me.”

“Why? Because I took my mates? Because I had…” I lowered my tones as I heard the children chatter. “Because I am no longer a virgin.”

“I told you, a small membrane doesn’t mean much to me either way,” she said. “The Wolf Maidens are mine not because they are virgins.” Pepin’s focus shifted to where Selene and two of her pack were walking towards us. “Many of their number find love amongst their own order.”

I blinked at that, then studied the three of them more closely, noting how Orsha was barely a hand’s breadth away from Selene, their fingers grazing against each other’s as they walked.

“But they find love in a way that precludes their role from evolving.”

“They don’t become mothers,” Dane said, his eyes beginning to flick back and forth as his mind raced. “Without men, they don’t bear children.”

Pepin nodded at Del’s ragged unit of new recruits, smiling as he got them all to attempt their first strike.

“I did what I could for you, Darcy. I sent Nordred to you. I made sure he trained you to the best of his ability, prepared you for what’s to come. There was more. There’s always more, but you’ll need to get that from her, not me.” She turned then, her eyes shining as she gave me a crooked smile. “You’re a mother now and so you fall under her jurisdiction. Seek her out to learn what you need to, because I can’t give you that.”

“Gods, Pepin, you can’t mean—!”

Any protest Dane might want to make was cut off at the knees as the maiden goddess faded, like a long held memory. I just stared at the space she’d occupied, unable to process what I’d just heard.

“Afternoon,” Selene said. “Heard there was a bit of an incident at the barracks. You know it would be good to know when you’re in town and what you’re doing. We’re trying to respect the fact that a new pack needs space but—”

“Mother…” The Maiden frowned as the words escaped me. “I need the Mother.”

“Your mother?” Selene asked with a frown.

“No,” Dane said with a shake of his head. “The Mother.”

“We should go to Mother Aeve then,” Selene said decisively. “Anything to do with the triple goddess she will know.”

“No.” I shook my head slowly, forcing my eyes up to watch Del march up and down his line of soldiers, smiling slightly when I saw the other children watching him intently. “The keys, Dane.”

“You mean…?” He detached the bunch of them from his belt. “How do we find it? I can’t even remember how we got there when Pepin took us.”

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