Page 16 of Nita's Redemption

Link inhaled a loud breath, drawing Tank’s attention. “I just linked with Jaklyn and her men. They’ll be here shortly. They said they thought something was off when we were in their home. Of course, they have been scouring the pack for answers since we left and fixing shit as they did.”

Tank smiled at that. The Ravens were immortal demi-gods who thought they were better than, well, better than just about everyone. Not that Tank didn’t kind of agree. Hell, they were created by Zeus and his Gods and Goddesses. Their purpose was to help Zeus get rid of his old man, the dickhead god Cronus. After which, the twelve Ravens were no longer needed up on Olympus, so they were sent here to Earth and told to have a good life and find a female to complete them. Easy peasy. Not. Jaklyn was fated to two of the Ravens, so now their pack, via her, had some new friends and even some pretty cool upgrades thanks to Zeus popping in and out. Tank would even go so far as to say he liked most of the Ravens and the demoness females. What he didn’t like was the connection to the underworld and all the demon bullshit. Somehow the bastards from Hell had found them before the Ravens, so in his mind, it was obviously their fate to find one another. Besides Nita was most definitely a gift he and his brothers were blessed to have.

“Would you please quit thinking so hard? You’re seriously giving me a migraine,” Link said with a grin spreading across his face.

Instead of answering, Tank scratched the side of his nose with his middle finger. Seconds later, the air stirred, heralding the arrival of Jaklyn and her Ravens, Colt, and Gray. The two males were huge, both standing at six-foot-eight inches, respectively. While Colt has dark blond hair with lighter blond streaks throughout, which definitely didn’t come from a bottle, Gray had black hair with eyes that were more hazel until he shifted. When both males shifted into a wolf, they like Jaklyn, had alpha blue eyes. How their pack had so many fucking alpha males and females was a mystery, but they did, and as crazy as it seemed, their pack prospered. Maybe it was because of the Ravens being non-human or some shit. Tank didn’t know, and frankly, he didn’t give two-shits as long as there wasn’t an uprising or constant fighting amongst the males or females.

“Hmm, I sense it now,” Gray murmured.

Tank tensed, not liking whatever the male was going to say.

LINK TRIED TO KEEP steady, but he watched Tank freeze and was aware his packmate and best friend was having a hard time controlling his beast. While Tank didn’t seem to realize the animal was close to the surface, Link had seen Tank’s brown eyes flashing to blue several times while they were sitting and talking, plus his muscles were bunching and rolling as if the male was fighting to keep his human shape. When he’d tried to talk to him through their pack’s pathway, he came to a wall. His first instinct had been to share with his twin, but he’d pulled back from doing so fearing it would cause a battle that neither would win.

“What is it you sense?” Link asked, moving a little in front of Tank, drawing attention to himself. Tank wasn’t quite as in control as he thought.

Colt tilted his head to his side, drawing Jaklyn between him and Gray. The move was subtle, but Link didn’t miss the possessive way both males acted or the fact neither were as relaxed as they normally were.

“Well, it’s like this. The three of you normally have a very cheerful orange aura. Even your female has the same, only her orange is slightly brighter. I assumed this darker orange had something to do with the four of you preparing to mate, but now I see that it’s more of a tainted affect. Not to worry, though. I believe we can cleanse you, no problemo. Right, Gray?” Colt waved his hand in front of Jaklyn toward the other male.

Gray took a moment to speak, his eyes brightening to that of his wolf. Link appreciated the male and his patience. There was a glow surrounding the trio. Tank gave a low growl, followed by Abe. Link took a step, placing himself solidly between the two and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, even though he knew fully that their beasts were closer to the surface than ever before.

“Um, what’s going on?”

They all jolted at the husky voice to the right, shocked that nobody had noticed Nita’s presence before she was literally next to them.

“Hello, Nita. It seems that the four of you picked up a little bug that needs to be cleansed. My mates had been taking care of three others. We’d planned to come and visit you all and take care of that nasty business as well. With your mates' blessing, of course. However, we can take care of all of you at once if you all agree?” Jaklyn asked, staring at Nita then at Link and the others.

Nita nodded. “I felt as if there was something not right... inside me. I was heading to the clearing by the river that soothes me. You know the one where the moon shines down the brightest on clear nights?”

“Yes, I know where you’re referring. I believe it’s the Goddess of the Moon blessing all of us who she claims as her own, when we go there to get strengthened. I first thought it was strange that Selene the Goddess who created us shifters, and Selena, the daughter of Zeus, was kinda part of the human world and in a weird twist part of our lives as well. Or maybe it was always meant to be, especially since Selena resembles what we’ve been told our Goddess looks like. Either way, I am grateful for all the blessings we’ve been given, and even the not so great things I had to go through in order to find my happiness.” Jaklyn pulled Gray down for a kiss then did the same with Colt.

Link turned away, his eyes snared by Nita’s heated orbs. Fuck, his entire frame vibrated with the need to claim her. He cleared his throat, using all his strength to tear his gaze away from the most gorgeous female ever created.

“Yeah, so how about that cleansing shit? Do we need to form a circle around a firepit or what?” Link would dance around naked if it got whatever foreign body out of him.

“Nope, y’all are good to go now.” Gray chuckled a real happy sort of laugh, which earned him a side-eye glance from Nita.

“What do you mean, we’re all good to go? I felt nothing?” Nita looked down at her arms, shaking them and grunting in the cutest way.

“Did you feel it when the taint was put on you?” Jaklyn asked.

Link tilted his head to the side, taking a moment to think. “No, I didn’t, but I feel lighter now, if that helps. Shit, if those females have that kind of power, how can we protect ourselves and the rest of the pack? It’s not like we can ban everyone from going into town, or what if, Goddess forbid, they can send that shit over the air or something?”

His gut twisted at the implications of havoc that could be wrought if their powers were vast enough to do what they did by merely speaking to them or slightly touching. He tried to think back to see if they’d been touched or if it was through thought alone. His mind wasn’t able to come up with a clear picture where all of them were touched, but it’s possible that if they touched one, then that was enough to get to all of them.

“Calm down, Link. We’ve thought of that, so when we were cleansing the four of you, we followed the taint and could figure out a way to counteract any future attempts. Now with that being said, of course, they could come at you or us another way, which we would then come up with a plan to eradicate them. Right now, we need level heads, and we need everyone to stay within the protection of our lands. Yes, it sucks, but without knowing the enemy, we cannot foresee what all they can and can’t do. That means, for the safety of all, it’s best to be on the side of caution. Jaklyn has contacted your father as he’s the alpha, and he agrees. I believe you should be getting an order from Brock.”

No sooner had Gray said the words when the order was issued from Tank’s father Brock. Link and Abe respected the older male as he was their best friend’s father and a good male, but he was also a fair alpha. He was also strong enough to hold the title of alpha, taking it from Seamus years ago. For that alone, Link would follow him without question.

“There are some rumblings throughout the pack that Jaklyn and us need to go see about. You four cool?” Colt asked, eyeing all four of us individually before going back to Tank. Link wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad.

He opened their private path, ‘You guys good?’

‘I’m good,’ Abe said.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Pissed that we had something piggyback on us, but I think I know how to sense if it happens again.’ Link pushed the images into their minds.

‘I’m sorry my... whatever they are, could do this to us,’ Nita whispered, grateful to be included in the private link with her males.

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