Flames of Fury

Magnolia

Maybe it’s the hormones, maybe it’s the blinding rage making me spiteful and vindictive, but whatever the cause is I’m disinterested in listening to whatever explanation they have to offer.

This is the single worst day of my entire life. My friend, the man who saved my life twice, is dead, my mates may as well be strangers, I’m due with their babies any minute, and Ian is still breathing.

Usually when people say ‘it can’t get any worse’ it almost guarantees that it will. But I can’t possibly see how things could get worse for me.

I’m too tired to care, their dismissal of our bond has taken the wind out of my wings and I’m free falling to the ground.

Some people crack open like an egg when the going gets tough. Not me though. For better or worse I double down. I let that anger and rage and heartache harden around me like a shell, locking in the pain and shielding me from any further emotional connection or damage.

The twins had cracked that shell, they peeled it from me piece by piece until my heart was exposed and vulnerable to their love. And what have I learned from it? That I should never have let my guard down in the first place.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to just call my brother and go home.” My voice is deceptively confident.

Everyone stops mid-stride and turns to face me.

“Runidar can I borrow your phone?”

“Mags, please,” he looks crestfallen, “Let us explain.”

“I don’t care.” The Alphas snarl at my sharp words. “I’m tired, it’s been a long day, and I need to get back to my family.”

I look over at Ember and grab her hand. I feel guilty that I have a home to return to while she’s lived for decades with the painful memory of her home being destroyed. But if this experience together doesn’t make us family now then I don’t know what will.

“Now please, Runidar.”

Runidar reluctantly hands me his phone which I use to call Incandis.

“Hey Rune, what’s up?” My brother’s voice is music to my ears.

“Hey, D. It’s me.”

There’s a long stretch of silence on the other end, I actually take the phone away from my ear so I can look to make sure the call is still connected.

“Mags? Is that really you? Where are you?” His excitement is marred with anxiety, he’s practically hysterical by the third question.

“I’m in Shadowmoon with —“

“Mags!?” Incandis’ voice isn’t coming through the phone, it’s coming from the Alphas’ office.

Incandis turns the corner and sees our group standing in the hallway. He teleports directly in front of me, like walking the 30 feet to us would take too long, too much precious time that he doesn’t want to waste.

He pulls me into a bear hug, and I return his embrace in kind. He takes my face in both of his hands and kisses my cheeks. Without letting go of me he looks me up and down, assessing my well-being or maybe just checking to make sure I’m real.

His eyes blow wide when he registers my pregnant belly, and after a second they dim with sorrow and guilt. I know he’s thinking the worst, that this is Ian’s doing, but I can’t tell him the truth until we’re away from Ro and Varian.

“Hey D, can you take us home?” I gesture to Ember who hasn’t moved from my side since this morning in the Hollow.

“Of course,” he turns towards Ro and Varian who are now steaming with suppressed heat. “You guys coming?”

Before the twins can answer, Kat comes meandering down the stairs, nose in the air and her pupils blown wide. She looks just as perplexed as the twins sounded on the phone when Alec named me as their mate. Kat looks at Incandis with confused recognition. “Incandis, Syble, what are you doing here?”

“Syble?” Incandis asks and directs an incredulous eye at Accalia and Raine.

“Perhaps it’s better if they all travel with you to the grove. You and Xander can explain things to them there.” Raine says to Incandis.

“Fucking coward,” Runidar mutters under his breath.

“Don’t start with me, Beta.” Raine spits back.

The Alphas have finally had enough. Ro uses that deep, deliciously authoritative voice I’ve missed so much to demand that someone explain. “I want answers. Now.”

Bound by his loyalty to his Alphas, Runidar speaks up. “They wiped your memories.”

There’s a brief moment where no one speaks while the Alphas digest Runidar’s words.

I expect them to be confused, I expect them to be angry. It wouldn’t be out of character for them to set the room on fire or choke the nearest person to them regardless of who they are.

But nothing could have prepared me for the booming laughter that roars from Ro’s chest.

“That’s awfully convenient, isn’t it?” Ro snickers at our group but it seems primarily directed at his parents. “You’ve been hellbent on us taking a mate, griping incessantly about us taking a Luna and giving you grandpups. Then Syble shows up pregnant with some bastard pup. So what do you do, mom? You create some elaborate tale about us losing our memories.”

Ro turns to Incandis and me now. “Let me guess, someone from your colony can give us back our memories, hmm? Memories you and my parents want us to have to make us think we forgot that we’re mates.”

Everyone erupts in furious chatter. Alec, Incandis, Ember, Runidar all begin to admonish Ro for his cruel honesty.

I raise my hand up to silence them all, I appreciate them coming to my defense but I’m well past the point of caring. Every syllable he uttered regarding his opinion of me and our babies further fractured our already weakened bond. I could throw up from the pain suffocating my heart, but I won’t give them the satisfaction of breaking me.

My eyes are locked in a stalemate with Ro’s. I’m searching his beautiful, green eyes for any sign that the man I fell in love with is still in there. But I come up empty. Maybe I’m the one with memory loss because I don’t recognize this person, this spiteful man with ugly accusations.

I’m not angry at him — I’m disgusted.

Accalia moves away from her mate’s side and slowly walks over towards Ro and me. She walks right up to her son causing him to break his eye contact with me and acknowledge her instead.

The crack from her hand slapping his face echoes through the hall. It takes all of us by surprise, the Alphas especially.

Accalia harpoons him with a look that could slice them into ribbons.

“That. Is. Enough.” Accalia’s words move like lava from her mouth — slowly, quietly, incinerating anything in their path with unstoppable, white-hot molten rage. “You two are going with them back to the Grove. You are going to meet with Xander. And then,” her voice lowers even further, the word-lava dripping from her lips into the sea of fury around us, filling the air with steam that could scald you in seconds. “Then you’re going to grovel at your Queen’s feet and pray for her forgiveness for what you’ve just said.”

Accalia takes a few steps back, distancing herself from her sons. “I know you’ll be angry, and your father and I are truly sorry, but we did what we thought was best to protect you and the pack.”

She waits to see if they have anything to say in response to her, but they don’t. They bite their tongues and submit to her demands.

“Now go. You too, Kat. We’ll catch up with you in a day or two.”

Reluctantly, Ro, Varian, and Kat approach Incandis and me. I grab onto Ember’s hand and wait for Incandis to suck us into the void that will bring us home at last.

We land in my office at home in the grove. It feels like a lifetime ago since I was here when I made arguably the greatest mistake of my life.

Incandis immediately begins making phone calls and one by one people begin teleporting into my office.

“Mags!” Xander exhales in disbelief when he first eyes me. He throws his arms around my waist and crushes me to him, planting kisses on my cheeks, forehead. He presses his forehead to mine, our noses kissing one another, and our lips a breath apart.

“Gods I’ve missed you.” He breathes in deeply and lets out a prolonged sigh.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Mags? Why didn’t you trust me?” His voice is a pained whisper.

“Xan, I know, I fucked up.” I tell him because it’s the truth. I’m not too proud to admit my mistakes. “I’m so sorry I lied to you.”

He hugs me to him again, allowing me to bury my face in his chest, finding comfort in his arms when it should be my mates holding me like this.

Low growls originating from Ro and Varian hum through the space. Seeing me in Xander’s arms bothers them but not enough apparently for them to say or do anything about it.

My parents and uncle teleport in next. Xander is reluctant to let me go, like he’s afraid I’ll disappear again if he takes his hands off of me, like he’s learned a hard lesson from my betrayal five months ago.

“Hey Maggie,” my uncle says with dewy eyes as my father pries me from Xander’s grasp.

My father’s face falls with heartbreak when he sees my pregnant stomach. “Oh Mags,” his voice breaks with emotion. “Did you kill him?”

I shake my head sadly. I didn’t earn my escape, I did nothing to deserve it — I didn’t have to fight for it.

“Good,” he says and his expression hardens. “I made him some promises I very much intend to keep. He’s going to suffer for this, princess, mark my words.”

My mom sidles up next to my father and me unable to prevent the rare tears from streaming down her face. She opens her mouth to speak a dozen times but she almost doesn’t know what to say to me, which is fine because I’m not really sure what to say to her either.

It’s my fault I was trapped there, it’s my failure that I couldn’t escape on my own, Griffin’s blood is on my hands. I don’t deserve their love and relief at my homecoming, I don’t deserve to be queen.

“Let’s get you to the infirmary for a once over, and then we’ll let you rest. We can talk tomorrow.” My mom finally finds her voice.

I look towards Ro and Varian who are standing off in the corner like two fish out of water, not sure what to do with themselves. They look pissed, like it’s all they can do not to kill every guy that hugs me, but they also look like they’re annoyed that they feel that way.

“No need, I’m fine. Ember’s a doctor, she’s been keeping a close eye on me.” I squeeze Ember’s hand and smile at her warmly. “She’s half of the reason I’m here right now.”

Everyone turns to look at her, but it’s my mom who’s the first to embrace her. “Thank you, Ember. For keeping her healthy and helping to bring her home.”

“What’s the other half?” my uncle Dex asks softly.

Ember and I hold each other’s gaze, tears immediately welling up in her eyes but she nods to me, encouraging me to tell his story. “Do you remember Griffin, the guard who helped you and dad escape?” I ask Dex and he nods yes.

“We never learned his name but yes, I remember him.” Dex says.

“He helped you too, didn’t he? Before he left us, he told us he’d free everyone he could but it didn’t make sense at the time.” My dad explains. “He was talking about you. This whole time he meant you.” He breathes in wonder.

“Where is he now?” Dex asks.

I drop my head and stare at the floor. How can I look them in the eye and tell them I killed our hero? “He’s still in Drow Hollow. He –” the words are beginning to get lodged in my throat. “He’s, uhm, he’s dead. Killed.”

My knees begin to give out at the memory of him bleeding out in my arms and my father moves us so we’re sitting on one of the couches.

“I spent three months searching the caves for a way out, but every tunnel ended with solid rock. After the fourth month, it wasn’t safe to sneak around anymore. I was getting bigger by the day, and we’re still not really sure when they’ll be born.”

“They?” I’m surprised to hear Ro’s voice.

I nod softly but keep my face neutral, I can’t look him in the eye. He’ll know, he’ll know immediately that they’re his and Varian’s. I place a hand on my belly, “twins.”

“Ian was done waiting, he wanted them out. He ordered Griffin to have Ember deliver them immediately, so we ran. Griffin led us to an underwater tunnel that he had dug himself. But, his brother must have followed us. He confronted Griffin, he threatened to cut the babies out of me himself. Griffin fought him off, giving us time to squeeze through the tunnel and make it to the other side.”

I can’t stop the single tear that blazes a burning trail down my cheek. “Griffin gave his life for us, for me. He died in my arms. He died my hero.”