Taken by my mate

Osric

I could feel our sister so close and yet I couldn’t see her, couldn’t speak to her. She had raised us after our mother died, killed by a wolven not unlike those Nova then sought to protect. Their Goddess was a cruel bitch for ever mating our mother to that greedy, abusive asshole, and then to try and make up for it by mating our sister to another one of those savages. They were all animals, and easily turned on each other at the slightest provocation.

Some of their protective barriers were failing, a happy accident of our sister being trapped in her human form, but it wasn’t fast enough. The moment she was marked by one of them we sensed it and we all left home. We soared days and nights through the skies to find her. Varro had gone to her home, finding it trashed and reeking of human scum, but dad controlled all of the mob exchanges in town through his deals and would insure they got what they deserved.

It was another happy accident that Varro was there when a man who smelt like Novaestarus, her special mix of fire and destruction, wandered into her apartment. He had wanted to kill him for merely smelling Iike her, but he could feel his desperation. His bond with our sister was weak, he didn’t even know her true name. This man was not her true mate, just another feeble attempt from their Goddess to bring Nova back to her Wolven as the different barriers across the world grew weak, I’m sure. Varro knew he could be useful in getting the one we wanted, and was sure we could get him to strike a bargain.

I trusted my brother’s opinions, and knew I would have done the same. If it had been Caius to go, the man would already be dead, his mind was always so consumed with the past, while I looked to the future and Varro could interpret the present. One way or another, by the end of this we would have our sister back, whether there was a pack of bodies between her and us, or just one.

“Osric!” My father’s voice was all power and commanded immediate attention.

Novaestarus had been the gentle hand in our upbringing, calming his temper and standing between us and him when she couldn’t. She had returned home after mom died to help raise us, being more of a caretaker than just a sister.

His voice halted my movements, and I stood up from where I had been crouched on the mountainside. “Yes Father?”

“Have you thought this through?” Every word he spoke was a demand.

I had taken the place between our father’s temper and my brothers when Nova was banished, but I was no where near as good as her at it. “He will make a deal with you father. He is desperate for a solution and erratic in his behaviour. He will not think his deal through.”

This was too important for me or my brothers to make the bargain and our father had a wrong to correct. Everyday since making that deal with Nova he had regretted it, but when his only daughter, his sole heir, who had never asked for anything begged this of him.. he couldn’t refuse. Since, he had become colder. Nova was everyone’s sunshine, that was her curse.

“You believe he’ll sell out one of his own?” My father’s voice was a challenge. He already believed he would.

I nodded. “Her magic in their boundary is starving, and it’s trying to keep her there to feed off her until she can fix it. It caused a car crash where some of them discovered what she is. If he doesn’t love her enough to sell him out for her, he’ll do it to fix the boundary for his people.”

My father nodded. “Where are Varro and Caius?”

“Caius is assembling his army underground, and Varro is waiting for a convoy of wolven to leave the boarder.” I tried not to let him see my own anger with that but he motioned for me to elaborate. “A wolven from another pack tried to take Novaestarus as his own, by force. Varro is hell bent on killing him himself, as you know once his mind is on something there’s no way to change it.”

My father nodded considerately. “If he hurt my jewel, he deserves whatever Varro decides for him. I will wait for the young alpha to come to a crossroad, and soon we will bring her home.”

“You will lose a lot of power breaking this deal after so long,” I reminded, even though I didn’t need to. “You will be unable to make new contracts for at least a few decades, perhaps you should deal with the men who tried to put a price on her head first.”

The smile that crept over his face was nothing short of malicious. He had apparently forgotten about them and looked like a cat who had been given a mouse. His wings unfolded from behind him and then his bones were shifting and lengthening as his dark green scales rippled over his skin, his large dragon form taking shape.

‘I will enjoy striking a bargain with them. Humans are always so predictable in their quest for power and wealth. I will take nothing less than their souls for upsetting my jewel,’ he spoke in my mind and my returning telepathic laugh was the last exchange between us before he took to the skies.

We had all remained content in missing Nova over the years by bartering for the souls of any who wronged her. She was widely loved and desired more than anything, and her small deals with those whose life she passed through kept her strength up. Soon, with the family together we would be back to our full power and no one would be able to wrong her again, though I doubted we would let her out of our sights long enough for anyone to try.

Caius in particular hit a dark place when she left. I don’t think he would have ventured far enough into the past to raise the dead if she had been there. Varro had somehow become more violent, aiding in more than a few dictatorships in order to help them meet the most unfortunate ends. I think I checked on her the most, watching her adapt and move through her curse, and she never got close to anyone or stayed anywhere very long.

Soon my sister would be home, and everything could go back to the way it was. Two deals would be made before she would return home, one for regret and one for forgiveness.