SWNOVELS Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CAMERON
"Get your hands off my mate!"
I can't believe what I'm seeing.
Mia is on her knees. My father has a knife at her throat.
There's blood down her neck and chest. Her one leg is a bloody mess.
The circle is in upheaval. Wolves are wounded. Some have shifted back to human. Others prowl the circle waiting for my father's command. Small fires dot the ground and the embers smolder. The clearing reeks of blood and ash and magic.
There's an outsider in the circle, beside my brother. A witch.
And my father is about to kill Mia?
What the actual fuck?
"Stand down!" I stagger forward. Sean, my beta and Mia's father, moves to help me, but I wave him back.
I may be weak, but in this chaos, I need to stand strong.
The Elders obey immediately. They recede their lycan forms to human. My father is the last to shift, and prickles of unease roll up my spine at his willingness to ignore my command.
"Dad!"
He retracts his wolfen features and shakes his head. He looks confused. Well, that sure as fuck makes two of us.
One minute, I was unconscious. Suspended in some dreamlike state.
The next, I was staring at two little kids, with eyes just like mine...
"Cam?" My father shifts back completely and rushes to my side.
He catches me in a bearhug and squeezes.
"Dad..." I cough. “Ease up.”
"Alpha Cameron." He has tears in his eyes he doesn't shed.
My father is never one for big emotional displays.
Then again, he isn't one for murder either.
Annoyed that he could do what he did, I push him aside and rush to my mate. "Mia?"
She's bloody and dirty, sitting on the ground, but her eyes, when she looks up at me...I've never seen a more beautiful sight.
My hand shakes as I touch her hand.
Just seeing her here, now, it's like a dream come to life.
The feel of her skin, the squeeze of her fingers around mine is like a lifeline.
My memories are ... fractured.
I remember the night she left. I recall the years of my life with Ashley.
That night-I don't know how long ago-when Ashley went to see her brother and when she returned...my whole world went to hell.
Everything between then and now is a blur. A space where time ceases to exist and the only bits of joy came from stolen moments with the girl I'd betrayed so long ago. My father clears his throat.
I'm lost in my thoughts, silently holding Mia's hand.
My whole pack watches me, waiting.
"Explain," I order, and my power washes around the circle. Oddly, it feels as if it comes from my father first, but it settles back in me.
Or at least, some of it does. I'm still much weaker than I should be.
Mia whimpers as some of my father's guards draw closer to her. They growl menacingly.
"Everyone, shift back!" I demand.
The pack complies.
"Not you, Mia. You need your wolf now. Call to Nala and heal yourself."
She nods jerkily. She still isn't speaking.
My heart is in my throat as I watch her shift, praying that she still has the strength to do it, all while thinking that if my father is the cause of this, if Mia is to die at his hands...then I'll have to kill my own kin. "Easy, Alpha," this from the Elder Marco. His voice is calm, but he senses that I am not.
The Elders draw back, and so does my father. Leaving me to have this moment with my mate.
Mia curls up on the ground, her wolf licking at the wound on her leg that continues to seep.
I squat beside her again, run my hands through her fur and reassure myself she'll be all right. Conn is scratching at my mind to shift. He wants to be beside Mia. To smell her. Touch her. Mark her. But now is not the time.
I need answers. My father speaks to me, mind to mind, and he spells out the reason for Mia's trial. But I don't want his version of things.
I turn my attention to the witch. "Explain yourself."
"My name is Morgan Devereaux." She moves forward, out of my brother's hold. "And I'm the one who just saved Mia from an unjust execution orchestrated by your pack!" "Morgan," Jace's voice holds a warning.
She squares her shoulders. "You want an explanation. Fine. I first met Mia when she was alone and pregnant with twins. I helped her then too. My coven helped her, since she had no one else." She glares at the pack and me especially. "I didn't know that what we did would be such a big deal."
There are growls. We can all scent the lie.
"Okay, whatever. I did know." She shrugs. "But nothing is given freely. Mia got help. We got access to wolf genetics. But we're not planning to use that against your species. We're a pharmaceutical company." When no one speaks, Morgan sighs. "Hello? Beauty products? You all age so slowly and heal so fast. We plan to make our cosmetics more youth-enhancing. It's all about money, not spells. We deal in science. Our magic is reserved for our covens. We don't squander it on humans."
"That's all well and good," I allow. Conn wants me to grab Mia. To pull her into our arms and hold her close.
But this is a Trial. And the full power of the Elders have converged.
My father had been about to execute my mate.
A witch is among us.
One with access to our genetics-my kids' genetics.
I don't know how long I've been unconscious, but seriously... What. The. Fuck!?
I glare at my father.
He knows-he's always known that Mia is the one. That my heart and soul belonged to her long before I even knew what love was. The fact that the bond never fully sparked between us...I still can't comprehend why.
Not that it matters.
"We have our laws, son," he says quietly.
I don't try to hold back the growl that escapes.
Yeah, we have our laws. But he, above anyone else, knows what Mia means to me. And now that I know she has been alone, and that she is the mother of my children...
"No one is touching Mia." I put the full force of my Alpha powers into the decree. The surge of power is welcome, but in that command, I've expelled what little strength I have left. Several wolves rock back a step. Good. The command is one that cannot be undone. Not unless I rescind it.
I glance at the witch. "You claim to have acted honorably, and that you would not abuse the knowledge you've gained. But you can't speak for your entire coven."
"No, she can't," Jace adds with a growl.
"Handle it," I tell my brother.