12. Reconciliation

In the weeks after the attack which nearly had Roan losing his life protecting the alpha female, the pack was understandably tense.

The Alpha Mate was far more subdued with his friend so badly injured. He was also hypervigilant over the safety of the children, often pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion before someone had to step in. Usually Blake or one of his brothers. Axel was especially good with the children and Kade. They had a unique bond which deepened over this time.

For myself, it was difficult to see Axel go through the stress of those weeks with so little to offer. My mother had allowed more elves to come to the pack with the stipulation that more were to work on the beta sickness and any potential link to our own fertility problem. This, of course, was all well and good, until the elves struggled with my current position. With ívarr assuming the group lead, particularly when it came to the research, it made very little sense for the elves to come to me for advice. It caused more than a few raised eyebrows, which I explained away with information about my military service.

However, I was beginning to suspect the Alpha Pair knew I was more than I was letting on. If they had told Axel about their suspicions, he had not spoken of it. Perhaps he wanted me to come to him myself, or he just dismissed them as unimportant.

Each time I missed an opportunity to tell Axel the truth, my guilt grew. Especially since I no longer had ívarr’s friendship to lean on. This was a terrible situation of my own making.

My friend had kept his distance since our heated discussion. Only speaking to me when it pertained to the research he was conducting or the safety of the elves and pack in our care. The gulf between us had grown so wide everyone had noticed it.

Teagan and Hakeem despaired over it. Often chiding us both, from what I could tell. We each had our pride, likely a family trait, and neither was budging, no matter how much our mutual friends cajoled us to apologize and move on from it.

One of us was going to have to say something. It would not be me.

I had just finished my regular rounds of the lands while Axel was busy with his duties. I would then go to the lab attached to the clinic and process tests, or do other busy work to lighten the load. We might not be friendly, but I would not leave my cousin with more work to do.

“Your Highness,” ívarr rushed to meet me. My glare had him stepping back and performing a low bow. “Apologies, Teárlach, I had forgotten in my haste. It is urgent that I speak to you.”

His tone had me stopping the words that wanted to spew forth. “What is it?” My tone was still sharper than was polite. I tried to moderate it.

ívarr looked visibly upset. A rare thing for him. The man usually wore a mask of indifference, rarely moved to deeper emotions. “The queen has asked for an update. There is talk of removing part of our force because of a lack of results.”

He fidgeted, which was alarming.

“What is it, my friend?” I used a gentle tone with him, more concerned at his demeanor than his words.

Bright eyes met mine, worry plain in their expression. “Parliament has discussed the female alpha. They are now seeing it as a sign the shifters are returning to a wilder time. They want us to fully withdraw from the pack.”

“Remove all our elves and the support we provide to the pack?” I asked, aghast. No, no, no, we could not.

“Everything. They believe your vision to be a farce…”

“ívarr?”

“Word has gotten to them that you are in a relationship they deem inappropriate. Rumors are that they are considering a petition to the queen to remove you from Sweetwater.”

Leave Axel?

“No! I will not.”

“Teárlach, they may not give you a choice. They will send people for you and they will not care who they have to go through in order to take you home.” ívarr wrung his hands.

“I will not stay. As soon as I can, I will return.” My magic wanted to tear free from me, something that had not happened since my childhood.

He was not finished. His eyes met mine, a single tear rolling down his pale cheek.

“Then they will destroy Sweetwater, so you have nothing to return to.”

“There must be something we can do,” Teagan said pleadingly. “I love it here in Sweetwater and don’t want to return home anytime soon, particularly since we are on the brink of a breakthrough.”

“You are?” I asked.

“You feel it too?” ívarr said at the same time.

There was a hint of a smile as his eyes met mine.

We had joined the others at the research center to discuss the events in Abrocaelum and my potential return. Having the backing of my friends for my relationship with Axel was a balm to soothe frayed nerves. I could not bear the thought of leaving Axel behind and he was not ready to leave his family. Not when they were struggling so badly.

“I do. I feel like there is something around the corner,” Teagan affirmed.

“You should tell them about the betas,” Hakeem said. The normally stoic elf had a glint of mischief twinkling in his dark eyes.

“Perhaps you should,” she shot back. “You clearly want to. Though I am unsure whether the Alpha Mate would want us discussing this information.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“The shifter council knows, soon the rest of the pack will.” Hakeem turned to include me and ívarr in the conversation. “Roan and his fated mate have bonded—“

“That’s wonderful news!” I cried.

”—they have also bonded with the betas, Tate and Asher. They have the first shifter poly bond.”

A long silence followed those words.

“A poly bond with fated mates?” I asked.

At the same time ívarr spoke, “these betas had the sickness?”

“Yes, and yes,” Hakeem was grinning. “What are the odds that an alpha female would be born to a pack with the highest amount of betas who contracted the sickness—?”

“But Tate and Asher were not members of the pack when they contracted it,” Teagan added.

“No, that makes it more unusual. The hands of fate have much to do with this,” Hakeem mused.

“This may not be enough to aid us with parliament. They insist the existence of an alpha female is dangerous.” ívarr reminded us of the principal source of our troubles.

“I have been researching the scrolls I was permitted to remove from the archives. They have been illuminating and I believe the evidence there, added to the new poly bond, is a sign we are on the right path.” Hakeem went to the tablet device he had taken to using.

“Here it shows violent incidents between shifter groups and, indeed, humans were lower, with an alpha female as a leader of a pack. It should not be a stretch to convince the queen that their society is similar to ours in that way.”

This was a step in the right direction. All we needed to do was buy ourselves some time. I felt certain the goddess would show us what she was keeping hidden.

“So? What are our next steps?” ívarr asked my friends. His support meant the world to me. This was a demonstration of his acceptance I had only dreamed of getting since our disagreement.

I went to ívarr’s side and squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you, my friend, for coming to me with this and trying to help me stay with Axel for a little longer. I am sorry for how things have been between us.”

He grasped my arm in our people’s handshake. “My pride prevented me from apologizing sooner. I truly am sorry, Teárlach. As soon as I am able, I will mend things with Axel. I have been colder than he deserves. Truly, I regret my harsh words and distance. You have never been happier than when you are with Axel. I think I felt some jealousy because I have yet to find such a bond.” He gave a wry grin. “Rest assured, I support you and will do what it takes to stay here in Sweetwater. In my heart, I believe this is where we are supposed to be.”

I felt the truth of his words settle over my heart. The elves here had all expressed a love of the pack and the shifters within it. I was sure they would resist any attempts at harm from other elves.

“Pretty words and apologies done!” Teagan cheered. She hugged us both. “Now we need to take this evidence before the queen. We should also see if there is anything in the archives about poly bonds in shifters. It’s so unusual it should buy us some more time here. We are so close to our breakthrough, I can almost taste it.”

“Yes. I feel certain this is the path we have to follow,” I agreed. “Though I should stay here so they do not try to keep me there. I should stay by Axel’s side.”

ívarr nodded. “I will return to the beta sickness research with your help. Teagan and Hakeem will take news of the poly bond and the research Hakeem has conducted to parliament and our queen. They will buy us the time we need to reveal our true purpose here.”

With our reconciliation complete, we parted to fulfill our duties.

The room was dark by the time I crawled into bed alongside my lover. We had given up any pretense that I lived anywhere else. All my things now resided in Axel’s wardrobe or dresser. In truth, I had very little with me, making it all the easier to slot into Axel’s suite.

Moonlight illuminated my path to the bed, throwing the long line of Axel’s bare back into relief. My heart nearly stopped at how beautiful he was, lit in such a way. He was made for moonlight and shadows, they created such a stunning contrast.

I threw off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor in my desperation to feel his skin next to mine.

Drawing him close, I wrapped my arms around him. He made a small sound of pleasure in the back of his throat and nuzzled closer. There were times when I felt his wolf close to the surface, like this particular moment. I felt just how much his alter loved me, almost as much as the man.

All the talk of leaving Axel to avoid a war threatened to break me. This shifter was more than my lover, he was my reason for existing. The long years of my life had felt empty until he arrived. Now, I knew with certainty, I would fade from this life without him.

“Everything okay?” Axel muttered into my neck.

“Just needed to hold you. It’s been a long day.”

“Want to talk about it?” He yawned and stretched before wrapping himself around me more. It felt like every inch of our bodies was touching.

“No, but I have fixed things with ívarr, so something positive came out of today.”

“That, and we are together.”

“Yes, that too. You are my reason for being, Axel. You bring me light, hope, love. I just hope you know how much I love you.”

He yawned again. “If I was more awake, I’d push you for details.” Axel reached up for a long, slow kiss. When he broke away, he smiled, one full of tender affection. “You’re more than I could have dreamed of. I love you too.”

Without being aware of the conflict in my heart, Axel knew what to say to make me harden my resolve.

The elves were staying in Sweetwater. This was where we were supposed to be. We just needed some faith that our goddess had a plan.

Until then, I was going to hold Axel close and never let him go.