Chapter Ten

“Son, slow down,” Kalen said to Arion before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

All the windows in the house had been covered to allow Arion freedom to move around this morning. Kalen already had plans in the works to replace them all with UV-resistant windows.

The vampire was family now, and the Frosts looked out for family.

“Now, either simply give me the gist or tell us what’s going on but less frantically.”

Kalen made sure to keep his expression neutral considering the little vampire was scarred to hell and back. As of that moment, Arion was wearing one of Raidh’s shirts, but Kalen had seen the guy’s naked torso in the upstairs hallway earlier.

Whoever hurt him needed to be flailed. Kalen found nothing worse than someone who took advantage or hurt those who were unable to defend themselves.

He himself was six-six, and 325 pounds of pure muscle. His dad and uncles had taught him as a juvenile how to fight but, more importantly, also when to fight and when to employ strategies.

You couldn’t always fight your way out of something, so you had to always have a backup plan.

Arion moved closer to Jax, his amber eyes flicking toward Casimir every few seconds. Elvine was in her usual spot, hovering in the corner of the kitchen, her beautiful wings flapping, but she was right above her mates.

The fact she was mated to Kalen’s son, plus a vampire, was a mind-blowing discovery, considering the little lady had been underfoot for around two weeks before Kalen’s son and Elvine felt the pull.

After taking a deep breath, Arion told everyone gathered in the kitchen his story. Crossing his arms, Kalen sat back and listened, watching the way Jax held the little vampire protectively against him.

All three of his boys were mated now, and he was happy for them, but he would be a damn liar if he didn’t say he felt the bite of loneliness more and more lately.

His sons had grown up, one expecting his own pup—it still blew his mind that one of his twins was pregnant—and Kalen was feeling the itch to hit the open road, visit a few friends, and just take time for himself.

At the mention of torture, Kalen paid close attention.

“That’s the guy who told you to track me down?” Casimir snarled.

Kalen’s muscles tightened. He was ready to stop a deadly fight if Damon’s mate went after Arion. Because if he did, Casimir would have to get through Jax, and no one, not even mates, were going to hurt what Kalen treasured more than life itself.

His boys.

“That’s the guy who forced Arion to do something my mate didn’t want to do,” Jax argued. “He was beaten for refusing. Look at him,” Jax snarled, gesturing at Arion’s body. “He’s not a warrior like you, Casimir. Sometimes all a person can do is survive. Are you going to hold that against him, or can we move past it and figure out what to do about Arion’s situation?”

Casimir studied Arion for a long moment. No one said a word, until the warrior gave a single nod. “The matter has been settled.”

“Which means no grudges,” Jaytee reminded everyone.

Getting up from his seat, Casimir crossed the kitchen and extended his hand. Jax shook it.

Subject closed.

“Are there any details you can give us as far as these hordes we keep going up against?” Casimir asked Arion. “They attacked me for no reason in the forest and descended on us earlier at the restaurant with no provocation.”

Kalen had been wondering why they’d been attacked, and no matter how he flipped the situation over in his head, he couldn’t find a reason.

As his family talked, Kalen got up and walked to the front porch. It was midmorning, but an overcast sky prevented him from enjoying the sun on his face. He looked out over the sweeping front lawn and all the vehicles parked on the side of the two-story, eight-bedroom home he and his sons, along with friends of theirs, built by hand over eighty years ago.

Over the decades, there had been plenty of repairs done to maintain their home, but the foundation was as solid as they came.

Just like the foundation of their family, problems arose, but as long as they dealt with them head-on, they remained solid. Kalen was glad the issue between Casimir and Arion had been resolved. If there was one thing he wouldn’t tolerate, it was strife within their home.

Or someone on the outside causing it. Kalen pulled out his cell phone and shot off a quick text. Mere seconds later, Aldrin appeared at his side.

Resting a foot on the porch railing, Kalen folded his arms over his bent knee and watched a rabbit run across their yard. His wolf wanted to give chase as Aldrin rested his hands on the railing and watched with Kalen as the rabbit stopped and looked around.

“Spill it,” Kalen said.

Aldrin sighed. “It is so hard to get anything past you, Frost.”

“I’ve asked you before not to mess with my head, Aldrin,” Kalen said calmly, but he was boiling on the inside. He did not and would not tolerate anyone screwing with his mind.

“It had to be done. Casimir’s enemy had just stabbed Damon through his stomach at the restaurant, so I ended Elouan’s existence, which means—”

“If he never existed, no one would remember him or the trouble he’d brought to our family.” Kalen closed his eyes, thinking about Damon being stabbed, which would have killed the pup he was carrying, and possibly Damon himself. “Thank you for saving my son and grandchild.”

“You’re welcome.”

Opening his eyes, Kalen noticed the rabbit sniffing along the grass. “Since you erased this person from existence, mind filling me in on the details so I can fully understand what’s happening? Or are you going to make us figure it out on our own?”

Aldrin leaned against the porch railing. “This one was on me, so it’s only fair I fill you in.” He reached out and touched Kalen’s temple, giving him the missing pieces, along with some extra insights.

Kalen saw Elouan meeting with Akai and making a shady deal. Thanks to Aldrin, he knew who these two were.

Elouan wanted five of Akai’s strongest vampires, and then he cast a spell to turn those five into fifty.

However, the magic hadn’t lasted as long as Elouan had anticipated, causing the vampires to turn on both him and Casimir, instead of only the warrior.

Thanks to Damon flying in to save his mate, the warrior had survived. But Elouan had been furious Casimir managed to escape, so, while still being attacked by the bloodthirsty vampires in the forest, he’d cast the spell again. This time, he made it even stronger to ensure their loyalty.

But once Aldrin erased Elouan from existence, the spell also disappeared, leaving just the original five vampires who were killed by the shifters who’d arrived at Wild Tiger Barbeque to help in the battle.

“Does this mean we don’t have to worry about a swarm of vampires showing up?” Kalen asked. “From what Arion has told us, Ozel owns him and Akai is more than likely searching for him at this very moment.”

“No swarms, but Akai still has plenty of his coven at his disposal,” Aldrin said. “Be warned, Kalen. If you kill Akai, you better eliminate the father, too. As monstrous as Akai is, Ozel loves his son deeply.”

Just like Kalen loved all three of his own.

“Good luck, wolf.”

After Aldrin vanished, Kalen made a phone call. He was done risking his family’s life by not having enough backup. With Damon pregnant, the risk was even greater now.

“You and your boys are long overdue for a visit,” he said as soon as Quinton Everhart answered.

The bear shifter chuckled. “Then I guess we need to hit the road. See you this evening.” He hung up.

If Ozel and Akai showed up anywhere near Kalen’s home, they wouldn’t live long enough to realize their mistake.

* * * *

Elvine needed to make an appearance in the Unseelie realm but worried her mates would try and stop her since she’d told them about Willopher. She’d just conveniently forgotten to tell them the guard’s name.

But the guard didn’t know her. That had been the truth. After she’d been caught and released, Elvine had done one of her favorite things. Snooping. She’d spotted the guard when she’d returned after one of her trips and followed him for the rest of the day. Not only had Elvine learned his name but where he lived, along with the fact that Willopher was a corrupt scoundrel.

In an alley, the guard had cornered one of the store owners in her village, threatening to make up phony charges to have poor Mr. Cloudypebbles arrested if he didn’t pay a “protection” fee.

The guard had taken from fruit stands and food from taverns without paying.

So, Elvine knew she was in deep trouble if he ever found her.

“Stop right there,” Raidh ground out from behind her. “I can’t believe you, dewdrop.”

Wincing, she slowly turned around to find her best friend standing on the back porch. She’d never seen him so furious.

“Do not tell me you’re going home.” He descended the porch and headed toward her. She backed up a few steps.

Elvine wasn’t afraid he would do something to her. She just really didn’t like his expression. “You know I have to go home, be seen around my village, visit neighbors and tell them how much fun I’ve been having with you.” She smiled sweetly at him. “They love hearing about the shenanigans we get into.”

That was the truth. Before they’d come to live at the Frosts’, she and Raidh used to have so much fun, and her parents and neighbors loved hearing her embellishment what she and her best friend had done.

Since being in the human realm, she’d had to fabricate stories, because the two no longer ran off to have…anything.

Elvine couldn’t tell them about the battle with Vicino and his army of vampires or how Raidh had died and his soul had to be retrieved. Or how Damon had been transformed into… She wasn’t exactly sure what he was now. Or the onslaught at the restaurant where she’d discovered she had two mates, one of which had been attacked by a ghoul.

First, even if she could find a way to make the stories sound hilarious, her family and neighbors would have still been horrified she’d been in any kind of danger.

Second, she would have given away the fact she’d been in the human realm. In their eyes, Elvine was mischievous, but she wasn’t a lawbreaker.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about the guard, Elvine?” Raidh looked genuinely hurt. “And why did you try to go off on an adventure without me? I could have watched our backs, preventing the guard from catching you.”

The one time she’d tried to go by herself and she’d gotten busted. “Because you would’ve never taken me with you again if you’d known.”

Raidh let out a heavy sigh, disappointment in his lavender-gray eyes. “All I’ve ever done is try to protect you, dewdrop.”

“That’s my line,” she argued. “You’re the one who constantly finds trouble, Raidh. Then I have to get you out of it.”

“Elvine, I haven’t gotten into trouble since our youth. You just use that as an excuse to play big sister to me.”

She huffed. “Have you forgotten you were nearly drained from a vampire the first four days you were here?”

“Stop.” He scowled. “You’re getting off track in hopes I’ll forget about the guard.”

Coconuts. It hadn’t worked.

“You can’t go home, Elvine. If he finds you, he may enact his own brand of punishment before he arrests you.” He gripped her arms then hugged her. “Best friends forever, dewdrop.”

She closed her eyes as she hugged him back. They used to live a distance away from each other, but they’d always hung out. Now they lived in the same house and aside from a few early morning breakfasts together, they didn’t really talk anymore.

Elvine missed her best friend badly. She really needed him right now, but Raidh was always with Jaytee. Not that she blamed him for wanting to spend time with his mate, but dang it, why did things in life have to change?

“I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting our friendship.” Raidh brushed his fingers through her hair the same way he used to when they were younger and she’d needed comfort. “You know I would never purposely ignore you.”

“A lot has been going on,” Elvine admitted.

He pulled her down to the grass where they sat cross-legged. “I can’t believe Jax is your mate.” Raidh cracked up. She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, and she let him. “The way you two always bicker.”

“I know, right!” She snickered. “I felt my connection to Arion as soon as he showed up to warn us, but it felt like I was being yanked sideways toward Jax at the same time.” She rested her palm against her chest. “I’ll let you in on a little secret since you were too busy with Jaytee to notice. I was attracted to Jax from the moment we met.”

Raidh glanced over his shoulder then back at her before whispering, “I think every last Frost is smoking-hot.”

“Me too.” She giggled. “But your mate is a twin. Don’t you ever get them confused?”

“For a split second sometimes. But if I don’t feel our connection, I know it’s Damon and not Jaytee. A few times I felt panicked because I didn’t feel it until I realized why.”

“You know I have to go back, Raidh,” she said softly. “If I’m gone too long, people will notice. I can’t have my parents taken to the king to be questioned. You know as well as I do they’ll never be seen again.”

Raidh knew about her sister and brother. How the darkness had consumed Henry and made his temper dangerous. He’d gotten upset with Lily one night and, in a fit of rage, had cast an instant death spell on her.

Unseelie had no laws about using dark magic, but murder was illegal. Her brother had been sentenced to death and executed on the spot, killed right in front of his family.

It had been seven hundred years, but her papa and mama still mourned the loss of both their children.

Elvine was the only offspring they had left. And they were all she had left of her family as well. She wouldn’t allow them to suffer because she was in the human realm with her mates.

And that was another thing. If anyone found out she was mated to a wolf shifter and vampire, she would be sentenced to death.

The king really was fond of death sentences for some reason.

“Since I can’t return with you to watch your back, we have to have a family meeting,” Raidh said vehemently. “We’re Frosts now, Elvine. We handle our problems head-on, not run from them.”

She smirked. “You really have become one of them, tulip.”

“Please, and you haven’t? Kalen looks at you like a daughter. Tell me you don’t feel the same way about him.”

“I do,” she admitted. “He’s like a second father. My papa is wonderful, and I love him dearly, but he’s a pacifist. Whereas Kalen fights for his family.”

He touched her knee. “I’m sorry.”

She knew what he was referring to. Her papa hadn’t fought for Henry’s life. He could have been pulled back from the darkness, but her papa had stood by and let the guards kill him.

Her parents were against stirring up trouble for fear of retribution. If she were reported missing, they would comply with whatever the king demanded.

Even if that meant turning their own daughter in.

“If you call a meeting, I won’t be able to go home,” she argued. “There’s no way Jax and Arion will allow me to return.”

“ This is your home,” Raidh responded frustratingly. “With your mates, with our new family, Elvine.”

“So, I’m just supposed to let my parents be punished because I’m starting a new life with Jax and Arion, just forget they exist and go on my merry way?” she asked crossly.

Elvine really wished Raidh could go with her. The two of them could have so much fun together, just like old times.

But, by now, Raidh was probably considered a fugitive. All because his rotten father had more than likely reported his son missing and had also mated a shifter.

That was rich coming from a man who had tried to have his own flesh and blood killed. The dung pile was an envious and resentful man who couldn’t stand the fact his son was more powerful than him.

That was just how petty and vindictive Galamir Shadowlace truly was. She couldn’t even check to see if Raidh had an arrest decree because she wasn’t permitted to enter the upper-class area.

Elvine couldn’t even take Casimir—Raidh’s uncle and Galamir’s brother—with her as protection. Unfortunately, the warrior was also a wanted man in the dark realm.

Although she was wanted as well, the guard had no idea who she was, which meant no arrest decree had been placed on her. So, as long as Elvine avoided him, she would be okay.

The Frost house was just brimming with fugitives.

Ugh! She was sick of Unseelie laws. They were so archaic and stupid and had destroyed so many lives.

“Of course not,” Raidh said, pulling Elvine from her thoughts. “Eugene and Talia Sparklenest have always been more like parents to me than mine ever have. I love them too, Elvine. This is why we need to have a meeting. Maybe the wolf shifters can come up with a solution for you.”

She didn’t see how. Although Casimir and Jaytee had gone into the Unseelie realm to get back Raidh’s soul, they’d had Panahasi with them.

She couldn’t take her mates with her, especially Arion. Vampires were hated among her kind. Her honey bunny would be instantly killed—if the glaring sun didn’t do the job first—and she had no idea what they would do to her wolfie. There was no way Elvine would put her mates at risk.

This was definitely a pickle. “But I have to return now, Raidh. I’m pushing my luck and the freedom of my parents.”

“Then we have the meeting right this minute.” Raidh stood and brushed off his butt. When Elvine got to her feet, she stared longingly at her best friend then looked up at Jax’s bedroom window, praying she would see her mates again.

“I’ll gather everyone,” Raidh started toward the back door at the same time Elvine turned and walked through the passageway, heading back to the Unseelie realm.