19. Cannon

I watchedboth siblings as they turned to look at their shaman.

"Why did you have dads buckle?" Kris demanded.

"Because I did," the shaman explained. "I found it a long time ago," he told them. "I woke one morning, Luna's presence all around me, and my wolf went for a run. We ran far from the packlands, something I don't do when I have no other to see for me. But Luna was my eyes that day, and when I stopped to rest, there was a buckle half buried in the dirt." His almost sightless gaze settled on the older of the siblings. "I knew I was to take it. I don't know why." The old male's head turned with eerie accuracy to look right at me. "When I heard Blackridge Peak had finally removed the curse of Rek from these mountains, I remembered the fierce wolf on a belt buckle I'd picked up years ago. I thought it meant nothing. I never knew it meant what it did."

"It was all for nothing?" Kezia asked, moving towards her brother. "I ran for no reason? I killed those men for nothing?—"

"No!" I watched him grab her arm, giving her a firm shake. "You will never feel guilt for that! They hurt you, they were going to do far worse to you than you ever did to them."

I wasn't so sure about that, but I agreed they needed to die. Especially after I knew it was so much more than she remembered.

"He's right." I watched her whirl around to face me in surprise. "They deserved to die."

"You have given me absolute hell over this. You do not get to change your mind without telling me why!"

"I gave you hell, as you put it, over the illegal fighting. You are not human, pup. Especially now we know how much more of you there is," I added. "When I spoke to her"—I wet my lips—"she implied the damage they did to you, the pain they caused, was more than you remember." Seeing her whiten and her eyes widen in horror, I rose quickly to my feet, crossing the distance to her. "They didn't," I assured her softly. "You're still?—"

Her brother cleared his throat, and Kezia rolled her eyes. "A virgin," she said loudly. "Luna's grace, Kris, don't be such a prude. I've spoken with Cass. She told me all the kinky shit you've been doing. Don't be a hypocrite."

Turning my head, I tried to hide my laughter as Kezia just blurted out what everyone was thinking, as usual. Nothing fazed her.

My mate looked up at me, a small smile on her lips. "So, I'm still…" I nodded. "And you're my mate…" I nodded again, pulling her closer. "And you don't want us to…" I shook my head and was rewarded with a rush of heat to her cheeks. "Oh." She was trying to hide it, but her smile broke free.

"Later," I promised her. Dipping my head, I brushed my lips across her cheek. Turning back to the others, I pulled Kezia down with me as I sat back on the grass. "How do we get her out?"

The shaman was shaking his head. "I don't know, I've never heard of anything like this." He was frowning as he thought. "The Pack Council may help?"

"They will help put me in jail," Kezia muttered.

"We can explain it all," Kris assured her.

"The fighting is a breach of pack law," I reminded them. "She did that willingly. There will be repercussions, but we know we can explain away the savage murder."

"Savage?" Kezia's elbow dug into my ribs.

"You weren't really there," I reminded her. "Trust me, from what I found afterward, it was brutal."

"We also need to know who covered it up?" Kris spoke up. "If it was the Pack Council, then they would already be here for her."

"Agreed," the shaman said. "Who else would it have been?"

With a look at Kezia, I let out a breath. "Kezia had a friend in the human lands." Pushing down the jealousy, I still found myself reaching out and pulling my mate closer. "Although somewhere in between her meeting him and now, he became an enemy. When we took him, he had silver bullets in his gun."

"What do you mean, you took him?" Kris asked in alarm.

"He was a threat to your sister." I ignored her scoff beside me.

"Is he alive?" the shaman asked me.

Ignoring the attention of my mate, I nodded. "I have him at a secure location."

Kezia leaned forward. "You still have Vance at the pack?" she asked. "I want to see him!"

"Never."

"Cannon! It's only right that I get to ask him why?"

"I can tell you why, greed."

"But he kissed me!"

The small clearing went utterly silent, and I gave my mate a flat look. "I am very well aware of what you and Vance were doing the night I found you, Kezia."

Kezia kept her head averted, and I saw her flinch when her brother spoke. "A human?"

"Shut up," she mumbled, embarrassment flooding her scent.

"An interesting ploy," the shaman mused. "Gain her trust by protecting her, add in being attracted to her, to make her even more vulnerable to the betrayal."

"Her is still right here," Kezia grumbled.

"A human?" Kris asked again.

"I was curious," Kezia snapped. "I had a lot going on."

"Curious about what?"

Maybe I could learn to like her brother, after all.I sat back a little as he asked her the questions I was eager to know the answers to myself.

Kezia's eyes flicked to me once. "I'd learned Cannon was my mate, then Landon said he was my mate, and I've only ever been kissed by them. It was different with them. With one, I felt nothing, and with the other, I felt too much…I just wanted to know what normal felt like."

Her face was the color of a fire truck, and while it pleased me to know that she felt too much when I was with her, I felt a twinge of sympathy as she was forced to explain her experience to her brother, her mate, and the old male who had practically raised her.

"But a human?"

Kris wasn't moving on, and I wondered if the siblings realized they had more in common than they both accepted.

"I think we've exhausted this," I spoke in Kezia's defense, seeing the old shaman's lips twitch. "The point is, you won't be kissing anyone else, will you?" The gleam of defiance in her eyes as she looked at me made me want to strip her bare and claim her right here in the open. "Pup," I warned and fought back a laugh when she looked away from me with a small smile.

Her brother huffed and made himself comfortable once more on the ground. "This man is still alive?" I nodded and he looked at me shrewdly. "Can he still speak?"

I grinned. "His jaw is healing."

"Did he know of the coverup?" Kezia asked me eagerly. "What has he told you?"

"That you were the first shifter he met. He saw more of you than he should the night I found you." I reminded her of the night she shifted at the side of his house. "He knew you had killed his friends."

"They weren't his friends."

"Okay, you killed his acquaintances." I held her stare, relishing in her eagerness to know more but also defend her point. When I leaned back, she rolled her eyes, her hand waving me on to speak. "I can continue?"

"Fine."

"You sure?"

"Ugh, you're insufferable."

"So, there is a witness that Kezia shifted in front of someone who is not pack?" Kris asked me, his tone pensive.

"Yes." I looked around the small circle. "But he is unlikely to ever be heard by our Pack Council."

"Why is that?" the shaman asked me, and I didn't want to admit the truth to him. "You will kill him before then?"

"Yes." Then again, I'd never been one to shy from the truth.

"Good. Make him suffer a little," the shaman added. "Kezia is very dear to me. I dislike any duplicity when it comes to her."

Kezia got up on her knees and leaned forward, hugging the older male tightly. "Thank you for always believing in me," she told him. "You never needed to know if I spoke the truth with a test." I saw her brother flush this time. "You always let me skip fish night in the canteen, you've listened to every tantrum I've ever had." She rocked back on her heels. "Which is why I cannot understand why you kept this from me."

"To protect you until you could protect yourself." He raised his head to look straight at me. "Or have someone at your side who cared more about you than I did." He sniffed delicately. "I knew he would be a rare find."

You did not call me for this, though, Alpha. Tell me what you seek.

You grant me a great honor, shaman.

I hadn't expected him to mindlink with me. I did not have a shaman in my pack. We had Doc, who could fix ailments that shifting may not. Shifters were resistant to most human illnesses but not immune. Viruses, we could not catch, but sicknesses that targeted our organs left us vulnerable.

The older packs expected dying wolves to leave the pack and die in peace.

What they meant was to die alone.

I would not let my pack, any of my pack, spend their last days in agony and alone. There were human medicines that Doc was adapting or trying to, to ensure my pack had better chances. He experimented a lot, but he had made progress.

But a shaman…a shaman was a direct link to the Goddess.

You wish to know if I have sought answers regarding the possession?

I don't want to knowif, I want to know when you sought answers, what did you find?

"Luna has not answered me," he spoke out loud for the benefit of the others.

I sucked my teeth as I thought of the problem. "Ask again?"

The shaman laughed. "It is not like one of these electronic phones that are carried in pockets," he said with more bite than I expected. "I am Luna's vessel on earth. I do not have a hotline to her."

"Get one."

"Cannon," Kezia scolded. "Don't be so disrespectful."

"You have a rogue spirit who wishes to take over your body completely," I bit back. "She's getting stronger, pup. I think it's time to be disrespectful." I watched her as her eyes narrowed, ready to argue, and I caught her chin, my thumb stroking her jaw. "You haven't spoken to her like I have," I reminded her. She still looked like she wanted to argue, and then I saw her resigned acceptance.

"I understand you want to fight," she whispered. "But you can still be polite."

I wanted to kiss that smart mouth of hers, but instead, I let her go, sitting back once more, fighting the constant pull toward her.

"I will seek answers," the shaman spoke, pulling me out of my thoughts of Kezia. "Sacrifices will be needed."

"I'll kill whatever you need," Kris said fiercely.

Yeah, I could definitely grow to like him.

"We also need to stall the Pack Council," I said. "On the assumption you have called for them?"

"We did," Kris confirmed with an apologetic look at his sister. "Landon was quite vocal in his demands, and as pack leader, Bale had no reason not to." He looked as pissed off as I felt. "While Landon keeps the claim you are his mate going, it's hard to deny him without outing you both."

"Or you." I saw his grimace. "Hard to tell a pack that's known you for so long that you are an alpha. Some will call you a liar. Some will feel betrayed. Some will remain loyal to their pack leader."

"I know," Kris told me evenly. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you need to make your move at some point if you want to be an alpha. A true alpha. If you want a pack of your own, for you, for your mate, for your children."

"For my sister."

"Your sister stays with me." I ignored her outraged gasp beside me. "As your mate will stay with you, or are you planning on letting her go?"

"Cass is everything."

"I'm sure she is." I held his stare until the shaman struggled to his feet. Kezia leapt to help him, and I slowly stood too. "I need all the help you can give me, shaman," I told the old man. "She needs to be free."

When the shaman held his hand out, I didn't hesitate. I didn't wince when he made the cut or when his tongue darted out and licked my blood. The shaman's head jerked back as he tasted me.

"Your rage rides you too much, Alpha." His tone was full of reproach. "You should be careful with that temper."

A warning?"I find a good fight works out most of my aggression."

"Pup." The shaman held his hand out to Kezia, who gave him her hand wordlessly. My wolf did not appreciate another's tongue on my mate's body, and I let the low growl out so both males could remember whose mate she was. "Your heat is complete," he told her with a smile. "Your wolf enjoyed stretching her legs today," he added gently. "I can taste the sense of freedom you felt."

Kezia stepped into the older male's space and wordlessly hugged him. Her voice was too low for even my hearing, but I heard the shaman's chuckle.

As she said goodbye to her brother, I stepped back, giving her the space for her farewells. I felt a thrill of satisfaction when she moved backward into me, seeking my presence and maybe my comfort.

Both Kris and the shaman chose to walk away. I wondered why they didn't shift but held my tongue. When she could no longer see them, Kezia turned into me, and automatically my arms encircled her.

"You did a lot when I was out of it," she muttered against my shirt.

"I've been doing a lot since I spoke to her the first time," I admitted. Looking down at her upturned face, I dipped my head and caught her lips with my own. The kiss was slow and leisurely, which was unlike us, and I found myself enjoying the slower pace.

When we parted, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright and her lips swollen. She looked stunning.

"And he said my heat was past," Kezia joked, hiding her vulnerability with humor.

"You feel too much with me?" I asked.

"I feel everything," she admitted freely. "It's scary."

Pushing her hair behind her ear, I searched her face, eager for the truth. "If we could break the mate bond, would you want it?"

Kezia frowned, moving back, putting distance between us. "The shaman said only death…"

"I have a doctor in the pack," I reminded her truthfully. "I don't want to lie to you. We think Doc can break it."

Kezia gulped loudly. "Oh." She wouldn't look at me. "I…I guess? I don't know. Do you?"

"There's a part of me that wonders if what attracts us to each other is a bond of blood and the Goddess Luna, which we have no control over. I wonder if we were free to choose, would we still choose each other?"

Kezia shrugged, looking down the mountain. "I don't think we would ever pick each other freely."

"Don't you?" Her quick look caused me to smile. Reaching out, I pulled her back to me. "Your heat has passed. You don't want to kill me right now. You are free of any other influence. We're almost as friendly towards each other as anyone can be." I'd moved us both so she was against the rock. My lips brushed hers as I spoke. "Tell me what you think."

Our kiss was sure, confident. Kezia kissed me back with equal passion. Her tongue stroked mine, her hands curled around my neck as I took the kiss deeper. My hands skimmed down her sides, round to her ass. Kissing along her jawline, I loved her small moan.

"Still not sure, Kezia?" I whispered, my nose skimming across her cheek as I kissed her mouth again. It was my turn to groan in pleasure when I felt her hands against my skin, lifting my shirt up, and then she was pushing me away. "Kezia?"

The woman in front of me undid me with her next words. "I want you. Now."

"What are you saying?"

"Fuck me. Right now. I need you."