Dark Wolf: 1 (Spirit Wild) (32 page)

He paused outside the room Lily and Sebastian had taken this morning. They’d not come out once during the day, though Keisha had delivered a couple of meals that hadn’t been turned down.

He remembered days like that, staying in bed with his beloved mate for hours on end. Making love, talking, learning one another.

He opened his senses and chuckled softly. Lily’s sleeping mind was strongest, but it appeared Alex and Annie had joined them, just as Stefan and Xandi had so often spent the night with Keisha and him. As they still did.

Then he realized one mind was missing. He didn’t sense Sebastian’s thoughts, at least not here. Following a hunch, Anton walked back to the den and slipped through the door to the deck.

Sebastian was out there, wearing a pair of sweats that looked suspiciously like an old pair of Stefan’s. He was leaning against the deck railing, staring out across the meadow.

Anton walked up beside Sebastian and rested his elbows on the railing. It was a full minute before Sebastian spoke.

“Remember that story in the news a couple years ago, the one where some doctor was cloning babies to harvest body parts?”

Anton nodded. “I do. It was terrible, but at least they were able to save the children, find them good homes.”

“I remember being really disgusted by the whole thing, the ethics of it, the inhumanity, but I never really thought of the children’s point of view. What it would feel like for them, when they got old enough to understand that their very existence was due to the fact that rich old men were willing to pay to grow them like a crop to harvest their parts. I wonder how that’s going to affect them once they’re old enough to understand what that means?”

“That’s what Aldo did to you, isn’t it?”

Sebastian nodded. “He knew my mother was a shapeshifter, knew she had the genetics to be nearly immortal, but he didn’t understand enough about Chanku physiology to know how he could get that for himself, other than to get her with child, raise that child until he was sure he had a real Chanku shapeshifter, and then kill the child and take his life force.”

“But your mother took you and ran.”

Sebastian turned and looked at him. “Yep. She didn’t know what he planned, but knew it couldn’t be good. That’s why she warned me against finding him. I should have listened to her.”

Anton studied him a moment—the strong profile, the intelligence in those fascinating eyes—and then shook his head. “No. You did the right thing. If you hadn’t found him, you wouldn’t have stopped him. You stopped him tonight, son. You ended a reign of terror that law enforcement now believes has gone on for decades. They’ll be following up on missing person reports for a long time, trying to figure out which ones might be linked to Aldo Xenakis. He’s used death magic for years. That’s what allowed him to become so powerful. Death magic gave him almost unlimited power. It didn’t run out because he never stopped killing.”

“How did he control the Berserkers? They followed him with such devotion. It makes no sense.”

“I imagine it was a combination of magic, what he could offer them, and his natural charisma. He must have known about the military tests, the fact there were shapeshifters who were different from the rest of us, and when he discovered the strength of their bloodlust, their need to kill, he provided the victims and made sure they weren’t discovered. Your father was a brilliant, charismatic man, I’ll give him that, but he let his need for power corrupt him.”

Sebastian turned away and stared toward the dark forest. “I saw things in his mind as he died. What he did to those young women. He used fear to increase the power of the magic. He’d rape them with the wolves all around, snarling and snapping at them until they were incoherent with terror. He fed off that. It made the magic stronger. Then, when he was done, he let the wolves tear them to pieces. They died so horribly, Anton. He stood there gloating, stealing their life force, watching them die in agony.”

Sebastian shuddered, almost as if he tried to shake off his connection to the man who had fathered him. His struggle to maintain his composure was painful to watch, and when he finally turned and looked at Anton, he was hollow-eyed with the horror of what his father had done. “I’m afraid I’ll live with those images forever.”

Anton put his hands on the young man’s shoulders and looked into eyes unlike any wolf he’d ever seen. Teal blue eyes, so troubled now, shadowed by terrible acts that would never be forgotten. Sometimes a man had to learn to live with evil deeds—horrible things that could not be altered—but that’s where the strength of the pack came into play.

“What happened is over. You ended it, Sebastian. Without you, he would still be killing innocent young women. Think of the good you’ve done, the fact that your bravery and your magic have ended a nightmare. It’s ended, now. It’s part of the past.”

Sebastian stared at the mountains bathed in moonlight. Just last night, he’d faced his own father on that mountain and had discovered strengths he’d never known he had. Anton wondered how that affected him, that experience with such power. Did he have his father’s need for more?

“No,” he said, smiling at Anton. “I seem to have come through last night’s experience with more power than I ever imagined. Your thoughts are clear to me. I couldn’t read you before unless you projected.”

“How?”

“The lightning that killed him. I drew it down and it struck Aldo, but I felt the blast ground through me before it hit the Berserkers. My father had worked a spell that would take my life force and add it to his. Somehow it appears to have reversed when he died. I’ve got my father’s magic, but not his darkness.”

“Amazing. Does Lily know?”

“Not yet. I’ve only just figured it out myself. I can feel the power. It’s not an easy melding, but I think it will settle down eventually.” He turned to Anton then and smiled. “I’m going to need some training. Are you up to the job?”

“I think so.” He felt the excitement growing. There hadn’t been such a fascinating challenge in his life for much too long, and he loved the idea of the chance to get to know Sebastian better. The boy had spirit. He was smart and he obviously loved Lily. It was hard to find any fault with that.

“Lily’s talking about taking a leave of absence, staying here until I learn more about being Chanku, about handling my magic. She wants me to get to know the pack, and for them to know me. Alex and Annie said they’d move into the Marina house for a while, take care of things for Lily at Cheval International.” He chuckled, sounding more relaxed by the minute. “Personally, I think Alex wants time with Annie far from her father. I don’t blame him. Tinker’s got a scary side.”

“Tinker works very hard to project that image, but Annie’s right. He’s a softie.” Anton sensed Keisha awake and waiting for his return. He pushed himself away from the railing and clapped a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “You are a son any man could be proud of. Welcome to the family, Sebastian.”

“Thank you. I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”

“Just don’t ever disappoint Lily. She’s the one who matters.”

“Yes, sir.”

He headed back to Keisha, feeling terribly pleased with the way things had worked out. He’d often wondered if Lily would find a man who could challenge her. It appeared she’d found exactly what she needed.

Sebastian wasn’t certain how long he stood out there on the deck, leaning on the railing and watching the moon slide across the heavens, but he took the time to thank Eve, to honor the Mother with a prayer of thanks, and to think of all the changes in his life that had occurred over the past few days.

The biggest change wasn’t the fact he was Chanku and could shift with merely a thought. It wasn’t that his father was dead, by his hand, or that his magic was exponentially stronger than it had ever been before.

No, it was Lily. The woman waiting in the big bed with two others he was already growing to love. If there was any magic in this world, he was convinced it began and ended with Lily Cheval.

Smiling, he turned his back on the moonlight and the dark mountains and headed inside the house. Lily, Alex, and Annie were in there together. He’d left them sleeping, all curled together like a litter of pups, though Alex was the only one who’d been in his wolf form. He wondered what that felt like, spending an entire night as a wolf.

There was such a simple way to find out. He slipped out of his sweatpants, dropped them on an empty table, and shifted. Then, padding softly on his big paws, Sebastian Xenakis nudged open the door to the bedroom with his nose and leapt up on the bed. Alex grunted and moved aside, but Lily opened her arms and reached for him.

He lay down beside her and rested his chin on her breast. Her arms tightened around his neck, and he settled against her long, slim form, truly relaxed for the first time since he’d discovered his father’s existence.

Lily’s soft loving thoughts filled his mind, shoving the memories aside. It was time for new memories. Memories with the woman who’d sworn to love him for all time.

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