EarthBorn (The Elemental Born Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter Fifteen

~

Kaia

The spells took a couple of hours to put in place, and as usual, Grace wouldn’t let me help. “Your powers will be growing in strength now that you and Ethan are together, we cannot risk the demon sensing you. Until you complete the bond you are vulnerable… both of you are,” she warned, giving me the eye.

She didn’t agree with my refusal to complete the bond. And even if I was planning on completing the bond, which I wasn’t – I don’t think – I wouldn’t have jumped into bed with him the second he was selected anyway. What did she think I was, some kind of Wiccan slut?

“I know, Grace. But I can’t do it. I can’t doom him like that.”

“You talk about dooming him, but by not completing the bond you are only condemning him to a short life of failure, followed by a slow and painful death anyway. If you completed the bond, he would, at least, stand a chance of protecting you, and you would have access to your full powers, meaning that you would be more likely to be able to protect both of you when the demon strikes… and he will strike, Kaia.” 

Once Grace and Dyanna were finished, we headed back to the house, Grace quickly looking around to see if anyone was watching before casting a spell upon it as we approached, one that she had yet to mention to the Alpha.

“Are you going to tell Edwards about that one?” Dyanna asked, laughing as she jogged up the steps.

“I think what he doesn't know can't hurt him,” Grace replied with a wink.

“What is it with you two anyway? I mean, how do you know him?”

I had been wondering that since their greeting at the Circle. The coven and the pack had been butting heads for years. I hadn't expected them to be so friendly with each other.

“Just because the rest of the coven can’t seem to get along with the pack does not mean I don’t. I have known Edwards for years, and his father before that.”

“Hell, you are old,” Dyanna laughed, reaching for the door, only for it to swing open before she could touch the handle.

Alpha Edwards stepped out, nodding in greeting to Dyanna and I. “Grace, I take it your spells have been cast?”

“That they have. Now, how about we have that chat?” Smiling, she took the Alpha’s offered arm and walked through the door and off down the hall. Glancing back in our direction briefly, she said, “Kaia, go and find that handsome young man of yours and come join us.”

“And what about me?” Dyanna asked.

Her eyes hardening, jaw set, she snapped, “You just stay out of trouble. Think you can do that?”

Once she had disappeared round the corner, I spun round to look at my friend, eyes wide as I asked, “What did you do?” Things had seemed a little off between the pair all day. Snide comments and disapproving looks all aimed at Dyanna. Something had happened.

“Oh you know Grace, she overreacts with everything.”

“Dyanna, what did you do?” She was right, Grace did tend to overreact, but there was usually a bit of a reason for it.

“Well, she kind of walked in on me and Greg last night.”

“Hold on a moment… you and Greg?”

“Yeah, we were just getting down to some good, dirty fun when Grace came strolling into the bedroom and got an eye full,” she sniggered.

“But how the hell did you end up hooking up with Greg?” I didn’t think she was interested in him like that; at least, she’d never seemed to be.

“He phoned me to see if you were okay after running off the other night. I explained how you had gotten home and that everything was fine now. Then we got talking and when he finished his shift guarding the farm he decided to… pop in to see me.”

“And by pop in you really mean…”

“Climb in through the window and shag my brains out with his fantastic cock,” she groaned in pleasure.

So not the visual I needed.

~

Ethan

“Have you heard of Dyson? Well, I’ll introduce you at Christmas, because that’s what you’re getting off me this year,” Frankie said, smacking a cloth covered in duct against the wall, dust particles flying everywhere, then continuing to scrub at another dust-covered volume of the encyclopaedia.

He had a point, there was so much dust down here it was unbelievable. I don’t think anyone had ever tried to clean this place, never once took a rag to anything. We had been down in the vault for a couple of hours now. Once the Crone had arrived with Kaia’s friend, they had disappeared out into the grounds to place spells and enchantments to help keep the demon out should he come looking. I didn’t like leaving her – my wolf was furious with me for it – but I had a punishment to finish. Well, there was that, and the fact that Grace had dragged Kaia away saying that I wasn’t needed, and she would take care of Kaia in my absence.

Well, she better.

“It might work better if you tried using a clean one,” came Dyanna’s mocking tone as she strolled into the room with Kaia and took up a position against the wall away from where the majority of the dust was swirling round.

“Unfortunately, this is the cleanest one we have left,” Frankie replied, giving it another good whack. 

“You got all the spells in place?” I asked, moving over to Kaia and placing a kiss upon her hard, trying to show her just how much I had missed her. It didn’t feel right not being by her side.

“Yes, not that I did anything, Grace wouldn’t let me,” she sighed, a weak smile on her face. I could feel her frustration at not being able to help. We weren’t bonded completely, yet, but after the night before I felt like the bond was stronger, that we were closer.

“Why not?”

“I can’t use my powers outside of the Circle. They’re just too damn easy for the demon to trace. Anyway, Grace wants to talk to us,” she informed me, stepping back towards the exit. “She’s in the office with your father.”

“We better get moving then. I’ll see you guys later.”

“You coming?” Kaia asked her friend, turning to look back when no answer came. “Dyanna?”

Turning around, I gazed at Dyanna for the first time since she’d entered the room. I only had eyes for Kaia. She was gazing over to the other side of the room, her mouth slightly agape. Following the direction in which she was looking, I saw Zak glaring back at her. His eyes were almost completely amber, showing that his wolf was almost in full control. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Not spotting Zak’s loss of control, Kaia moved towards to her friend. “Dyanna?” she urged, placing her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her attention.

The moment Kaia’s hand came into contact with Dyanna, Zak’s wolf gained complete control, ripping through his skin instantly. The girls screamed as Zak’s wolf came sprinting through the room, heading straight for them.

No, not them… Kaia. I knew in that moment what the problem was.

Zak had found his mate.

Shifting quickly, my clothes shredded into pieces as my body changed shape, fur erupting, bones breaking. Landing on all fours I flung myself before the girls as Frankie shifted and tackled Zak to the ground. I guarded them as Kaia pulled a slightly reluctant Dyanna away. Once they were safely out of the room, I stalked over to the two grappling wolves on the ground. Frankie was just about managing to keep Zak from going after them, but he was giving it everything he had, and if I didn’t do something quick, Frankie could easily end up seriously injured.

Standing above them, I tapped into the power of my wolf.  I was an Alpha wolf, stronger than any other wolf in the pack – including my father, but my wolf and I had too much respect for him to show it. One day I would rule this pack, but I was determined for that not to happen until my father deemed it so.

Growling, I demanded them to submit. I had seen my father use his power like this before, but I’d never attempted it myself. It was the only thing that I could think of that. Zak’s wolf wouldn’t listen to just anyone, but maybe a command from an Alpha, his future Alpha, would stop him from attacking someone that had touched his unclaimed mate. Because that’s what had happened. Kaia had touched Dyanna. Zak’s wolf didn’t care that she was a female, that she meant no harm. She had touched his mate, and he snapped.

What I wanted to know, though, was why he had reacted so strongly to finding her? I mean, yes she’s his mate, his truemate, but that kind of reaction only tended to happen when both mates were wolves.

Shifting back my human form, unfazed by my nudity, I stood above them. “Shift!” I ordered, still tapping into my power as an Alpha.

He seemed to struggle against the order for a moment or two before he lost his fight and shifted back, Frankie doing the same. He may have been in his human body but it still wasn’t Zak in control, the wolf was keeping a strong hold on him. We needed some help, and quickly. Hopefully the girls would head straight to Grace and my father. Once they heard what was happening, I was in no doubt that they would be straight down here.

“What the fuck man?” Frankie sputtered, coming to stand beside me, his arm held tightly to his side. “What’s got into you?”

“Mine,” Zak snapped, his eyes still trained on the door.

“Fuck! Not you too,” Frankie moaned just seconds before Zak made a break for the door.

Fuck was right.

Chapter Sixteen

~

Kaia

I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I was so getting away from there… at least I would if I could get Dyanna to move her damn feet and stop staring back at the fucking door. “Dyanna, come on, we have to get out of here.”

“I can’t,” she gasped. “He needs me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Quickly giving up on my attempt to pull her way as it seemed to be getting me nowhere, I decided to push the stupid cow instead.

“Can’t you feel it?” she asked, looking at me strangely, her eyes dilated. She looked stoned.

“I feel afraid… afraid of what will happen if we don’t get the fuck out of here and tell the Alpha that one of his pack members have lost it.”

After a little more struggling, Dyanna seemed more willing to move further away the more distance we got from the vault. We finally managed to make it to Alpha Edwards office, where he was sat having tea with Grace. If I hadn’t been so panicked over what the hell was happening, I would have laughed at the large, masculine Alpha sitting drinking tea out of a delicate china teacup.

Looking up as we entered, the smile dropped from both their faces upon seeing my one of panic. I would have said
our
panicked faces, but Dyanna seemed anything but.

“Kaia, what’s wrong?” Grace shot up, instantly looking me over as if for injury. Satisfied that I was in one piece, she turned her eyes to Dyanna, her hand shooting to her mouth upon glancing at her face. “Who is it?”

“Who’s what?” I asked confused.

Sighing, she gave me a cross look. “Use your senses, Kaia. Reach out with your power,” she urged me.

“I can’t, you know that. He’ll find me.” For years, the only place I was truly safe to tap into my powers was the Circle. Yes, they had placed protection around the packhouse but still…

“He will, anyway,” she snapped. “I'm sorry, Kaia, but it’s true. It’s only a matter of time before he traces you. Your powers are growing stronger all the time, and finding Ethan is only going to speed up the process. And right now I need you to use your abilities to understand what is happening, and how you can help stop things from ending in Dyanna’s death.”

“Her death? What do you mean?” I asked, panicked, looking over at my friend. She seemed alright, be it a little dazed, and suicidal judging by how much she had wanted to stay down in the vault with that crazy ass wolf.

“We have no time for this,” she snapped, her eyes taking on that old, ancient glare. Now that was all the motivation I needed; those eyes of hers were damn scary at times.

How any of this could lead to the death of my best friend I didn’t know, but I wasn’t about to find out the hard way. Closing my eyes, I reached out, down into the ground and to the life within it and all around me. The plants, the trees… the
Were
.

I was instantly aware of them all. Every single member of the pack, be there near or far was suddenly on my radar. The sudden blast of awareness left me gasping for breath, my knees shaking, threatening to give way at any moment. I may have been strong, but I wasn’t strong enough to withstand all that life… not yet at least.

“Pull back slightly, withdraw your senses from the
Were,
and concentrate on those just in this room. That’s why there is so much. You’re feeling each member of the pack at once. You must pull back,” Grace urged, helping to hold me up.

Doing as she asked, I withdrew my senses from everywhere but the room we were in, feeling instant relief. I couldn’t feel the pack anymore, not like I had before, though, I still sensed their presence in the area through my connection to the earth.

I was never opening my senses so completely again. Even if I did use my powers more openly from now on, there was no way I was doing that again.

“Now tell me what you feel? Who you feel?”

It was strange. I could feel Grace, Alpha Edwards, Dyanna, and… “Zak?” My eyes snapped open. How could I feel him? He was down in the vault going psycho. 

Alpha Edwards was instantly in motion, rushing from the room faster than I had ever seen anyone move before. Grace quickly pushed me, urging me to follow him, before slamming the door shut to lock Dyanna in the room. She didn’t seem happy about judging from the bangs and screams that followed.

“Grace, what’s going on?” I asked in shock, following as she raced through the house. Reaching the corridor leading to the vault, we skidded to a stop. Zak was being pinned down to the floor by both Ethan and Frankie, and they were struggling. Even the Alpha’s demands for his beast to calm were having little if no effect.

“Get her out of here,” Ethan snarled at Grace when he noticed me stood there.

“She may be the only one that can stop him.”

How? What did she expect me to do?

“Kaia, listen to me. Zak’s wolf has recognised Dyanna as his mate, but with her not being able to shift she stands no chance of surviving the mating frenzy Zak has fallen into. You need to stop him, calm his beast so that he doesn’t end up killing her by accident.”

I didn’t understand half of what she had just said, but I knew I had to try. Moving closer to where Zak struggled on the floor, Ethan yelling at me to stop where I was, I let the power roll through me once again, reaching out to Zak’s wolf. When the wolf sensed my true self he stopped his struggles and fixed his eyes upon me.

“Why are you keeping me from my mate, Earth Witch?”
I heard his wolf speak to me.

Okay, that I had not expected.

When I was young I’d asked Ethan if his wolf talked to him, if they had conversations, but he had just laughed, informing me that the only noise his wolf ever made were growls and snarls. Had he been telling the truth or not? I’d have to ask him again now that we were semi-bound.

I wasn’t sure how exactly this worked but I did my best to get my message across to him. I just hoped he could hear me, that this was a two-way connection.
“I do not wish to keep you from your mate, but you must understand that your mate is human, a witch. If you claim her now, while deep in the mating frenzy, she will not survive. And I am sure you would not wish to harm your mate?”

“She seems wolf,”
the wolf’s voice almost thoughtful.

“I can assure you she is human. Calm yourself, allow Zak control so that he can take you to your mate, and claim her for you both.”
I didn’t get an answer exactly but I felt the wolf’s acceptance of my words.

Pulling back, I staggered, falling towards the floor. I would have hit my head on the solid wooden floor if not for Ethan’s quick reflexes, abandoning his hold on Zak to rush to my rescue.

“Are you okay?” he asked, wiping the hair out of my eyes.

“I think so.” I felt a little weak, my voice barely a whisper.

Looking over at Zak, I saw and felt the wolf letting go. His eyes returned to their usual chocolate brown, the amber of the wolf fading almost completely. The wolf wasn’t letting go fully, not yet, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t until Zak had claimed Dyanna.

Dyanna and Zak? I still couldn’t get over it. Hell, what would Dyanna think? But judging by how hard it had been to get her away from the vault – well, from Zak – I now realised that she probably wouldn’t have a problem with it at all.

“Zak, are you in full control of your senses now?” Alpha Edwards asked, his voice stern.

“For the most part,” Zak grunted, sitting up as much as he could with Frankie still on his back. “Dude, get off,” he snarled, bucking to knock his friend away then pushing Frankie off of him completely. “Where is she?” he asked, raising to his feet.

Looking over at Grace, I waited to hear what she would say to him, if she would tell him where her great granddaughter was. “She is in the office, but I think it best for you to wait a while before you go to her.” Seeing he was about to argue she quickly continued, “Dyanna doesn’t know that she has
Were
blood in her family line. That’s why your wolf reacted as he did, he sensed the small amount of wolf blood in her and reacted to it. I need to speak with her first.”

“No need, Gran.” Spinning around, I saw Dyanna walking down the hall, a smile forming as she approached, her eyes never leaving Zak. “Explains why I’ve always had better hearing than you,” she joked, “though isn’t it supposed to be the grandmother that’s the wolf?” Little red riding hood had always been her favourite story.   

That was Dyanna. Nothing ever fazed her, at least not for long. She liked to look on the bright side of things, look for the positives. And it looked like she saw Zak as a positive. But really, Dyanna, settling down? It was unheard of.

“Come on,” she smiled, indicating for Zak to follow her.

“Dyanna, I think you need to have some time to think this over.”

“No, I don’t. You have always told me that even if you fight it, the attraction between mates, the pull will always win out.” My eyes locked with Ethan’s at her words. “Well, I don’t want to fight it. As far as I am concerned, the deeds already done. Now if you guys don’t mind, now that my mate has his head on straight, I think we need some time alone to… get to know one another.”

In a flash, Zak passed us and began dragging Dyanna down the hall. “Anyone even thinks of disturbing us and I will not be responsible for what my wolf does to you. I don’t even think he would listen to Kaia in that event.”

~

The Pack quickly put together a celebration of Zak and Dyanna’s mating. Not that they were present. They hadn’t come out of his room once since they had locked themselves away two days ago. Some of the old females were smiling about that fact, saying that they were probably sat staring into each other’s eyes lovingly.

Yeah, as if! Did they think this was some stupid, old romantic movie? No, they weren’t staring into each other’s eyes lovingly; they were having sex, loudly. So loud in fact that Ethan and I had had to leave our room to escape. And Zak’s room wasn’t even next door to us; there were at least three other rooms between us. Hell, I would hate to be the person stuck in the room next to them. If it was loud where we were, I dread to think what it was like being right next to them.

In the large dining room, all the tables had been pushed to the side of the room to clear space for dancing and filled with mountains of food. Wolves sure do eat a hell of a lot. Every meat on the planet seemed to be there. Some of it was brought from local butchers, but the majority of it had been hunted by the males of the pack especially for the occasion.

A few members of the coven had come, the few that got along with the pack that is. My mother was noticeably absent; I hadn’t talked to her since I’d left the day before the ritual. I’d sent her a text letting her know where I was and that the spell had worked, but I’d had no reply, not that I ever expected to get one. It had always been like that with my mother. We had never been close.

After getting me a small plate of food and himself a massive one, Ethan walked us over to the corner of the room where Frankie was sulking. He’d been pretty quiet since the whole thing with Zak and Dyanna. “Go get some food; you know how quick the best stuff disappears,” Ethan said, passing me my plate.

“Not hungry,” he muttered, slouching further down in his chair.

“You’re always hungry,” Ethan stated, looking down between his plate and Frankie. “Fine, have mine,” he sighed. “Back in a minute, sweetheart.” Kissing my cheek and walking back through the crowd to get himself another plate.

I took the seat beside Frankie and gazed at the plate of food sitting unwanted in his lap. This couldn’t go on. Someone had to snap him out of this funk. “Frankie, what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think anything’s wrong?”

“Let’s call it woman’s intuition,” I smiled.

Looking up at me, I could see the sadness in his eyes, feel his wolf’s loneliness. “In a matter of days, I’ve lost them both. First Ethan mates you, and now Zak has mated Dyanna.”

“Ethan and I aren’t mated, Frankie.” But with the bond growing stronger, getting harder to fight, I would be surprised if we weren’t for much longer. Even now, with him just across the room, I felt incomplete, anxious to have him back by my side.

“A technicality. You will be and you know it. You’re just playing hard to get.” Looking around the room, he sighed. “My wolf’s lonely; he’s pining for a mate he hasn’t even met, which makes me lonely too. Who am I going to hang out with now?”

“Just because they’ve both met their mates, doesn’t mean they’re not going to hang with you anymore. Though, it may be a while before we see Zak again,” I laughed, my joke causing the ghost of a smile to form on Frankie’s lips. “You’ll find your mate, Frankie. You just have to be patient.”

“Not one of his best qualities,” Ethan remarked, pulling a chair closer to mine and sitting down beside me. “Eat,” he ordered, spotting that Frankie hadn’t touched a morsel of his food.

Sitting in peaceful silence we eat, Frankie eventually taking a small bite of beef and then ravishing everything on his plate like a starving man. When all the food was gone and the empty plates cleared away, the music started, the room quickly filling as all the mated pairs gathered to dance. Grabbing my hand, Ethan pulled me to my feet. “Come on,” he urged.