Soul Mates: Scent (The Soul Mates Series) (19 page)

“All right, enough for today!” Gideon called out a several hours later. “We’ll practice again tomorrow. Auberon has set up rooms for each of you and you are all welcome at the banquet this evening.”

“Great, supper with the Fae King, just what I’ve always wanted,” James groaned.

“Thank you Gideon it is very kind of the King of Light and Illusion to offer us his hospitality.”

“Don’t thank me, thank Consort Anna, it was she who saw to it that you each had a place to stay and food while you helped her mate train.”

I turned to find Anna smiling at me, I hadn’t realized that she had left us at during training and it shocked me. “Anna?”

“Mon amour, I knew that you would not miss me, you were too involved and honestly it hurt me to see you getting torn apart.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t watch the training from now on, I’m sure that Tatiana would love to plan the wedding with you.”

“Maybe, we shall see.”

I pulled her to me and kissed her before we all entered the hallway to the bedchambers. “I need a shower before dinner,” I said nuzzling her neck.

“You do,” Anna replied with a smile. “Come on, Auberon has prepared a special dinner to welcome our guests. We don’t want to be late.”

I hurried through my showering and brushed my teeth. “Anna what kind of special dinner? Is it supposed to be extra fancy? Who all has he invited?”

“All of the nobles as well as our guests, so I would say extra fancy, Mon amour.”

I thought about and decided to go with a fitted Fae suit with tails and a bowtie, as formal as I could make it, in iridescent silver. Ivy and mistletoe adorned my hair again and in the mirror it looked as if I glowed. For Anna I chose a ball gown of the same Fae material in the same shade of iridescent silver with accents of ivy and mistletoe in her hair as well as on the dress.

I stepped out of the bathroom to see her admiring the dress in the mirror. “You look gorgeous, I knew you would.”

“Mon amour, as much as I love the attention and the clothes, when we return to the mortal realm I will be dressing myself, understand?”

I scowled for about half a second and then laughed. “Thank goddess! I am having fun with it, but I want you to make your own choices. As a matter of fact, if you don’t like something, tell me and I’ll change it immediately.”

“So far you have done well; the clothes have been comfortable and appealing. I’ll let you know, mon amour.”

“Good,” I said pulling her into my arms and leaning down to steal a kiss. I smoothed my hand over her cheek and brushed my thumb over her luscious lips. “Goddess you are beautiful,” I whispered before capturing her lips in a breath stealing kiss.

“We should go…” she whispered against my lips a few minutes later.

I sighed. “Too many responsibilities. One of these days it’s going to be just you and me, sweetheart, with no one waiting on us to be somewhere or training to do or school to get in the way. One of these days I’m going to make love to you in so many ways you are going to beg me to stop.”

“Never,” Anna said with a saucy grin.

“Never, hmmm, well, we shall see…” I said chuckling. “For now we have to go.

“So, how does a jaguar get to be great grandson to a Fae King?” James asked during dinner.

I paused with my fork half way to my mouth and thought about ignoring him, but then figured he would just get ruder. “Just lucky I guess. My grandfather raised my father in the mortal realm and he met and fell in love with my mother. What about you? How did you get to be a wolf?”

“Born and bred baby,” James answered with his mouth full of brisket. “Come from a long line of wolves, can trace my family all the way back to the good ole King of Arcadia, bless his evil soul.”

“King of Arcadia?”

“Yeah, he’s the one that created us. Some stupid story about trying to save his sons from Zeus if you believe that shit. As if Zeus is even real,” James replied.

I shared a glance with Anna, we both knew that Zeus was real, along with all of the other gods and goddesses. “I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss them if I were you.”

“Yeah well, you ain’t me. So dragon boy, what’s up with you? What’s your story?”

Tom glared at James, and looked as though he would rather eat him than talk to him.

“If you would rather not say Tom, you don’t have to talk about it,” I said politely.

He glanced at me and smiled. “No, it’s fine. I don’t have a problem with what I am, at least not as a whole. My family dates back to five hundred AD, to a man named Malcolm Draco. He was commissioned by the king to slay a dragon that had been terrorizing a nearby village, only my ancestor went after the wrong dragon. The dragon he went after wasn’t a dragon at all, it was the goddess Diana. She was furious and quite rightly so, for my ancestor quite literally attempted to take her head off. If she hadn’t been the goddess Diana, she would have been dead. So she cursed my ancestor and his descendants into becoming Dragons. Well, technically we are only Dragon’s at night or if we enter the Faerie realm we can shift when we wish to. And when we find and marry our soul mate the curse is broken for us and we can change when we wish. So as I said, it is not all that terrible.”

“So no matter where you are or what you are doing in the mortal world you just shift to dragon?”

“Pretty much,” Tom said with a shrug. “Means we pretty much keep to the mountains, it’s kind of hard to hide a dragon these days out in suburbia.”

“I’ll bet it is,” I replied. “How are you supposed to find your soul mate if you are stuck living in the mountains?”

Tom looked down and frowned. “It’s difficult. Much less difficult now than it was before internet, but still very difficult. My Father was able to come through Faerie and meet his mate, my mother. She too is part Fae. So explaining the dragon part was not difficult. Some mates chose not to be together because of the curse. My uncles have had a difficult time. They are all living in the Cairngorms of Scotland. It’s a mountain range in the Highlands and there is a Faerie Mound at the base of Ben Macdui, the highest peak and my home.”

“Do not people see you flying about?” Anna asked. “Even if it is night?”

“Not really, there are no motor vehicles allowed through the Cairngorms and very few foot paths as well. Most of the land has been enchanted, thanks to our Fae friends. We can do pretty much as we please without being disturbed.”

“It is our pleasure to ensure your safety, Thomas, from the prying eyes of the mortals. For should they discover you, it is but a mere leap of the imagination for them to discover us and we do not want a war with the mortals as well as the Unseelie,” Auberon said taking a sip of his wine.

“War with the mortals? You think it would come to that Auberon? That the humans would fight against you and the rest of us?” Rik asked.

“It is possible Taliriktug. The mortals do tend to fight against what they do not know or understand. It is better to keep them in the dark in my opinion.”

Rik frowned and set down his forkful of fish. “It is just that I too have been searching for my mate. We have always respected humans, intermarried with them which has made us numerous and strong. Each generation has become stronger than the last. Gaining in power, not losing anything. I myself am several times stronger than my father, as he was before me.”

“Rik, how did your family become shifters?”

“I do not know that you are ready to hear this story young Max. It does not paint the Felidae in a good light.”

I sat silently for a moment, contemplating his words and decided that there was a reason that Rik was one of the chosen to help me learn to fight, to become a better Felidae, a better jaguar. “No, I know that the Felidae have not been listening to Diana, that they have ignored her wishes for a long time. I believe that is one of the reasons that Diana has been helping Anna and I, we have been listening to her, to the forest. I need to know your story.”

Rik nodded. “Perhaps you are ready then. It was the year 1831, in the month of December. It was the coldest winter my people can ever recall; blinding snow that did not stop falling for days at a time, and temperatures so low that half of our people froze to death in the night. It was not a good time for my people.”

“Who were your people? Before the change?” I asked curiously.

“We were a family mostly of extended relatives. Nomads that traveled over all of Alaska, hunting, fishing and gathering. Some called us Eskimo, some Inuit, others Aleuts. Really we considered ourselves mostly Eskimo. We kept to ourselves, did not interact with many other tribes except to trade for essentials, perhaps to find a bride. But it was that winter, that cold, cold time, I was but a boy, I don’t even know how I managed to survive before Diana came to us. I must have been more than half dead when she found me.”

“Diana found you?” Anna asked her eyes wide in fascination.

“She did, or so I am told, I do not remember that part of it, I was told later. She brought me to my Grandfather. He was the Chief of our tribe and she laid me before him. She said she could help us. That she had watched our struggles and noticed that even though we struggled to survive we did not go after the nearby bear and her cubs that hibernated in the cave over the hill. She was pleased with our skills as hunters and gatherers.

My grandfather asked how she could help us and what we could do for her in return. Diana smiled and told us of the Felidae. She spoke of her sadness and disappointment with the Council of Elders the Felidae had created. The only thing she asked of us is that when she called to us, we listen, that we continue to respect nature and not waste life. She promised that we would all grow strong and never have to suffer and struggle through another harsh winter.

My grandfather considered her words and agreed to her proposition. With the decision made, Diana laid her hand upon my chest and I was transformed.” Rik opened his shirt to reveal a small wide spread hand print over his heart where Diana had touched him. “Through me, she reached out to all of those in my tribe and transformed us all. I grew strong, and my sons and daughters shall be even stronger still.”

“What of the humans that you marry? How can they survive with you?” Anna asked.

Rik smiled. “That is the greatest blessing Diana bestowed upon us. When a soul mate is found and the couple has mated, the human is then transformed as well and is able to live out their life with us.”

“You said your sons and daughters will be stronger than you, do you have children yet?”

Rik frowned then. “Not yet. I have not been lucky enough to find my soul mate. And without a mate I cannot have children.”

“I’m sorry, I believe you mentioned searching for your mate earlier, I didn’t realize…” I apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. I know it will happen, I will find her somewhere. Auberon has promised his help for my aiding Gideon in training you.”

I glanced at Auberon and he nodded. “That is very generous Auberon.”

“It is the least that I can do Max. You are of my flesh and blood and I will not see it destroyed if I can help it. If it is within my power to aid Rik in finding his soul mate, then I will assist him.”

“Well, isn’t this all just so sweet, I could gag,” James replied swallowing the last of his beer.

I frowned remembering what mom had said about alcohol making us very loopy. Apparently that did not apply to Lycans. It just made them rude and obnoxious. “Why are you here again James?”

“Why else would I be here? To train your sorry ass.” He sneered.

“Yes, but what’s in it for you?” I pressed him.

“I owed Gideon… a favor. He came to collect and didn’t offer me a choice.”

“Ah…” I nodded understanding some of James hostility. “Well, I do appreciate the training, from all of you. Frederick absolutely cannot have Anna or be allowed on the Council of Elders. I have to stop him and I will do whatever it takes to learn everything you all can teach me.”

“Can’t say I blame ya, dude. If I had a mate that hot, I’d do anything to defend her honor too. So yeah, I’ll stick around, show ya a few tricks,” James replied.

“Well, that was très intéresser, mon amour,” Anna whispered as we walked down the passage to our chamber.

“Did you know? About the Bears and Dragons?”

“Oui, I knew about them existing, but I did not know Diana created them, mon amour. I too was not aware of it. The Council of Elders has hidden much from our people.”

“When this is over, when Frederick is finished we will have to take on the Council Anna. We cannot allow them to simply let our people’s powers fade away into nothing.”

“I know mon amour,” Anna said gazing up at me with understanding. “We will take them on together with Diana’s blessing.”

I smiled and caressed her silky cheek, brushing my thumb gently over her lips, feeling her smile. She made my heart race and my blood heat. I pulled her even closer and nibbled on her neck. “Anna,” I whispered, “Goddess what you do to me, my Anna.”

“Je le vôtre suis mon amour,” Anna whispered back as her lips met mine and I knew she meant every wonderful word. She was mine, forever and I was hers from the moment she stepped into my life.

My back hit our door and I knew if I opened it just then and we went in together we would finish what we had started out in the hall. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to finish what we started; goddess knew I wanted too, but Anna deserved the wedding first, and I could wait. “Anna,” I whispered softly into her hair. “Go in the room and get ready for bed. I’ll be there in a few moments.”

Anna watched my face intently, and then smiled that slow sexy smile that she knew I loved. “All right, mon amour. I shall leave you to settle yourself.”

After a few moments I glanced up and down the hallway to make sure no one was around and flashed myself out of my clothes before I shifted to Jaguar. As I reached up with my paw to turn the knob, I heard a startled scream from down the hall. I quickly pushed my way into the room and called out to Anna.