Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,64

climb, but it was worth it. Trey was worth it. The woman was dead, but her ghost lived on to torture a son she should have protected.

It had taken time for Calyx to draw Trey’s wolf out, to free him from the confines of his human self. Now, Trey often ran with him as Calyx took to the skies. They shared in the heat of the chase, and when Calyx snared his wolf and loved him until the night covered them, it was a tremendous moment of passion.

But just as human law was a must to protect their home, Calyx believed their bond required the legal tie as well. There were hindrances without the title of husband or even partner that must be addressed if Calyx wanted to care for Trey in all aspects of their lives. Marriage would give them that, but Trey refused.

“Speaking of mates, Calyx, when will Trey return home?”

“I expect to see him shortly, possibly after I return from the city. He’s gone to pick up his cousin, Kindling.”

Calyx’s father looked up at that. “Ah, so he did decide to bring his family. That’s a step forward, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, actually. He was kept in isolation so long by his mother and separated from his father’s people. When his uncle decided to reconnect, Trey was shocked at first. He believed his mother’s rants that he was unwanted, that she was the only one who loved him.”

Trey’s mother was a wolf just as her mate was, but humans had killed her mate, and she’d turned her back on their people. It had taken Calyx bringing Trey to a place where his wolf could run free to dismantle the fear that kept both his mate and his wolf prisoner.

“That’s no way to live,” Dimitri said as he opened his wings fanning the air about them. “Hmm. There were at least six of them, and they carried weapons.” He breathed deep. “Guns. An accelerant. We’ll have to increase our guard tonight.”

Haru nodded. “I’ll inform the priest. We should also move the elderly and children to safety. Higher ground?”

“Yes. After? Perhaps a spell?” Dimitri questioned.

“No, not now. The magic of the earth is only called forth when all else fails, especially with the approach of the Autumn Feast. It is the time for rest, for conserving energy. There are other options,” Haru explained.

“We could kill them all. I vote for that one.” Dimitri’s smile was all sharp teeth and fang.

Haru laughed when Calyx shook his head. “We might begin there, my son, but where will it end? Let’s try this the legal way first. At least we’ll know we attempted all else before a drop of blood spills.”

Dimitri brought his wings in close to his body and turned to their father, nodding. “But if it doesn’t work...”

“Then we will do what’s necessary to protect our own,” Calyx agreed.

Dimitri nodded, and the three of them turned toward home.

Chapter Two: Over the Hills

Trey drove the truck Calyx had insisted he own along the treacherous road leading to the mountain top. He would have argued more to keep his beater car if his mate wasn’t correct about the condition of the almost fifteen-year-old vehicle. He’d heard the words not safe and rust bucket often enough that he’d surrendered to remove the words from Calyx’s vocabulary. It was a concession he’d given, another piece of his control. Still, it was better than answering yes to a question Calyx refused to stop asking.

Marriage. Calyx wanted to marry him, for the two of them to share the same last name as humans did, as Calyx’s brother and his human mate had done.

Why the binding contract?

What signed document could hold up to the sheer power of a mated pair? But, no! For months, Calyx had waged a crusade against Trey and his denial of wedded bliss.

Marriage.

Permanence.

Abandonment.

After all, was marriage not one of the things his mother had warned him of? Trey remembered promising never to enter a bond easy to get into but arduous to leave.

Trey’s father made his mother promises of a life together forever as husband and wife, of moonlit nights where they would run as wolves.

His father made promises of love.

The first promise he’d broken was his faithfulness. Instead of spending those nights with Trey’s mother, he’d traveled to the embrace of another, a human woman whose body he favored more than the mate who’d given all of herself. His mother gave all the tenderness she never shared with her son to a