Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,71

the skies, his eyes peeled for more trouble.

Calyx could hear the human men, women, and children readying themselves as well. Those who were vulnerable would be secured. Typically, the men went with them, and the elders were kept in the temple, where they would remain unless earth magic was necessary. Now, everyone who was able would fight.

There was a time long ago when those who followed the Meiji, ancients who remained determined to rid the world of the Shugenja, reigned freely. For centuries, the Tengu had protected the Shugenja, curators of the mountains, caretakers of the earth magic. And for just as long, the Meiji sought to eradicate them.

Is there no room for peace? Why did there have to be one way to believe, one way to worship? Why destroy people who only sought to do good in the world?

But power and the desire to use it ran rampant. The Meiji had connections globally, those willing to pay significantly for the magic kept by the Shugenja.

And now his mate had been hurt, his brother and his guards off to fight more than a supposed company bent on development, but a faction determined to eradicate the sanctuary and those who protected it. Calyx had learned the parent company of the business, revealed the monopoly behind it. It was included in the action, something that was supposed to help them, but it hadn’t been enough.

Calyx knew Eric led the soldiers he’d been training, the humans who’d been craving usefulness for years. They followed Eric and listened to his command. They refused to be sheltered, hidden away any longer with those who were vulnerable and the young. They wanted to fight and found their leader in a man who had given up battle because he no longer thought himself whole.

Here, Eric had found his purpose. And Dimitri was better, stronger for his mate’s presence. He found balance. And if either of them was harmed, ended up in a hospital somewhere, neither would be barred from seeing their mate.

Because they were married.

This was all too close a call for him.

Calyx entered his home, the doors vanishing before him. When he burst into their bedroom, Trey opened his arms, and Calyx went to him, falling to his knees beside the bed. His mate was alive, safe, his body healing as Calyx scanned him for injury. Their bond had done that. As a shifter, his mate could heal quickly, but being the mate of a Tengu goblin would expedite the process. They weren’t impervious to death, though, neither of them. He could have lost him.

“My love,” Calyx whispered.

“I’m fine, Calyx. A little battered, which should disappear soon, but I’m here.” Trey reached up and bent his fingers to trail along Calyx’s cheek, to smooth away the lines of worry there.

“What happened? Tell me.”

“I took Kindling for a run with me.”

Kindling.

He turned to where Trey was looking and saw the man sitting in one of the large leather chairs they kept in their bedroom, his eyes still wide with shock. The smile he wore was shaky, but they were both alive. That was all that mattered.

Calyx nodded and turned back to Trey. “Continue.”

“Well, Dimitri warned us to be careful, but we were still close enough to the sanctuary we should have been fine when we scented a rabbit. We gave chase.”

Calyx sighed. While grateful his mate no longer feared his wolf, he needed to remain vigilant. He was a wolf introduced to the wild after being contained for so long. There were dangers, even near the sanctuary.

“The guard?”

“Flew above us as you have, but even he was not prepared for the men with guns who only saw wolves when we left the safety of the sanctuary.”

“Fucking hells, Trey. You’re not supposed to leave the boundary.”

“I know, Calyx, but it happened before I’d even realized it. And there were too many of them, prepared for more than just a trip to the mountains. They were heavily armed and had others with them.”

His father entered the room, a cup of tea in his hand that he gave to Trey who looked at him, a grimace on his face.

“Drink it, my son. It will make the pain disappear faster. Your body is mostly healed, but this will help.”

“But...”

Calyx growled, “Trey.”

Trey shook his head and took a sip.

“How did you get back?”

Trey nodded toward the corner where Kindling huddled. “He shifted, picked me up, and carried me. He brought me back here and sounded the alarm for the others.”

Calyx smiled at