And Celeste needed a sister. Teacher, sister, daughter—until recently, those had made up her entire identity.
So her answer, when it came, made no sense at first. “El is my sister,” she said gently into her cell phone. “I do have room for more than one sister in my life. But it’s actions not DNA that win the right to that label.”
Then she tossed her phone toward the blaze of disintegrating Enclave. She preceded me into the closest minivan. And she turned her attention to the children who needed her help.
The gate wasn’t locked. And the shifters we left behind in Texas to check out Julius’s mansion and Gabi’s apartment reported in with the same information—both places were empty of not only people but also possessions. The Council had gone underground.
Meanwhile, the rest of us drove west into the night. Drove until we were sure no one followed us. At that point, we split apart, falling into exhausted slumber while guarding rescued children from outsiders and from themselves.
My brain was still sleep-fogged the next morning when I sank down onto the cracked-vinyl cushions of a slightly sticky McDonald’s booth to discuss our next move with my aunt. “News of imprisoned shifter children travels fast,” Vega said in lieu of a greeting. “The oil rig was one thing. This is worse. The packs would have risen up if the Council hadn’t fled.”
I nodded but didn’t take my eyes off the ten-year-old girls who were ostensibly playing on brightly colored equipment not far from us. In actuality, one of them had shattered a ball-pit orb and appeared to be methodically shaping the plastic into a shiv. The other was pretending not to watch, having been yelled at each time she tried to creep closer during the last ten hours.
These weren’t the loving siblings Celeste and I had been at that age. And no wonder since it appeared they’d only met each other moments before being locked into the Council chamber together.
The only other child present this morning was the five-year-old boy—Billy—who hadn’t let go of Orion since he’d been rescued. He hadn’t spoken, either, beyond that first sentence back in the Enclave plus a whisper of his name into Orion’s ear. Now, as Orion brought our food over, the boy loosened his grip just enough to land in my mate’s lap, eating pancakes off their shared tray like a much younger child.
There was so much here in need of fixing, but we’d have to wait to ease these kids’ anguish until we got back to Arizona. For now, logistics occupied my full attention.
To that end, I returned to the problem at hand—keeping half-glyphs from forming while giving the rescued children a better life.
In part, that issue had already been delegated. We’d split the children up into different hotels for the night and could continue managing them that way to prevent the formation of half-glyphs. Plus, most of the kids were young enough that they were unlikely to fall in love at first sight.
On the other hand, the fifteen-year-olds were plenty old enough to cause problems. It felt safer to stash either the girls or the boy elsewhere.
Elsewhere, I hoped, being an entirely different pack.
“Is there any chance you’d take the teenaged boy back to your clan?” I asked my aunt, the request feeling far too large even as I spoke it. After all, I’d recently broken our pack bond and had no clan connection to call upon. There was no reason for her to say yes.
But Vega just snatched up the sausage Orion had moved to my plate after the five-year-old rejected it. “Sterling and Ari will keep an eye on him,” she assured me before wolfing down the spicy meat. She hesitated for a moment, then added, “We have room for others if you want. Keep all the age mates in different packs. Seems safer.”
Her evasive gaze made me frown for a moment until I realized what Vega was really saying. She didn’t just want one fifteen-year-old boy. She wanted younger children, likely girls to treat as daughters now that Hailey and I had stepped out of that role. Up until recently, her life had been devoid of sweetness, but now she was ready to let a little sweetness in.
With anyone else, I would have responded with commiseration or at least a touch on the arm. But this was Vega. Salt and iron, alpha to her core. Plus, two of her pack mates were within earshot and she wouldn’t want to show weakness in front of them.
While I was still thinking through a suitable response, Orion broke the silence. “We’ll gladly accept your help,” he answered. “Could actually use a little help right now.”
Then, looking down at the boy in his lap, he murmured, “Don’t worry, Billy. You’ll stay with us. But will you let Vega take you to the bathroom?”
Because a child’s hand could be held not for your own sake, but for the sake of the child. Assuming that child allowed himself to become an alpha werewolf’s momentary teddy bear.
Billy wasn’t keen on the idea. He grabbed onto Orion with both greasy hands, only gradually uncurling his fingers as Orion whispered something in his ear. The boy didn’t take his eyes off his savior, however, until the bathroom door closed with him and Vega inside.
Then Orion and I were alone, or as alone as the alpha of a pack and his mate could ever be. We’d slept in the same bed last night, but there’d been a small child nestled between us. Little wonder our matebrand ink continued to lie quiescent as any mundane tattoos upon our skin.
We weren’t as separate as we’d been a week ago however. Without glancing down, Orion’s fingers interlaced with my fingers underneath the table. “How are you holding up?” he rumbled.
I didn’t answer in words, just opened the door between us and let him see my worries about the kids, about our matebrand, about the unknown next move of the Council looming over everything.
“All valid concerns,” he acknowledged. Meanwhile, from his end of the mate bond, I sensed disquiet related to the belief that he’d sucked me into a drama not of my choosing, concern that I’d solidified our mate bond out of desperation. No wonder his subsequent words were layered with the faintest tinge of insecurity. “If you could go back in time, would you change anything?”
I couldn’t fix the kids or the Council, but I could fix Orion’s current uncertainty. I didn’t even have to ponder his question before widening our mate-bond connection so he could fully take in the sincerity of my reply.
Of course I wouldn’t change anything. Every choice I’d made and even the choices Julius and Gabi had thrust upon me led to unbreakable connections with Celeste and Orion, both more valuable than any possession I’d ever had or aspired toward. And it wasn’t as if my newfound bounty stopped at those two close bonds.
There was also the wonder of learning to live within a werewolf pack. The possibility of finally getting to know Maya. The sweetness of the little boy who had been cuddled up in Orion’s arms all morning. Even the interesting puzzle of a shiv-making ten-year-old who hated the girl who should have been her sister.
Words were harder to come by, but I barely needed words when we had the mate bond. So I didn’t try to be eloquent. Instead, I just offered reassurance that came out firmer and more declaratory than it would have one moment earlier. “We’ve got this.”
Between us, the mate bond steadied into a reassuring thrum of two hearts beating in synchrony. Our stress levels plummeted despite the overwhelming pile of problems remaining to be dealt with.
“You’re right,” Orion agreed, the scent of cactus flowers emerging from his lips and settling around my shoulders like a warm blanket. His eyes were full of starlight as he added, “Pretty sure my sister’s books would call this a happily for now.”
Thank you so much for reading Shadowmated! Elspeth makes a place for herself in Orion’s clan in Packbound, now up for preorder and launching in autumn 2024.
While you wait, why not sign up for my email list to download Orion’s prequel short story (along with two free novels and enough bonus extras to keep you reading for days)?
Thank you so much for reading. You are why I write!
About Packbound
When it comes to complicated families, werewolves lead the pack.
After toeing the line around humans for most of my life, I thought mating with an alpha werewolf would mean I'd finally found my place. But when a pack mate falls deathly ill and a magical bracelet locks itself around my wrist, my newfound stability is shattered.
To unleash the moonring's healing power and save my friend, I must mend bridges with two problematic father figures. One is the adopted parent who taught me that all werewolves are evil. The other is a shifter grandfather who offers his help—if I can survive a series of perilous trials.
