RISE OF THE LYCANS - Mates and Bonds

*** Happy Mother’s Day! I re-wrote chapter 34, so be sure to read it if you haven’t.

Two more posts to go!

Lukas

“What is going on here?” A female who radiated divinity entered the room, and the world felt like it had stopped spinning. She looked so familiar, and my mind struggled to understand it.

Jose, Erick, and Grandma followed behind her, and I wondered if Alpha Orléans had found Sol and the others.

“You’re going to get it now!” Grandma told Lilith.

The female wearing a crescent moon on her head looked at Lilith and a power I had never felt before charged the air. A glass white bubble formed around Lilith, entrapping her inside. She shifted from mist to solid form, screaming with rage and desperately seeking a point of escape.

My beast snarled. He wanted to punish her for hurting my mate. For hurting my pup.

Uncle Zeus and Aunt Hazel immediately recognized the newcomer and bowed their heads. Ranger followed his parents and lowered his head, but I kept my eyes fixed on her as I moved back to my mate. Something about her was so strangely familiar… like I had known her my whole life. The Moon Goddess radiated celestial energy, and it calmed my beast.

“Why does my sister look so much like you?” It shot out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

The Goddess moved closer to me and stopped a few feet away. I looked into her eyes and found my own. The blue eyes that had been so prominent in the LaRue family. I even saw the same amused twinkle in her eyes that I often saw in Papa Diesel’s eyes.

“A long time ago, your great uncle Ranger sacrificed his life to save you, your mother, the twins she carried, and Hazel,” she said. “I rewarded his sacrifice with a blessing.”

“A blessing?”

“The twins have been touched by the moon,” she replied.

“Then why doesn’t Rex have silver hair?”

She smiled, and the twinkle in her eyes seemed to dance. “There is a light side and a dark side of the moon.”

“Is that why they both have visions?” Grandma asked.

“Yes, and they will discover another gift when the time is right.”

“Another gift?” I pressed.

“Their bond runs deep, and I cannot bear to see them separated,” she nodded.

“What do you mean separated? You can’t separate them!” Rex and Storm had come into this world together and did almost everything together. Even their visions seemed to be two halves of a whole.

She moved closer to me and reached out her hand, placing it on my cheek. “Thank you for freeing me,” she smiled. “Thank you all.”

“Will my mate be okay?” I bowed my head.

“Yes, and so will your pup,” she said, lowering herself beside my mate and placing her hand on Selena’s stomach. The pup is already a lycan, so the transition will not hurt her.”

“Her?” I questioned, and Uncle Zeus chuckled behind me, patting me on the back.

I was having a little girl. A future Queen for the realm.

The Goddess beamed at me. “Little Lucy will be the greatest lycan yet.”

“Forgive me for asking,” Uncle Zeus said. “How did she trap you here for so long?”

“She found my sleeping mate.”

“I thought the sanctuary of Endymion was protected?” Grandma asked.

“It is,” the Goddess replied. “Especially from humans, but she’s not human. She stole magic from the Demon King and escaped to this realm to use it.”

“Is your mate here?” Ranger asked the Goddess.

“He sure is!” Grandma said. “And what a handsome beauty. We found him before we stumbled into her room.”

“I must return my mate to his sanctuary in the mountains and get back to the realm of the moon,” she said. “But I will take care of Lilith first.”

“Are demons destroyed when they turn to ash?” Grandma asked.

“Demons are immortal,” the Goddess replied. “When they’re turned to ash, they return to the Dark Realm.”

“So, Lilith can come back?” I thundered, realizing the whip was still in my hand. I needed to know she would suffer. I needed to see her punished.

“I have summoned the Demon King to deal with her. Trapping a Goddess for twenty years has consequences,” the Goddess said.

“Why didn’t anyone notice you were trapped sooner?” Uncle Zeus asked.

“Time moves differently between the realms,” the Goddess replied.

“Does this mean the mate bonds have been restored?”

“Touch your mate and tell me,” she smiled.

I knelt beside my mate and felt the punch to my gut when I saw the crusted blood on her face. Regret filled me for not being able to get to her sooner, for not being able to prevent this, and for not being able to torture the demon who did this to her.

The breath in my throat caught when my hand caressed the soft skin of her arm. A warm wave of tingles flowed from my hand through my body and I knew with every fiber of my being Selena was the other half of my soul. It was the most incredible gift the Goddess had ever given shifters.

“It’s incredible,” I whispered, cupping her face.

“I need to find my mate!” Ranger said, rushing for the exit.

“Downstairs, second door on the left,” Grandma shouted as he disappeared through the same door Alpha Orléans had taken.

The earth shook, and Uncle Zeus turned his gaze to me. I shook my head to let him know it wasn’t me. I wasn’t using my element or losing control of it. The room was suddenly cloaked in darkness, and the energy felt as wild as burning flames.

“Demon King,” the voice of the Goddess floated in the air. Like the moon in a dark sky, her hair and skin radiated a soft light that kept the darkness from washing over us.

“Moon Goddess,” I saw a massive creature in the corner that appeared to be half man and half… something else.

A long tail twitched around behind him, and he bore two golden horns at the top of his head. His legs were shrouded in black mist, but his upper body seemed to have golden marks swirled or tattooed into his skin. He wore gold cuffs around his wrists and forearms with the eight-point star engraved in them and looked like an ancient god.

Lilith screamed with rage, and the Demon King’s eyes blazed with fire, like my father’s when he used his gift. There was something ethereal about him, and I wondered if the Demon King was a demon or god.

“She trapped me here for twenty years,” the Goddess spoke.

“I did not know,” he replied, and the walls shook with his anger.

“A hundred years in the depths of Tartarus of each year stolen,” the Goddess replied.

“Two thousand years?” He replied pensively. Lilith shifted into her human form, with the exception of her horns, and wore full lingerie. She pouted her lips and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

“She has interfered in the lives of my children,” the Goddess continued. “I can bring this matter before the council of Gods, but I would like to to give you the chance to make amends so I can fulfill my duties to the mate bonds.”

“Please!” Lilith cried. “I have been wronged, my King.”

This was the King she wanted. The one she tried to force the Moon Goddess to bond with her. The realization hit me like a freight train. He was a descendant of Anubis, and my lycan sensed a wolf within him.

The Demon King met my eyes, almost as if he had been able to hear my thoughts. His eyes burned with fire, and mine swirled as my beast pushed forward.

“Is Tartarus a fiery inferno like Hell?” Grandma asked.

“Worse,” he snarled.

“She had others working with her,” the Goddess informed him.

“Yes, they’ve already been returned to the Dark Realm,” his eyes moved to Aunt Hazel, and he raised a questioning eyebrow. “Black wolves have always been loyal to Hecate,” he mused.

“You, of all, should know bloodlines occasionally cross,” the Goddess told him.

“And what of our deal?” He leveled his gaze at the Goddess.

“It’s not time yet,” she told him.

“One more month,” he replied.

“You will keep your promise,” she pressed.

He chuckled. “A deal is a deal, Great Aunt,” he replied.

The Goddess gave him a questioning look before she replied. “As for Lilith?”

He grinned and gave a nod. “Two thousand years in Tartarus should keep her from meddling in my affairs.”

A booming sound resonated in the room, and it felt like an implosion occurred where he was standing. The light returned, and the Demon King was gone with Lilith. I looked down to find my mate had opened her eyes, and they swirled back at me.

“Selena,” I breathed a sigh of relief and scooped my mate up. She laid her head against my chest and closed her eyes again.

“Look at this mess,” Grandma said, shaking her head. “I bet that rug is priceless.”

“No amount of vinegar will get those stains out,” Jose told her.

The Goddess turned to them with a smile. “I’ll set everything right when I transport you out.”

“Transport us out?” Grandma questioned, and the room around us faded away.

I heard the sound of water flowing before I saw the fountain in the courtyard. The golden glass pyramid stood behind me, and the Louvre seemed quiet in the night. She had not only transported us out of the secret wing but also everyone who was locked in the cell, along with Alpha Orleans.

“What happened?” Flaym asked. “One moment, we’re stepping over bodies in a long hall, and the next, we’re outside again.”

“Storm…Rex…” Grandma called out, waving to them. “You missed all the action.”

“Caspian!” Storm replied with a smile and hugged him.

“I should send a clean-up crew for the bodies,” Alpha Orleans suggested.

“That won’t be necessary,” I told him. “The Goddess took care of it.”

“Goddess? What Goddess?” Flaym asked.

“Here comes Dad,” Storm pointed, and I turned to find my father, Mateo, and Xena running through the gardens with a team of shifters behind them.

Selena moved in my arms, and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. The beast inside of me purred as I held her closer. There was no way I was going to let her father take her from me now. I breathed in her scent and noticed it had changed. There was a more earthy scent that told my beast she was a lycan, but there was also something else—something that reminded me of burning incense.

“Pup,” I heard a low bark in my head and knew it was my lycan. He could scent the pup.

“Where’s the demon who’s been causing all the trouble,” my father snarled with fire in his eyes.

“She’s gone,” Grandma said.

“And so is Jules Drac,” Caspian added.

“Jules? You found Jules?” He questioned.

“Papa!” Sol squeaked and hugged her father.

“Do we need to do damage control?” Xena questioned.

“No,” Uncle Zeus replied. “The Moon Goddess took care of that.”

“The Moon Goddess?” My father asked.

“Is Selena hurt?” Mateo asked, reaching for her. “How’s my grandpup?”

“No, she’s fine,” I held her closer.

“You injected her with venom?” My father questioned.

“There was a chandelier…” I said, turning my gaze to Storm, who gave me an apologetic look. I knew she couldn’t control her visions, but I wished she had said something sooner.

“I’ll give her a healing, it should help the transition,” Mateo said and reached for her again.

“She’s fine,” I replied, stepping back.

“Oh, for the love of the Moon Goddess,” my father said with a chuckle. “Wait until you have a daughter someday, and her mate tries to keep you from her!”

I thought about my little Lucy. She wasn’t even here yet, and I loved her already. “I’ll kill him,” I growled.

“Then pass Mateo his daughter for a few moments,” my father chuckled. “You’ll be fine… I promise.”

Reluctantly, I passed my mate to her father. I hated not having her close to me when she was vulnerable.

“Thank you,” he whispered and kissed the top of her head before his eyes turned white. He started pouring his healing energy into her, and gratitude filled me. I loved Selena so much, and I knew the only other male in this world who loved her as much as I did was her father.

“Did you say The Moon Goddess?” Xena questioned.

“Yes, let’s go find something to eat, and we’ll explain,” Caspian groaned.

“I’ll call the hotel and have some food prepared,” Flaym announced. “I could use some galettes.”

“Is that a choir robe?” Cynder laughed. “What happened to your clothes?”