Glamoured (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 6)

Sanity kicked in, along with all the mother instincts to protect my daughter. Holding her tighter, I spun away from Len, and all but jumped over the couch to keep distance between us.

“She’s mine,” I growled as my wolf reared her head. “I’ve waited years to be free of my pack, able to hold her whenever I want. I will kill anyone who tries to take that from me.”

As I huffed and continued to back away, Tabby finally lowered her arms, tilting her head up to look at me. “Sorry, baby,” I whispered. “I have to protect you. We don’t know his intentions.”

Len watched me but didn’t move closer. He allowed me the illusion of safety, and I felt marginally better about it.

When he tilted his head in a similar manner to Tabitha, I wondered how I hadn’t seen their similarities almost instantly. No wonder he had felt familiar, he was clearly someone I knew very well in the past. “You cannot give her everything she needs,” he said softly, gaze locked on me the way a predator watches their prey. “She’s fae, and if you say you’ve waited years, it’s clear she hasn’t thrived on Earth. I can help you figure it out.”

My gaze darted to Mera, silently asking her if she found any answers. “No helpful books on raising their young,” she said sadly. “They’re all magically updated, and it appears that young are rare as anything these days.”

Len crossed his arms, the gesture accentuating the breadth of his shoulders in the silver duster jacket. He didn’t say anything further, allowing me to come to the only logical conclusion from this information: I needed him to help save my daughter.

“Promise that you won’t take her from me?” I managed to rasp around the lump in my throat. “Swear it on whatever is the most important thing in your world.”

Len nodded. “You have my word, sworn here before Shadow and Mera, that I will do everything in my considerable power to ensure that you remain her primary custodian. Faerie children need their parents, their mother. And while this isn’t going to be an easy journey, I believe we will find our way through.”

“Why not easy?” His words didn’t fill me with confidence.

Len’s answer was sharp and succinct. “Because there has never been a half-fae born before. Tabitha is one of a kind.”

Shadow let out a rumbling growl. “Samantha has a memory block. This is what we were trying to lift when you threw your temper tantrum.”

A burst of laughter escaped Mera, remaining even as her mate shot her a dark look. “No, no, sorry. I just… karma is fun.”

Shadow huffed. “I don’t throw temper tantrums, Sunshine. I command and everyone fucking obeys.”

Mera’s lips were pressed hard together as if that would stop the next snort of laughter.

Shadow shook his head, ignoring his spluttering mate. “The block is from an ancient fae magic. It could not be lifted, even using the combined strength of Gaster and myself. Hopefully, you will have more of an idea.”

Aurora chose that moment to lift herself up from the couch, into the air, and sail across to her father’s arms. Shadow visibly calmed the moment she settled against him.

Mera’s laughter faded as her expression shifted from amused to… well, definitely not amused. Her mate acting all “daddy like” had hunger sliding across her features, and I really couldn’t blame her. The beast holding that child like she was the most precious thing in the world was a vibe.

My gaze returned to Len since I couldn’t apparently look away from him for more than a few moments. “Do you remember me?” I asked, since we were discussing the memory block.

“No,” he said shortly. “Whatever is blocking your memories has affected mine as well. It’s almost as if we’ve been glamoured. Spelled by Faerie magic.”

Glamoured. That sounded scary and very mystical. But seriously, to affect Len it had to be the most powerful of Faerie magic. Before I could hyperventilate, he shifted course. “You feel the connection between us now that we’re together, right?”

Straight to the fucking point.

“I do,” I replied, equally as honest. “I just don’t understand any of this. When did we meet up? Why can’t I remember anything about you?”

Mera stopped eye-fucking her mate for a moment to turn to me. “So, you don’t even remember meeting Len in the library, years after you would have had the block on your memories?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. And yet I remember the library clear as anything.”

“I don’t remember meeting her in the library either,” Len confessed. “But I do have a theory about what happened years ago when we must have first met. It could explain why all our memories together were tainted.”

That grabbed my attention. “What’s your theory?”

Those silver eyes flicked down to land on my daughter, before returning to my face. “You’re not ready to know. And if I’m wrong, I could lead you down a path of disappointment. For now, we must remain close enough to each other not to trigger the memory loss again. The only way to do that is if we return to Faerie. To my kingdom. From there, I will be able to figure out the rest.”

Of course he had a kingdom. Why wouldn’t he? He was a prince after all.

The thought of leaving for Faerie with Tabitha was terrifying on an entirely new level. Len had said he’d do everything in his power to ensure she remained with me, but I knew that at times shit would be out of his power. That was just how life worked.

But, again, I had no other option.

Mera made her way to my side, hugging me close. “You can trust Len,” she murmured near my ear. “He’s a good one. I know he’ll figure out how to lift the spell on you guys and ensure Tabitha thrives.”

“I know, but I’m still scared.” No point hiding it. Every being here could probably hear the racing of my pulse.

“We will visit you,” Mera promised, hugging me one more time. “You won’t be alone for too long.” Her head turned to find Shadow. “Right? We can visit?”

“We can,” Shadow told her. “I’ve been wanting to get you back into the realm.”

Mera’s temperature must have risen twenty degrees in that moment. She smiled. “I’ll bet you have.”

There was a backstory there, one I wasn’t privy to, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was their offer to visit. For the first time I had a true pack, and their strength fueled my own. “Yes. Okay. I’m ready to go to Faerie and find the answers.”

“Tomorrow,” Mera cut in. “Today, I have all my family and pack in one place. We must take this chance to celebrate.”

Len looked like he was about to refuse, even going as far as opening his mouth, but Mera cut him off. “Don’t fucking argue with me, Len. One damn night is not going to ruin your plans.”

His expression softened as he met her stare. “You’re correct. Plus, I do need to fill you all in on what’s transpired in Faerie recently.”

This got Shadow’s attention. The beast stepped closer. “This is what you got called back for?”

Len nodded, and I had to marvel at the lack of tension between them. it was almost as if their fight never happened. In Clarity, they’d still be trying to destroy each other, but in true family style, these powerful males had already forgiven and forgotten.

Glancing down at Tabitha, I found her smiling and staring up at me. “We’re going to be okay, baby,” I told her, keeping my voice low as I pressed my lips to her cheek and breathed her scent in. “I just know it.”

The future was uncertain, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t hope.

As long as Tabby was healthy, I’d deal with the rest. Even if it was a sexy as fuck fae prince who was apparently my baby daddy. Stranger things had happened. Right?

Yeah, probably not.

Len and Shadow started to discuss something to do with Faerie, and as they moved away from us, Mera spun toward me. “Holy shit, Sam!” she breathed, her eyes wide as she bounced. “What just happened? How did it just happen? You banged Len? I just…” She fanned her face and practiced some deep breathing exercises.

A strangled laugh of disbelief escaped me. “I don’t know how this happened, but the only conclusion I can come to is that he’s the crystal-loving hippie,” I whispered back. “Which is literally all I can remember, along with the tattoo.”

Pressing my hand against the wolf on my side, I tried to bring up memories of that time, but there was only blank space. “Len does all the supernatural tattoos,” Mera added, like she was ticking off pieces of the puzzle. “And his power is enhanced by crystals.”

It made sense, and yet there was so much we still didn’t know. “Why would our memories be affected like this?” I wondered. “I mean, to the extent that I don’t remember having a child, or my time with Len?”

After meeting the fae in the flesh, there was literally zero chance I would ever have forgotten him by natural means. I mean, he was the most devastatingly gorgeous supernatural I’d ever seen.

“We’ll figure it out,” Mera said determined. “You and Len are part of our family. Tabitha is one of our babies. We won’t rest until this damn mystery is solved.”

Something in her tone froze in my chest. “Len and I aren’t star-crossed lovers about to fall into each other’s arms and declare our undying love,” I whispered in a rush. “I mean, whatever happened between us was so unnatural it caused a ten-year memory loss for us both.”

Mera didn’t look convinced. “I’ve lost my memory before too. It’s masking the truth, but it can never erase it. I think we’re going to find out your true self very soon, Samantha Rowland. Trust me on this, you’re about to get a fucking glow-up to rival mine. And I can’t wait.”

I wanted to argue again, but a part of me refused to say the words.

Maybe I was finally stepping into my true path.

A path that had been hidden by whatever entity stole my memories, but now that I was aware, I would fight until I found my truth.