Unwanted Fates~ Book Two

“Where is she?”

“Asleep. Well, she was.”

“I need to explain myself-”

“I don’t think that’s wise. She isn’t in the right headspace to hear you out-”

“But she is my mate!”

“And she is mine. You will only push her away...”

Sylvie woke to the harsh voices outside her door and rolled over with a groan. Her heart jumped, realising where she was, and she sat picking the crust from her eyes.

“Princess?”

“Yeah, I’m up.” The light outside was faded, and a burnt sienna glow covered half of the room. She had slept until sunset. Shit.

Kian slowly pushed the door open and padded in, followed by a scowling Rowan.

“Did you sleep well?” Rowan grunted.

“Fine.”

Kian sighed. “Rowan has a few things to tell us.” He finished the sentence with a look that said, ‘Be nice.’

Sylvie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Well?”

Sensing her attention, Rowan stepped forward. “You will accompany me tonight to the lake, where I will introduce you as my mates.”

“Mates?”

Sylvie glanced at Kian, but he kept his eyes down, jaw set.

“Yes. A mate of my mate is also mine. It is the way of shifters.”

Sylvie pressed her lips together to bury the smile that begged to mar her face. Something about her mates being together thrilled her to her very core. She throbbed and crossed her legs, hoping he wouldn’t ‘scent’ her arousal like Elias could.

“There, you will observe a mating ceremony using the fae artefact, Animae Dimidium Meae. You will bless their union and stay at my side as the ceremony is complete. You both will,” Rowan added, turning to Kian, whose warm brown skin seemed a fraction darker as if he were blushing.

Sylvie’s brows shot up, but she remained silent.

“With our blessing, I am certain the Fates will allow their unions to create offspring....”

“Wait a minute.” Sylvie raised her hand. “Why would you be trying to have children at a time like this? Shouldn’t you be focusing on stopping the Vampires from taking the shifters you have?”

Rowan rubbed a hand across his face. “Of course we are, but we cannot put our lives on hold because of these beasts-”

“Beasts,” she spat, working her jaw.

He seemed to forget that she was, in fact, half of the beasts he hated.

She hummed and nodded as if coming to an understanding. “Right. So instead, you hold ceremonies, try to make new shifter babies and turn humans where the survival rate is stupidly low. What was it? Twenty-five per cent?”

“The humans we change know the risks.”

Sylvie scoffed and stood, stretching her arms above her head before letting them drop with a slap to her sides.

“Did Natalie? I find it ironic how little you care for humans dying, yet you need them to make your precious shifters, which happen to be getting kidnapped by Vampires. Karma, perhaps?”

“Sylvie...” Kian warned.

Rowan’s jaw clenched tight, but Sylvie just sneered. “Just get on with it. Let’s go.”

Rowan stormed from the room, followed by Kian and Sylvie. The trio left the packhouse and turned right past the main house and another smaller cabin. She memorised the structures and the path just in case. The forest was a maze, and it was better if she had her bearings, at least for the significant buildings.

A well-trodden dirt path wound around trees and foliage for five minutes until it opened into a large open space.

It reminded Sylvie of her special clearing in the Evergreen court, and she suppressed an unwanted giddy sensation. Nothing about this situation would make her smile, she vowed. The person who had her kidnapped and tortured wouldn’t get the satisfaction. Not if she could help it.

A dirt square bordering a bonfire was in the centre of the grassy space. Around it, a frame of boulders kept the flames at bay while a few shifters warmed their hands.

The men stood shirtless, their muscled bodies rippling under the firelight, sweat dancing trails through their abs and into the loose cotton shorts hugging their taut waists.

Fucking hell... Sylvie averted her gaze, but the women’s attire wasn’t much better. The flowy shifts had enough opaqueness to maintain their modesty in the dark, but Sylvie could make out every curve and spattering of hair on their bodies under the dying sunlight. Okay...

Every one of them was insanely attractive, and she imagined they wouldn’t take too kindly to her ogling them, so instead, she glued her gaze to the ground, focusing on keeping her breathing even.

Rowan’s tattooed hand appeared beneath her chin, lifting it sharply to meet his gaze. She was too surprised to come up with a rebuttal or rebuke; instead, her lips parted, and she gasped softly, captured by his unwavering gaze.

From that close, the hazel of his eyes really glowed in the sunlight, and the green highlights around his iris turned a dazzling shade. It reminded her of the coiling ferns in the Fae realm. Why did he have to look at her like that?

Without a word, she knew what he was asking of her, though. Keep your head up. And even more subtly. Act like a leader.

How he managed to be gentle despite his previous anger was a surprise; even more so was the tender smile he offered in response to her unsure nod.

It almost looked like he liked her. And the Oscar goes to...

He let go and turned, continuing his walk to a softly lapping lake behind the bonfire. The rest of the shifters seemed to congregate there; the number of people was enough to send nervous energy up Sylvie’s arms.

Kian appeared at her side and calmed her as they stopped behind the Shifter Alpha. Sylvie glued her feet to the spot, trying to act brave instead of hopping from foot to foot like a scared child. But under their unwavering gazes, that's exactly what she felt like. She swallowed and waited for something. Anything.

Rowan inclined his head to the crowd, and it was like a spell had lifted.

Everyone smiled wide and offered boisterous greetings that Rowan enthusiastically returned with handshakes, hugs and warm grins.

“You’re back!”

“Where’s Jace?”

“Alpha!”

Rowan raised his hands, and the crowd settled. Sylvie was quite content standing behind Rowan out of the other shifters’ curious gazes, but he turned and offered his hand to her palm up. Ah, shit.

Exhaling slowly, she took it and let him guide her to his side. From her new vantage, she shrunk under the smothering gazes of a hundred strangers, and even the wide-eyed face of Rosie had a lump forming in her throat.

It was all getting far too real.

Rowan kept holding Sylvie’s hand as he spoke, and she was sure he could feel her terror. As her fingers trembled, his grip tightened, and his thumb rubbed a light path across the back of her hand.

“I am back, and this time, for good. The Fates have gifted me with three mates, Sylvie Hart, Kian James and Elias Fletcher.”

A few gasps ricocheted through the crowd, but Rowan quieted them with a look.

“While Sylvie is my true mate and the one who binds us, the two Princes she is marked to are also mine to claim and are not to be harmed by any shifter who follows me.”

Two Princes? Sylvie kept her gaze steady but wished desperately to question Kian. Elias had a fair bit of explaining to do.

“Are you participating in the ceremony tonight?” A deep voice called out, and Sylvie searched the crowd for its owner to no avail.

“We will not. Sylvie is of mixed heritage and will not wear my mark. At least not until we know it won’t harm her.”

“She is Vampire then?” Another voice hissed.

“Quiet,” Rowan spoke lowly, his aura filling the space with dominance and power. “She will stay here while Elias searches for answers in the Silver City. Jace harmed her while I entrusted her to his care, and he will not return to the pack lands. So I do not want to hear another word about him from now on.”

Muted murmurs spread at this, but no one else offered their outraged opinions. Sylvie swallowed and tried to hold onto the hatred that was slowly melting away from Rowan’s every action.

“Now, Rosie, please bring forward the chalice.”

From a small bag slung over her shoulder, Rosie pulled the Fae artefact and padded over with a sweet smile before handing it to Rowan. He clasped it with one hand and held it high, letting everyone ooh and ahh over it before bringing it to his other hand, untangling from Sylvie to curl them around the ornate cup.

She kept her breathing steady and her gaze locked on his, knowing he probably wouldn’t appreciate her searching for Kian for comfort. She didn’t need to, though, as his warm hand brushed her shoulder lightly, sending more relaxation.

It was all okay. She could do this. Just put on a show, and then she could go home.

“Repeat after me,” Rowan said gruffly, his eyes twinkling in the fading light. “By the Fates, I consecrate this totem, and all who drink from it shall be blessed.”

She repeated his words with a shaky voice, and he called forth the couples.

Sylvie stood beside him for the whole event as each couple cut their palms, filled the cup and drank. After both people had finished the blood drink, the pair stripped, shifted and ran full pelt into the lake before disappearing, sopping wet into the darkened forest. Wolves, bears and foxes made up the shifter couples, and Sylvie found herself wondering how many types of shifters existed. Were they all mammals?

Before the fourth couple had begun, the loud moans and erotic screams started stealing Sylvie's attention and causing a furious flush to coat her body head to foot.

Let the babymaking begin.

By the end, ten couples had completed the ceremony and were in different states of bliss all around them.

Sylvie tugged on Rowan’s sleeve and widened her eyes, gesturing her head towards the main house in a silent question.

He shook his head and hummed low in his throat. “We will all be sleeping out here tonight.”

“What? What about the Vampires?”

“The last attack was too recent for them to try again. Besides, the trees surrounding us surely make you safer here than inside a house.”

Sylvie scowled but quickly wiped the expression when a familiar face appeared at their side.

“Good to see you are well, Miss Edwards,” Rowan said, but rage instantly filled Sylvie. She turned, looked Natalie up and down, and shook her head in disbelief before slapping her hard across the face.

Rowan dragged her back as Natalie shifted, her body shaking with anger, into a black leopard and swiped.

“Shift back now, Natalie. Or die.”

Natalie did as she was told and slunk away into the darkness, too angry or embarrassed to speak to Sylvie.

“Why did you-”

“She sold me out and let me get kidnapped so she could have this life. Fuck her.” Sylvie tried to wrench her arm away, but Rowan clung on.

“Come with me. We’ll set up our sleeping arrangements by the fire.”