Where Wild Things Roam

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Ian    

Jack makes for the bathroom with the duffle bag of clothes and Ivan heads for the wet bar as soon as we board. I let Darby choose and sit beside her when she takes a seat on the sofa, Tessa leaping up on her opposite side and laying her black and white head in her lap. She’s still protecting her arm against her body, but I can see the gleam working under her skin and the blisters are shrinking.

“How come I can’t go anywhere with you two without getting into a fight? Kasey’s going to kill me, you know that, right, Ian?” He tosses back a shot of Glenlivet and pours another before taking a seat to wait his turn in the bathroom.

“I don’t know,” Jack replies, emerging in baggy sports shorts, high top All-stars and a t-shirt. Swiping the glass from Ivan, he drops the duffle in his lap. “You must be bad luck. Nothing like that ever happens when it’s just me and Ian.”

Ivan rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a dick.” Rising, he disappears into the bathroom with the duffle to change.

The last to board, David closes and locks the cabin door behind him. “The Rolls is onboard. They’re loading the jeep now. Should be taking off shortly,” he tells me, taking a seat across from Darby and I, slouching forward with his elbows on his knees and staring at my mate like an adoring puppy.

“Darby, this is David Sullivan. He’s the Security Captain for Jack’s team in Candlewood,” I introduce and David beams. “David, this is Darby. My mate.”

“You can call me Dave, Luna.” He shakes her hand reverently, like he’s handling a religious artifact. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He flicks a glance at me. “Finally. If there’s anything you ever need, I’m at your service, Luna.”

A soft smile spreads over Darby’s face and I think David might fall out of his chair. “It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance, Dave. I realize once we reach Candlewood, Ian will be rectifying this issue in short order, but for the time being, I’m not your Luna. Even if I were, I’d prefer you address me as Darby. I’m most grateful you were able to come for us so quickly.”

The engine revs and the captain announces we’ll be taking off in short order. The plane lurches forward, then begins to taxi smoothly. Jack flops down in the chair beside David.

“Since we’ve got a couple hours to burn, I think we need to talk about how we wound up so far from Candlewood.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask myself,” David agrees. “It was a vamp attack—pretty big one. Is it possible you were ported to Mountainrose?”

“I don’t think so. They’d have to have touched all three of us, at the same time without us knowing. And once Ivan was hit, we ran like hell.” Jack takes a sip of the Glenlivet. “Ian, you said the vamps were cloaked. Maybe the witches are up to something new.”

“Those would have to be some pretty powerful witches to displace three full grown weres seven hundred miles from home plus a forest full of vamps with us,” Ivan says, emerging from the bathroom dressed similarly to Jack and taking a seat.

“Not necessarily.” All eyes turn towards her when Darby speaks.  

“Go on.”

“Think about it. You’d know if you were ported because there’s that dreadful sucking sound and that nasty little pop afterwards—like a vacuum,” she explains, her lips pulled up in revulsion.

“It’s detectable,” David states, nodding in agreement.

“Correct. And the dark magic witches, at least the ones who are strong enough, usually flicker.”

“Which is visibly detectable. You can see when they superimpose themselves on the new location.” Across from her, David scoots forward to the edge of his seat, listening intently.

“Exactly. None of you detected anything though. To my knowledge, there are only three ways to do that.”

I watch, amused as Ivan scoots to the edge of his seat, eager to hear what Darby has to say. The only one not entirely engrossed in her words is Jack, who I think is still pouting because he got his ass handed to him without Darby ever laying a finger on him.  

“Angels use holy magic. Demons use unholy magic. However, both are far too powerful for a human body, even a halfling of either of those species, so that’s completely out for a witch or a vampire who though they are magically transformed are nevertheless in fully human and fragile bodies.”

“How do you know all this?” Ivan asks.

“I’ve studied magic. Extensively.”

“Which leaves?” Jack prompts.

“Using green magic. Specifically, passing over a fold.”

“Oh f**k. Not this again,” Jack whispers, draining his glass and rising to refill it.

“The kind of witches that work with vamps that’s not exactly their wheelhouse, baby.”

“True. But just because they don’t doesn’t mean they can’t.” Darby pats my knee. “You three were accidentally folded. I’m certain of it. Which means your pack and my valley have the same vampire coven problem.”

That gets Jack’s attention and he considers for a moment. “And the same witch problem.”

“I suspect so, yes.”

“Why?” Ivan asks.

“That would be the question.”

Taking a seat again, Jack rubs his temples with the fingers of one hand. “Right now, the bigger issue is how are we going to deal with it?”

**

Darby    

Ian’s small community is a half hour drive from the airport in the nearest human one. Once we land, we travel via a quiet, two-lane winding road through some of the most magnificent conifer forest I’ve ever seen. The stately trees blanket the surrounding mountains, disguising the elevation and snagging low-hanging clouds from the sky but give way occasionally to narrow valleys and sparkling lakes before closing around us, and hiding their treasures. It’s one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been and an inkling of excitement begins to creep through the sadness of leaving my valley.

Across from us, Jack and Ivan doze as if this is all so commonplace it merits no attention. Though the air is quite cold, I snuggle against Ian and he embraces me in his enveloping heat so the window can be down for Tessa to stick her head out during the drive. The scents of evergreens, rich loam and moisture saturate the air and I sigh contentedly. It’s certainly beautiful here, even if I am removed from my valley’s grove and the magical resources it provides.

Aside from getting another dog when I lost Tessa, I had no plans before I met Ian to leave my valley. Even with the increasingly frequent vampire attacks in recent years, I trusted my wardings to protect us as they always had.

But the discussion among Ian’s men on the aeroplane made me wonder. If a dark witch was aiding vampires and using green magic, then perhaps mine had been a false sense of security and finding a new home after twelve hundred years was past due. Part of that, at least for the duration of Ian’s natural life, had been resolved for me—the weres of Candlewood would hide and protect Tessa and me. But what would happen when I eventually lost Ian? What would happen after?

As if he can feel my unease, Ian hugs me tighter and the warm prickling pulses at the back of my neck.

“I can’t wait to get you home.” His warm breath tickles my ear when he whispers.

“Are you certain your pack will approve of me?”

Ian gives a deep laugh. “They’ve been waiting so long for me to find you, they’d approve if I brought Tessa home and said she was their new Luna. Besides, their approval isn’t necessary. Only their acceptance. You’re my mate, Darby, but I’m certain they’d love you even if you weren’t.”

Dave’s voice fills the back of the car, lackluster and tinny as it travels through the electronic speakers. “We’ll be in Candlewood soon, Alpha. Shall I gather the pack to meet your mate?”

“Actually, no. Let Kasey know we’re taking Ivan to the hospital. We’ll deal with the whole pack introduction later on.”

“Whole pack? What does that mean?” I can’t hide the reservation in my voice. “How many are there?”

“Candlewood’s population is just over three thousand, about half of that weres. The majority of the rest are human relations of pack members, though there are a couple unrelated humans who’ve just settled. The rest are allied shifters—big cats, bears, eagles. Candlewood has a good reputation among shifter communities for quality of living and acceptance. A few years ago, a Komodo family even considered relocating here and sought my permission.”

“That would have been a nightmare,” Jack mumbles under his breath.

“So, this pack introduction will be to three thousand people?” That’s a daunting thought—I’ve barely adapted to having three around in the valley after twelve hundred years and in span of a week it’s going to be three thousand.

“No.” Ian shakes his head. “The whole community has been waiting for me to find you. There’ll be an introduction ceremony and a party to mingle afterwards.”

Across from us, Jack grumbles under his breath, rubbing his eyes with one hand, but I catch the word ‘shindig’ followed by ‘security shitshow’, and can’t help but smile. For as irresponsible as he can be, he does take protecting his community seriously.

“I’m not helpless, Jack, I promise. I don’t need bodyguards.”

There’s a wariness in his expression when he looks up, and I can see him remembering the elemental storm in my kitchen. It’s not protecting me he’s worried about—it’s protecting others from me. It’s almost laughable he considers me so unstable. After all, how would I have lived so long if I hadn’t been able to control my own magic? Then again, I’ve never been so overwhelmed by magic as I was then, so perhaps he has a point. I do feel guilty and not a small bit hurt that he doesn’t trust me though—perhaps I need a demonstration of the gentler side of my fae half.

Main street Candlewood is a series of quaint shops that wrap around a large park with a pavilion. Though it’s late evening by the time we arrive, there are still people out, walking hand in hand or pushing perambulators and calling to errant children bundled against the evening chill, laughing and talking, feeling safe and at home under the converted gas lamps that illuminate the streets with a warm yellow glow. Ian points out the office building he shares with Ivan, and right next door the space, where Jack works and I admire the restored Art Deco masonry and designs.

Just off Main street is a three-story Victorian, its wide staircase leading to a wraparound porch set with chairs and potted silk ferns and petunias. It’s capped with a domed, stained glass cupola, the lights from inside illuminating the seasonal designs and making them glow. “What’s that?”

“Maison des Saisons. It’s Candlewood’s hotel. The converted home of a founding member of the city and an historical site.”

“It’s lovely. Gracious and charming.”

“It’s old,” Jack comments. “The pack house is much better.”

As if the mere mention conjures it from air, off to our right a low ranch-style complex spreads out behind a high wrought-iron fence.

That makes me cringe.

Before I can consider it further, we’re pulling up under the colonnade of the community hospital. Opening the door on the building side, Jack ducks out of the car as Ian nudges at Ivan.

“Ivan.”

Ian’s other Second sways groggily. “Are we home?”

“We’re at the hospital. I want you checked out.”

Instantly, Ivan is awake. “What? No! You didn’t tell Kasey, did you?”

As Jack returns, a hospital orderly pushing a wheelchair following him, Ian steps out of the vehicle and offers me his hand. Tessa whimpers, looking up at me pleadingly.

“She can come, Darby.”

Tessa looks up at him and gives a wag of her tail, then circles around to heel at my side.

The troupe of us follows the orderly down a long, white hall before wheeling Ivan into one of the rooms at the end of it.

“Kasey is going to kill me,” Ivan states flatly, reclining on the clinical bed with his ankles crossed. “And after that, she’s going to kill you two.” He points at Ian and Jack.

“Once you’re dead, we’re covered,” Jack counters, taking a seat in a chair against the wall. “We’ll both be telling her it was your fault.” He pats his lap to Tessa, who looks up at Ian expectantly.

Looking down, Ian nods once and with a bound, Tessa lands lightly on Jack’s lap and I wonder suddenly if Tessa shares their pack link.

“Well, that I didn’t expect.” A slim woman enters, draped in a lab coat that hangs to her thighs, her name embroidered over the hospital’s logo on the breast pocket. She has dark hair, with a few graying strands and like other weres, is remarkably handsome. Reaching out, she rubs Tessa’s head. “Who do we have here?”

“That’s Ivan, one of Candlewood’s Second triumvirs. I’m Jack, the other Second. And that’s Ian, the alpha with his future Luna, Darby, and Tessa here is the bonus we get with our Luna.”

“Second, I will remind you that despite your title, I have the medical authority to sedate and institutionalize you,” the doctor says flatly. She rounds on Ian. “Did I hear the word Luna?”

Unhappy to find myself already the object of attention, I peek around Ian’s broad shoulder and slip my hand in his. He gives me a reassuring squeeze.

“Yes, Dr. Myers. This is Darby. My mate.”