Alliance of Shadows, Book 5: LEIF

Three Powers: Truth, Fear, and Revelation

Dreson sighed heavily, raking a hand through his hair and dragging it over his face, exhaustion weighing him down. "Heather, let's get you into the bath now, baby girl. Papa’s going to—"

"Dreson!" Cece’s voice cut through the moment, sharp and panicked, laced with righteous fury.

He bolted from the playroom, heart hammering, and rushed into the yard. "Mom, what's wrong?"

I followed close behind after handing my son to Kaden. "Put ‘im te bed fer me, yeah?”

My brother-in-law nodded gravely, his expression taut with unspoken concern. He took Heather’s hand, gently guiding her upstairs with the children close behind.

"I’m putting them in the room next to yours and Dreson’s," he said, voice low but firm. "Bed’s big enough for them both, and I’ll seal the window with magic to be safe."

"Aye," I agreed, the weight of responsibility settling deeper in my chest.

Outside, Celestia stood frozen, gripping a handful of photographs like they were burning her fingers. Her knuckles whitened as she held them up for all to see.

Our family.

Each face, slashed through… every. Single. One. Except for me.

My face, circled in red. A heart drawn around it like some twisted devotion.

Rayna’s face paled, a tremor shivering through her voice, edged with something dangerously close to fury. "Leif, I believe Seamus is obsessed with ye."

"Ya think," Dreson snapped, jaw tight. "Go. Get your gathered information to my father as soon as you can. This calls for something a little harsher than takin’ their powers."

Rayna nodded vigorously. "I concur. In this instance, th’ penalty is Death."

I swallowed hard, the weight of her words pressing against me. My mind spun, grasping for footing in the chaos. "Rayna, what o’ yer Mate?"

"Mate? Grant is not me Mate, me dear. Even if ‘e was, I would call for it, Leif. Our children are te be protected fer our magic te continue te thrive. ‘E knew our laws an’ chose te break ‘em, therefore, ‘e deserves what ‘e gets an’ then some," she snapped, eyes flashing. "I will be back with news from yer father, young Lord. Rest easy. No one will remove th’ wee ones from yer care. I won’t allow it."

Turning to walk back into the house, I stopped when Rayna called my name.

"Aye?"

"Did ye know anythin’ they were goin’ te say?" she asked softly. Her gaze flickered over my face, searching for any trace of dishonesty—trying to see what wasn’t there.

After six years at the mercy of a she-wolf who brooked no argument, and a Werewolf with an unhinged ability to summon Veritas without casting? Yeah, lying wasn’t something I was capable of anymore.

I shook my head. "Not a word. We’d never met their parents, so anythin’ they told ye was news te th’ rest o’ us as well. I can confirm that Seamus is, in fact, right-handed."

"And ye never mentioned anythin’ o’ what ‘e looked like te ‘em?" she pressed.

"No, I didn’t want ‘em involved," I told her. "They knew nothin’ about ‘im, an’ it was te stay that way. But ‘e still managed te get te ‘em when we weren’t lookin’."

She smiled. "Good. Ye lot stay safe while I’m gone."

Dre and I kicked off our shoes, collapsing onto the couch after helping Celestia settle the kids into bed. She insisted on staying with Heather and the others tonight, wanting to ensure nothing happened while they slept.

The weight of the day pressed down on me, thick and suffocating, but before I could voice my exhaustion, Dre beat me to it.

"What a f*****g s**t-show of a day we've had, huh?" he muttered, rubbing his face like it might somehow wipe away the chaos.

I exhaled through my nose, a tired smirk pulling at my lips. "Aye."

Just as we were settling into the office, light flashed, slicing through the dimly lit room—blinding, sharp, and sudden.

Rowan and Rayna stepped out of the transportation circle, magic crackling at their feet before fading into nothing.

I straightened instinctively. My father-in-law’s gaze met mine, heavy and knowing, the ocean-blue depths lined with something close to grief.

“It’s worse than any of us ever thought,” he murmured, voice low but weighted.

Rayna, on the other hand, was seething, barely holding onto her composure. She pushed forward, words tumbling from her lips like venom.

"All parties involved tried te lie through their teeth." Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, trembling. "I can't bloody believe me own family was involved in somethin’ so horrid."

The disgust in her voice was palpable, thick enough to choke on. She turned to Rowan, desperation flickering beneath her anger.

"Rowan, please tell me ye have somethin’ te help us."

He nodded, his lips curling into something dark—almost predatory.

"We have someone who survived on our side." He flicked his gaze to me. "Are you ready, Leif?"

Someone who’d survived?

My pulse skipped, uncertainty clawing at the edges of my thoughts.

"Ready for what?" Dreson asked, straightening beside me, eyes narrowed.

Rayna snapped her attention back to Rowan, suddenly frantic.

"No! Not a chance!" Her voice cracked, urgency spilling into every word. "Please, ‘e needs time, Sire."

Rowan didn’t hesitate.

"Tell him the truth, Ray!" he bellowed, his power surging through the room.

The force of it struck Rayna like a wave, crushing down on her, forcing her to one knee as she struggled against the weight of his lineage. The air thickened with the energy of a King who was nearing the end of his patience.

"Aye, me King," she murmured, breath uneven as she lifted her gaze to me. Guilt flickered across her expression. Her voice was softer now, breaking at the edges. "Leif, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry."

She swallowed, the action seemingly painful for her. Then, she said, "Ye’re th’ only one that can stand up te ‘em now. McDillard covered ‘is tracks well an’ disposed o’ all th’ others, Nephew."

Nephew? The word sank like a stone in my chest, cold and foreign.

"Oh me Gods…" I whispered, barely breathing. My throat tightened, and I felt the world tilt under me, throwing me off kilter, "Ye’re me mother’s sister, aren’t ye?"

The realization settled in, heavy and unrelenting. Everything clicked into place. "Is that why ye knew so much about me?"

I watched her nod, slow and weighted, tears spilling silently down her dark eyes.

"I knew nothin’ o’ yer birth, Leif. Th’ very first time I met ye was when my brother brought ye te th’ Tower." Her voice cracked at the admission. "Harper’s got things te answer fer as well. That secret-keepin’ lout! Never even told me until this evenin’ we’d had our nephew with us th’ whole time!"

Without a word, I pushed up from my seat, walking into the dining room with leaden limbs. At the table, my books and pens lay untouched, the familiar sight grounding me.

Before I sat down and got comfortable, I went to get another cuppa, only to see Cece standing at the kitchen door with one already in hand.

"I had a feeling you were going to start writing again soon and wanted to get you some coffee, but Dre told me you only drink tea in the evenings," she said, passing me the cup.

The ceramic was warm against my palms. I nodded, taking a slow sip before speaking. "Mam, I was wondering… what do you really think of my relationship with Dreson?"

Cece frowned slightly, her fingers tapping against the side of her own mug. "Why would you even ask me that? Dreson's happy, Leif, and that’s what matters most."

Her voice was steady, but there was a warmth there. Something reassuring in the way she spoke, as if doubting Dreson’s happiness was absurd to her. "On his sixteenth birthday, he took one look at you and called you his Mate. It was honestly the happiest I’ve seen him since his brother was born."

I let out a slow breath, fingers tightening slightly around the cup in my hands. "It’s just that I feel like such a burden lately. What with all this bullshite goin’ on."

"Leif," she warned, voice firm but not unkind. "None of this is your fault. You're doing the best you can, considering the confuckery that was your life before you came to live here."

Her choice of words startled a laugh out of me. Cece didn’t like cussing, but she'd been doing a lot of it today.

"I know," I admitted, rolling the cup between my fingers as if the movement might settle my thoughts. "I’m tryin’, I really am, but I just feel like I’m in th’ way."

She scoffed, shaking her head. When she spoke again, her tone was softer, more certain. "You are family, Leif, and we protect our own no matter what."

There was a pause, then: "You should have seen him when he met Neil for the first time. Polar opposites, those two, but their friendship runs deep. Once they settled into their own way of dealing with each other, they became inseparable."

A faint smile touched her lips. "Hell, he wanted to run off to comfort Neil when Luna Andrea died because he knew what it was to lose a mother. I prayed every night and day that he would have a Mate as strong as he was."

She glanced at me then, something fond in her expression. "He ended up finding you."

"Bet that was disappointin’," I muttered, earning myself a cuff to the head.

"You shut your mouth, pup," Cece snapped, clicking her tongue. "That boy is too good not to have someone like you in his life. He loves you enough to pull rank for you, honey. There ain't no stronger bond than that."

I smiled at her motherly rant, watching as she sighed and pushed herself off the counter. Without another word, she left the room to talk to Rowan and Rayna, who no doubt got an earful, too.

Looking down at the blank, lined paper in front of me, I wrapped my fingers around my pen, feeling the familiar weight of it.

I started to write.