Lia made her way into the house, her wings unwieldy on her back within the close confines of the hall and doorways. Cael had managed to hide his, she remembered.
It had not been a glamour of she would have seen through it, but something else. Searching within herself, she found the answer, and as the wings had appeared, so did they disappear, but not without pain as they retracted, and the skin closed behind them.
She made her way into Raiden’s bathroom and stripped off the ruins of her dress. Diedre had been right, she needed a change of clothes. She scrubbed herself thoroughly and was about to turn off the water when Raiden stepped into the shower behind her.
“Oh, Raiden,” she murmured as the water turned red beneath their feet, picking up the blood and filth from him.
“Just… Let me rinse off,” he replied, his voice gruff. His eyes were bloodshot from weeping.
She reached out hesitantly until the palm of her hand rested against his skin, and when he did not pull away, she took the soap and began to wash him. He closed his eyes and stood beneath her touch, a muscle working in his jaw.
She shampooed his hair and ran her fingers through it to help the water carry the soap away, and then worked on his hands, the gore caked into the nail beds and under the nail.
Clean, she could see the were claw marks just beginning to seal themselves along his back, and so many bruises that there seemed to be no skin unmarred by them. He had fought hard, and without mercy.
She turned off the water, and reached out for a towel, using it to pat him dry, gently, trying not to open the wounds, or hurt him. He took the towel from her and rubbed it through his hair, and she dried herself, stepping out of the shower to do so.
“Your wings are gone,” he said, and she was relieved to hear his voice, and that he was talking to her. His hand rested against her back where they would have sat. “There is a… a pair of silver scars here.” He traced them with his fingertips, and she shivered beneath his touch.
“Raiden…” She wanted to apologize, to plea for him to love her despite what she had wrought upon his people. She turned and looked up at him.
He pulled her against him, his mouth coming down to hers, his kiss fierce, filled with pain, grief, and relief. She wrapped herself around him and kissed him back, the touch of his skin against hers, the flavor of him against her tongue, raising a desperate need for him. He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.
“Lia,” he said against her cheek, his voice breaking, as he laid her onto the bed. “I…”
She pulled him to her, wrapping her legs around him, and he groaned as he entered her. He covered her with his body, pinning her hands to either side of her head, his fingers woven with hers, and his lips against hers, as he took her, fast and ferocious with his need.
She lifted her hips into him, throwing her head back to cry out as her body gave to pleasure, her voice rough, and he kissed the point of her chin, the column of her neck.
“Look at me, Lia,” he said, and there was alpha command in his voice. Her eyes met his, the glow of the Other bright. “Mine. My mate. My cub.”
“Yes,” she sobbed it. “Yes Raiden.”
He buried his face into the curve of her neck as he came, and collapsed over her, weeping. She freed her hands from his in order to stroke them through his hair and over his back, offering what comfort she had to give. He had lost his sister. She did not know if he had also lost Ethan. There had been other losses, too, she knew, friends, extended family.
“I’m so sorry,” she pressed her lips to his head. “I am so sorry, Raiden.”
They eventually crawled up the bed and beneath the covers and slept tangled in each other. When she woke, it was dark again. She lay with her head on Raiden’s bicep, and her leg over his, the palm of her hand against his chest, as if she’d sought in her sleep to reassure herself of his heartbeat.
Raiden was awake, stroking his fingers through her hair whilst he gazed unseeing at the ceiling.
“Ethan will live,” he said softly. “I got up a little while ago to check on him, and he is doing better. Beginning to heal.”
“I’m so glad.”
“Elior was on TV. He seems to have the vampires under control and has organized them to quell the riots.”
“Okay.”
“He will be a problem. All of them will be. Now that they know about you.”
“I know.”
“Dad retrieved your fairy from his clothes and freed him into the garden.”
It was such a minor thing, and yet it moved her to tears. He rolled onto his side, curling around her, and pressing his face into her hair as he wept with her. Their weeping moved into lovemaking, their kisses flavored with tears, and their movements gentle and tender.
“I love you,” she told him.
“I love you,” he replied.
Towards midday he sighed. “We should shower and eat something. Mum left clothes for you,” he slid out of the bed. “I left them… downstairs I think,” he ran his hand through his hair as he scanned the room. “Must have. I’ll be back.”
She started the shower whilst he went.
They showered quickly and she pulled on the clothes. She had dreaded them being Tara’s, not wanting to cause Raiden pain from seeing them on her, but Diedre had sent her own clothes instead, a simple summery dress and a cardigan to hide the fact that there was no underwear to go with it.
They had just finished eating and were doing the dishes when Wade called out from the front door.
“In the kitchen, Dad,” Raiden answered.
When Wade entered, he was not alone. “Elior,” Raiden greeted cautiously, stepping in front of Lia.
“You do not need to fear me,” Elior told him. “I am not here to harm your mate, wolf. But you are wise to be wary. Word of what her blood can do has spread through the vampire community, and there will be some who will seek the font for themselves.”
Raiden snarled.
Elior held his hands palms out. “We are spreading word,” he said. “That seeking the font, could result in losing the Other within a vampire, that she can do that to any that try. It will dissuade many. But,” the red of the Other in his eyes picked up the light from the windows. “For some, it will not be enough to stop them.”
“Is that all that you are here to say?” Raiden asked him. “Be wary of vampires? I think the pack knows that well enough, and it will be a long time before we welcome vampires onto our lands again. I am surprised that my father allowed you back today, before our dead are even buried.”
“Elior is not our enemy,” Wade murmured.
“Your father is right,” Elior agreed. “I am your ally. We must work together, to protect Lia.”
“I will protect Lia,” Raiden replied heatedly.
“It would be wise for Lia to stay on pack lands,” Elior looked to Wade, ignoring Raiden. “Even to disappear for a time. Perhaps a move to another pack, where she is not known and can live in obscurity?”
“Werewolves are not like vampires,” Wade replied. “We know each other. A move to another pack, and Raiden and Lia will be identified within a day. We cannot hide them.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Elior said heavily. “Because that would be a good solution.”
Wade saw Elior back off pack territory, and when he returned it was with Diedre.
“I’ll put the kettle on,” Raiden decided, seeing the expression on their faces.
“Elior’s idea is not a bad one,” Wade said gently. “I did not want to go into it in front of him, as there is only so far that we can trust him, but there are isolated packs, Raiden.”
“Packs which live apart from humans,” Diedre explained. “And the rest of the world as much as possible. If we relocated you to one of those packs, the likelihood of crossing paths with vampires would be much less, and to the vampires, it will be as if Lia has disappeared entirely.”
“Go to another pack?” Raiden’s voice was grieved. “Leave my family?”
“You are known here,” Wade walked over to him and placed a hand against his shoulder in comfort. “And the vampires will know that you are Lia’s mate. The moment you leave pack territory, you will become a target, Raiden.”
“Then we stay,” Lia walked over and took Raiden’s hand. “We stay on pack territory. We don’t leave. Better that, then separating Raiden from the pack. He needs his pack around him, especially at the moment.”
“Alright,” Diedre released her breath. “I cannot say that I am not relieved. I have lost one child, I did not want to lose another, even if it were only to another pack, but we felt we should give you the option.”
“Perhaps in time, it will become safe to venture out of pack lands again,” Wade added. “It feels like a prison sentence to say you must forever more stay within them.”
“No, it’s not a prison sentence,” Raiden sighed, and he put his arms around Lia. “I have my mate, and my family. I have no need for the rest of the world.”
After they left, Lia sighed. “Raiden.”
“No.” His tone was all alpha, cutting off her protest.
“Alright,” she leaned her head against his chest. “My grandmother used to ward me as I left the house. Perhaps, I can work something like that out for us.”
“Yes,” he was happy with that conclusion. “That is a good idea, Lia.”
“There is something else you should know, Raiden.”
“Lia,” he was wary.
“When my ancestors mated with Others, their children may not have turned… But the abilities were passed along to the next generation. When the fall triggered my wings, it also triggered the strength and speed of the Others.”
“Dormant abilities, like recessive genes,” he murmured. “The full moon is tomorrow night,” he said slowly. “If you have the strength and speed… The wings…”
“Yes. Perhaps your bite might trigger the ability to shift.” She felt fear tangled with the hope. What would happen if she did not turn? “It may work the same, for our children?”
“It does not matter,” he answered her unspoken question. “If you turn, or do not turn, Lia. You are my mate, and this,” he placed his hand over her stomach. “This is my cub. I will love you both, no matter what.”
She turned in his arms and he leaned his forehead down to rest against hers.
“My mate,” she whispered. “My werewolf.”
“My whatever the f-k you are,” he chuckled ruefully. “My Lia.”