Chapter 33 — Winter

I'd never mated with Fagua the way I'd done three days ago, and to make matters worse, she was acting weird and doing things like talking as if we were strangers and sleeping alone. Usually, Sky and I would have some fun with her, except lately she'd been going out for walks alone.

It didn't take much to figure out where she'd been going because I knew the scent well by now. She'd been seeing Mayia. It made sense in a way. No doubt Fagua probably felt comfortable with her. The idea of being with us brutes as being enough for her was probably a false reality in our eyes, but in hers, she craved female company. It was only natural.

There was also the issue of her father sending wolves to bring her back that concerned me the most. I had to protect Fagua because if anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

I know she’s a grown woman and can do what she wants, but fuck it if she isn't getting too lackadaisical regarding her safety. At least for now, her father hasn't tried anything else, though I wouldn't put it past him to strike when we all have our guard down.

"What are you doing up here alone?" Sky asked from behind me. I was sitting in the cinema room trying to figure out what to watch. It was the middle of the day and I had work to do, but ever since that pack came to see us and with Fagua acting all distant, it had been the furthest thing from my mind.

"Nada!"

I choked, "You started your Spanish classes again?"

He slouched next to me. "Nah. I really need to because it was tough last night. Nothing was going right, it just seemed to end in madness."

I nodded, half-listening, thinking it was nothing new that hadn't happened before, but that was the thing about casinos; it wasn't just the money and the music that got the staff excited, but the gossip too. This might come into play if Fagua's dad hired wolves who spoke Spanish, trying to hide what they were doing here and thinking we couldn't understand them.

"Yeah. Nothing new. Someone rubbing someone else the wrong way. Someone getting married, even though they were already married, and someone trying to steal and getting caught."

He laughed. I didn't find excitement or enjoyment with this sort of thing, but he did. Underneath that tough exterior was a teen just waiting to get out and relive his youth. He would go back to high school if they would have him.

"Don't look at me like that, as if you're better than me and I'm the big baby of the family. Speaking of family, where's the big, bad daddy wolf?"

I chuckled as he said it. He was right, Husk wasn't an easy-going wolf, but it was as if lately he was just a wolf with a sore head.

"Between Husk's disappearing act and Fagua keeping her distance, I feel as if it's all falling apart," I said.

We hadn’t spoken about that night, since we had a good habit of sweeping things under the carpet.

"I think Husk is dying and he doesn’t want to admit it," Sky replied sadly.

My chest constricted and I turned to Sky. I thought it was strange, the way Husk had been behaving, but it made sense. Why else would Husk be keeping his distance unless something was wrong? Damn him for not telling us. The pigheaded bastard! He was our brother. Did he think we'd just get over his death in a blink? I wanted to punch some sense into him.

"We have no choice. We have to help the pack, and Fagua and Husk have to mate."

I clapped my hands, waiting for my magic wand to appear to make everything fall into place.

"I'm fucking serious, Winter. Don't fuck around." His gaze darted away from mine.

"I've only been scared twice in my life. Once was when I was dying in the hospital and the other is right now. Something is not right. I can feel it in my wolf. I shifted three times tonight before coming up here. I thought it was just paranoia, but seeing you sitting here, it fucking makes sense," he said.

I didn't say a word as I took out my cell and decided that we needed answers.

"What are you doing?"

"Texting Fagua. I'm going to tell her that I want us to watch a movie and she should come here. I feel like winding down." Plus, it was an excuse to have her with us so I wouldn't go out of my mind wondering if she was okay.

He chuckled. "You think you have her under your spell or something."

I looked at him and he shook his head, knowing exactly what I was going to say next.

"You told her after that time with her ex that you wouldn't use your powers on her again."

"I have no fucking choice," I barked back. "She's not talking to me. Husk is disappearing every time I turn around, and as you said, we need to move on. I can't keep hiding in here and you can't use the casino as your entertainment. We both know that the shit is about to hit the fan, and we can't just sit and wait for it to happen."

I could have asked him about the doc and found out more, but it didn't matter; it wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things. Everything wrong was happening and we couldn't pretend it wasn't any longer.

My phone chimed, my heart skipped a beat, and both Sky and I stared at each other, too afraid to know the answer.

"She'll be here in twenty," I told him.

He nodded. "I'll get out of the way. But when she gets here, just call so I can be here too."

"I thought you didn't want to be a part of it."

He jumped up and started to walk away.

"As if I have any fucking choice in the matter."

****

My head was spinning, as more than twenty minutes came and went and Fagua still hadn't shown up. I wondered if she'd changed her mind and wouldn't make an appearance at all.

The doors sprung open just as I stood up, ready to leave, ready to give up.

"Winter, I'm sorry. I should have called, but the traffic was heavy tonight," Fagua explained.

I speed dialed Sky, putting it on speaker so he could hear what was going on.

"Don't worry about it."

As soon as I finished my sentence, she was in my arms and shaking as if she were scared.

"I thought after the afternoon in your room that you wanted me out of your lives. You haven't spoken to me since then," she said into my neck.

I held her close and started to use my powers to find out the truth—the one thing I promised her I'd never do again. Sky appeared at the door on cue, which meant I had to do it now; it was a now or never moment.

I closed my eyes, feeling sick to my stomach about what I was about to do.

"Let go of me and go to the front and sit down."

The joy that was in her voice and actions disappeared as she stepped away and moved to the front as I'd instructed her to do. My eyes still closed, I didn't say a word. I felt as if I were stuck in quicksand and the floor was going to take me. But then Sky came up to my side. He took a deep breath, and it was as if he was waiting for me to do something, but I couldn't move. I felt so guilty about what I was about to do, and he put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"It needs to be done. Let's just do it," he said quietly.

I knew he was right; it was the only way. We both walked up to her, and Sky tapped me as if to say that I should finish what we'd started. Fagua never looked at me, which made me feel more comfortable with what I was about to ask.

"Who have you spoken to today?" I questioned.

"Winter, Sky, and Mayia," she replied in a flat tone, and Sky and I exchanged a look, as if to confirm what we'd already assumed.

"Is there something wrong with you?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm getting weak because I haven't mated with Husk. I'm losing my power." Her eyes pleaded with me to fix this and there was a tremble to her chin.

Sky and I were fixated on her, no more exchanging looks as the questions started to flood out of me.

"Why do you meet with Mayia every day?"

"I have no friends here. Only Mayia, and she is part wolf and part vampire. My only friend in Small Heath is Rebecca, and she's a wolf. I feel as if with Mayia I can tell her anything and she's experienced it, even if she is younger than me. She feels like the sister I never had."

A wave of jealousy spiked in my chest as she spoke about Mayia in this light. I believed I was her confidant, but then I realized I had my brothers and as she said, she had no one but us and we were all still getting to know each other.

"Do you want to join Mayia's pack?"

"No. I just want to help. I need my powers back. I need to mate with Husk. I just…"

I wondered for a split second if my powers were wearing off, but then she spoke without being prompted. That did happen at times, especially when the spell meant that they didn't know the answer to the question. A sigh of relief escaped me.

"Don't know how. He hates me. And sometimes as much as I'm curious about him, I think I hate him too."

"What will happen if you don't mate with Husk?"

"We will both die," she whispered.

"Fuck!" Sky called out, but I didn't understand why he was surprised. We knew Husk had to mate; it was just a matter of time.

"What will happen if we don't help Mayia?"

"We will all die."

I nodded my head and decided that nothing Fagua had said was really news to us. We just needed to hear her say it, even if it was the wrong way to do it. We needed to talk to her, but I knew she would be angry about me using my powers on her. As I took her out of the spell, I knelt in front of her, thinking that she would do one of two things: slap me for doing it or shout at me.

She didn't do either of those things. When we made eye contact, she sighed and a tear slid down her cheek.

"I should have come to you. I should have spoken about all this." She sniffled.

I shook my head as I held her in my arms. We had a lot to catch up on, and Sky joined in the hug. We needed her to forgive us. If we'd been the mates we claimed to be, we wouldn't have had to use my power and she would have come to us freely.

"No more secrets," Sky said.

"Here, here to that," I agreed as I hugged them tighter and decided we needed to figure out a way to make this all good again.