Chapter Nineteen

Friday – Kildare, Ireland

Finn

It’s just past midnight. I can hear the clock in the hall finishing its final gongs, signaling the hour. I look towards the window, and high in the sky, I see the nearly full moon. My moon. Here the power of it calls to me, and I wish I could be in the woods with my pack tonight. Running our routes and tracking the predators who threaten our flocks. Scoping out any signs of weakness in our fortified wards.

A sad smile crosses my face, and I look back down at the woman in my arms, sleeping peacefully. I haven’t let her go since we climbed into bed hours ago. I won't let her out of my arms tonight. I need to feel her heat against me. Keep her safe at this moment as long as I can. In the morning, we will have to meet with the pack and plan. But tonight is for us.

I need to tell her about merging my Alpha and human sides. Once I let go and stopped fighting the feelings, I knew it was only a matter of time. But last night, after I left Colin’s house and ran to the woods, I spent hours as a wolf. Roaming the night, searching my own mind for the answers I was seeking. It was simple. I had to simply give in and accept who and what I am. I am the Alpha of this pack. I know that now, and I know that Melody is my mate. My Alpha side knew both things all along and was just trying to force me into something I wasn’t ready to accept.

All these years with other subs at The Den or in other relationships, I’ve never had my wolf rear its head and try to step up when I’m with a woman. When I saw Melody in The Sub Shoppe the first day, he growled deep in my chest and wanted to claim her. Fighting that I was fighting my own instincts, and that was the problem. Once I finally figured it out and started trusting myself to let go when I was with her, I knew I could never hurt her. Human or wolf, I would protect this woman with my life.

I hear them then, starting low in the night, the howls. One by one, each adding his own tune to the melody, they’re singing. My pack, my family. The song of the wolves creeps into the room through the windows, and the ache in my heart grows because I know that I will have to lead them into battle.

***

Melody

When I wake up in the morning, Finn sits at the same small table where we shared our dinner the night before. I sit up in the bed and lean my back against the headboard.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him when he turns to look at me.

“Oh, lass. Don’t. There is no need. Why don’t you come over here and eat some breakfast with me? Then we will go down and find Lydia, and you two can make your plans for the day.” I stretch my arms up over my head, pull back the covers, and then cross the room to him. A small fire banked low in the fireplace keeps the room comfortably warm. This one is much smaller and more reasonable than the giant one in the grand hall.

“It smells so good,” I say when he looks up at me with a smirk at the sound of my stomach growling. “I’m starved. I can’t believe I’m so hungry. What is your grandma putting in the food?”

I flop down in the chair, curl one leg under me and scoop up a waffle from my plate, biting into it as I grab a piece of bacon in my other hand. I smile across the table at him. He is grinning like a fool.

“What?” I ask around my mouthful of food.

“Nothing, lass. I just love seeing you here in my home, that's all.” We finish breakfast and make plans for what we will do tomorrow and the rest of the week before we plan to fly home next Saturday. Neither of us mentions the planning that needs to be done for the Equinox or the Summit held tonight. In our own bubble, here in this room over breakfast, we pretend this is just a trip to visit family, and we are not facing the ultimate danger at sunset.

***

I find Lydia sitting at a small metal table in a beautiful courtyard at the back of the keep. I took my time coming here. Stopping to ask for directions from different male members of the family, who all closely resemble Finn. I toured my way through the castle. I couldn’t help but marvel at the home they have created here. Home. Our home.

“You have made this such a beautiful home, Lydia,” I say, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Everything is so comforting. I can’t imagine a more amazing place.” She turns and looks up at me from her chair.

“Melody.” A broad smile spreads across her face. “Dear, please sit with me and have some tea.” I look down and see an extra cup on the table positioned at the other chair. “Were you expecting someone?” I ask. “I don’t want to take the seat from Edmund—"

“No, no, dear. It’s yours.” Lydia cuts me off. “I was expecting that you would find your way down to me this morning. The tea is for us to enjoy this beautiful spring day and get to know each other better. Please sit.” She motions to the chair and wraps her shawl tighter around her shoulders. I nod and take my seat. I’m glad I decided to put on the thick wool sweater Finn suggested I wear.

“Spring?” I say with a small laugh.

“Yes, the Vernal Equinox marks the first day of spring.” Lydia smiles then. “So you see, I will enjoy sitting here in the garden and watching life spring forth around me.” I look around as she speaks. “Awakening from the winter slumber, each morning, we will see new life.”

“It’s beautiful, Lydia.” She is pouring a cup of tea for me, and as the steam rises up off of the warm liquid into the crisp morning air, I reach out and take the cup. Wrapping it in my hands, I use the heat to warm my chilled fingers.

“Thank you. But I can't take the credit. While I have tended this garden for many years now, it was not my design. The garden was originally designed by Edmund’s grandmother and was already here by the time I married into the family. Tell me, Melody. Would you ever consider living here with Finn? Making this your home? Being the lady of the place and taking it under your care?”

I’m taken back by the directness of her question, and I can tell by the wry smile on her face that she knows she has caught me off guard, and I suspect she did so intentionally. Trying to get the most honest answer out of me. Yes. I think with a sigh.

“Yes. Oh, Lydia. From the moment I stepped foot over the threshold yesterday, I couldn’t help but think, this is my home. I can’t explain why I’m so drawn to the place.”

“I thought so. I can explain it, dear. You’re Finn’s mate. I’m not going to pretend that you don’t know what he is. I know there is a lot that the two of you need to learn about his history, traditions, and lore. But I knew from the moment I saw you two together. The way he looks at you, how you two move when you’re with each other, it's magic, dear. It’s the magic of who we are.” I sip my tea slowly and listen to Lydia tell me the story of their family, how the Caomhanach clan settled these lands. Took the stones from the mountains to build their homes, their keep. They were shepherds who spent the nights among the sheep on their grounds, protecting them, ‘Garda an tréad’ they were called, Guardians of the flock.

One night, a wolf larger than any other seen before, one with red eyes, crept through their flocks towards the keep. The animals lay safely sleeping as they watched him pick his way down the side of the mountains towards their homes. The wolf was not interested in their sheep. Terrified he would make his way in and steal their children, they tracked him through the night. Stalking him, planning how to eliminate the threat to their lands, to their people. They attacked when the moon was at its highest point in the sky. The fight was bloody, and many of the men were injured. The shepherds were not used to battle, and it did not look like they would be able to take down a large and powerful wolf.

Two of the brothers remembered tales their druid grand da told to them as bedtime stories. It was a last-ditch effort. They attempted to invoke the magic from the land using druid chants they believed could help them. They searched for a dolmen to open a portal and awaken the land's magic to protect them. They knew not what they were awakening. The battle was won but at a high cost. The two brothers were the only men in the family to survive the night. Their children and wives were safe when they returned home, and the next day, they buried the bodies of their fallen loved ones. Concerned that they would encounter other wolves from the same pack, they spent the next month patrolling the lands each night. The flocks locked away in pastures as they roamed, searching for the wolves.

The brothers learned how dearly their attempt at druid arts had cost them only when the next full moon rose. Both men shifted into great powerful wolves at sunset on the night of the full moon. Confused and scared, they ran into the mountains, fearing what the townsfolk would do if they saw them. By morning both awoke back in their human forms. Over time they learned to control their shifting and were no longer ruled by the moon. Over the centuries, only the Alphas of the two packs created by the brothers remained strong enough to control the change. That line of Alpha blood can be traced through the generations to Edmund and Finn today.

All other males in the families are still ruled by the moon cycles, and they spend one week out of the month patrolling the family's land as wolves in the night, still protecting them, the Garda an tréad to this day in name and spirit. The two packs still share the duties of protecting their lands and keeping their secrets. Neither knows for sure what caused the change. The wolves who came into their lands were no natural wolves, and the question remains if they had never used dark magic to protect themselves, would they have changed, or was another dark force at work. I sit enraptured by her words and feel chills running through my body.

“They faced so much to protect their family.”

“Aye. At a great cost. My eldest, Finn’s da. He believed it was a curse. That we were being punished for the mistakes, our elders made attempting to use the druid magic for their own gains.” She drops her eyes to her lap, then looks out across the garden, and I know she is picturing her son, lost to her now.

“I’m sorry, Lydia,” I say. I reach across the table and rest my hand over hers. “Finn is next in line, isn’t he? I’ve seen him shift. I know he is not controlled by the moon.” She nods.

“Edmund suspected as much. But this puts you in grave danger, Melody. Wolves mate for life. Finn has chosen you, dear. I see it in his eyes. The threat is to our Alphas and lines of our packs. This Alpha, the one who came to Maryland. He wants to eliminate all other lines of succession so he can take over and rule over the three packs as one.”

“But I don’t understand where he came from. Who is he? If he isn’t a part of those from your families’ histories, then, where—” I stop mid-sentence as I make the connection, and my eyes widen.

“I knew ye were a smart one,” Lydia says and smiles at me.

“The wolf from the legend, the black wolves with the red eyes. Lydia, that’s who he is. The wolf in the legends was from his pack, his family. It’s revenge for the wolf that was killed. But Lydia, that was centuries ago.”

“Aye, I suspect the same. My Edmund agrees with me, and he will be telling Finn just now. If what we suspect is true, then this pack is the original of its kind. They were here hunting, and our clan took down their scout. The Alpha has been planning his revenge for nearly three centuries, Melody. Our men face an adversary who is stronger and older than any known before.”

“It’s the same? He’s the same,” I nod. “I’ve seen him. He was there at our house in Maryland. But I don’t understand why he waited all of this time. I don’t understand why I’ve been dreaming of him.”

“Ah, lass. Waiting a few centuries is a mere blink of an eye when you live for hundreds or thousands of years. Magic is a strange thing. Perhaps he has wanted you to dream of him.”

“The Vernal Equinox, the Paschal Moon,” I say, still in shock at my realizations.

“Tis’ tonight, and we believe what you and Finn have said about the attack on the Summit tonight.” I turn my head towards her in one swift motion setting my cup down.

“You do? Oh, thank God.” She is nodding at me now.

“Yes, we do. We have all along. But we did not believe it was safe to discuss our plans until Finn was here. We think we have been watched, and we know for a fact that you and Finn were being watched back home.” She sips her cup of tea. Still calm, as if we are discussing the weather and not the potential danger we are all in.

“Lydia, how are you so calm about all of this?” I ask, chewing on my lower lip, nervous energy rushing through me. I need to find Finn and tell him everything I know. But I realize then that it would be pointless. He knows the legends. He will have drawn the same conclusions, and he is with Edmund now making their plan. I sit on my hands and bounce my legs. I wait for Lydia’s answer, hoping it will provide me with a solution for my own angst.

“My dear.” She reaches out for my hands, and I place them in hers as she covers them with her own. “My dear Melody. You learn that life is full of blessings and many surprises when you have lived as long as I have. We will all face trials and tribulations. Come what may, there is no stopping fate. I believe our families were fated for this fight from the moment the first wolf stepped foot on our lands, and it would merely be a matter of when, not if.” She gently pats the back of my hand then.

“Child,” she continues, “that boy loves you. He will do anything to keep you safe and come home to you. My Edmund will do everything he can, including sacrificing himself to protect the two of you.” She lets out a low breath. “We have accepted the possibility of what is to come. I simply need to know if you are willing to accept your role in this once it is all over and Finn takes his place as Alpha.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, but it doesn’t loosen. I understand now what Lydia is telling me. They brought us here to take over after Edmund is gone. They don’t plan on him surviving the night, and they need to know that Finn is willing to step up and take over as head of the family, head of the pack. With me. By his side. I just blink at her, speechless.

My Alpha. Finn. I need to see Finn.

***

Finn “

You're an insane old man,” I practically shout at him.

“Hey now,” Christian says. “I don’t like this plan any more than you, Finn. But show some respect. He is still our grandda” I turn to look at him. Shock filling my eyes.

“You’re willing to let him walk in there and sacrifice himself?” I ask Christian who is to my right. “You’re seriously considering this crazy arse plan of his?” I’m still staring into his eyes, fuming.

We spent the morning around the massive table in the great hall. Together there are twenty-five of us gathered here. Twelve of my uncles and cousins sit across from me, another eleven flank my sides, Edmund sits at the head of the table.

“Christian. Of all people, I would have thought you would be smart enough not to agree to this plan. You’re daft. All of you.” The legs of the chair scrape stones as I push back from the table and stand abruptly. I’m only a few steps away when he speaks again.

“She’s pregnant, Finn.” I stop dead in my tracks and turn on them. Twenty-four pairs of eyes are burning into me.

“You think I don’t fucking know that!”

“Ock, lad!” My uncle Angus slams his hand on the table. “Get yer arse back over here and have a seat. We all know ye’ know it. What you don’t seem to be able to do is pull yer head out and realize that your lass holds in her womb the last hope of an Alpha for our line.”

“If something happens to the two of you,” Christian continues his father’s thoughts, and motions between me and our grandda, “then the baby Melody is carrying will be our next Alpha, Finn. Do ye’ honestly believe for an instant that if something happens to you, she will survive it? Do you think she will stay here and raise your child without you or let us train it to take over and run the pack?” I shake my head. Looking down at my feet and slowly make my way back to the table.

Once I’m seated again, I say, “I won’t stay here in this castle and hide while you all go out and fight this fight for me, letting him,” I throw a finger towards the head of the table, “sacrifice himself for me.”

“You will.” Edmund stands from his chair at the head of the long, wooden table, marred with years of wear and tear. I pull my gaze from the wood and look down the length of the table at him. “Tis’ a direct order. As long as there is still breath in my lungs, I am still Alpha of this pack. You will obey what I tell you.”

The plan, which they have outlined for me, following the intel they have concerning the one they say calls himself, Dagda. Is that Dagda is the Alpha of an ancient pack from the Burren. They believe now that the wolf referenced in our legends was a member of Dagda's pack sent to take down our clan at the time. But when we fought back and killed his kin, he devised a plan for revenge.

Biding his time and waiting for our packs to mature, he now wants to take over and rule the region as Alpha of one unstoppable pack. The other pack in Wicklow has agreed to join us for a summit to draw in Dagda. Christian believes that Dagda's bloodlust for revenge will mean that he will insist on being the one to take down the Alphas. Between the two packs, there are five in the lines of succession. Ranging in age from the oldest, my grandda, to a wee boy who is not but three weeks of age from the pack in Wicklow.

The eldest and current Alphas from both packs will meet at the Summit as bait for Dagda. When he attacks, they plan to kill him and end the control he holds over his pack in the process. They suspect a simultaneous attack on the two Alphas at the summit and attacks on the other three in line will occur across the country. But that Dagda will be the one to attack at the Summit. His thirst for revenge will drive him to be the one to put down each respective pack's ruling Alpha.

When Melody and I arrived, the pack discovered she was pregnant, adding a sixth target to the mix. If Dagda's pack doesn't already know she is with child, they will before the night is out. Each man and child targeted has been assigned a cell from their respective pack to protect them leading up to sunset and through the remainder of the Solstice.

However, now rather than needing only to protect me. My pack will also face protecting Melody and our unborn child, who she does not know she is carrying. Meaning that rather than have a backup at the Summit, they will leave Edmund alone and focus on protecting the two of us.

Finally, I say, "Even if I agree to this. There is no guarantee that the other Alphas will be willing to have the entirety of our pack protecting me and mine while we give no help at the Summit."

This is the one flaw I can find in their plan to use against them. The other pack is planning to have every wolf who has not been assigned an heir to protect lay in wait at the Summit to attack Dagda when he launches his attack there. "I’ll handle that," Edmund says. "You will stay here with Melody and protect the lass and your family."

"You are my family," I say, defeated. But if I'm honest with myself, this makes it easier. The moment Colin told me he wasn't the next in line, I knew I would be forced to choose between my grandfather, my mate, and our child. They're taking the choice from me and making it their own.

"Aye, we are. This is why we are making this decision for you. So, you will not live the rest of what will be a very long life feeling guilty for a decision you had no business making. There are no good options here, Finn," Edmund says. I look around the table, and all heads are nodding in agreement, grunting their approval. I see looks of despair as they meet my eyes. Others refuse to look my way.

"I want to know what the rest of you think," I say to them, standing then. "I will not stay here and keep myself out of danger, while I send you all, my family, my brothers out there into danger. We will vote on it. If this plan goes wrong and our leader dies tonight. I am supposed to step up and lead you," I tell them. "I will not have you talking behind my back, saying I made the wrong decision. Calling me a coward, looking to oust me when you can. We will vote." When I look around one last time, all eyes are on me, then they turn to their true Alpha waiting for him to speak.

"We will vote," he says in agreement.

I lose twenty-four to one.

***

Melody

“What do you mean you’re not going with them?” I ask Finn, looking up at him. We just got back to our room from lunch with his family, and he is telling me about the plan for the night. I’m wrapped in a throw sitting on the rug in front of the fire.

“They’re already gone, left straight away after lunch. The Summit is being held forty-five minutes from here at a point where the two counties meet. They have to get there before sunset to make sure they are prepared when the attack comes,” he says, sitting down next to me, then taking me with him as he lies back, propping us up on a large pillow on the floor.

I run my hand through the fur of the rug beneath us, trying to make sense of what he is saying. “Finn? Why did we come here if you're not going with them? I don’t understand.” I prop my chin on my hand, resting it on his chest and looking into his eyes for answers. He lets out a large sigh.

“They won’t let me come. The pack voted and said I needed to stay here. I’m to be the one to protect you and Grandma. You two are priorities, and since I am a target, they want me here where I am out of the way of Dagda.” I nod at his words.

“He’s not really some old Irish God, right? He just calls himself that?” I ask, picking at an imaginary piece of fuzz on Finn’s shirt.

“Yes, lass. He is not really Dagda. He just clearly has some complex, and his pack enjoys hurting humans and stirring up trouble. Don’t worry. We are taking care of it.”

He kisses me on the top of my head and rubs my back as I rest my cheek on his chest. I decide to close my eyes for a minute and see if I can get any rest before sunset when we are due to go down to the underground tunnels below the keep with Lydia for the rest of the night to wait out the danger.