River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (17 page)

He grinned back at her. “I
wondered what had happened in the lecture hall. I keep forgetting
you’re the true Head of the Midnights.”

“
I’ve been
hearing that a lot.”

“
Well, I just
came up to fill you in on training today.”

Caia nodded and listened
patiently as he explained the strategies that had been utilised in
the woodland simulator.

“
I’ve never
worked with Anders before but he’s an extremely good leader.”
Mordecai laughed as if remembering something. “Of course, he and
Marion have been placed in charge of the taskforce but Phoebe has
other ideas. I don’t think her and Anders like each other very
much.”

“
Sounds like
I missed some drama.”

He nodded, and then seemed
to grow quiet.

Eventually…“Caia...?”

She frowned. This was the
first time the self-assured magik looked uncomfortable and unsure.
“Yeah?”

“
The
simulator... well... after your run in it the other night, there
was some
energy
picked up around a certain oak?”

She flushed. Oh dear. How
to explain that one?

“
I
uh...”

“
Was it
you?”

There was nothing to do
but be honest. And she knew she could trust Mordecai.

“
Yes. I’m so
sorry. I just... got angry. And killed it. I replaced it, though.”
She threw him an imploring smile.

Mordecai grinned back at
her. “Yes, you did.”

Caia watched as he took
his glasses off to rub a smudge from the lens. “Was it
deliberate?”

“
No.”

“
Cy, I know
what you did to Ethan.”

“
Do you, cos’
I don’t,” she quipped, but he only smiled at her like he pitied
her.

“
The tree?
Was it an unfortunate victim of your anger over Rose and
Lucien?”

Oh crap, this was even
worse than she thought.

“
Maybe.” She
managed through clenched teeth.

“
Does that
happen a lot, when you get angry? Can you not control
it?”

How to explain
something this weird?

“
It just
happened with Ethan and the tree. And once with a female from my
pack. It’s like a white heat that just explodes out of me. But I
think I’m beginning to control it. With Alexa, the girl from my
pack, I just blew her across the room because I would never hurt a
member of my pack intentionally. With Ethan… he was going to kill
Lucien, and I knew he was evil so I guess it made whatever it is
stronger. Marion thinks that it’s something to do with my water
element. The tree... well my focus was on it when I let myself get
mad enough about the Rose situation.”

He nodded. “So you don’t
think it’s a problem?”

“
No. I was
going to talk to you about it, but I think I’m getting a handle on
it now.”

He appeared uncertain, as
if he had more questions he wanted to ask. Instead he settled back
to ask why she had blown Alexa across the room. Soon she was
telling him all about the pack.

“
They sound
great.” He grinned. “I wish I could meet them.”

“
Maybe you
will.”

“
Jaeden
sounds like a riot.”

A feeling of melancholy
swept over her. She wondered how Jaeden was, and if Ryder had
managed to get her back to the pack safely.

“
She
was.”

“
Don’t you
mean
is
? She
sounds tough, Caia. She’ll be alright.”

“
I hope so.
What she went through was unbelievable.”

Mordecai shuddered, his
face twisted in sympathy. “What did he actually do to
her?”

She shook her head. That
was nobody’s business but Jaeden’s, and no matter how much she
liked Mordecai, she wasn’t going to give him the sordid
details.

“
I’d rather
not talk about it.”

He snapped back in his
seat looking abashed. “Oh, of course. I didn’t mean to
pry.”

“
I know.” She
smiled kindly.

He sighed and stood up.
“You look exhausted. I’m going to leave and let you get some sleep
so that you’re prepared for the training tomorrow.”

Yeah, like she was going
to sleep with Lucien, Rose and Laila rattling around in her
mind.

And then there was
Vilhem.

Don’t forget
Vilhem.

Because first
chance she got, she was going to find that young magik and see
how
he
felt about
Laila’s imprisonment.

12 - Homecoming

“
He knows
you’re OK, better than OK, actually, so why isn’t he high tailing
it back to the city? I thought he was your little gang’s
leader?”

He waited for her answer
as they passed the sign welcoming them into town. Ryder was P-O’d
big time. Not only had he had to sit through breakfast with that
chump, Reuben, whilst he ooohed and aahhed over Jae, the idiot
couldn’t take a hint, and had travelled behind them all day, stayed
at the same hotel, and took a room next to theirs. Ryder flexed his
hand on the wheel. That was when things had started to get really
irritating. Reuben wasn’t happy that Jae was sharing a room with
Ryder, and had gotten even more unhappy when Ryder had politely
(well, maybe not politely) told him that Jae was going to be his
mate. Jaeden explained the situation, assuring Reuben that this was
what she wanted. Hearing her say that had gone a long way to
smoothing Ryder’s ruffled fur.

His calm disposition
lasted all of five seconds.

Reuben had insisted on
staying the night in their room so he and Jae could talk and
reminisce. Come morning, the vamp had decided he wanted to come
back with them to visit the pack. Ryder still didn’t get
why.

“
Stop being
condescending,” Jaeden muttered, her head turned away from him as
she gazed out of the passenger window of his truck.

“
I’m
not.”

“
Yeah, you
are. Why are you so jealous? You know, if I wanted to be with
Reuben I would have done it back when we were in our ‘little gang’
together.”

“
I’m not
jealous. I just don’t get why the guy is still hanging around. Why
he wants to meet your family.”

When he was met with
silence he threw her a longer glance before turning his attention
back to the road. She was tense as Hades, her entire body stiff,
her jaw clenched. Concern -choking, unfamiliar concern - hit him
with hard impact.

“
Jaeden, are
you OK?” This was what Lucien was always going on about with Caia.
This overwhelming protectiveness that you knew was irrational, and
yet was too powerful to control. Having always known when to stop
pushing someone when they didn’t want to talk, it was unpleasant to
realise that with Jaeden he no longer had the option of politely
backing off. He
had
to know what was going on with her. His grip tightened on the
wheel again.

“
Jae...” he
warned, his lykan entering his voice.

She huffed beside him, but
the noise immediately relaxed him. That huff usually signified that
she was ready to talk.

“
I’m nervous,
OK. No, not nervous.” She sighed heavily. “Nervous doesn’t cover
it. I haven’t seen my family in months and I’m a five minute drive
from them. Reuben is hanging around because he knows about the
telekinesis; he knows how worried I am about it... all of
it.”

That annoying
possessiveness surged up inside of him. “Yeah, well I know, too. I
get it. But I also know something neither of you seem to grasp. The
pack - your family - will accept you, no matter what.”

Jae snorted. “Like they
accepted Caia?”

Ryder sighed. It was true
that some of the pack was still unsure of the half-lykan, but for
the majority she was a welcome addition to their pack.

“
That’s
different and you know it. Caia was a near stranger to us, but
you’ve always been here.” He chuckled. “And let’s not forget you
were quite the favourite little brat of your
generation.”

“
Huh, that’s
not true. I was never a brat.”

Ryder started to slow his
truck as he turned down on to Dimitri’s street. He felt, more than
heard, Jaeden’s intake of breath.

He glanced briefly in his
rear view mirror, a sneer curling his top lip. “Vamp boy is right
behind us. What, is he intending on being there for this family
reunion?”

“
Actually,
yes.”

His heart slammed in his
chest. “Why?”

“
Because he’s
my friend, and I’m sure my parents would like to meet the person
who has been there for me these last few months.”

“
Well,
I’m
sure Dimitri’s gonna
want to tear the face off the vamp that nearly got you thrown into
a Daylight detention centre for breaking Coven laws.”

They pulled to a stop
outside the two storey house that belonged to Jaeden and her
parents, parking right behind her brother, Christian’s, Volvo.
Ryder glanced from the clear view he had of Reuben in his wing
mirror, taking a parking space a little further up the street, to
Jaeden, who had gone as pale as a white moon.

“
I never
thought of that.” Her eyes widened in panic. “Oh goddess, what if
he kills Reuben?”

“
Would that
really be so bad?”

That earned him a
wince-inducing punch to his upper arm. “Ryder!”

He huffed,
unclipping his seat belt. “Fine, if it’s
that
important to you that the vamp
lives I will intervene in the instance of attempted
murder.”

“
Uh, you will
intervene in the instance of attempted assault or I will break the
news quite bluntly to my father about our little
situation.”

Not many people on this
planet had the ability to intimidate or frighten him.

Dimitri?

Definitely one of the
few.

Little,
ruthless, blackmailing wench.

He clenched his teeth in
irritation. “Fine.”

At her grateful smile, he
rolled his eyes, ignoring the little flip his stomach gave when she
looked at him like that. Instead he got out of the truck and made
his way around to the passenger door, all of his senses alerting
him to Reuben’s cautious approach. She made a face at him as he
took her hand, believing he was making a point to Reuben, but in
truth he just wanted to comfort her.

He could actually smell
the fear oozing from her pores.

He squeezed her hand and
managed to give Reuben a nonchalant nod in greeting.

“
Ready?”
Reuben rubbed her shoulder affectionately, setting Ryder’s teeth on
edge.

The nod she gave them
wasn’t exactly confident but Ryder tugged her forward anyway. She
had nothing to worry about. He just wished she’d realise
that.

They hadn’t even stepped
up on to the path that led off Dimitri’s driveway to the house,
when the front door blasted open, and Julia came running out to
throw herself into her daughter’s arms, snapping Ryder’s hand out
of hers. He felt an unexpected pain in his chest at the way the
fear melted from Jae’s face, replaced by silent tears as her mother
held her fast and sobbed in her ear.

A click sounded in his
head as everything fell into its natural place.

Jaeden was
home.

***

Her heart was banging
loudly against her chest, and she knew that not only could everyone
around her hear it, but her mother must feel it slamming against
her own as she hugged her close. Jae inhaled Julia’s damp earth and
peaches scent that flooded her brain with warm memories.

It hurt to remember how
loved she was.

How could she have ever
thought it was for the best to leave them?

“
Mom,” she
whimpered, nuzzling her nose into her mother’s shoulder.

“
Sweetheart,
sweetheart,” Julia gurgled happily between sobs.

And then another scent
flooded her senses as solid arms came around both herself and her
mother.

“
Daddy,” she
gasped, and peered up at him from her crushed position.

His dark eyes shone down
at her from his rugged face as he pulled her close, and that ache
in her chest sharpened as she saw how much those eyes and that face
had aged since she had gone.

She had done that to
him.

Julia sidled out from
their embrace to allow Dimitri to envelope her, and she held on to
his huge frame like a little girl.

“
I’m sorry
dad,” she whispered, choking on all the emotion inside of
her.

“
It’s OK,” he
promised, brushing her hair back from her face, his eyes drinking
in every feature, assessing her to make sure she was all in one
piece.