Finally, Parker sighed. “We’ll leave. I’ll drop the pack.”
The throaty, rough sounds of Parker’s voice made her shiver and she turned to look at him. She might feel differently in a year—or maybe ten—but right now she couldn’t imagine there being a time when she wouldn’t want to listen to him speak.
She reached out her hand for him to take. Their fingers entwined, she smile at him.
“You would, wouldn’t you? And just last week we both wanted out of this mating.”
Heat infused his cheeks creating a small red tinge to his tone. She had to grin. No one else would notice he blushed. They’d be too leery of his size and his manifesto of tattoos to see the heart inside the gentle giant that was her mate. She squeezed their joined fingers before she glared at Tristan.
“You knew and you deliberately evaded my question when I asked what would happen.”
“I suspected.” Her brother met her gaze not dropping his eyes or even looking sheepish about what he’d done. She had to give him credit for that. He at least stood behind his boneheaded decisions.
“You should have told us that freeing Parker’s voice would make him part of the pack.”
“He’s always been my pack. You should have been my pack.” Tristan raised his voice. “As far as I’m concerned I simply set things back to the way they should have always been.”
“Now you’re a god?”
Her older brother roared a sound that could only be called more wolf than man.
Parker tried for her attention. “Angel.”
She didn’t listen. In all honesty, listening had always been a problem for her followed by her second biggest issue, which was to know when to shut up. At the moment she didn’t care.
“What? No one here questions you? No one here tells you when you’ve done something really bad? Guess what? The leaders in the New Orleans pack hated everything about me. They were desperate to find some man who could mate me and shut me up. It didn’t work for them and it’s not going to work for you—no matter how loud you howl.”
Tristan had the audacity to laugh. Not just a snicker either but a downright loud snort through his nose. Angel couldn’t believe it. She put her hands on her hips. There was nothing she’d just said that should have been at all amusing let alone warranted that much humor.
“What are you laughing at?”
He shook his head. “You. You are the female version of Gabriel.”
“Gabriel?” Had she met a Gabriel? “I don’t know who that is.”
“And you won’t for a while because, apparently, while our world is imploding and we are considering plans to run away, he’s off having a nervous breakdown.”
Angel looked at Parker but he seemed as confused as she was. “Should I be insulted by the Gabriel remark?”
“No, it means you’re family. I’m Tristan, you know that. I’m the Alpha of our pack but the third oldest in terms of our brothers. Michael is the oldest, he’s mated to a former pack mate of yours.”
“Scarlett Knoll. I saw it in a vision. I thought she must be here against her will.”
Tristan raised his eyebrows. “They’re only here a little while but I can’t imagine anyone making Scarlett do anything she didn’t want to do. Michael would take off their head.”
“I know the feeling.” Parker stepped forward. “I would destroy anyone who dared approach Angel disrespectfully.”
“You’re very intense. I can feel it in my mind as I can feel all the members of our pack. You will be an asset to us whether we stay to fight or have to go into hiding.”
Angel could feel Parker’s pride at those words swimming through her veins. She wasn’t going to ask him to leave this. No way, no how. It was enough he’d been willing to go. The longer she spoke to Tristan, even with his prickly ways and his reference to her looking like their dad, the more she liked him.
“Who else? Who else is in the family?”
Tristan and Parker regarded her silently and she shrugged. “What’s the big deal? If I’m going to stay I might as well know who my family is, right?”
Parker caught her meaning first and she could feel the love radiating off of him towards her. Their mating bond was tight.
“So you’re staying?” Tristan voice sounded strained.
“Oh yes. You wanted me, now you’re stuck with me.”
Her brother smiled and he looked younger, more relaxed than she could have imagined him. “After Gabriel there’s me, then Theo. He’s here with his mate Faith. Then Azriel. And then the baby is Rex—Randolph—but we call him Rex. He’s not here either. He’s off hunting a witch.”
“What is it with you people and witches?”
But his reference wasn’t lost on her. She still had something to do. Her mother had come to her in her magical coma and shown her the lake that was right outside of Parker’s home. That had to mean something. She didn’t particularly like having a destiny but she would fulfill it nonetheless.
As she chewed on her fingernail, she moved forward. Parker had gotten his voice back. It was time to figure out what was important about the darn lake.
“Where are you going?” Parker’s voice called after her.
“The lake.”
In two strides, Parker had caught up to her. “Feel like a swim?”
“Mom came to me in my dream. Showed me a scene of you and your dad fishing in that lake. I think it’s important.”
Tristan was right behind them. “Do you have a lot of visions?”
“Yes.” Angel paused looking back at Tristan. “Doesn’t everyone here?”
“No. I mean we all have powers, the women have stuff they can do, but a lot of visions? Absolutely not.”
“Maybe that’s why your father wants you dead,” Parker supplied.
“That’s as good a guess as any.”
She didn’t give a flying fig why Kendrick Kane wanted her dead. She had no intention of not being alive. He would have to get used to disappointment.
Taking the stairs two at a time, she made it downstairs a lot faster than she’d made it up. Of course this time it was Parker chasing her and not the other way around. The lake stood out in front of them and she almost tripped on her makeshift toga that Parker had insisted she wear so no one saw her naked.
She hated the thing. It smelled. It was old and it was itchy. Not a great combination. Dropping it to the ground, she raised one eyebrow as she dared Parker to complain. She’d just agreed to pack for him. The least he could do was let her be naked if she wanted to be naked.
At that moment, out of the woods like they’d appeared out of thin air, came what looked to be the entire Westervelt pack. She swallowed, now aware more than ever about her nudity.
Tristan stepped forward. “Cullen.”
The broad shouldered man who seemed to be around all the time came forward holding out some clothes for her. Angel nodded, hoping her gratitude showed in her eyes. She’d never been particularly good at expressing thanks. Cullen nodded back and she had the feeling he understood.
Quickly, although far less graceful than she would have liked, she managed to shove on the grey sweatpants and matching t-shirt. Finally covered, she turned to look at Parker. His eyes held amusement and she had the impression he laughed at her.
“What’s funny, Parker?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You are, Angel. Even if you don’t know it.”
Gods, she wished they were alone and not standing in front of the entire pack like some kind of weird show they all wanted to watch.
“Um…”
Cullen interrupted her as he handed Parker a set of clothes similar to her own. “I see you managed to return his voice, my Alpha, and might I inquire if they are also members of the pack?”
“They are. Although, my baby sister is not thrilled about it.”
Parker’s love traveled through their connection and she grinned. “The idea is growing on me.” She cleared her throat
. “But there is something I have to do.”
Tristan rolled his eyes. “Yes, you mentioned that. Something about the lake?”
“Right.” She walked forward, aware all eyes were on her. She hadn’t strode much of a distance when a familiar face stopped her.
In front of her stood Scarlett Knoll. She’d been a member of the New Orleans’ pack where Angel had been raised. The other woman had been abused by the terrible leaders there and Angel knew she’d spend the rest of her life feeling guilty about not being able to help her.
Scarlett reached out to grab her arm. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“As I am to see you.” Tears threatened to pool in her eyes and Angel blinked them away. “Are you okay? I understand you’re mated.”
“To Michael, yes.” Scarlett grinned. “I’ve never been better. I mean in my entire life I’ve never felt as right as I do now. Angel, I can shift.”
She’d been with Michael in her dream. It was incredible to see her looking this good in person.
“You can shift? Scarlett, that’s incredible…”
“I know.” Scarlett squeezed her arm. “We have all been worrying about you. Almost the entire pack is here now and everyone is so…different. It’s incredible what Tristan and Michael and Cullen have done…”
Angel’s head whirled. There was so much information to digest, so many things she was going to have to spend time relearning and thinking about.
“But I think you were on your way somewhere and now everyone is staring at us.” Scarlett dropped her gaze. Angel sighed. It was a Beta thing. Even as wonderful as she looked, even with the glow that lit up from the inside of her, Scarlett wouldn’t hold her eye contact very long.
Just get to the lake already. Her wolf snorted.
She decided to do just that. Walking as fast as she could, she made it down to the lake that seemed a lot smaller in person than it had in her dream. The image of Parker fishing with his father flashed into her mind and dissipated as quickly as it formed. Yes, there was clearly something important about that lake.
Angel supposed it actually looked more like a pond. It was oval, rather than round and held a green mossy film on the top of it that she supposed was some kind of algae although she knew very little about these things.
“What are we looking at?” Parker’s voice was right above her ear. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek.
“You keep doing that and I’m going to have to leave all of these people and take you somewhere to be by ourselves.”
He laughed, a low guttural sound. “Say the word.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I need to figure out what I have to do. I had this vision of you and your dad fishing here.”
“We did that a lot. Maybe you were simply cued into one of my memories.”
Angel bit down on her fingernail as she considered what he said. “It’s possible, I suppose. But that doesn’t feel right to me.”
“It doesn’t feel right?”
She elbowed him hard and he oomphed. “Don’t make fun of me. I’m making this up as I go along. Do you have some sort of concrete game plan I don’t know about?”
“Just to love you forever and ever. That and to do whatever you want whenever you want it.”
His words made her cheeks heat up. “Then what I want is for you to help me figure out why I’m so consumed with this…pond.”
“Is there something in the pond? In your vision, I was fishing. That implies I was catching something underneath the surface.”
“Now, you’re giving me something I can use.” She tugged at her shirt and he pulled it back down.
“What are you doing? Keep the clothes on.”
“I’m not going to swim fully dressed.” She wasn’t that great of a swimmer on a good day. If she didn’t have a suit, it was better for her to be in the buff.
Parker pulled off his shirt. “I’ll go in. If there is something in there, I’ll find it.”
“No, I don’t think…”
But he’d already stripped. The site of his tight, nude ass made her catch her breath. Distracted, she didn’t complain when he dove into the water instead of her.
“What is he doing?”
She jumped as Tristan and Cullen came up behind her.
“Well, brother, I have a feeling there is something in the lake and he is checking it out for me.”
Tristan and Cullen looked at each other. Seconds later, they’d both shoved off their clothes and dove into the water. Angel rolled her eyes as she waited for Parker to surface. He came up for air and dove back down.
“Did you find something?”
She didn’t like being left out of this. It was her vision and the men had usurped her role in it.
“Not yet, love. Don’t get your panties in a twist. It’s called delegating.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not wearing any panties, big guy.”
He groaned. “Thanks for reminding me of that.”
Just then all three heads resurfaced from the water. Parker spoke first. “I’m sorry, Angel, we can’t see or sniff anything down there.”
Angel stomped her foot. No, that wasn’t right. There had to be something. She felt her eyes turning wolf and she wondered why she was getting so upset over this. Maybe it had been a stupid dream; maybe it had been meaningless, maybe…
Maybe they can’t see it or sniff it. Maybe only we can.
Her wolf’s voice made her stop. Yes, that was the answer. Before anyone could say anything else, Angel pulled off her clothes.
“I assure you, Princess, we looked everywhere.”
She cut off Cullen’s assurances as she dove under the water. If she was wrong, then there really was nothing lost. She had a feeling most everyone in the pack probably already thought she was nuts already.
The water felt cool to her hot skin. As she opened her eyes under water, she took a moment to appreciate the serene beauty of the moment. Had she ever done this before? If she’d grown up on Westervelt—before everything went to hell—she imagined the kids did this all the time. Parker probably swam regularly simply for the fun of it.
In her whole life, Angel had never done anything for the pure enjoyment of the experience. Some day that would have to be fixed.
A glittery light displayed before her and she swam in that direction. Were the men nuts or had they simply missed the bright white light that shouldn’t be pulsating from the bottom of the lake? Her lungs started to burn and she resurfaced quickly.
Catching her breath, she was hauled tightly up against Parker’s chest.
“Are you crazy? You could have drowned staying down there that long.”
“Did you not see the bright light surrounding some kind of box?” She panted between words as she struggled to get out of Parker’s embrace.
She needed to get that box in a way she hadn’t before she’d entered the lake. It felt like she was under some kind of compulsion now and while that should have concerned her, it didn’t.
“There’s no bright light down there. I’m sure of that.”
Angel gasped for breath, finally wrenching herself free. “Trust me, it’s there. And I’m going back for it.”
Parker squeezed her shoulders as he reached her again. “Angel, I can’t see it. Tristan can’t see it. Cullen can’t see it. I might not be very magical but I get the impression they are. If they can’t see any bright light, then there isn’t one. Maybe this is a trick to get you to drown yourself, something your father is doing.”
“If I could interject here,” the red-headed Ashlee, Tristan’s mate, dove into the water.
“Little one,” Tristan hollered at her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to help Angel.”
“This is madness.”
“No.” Ashlee shook her head. “It’s not. This is female stuff. Angel says she can see a box surrounded in white light. I’m inclined to believe her. You guys can’
t see it. Well, you can’t call the watchtower winds to assist you in magic either. I can. So move out of my way.”
“But, little one.” Tristan’s voice was low. They were all wolves so they could hear it but at least it gave the illusion of privacy. “You’re pregnant.”
“Pregnant people can still swim, my love.” Ashlee looked at Angel. “You’d think after three children he’d know pregnant didn’t mean disabled.”
Angel blinked, her focus shifting from the incredible need to get back down to the bottom of the lake to the here and now. “You’ve had three children?”
Ashlee looked to be about twenty-two years old. Angel knew that, as a rule, shifters were a lot older than they looked. But still…
“No, I wasn’t sixteen when I had them. I’m forever twenty-two because I’m mated to Tristan and that was the age I was when we met. It’s one of the Alpha things.”
“I’ve never heard of that. It didn’t work that way in New Orleans.”
Ashlee shrugged. “My understanding is that nothing worked the way it should in New Orleans.”
That was true. “Are you coming with me?”
“I will. Even if I can’t see it, maybe I can help.”
“I appreciate it.”
The men were all silent, which Angel found amazing. Apparently when the Alpha’s mate spoke, everyone shut up. She’d have to remember that.
She took a moment to fill her lungs with air before she dived down beneath the water. Since she knew where she was going, she made better time to the bottom of the lake. Ashlee was right behind her and she had to give the other woman credit, she could really swim.
The box lay out before her like a beacon. Angel tugged and tugged until it came lose. In her arms if felt light but hot like it might burn her fingers off if she wasn’t submerged in water.
Ashlee pulled at her arm, helping her swim upwards with the burden she’d felt so compelled to discover. As she broke through the top of the lake, she wondered if it was going to be blessing she’d gotten the box out or if like Pandora before her, she was going to wish she never had.