Ellida Read online

  Although I was a decent player, I wasn’t crazy about chess. But one look into Henry’s bright, smart eyes told me that a match with Red Cliffs’ young genius could be quite an experience. “It will be my pleasure, Master Henry,” I said and placed a loud smack on his rosy cheek.

  One by one, our guests started departing. Graeme told me to not forget to look for my magic glue to fix his truck. Henry gave me his Middle East map as a present.

  Peyton came to say goodbye.

  “It was nice to meet you, Peyton,” I said.

  “I hope I’ll see you soon, Astrid. Jack told me about your house and condo. Let’s talk about it when you have time. We can go out for lunch.”

  “Yeah, that’s gonna happen,” my wolf smirked.

  “Sure. That would be nice.”

  Four

  Astrid

  I COLLAPSED on the sofa with a deep sigh of relief. The last visitors had left, and we had a few more hours before Morgaine and Takeshi arrived. James and Jack would meet them at our small airport and drive them home.

  Eamon had tried to convince his mother to allow him to skip school on Monday, but he was promptly sent to his room to finish his homework. Jack and Uncle James were in James’ study.

  “You all right?” my aunt said and sat beside me, holding a tray with some finger food and a glass of mineral water. “Have a bite. You must be hungry.”

  “Thanks. I’m fine now,” I said and shoveled a cheese roll into my mouth. “I’m starving.”

  “What happened, Astrid? I didn’t notice anything until Henry asked you about your eyes.”

  “My wolf sometimes likes to play hide-and-seek at the most inopportune moments,” I said. “Sometimes she feels neglected, sometimes she acts upon my deepest instinct. Today there were so many fellow werewolves around and she had to stay inside. Some other times, when I’m upset, she tries to help. She says she’s stronger, but sometimes she just makes everything worse, like today.”

  “Would you turn if she was persistent?”

  “I usually turn during the full moon only, but since I met Jack, my wolf tries to come out in between changes. Sometimes I have memory lapses when she tries to take over, but so far I’ve been able to control her. When my eyes turn amber, it means she’s close. My voice changes slightly as well.”

  “Are you okay now? In spite of that episode, you did extremely well, Astrid. We’re proud of you.”

  Betty’s praise lifted my spirit. “I’m fine,” I said. “Overall, it wasn’t that difficult.”

  “Except for Heather, of course,” Betty said. “Don’t pay attention to her, Astrid. She is a bitter, unhappy woman. Remember when I told you that not every female child of a wizard and werewolf union becomes an Ellida? That there’s much more required than just a proper bloodline?”

  “Is that what happened to her?”

  “Yes. Her mother’s a werewolf, her father was a wizard. They were sure Heather would be an Ellida. The physical signs were there—she had some considerable wizard skills and her transformation was delayed. But she lacked the most important ‘ingredient’—the inner beauty, strength, humanity, maturity, balance. She didn’t have that spiritual component which makes an Ellida such a powerful force of life at its best.

  “Silly thing wanted power and position, all the wrong things. When she turned into a werewolf the first time, she lost most of her wizard skills. She’s barely an enchanter now. As a wolf, she’s small and submissive, although generally, nothing’s wrong with that. Most werewolves are submissive on some level and dominant on others, except for the Alpha pair. That’s the natural order of things. The problems start when somebody wants to break that order. Anyway, that was a heavy blow for Heather, and unfortunately, made her even more bitter.”

  Physically, Peyton didn’t resemble her mother, and I doubted that their personalities were similar. “Is Heather married? Who is Peyton’s father?” I asked.

  “She’s never been married. Peyton’s father was a werewolf from Copper Ridge. He was a nice man. Soon after Heather got pregnant, he left for Finland. Seth Withali sent him there. Anyway, according to the official version, Kincaid got killed in the local clan conflict there. Heather wasn’t devastated by his death.”

  She stopped and locked her soft, amber eyes on mine. “You’ll hear it sooner or later, so better if I tell you. Heather’s convinced herself that your father was the love of her life. They had a fling, before he married your mother, at least that’s how Hal felt about it. Of course, Heather hated Rowena’s guts when Hal brought her here, and Hal, and pretty much everybody else.”

  I let out a dry laugh. “And now she’s probably telling everyone that I’m a fake Ellida because I’m Rowena’s daughter.”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Betty said and patted my hand. “Nobody likes her here, so thanks to her, you’ve already got an army of supporters. She could’ve done far more damage if she’d been smart enough to support you.”

  I wanted to know more about Peyton, but I didn’t want to ask directly. If there were a history between Jack and her, Betty would leave it to Jack.

  “I noticed you all like Peyton,” I said.

  “She is a part of this family, Astrid. She had a sad childhood until James took her under his wing. She’s a good, smart girl. See, werewolves are very devoted to their children. They are the very core of our life. Peyton’s mother is an emotionally incapacitated person. Peyton’s never had her unconditional love and support, no matter how hard she tried. It was impossible to get Heather’s love when she wasn’t able to give it to anybody… Yes, Peyton’s very special to us.”

  “But they came together.”

  “That was the only way for Heather to come to our house. She’s not welcome, and she knows that. Peyton, on the other hand, still tries to make sense of her relationship with her mother, and Heather abuses it.”

  I was glad Betty couldn’t read my mind, because right now I was ashamed for being jealous and angry. I still felt little pangs in the pit of my stomach. I knew I should be more noble and unselfish, I told myself, but I was a woman in love. Moreover, I was a werewolf in love and therefore possessive and with poor control over the green-eyed monster.

  To my credit, I didn’t pity Peyton. Against all odds, she hadn’t become an angry, miserable person like her mother. She was smart, pretty and well liked. I just hoped she would soon find somebody who would love her back.

  Five

  Astrid

  WHEN I was a child, I loved princess fairy tales. Once my grandfather had bought me a picture book collection of fairy tales. I was more fascinated with the illustrations than with the already familiar stories. The princesses and princes were beautiful, young grown-up women and men, nothing like those juvenile characters from books and movies created for children’s audiences. Those young women wore brightly colored baroque gowns with deep necklines, which pushed up their breasts, narrow waistline and cascades of brocade and silk supported by wide hoops.

  Most vividly I remembered the fairy godmother from Cinderella. Unlike her plump, grandmotherly Disney counterpart wrapped in a shapeless cloak, that particular fairy godmother was a young, lovely woman in a beautiful pale-blue organdy gown. She looked more like Cinderella’s best friend than her fairy godmother.

  That was the image that immediately popped up in my mind when Morgaine, the Ellida of Gelltydd Coch clan, stepped into the hallway.

  Morgaine was of average height and looked to be in her early thirties, very feminine with her full breasts and curvy hips. Her straight, dark auburn hair was held back with a wide green headband. Her face was oval-shaped and clear-featured: high cheekbones, straight nose, full mouth. What made that face unforgettable was a set of beautiful wide-spaced sage-green eyes sprinkled with gold speckles. Long, arched eyebrows gave them width and depth. Framed with thick lashes, Morgaine’s misty green pools looked mysterious, sexy and wise. And timeless.

  Now those incredible eyes glanced over me and I had the feeling they penetrated
into every corner of my soul.

  She smiled at me. The speckles in her eyes grew bigger, changing her eye color to honey-gold. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Astrid,” she said in a pleasant, velvety contralto. “We’ve been waiting for you for such a long time.”

  I smiled. I’d been a long wait. Three hundred years, roughly. “I’m honored to meet you, Ellida.”

  Morgaine took a small step aside and waved toward a young man who stood behind her. “Please meet my son Takeshi.”

  “My lady,” he said stiffly and made a short bow with his head.

  He looked so aristocratic that I suppressed an urge to reply with “My lord Nakamura” and continue to speak to him in those few Japanese words and phrases I knew.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Nakamura.”

  Young Nakamura, how Jack and James had referred to him to distinguish him from his father, who was referred to just as Nakamura, was young indeed, twenty, maybe twenty-two. He was black haired, dark eyed, with ivory-white skin. He looked pretty much like the young Japanese actor even Jack had sourly admitted was handsome.

  I glanced at Jack, who stood aside, waiting for us to finish with the formalities. His gaze was fixed on Takeshi and I was quite sure he’d reached the same conclusion regarding this epitome of male beauty. He didn’t look very happy, and I knew what was troubling him: he would be gone tomorrow, and I would stay here with this stunning samurai.

  “Betty, I’m so happy to see you,” Morgaine said and hugged my aunt in a spontaneous gesture. “It’s been a while.” She turned to my cousin and greeted him in the same casual manner, “Well, hello, Eamon. Look at you! You’re a fully grown man all of a sudden!”

  We moved to the family room. Morgaine, Betty, James and Jack continued to chat. Eamon ran between the kitchen, dining and sitting rooms, taking care of our drinks and setting the table. Takeshi and I sat quietly on opposite sides of the sofa, like two kids who were allowed to stay with the adults after promising to behave.

  Morgaine threw occasional glances in my direction. She would ask me a question here and there, mostly about my grandparents and my job.

  Around midnight Jack said he was going home to get ready for tomorrow’s trip. My stomach knotted and I briefly closed my eyes. Oh, I’m not ready for that! I screamed silently, as panic washed over me. Oh, please don’t go! Don’t leave me here!

  “May I talk to you for a minute, Astrid?” Jack said.

  I excused myself and walked him to the door.

  He locked his arms around me. I pressed my forehead against his chest, listening to his heart and letting the warm current run between us, enwrapping us protectively.

  Since we’d arrived in Red Cliffs, we hadn’t had an opportunity to be alone. I wanted to ask him about Peyton. I wanted to hear there was nothing to worry about. Now it was too late for that. Whatever it had been, I told myself, it was over, otherwise Jack would have told me.

  “Take care, Jack. Don’t be long.”

  “I would be a fool to let you wait for too long,” he said quietly and sought my lips, claiming them in a fierce kiss. “I love you Astrid,” he whispered into my hair. “More than I’d ever thought was possible.”

  And with that, he was gone.

  I licked my lips that tasted of Jack, numb and swollen from his dark, ferocious kiss, and walked back to the dining room. As I passed by Morgaine, she reached out and took my hand, motioning to the chair beside her.

  “We’ll start with our training on Monday, Astrid,” she said. “Takeshi can work with you in the morning and you and I will meet every afternoon. Sound good?”

  “Sounds good,” I said and gently squeezed Morgaine’s hand in confirmation. “I’m looking forward to starting.”

  LATER IN my room, I took a shower and put on a long, midnight-blue silk nightgown. Tonight I didn’t feel like sleeping only with the nail polish on my toes. Although I was tired, sleep refused to come. From the bottom of my purse I dug out my phone and checked the messages. Liv, Ella, another one from Liv.

  I crossed the room and peered outside. The lights in the big house across the yard were still on.

  I sat on the bed and leaned on the pillows. Arms behind my head, I stared into the semidarkness of the room. The images of the day came back: the cold eyes of Heather Kincaid, Peyton’s small hand clutched around Jack’s arm, love and pain in her eyes, my wolf’s angry, jealous roars. Henry’s questions, Betty’s story, Morgaine, her son… And Jack, who was leaving tomorrow. My throat ached and my chest tightened.

  Luckily, my mind never liked to dwell too long on unhappy thoughts, so I immediately crossed to the sunny side of the street: the night Jack and I had met, the exciting and confusing first days, our first kiss, our hiking trips, our talks, laughs and fights.

  A soft knock on the windowpane broke the string of happy memories. I leaped from the bed and dashed across the room.

  I opened the window and Jack softly landed inside.

  I launched myself into his outstretched arms. Our mouths touched and our bodies pressed, and the world resumed its normal shape.

  “I can’t go before I check if there’s a monster in your closet,” he whispered between kisses, and then swept me into his arms and carried me to the bed. I closed my arms around his neck, pulling him down on me.

  “Oh, Jack, I’m already missing you.”

  Gripping my wrists, he unlocked my arms and held them above my head. “You looked a bit lost tonight. I’ve never seen you like that before, not even when I told you about the bond. What’s going on?”

  I decided I wouldn’t ask about Peyton. Not tonight.

  “That girl, Peyton,” I said and closed my eyes, embarrassed.

  “Ah, I knew there was a monster here, a green-eyed one,” Jack said and kissed the tip of my nose. “It was long ago, it didn’t last long, and it wasn’t serious. You asked me, and I told you there was nobody else. Open your eyes, Astrid.”

  I did, and my face burned.

  “There is nobody else, Astrid. You are the only one. I love you.” His lips gently brushed mine. “Talk to me, always. Don’t wrestle with your demons alone.”

  “Oh, Jack, my wolf almost came out today. She’s among her own kind, she wants to be here, where she belongs. And then that girl came and… Jack, she’s still in love with you, you’re aware of that, aren’t you?”

  He looked at me, genuinely surprised. “No, Astrid. She’s like family to me now. We are friends, like you and Ingmar. Peyton’s a good person. She’s had a complicated and not very happy life.”

  “I know. Your mother told me about it.”

  “Peyton is gentle, caring and considerate. People here like her a lot. It’s her mother you probably should be wary of, not Peyton.”

  Typically for his gender when it came to the male-female subtle emotional messages, Jack didn’t see the obvious, and I didn’t think I could convince him that Peyton still had strong feelings for him. He didn’t share her feelings, and assumed she felt the same.

  For Jack, the topic was closed. He kissed me again, lovingly, tenderly, moving from my lips to my neck, and further down until I moaned softly and was breathing heavily.

  “You sure nobody can hear us?” I murmured holding his head between my hands, gently threading my fingers through his hair.

  He chuckled. “Nobody can hear us. Miss Spock. Don’t worry.”

  Jack took his time kissing my breasts, kneading them gently, teasing their hard tips with his lips, tongue and teeth. I lost track of time and place. I was transported into a realm of pure physical pleasure and emotional fulfillment where nothing else existed except my body, Jack’s mouth on it and the beating of our hearts.

  I could feel the sweet pressure building inside the darkest depths of my womb. My flesh throbbed, swollen and moist, my own scent reached my nostrils and I inhaled it deeply. It smelled good, womanly, sexy and primal.

  I bent my knees and opened my legs, but Jack ignored the invitation, staying focused on my breasts and nipples, suckin
g them, loving them, torturing them, sending ripples of happiness further and further down, until they reached the pulsating, nerve-rich nub between my thighs.

  A gentle brush of Jack’s fingers over my swollen flesh, and I disintegrated into thousands of weightless fragments of light.

  Eons passed before I became aware of a tiny bead that snuck out from the corner of my eye. Jack’s lips caught it before it disappeared behind my ear. I let out a tiny sob.

  “I love you, Jack. Oh, God, I love you so much,” I whispered and showered him with fast, feathery touches of my lips against his mouth, eyes, cheeks, chin. I breathed in his scent, musky and sweet from the hard arousal pressing through his jeans against my abdomen.

  “I love you, too, Astrid,” he said, pressing his lips against mine in another long, hot kiss.

  We spent the rest of the night cuddling and talking. Jack teased me about my new teacher, and told me frankly that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the whole notion. “I still think it’s an excellent idea to equip you with some human fighting skills. Morgaine will explain to you all the benefits. I only wish your teacher were less dashing.” An involuntary, nervous chuckle escaped from his chest. “Damn it, he looks like one of your movie crushes.”

  “Yes, he’s good-looking, but don’t forget I like them older,” I said, laughing.

  “Yeah, that will give me peace of mind.”

  IT WAS close to dawn when we heard James and Betty in the kitchen. “Are you sure they didn’t hear us?” I said. “I can hear them now.”

  “But they still cannot hear us. All the bedrooms are soundproofed. We didn’t hear them while they were in their room, did we?”

  “No… Oh, God, Jack, how can you even say that? They are your parents!”

  “I can still imagine a very tender farewell that took place last night.”

  “Then stop imagining, please!”

  He laughed and kissed me. “They love each other very much. Betty doesn’t like when James leaves, no matter how short the trip, and he’s never happy to leave her, except maybe when he goes fishing.” He fastened his arms around me. “I don’t like leaving you, either. When everything’s over, you’ll always go with me. Okay?”