Storm of Shadows

Here's the next chapter! For my peeps on the FB Group...sorry no squished wolf in this one LOL. Thank you to Alli once again for proofing the chapter for me. You're a star!

Enjoy!

Chapter Fifteen

Natalia slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring up into an early evening sky. For a moment she was completely disorientated, and then she remembered opening her eyes earlier and seeing Kothari staring anxiously down at her. She could tell straight away that it was Kothari watching her. Gone were the hard edges around his mouth, but it was his eyes that told the true story.

They were quite frankly the most beautiful eyes she could ever recall seeing. The harsh silver irises were now a deep vibrant grey though a thin sliver of red still circled his pupils. She had stared into those stunning eyes and it had made her heart soar with happiness. She remembered saying hello to him and he had kissed her softly and then a smug smile had crossed his beautiful face and he'd said, "Mine."

She had wanted to keep staring at him, wanted to touch his face and echo his words, but she was so weary she could only close her eyes again and drift back into the obsidian darkness that welcomed her into its comforting embrace.

Now she was awake once more and she could tell that her body was healing from its trauma. She wasn't quite sure what had happened and why she wasn't dead, but she had a vague memory of telling Kothari she didn't want to die as her blood pulsed out of her body and an awful lethargy engulfed her.

"You're awake," a soft feminine voice said to her left, and Natalia turned her head to see a stunningly, gorgeous woman leaning over her, a woman she hadn't seen before. She had long dark brown hair secured in a high ponytail, and her eyes were a deep dark green, her pupils ringed with a wide ring of silver. "Hello, Natalia, I'm Rayne, Kothi's mother."

She knew that, could tell by the other woman's eyes, and she felt a lump form in her throat knowing how happy Kothari would be at finally finding his parents safe and well. "He found you," she breathed out, surprised to find tears in her eyes. She didn't know this woman, but her mate clearly adored her, so she knew she had to be pretty special.

"He did," Rayne smiled softly, holding a bottle of water to Natalia's lips so she could sip a little and take some of the acrid taste from her mouth as well as some of the croakiness from her voice.

Natalia drank gratefully and then rested back when she'd had enough. "Everyone calls me Tali," she said with a shy smile, feeling a little overwhelmed by the other woman's poise and kindness when she didn't even know her. "Except your son. He does so persist in calling me Natalia."

Rayne laughed softly and put the bottle away. "He gets that from his father. Everyone calls me Rayne except that stubborn mate of mine. He insists on calling me by my full given name of Sarayne, even though he initially knew me as only Rayne when we first met."

It was obvious she adored her mate and wasn't shy about letting the world know it. Natalia found herself liking Rayne more and she was hopeful that the other woman found her just as likeable. She moved to sit up and almost fell back she felt so weak. Rayne caught her gently though and helped her sit up so she could look around her surroundings.

"Your body has healed but you're still transitioning, Tali. It may be a little while before you will be strong enough to do things unaided."

Natalia had been perusing her surroundings, wondering just where they were when Rayne spoke and her surprised gaze turned back to her mate's mother. "Transitioning?" she asked, a sliver of apprehension running through her. "What am I transitioning into to?"

Rayne sighed and bit her bottom lip, as if she were unsure of how much to reveal. They were currently alone in the clearing so there was no one else she could turn to for guidance but that didn't stop her looking around before she answered the question.

"Kothi should really answer your questions, but he's checking out the area with Gard, Demetri, Nors and also Joshua and Louis, to make sure no one is following us. We've travelled about half way down the mountainside. The others are at the small pool not far away cleaning up while Freya and Dayton have gone ahead into town to purchase fresh clothing for everyone. They were the only two who had fresh clothing, due to Freya's previous nomadic lifestyle where she always travelled prepared. Your pack is beside you for when you're ready to clean up and get changed."

It wasn't exactly answering all of her questions but Natalia was grateful for the additional information. She hadn't recognised this place when she'd looked around. She must have been really out of it if she hadn't been aware that she had been moved. Had Kothari been the one to carry her down the mountain? She was fairly sure that he would have been because she couldn't imagine him allowing anyone else to do it, perhaps with the exception of his father.

Her brown gaze met Rayne's steadily and she gave her a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace because she was afraid of what the answer would be to the unanswered question. "You didn't answer everything, Rayne."

Again, the other woman bit her bottom lip and then she let out a long sigh. "That's because we don't know what you're transitioning into, Tali," she finally admitted. "You're a tad unique. All previous matings with the Vârcolac have been with vampires to date. And the Vârcolac children born in this generation have tended to favour either their Were side or their Vampiric one. You're the first human to be turned to this life. We don't know what you will become. You may favour either of the supernatural species or you may favour none of them but retain the speed, strength and longevity of the Vârcolac. We will discover that at the same time you do, I'm afraid."

That didn't settle any of Natalia's concerns but she appreciated the honesty. It did sort of answer part of her question though. If Rayne was alluding that she was becoming some type of Vârcolac, then that meant it could only have been either Dara or Kothari who had given her their blood when she was dying. And she was one hundred percent sure that it was her mate who had saved her life. There was no way in hell he would have allowed anyone else to turn her to the supernatural life. He was far too possessive for that.

"Are you okay with all this, Tali?" Rayne asked softly when she didn't speak. "Kothi was so unsure about giving you his blood without consent. You told him you didn't want to die. I truly hope that this is what you wanted because he will blame himself if it wasn't, and he's blamed himself his entire life far too much for things outside his control as it is."

Natalia blinked at her in surprise and then gave her a tremulous smile. "It isn't that I wanted to remain human. I'm just a little frightened about what I may be becoming," she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek which she quickly wiped away. She didn't want her mate's mother to think her weak and pathetic. She wanted to be worthy of being Kothi's mate.

"I had made the decision to transition to a wolf after the attack on our pack. I wasn't strong enough being human to help, and my father died sending my mother heading towards turning rogue. If I had made the change before then maybe some of my pack would have lived. I didn't ever want to be in that position again so I decided I would become a wolf once our Alpha returned. I guess being some type of Vârcolac is a kind of an upgrade on being a wolf. Dara and Kothari are insanely strong. I want to be that strong, Rayne. I want to be able to protect everyone that I love."

The last part of her statement came out so fiercely that she was surprised when the other woman started to laugh softly, joy shining from her eyes. She couldn't think of anything that she'd said that would cause this much amusement to Kothari's mother. Something must have telegraphed on her expression because Rayne reached out and pressed a soft caress to the side of her face which startled her but felt kind of nice.

"Oh, Tali, I'm not laughing at you, sweet girl. I'm just so overjoyed to have you in my son's life. He has been so alone, so detached from everyone he holds dear for his entire life. With you at his side, I have new hope that he can finally let down his defences and allow his true emotions to shine. Already I can see a change in him since he healed you. I believe Agony is no more, but only time will tell if that is truly the case."

Rayne was accepting her, Natalia realised, and she was astonished that it was that easy for Kothari's mother to just welcome a stranger into their family with no apparent qualms. Would his father be the same when she officially met him? Would Kothari even want her as his mate once her transition was complete and she wasn't a helpless human girl anymore? Perhaps it had been that vulnerability that had called to the side of him that was Agony? She'd heard of instances where a proposed mate bond had failed because one of the couple was not compatible in strength and dominance levels.

Was that why it had been so easy for him to leave her here with his mother when she was badly hurt? Wouldn't a true mate have refused to leave her side? Natalia's mind was suddenly filled with so many doubts and questions that she couldn't hide her unease from her expression. And it appeared Rayne had some kind of weird mind reading skill because she seemed to know instantly where her thoughts had gone.

"Would it ease that haunted expression if I told you that my mate had to literally grab our son by the back of his neck and force him to go along with the others?" she asked with a wry smile." We're usually the only two that he listens to without a fight but he argued with Gard quite vociferously." She appeared relaxed about that, even amused, as if a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders.

Her amusement surprised Natalia who would have thought she would be concerned that her son had stopped listening to them. "That didn't worry you?" she asked, her curiosity at learning more about her mate and his family taking hold.

Rayne laughed, and there was joy in her laughter as she shook her head. "He was showing his emotions, Tali, instead of burying them deep inside himself. Kothi was, not Agony, not any other persona he's used to hide from his emotions. Our son was being a normal, obstructive pain in the ass. It was the most beautiful thing to witness, and we have you to thank for that. So, please don't think that he may change his mind about you or find you lacking in some way because you're no longer human. You are perfect for him. You are what he has been searching for his entire life."

The confidence in Rayne's tone had her silly doubts melting away in a heartbeat. He must still want her, mustn't he? After all, who would know him better than his mother and she was completely confident about that. Natalia relaxed a bit, and rested against the boulder her back was to. She guessed she would have to wait until the others returned to truly know Kothari's feelings on what had happened, so for now all she could do was rest and recover and wait for his return.

~~~~~

Kothari could feel his irritation levels escalating and for the first time in his life that didn't scare the crap out of him. Always before he'd had to be so careful and controlled to keep Agony at bay, but now that wasn't an issue anymore and that was still a bit of a shock to him. He kept expecting his beast to start fighting him for control and yet nothing happened. Oh, he knew that part of himself was still there deep down, but it felt more integrated with him and his panther now, more accepting that they needed all parts of his personality to be the true mate Natalia needed.

Natalia...his beautiful little mate he'd been forced to leave behind in his mother's care. And forced was the operative word for it. His father had actually laid hands on him! He'd never done that before. Gard hadn't hurt him in any way, he'd just made it known in no uncertain terms that he expected his son to go with the others to make sure there were no stragglers following them and that was that. The fact he'd had to reinforce that by escorting him out of the clearing by the scruff of his neck was quite frankly humiliating though.

It had angered Kothari even as he'd respected the firmness his father had displayed. There were some conventions that even Agony had always followed, and one of them had been to always respect and listen to his parents. They'd lived millennia longer than he had, so their wisdom was never to be ignored and they loved him unconditionally, despite everything he'd done in the past.

That still didn't make him any happier though. Natalia hadn't woken up since the first time when he'd kissed her and made his declaration. He knew she was recovering and transitioning and needed time to get through that but he wanted her to wake up so badly. He needed to know that he'd done the right thing, that she wasn't angry with him for changing her without asking if she wanted to be a wolf instead. She was pack orientated and her mother was a wolf. She might have wanted to be one but he hadn't wanted Dayton to bite her, he hadn't wanted anyone to touch her other than himself. He'd been too selfish in that. He should have considered what she truly wanted not what he had so desperately needed.

"I think that dead tree trunk is completely pulverised, son. You can probably stop kicking it now," Gard said in an amused tone, and Kothari started because he hadn't even noticed his father arriving.

They were supposed to making sure no one was following them! He needed to have his ass kicked for not even noticing Gard's approach. Kothari looked down at his feet and saw a mass of sawdust on the forest floor and his boots caked in it too. He hadn't even realised he'd been kicking the damned tree trunk either he was so deep in his mental chastisements. He heard his father let out a long sigh and turned to meet his gaze.

Gard stared at his son for a long moment and then shook his head with a wry smile. "It's going to take a while to get used to that, Kothi."

Kothari frowned, giving his father a quizzical look.

"One, I can see your eyes, which is most definitely not the norm." Gard laughed softly at his confusion. "And two, they've turned the most unusual shade of dark grey. Sometimes there are little glints of silver dancing in them, and other times little flecks of green. It appears to be dependent on how you're feeling at any given moment. When you're pissed, like you are now, I see the silver and when you're more relaxed there's that hint of green. It's quite fascinating especially with the red circle around your pupils. Reminds me of your mother's eyes."

Kothari's mouth dropped open in astonishment. His eyes had changed? He was aware that he'd misplaced his customary sunglasses in his haste to save Natalia's life, and whilst he'd initially been a bit concerned about that, when no one else appeared to be, he had just presumed he had everything under control now he was more settled in who he was, and his subconscious confidence in that was transmitting to everyone else. Was that what Natalia had seen when she'd opened her eyes and her beautiful face had glowed with happiness as she'd greeted him? Had she noticed the change in his eyes and that had been why she'd known he had accepted all parts of himself?

"That's also going to take some getting used to," Gard commented, and there was a hint of concern in his tone that had Kothari tensing slightly.

"What is?" he asked, holding his breath because he had no clue what it was that had put that expression on his father's face.

His father regarded him silently for a long moment as if thinking of the best way to phrase his words and then he gave him a wry smile. "Your vulnerability," he answered. "I'm just so used to seeing you not give a fuck about anything, to seeing your hard outer shell, that witnessing my son looking so uncertain and almost afraid calls out to my fatherly protective instincts. It's not a bad thing, Kothi," he hastened to add on. "It's just a new thing. I finally feel that there's a chance that I can be the true father that you need, and not the pale imitation I have been for all of your life so far."

His words were like a punch to Kothari's gut. He could hear his father's self-recrimination in his tone and he immediately railed against it. His father doubted his worth to him? It was unconscionable and he refused to accept that this wonderful man who had quite literally kept the majority of his demons at bay his entire life could believe that.

His guilt knew no bounds and he found himself doing something he couldn't recall ever doing before. Kothari reached out and pulled his father into a tight embrace, feeling Gard's surprised hesitation for a moment before he wrapped his arms around his son and hugged him as if his life depended on it. It had to have been the first instance that Kothari had ever initiated tactile contact between them. All previous times his mother or father had embraced him had always been instigated by them.

"You have always been the true father I have needed." The words hissed out in a sharp whisper, so vehemently that Kothari was stunned by the level of emotion he felt. "Without you, without Mother, I would most likely have gone feral long ago. Don't you ever say that again, Father. Don't you ever believe that you or Mother were not what I needed. You were my rocks, the very foundations I relied on. I may not have always shown that but it is how I always felt."

He could feel his father's body shake with emotion, and his guilt and sorrow threatened to overwhelm him. Gard was the strongest, most amazing man he knew. He hated knowing that he was responsible for making him feel as vulnerable as he was right now. He knew they had to talk properly and that now wasn't the right time, but he had to find some way to take away some of the guilt and recriminations his father felt. So, he did the only thing he could think of. He uttered four whispered words.

"I love you, Dad."

Gard's heart soared as he heard his son whisper those words. Oh, he knew their boy loved both him and Rayne, but to hear the wealth of emotion in Kothari's voice was like being given everything he'd ever desired in his long life. Which, he was being given because, apart from his beautiful mate, hearing his son tell him that he loved him was the most precious gift in the world.

"I love you, my son," he sighed softly, stroking his boy's neck gently and kissing his temple. "We have always loved you, Kothi and always will. When we get home we can sit down and talk, me, you, your mother, and Natalia too if you wish it. Whatever you need, we are here for you and will always be."

He held his son for a long moment and then he slowly released him and gave him a warm smile. "So, do you want to tell me what that poor tree stump did to you to merit such a violent end?" His tone held more than a hint of humour, and that softened some of the tightness around Kothari's eyes.

"I'm just not used to questioning my decisions," Kothari admitted gruffly. "I guess Natalia isn't the only one who is transitioning right now."

When Gard quirked an eyebrow at his admission he gave him a resigned smile. "I need to learn how to be more open and how to show my softer side. That doesn't come naturally to me so can be a tad overwhelming. I am sure I will work through it, though it may take me a while. And maybe a few more tree stumps to annihilate," he tacked on, making his father burst out laughing.

"Yes, it is going to be a journey for you, son, but you have your mother and I, plus Natalia and Rafe and the rest of the pack. If you allows us in we will be able to provide whatever help and guidance you find you may need. And if that doesn't work you can ask Freya how she copes with all our bothersome emotions. She appears to manage okay."