The First Fae Mate

Sixty-two | Death wish

The welcome Visena received was nothing short of incredible and entirely undeserved. T stood in the background with the bowing Praelia wolves, and they shared a look, blinking at one another.

Welcome home, my Queen. A rueful smile pulled at their lips.

You too. Visena's lower lip trembled before she pushed her thumbnail between her teeth and gnawed. Her eyes raked across the Warrior pack. Take care of them, T.

T turned towards the woods without a word and led the Praelia wolves home.

Invictus wolves descended in a blink, and she accepted their bone-crushing hugs, only just maintaining composure. But when Prim's blotchy, swollen face rounded the Packhouse, she broke down entirely.  Prim quickly whisked the Fae away to her private cottage, and they sobbed in each other's embrace before falling asleep curled in Prim's bed.

"What happened?" Prim's sniffling whisper woke Visena in the early hours. Morning light barely touched the whispy privacy curtains framing the sills. "Why would they do it?" 

Despite Visena's silence, her racing heart revealed her wakefulness. Prim continued, "Gideon said they were behind everything. Even Zeir." 

The Dark Alpha's name left a foul taste in the Fae's mouth, and she was relieved she was currently the small spoon in the embrace. A slight flutter tapped on her back as Prim's baby woke in the womb. Morning, sweet one. The kicking increased, and Prim groaned, wiggling behind Visena to find a comfortable position. A sudden rush of love warmed Visena down the pack link, and she knew it was the infant. Prim and Orion's daughter. The knowledge shot down the link faster than the emotion. Tears welled in the Faeries eyes as she kept the secret buried- another one to add to the list.  

 With a calculating roll on her stomach, Visena wiped away the tears from the last twelve hours and pushed herself up on the bed. Prim followed suit and grasped her Alpha Queen's hands. "I'll always be here when you're ready to talk."

The responding voice could hardly muster a whisper. "I know."

*

"Take it down."

The subject in question was the barrier surrounding the Pack borders, and Visena was certain it could help her achieve her evolving plans. 

"Are you insane?" Calypso questioned incredulously. "I spent all my energy expanding it around Malum, and now you want it gone? What the hell is going on in your head right now?"

Visena didn't offer a response, instead focussing her attention on picking at her raw cuticles.  

"Why would you want the Humans to know our location after everything they have done?" The Witch tried again, a spasm taking hold beneath her left eye.   

"It's the only way to stop them." A burning itch travelled down the Fae's throat as she ground the words past her teeth. "My magic will work here." The returning scrutinising eyes made Visena turn away, irritated. "You look like mother."

Calypso's eyes blazed, and a sneer pulled at her upper lip. "Good, perhaps she could have talked some sense into you. We can't just expose ourselves to the Human Council and their Hunter puppets. It would be better if they didn't know about us at all."

"Well, she's dead, and they do know about us." 

The Witch huffed and went to find Mihnea in the next room. "Get out." The scowl on her face was enough to conjure a small storm. 

Visena wanted to leave, but her legs weren't cooperating. She glamoured herself invisible and, through paper-thin walls, listened to the conversation she somehow only heard one side of.