#Chapter 496- Bonded Power Ella
I give Ariel one last kiss for luck and exhale a deep breath, focusing my eyes on Henry as I lean back against my mate, who wraps a supportive arm around me.
“Actually, Ella,” Cora says, and my eyes dart to her. She smiles and me from across the couch, her arms wrapped around her baby on her lap. ” I’m the one who has news first.”
“Oh,” I say, my eyes going wide as I shift a little to direct my attention to her now. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know – ”
She shakes her head, dismissing my apology as Roger comes to perch on the arm of the couch behind her. She reaches up a hand and he takes it, giving her a little squeeze.
“Um, we contacted mom this morning,” she says quietly, apology all over her face. “To…to ask about what the Dark God could have possibly been up to. I’m sorry we did it without you – I know you would have wanted to be there -”
“No,” I breathe, even though I am a little disappointed. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to see her anyway, right?”
“Yeah,” she says, cocking her head to the side. “Unless we go to the temple, it is sort of a…one-on-one experience, isn’t it?”
“But we can go,” Sinclair murmurs behind me, supportive, “if we don’t get the answers you need – ”
“It’s okay,” I say, nodding to everyone around the room. “I get it – you don’t need to be so gentle with me. I was completely knocked out from giving birth and we needed information fast. It’s okay. So…” I flick my fingers at my sister, smiling at her. “Please, divulge. I’m dying to know.”
“Well,” Cora says, laughing a little and glancing up at Roger. “Mom was not happy to hear that her boyfriend visited you.”
“Really?” I gasp, a little delighted at the immortal gossip.
“Really,” Cora confirms, her eyes going wide as a grin overtakes her face. “She figured that he knew about you, but she had no idea that he’d go so far as to bestow a gift on the baby behind her back.”
“Behind her back,” I repeat, shaking my head. “Wow. So? Did she say it was… dangerous?”
“She said that he didn’t have the balls to go that far,” Cora says, laughing and giving a little shrug. “Or, well, those weren’t her precise words – but that was the sentiment. That he’s just trying to get her attention and let her know that he’s pissed – but that he knows better than to truly mess with her lineage.”
“So,” I say, looking down at little Ariel who lays cuddled in my arms, drowsy but idly kicking her little feet. “It really was a gift?”
“Mom doesn’t know what it was,” Cora says, shaking her head. “But she… she said she can’t make him take it back, Ells. That immortal gifts they’re not like…presents you can return or regift. They become part of us.”
“That makes sense,” I sigh, hoisting my baby up closer. “Well, at least we know it’s not…bad.”
“Which doesn’t mean it’s good,” Sinclair grumbles behind me. Clearly, he wanted better news.
“There is some precedence,” Henry says, leaning forward in his chair and studying the baby as best he can. “The texts are old, but there are some that report on gifts given by both the Goddess and the Dark Lord. What is interesting is that they seem to be reliable – there is one text in particular that speaks of a Goddess-given gift of healing that sounds quite a bit like yours, Ella,” he says, raising his eyebrows at me.
“Oh,” I say, perking up a little. “Well, that’s interesting. Would I be able to read that?”
“I’ll have it translated,” Henry says nodding, “and sent to you as soon as possible.”
“And what were some of the ‘gifts’ the Dark God has given?” Sinclair asks, his voice heavy and dubious on the word ” gift.”
“He doesn’t give everyday gifts like the Goddess does – her interests have always been more domestic, for lack of a better word. She deals with the heart and the home – assigning mates, healing the body, changing the weather to ensure good crops.” He nods to Cora and I as he lists our gifts and I turn my head, because he’s right – while Cora and I have used them in much different ways, they do seem to be gifts that could be used to build a family and keep it safe in hard times.
“And the dark god?” Sinclair presses, his voice a little annoyed in his anxiety now.
“He,” Henry says, shifting his eyes to his son now, “prefers…more sweeping magics. Not things that can or should be used every day. Things that…change the world.”
A shiver runs through me at this and I find myself holding my breath as I look down at my little girl.
“Change the world?” Sinclair asks, going tense behind me.
“The text reports that he once gave a man the gift of eclipse, allowing him to hold the moon’s shadow before the sun for days on end, only relenting when his enemies collapsed to his demands.”
We all go silent and still at this.
After a long moment, only Roger is bold enough to break the quiet of the room.
“What the hell, Ariel,” he breathes, leaning forward to stare at his niece.
A ridiculous little laugh bursts at me from this, and I shake my head as Cora and Sinclair and then Henry start to laugh as well. I shake my head at my brother-in-law, so grateful for him and his strange sense of humor, which revealed itself so late in the game.
“Seriously,” Roger says, sitting up straight and running his hand through his hair, looking at his niece with wide eyes. “She’s the littlest of all of us but it sounds like she’s going to have some serious power.”
“Well, we don’t know it’s going to be something like that,” I sigh, rolling my eyes and trying to shake the tension out of my shoulders. “It could be… something smaller. Maybe he’s just trying to get under mom’s skin.”
“Or up her skirt,” Roger murmurs, and I grin as Cora turns to smack him for speaking such blasphemy about our mother and a deity. Roger just wrinkles his nose at Cora as he grins and grabs his arm where she hit him, pretending that the blow stung when it clearly did not.
“So, Ariel is clearly the most powerful wolf amongst us,” I say with a sigh, propping her up a little in my arms so she can look around at the family. “So, she is the Alpha now.” Ariel, betraying my confidence, just gives a sleepy little mew, her eyelids fluttering shut as she snuggles back into my arm.
Cora laughs and I feel a little pulse of pride and pleasure down my bond with Sinclair.
“At least it means she’ll be able to stand up to her brother and her cousin,” Roger says, looking between the boys – Rafe toddling around on the floor and Jesse in Cora’s arms. “Though …none of them are very impressive just yet.”
“Do you think?” I ask, looking around at the group. “Does it…I mean, they all have gifts from mom, right? But will her being strong make the boys strong – through their bonds or something?”
“I don’t know,” Henry says, tilting his head and considering his grandchildren with interest.
“But,” Sinclair says, clearly thinking it through as he talks, “that’s not how bonds work, right? I mean, Cora and Ella are blessed with Goddess gifts, but Roger and I aren’t any stronger for it.”
I click my tongue, offended, and turn to glare at my mate over my shoulder. ” Excuse me, Dominic, but you have benefited many times from my gift – ”
“Yes, darling,” he says, rolling his eyes a little and shaking his head, “but you know what I mean. We aren’t physically stronger, or gifted ourselves.”
“True,” Cora says, looking between the two of them. “But…both of us did bond to extremely powerful Alpha wolves who just happen to be brothers “Baby,” Roger says, interrupting and beaming down at her, pressing a hand to his heart. “That is…the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me -”
“It’s just a fact, Roger,” she sighs, rolling her eyes, making me laugh.
“You think I’m powerful, and tough,” he whispers, sliding down the couch’s arm to squeeze in behind her, wrapping his arms around her and Jesse both, rocking them back and forth. Jesse squeaks and laughs as Cora tries to hold her own laughter back. “You’re amazed with me
“Oh god,” she sighs, even though her grin. “I take it back – ”
“Never, I’ll treasure this moment my whole life – ”
I’m shaking with laughter even as Sinclair raises his voice to cut through it.
“As amazing as this breakthrough is for the two of you,” he says, his voice not without humor, “what’s your point, Cora?”
“I don’t know,” she sighs, leaning contentedly back against Roger, who sweetly presses a kiss to her neck. “Just that perhaps there’s more to these bonds than just raw power being passed between them. I mean, I don’t think it’s really a chance that Ella and I figured out we’re sisters and ended up with brothers. We’re…kind of a powerful foursome, when we put our minds to it.”
I nod, considering that maybe Cora is right. That perhaps it’s less about the bonds themselves and instead what they create in combination.
“And those three,” Cora continues, gesturing between the children, ” they’re already bonded to each other, each with a goddess gift. And then Ariel with a Dark gift as well?” She shrugs. “I think, in combination, they could be… formidable.”
“Future of our nation, right here,” I say quietly, leaning to again kiss my little girl and reach out a hand to my son, who I suddenly want quite close. ” Whatever gifts they have, I hope they can be convinced to use them to protect themselves first, and then our people after that.”
Quietly, my family nods as we look around at each other. Because our family comes first – but our nation?
These children are going to have a huge role in it. I hold my breath a little, praying inwardly that we can raise them to be strong enough to use their gifts for good.
“Actually,” Henry says, making us all turn to him in surprise. “There’s some precedence there as well.”
And my eyebrows nearly shoot into my hairline. More news today?
I settle back against my mate, ready again to listen.
