My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

"Graeme search your heart for the answer," Penelope rose from her chair as well.

"You have always known. You knew they were innocent then, and you know they are innocent now. The only thing you didn't know for sure was that they weren't simply lycans without a wolf. Or simply witches with magic."

She walked toward him before coming stand right in front of him, meeting his eyes with the deep sincerity in her own.

"But you did know that they were more… in here you knew," she pointed to his chest. "You knew that they were more than all of that. The prejudices and distrust and fear that cast a shadow over them was because they were not understood. But, even without a proper label or a written history, your parents understood. And so do you."

She gave him one final, penetrating look before she turned and retreated back to the chair. "It all began with La Loba," she said. His eyes snapped to hers. "You have heard this story?" she asked, seeing the light of recognition in his eyes.

"A woman who had alyko family in my pack," he nodded. "Charlotte. She told my mate… she told August about La Loba."

Penelope nodded. "Well La Loba was the first. She was the first in our line, because she created the first lycan. What a miracle of creation it was," she spread her arms out toward him and gestured to the length of him with a genuine smile.

"You see, the fae—the fae in their truest, purest form, each have abilities that correspond to the elements of nature. But La Loba was special even amongst them. She could channel all of the elements… plus one."

Penelope held up her finger to indicate that one, and then she pointed it upward.

"The Moon?" Graeme asked. She nodded.

"The Moon. On that night, when La Loba was performing her particular gift—the gift of creation using all of those elemental abilities—the Moon Mother added something," Penelope raised an eyebrow in emphasis.

"It was a full moon," Graeme spoke the words softly, still bewildered by all of this information.

His skin began to prickle, the little hairs on his arms standing on end as he recognized the stunning truth of it—it resonated within him like a note that was perfect but that he had never heard played. Until today.

"There is something about a full moon, yes. When the Mother's belly in the sky is full and round—heavy with child. About to give birth. It sounds metaphorical, but perhaps that is only because its reality is more elusive to those who cannot see. Who rely on that which is physical to understand the reality around them."

Graeme's mind wandered back to the full moon ritual with August. He had felt the power of it, and somehow August was able to see it in action with her sight of the Veiled. Their fertility rituals were always held on a full moon… what Penelope was saying made so much sense when he considered that.

"August sees the Veiled," Graeme said, shifting his eyes to Penelope's again.

The corner of her lips turned up in a smile.

"And she was able to somehow take physical strength from me to use as her own," he told her.

She nodded. "That is not unexpected. And that is not all that she will be able to do. With the success of the retrovirus in her system, she is now a much purer form of fae than any living alyko today. At least… that any of us are aware of."

Graeme swallowed, staring at Penelope in disbelief. What would this mean for August?

"You fear for her, I know. As her mate, of course you will. But if there is one thing I can tell you that will help you more than anything, it is that you must allow her to come into her strength. And you must trust that she will."

His eyebrows pinched together. "How do I do that?"

Penelope chuckled softly. "Sometimes the simplest of things seems to be the most complicated, doesn't it? When you want so badly to protect her and keep her from harm. You can do that, of course. You can still protect her, and she will need you to," she nodded reassuringly.

"But you need to know when the protection is needed. You have to sense it, and the mate mark she has given you will help with that. Don't protect her so much that she is sheltered and not able to spread the wings that she has been given. If you can do that, Graeme—if you can trust that your mate's strength will one day rival your own—then she will soar most spectacularly. I can assure you that."

Penelope's eyes sparkled as she spoke, and Graeme felt his chest swell with hope… and with pride for August. She had no idea how special she was, but he felt the truth of it.

"The Moon Mother has brought you two together for a reason, as I'm sure you know. But your union with her is unlike any other union that our kind has seen—and by our kind, I mean both alyko and lycan together. Fae and lycan. We are not separate as those labels suggest. We are a family," Penelope grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Genetically, we are variations of the same species. I am not fully fae, just as you are not without the fae genetics."

Graeme nodded, understanding perfectly now. Somehow this all made more sense than any other explanation he had been given about lycans and alyko.

"My sister and I," he chuckled. "We can communicate through touch. And she can influence people's emotions through touch."

"Ah, see?" Penelope squeezed his hand again. "There you go. A perfect example."

"But why were you involved in bringing a purer fae into being through the virus? Why do it?" he asked, dropping her hand.

She smiled sheepishly at him this time. "And now you have struck on the part that I cannot tell you."

He frowned. "Why would you not be able to tell me about your motivation if I am to trust you?"

"That is a fair question," she nodded. "And I sincerely apologize for it. You will come to find out eventually. It's just not something that can be revealed right now."

The necessity for even a small secret turned his stomach. "Will she be harmed?" he asked.

Penelope's eyebrows threaded deeply, and Graeme's stomach flipped.