Chapter 6: A Disguise and an Interrogation

Lilia POV

Thessalia looked about as uncomfortable naked as Lilia would expect a wood elf to be. Calyx hid it better but kept glancing around for her brown tunic and trousers.

Both wood elves were incredibly beautiful, with the lean, sylphlike grace of their people. Thessalia in particular was shapely and had an elegance and refinement Lilia would expect from royalty. Calyx could also pass for royalty. The way Lilia understood it, Tree Maidens were like royalty to the wood elves. 

But as the woman who obviously put the stars in Dirge’s eyes, Thessalia had the bulk of Lilia’s interest. Anneliese circled her, studying her with a huge smile on her face. Llia’s best friend and sister-in-law hadn’t missed the sparks flying between Dirge and Thessalia.

Lilia’s beautiful mother Ravyn, looking more youthful because of all the grandbabies to love and two packs that claimed her as theirs, formed the glamor spell using a crystal grid of lapis lazuli, citrine, and amethyst. The grid sat in the middle of Lilia’s crystal sanctuary and Thessalia and Calyx stood in front of it, naked as the day they were born in the forest.

“I wish our own glamor helped,” Thessalia grumbled, then clapped a hand to her mouth.

Ravyn marched over and gently took her hand from her mouth. “Stand perfectly still.”

“Sorry. And I don’t mean to be ungrateful,” Thessalia said in her best princessly manner. 

“Then just accept our help,” Ravyn said in her Pack Mother way. “We sought your aid in dealing with the firefox hound and Hades.”

Thessalia brightened. “The firefox hound brought us closer together … and brought Kyon and Azandra to our grove to stay with us. I would love to sing to the Pillar of Sound with Azandra and Kyon. Can I do that? Do shifters sing in any particular way? With wood elves it’s more–”

“It’s IMPOSSIBLE to imitate,” Calyx butted in helpfully. “All those chords at pitches that voices were never meant to reach. Even beyond howling, I bet.”

“Kyon and Azandra have done their best,” Anneliese said cheerfully. “While you’re here you should see if you can wrangle an invitation to Birdcliff. Azandra’s parents LOVE wood elves.”

Thessalia relaxed. “Will they know?”

“Azandra probably already told them,” Anneliese assured her. “But they’ll keep quiet or there’ll be an even bigger explosion than when they brought Marcus here …”

Ravyn gave Anneliese a glare. “You’re chattering like a magpie while we cast this spell. Concentrate on your energy flows!”

Anneliese shrugged. She was used to such admonitions from Ravyn. She raised her hands and so did Lilia, pouring all their energy into the crystal grid. 

Shimmering multicolored veils of light shot from the crystal grid and bathed Thessalia and Calyx in their radiance. Ravyn, Anneliese, and Lilia shaped the spell. 

A melodic voice echoed in the room. “Can you use one more? A shifter witch? And permission to enter your territory.”

Lilia turned her head with a brilliant smile to see her sister-in-law suddenly appear in the room without a sound. Now that the teleportation rules had been relaxed between packs, Garnet and her brother Cyran thought nothing of appearing at Cresta House at will. “Is Jiro with you?”

“Of course–he’s having a brotherly reunion … it’s been over a month since we were all together. And our Tiberius, Lucina, and Mekito are with their cousins.”

Cresta House was going to be even more full of toddlers running everywhere. Life couldn’t get any better! Or noisier. Or more tiring. It was a good thing her bond with Dane gave her the strength and energy of a wolf. 

Thessalia and Calyx looked impressed at Garnet’s entrance, but then, elegant and tall Garnet Cresta, Luna of the Crimsontail Shadows Pack, never failed to impress, her witch’s hands raised, shaping and sculpting at the level of Thessalia’s and Calyx’s ears.

Garnet concentrated. “I think their ears can stick out so no one suspects a thing, but they’ll look just like our ears. Their faces need to be filled out a bit. Green hair is just fine, I’ve seen shifters with different colored hair.”

“You can change my hair, Luna Garnet,” Calyx offered. “I’ve been thinking about a change.”

Garnet shook her head. “It looks striking.”

Lilia felt charmed. The green hair wasn’t typical on a shifter, but like her mate Jiro, Garnet noticed the outliers. She was one, after all. 

“Too distinctive and too wood-elfish,” Thessalia said with a frown. “I hate to disagree with a Luna, but–”

“I’m happy to object! Can you give me silver-white hair?” Calyx asked. “Silver-white like the bark of the silverthorn tree. And like moonbeams on a pond in the grove.”

Garnet directed the flow. “Shifter hair has a particular silver hue. Your wolf should be silver as well, to match.”

“I can be a black wolf,” Thessalia volunteered.

“I like that,” Garnet said.

Anneliese looked guileless. “We can make you match Dirge’s wolf.”

Spots of red appeared on Thessalia’s cheeks. “He is a beautiful wolf.”

Lilia exchanged a four-way glance with her sisters-in-law and her mother. Could Thessalia be Dirge’s fated mate? She consulted her intuition.

YES.

“Lilia!” Ravyn’s irritated voice brought her out of the fog of shock. “Your flows are collapsing. Both these women need to be shapelier and more robust like shifter bodies.”

Dirge and a wood elf?

It seemed impossible.

“Yes, Mother,” she said, re-focusing on the flows.

* * * * * 

Dirge POV

“You have to hide her,” Jiro said.

Dirge’s eyebrows shot up, hearing the intensity in his unflappable older brother’s tone. “What have you heard?”

Jiro Cresta leaned against the spice cupboard in the Crestas’ vast but always warm and busy kitchen. Dirge wasn’t sure, but he would swear his older brother had filled out a bit. His face was still lean and his body fit but he’d definitely gotten a little meat on his bones. No one could ever accuse him of becoming soft and pampered as an Alpha, though. The long free-flowing red-gold hair, piercing turquoise eyes, and close-trimmed beard and mustache made him look even more like the powerful warrior he was. He and Patch had succeeded in growing full beards and mustaches. Dane couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried–his were patches of fuzz. Kyon didn’t even try, but he now sported long dark sideburns. 

Jiro was even better at hiding his thoughts since he grew a beard and mustache. “Can’t I just insist because it’s the right thing to do?”

Dirge smelled something beneath Jiro’s prim expression. “You could, but that’s not all. Spill.”

Jiro surrendered, with a smile. “You’re getting smarter by the minute. High Lord Ilbryen is TOO clean, even for an elf. Most elves have at least some history–they live hundreds of years. They may be a noble race, but they have their conflicts and tangled pasts as much as anyone else, even more so because of their long lifespans. High Lord Ilbryen–who is at least a decade older than Princess Thessalia–has nothing. You’d find more dirt on Kyon.”

“I’ll try not to be offended by that,” Kyon commented. 

Dirge was impatient. “So, is he a Marcus Mond or is he Anneliese’s old boyfriend–or Hades?”

Jiro answered in a serious tone. “At a minimum he’s like Marcus–”

“Which doesn’t inspire confidence,” Dane growled.

“He MIGHT be like Anneliese’s old boyfriend, although unlike him, the evidence is buried deep in the forest,” Jiro said dryly.

Patch butted in. “He must be a h*ll of a lot smarter and more charming and better at not offending powerful people. But no way is he Hades, or Prince Narbeth would never consider letting his sister marry the man.”

It said a lot about Dirge’s brother-in-law and how far he’d come that no one mentioned Cyran in comparison to Thessalia’s suitor. “Cyran would know better than we would.”

Jiro had a proud look when speaking about the man he’d whipped into shape–in the best way–after Hades nearly wrecked him. The man who he now trusted to help run the pack when he and Garnet were away. “He doesn’t think the man is Hades in disguise or as bad as Hades, but he does smell something off the way the princess does.”

“That makes me feel both better and worse at the same time,” Dirge said wryly.

“It should make you want to howl at the moon,” Kyon asserted, grinning. “It’s about time you got a real love interest.”

“First Kulenza, then an elf,” Patch chirped. 

Jiro added, “I’m sure Makhel will be relieved to know he no longer has competition for Kulenza’s affections, especially since the wedding keeps getting postponed.”

Dirge’s ears burned. His puppy love for Kulenza had provided all of his brothers with fodder for teasing for a lifetime. “Every young shifter male needs a crush on an older female.”

“Weather Moon and Kulenza,” Dane said, smoothing the fuzz on his chin. “A little overkill, to have two crushes.”

“You’re embarrassing him,” Kyon said, pretending to take offense on Dirge’s behalf.

“Happily,” Patch agreed with a big smile.

“It’s about time,” Jiro added.

Dirge scowled and looked at all of them in turn. “I don’t even know if she likes me … even if we kissed.”

“YOU KISSED?”

His ears rang with all four of his brothers’ shouts. “HONESTLY, you think you’re the only ones who can get romantic? And Thessalia is just here escaping her questionable would-be fiance. What’s for dinner? It better be something good. We have guests.”

Dane lifted his chin and adopted his best eldest-brother way. “Everyone, Kyon has a point. We shouldn’t embarrass Dirge, especially if he’s happy.”

“Although he better hope he finds this phoenix casuarina,” Kyon added. 

“Well, I assume Tulaska might be able to help with that,” Jiro contributed. “She’s back home.”

Beaming, Dirge threw his arms around Jiro. “You’re my new favorite brother.”

He snuggled against the Crimsontail Alpha and felt Jiro stroking his hair. Moments later, they got squeezed in a Cresta brother hug. Kyon’s arms went around all of them as far as he could reach. Dirge felt enveloped in warmth. 

“Our pup is growing up,” Dane said in a wistful voice.

He burrowed his head in their warmth, but not so far that he missed Dane muttering to Kyon, “A wood elf? How is that going to work?”

“SHH,” from Kyon and Jiro.

Patch mumbled in his ear, “Fated mate?”

“I think so,” Dirge whispered.

The brothers broke apart, exclaiming. He took in all their expressions and their smells. Dane smelled sharp like newly cut grass and looked serious. Kyon smelled like a summer breeze and looked cautiously welcoming. Jiro smelled alert, like a hunter on the scent, but his expression was gentle. Patch smelled like victory, his smile huge.

“Tulaska and Azandra will know,” Dane proclaimed. “You should find out immediately. A wood elf and a shifter will shake the roots of the wood elf grove.”

“And you can announce it on the floor of the Shifter Parliament,” Patch volunteered.

Dane and Jiro glared at him. 

“Well, you’re always saying how boring the meetings are,” Patch continued innocently.

A gorgeous silver wolf and a beautiful black wolf scampered into the kitchen. The black wolf trotted right up to Dirge and poked her nose … between his thighs.

Dirge felt his manhood spring to attention and his own personal wildfire overtake his body. Moon Goddess!

“Oh, dear,” the black wolf said in Thessalia’s voice, and she backed away, only to knock over a sack of flour that came open and spilled all over the floor.

“Wolves don’t talk,” Jiro said, sounding like he was just barely holding back his laughter.

“And we sniff behinds,” Patch offered cheerfully.

Calyx let out an elfin peal of laughter. 

“And wolves don’t laugh like elves.” Dirge grinned. “We have an hour before dinner. I’ll teach you ladies how to be the finest wolves in the territory.”