With my safety secured, I relaxed for the first time in what seemed like forever, and it eventually came out that I'd been a prisoner of the nunnery and then of the family packhouse for four years. "We've still no idea how they managed to snag you out from under our noses," Long John explained, his wings fluttering with distress. "But Jethro never gave up on trying to find you. It was near impossible to pinpoint your location, since the nuns, and then later your mother and sister used all the means they had to make sure you could never find your way back to us."
"But they didn't count on Jethro's love for me," I guessed.
Long John grinned. "Exactly," he said. "But even that wasn't quite enough, and he could sense your mind falling deeper into the trap Faith laid for you. Had you not awoken in time to defend your son, you would have fallen under her spell altogether, and she would have then stripped your mind right down to the very basics, before rebuilding it to turn you into her devoted slave. Jethro was growing frantic by that point, until you rattled the skulls of almost every supernatural being within a fifty-mile radius, and the rest, as they say, is history. Xavier is a handsome little devil, by the way."
I smiled and gently stroked Xavier's hair, noticing for the first time it was almost the same shade as Jethro's. I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to ask questions," I said, "but it seems to me Arrow can do more than just punch a hole in time and space."
"That was all Jethro," Long John explained. "I know I said his love wasn't quite enough to break through to you, but in fact, it was just enough to ensure he was the father of your son. He didn't actually father him physically, but he put all he was into that boy. You need not fear for your son's life; Jethro is as fierce about family as any man I've ever seen. He'll shed his last drop of blood to protect the boy and you, and you'd better believe he's already got a plan to squash your sister once and for all."
"Faith's going to throw all she can at us," I warned him. "She's smarting now, and as I know my sister, she'll come out guns blazing."
Long John snorted. "Good luck to her," he said, rising and kissing me on the forehead. "Jethro's just as pissed as she, and even more so as far as you and your son are concerned. Your sister has rocks in her head if she thinks she can challenge the alpha of the Misfits and get away with it, and she has the singular dishonour of being the author of his mate's pain for four years. Jethro doesn't take kindly to threats against his pack, or his mate and son, and he's ready to go to war with your sister, and anyone who sides with her."
"This I have to see," I said. "Safely removed, of course."
"You're going into the forest for your protection," Long John told me. "I think you'll find it a better place to be, and Arrow will guard you with her life. She's very pleased you took her at face value, by the way, and if you earn a unicorn's loyalty, you've earned a friend for life who will gore the shit out of anyone who so much as looks at you wrong."174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAfcRMIaRL
"Arrow's a good friend," I said. "Why should I treat her any different?"
Long John smiled. "It's good to have you back," he said.
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By nightfall, Jethro had finished questioning my now-former pack, and he was seething with anger as he stepped through the portal Arrow created for him. He patted her absently on the foreleg as he came over to where I was sitting nursing Xavier. "The whole world has gone to pot," he said, plonking himself at my feet. "Bloody hell."
"My former pack are all behind Faith despite the fact she's a cold, callous, conniving bitch?" I said.
"Bingo," Jethro said, still seething. "Your family are a rampant bunch of arseholes who all ought to have been drowned at birth. Your mother is already making plans to take you back, and she says she's going to bleed you dry until you're a mindless shell, ready to have new thoughts and impressions planted in you."
I shivered. "Faith wants to do that to me as well," I said. 174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZv7X87IWEJ
"Not on my bloody watch," Jethro said, standing and kissing Xavier on the head. "You're one of us now, and believe me, there is no force on earth or beyond it that will take you from us again. We learned our lesson last time, and the denizens of the forest will keep you safe. Never fear they won't give their all; you're their queen, and believe me, they'll shed their last drop of blood to keep you from suffering further harm."
I wasn't surprised at this unexpected declaration of my rise to power; I'd gotten along very well with the inhabitants of the forest during my brief stay, so being told I was their queen actually felt right. "I suppose this makes Xavier a prince," I said.
Jethro nodded. "You're taking this very well," he said.
I shrugged. "After the hell I went through, anything is more palatable," I said.
"Fair enough." Jethro sighed and rubbed his face. "Damn. If I'm not half-buggered from all that talking. I feel like I've been wrung out like a wet rag and left to dry in a high wind."
"You'd better get some rest," I urged, burping Xavier before tucking myself back in. "I can't have my mate falling flat on his face when he's leading the charge to squash my family once and for all."
"Then may I suggest we both get some rest?" Jethro suggested. "I know you're not as alert as you'd have me believe, and I can't have my mate falling flat on her face when she receives her investiture as queen."
I smiled at the way he turned my words around, but truth be told, I was rather tired, both physically and emotionally. "I think getting some rest is a wonderful idea," I said. "But I do have to ask one thing."
Jethro raised an eyebrow, and my smile turned wider. I really was quite head over heels for him, and given the way he'd looked at me the day he'd come to save me, I knew he felt the same way. Which made my question a mere formality, really. "Will you marry me? Please?"
"I'd marry you a hundred times over," Jethro said, taking my hand and giving it a fierce squeeze. "Damned to me if I didn't say yes, and bloody hell am I glad for it! We can get married first thing, if you'd like."
"Then that's what we'll do," I said, feeling more than a little relieved. I knew we didn't actually have to get married, not since we'd declared each other mates, but I felt it would add an extra layer of protection, just in case Mother and Faith had any smarmy tricks up their sleeves in their pursuit of my person.
And knowing them, they had plenty of smarmy tricks up their sleeves. I idly wondered, as our small family retired to the luxurious bedroom Jethro had hitherto occupied on his own, just what my former family would try first. But I soon decided I wasn't going to worry about it. Jethro wouldn't let his guard down for a second time, and I was more than glad for it.
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