The Alpha's Mother-In-Law's Forbidden Love (The Cresta Chronicles)

Ravyn POV

It looked like a repeat of the scene from several days ago. All the Crestas had gathered in the Great Hall, with Daxius brought before them. Ravyn stood by his side. His hair had been freshly washed and his stormcloud-gray robe looked neat, no wrinkles. Ravyn brushed dust off his shoulder. Jude stood on the other side of Daxius, the unlikeliest of protectors. 

Dane cleared his throat, then spoke in the Alpha Voice. "Daxius Houdini,you've faced every test the witches and Wise Women can devise, and they found no trace of the Dark Goddess."

"He's as clean as a spring morning after the rain," Roslynn announced.

"And as free of darkness as the Moon Goddess' palace," Tulaska added.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't even consider your request," Azandra finished.

Daxius relaxed. "I was hoping Ravyn herself would–"

Lilia's eyes flashed at him. "She couldn't be involved and neither could I. I'm certain Jiro and Garnet explained this to you at least three times."

Daxius stiffened. "Lilia, I'm still your father. No need to take that tone with–"

"NOT HERE." Dane stalked toward him. "In this setting, she's the Luna of this pack. That's how it has to be."

Daxius looked a bit lost. "Absolutely."

Cyran offered him a sympathetic look. "It was the same for me when I messed up. Don't confuse the family dinners with the official role."

Ravyn felt sorry for Daxius, but he needed to prove himself to Dane and the family, and he wasn't helping his own cause. 

Daxius said in a strained voice, "I understand, Alpha Dane, Luna Lilia. I meant no disrespect."

"Thank you. As I was saying, you're clean." Dane's eyes glittered wolf gold. "And Ravyn and Luna Lilia have argued persuasively on your behalf. So has Luna Lilia. Therefore, Ravyn, Luna Lilia, Alpha Jude, you, and I will be embarking on this journey to this island of yours to find the answers that our Luna and our Pack Mother have been waiting for all these years."

Daxius raised a hand. "What about the Wildefell Witch Circle? Won't they try to stop us?"

Edna Chalice shot him a look. "I AM the Wildefell Witch Circle, and Senior Healer Bracknell is going to be disciplined for what she did. We should have no more trouble from her."

Daxius blew out a breath. "Thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," she said in a tone that made her husband, daughter, and son-in-law shudder. 

"Of course," Daxius mumbled.

Dane's powerful voice commanded his attention. "There are a few matters the Luna and I need to attend to before we leave, and even with teleportation, we need to pack for this journey."

"We'll teleport as much as we can, but it takes a lot of energy," Lilia said. "Alpha Jude, Luna Ravyn, what about Silverpaw? Can they spare you?"

"Beta Barrett and my children will have everything under control in my absence," Jude replied. "Besides, they understand this is important to my new Luna and our alliance with Evenhide."

"And the Crimsontail Shadows as well," Jiro butted in. "If anything happens to Luna Ravyn, there will be h*ll to pay from us."

"And from shifters everywhere who love and respect her," Garnet added. "The same goes for Dane, Lilia, and Jude."

Daxius' eyes swirled with pride, looking at them all with admiration for the first time. "And everyone in this room. I agree to your terms."

* * * * *

Lilia POV

For the first time in years, Lilia stood in the doorway and watched her father pack his things. Stepping into the bedroom, she asked, "Do you need any help?"

Since they'd be traveling together, she had to deal with him, so she might as well try to get along and even be helpful. Even if she wanted to run screaming from the room.

He whirled around, his face lit up with joy. "I don't want to take you away from whatever one does to rule a shifter pack. Or from your own preparations." He added shyly, "Or the children. They're wonderful, by the way."

WHY did he have to say things like that and sound so sincere? Her intuition whispered that he wanted to win her over. But she'd dreamed of him returning suddenly and uttering words like those, and her hungry heart beat faster, cracking the wall of anger and resentment she'd built up over the years.

Was it like this for her mother, too?

"It's part of my preparations to help you prepare." She blushed at how clumsy that sounded. Where was the smooth, polished Luna from an hour ago? "How can I assist?"

He held up a potion belt, mostly empty. "Through fighting and fleeing and hiding out, I seem to have used up a lot of my potions AND my ingredients. Could I possibly borrow potions and herbs from you or from those overzealous Wise Women? As I remember, the shifter lands have different herbs unavailable anywhere else and very different from what I'm used to using. How do they compare?"

Lilia walked over and examined his potions. One healing potion, one to boost magic, one to boost energy, another one she didn't recognize. "You were skulking in the shifter lands for a long time, spying on us, before we detected you–surely you must have picked some of our native plants."

Daxius' jaw clenched at the reminder. "Try and put yourself in my shoes, Lilia."

"How can I when you won't explain yourself?" She shook her head, exasperated. "Where is your herb pouch? Let's see what you have."

"Lilia, I've been away from you and your mother for all this time. When I finally set out to find you, I discover you're living an entirely different life, one I don't know the first thing about beyond what every witch and wizard knows about the shifters." Daxius fetched his red felt herb pouch and opened it, then dumped out the small pile of herbs. "On top of the shame of being away for so long, as you so stridently pointed out, you're the queen of this pack and your mother is revered. I needed information before I could approach you."

Lilia's eyes and heart burned with anger and the desire to believe him. "That's a very convincing argument, except for one little detail: If you know anything about shifters, you know how they react to people, especially outsiders, trespassing in their territory! And this is Evenhide. The strongest pack!"

"It was worth the risk just to see you both again. And there's more at work than you realize."

She wanted to scream. "And I'm supposed to wait to find out, I suppose. To trust you."

"Your mother is willing to do that," he said simply.

There was so much she could say to that, but instead, she blurted out, "Are you insane?"

"Lilia–"

"THIS." She pointed at a clump of sickly copper-colored leaves. "It's penny plaguewort. If you make a potion out of that it'll drop your blood pressure so low you'll die. Shifters faint, although it's not fatal. But witches or wizards can die, and that would be bad for Dane and Jude because of the bond."

His face flushed at the reminder. "Goddess' toes, I had no idea."

She shot him an exasperated look. "Well, now you do. Let me find you some herbs that won't kill us all on this quest."

"Thank you," he said quietly.

She tried not to feel guilty at how downcast he looked.

* * * * *

Jude POV

Dane held up a pale yellow robe. "What do you think, Jude? Ah … can I still call you that?"

Jude snorted. "The robe looks fine, and what else would you call me?"

Dane's eyes flashed with streaks of gold. Not full wolf colors, but the wolf was asserting himself. "Father?" The voice sounded tentative. "As well as father-in-law?"

Jude paused. Bram and Mali hadn't commented on that either when he'd shared the news through the mind-link. He thought for sure that Bram would throw a howling fit, but maybe he was too stunned to react. Instead, Bram had asked if they were planning to have children of their own.

"We're already blessed in that department," Jude had assured him.

His son hadn't sounded convinced, but like the Crestas, he'd accepted the bond. Jude hoped Bram would come to love Ravyn as much as Jude loved the Crestas and Lilia.

"What do you think about that?" he asked Dane. "And what do the others think? Would they call me Father as well?"

Dane's forehead wrinkled. "I don't know–"

"You know I could never replace your father," Jude hastily added. "And whatever Lilia wants to call me, I wouldn't try to replace Daxius."

Dane snorted. "She's not even sure how to feel about him now."

"He IS her father," Jude reminded him. "He was absolutely right about that."

He couldn't deny Daxius that, because if the man was telling the truth, he was working hard to make up for his disappearance. He wanted to give Lilia's relationship with Daxius the same respect that Ravyn had shown to Bram and Mali dealing with the loss of Emer.

Ravyn folded her finest robe and packed it. "And you were both right, too, Dane. She deserves to be treated as the Evenhide Luna in an official setting."

Dane spontaneously draped his arms around them and hugged them both. "Everyone has some adjusting to do, I'd say. But if you think of all the changes this family has gone through in the last three years since I mated with Lilia, everything from Jiro becoming an Alpha and moving away to us embracing Cyran as part of the family to Dirge getting his own tree in a wood elf grove, I'd say we can manage this one, too. Pack and family forever."

Jude beamed with pride. There was a reason he and Dane had always gotten along. Besides watching the Cresta boys grow up and helping them when their parents died, he'd felt a deep connection with Dane. They saw eye to eye.

To have Dane as well as Bram as sons and Mali and Lilia as daughters … What more could he ask? And he had the other Crestas and their mates.

Ravyn held up Jude's copper dagger. "Should we pack it or are you going to keep it on you?"

"Wear it on me in case I can't shift and someone gives us trouble," Jude replied, marveling at how heavenly she smelled. 

He couldn't believe they were mated. It felt like a dream.

Dane rubbed his chin. "Should I carry mine, too? What do you think … Father?"

He said the word while sounding breathless.

Jude grinned. "I say carry it on you, son."

And that word just felt right coming out of his mouth. 

Edna Chalice peeked in, her face grim. "I'd avoid teleporting to Wildefell. Melisande and her people managed to talk their way out of their punishment. They're going to seize Daxius if you even set foot in Wildefell."