Runes of Destiny Page 5

  10

  Viola

  As we pull back up the driveway and into the garage, I jump out of the truck before Aleric even has a chance to turn the truck off. I start moving and head straight for my room. I can hear Aleric’s quick strides behind me, but before he can utter a word, I slam the door in his face. I can hear Aleric pacing back and forth, before cursing himself to high hell as he stomps away from my room in order to reach his own. Sensing his departures, I quickly change into sweats and a t-shirt and peek out my door. I can’t see Aleric right now, I just need some time alone. He’s probably gone to his room to get changed. As soon as I hear his door slam shut with a force that shakes the whole house, I slip out of my doorway and head for the back sliding door. I grab my running shoes from the rack sitting next to it and hastily pull them on, then slip out of the door as quietly as I can. I head down the stairs on the deck and start running away from the cabin, Aleric and the massive elephant in the room I just caused. This path is one of the familiar paths in these woods that leads from Aleric’s house to the open meadow deep within them. I know that I’m safe as long as I am here.

  The woods outside Aleric’s cabin goes on for miles. We’ve spent so much time here, walking the paths through the trees. I know these woods almost as well as Aleric does. I have always loved spending time here. I connect with these woods like no other place. It’s my special place and I always come here when I need to think, to have time to myself.

  Strolling along the path, I start to think back on all the years Aleric and I have shared. We grew up together from diapers and hoped it would be to the grave. He has always been an utter blessing in my life. I wouldn’t have survived the last two years without him. He was the one person who has been able to make me laugh again, he helped me realise that my life was worth living again. He has eaten copious amounts of ice cream with me and watched all the traditional break-up movies and gotten me out of the house when I refused to leave. He’s so important to me. I couldn’t bear it if I did not see him even for one day.

  As I’m deep in freaking-the-fuck-out-mode about Aleric, I realise that I should have probably left a note telling him where I was going. It’s a thought too late now as I’m already pretty far away from the cabin, but then, I know if he finds me missing he will just follow my scent. He’s an excellent tracker after all. I continue to walk down the well-worn path and think about what a hell of a day it’s been. When I finally climb back out of my deep thinking I realise that I’m getting close to the meadow, when a sound from behind me catches my attention. I turn to see if Aleric has tracked me down. My heart stutters for a moment, hoping that he hasn’t followed me here. I turn around to see who is there, only I don’t see anything. I turn back around continuing to walk into the middle of the meadow.

  There are five thick wooden benches with tree stumps for footrests attached to them, all in a circle around a fire pit smack bang in the middle of the meadow. Aleric decided to make them for me when he noticed that this is where I spent most of my time when I came to his place. Each bench is themed around one of the dé danann elements. Each bench’s legs are decorated in curves and swirls that represent each one of the dé danann’s and on the back of each bench is the complete symbol in all its glory. I go to sit on the earth bench and I immediately feel calmer and not as frazzled. I’d always been closely connected to the earth goddess, Danu, so it made sense that I felt calmer sitting on the representing bench. I closed my eyes and sink into the thick wooden bench further. These benches are all truly comfortable. I’ll have to tell Aleric again what an amazing job he has done with them. Lifting up my hand, I call on the power bestowed on me by my fire dé danann. Tossing a large spark into the pit and watching it light up instantly causes a sense of warmth to wash over me, or it could just be the fire producing a decent warm glow and delicious heat. I close my eyes and let the heat soak into my body, allowing me to relax after the most eye-opening day of my life. As I open my eyes and stare into the fire again, I hear another twig snap. I jolt up and turn around to see if I can see anyone walking into the meadow. I don’t see or hear anything, the noise must just be echoing out from the woods. I quickly chide myself; it was probably just an animal. I’m just being silly and jumpy after an exhausting day. They do live out here in the woods, you know, I should be used to these sounds after spending so much time out here. Slinking back down onto the bench, I’m startled by a cloth entering my line of sight and then a firm grip covering my mouth and nose with said cloth. Why does the cloth smell so funny, and why is this person doing this to me. My fight or flight instincts finally kick in and I begin to struggle against the hand and try to scream so that Aleric can hear me, but after two deep inhales of the funny smelling fabric I’m out cold.

  11

  Aleric

  As I step out of my truck, I watch as my best friend runs away from me at top speed. I slam my door shut and hit the button on the wall that lowers down the garage doors. What was I thinking? Telling her everything, really smart move, man. Moon Goddess why couldn’t I wait till we got home to explain it all instead of in a fudging nightclub car lot. Why would you do that? Ugh, you are such an idiot. I continue to chastise and swear myself to hell as I walk into the kitchen I go to the drawer which contains all my keys and throw the truck keys in. As I continue in through the kitchen I continue to mumble my chastising words and swearing until I reach the back of the hallway and go through into my bedroom.

  I start undressing and walk into my closet to find some comfy clothes to throw on. I barely look at what I grab and put on, all I can think about is what Vi is thinking and feeling at this point in time. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long night for the both of us. I feel awful for throwing all that at her. Maybe I should go and talk to her and explain further. I walk out of my room with determination, to fix this, down the hallway, I cross the living areas and go down the other end of the hallway that leads to her room. I knock softly on her door. “Viola, can we talk?” I don’t hear an answer or anything coming from the room. I have super hearing - being a dire wolf has its perks. I think maybe she is just ignoring me.

  Quietly, I walk back down the hallway to the living area. I go to the freezer and grab her favorite ice cream, Rocky Road. Hopefully she will come out for it and I can apologize, either that or she’ll snatch it from me and slam the door in my face. Let’s not hope for the latter in this instance.

  I grab a spoon out of the drawer and carry my apology offerings to her door. After knocking again, I try to explain why I’m knocking on her door again “Viola, I brought you some ice cream. It’s your favorite. Can you please just talk to me?”

  Again, there is no answer. So I decide to slowly open the door and stick the ice cream canister through the doorway. Hopefully, it will protect me from whatever she feels like throwing.

  But when nothing comes flying my way I begin to get concerned. I don’t hear a sound, not even her soft breathing. I open the door the rest of the way and look around. She’s not there. I sniff the air. She was here, recently. Well, no shit Sherlock, you already knew that.

  I shake off the self-deprecating thoughts so I can start tracking my mate. Where has she gone at this time of night? I follow her scent to the sliding glass door and notice that her running shoes are no longer on the rack. Leaving the ice cream on the counter, I follow the scent. It leads me straight to her favorite spot, the meadow. I look around at all the benches I have built for her. Looking around, I notice that there are embers dying out in the fire pit. So she was here, not long ago. But where is she now, she couldn’t have gone far.

  My mind starts racing, with all the different possibilities. I start grumbling to myself. Did she see me coming and run off again? Should I be giving her more space? Ugh, I am such an idiot. Why did I say anything?

  Then I smell it. A smell that should definitely not be here. It’s not Vi’s, although it does seem to be near where hers is lingering. It is not an animal - I know all of those scents. What is it? Is it Gr
ayson’s? I haven’t quite locked onto his scent yet. Then I smell Gabe’s old scent, which is odd since he never really came down here. Then I smell something else - a sleeping potion. Shit. I run back towards my cabin, using my shifter side to kick up my speed a notch. I jostle open the sliding door and race down the hallway to my bedroom where I stupidly left my phone on the bed. Grabbing my phone I dial the only other scent that I recognized in the meadow, Gabe...

  12

  Gabriel

  I need a freaking break from Sara Belle and her minion squad. Stretching as I get up from my seat, I look around and notice that both Aleric and Viola aren’t in their seats anymore. As I walk to the bathroom, I do a quick sweep of The Honey Hole. Did they leave? How on Earth didn’t I realize they snuck out? I used to be so in tune with them. It hurts a little that we have lost that bond we used to have. But I guess that’s my own fucking fault.

  We had been friends for far longer than we had been dating. I just wish we could go back to the way things were two years ago. Anything would be better than how badly I had messed up that day. If only I’d known how much I was letting go. God she looked great tonight, in that tight navy blue dress.

  As I finish up in the bathroom and walk over to the sink to wash my hands Grayson enters the room with a relieved sigh. “How do you stand those girls?” he asks as his whole body shivers with a wave of disgust, probably the feeling of the Elles pawing him like a new bag. Even his leg does a little kick. I know that feeling well; those girls irritate the heck out of me. I’m not sure why I let them hang off me - well actually I do. I know I shouldn’t but I am hoping it gets a reaction from Vi. It’s appalling I know, especially as I was the one to leave her. My feelings haven’t changed for her, but my situation has.

  I chuckle, “I only listen for important words, otherwise I just shake my head and nod a lot. They never know that I’m not actually paying attention. They mostly just talk to talk... By the way, did you happen to see where Aleric and Viola went?” I ask as I dry my hands.

  He raises his eyebrows and looks confused, “No, I didn’t even know they’d left and it’s really hard to escape a shifters hearing.” As much as I like to think I don’t pay attention to those girls, clearly they distracted us well enough that we didn’t notice both Aleric and Vi leave. Dammit. I wanted to spend some time with Vi. I haven’t spent time with her in two years and I miss her. I miss her friendship. It probably didn’t help that the Elle Squad was there.

  “Maybe they went ahead to The Ring to get us a table,” I suggest, I’m really just grasping at straws hoping that they didn’t ditch us.

  “Maybe,” Grayson sighs. I leave Grayson to use the facilities and head back to our spots at the bar and pay our bill with Zeke. Sara Belle sees us and asks, “Where are we headed now? Are we going back to your place?” I internally shudder. My place? What the fuck; this girl clearly has no clue how uninterested I am. I know the phrase about treating them mean and keeping them keen, but this is just freaking ridiculous. I barely speak to the girl; she talks at me not to me. I know guys who have been with the Elle Squad and apparently there really isn’t much going on between the ears. From what I hear they are kickass with the powers they wield but conversation masters, they are not. But then again, that’s not what the guys were with them for...

  “No, we’re heading to The Ring next. We’ll meet you there.” I take my card back quickly from Zeke, shoving it in my wallet and head toward the door before Sara Belle can latch on. Man, I hate clingy girls. They only want to be around me because of my career and because of the money it brings in. I shake my head and get into Grayson’s SUV. I laugh. I hope they were not expecting me to pay their tab as well as my own. As we drive to the old warehouse district, I get a call. Pulling my phone from my pocket I see it’s Aleric calling me. “Hey, Ric. We’re headed to The Ring now. Did you guys get us a table? Where is it? We’ll meet you inside.” I say before he can even get out his greeting.

  We’ve been friends for a long time, although there has been tension between him and I since I started dating Vi. I tried to make sure he knew that I wasn’t taking her from him, but it was always there, that underlying current. Now that I am back I know I have work to do to repair our friendship. When he invited me out tonight I realized how much I had missed him in my life.

  Yelling comes through the phone. “Where is she Gabe? I know you have her. You’ve always pined after her, even though you’re the one who called it off. Don’t tell me you don’t have her because I can smell your scent all over the place.” I pulled the phone back from my ear to turn and look at Grayson confused. He takes the phone from me and starts talking to Aleric. All I can hear is ringing in my ears and one thought, Viola is gone. As I try to focus on the conversation between Aleric and Grayson, I realise we are no longer heading towards the warehouse district where the club is located. We are heading in the opposite way and out of town. I instantly know where we’re heading: Aleric’s cabin.

  13

  Gabriel

  I’m trying to focus on the scenery as we drive, but I’ve seen it all before. Grayson starts to slow down and pulls into the long driveway that leads all the way up to Aleric’s cabin. Aleric must have told him where to go, I clearly was in no state to do anything. As we get nearer to the cabin I can see Aleric standing on the front porch with his arms crossed over his chest, a barely contained rage is plastered over his face, his wolf is close to the surface and seriously pissed. I take my time getting out of the SUV and walk over to Aleric who is currently in a heated conversation with Grayson, who clearly has made it over before me. Aleric looks at me, “Sorry man, for blowing up at you. I know you wouldn’t have actually taken her. I panicked when I noticed it was your scent mixed with hers in the meadow.”

  “Meadow? Why weren’t you at The Ring? What happened?” I look at him accusingly, like this is all his fault. His eyes slide to the ground and guilt covers his face.

  “It’s all my fault. I was silent on the ride over to The Ring, and you know how Vi is. She started poking and I spilled everything to her. The real reason I hit you. Everything. So, when she asked to come back here I didn’t argue. I knew she would have wanted some space. So after about thirty minutes, I went to her room to talk to her. She didn’t answer, so I tried bribing her with ice cream but still no answer. So I got worried and went into her room. I realised she wasn’t in there and I panicked and started tracking, her scent led me to the meadow.” He looked so lost, and on the verge of crying. I knew he wouldn’t though. In all the years I’ve known Aleric, he only cried once. That was the day Elizabeth Katheryn Magee died.

  I focused back on what he was saying. “When I got to the meadow and saw she wasn’t there. I started panicking more. Her scent was all over one of the benches and all over the fire pit. There were also two other scents, one I recognized and the other I didn’t. One was yours Gabriel, but it seemed a bit odd because it was your old scent. It’s why I called you. I assumed the other was yours, Grayson. Since you’re here I can tell now that it’s not your scent. Someone is using your old scent, Gabriel, to cover their tracks.”

  Grayson asks, “Who would want to use Gabe’s scent. It’s not like he’s a shifter. I mean I thought he was. He’s quick and seems to know where some boxers are going to swing even before they do, but he still loses.”

  I wince, we all know I’m not a supernatural, but it still stings when it’s brought up. I’m just a human with quick reflexes. “Who would even know about Vi and I to use an old scent of mine? Unless they’re from Druid Grove. It was one of the main reasons for us not being together before I went and pursued my boxing career. I didn’t want her life being turned upside down and inside out after her mom passed.”

  Grayson and Aleric look at me with a knowing glance. They both knew that’s the bullshit reason I gave her. The real reason would have broken her heart, and she might have done something drastic and I couldn’t let her do that, even for me. “Can you take us to the meadow please? I want to se
e it and see if we can help you find her.”

  “I do have some special abilities that may be of some use in tracking her down.” Grayson says to Aleric. Aleric looks at both of us and goes down the stairs. Then goes around into the garage, through the back garage door and out to the backyard. As we walk up the path, we scan the surrounding area for any clues as to who could have taken Vi.

  Once we get to the meadows, I start for the benches. I notice the legs and turn to Aleric, “Did you make these?” He nods. “You were always good in shop class. Why don’t you do this for a living?”

  “I do, Gabriel.” Aleric replies.

  “I haven’t heard or seen anything by you in galleries or on Etsy or eBay.” I’m quick to reply, as I try to look for clues.

  “Ever heard of Octa Wood?” he asks. I nod absently. Octa Wood is one of the biggest suppliers to local charities, parks and other commissioned wood pieces in the area. The pieces are each unique and crafted with practiced hands. I always assumed it was an elderly woman doing it, ya know because of the name. Knowing that it was actually Aleric making all of those, makes me a bit jealous. He is really going somewhere in his chosen career even if most people don’t know that. Where I am still a five round wonder.

  “Why the name Octa Wood? Why not your real name?” Grayson asks Aleric confused.

  “Octa comes from Vi, it’s short for Octavia which is Vi’s middle name. Wood comes from the material I use. I don’t want the fame or glory for the pieces I make. I do it because I love working with wood, it comes easy to me and I can do it out here alone. I talk to the clients but everyone assumes that Octa Wood is a female. They also just assume I’m the assistant or the hired muscle. Not even the charities know I’m the real Octa Wood. Most don’t question it when a man comes up carrying their piece.” Aleric shrugs as he walks to the bench with legs curved and spiral to look like a rolling mountain view.