Chapter 479

Rick remained on his knees before Shelly until she pulled him into a hug. A soft voice called from the living room, "What do our runes mean?" Alannah entered the dining room, her hands resting on the small swell of her growing baby bump. "Is it hurting my pup?"

I sighed. "Yeah, Alannah, it is." Her hand flew to her mouth. "But don't worry," I said, nearly laughing at my own words. I had just told a woman not to worry about her unborn child. Returning to her question, I explained: Abby's rune drained her; Rick's granted him power until it overloaded his body; and Alannah's… I sighed again, "Yours is a bastardized version of a mate rune."

"What does that mean?" Shelly asked, touching her arm.

"I don't know," I admitted, exhaling. "I know the runes because of my father. He never detailed the mate rune."

"That's because he didn't think you'd need to know. The man has the forethought of a gerbil," my grandmother declared, appearing from the kitchen. She met our gazes. "What? I love the boy, but he meddles too much." Waving her hand, she continued, "Anyway, before mate bonds existed—a very long time ago—couples would use mate runes. It created a bridge between them, allowing them to communicate with each other's lycans." She looked at me. "You know why the mate bond was created." I nodded. "But this was before that. It also linked their power, their souls, and allowed them to share between the two."

"But none of us are mated to Vince," Shelly pointed out, looking between my grandmother and me.

She nodded. "Exactly. His witchling corrupted something sacred." She approached Shelly. "Lift your arm, please." Shelly complied. "The original mate rune was two circles, one full and one empty, representing the Moon goddess in her two forms. The full moon represented the person it was on, while the empty one represented their mate. But do you see this line through it, and the sigil at the end?" Everyone leaned closer.

"Yeah…" I frowned. "I've never seen that one before."

She nodded. "That's because it's one the witchling made for Vince. This line," she traced it with her finger, "is how she reroutes the power, redirecting it to Vince." She shook her head. "Disgusting." Turning to me, she asked, "You're going to remove all these tonight?" She sighed, then looked at Rick. "His will be the most difficult. It's done a lot of damage, and his wolf is weak."

I nodded. "I don't even know how I'm going to get them all off."

My grandmother came to my side. "The small ones will be easy. It's just a leech. Find it, kill it, and they'll be free. Vince will feel it, but who cares?" She glanced at Rick over her shoulder. "His is deeper. He's a dumping ground for Vince. You'll face a lot inside him." Cupping my face, she said, "You don't run from ghosts. Teach him." Then she vanished.

"What does she mean by that?" Rick asked, rising to his feet. I sighed.

"I don't know," I replied, standing. "But I guess we'll figure it out together." I gestured to Shelly. "You're up first. Lay down."

Shelly kissed Rick while I cleaned Abby's rune. "We'll get through this," she said. Rick nodded, though his disbelief was evident. She shook him. "Say it."

He closed his eyes, exhaled, and said, "We will get through this." Shelly nodded, used a chair to climb onto the table, crawled to the middle, and lay back.

She looked at me as I lit a candle, sprinkled herbs in a bowl, and lit some cotton. "What should I do?" Her question surprised me.

"Lift your arm over your head. Then relax." She nodded. I picked up the dagger and looked at her. "This is going to hurt."

She watched me, closed her eyes, and said, "I trust you. Even if I didn't act like it before with Abby." I snorted and cut into her, deeply, causing her to whimper. I needed to remove the brand before I could find the leech.

"Shelly?" I had to stop; she was healing too fast.

"Yeah?"

"Tell your wolf to stop healing you. If she has to, tell her to go slowly. I need to remove the brand and then the magic before the skin grows back." She nodded, but continued healing.

"Command her," Nix suggested.

"I'm sorry. She said she can't help it," Shelly whispered.

I leaned over her. "I'm doing this for your own good." I turned to Roya. "Get a towel." She nodded and left. "Shelly, I command you to stop healing."