Reconciliation by Lisa Oliver
Chapter Twenty-Six
Storm clouds thundered above his head as Seth and Taja streaked across the sands. This was where Seth felt most at home – in his beloved desert, on his loyal stead’s back, with nothing ahead of them but more sands and endless skies. It was the tug he felt first – a tug so sharp he almost fell off Taja’s back and then he heard it in the winds – the anguished cry of a hurt mate.
“Luka!” Seth didn’t hesitate, translocating back to their home, the sands he brought with him swirling around his feet as he landed and reformed. “Osiris, you bastard, get away from my mate. Go back to the realm of the dead where you belong.”
“Ooh, you two have more of a bond than I counted on.” Osiris backed up, his fingers twitching. “How clever for your new wolf to scream out for you across the winds. Alas, Malacai never had that option, did he, although you’ll be pleased to know, he screamed for you too.”
“Don’t mention him.” Seth curled his fists. “He’s been dead for centuries. Using him to bait me lost its luster eons ago.”
“But it’s so much fun.” Osiris actually clapped his hands and did a little jig. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you’d taken up with a wolf again. Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”
Seth didn’t dare look at Luka. Osiris had been torturing him for centuries, and this time he was threatening his home – the home with the sweet picket fence and the lawn laid out for his pups to play on. He didn’t need any of sweet Luka’s omega power stopping him now. “My choices are not yours,” he snarled. “The Fates proved I had been forgiven – I was worthy of a mate, and they put me in Luka’s path. I will not let you come between us.”
“But you can’t stop me.” Osiris almost doubled over, his manic laughter filling the air. “The deed is done. Can you feel it, mighty Seth? I know, I know. You were so deprived when I took Malacai. You didn’t bond with him, so you missed all the delicious agony that wolf went through before I released him. He screamed until his throat gave out as I tortured him, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing. But you’ll feel things this time, won’t you? As your fated wolf’s life, slowly fades away?”
“What have you done?” Seth didn’t feel any different. A quick glance at Luka let him know his mate was breathing, but he was curled over himself, not making a sound. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY MATE?”
The sands and skies responded to Seth’s voice, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling over the dunes, the sand picked up in the wind and swirling into huge columns. Seth swept his hand around in front of him, the sand answering his call.
“It’s too late.” Osiris gathered his robe around him, his hair flying as the wind picked up. “It’s too late!” He screamed. “I’ve infected your wolf with the mummification spell, even as you yell at me, he’s dying – his skin going gray as his blood solidifies in his veins, wrinkling, drying out as the spell works it’s way inch by inch up his body until it reaches his heart.”
“No.” Seth’s blood went cold.
“Yes. And when that wolf’s heart stops, so will yours. I know. I did my research. The mate of a wolf shifter dies when the wolf shifter does. So, you will feel it. You will feel every second of your wolf’s dying breaths. And you know the kisser of all this. You’ll die and it won’t be my fault. Your mate will cause your death, not me.”
“I’ll kill you myself first,” Seth vowed, raising his hand, a firebolt flashing through his fingers.
“You can’t touch me.” Osiris jeered. “You’re Seth, the murderer. The god so unhinged by his wife’s infidelity, and the birth of a son he didn’t contribute his seed to, he took out his rage on his poor tricked brother. Everyone believed me; no one believed your story because you didn’t have the balls to tell it.”
“I never told anyone about Malacai, because he was still living,” Seth seethed. “He had a life with a mate, and while I couldn’t have him with me, I loved him enough to ensure no other god would interfere in his life again. After all you put him through, I owed him, because he trusted you as he trusted me, and far better for me to be shunned for being a murderer, than to have any well meaning god interfere in that poor wolf’s life again.”
“Aww, you had a heart. Boo hoo. How noble. No one believes it though, do they. Everyone still shuns you. It’s so delicious. Whereas everyone sympathizes with me; Poor Osiris, so traumatized by his ‘death’ he hides his face in the Realm of the Dead. Little do they know, that place is one giant playground for my appetites. After all, the dead can’t complain.”
In that moment, Seth sympathized with Ra. Here was Osiris, blatantly proclaiming his guilt with no shame or fear, because there was nothing anyone could do with an immortal being. But Seth had been in this position before, and he didn’t have any damn problem with letting history repeat itself.
“You forgot a few fundamental facts when you planned this, brother of mine.” Seth stalked towards him. “One, Luka’s life threads tied with mine, not the other way around. No matter you’ve done, he’ll be fine because he’s immortal. But you will feel centuries of hurt for what you’ve done.”
“He’s immortal?” Osiris backed up, looking over at the chaise lounge. “No, no that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“It already has. Number two,” Seth was within touching distance. The air quivered between them. “I wasn’t the only one to claim a wolf as a mate. Our father, Ra, also has a wolfen mate, and they can scent lies. Your lies won’t be tolerated anymore.”
“No. No. Our father will believe me.” Osiris was shaking his head, his cells flickering in and out of focus. “What’s happening to me? What’s happening? I can’t translocate. What have you done to me?”
Seth showed his teeth. “You came to my domain. You attacked my mate and pups in my home.” He drew his sword from the ether, lightning reflecting from its gleaming surface. “You spelled a pregnant man – my mate is just days from having our pups. There’s nothing you can say to anyone that will make this right. There’s no forgiveness for that.”
He swung his sword high as Osiris cowered, but as he brought his arm down, another figure appeared – someone tall, strong, with the face of an angel, the sun symbols floating above his head. Seth swung his arm away just in time, as Osiris fell blabbering at Ra’s feet.
“Protect me, Father, Seth’s gone insane.”
“My beloved Seth had good reasons for his anger.” Ra’s godly tones swept around the domain, causing the storms to pull back and the grains of sands to settle. “You were heard, Osiris; every word of your many crimes that fell from your own mouth has been heard by those who count here.”
He swept his arm to one side and Seth saw the faces of so many who had shunned him shining like lights in the angry clouds. One by one, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Anubis, and surprisingly, Bastet, came down in streams of light, their godly forms landing lightly on the now settled sand.
“My brother.” Isis reached Seth first. “If I had known of the horrors Osiris had visited on your beloved wolf all those years ago, I would never have wasted the energy to put him back together. My apologies are likely redundant, but they are heartfelt.”
Nephthys came up to his other side. “Your sword is not needed here, brother. It was our love for Osiris that put his body back together. After the words we heard from his own mouth today, that will be revoked. He will no longer walk among the living.”
“Isis, Nephthys, how can you turn your backs on me now,” Osiris wailed. “He’s hurt me, injured me, you’ve branded him a murderer for most of his existence for good reason. He killed me.”
“Seth was the one who had good reason!”
Seth took a step back, sheathing his sword, as the two women he’d called sisters his whole life turned on the hapless Osiris. Horus joined his mother, Anubis too. Seth turned away, more concerned about Luka now the fighting was done, his heart unsure, his nerves fragile at the totally unexpected intervention – on his behalf.
“Luka summoned us here,” Ra said quietly, indicating the couch where Luka was being tended to by Bastet. “He called on the winds, demanding justice for his mate, even as he believed he was dying.”
“I can’t… I just… I don’t know how to feel right now.” Seth had held his secrets for so long, it was like they were an integral part of him. Having his family know left him feeling vulnerable and exposed. “I need to go to my mate.”
“Give them a minute.” Ra laid his hand on Seth’s arm, an action so unexpected, Seth barely resisted a flinch. “Osiris did indeed infect Luka’s ankle with the mummification spell, which is why Bastet has come. She will nullify the effects and check on your pups. She’s a bit put out with you, that you didn’t let her know your wolf is almost ready to birth.”
“I didn’t think she’d care.” The need to hold Luka in his arms was getting stronger.
“Bastet was not blinded with an erotic love for Osiris like her sisters,” Ra said gently. “She forgave you a long time ago but by then your heart was too hardened to hear it. She’s always favored you, because of your protection of me. You are loved, my son. You just have to open your heart to receive it.”
And then, because seriously how could the day get any weirder, Ra hugged him, and Seth couldn’t stop his tears from flowing down his face as he returned it.
