Chapter 37: Loving the Same Woman

Ravyn POV

Jude attacking Daxius unprovoked?

Daxius twirled his staff, and the turquoise crystal hummed and crackled. "You've challenged me for the last time, shifter. You've taken the woman I loved and my daughter's affection."

"YOU gave them up," Jude snarled, all teeth and claws. 

"JUDE! DAXIUS!" 

Ravyn's voice should have made them both think again before they acted impulsively, but the old feeling in Daxius and the new mate possessiveness in Jude had been headed for a collision since the sandstorm. They engaged in battle without a second thought.

Jude could be exposed as a shifter. His muscles tensed and he would shift any second. Ravyn acted just as she had before when tensions boiled over with Bram and the Hemmings.

She barked, "CRYSTAL FREEZE!"

A sculptor would have drooled over the two frozen statues. The crystal coating preserved Jude leaping forward with one foot on the ground, and Daxius elevating his staff. 

"You can speak," she said aloud. "I want you both to think about your actions, and when you're ready, apologize."

"YOU were flirting with him," Jude accused.

"YOU don't have the right to tell her how to act with me," Daxius shot back.

Ravyn shook her head. "I'm going next door with Lilia and Dane for a while. I'll be back. Don't go anywhere."

She knew it was beneath her, but honestly, she just couldn't resist. She left, the cries of outrage, grumbling, and complaining from both of them following her.

Next door, Lilia let her in, looking mercifully put together and not rumpled in a way that would suggest she and Dane had been taking advantage of the time away from their children. "Mother, we heard–"

"Daxius and Jude still have differences to work out," Ravyn said.

Lilia held up her hands. "I don't even want to know, Mother."

Dane looked contemplative. "I can't decide whether to feel sorry for both of them or to admire their good fortune."

He ducked a lacy, frilly throw pillow flung at him. Lilia growled, "I said I didn't want to know! Now make yourself useful and pour Mother some tea."

* * * * *

Jude POV

The crystal felt COLD against his body, cooling the wolf fire in his blood. He gazed with venom at Daxius. "I hope you're happy!"

Trapped in his own crystal prison, Daxius was anything but. "YOU decided to attack. I was merely being friendly. She was my wife."

"WAS," Jude growled. "Make sure you remember that."

"She was trying to save me from some angry dwarves who cheat at dice," Daxius snapped. "She has a giving heart. A caring heart."

Jude's wolf wanted to show Daxius who was boss, but that kind of thinking hadn't helped matters! His jealousy had cost him dearly.

"She's a remarkable, loving woman. Is that something she did often, before?" he asked, trying to lower the temperature. "Save you from treacherous dwarves?"

"I like to gamble," Daxius said simply. "Everyone has vices. And no, I wasn't imprisoned because of a gambling debt."

"Since you won't tell us who or why, I'm forced to take your word for it."

The crystal still felt hard and cold, but somehow alive. Struggling against it, pushing, trying to force it to shatter only made his muscles tire quickly.

Impatient, he growled, "You're a wizard–can't you do something?"

"Ignorant." Daxius rolled his eyes. "How did they ever let you become an Alpha?"

Jude shrugged, as much as he could. "I have been known to be ignorant–when Dane mated with Lilia, all I knew about crystals was that they were pretty trinkets, and I was idiotic enough to say that to Dane and his brothers."

"And knowing Ravyn, you've learned more than you ever wanted to about crystals."

Jude smirked. "Including being trapped in one."

Daxius made an odd sound.

"Was that laughter?" Jude taunted.

"Certainly not."

Jude grinned. "I can smell your sweat level when you lie."

"You cannot, not through this thick crystal layer!"

"Just as you can't undo this spell, apparently." 

Daxius sighed. "I was a fool to let you goad me and allow myself to get swept up in battle fever."

Jude smiled ruefully. "Not as big a fool as I was, almost shifting and revealing myself. An omega or a gamma would know better–and I'm an Alpha!"

"You haven't done so badly away from the shifter lands."

Jude's eyebrows shot up. "Do my ears deceive me? Was that a compliment?"

Grudgingly, Daxius admitted, "You posed as a nobleman in Wildefell and a merchant on this journey without giving yourself away. You made a mistake and I doubt you'll make it again."

"No. Besides, I trust Ravyn," Jude said with passion and sincerity. 

He heard the emotion in Daxius' voice. "I've wondered over the years while I was in that absolute h*ll whether she remarried. I know that we witches and wizards can live as long as shifters and elves, but Ravyn was and is young and vital and with so much to offer. I wondered what kind of man she would choose. But I never thought she'd leave the shop. I have to admit, a shifter never crossed my mind …"

"Mating with a witch never entered mine, and the same is probably true for my friend, and now my son-in-law, Dane," Jude shared.

Daxius hesitated. "He seems like a good man."

"The best." 

Jude couldn't smell Daxius, despite his boasts to the contrary, but the heartfelt honesty in the wizard's words made even his wolf sit up and listen, alert and focused.

What prison could he have been in?

"You really can't tell Ravyn who held you prisoner?" he asked.

"No. Not until I earn her forgiveness–and despite her strength and compassion, I don't think I have yet." Daxius' voice was filled with sorrow.

Jude's interest was aroused. "Is it some kind of magic thing? A curse?"

Daxius looked pained. "Ask me no more."

"Sorry. Ravyn is a forgiving woman."

 "We'll see. And I have to say, after going full Alpha on me, Dane has been a gentleman to me during our travels together. Some of that was just pretending to work together, I'm sure."

Jude growled. "He went full Alpha on you because you threatened his territory and his family."

"Not my intention, but I see now that it wasn't the best move I could have made."

His resentment shattered like he wished this crystal would. "Despite the hurt she still carries, Lilia loves you. Dane understands what's important to her. He's trying to be considerate of his mate's feelings–as I should be."

Daxius had a ghost of a smile. "You're here, aren't you? You agreed to come.

Jude snorted. "As if I would let my new mate journey alone into the unknown."

"Hmmm. I'm surprised she agreed to that–Ravyn has always been independent. Don't tell me that she hasn't done exactly as she wishes in her relationship with you."

Thinking back to Ravyn subtly maneuvering him to find his fated mate, Jude smiled. "She does–until she outmaneuvers herself."

Daxius made an enthusiastic sound of agreement. "She's brilliant but sometimes blind to her own feelings and desires."

"Aren't we all!"

He thought back to his stubborn insistence on not having a fated mate or even someone he loved as his new Luna. 

Daxius hesitated. "I doubt she would even consider you if Lilia didn't like you."

"I've loved your daughter from the minute I met her," Jude confessed. "The way she made Dane happy was obvious–and she got down and sniffed my tail and let her sniff mine."

Daxius exclaimed, "She did that?

"She did. The entire Evenhide Pack and several of my warriors, as well as my mate Emer and daughter Mali, witnessed it." He was surprised Daxius hadn't heard that legendary story. "From then on, Lilia and I have been close, and she compared me to Judge Chalice as a father figure."

It had to hurt Daxius to hear this, but he simply said, "I'm grateful she had both of you."

Jude spoke passionately. "A father can suffer because his children are angry with him for something that isn't his fault." He thought of Bram.

Daxius laughed ruefully. "I think, for her sake and for Ravyn's, we should have called a truce before we even embarked on this trip."

"Agreed."

"You handle yourself well in battle too, I have to say," Daxius complimented. "But I would expect that of an Alpha."

Swallowing the pride and bile rising in his throat, Jude said, "Very few people can face the Crestas without being reduced to a puddle on the floor–that was brave of you."

They were trading blows of a different sort–trying to outdo each other with praise. But Daxius seemed genuine, and Jude meant every word.

"We both love Ravyn," Daxius surprised him by saying. 

"How could we not? She's a magnificent woman," Jude said tenderly.

"AND she's yours now," Daxius said. A statement of fact.

"But part of her will always be with you," Jude offered. Daxius' face lit up like the noonday sun.

Jude reached out … and grasped Daxius' hand. He felt the glorious freedom to move.

Shaking his hand, Daxius grinned. "As I said, Ravyn tends to get her way! Friends?"

We were attacked by a common enemy, as well."

Daxius nodded, his face grim. "I don't know what I did to Melisande."

His ears pricked up and his wolf growled. "Do you smell that?"

"What?"

"Almost like a blacksmith's forge, and there isn't one close by." The odor of overheated metal lingered in the air.

Daxius tensed, his turquoise eyes huge. "We either have to get out of here or fight!"

"WHY?"

Spinning his staff, Daxius began to weave a shiny, slick blue barrier around them, like a solid wave. Jude pulled his dagger, ready to do battle. 

CRASH. Something invisible struck the barrier and Mars, Melisande's loyal soldier, appeared, his hands glowing. He raised his hands and burned away Daxius' protective shield.

"D*mn," Daxius cursed. 

Daxius hadn't had time to complete his shield. On the other hand, Mars just appeared in the room with stealth–maybe he'd been there for hours, watching Jude and Ravyn. The idea made him want to shift, but he couldn't. 

"Melisande can't have him," he shouted to Mars.

"You're on your own out here," Mars replied. "We'll be gone before you can call the others."

Energy chains shot from his wand and bound Daxius, who fell to the ground, cursing. He wriggled, cursing, unable to break his bonds.

Mars stood above him, trying to make a mean face.

It didn't work. Jude could smell the desperation on him.

"We'll be going now," Mars asserted. "And YOU won't interfere."

He cast the same terrible energy chains and hurled them at Jude.