The Seduction of Jac Frost (by Tatienne Richard) novel Chapter 77

Sibling Time

Original composition by Tatienne Richard exclusively for My Fiction. If you’re reading this elsewhere it has been stolen from the platform.

Five days.

As Wilder stared at the empty bed in his hotel room, it hit him square in the chest that she wasn’t there.

In his own life, in praying to their creator, he knew being in the temple could be done in minutes. It could also be weeks

of homage, fasting, and sacrifice. When his mother had been sick, he’d stayed in the temple for thirty–two days.

He knew it could take time.

Yet, this absence was aching. He couldn’t feel her. Anger at himself for not claiming her before she left reared up inside him yet again.

Irritation rose up further in him when his bed dipped, and his brother appeared at his side.

“There are doors,” he pointed to the one which kept people:10

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out of his hotel room. “It is locked for a reason.”

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“I miss her,” Rafferty ignored the words his brother growled at him and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. “Why

didn’t we mark her?”

The similarities in their thoughts made Wilder shake his head. Once twins, always twins, he supposed.

Rafferty turned his head to look at his brother, “you still can’t

feel her either?”

“No. That dull hum which existed since I first touched her

stopped within an hour of her and Jack leaving.” He looked

into his brother’s eyes, “she didn’t want us to mark us. She wasn’t ready. Do you think,” he cleared his throat, hating himself for even saying this thought out loud, “she had Jack take her away from here because we came on too strong?”

“What do you mean?”

“After she went skiing with River, she questioned us on why we put her in my room instead of giving her your room.”

Rafferty opened and closed his mouth in surprise, “I hadn’t thought of it to be honest.”

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“We pushed her so much. She’s not a clinging vine and she spoke over and over about how we needed to give her space and then we fucking moved her in here and …”

“Hey,” Rafferty put his hand on Wilder’s arm, “stop. She liked

it here with us. When she said that to us, I took her it as teasing. She was fine being with us. She was warming up to us, to the possibility of mates and to being with us forever.”

“I’m scared she won’t come back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what if she decides she doesn’t want to come back

and disappears?”

“She won’t leave us like that, Wilder.” Rafferty shook his head, “but I had a far more sinister thought than her not wanting to come back.”

“And that is?”

“What if it wasn’t Jacinta but Jack who got rid of her the first time?”

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Wilder frowned, “what do you mean?”

“I mean what if he tricked us and made us think that he

believed us about Jacinta, but it was really him? Jacinta has

been covering for him for years?”

“No.” Wilder shook his head. “There is no way on earth.”

“We didn’t think Jacinta capable.” Rafferty argued.

“I disagree.” Wilder said seriously as he sat up in the bed. “We did think Jacinta capable and it was why we argued so profusely at first. We never suspected her and we should have and it was the guilt of having to face our failures in the very obviousness of what really happened.”

Rafferty groaned, “I’m spiraling because I expected she’d see the priestess, the priestess would tell her she was cool for

being able to make flowers and talk to animals and then she

would pop back home, and we could continue wooing her.

Instead, she’s still away, Jack isn’t answering our calls, and she is completely radio silent.”

“We can’t go to Jack and Winika and ask if they heard from them because the way Jack took her and ran from them it made me think he wanted to keep what they were doing a 4/12

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secret. They still think Jacqueline is simply avoiding them and Jack is home with his wife the way Mom said he was.”

“Was he keeping it a secret from them or from Jacinta? She

was there.”

“Yeah, I don’t know.” Wilder covered his face with his hands

and groaned loudly. “I fucking hate not being in control.”

A knock on the door made them both look up. River’s voice

calling through the door made them both groan.

“Just come in River.”

“Are you decent?” she landed next to the bed with her hands

over her eyes.

“Yes.” Wilder rolled his eyes while Rafferty scoffed. “I’m not

naked in bed with my brother.”

“You will be when your mate is in between you.”

“But she’s not.” Rafferty whined and pulled a pillow over his

face.

“Do you want an update?” River asked with a smug smirk on 5/12

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her face. “I can tell you what I know.”

Both men were moving now, onto their knees on the bed.

“What did you find out?”

“I got in touch with one of the girls who used to serve my

room when I would stay at the palace and asked if there was any update on Jacqueline meeting with the high priestess. She told me that on the day Jacqueline and Jack arrived, Aspen arrived at the temple not much after. All three of them went into the inner sanctum and then not long after Aspen’s arrival, all the priestesses of the Northern Realm went into the sanctum, sealed the doors and nobody has come in or out since.” River was grinning widely, “something huge is happening behind those doors and I know it’s because our girl Jacqueline is fucking powerful as shit. I guess Jack ordered them all to maintain secrecy. Nobody is telling the

King anything.”

“Nobody has been in or out in five days?”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “Apparently the high priestess has a huge spell cast over the entire temple. You can’t

teleport into the space. You can’t teleport out. No priestess has been seen since she sealed them all in.”

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“Shit.” Wilder scratched his chest over his heart nervously, “I

hope she’s okay.”

“Word is,” River was beaming with pride, “the priestesses all went running into the inner sanctum when Jack started screaming like a banshee. The original thought was to

protect the crown prince but now speculation is it was to

keep him from interfering because he was screaming at

Jacqueline not to do what she was doing. That comes from

one of the girls cleaning the temple. She was the only one

left when the doors were sealed.”

“What if she’s hurt?”

“Then we would know. Jack would let us know.”

“Rafferty thinks he was in on it with Jacinta.”

“No fucking way.” River snorted. “You forget I beat him into the ground years ago and the man was sobbing with snot running down his face because he failed to keep his baby sister safe. There is no way on earth he’s that good of an actor. For years he wasn’t even training because he was so lost.” She sat on the edge of the bed, “whatever is happening in the sanctum is happening because it’s our creator’s will. We have to trust that Jacqueline is where she is and Jack is 7/12

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doing what he is supposed to do as a big brother and

protecting her. I’ve seen some crazy rituals in my life and it’s possible the screaming heard was Jack protesting Jacqueline harming herself for the sake of something the priestess wanted done. How many times have I or one of you seen a priestess cut her hands to bleed on the altar? Jack’s a drama queen. He probably saw her cut her hand and freaked out.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Wilder looked at her, “how’s Wraith?”

River sighed and moved to crawl onto the bed between her brothers and rested against the headboard, pulling a pillow

to her chest.

“He’s freaked out. Learning about fairies and fae and supernatural beings aside,” she sighed, “learning that he’s not going to be able to live a life like he planned, is a bitter pill.”

“He can still do the Olympics and be a successful man in his own right. Mom isn’t going anywhere for a long time, River.”

“I know but I have obligations which means I can’t be with him all the time when he’s training. He’s telling me the hours he’s in his program already feel like they’re too long away from me. He’s going to want to go where I go.”

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“He needs to talk to Dad.” Wilder said seriously as he settled

next to his sister and kissed her forehead as she rested her

head on his shoulder. “Dad will let him know what it was like for him. Dad continued his job with the guard and still works on his own thing.” Wilder sighed, “his parental life is shit. His mother has been here all week with him, and she’s been in

the lounge hitting on men half her age all week. His father refused to come here for him. They care only about the money Wilder can bring in and not the man he is to become.”

“He’s still so young,” River whispered. “He’s trainable and

he has stamina, I’ll give him that,” a hue of color coated her

cheeks as her brothers both snickered, “but his view of the

world is naïve and simple. Guys, I have shoes older than him and I’m not exaggerating. I literally have multiple pairs of my favorite shoes that I’ve had for twenty–five years. They are older than my mate. He’s green and immature and I want

to trust the creator’s process but holy shit,” she clutched the

pillow tight, “I went to visit him at the rehab center last night

and he was cracking jokes with another one of the patients there and,” she made a face, “they were crude and the kind of thing you expect from teenage boys in a locker room. His behavior made me cringe. I told him if he wanted to see this through, he needed to complete his program.”

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“You want him to finish this?”

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“Yes. I want him to finish this, school and get on a podium if it’s what he wants, to be a competitive skier but I need him to grow the fuck up.” She sighed, “I understand he’s not had

parents but I’m not going to be one to him. I need a partner

not a child.”

“He’s not that much younger than Jacqueline.” Wilder argued.

“Let’s trade then. I’ll take Jacqueline as my mate, and you

have him.”

“Nope!” Rafferty laughed at her offer. “Never in a million years. Where Wraith was the kid who had everything handed to him and it turned him into a spoiled brat incapable of wiping his own ass, Jacqueline worked hard for every damn thing she has. She’s strong and incredible even without being a fae. Wraith needs to learn to stand on his own two feet.”

“He’s going to push you Wilder to get him out of this program. I don’t want him out. Please. He messaged me by text last night and said he was going to talk to you.”

“He’s being treated for sex addiction that he doesn’t really have. Other than for his reputation there is no need for him 10/12

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to be there.”

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“But they make him make his bed every morning, adhere to a routine, workout and attend group sessions which force him to listen to the perspectives of other people. It’s making him grow up in a way he’s never been forced to before. Please.”

“Okay. He stays the course.” Wilder nodded, “we’ll get his

mother involved.”

“What?”

“If she finds out he’s potentially ready to throw in the towel and I let her know this is going to ruin his reputation and get him kicked off the Olympic team, it means her access to funds is minimized. Her ex is fighting her getting a single

dime from him. If she thinks Wraith is going to fuck it up and he does not get the sponsorships and deals she’s hoping for,

she’ll kick off.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. His mother is a piece of work. If I were in your shoes, I’d teleport him to the palace and keep him on lockdown until you train him to be a man. If you want him to man up on his own, this is your ticket.”

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“Fine.” She nodded, “now, I have a plan to make Jacinta confess her involvement in Jacqueline’s disappearance twenty–five years ago. Do you want to hear it?”

“There is nothing I want to hear more.” Wilder said truthfully. Maybe by the time his girl came back to him, they’d have answers for her and her family.

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