Free One True Mate 1: Shifter's Sacrifice by Lisa Ladew Page A

defeat him, nor do they have the protection drive that we do. Killing our females devastated us, and for three years, most of the first three years of your life, we thought we were ruined. Those were dark times, son, and your generation paid the price for them. We Citlali appealed to Rhen, but she did not know what she could do for us. She could not fight. Her body was not substantial enough to create more shiften , and The Light had retreated to some corner of the Haven that no one could follow him to. There was no help to be found.”
    Wade looked off at the wall covered with shelves stuffed full of prophecies, the light from the TV playing over his face. “That’s what we thought, anyway, until your father spoke his final prophecy.” Wade motioned to the TV where the image of Trevor’s father sat still, paused. “He told us of the One True Mates and we immediately sat session, the only all- shiften session in history.” He turned a bold eye to Trevor. “Except the foxen. They have no Citlali , so of course we did not include them.”
    “Smart,” Trevor said. “Who knows what they would have done with the information.”
    Wade nodded sharply. “Never trust a shiften with a weak renqua , Trevor.” He watched Trevor’s face carefully, then went back to his story. “It took too many hours for all the Citlali to calm themselves enough to cross over. By the time we all were there, it was a full day later. Rhen had been told what we were after by the first to cross, so she had done her own crossing, into the Haven. We had to wait another day for her to return. When she did, she had astounding news. The few remaining angels had always refused to get involved in human matters, but one had taken pity on Rhen. Her constant mourning had touched his heart. From the way she speaks of him, I might surmise he is in love with her, and if so, all the better for us. He came to earth over the course of forty nights and mated with thousands of human women all around the world, with an intention of creating females strong enough to be our mates, to make offspring that would have a chance at fighting Khain. He hadn’t told her because he was waiting to see how the babies developed, what sort of identifying characteristics they would have, what kind of powers and abilities.”
    Trevor leaned forward eagerly. This is what he had been wanting, needing to hear!
    Wade held up a hand. “Don’t get too excited. Rhen got that information second-hand from another angel. Her angel, Azerbaizan, had disappeared.”
    Trevor stood, pacing again. “Disappeared? How? Can angels die?”
    Wade shook his head. “No one knows. He hasn’t been heard from in twenty-five years. We think the prophecy your father received was sent to him by the angel. Your father said it came through disjointed and hard to read, and definitely not from Rhen, but from a powerful being.”
    Trevor curled a hand into a fist and looked for something to hit. There was nothing, unless he wanted to pound on a chair or the floor like a child. “Khain killed him. Or took him.”
    Wade nodded. “He may have. Which is why I accepted our transfer from Scotland without a second thought. We can’t afford to be ignorant about the Pravus any longer.”
    Trevor sighed. “So all that, and we still have no way of knowing who the One True Mates are.”
    Wade stood also. “We must carry on like always, son. They may be looking for us. We may be revealed to each other over the next few days or weeks or months. We have three clues, four really.” He held up his hand and ticked off the clues on his fingers. “One, they are warriors, whatever that means.” Trevor grimaced and Wade laughed lightly as if he knew Trevor was wondering if he was going to be mated to a female who looked like Mac, or maybe Blake for the rest of his life. He popped up a second finger, “Two, they don’t have fathers, and three, they are named like flora.”
    He paused and Trevor finished for him. “Four,