by Megan Smith
Lifting her higher in his arms to press a kiss against her forehead, he sent another prayer heavenward that Allandra’s decision to change her very essence a second time wouldn’t have any unintended effects. That she would awaken safe and healthy and as perfect as she’d always been.
As if in answer to his prayer, the slightest hint of air whispered through her lips. Jerking his head down, he stretched his senses and felt his wolf keen in joy as they both felt an almost imperceptible beat of her heart. Then, with startling swiftness, life rushed through her very pores, re-filling every space in her body with energy so acute, it was painful. Her body arched as she gasped loudly, dragging air into her lungs as her eyes snapped open, revealing hazel eyes now flecked with glowing green.
“Allandra!”
She didn’t seem to hear his relieved cry, her eyes clouded with pain and confusion as her body shuddered while re-acquainting itself with the pulse and power of living. Murmuring soothing nonsense as she slowly calmed, her breath easing gradually until she finally lay still, her gaze clearing.
Turning her head carefully, her eyes met his and he felt both his wife-and the waking wolf inside her-recognize him. Joy leapt across her face as she raised a hand to cradle his cheek.
“Kendrick.”
He blinked away the cloudiness in his vision and dipped his head to take her lips in a kiss of desperate relief. Breaking away, he searched her face while reaching to gauge how her wolf was reacting.
Many times the wolf took immediate control, their animal instincts overwhelming the human side until both learned to work in harmony but he felt nothing but calmness in Allandra’s manner.
“I’m all right,” she assured him, a smile curving her lips, “no desire to attack and maim.”
A halting laugh shuddered through him as he brushed a careful hand over her arm. “Glad to hear it. The last thing I need is to hunt down a werewolf with a Blackstar Guardian’s speed and strength. Not that I haven’t done it before....”
Pursing her lips, she wrinkled her nose at him. “I’d call that a tie. I was almost there before you caught me!”
“But I did catch you. That’s the important point here,” he answered teasingly before the amusement faded from his eyes, “I wasn’t sure you were going to wake.”
Regret flooded her eyes a she shifted to sit up, one hand running comfortingly through his silky hair. “I’m sorry. How long was I out?”
“Four days.”
“Oh,” she paused, nonplussed, having never been in the dying state that long before, “it must have taken a long time for my body to adjust to the changes. But I feel fine.”
Holding out her arms, she twisted her hands while looking over her body. Tilting her head in a curiously wolf-like manner, she tentatively touched the wolf now resting inside and felt her nuzzle back. Letting out a small gasp of laughing surprise she looked up at Kendrick with amazed eyes.
“I know you tried to explain what this felt like...but there really aren’t adequate words to describe it. I can feel her. A different presence than mine and yet...she is me” shaking her head, she looked at him for an explanation and found him watching with a tiny, understanding smile tugging at his lips.
“As you said, it’s something you can’t explain-only experience” he agreed with a shrug of wide shoulders.
An expansive, excited smile stretched across her face as she wiggled out of his arms and backed up.
“I want to run as a wolf.”
Caution darkened his eyes as he held up a hand to halt her. “It’s better to wait-“
His voice cut off abruptly when, with a barely perceptible shimmer of air, a sleek black wolf stood where his wife had been just a moment before. Not as massive in size as his wolf, hers had elegant, strong lines and strength that was easy to see. Intelligent glowing green eyes stared back at him with open delight, a wolfish grin curving her mouth.
I have even more senses than I did as a Guardian. This is going to be so helpful when I’m tracking someone.
Her open delight had him shaking his head while reaching out to run a hand through her soft fur. Her body arched into him with a low, pleased rumble and his wolf responded with an answering growl.
You are beautiful in every form he complimented her and she tilted her head to the side while her tail wagged enthusiastically.
Come run with me. Let’s see if you can catch me in wolf form. First one to the waterfall wins!
With that joyous challenge, she took off running toward the open window. Never even hesitating, she sprang up onto the window seat before sailing through.
“Allandra!”
Racing to the window, his heart pounding within, he grasped the window frame and glared down at the wolf dancing on the ground below, barking happily up at him in challenge. Feeling his wolf shuffling with eagerness to play with its mate, he allowed the worry and heaviness of the past few weeks to slide away as Allandra hopped back and forth, one ear cocked.
A slow grin spread across his face and she yipped in answer before turning and racing into the trees. Letting out a long, joy-filled howl, he shifted and shot through the window, landing lightly on massive paws before shooting off in pursuit of his mate. All around him, answering howls of understanding and jubilation rose in the air.
The pack knew that Allandra had woken and was fully one of them.
Kendrick felt lighter than he had in years as he hunted his Seraphin, his wolf giddy with happiness to have her awake and playing. She was a worthy opponent, laying a false trail here, her scent abruptly disappearing there. He almost fell into several traps she’d laid among the forest floor and huffed in delight at her cleverness.
He had every intention of winning though and deliberately moved in ways that herded her in the direction he wanted her to go until they were once again both racing for the clearing by the waterfall.
Putting on a burst of speed, he never even stopped when Allandra turned to face him with triumph glittering in her eyes, just plowed into her so they rolled together toward the water. They wrestled and nipped until he finally pinned her down, his body heaving with happy exertion.
With a shimmer, they both shifted back and he found himself once again gazing down at his laughing wife, her eyes dancing with mischief and unbridled delight.
“I won.”
Slowly lowering himself until he was flush against her, his mouth a hairsbreadth from her own, he watched her eyes darken with awareness.
“You may have gotten here first,” he conceded, “but I’m the real victor...you’re mine.”
Her face softened as she tugged her hands free to slide them around his neck, tugging his head closer until their lips touched.
“Yes. But remember,” she murmured as their breath mingled and lips clung, “I captured the heart of a wolf.”
Epilogue
A BABY’S CRY SPLIT the air, making all who heard it stop and give a small smile before moving on.
Allandra crooned gently to the newborn being placed in her shaking, outstretched arms. A smiling Lyssia laid the baby on his mother’s chest, immediately soothing the child with her warmth and the familiar beat of her heart, before quietly slipping out the door to give the new parents some privacy.
Kendrick smoothed away a strand of sweaty hair sticking to her forehead before encircling them both in his arms, eyes glowing with fierce pride and contented happiness.
“Hello little one” she murmured, love filling her heart so completely she thought it might burst. Just as it had been with Teagan and Brylee, the immediate, all encompassing love she had for the child cradled against her was total and complete.
“He’s perfect” Kendrick commented softly, shifting slightly so Allandra could lean comfortably back against him.
“He is,” she agreed, running a finger lightly along one downy cheek, “I think...Cael.”
A small smile lifted his lips as he nodded in agreement. “Cael Faolain,” he repeated quietly brushing a hand lightly over the tiny head and ma
king the baby nuzzle against it, “welcome to the pack.”
The enfants eyes flashed bright emerald green briefly in response to his Alpha’s greeting before they returned to newborn blue as they drifted closed. Peace drifted over the tiny face as he slept, held safe in his mother’s arms.
The bedroom door opened hesitantly and two heads peeked around the door, eyes bright with barely held curiosity. Both parents lifted their heads and smiled in welcome as Kendrick motioned them closer.
“This is your brother, Cael” Kendrick introduced as Teagan and Brylee crowded close, awe touching their faces.
“He’s so little” Brylee breathed, hesitantly brushing her fingers over his arm.
“Right now, yes. But soon enough he’ll be running after the two of you, trying to keep up” Allandra predicted with a soft smile and Teagan looked at his parents with a serious expression.
“I’ll make sure he’s protected” he vowed and Kendrick reached out to cup the back of his son’s head.
“I know you will, son.”
Teagan straightened with pride at his father’s assured tone before looking down at his new brother with fierce purpose. Allandra noted his reaction with bittersweet love, recognizing the strong streak of protectiveness in her son, the strength and dominance already obvious in his every action. He was an alpha in the making, which meant that sometime in the future he would strike out to stake his own territory, form his own pack. She felt a pang at the thought of him not being here in Kalvara.
Not yet, Allandra, Kendricks voice murmured comfortingly in her head, it’ll be many years yet before he makes that choice. Right now it’s up to us to help them grow in peace and strength. We have a start now, with our new allies. We’ll make a future with hope for them.
Tears stung her eyes as she nodded in agreement, a tremulous smile lifting her lips while her husband pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.
The bedroom door opened once again, this time revealing a crowd of Sentinels peering in. They tumbled in at Allandra’s nod and so began an afternoon filled with loving pack members, come to welcome the newest member. Kendrick never left her side, a proud father and loving Alpha, pleased at the way his pack embraced the newest wolf-born, vowing to protect him with their lives.
Later, as evening fell and they were finally left alone to sit before a crackling fire in a nest of warm rugs and blankets, Allandra watched her husband hold their newborn with exquisite gentleness and felt her heart fill.
Catching a thread of that emotion through their connection, he lifted his head to capture her gaze with his. For a moment there was nothing but silence and a depth of emotion almost too strong to give voice to. Letting a soft sigh relax her whole body, she shifted to rest her head against his shoulder and look down at their peacefully sleeping son.
“I dreamed of this, long ago. Together in our home, surrounded by family, at peace with where we were and what the future held,” she confessed, her voice almost soundless as Kendrick’s arm encircled her in his warmth, “today-this moment-is more than I ever imagined.”
Closing his eyes briefly at her heartfelt words, he struggled against the rush of emotion threatening to swamp him. After centuries of fighting, desperate to hold onto hope and with nothing more than ragged determination, he finally found himself at peace.
His wolf knew that his packs were on their way to securing a future lived without fear and no longer prowled, on edge about their enemies. He now had three children to love, protect and teach to take their place in the Pack. Children who would grow up not in fear, but secure in the knowledge of who and what they were.
And, after what seemed like an endless, agonizing separation...he held the woman who had captured his heart from the first moment they’d laid eyes on each other and knew they’d never be separated again.
“You are my heart” he told her simply and she lifted her head to smile sweetly at him, one hand lifting to caress his face.
“And you have always been mine.”
Together they watched the flames of the fire dance, content to sit with the warm weight of the baby in their arms while knowing their other children were serenely asleep down the hall.
Peace filtered down from the Ascendant Alpha, strengthening and calming every werewolf across the world and all sensed the contentment he felt at having his mate safe in his embrace.
From a distant corner of Kalvara, a wild, jubilant howl lifted into the air and was joined by dozens of others.
Pressing a kiss against Allandra’s temple, Kendrick heard the joyous voices of his wolves...and smiled with a soul finally at peace.
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Books by Megan Smith
Blackstar Guardians
A Dream of Magic
A Dance in the Moonlight
The Heart of a Wolf
And Then Came You
Christmas
One Christmas Wish
Christmas in my Dreams
Sneak Peek
And Then Came You
THE AIR FELT COOL, with that crisp freshness only autumn brings. Multi-colored leaves rustled in the trees and crunched underfoot as Sophie stepped out of nothing-teleportation just one more ‘present’ from Malek she’d never had before- onto the edge of Mystic Harbor.
Cradled in the curve of the Callae river right in the heart of Ravenna, Mystic Harbor was one of the oldest quarters of Calladoneia’s capital city. Like Anconia Gardens to the south, it had developed into a vibrant area of commerce and urban living where all races intermingled peaceably.
Its narrow, twisting cobblestone streets hid shops-many that had been there for centuries-where anything you needed could be purchased. Restaurants, taverns and clubs catered to every taste from cutting edge to country comfort and there was a comfortably familiar air about the whole area. Where Anconia Gardens was immaculately kept elegance, Mystic Harbor felt cozy and community centered.
She had bought a townhouse on its outer edges when she’d first become a Guardian, over a century before. Set in the center of a block of gray stone townhomes, each house’s entrance was separated by a small front garden surrounded by wrought iron fences.
She had fallen in love with the old world architecture and its perfect positioning, snapping it up without a second of hesitation. The front of her house looked out onto a large city park while the back boasted a larger than normal yard overlooking the wide Callae river.
The park was now a wash of autumn colors, the lush green of its expansive lawns setting off the cheerful colors of the fall flowers blooming in carefully kept beds. The lampposts had been decorated with hanging baskets of gourds, nuts and flowers in warm shades of yellow, red and orange and, as shadows started to lengthen in the coming darkness, the welcoming light of the lamps illuminated the pathways.
Cutting through the park on a familiar path, her steps became automatic as she moved toward home. The park was still busy even this early in the evening and a smile flitted across her face as she walked by a group of boys kicking a ball around, a determined younger sister pumping after them.
A few more curves in the path and she emerged on the small street winding its way in front of the townhouses. Suddenly anxious to be among her own things after three months away, her steps quickened as she crossed the road and unlatched the black, lacy wrought iron gate surrounding her tiny front yard.
She stepped through and let the gate close with a soft clang behind her as she swept the small space with a smile.
Months of neglect should have produced a front walk of brown weeds and overgrown hedges. Instead, thick green bushes melded together tidily, creating a sense of privacy from the other front yards on either side of her. Mosses and flowering potted plants were tucked along the wide steps and iron railing that led up to the dark green front door. Everything looked neat, well kept and remarkably hea
lthy.
Allandra’s doing, no doubt, she surmised while mounting the steps and pulling out the large, old-fashioned key that still opened the front door.
One of her best friends and a fellow Blackstar Guardian, Allandra had been born a Naethyrian and had the green thumb gifted to her people. It was obvious that her friend had spent some time keeping her garden lush during her time away. She’d have to send her their favorite box of chocolates as a thank you, she decided with a mental note.
Sophie...
A coaxing voice whispered through her head and she froze, recognizing the intoxicatingly smooth voice even as awareness shivered through her. She paused with the door half open and looked over her shoulder at the parkland across from her house.
Invite me in...
She searched the shadows beneath the crowded forest of trees and found him, standing motionless as he watched her. At the same time, she felt the strange pull inside her he had somehow created, the alienness she still couldn’t quite explain.
Giving her head a small shake, she turned and pushed the door all the way open.
“Not tonight, Malek” she answered aloud softly before stepping inside the house and quietly closing the door.
She leaned back against the smooth wood and closed her eyes, suddenly unsure of whether she was strong enough to withstand his pull. Her coming back wasn’t a sign that she was giving in to whatever he wanted from her-this was her time to adjust to the changes in her life and to decide what path she needed to take.
Malek would be a part of that path now-there wasn’t any way around that-but, she wasn’t going to let him dictate that part either. He wasn’t happy about her still having a choice, she admitted with a quirk of her lips as she pushed away from the door and reached out a hand to flick on the entry lights.
She could feel his annoyance through their mental link.
