Noah (Rise of the Pride, Book 10)

by Theresa Hissong

  “You’ve made me so happy,” Noah blurted and took Landon’s lips in an intense kiss. “I have to work tonight, but I will take the next week off so we can be together during our official mating.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Landon replied. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I’m ready to give myself to you fully, Noah.”

  The words Noah wanted to say were expressed in the passion of the kiss he shared with Landon. His life was almost complete, and he pushed back a tear when he suddenly wished his mom was around to see it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Landon opened the door for Harold and paused when he saw four Guardians at the healer’s back. “What are they doing here?”

  “We came to make sure Noah doesn’t go feral when you are going through the change,” Savage told him, stepping in as soon as Landon moved out of the way.

  He knew Noah was going to have a hard time with the change. Olivia had spoken with him several times about how crazy the males get when they see their mates in pain. Looking at the large, scary shifter, Landon wondered why they’d brought so many. Savage could handle Noah alone, couldn’t he?

  “Okay,” Landon replied. What else could he say? They had their way of doing things, and Noah tried to explain a lot of the shifter ways the night before, but after a while, Landon just got confused.

  “I will be fine,” Noah promised as he came into the living room. “They’re here just in case.”

  Harold left to set up everything he needed in the bedroom. Noah and Landon had decided go through the change at their home. Landon didn’t want to go through the three days laid up on a gurney in the healer’s clinic.

  “Everything is ready when you are,” the healer announced as he returned. “We will step out until then.”

  The Guardians, Savage, Kye, Kraven, and Diesel, followed Harold out and Landon closed the door. He looked up when he felt Noah’s arms around his waist, turning him so they could embrace chest to chest. Noah stared into his eyes for the longest time, and Landon didn’t know what the shifter was trying to say.

  “I’m going to be fine,” Landon promised, starting the conversation. “I trust you to guide me in my new life, Noah. The pain will be worth the reward when we can finally become one.”

  “In soul, body, and blood,” Noah vowed as he pulled Landon toward the bed.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Landon needed one more reassurance from the male who owned his heart.

  “I promise,” Noah replied as he removed his shirt. “Do you remember what I told you?”

  “Drink until the pain makes it impossible to drink anymore,” Landon recited from their talk the night before. “Let’s do this.”

  Noah pulled Landon and spun him around so his back was to the shifter’s chest. He heard a soft growl come from Noah as he lifted his free hand to his mouth. Landon didn’t want to see him bite into his own flesh, so he closed his eyes until he felt the press of a wet, warm wrist to his mouth.

  Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth and took Noah’s wrist as he’d been instructed. He sucked and drank with greed, needing to ingest as much blood as possible before the pain began.

  Landon didn’t know what to expect, and the blood tasted pretty much like he’d imagined. It wasn’t revolting, and that was a relief. The only difference he noticed with each pull was the heaviness it made in his belly. Each swallow of the shifter blood filled him like he’d just eaten a full meal.

  “Drink more, Landon,” Noah growled in his ear. “Don’t hesitate. You’re slowing down.”

  Landon felt the first twinge of pain, moaning a little when the sharp stick of what felt like a tiny knife twisted his gut. Noah’s arm tightened around his waist, lifting him off his feet as he continued to drink. His mate placed him closer to the bedside and pressed his wrist harder. “Fight the pain. Come on, Landon. I love you. You can do this.”

  Landon wanted to tell Noah he loved him in return, but the next pain was so bad, his mouth released its hold on the bloody wound his mate’s canines had made in his own wrist. He doubled over and yelled when he caught his next breath.

  Noah pushed him onto the mattress, and Landon tried to reach for him, but the blinding pain kept him in the fetal position. He heard voices entering the room as Noah began to pant. “Noah….go.”

  “I’m not leaving you yet,” Noah blared. His voice wasn’t his own. It was obvious he’d half shifted from the lisp to his voice.

  “I’m going to sedate you,” Harold’s voice came in clear a while later. Or was it immediately? Landon was hurting so bad, he couldn’t tell any sense of time.

  With a pinprick to his arm, Landon rolled over on his other side and curled in on himself. The sedative made his mind foggy, but he didn’t fight the sensations the medicine gave him. He sighed when the pain began to ease, and let the darkness take him away.

  If Noah had to tell the Guardians he was fine one more time, he really was going to rage. It’d been forty-eight hours since Landon had taken his blood, and the male was still in his human form. His eyes were barely showing any amber specks, and that worried Noah.

  Olivia, Dane, and Landon’s brother, Cole, had been there all day. Cole kept checking on his brother every few hours, and eventually took Olivia home for a meal. Dane gave him a soft smile as they departed. “Call us if anything changes.”

  “Will do,” Noah promised.

  There wasn’t a sound in his house, and he needed something to drown out the heavy panting coming from his bedroom. There was an old movie on the channel when the television fired up. He lowered the volume so Landon’s new sensitive ears wouldn’t be disturbed. Even if he hadn’t started the change, he would be soon. Or, at least he hoped so.

  “Did I give him enough blood?” he asked Harold as the healer came out of his bedroom.

  “You did,” Harold replied, nodding his head. “Everyone changes differently. Let’s give him another twelve hours before we start to worry.”

  Savage sat on the couch as Noah took to his recliner. The Guardian was only a step away from him should he lose his shit the next time Landon came out of the sedative.

  Noah had been relatively calm, and it wasn’t because he didn’t care his mate was in pain. It was best he kept his distance, right now. His panther was prowling just under his skin, and Noah was using every ounce of energy he had to keep the beast from bursting through his human flesh. Rubbing his tongue over his canines, he took a deep breath and made a move to stand. Savage followed him.

  “I need something to drink,” Noah snarled, internally kicking the panther. If they made any hostile movements toward a Guardian, Harold would be sedating him without warning.

  “You’re pacing.” Savage returned his growl, and Noah looked over his shoulder from his open kitchen.

  “I didn’t realize I was pacing,” Noah said. He glanced at the liquor bottle on the counter and contemplated drinking about half of it to keep him calm. The last thing he needed to do was bury his emotions in a bottle again. He’d gone through that after his mother had passed. It didn’t help then, and it wouldn’t help now.

  “Why don’t you go in there and lay with your mate while he’s sleeping?” Harold asked as Noah retuned to the living room. “It’ll keep you from pacing so much.”

  “I can’t,” Noah replied, being honest. “I’m doing okay right now, and I know he can’t tell that I’m there because of what his body is going through. I don’t want to risk going feral and being sedated when he finally shifts. Once that happens, I will not leave his side.”

  That was a good enough excuse, right?

  Minutes turned into hours, and the hours turned into the next day. Noah’s name was called out, jerking himself awake from his spot on the couch. His heart pounded in his chest as Harold came to the bedroom door. “Get in here.”

  “What’s wrong?” Noah demanded, his beast pushing so hard against his body, his fur started to form on his arms. He shook his head and pushed the beast back.<
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  “He’s turned.” Harold’s voice held an amount of relief and cheer he’d never heard out of the male’s mouth before. “He’s fine.”

  “Thank the gods!” Noah deflated, feeling his beast recess into the back of his mind.

  His mate was fully formed into a panther. The beast was smaller than his own animal, but that didn’t matter. Noah vowed to protect him regardless of his size. As he climbed on his mated bed, the beast yowled, rolling over to face him. His lip lifted slightly, showing off bright white canines.

  “It’s going to be a little strange at first,” Noah promised, hoping Landon’s human side was close enough to the surface to hear him.

  The beast snarled at him, but immediately calmed at Noah’s touch. Even touching Landon’s animal sent a tiny mating shock to his body. The beast righted itself on its belly and pulled its legs underneath it.

  “I need you to give me back my human mate,” Noah begged, cupping the animal’s face. When he looked around the room, he noticed the healer and Guardians were giving them the privacy they needed. Noah pressed his forehead to the panther’s and closed his eyes. “Teach him to love this new life.”

  “Noah,” Talon’s voice boomed from outside the door. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Noah replied. “Come on in.”

  Talon entered, smiling at the large black cat on the bed. “Is your mate ready to shift?”

  On Noah’s nod, he moved away from the bed, allowing room for Landon to shift back to his human self. Noah wanted to be the first person his mate saw when he opened his new icy blue eyes. “Landon, use your human mind to push the panther away. Tell him you want to be a human again.”

  The beast huffed and showed his canines again, but the process was already starting. Landon’s body reformed, and Noah tried his best not to flinch at the sound of his bones reshaping for the first time coming out of a shift. It was said to be painful, and from his mate’s human moan, he was certain it was.

  “Wow,” Landon said as Noah draped a sheet over his naked body.

  “Never heard that one,” Talon chuckled under his breath. “How are you feeling, Landon?”

  “Weird, but good,” Landon frowned as he sat up in the bed. Noah was there to help, but his mate was steady. “Does that make any sense?”

  “It does,” Talon replied. “Before you dress, I need to give you my blood to bring you into our pride. I’m sure my brother explained everything to you.”

  Noah had explained everything during their long talks.

  Landon reached for Noah’s hand and looked into his mate’s eyes as he addressed the alpha. “I will take your blood, and I vow myself to Noah and the Shaw pride.”

  “Noah, will you run with your mate?” Talon asked. His brother was in his alpha role, and he knew sending Landon out into the woods was going to be an amazing experience. He was just thankful it was dark. Landon could finally see what he’d been trying to show him that night at the pond.

  “I will,” Noah replied and released his mate’s hand to undress. “I will shift the moment he does.”

  They were going to do this together. It was the first of many, and Noah vowed to be at his mate’s side throughout his struggles and accomplishments. That male was his.

  Talon bit into his wrist and recited the same vow he’d given so many others. When Landon took a drink of the alpha’s blood, a roar spilled from his lips as his beast took over. Noah followed and walked out of his room with his panther in charge. The animal stood a little taller…a little more confident in who he truly was.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later

  Landon and Noah ran through the woods, following the trails the pride had cut from their many years of living on the land. When Landon ran for the first time two weeks ago, he couldn’t bring to words the feeling at seeing the dark forest for the first time with his panther eyes. He knew it was late at night, but the world around him was so easy to see.

  It wasn’t as bright as day, but it looked like dusk with an amber tint to everything. It was so weird to him how the beast pushed at his skin when he needed to shift. The first transition was hard. The pain was something he never wanted to experience again, and Noah promised him he never would.

  Noah had told him about his new powers, but he didn’t understand it until he finally became one. He felt stronger, faster. The strength he had was boiling under his skin just waiting to be unleashed.

  They’d taken to shifting and running together in the evenings after Landon had shadowed the healer and Noah had slept enough for the day. They’d have dinner together, then shift and run through the pride’s land until it was time for Noah to go to work.

  The past couple of weeks had been hard on the pride. The Gadaí were still at large, and the alpha, Holden Manzelli, was nowhere to be found. The young males who were reaching the age of twenty were training at the old Guardian dorms more, and the pride was changing as the increased violence plagued the city.

  Other prides and clans had joined the fight all over the world, and Noah was worried about everyone’s safety. Landon had to give up his role as the sole vet at his clinic, hiring a female to take over for him. The animals had not taken too kindly to his new status.

  It broke his heart, but he’d been working with Harold, learning what he could about the shifters. Being one himself helped, and he knew he would be a great asset to the pride.

  For now, he and Noah would run in the late evenings after he woke. With the long hours Noah was on duty, it kept them from seeing each other, but they made a point to be together for a few hours a night to have a meal or make love in their mated bed.

  Noah had Landon mark him in the ways of their animals, and Landon felt the need Noah had told him about all those times he tried to urge him to turn. Once he saw the bite scar on Noah’s neck the morning after their official mating, he understood everything his brother and mate had been telling him.

  The animals were quiet as they ran through the woods, making a lot of noise as they raced to the pond at the back of the property. Landon used his powerful legs to launch himself off a long, thick branch that hung over the water, splashing as he landed. Noah followed him in, shifting when his head broke the water.

  “Shift for me,” he urged.

  Landon pushed at his beast, noting how controlling the animal was getting easier each time he did it. Bumps raised on his skin as his saw his breath in the moonlight. “Why would you shift? It’s fucking cold.”

  “Come here,” Noah ordered, his eyes throwing amber sparks. “I’ll keep you warm.”

  “I bet you will, mate,” Landon replied, taking the demanding kiss from Noah.

  “What is going to happen with the Gadaí?” Landon asked. Every pride and clan was on the hunt for the rogues, and because the alphas were still at large, no one knew what their future would hold. It scared him to know his mate was putting his life on the line every night to protect the humans and save the shifters who’d been turned by the bad alphas.

  “We continue to hunt the alphas,” Noah sighed. “I don’t want you to worry. We will find them, and we will make sure our pride is cared for, too. None of them will get inside these walls.”

  “I love you, Landon,” Noah admitted as he pressed their foreheads together. “I’m finally where I want to be in my life, and I want to thank you for that. You’ve mended a lot of my broken pieces.”

  “And you’ve shown me strength to overcome my tragedy,” Landon replied, hoping the water in his eye was from the lake and not tears. “Without you being there by my side on those first few days, I don’t think I would’ve wanted to live.”

  “We need to live now,” Noah said. “It’s war out on those streets, Landon, but here, at our home, I have peace.”

  “I will always be here when you return home,” Landon promised, taking Noah’s lips and rubbing himself against the male’s stomach. “Now, take me home and make love to me before we have to go back to the world outside.”

  Noah and Landon
raced back to the cabin and fell into bed. They spent the next few hours lost in each other. The war wasn’t going anywhere, but they could at least find something to do until the time came for Noah to go.

  Calla typed away on her office computer, trying to find anything and everything she could on Holden Manzelli. A simple search engine should’ve come back with some sort of information, even if it was off a pay site for background checks. No matter how she spelled his name, there was nothing.

  Nada.

  Zip.

  Holden Manzelli wasn’t the alpha’s name. It couldn’t be. Even if he’d been a shifter all of his life, there would be some sort of information. No home addresses. No phone number listings. Nothing!

  She hadn’t told her alpha what she was doing, but she knew he wouldn’t mind Calla using her tracking skills to help them hunt down an address for the alpha. She didn’t know much about what was going on in the city, but she did retain what little she’d been told by Evie and her brother. Only having a name to go on was a little easier when they didn’t have a common surname. So, why wasn’t she finding him?

  The door chimed as two clients entered the office. Calla put on her warm smile and greeted them. “Hello, how are you today?”

  “Wonderful,” the male said, stepping up to her desk. They were both strikingly beautiful, and from the clothes they were wearing, extremely rich. Their jet-black hair was styled as if they’d had a professional working on them for the past few hours, and from the shine to the female’s nails, they had been done recently, too. “My sister and I are here to see Mr. Lowden.”

  Calla couldn’t place their thick foreign accents, but that wasn’t something she’d ever been trained to spot. Other than hearing accents on the human’s television shows, she’d never been around anyone from outside the United States. There was something different about them, other than their accents. She scented the air as inconspicuously as she could, but they didn’t smell like a shifter. They were human; that much she could tell.