Sanibel Virgin

by Talyn Scott

  Jude swatted Carther as if he were a nat, sending him flying from Mason’s hand, and knocking him into a plaster column. The column shattered and Kalen rolled back, wincing with every agonizing movement.

  Darting forward, Carther whipped out the stake, aiming it right for Kalen. He threw it with the precision a bullet.

  Archer lashed out with his leg, whipping Carther into the dining room. He grabbed the vampire’s wrist and crushed it. From there they rolled, smashing furniture along with the wooden floor beneath.

  Kalen stared hard, trying to focus through the pain, but everything was going murky. She brought her only working arm to her chest, finding the stake embedded in the center. “Oh, M-mason.” Blackness crept in her vision, transforming the murkiness into something far colder.

  Mason had brought himself to his human-like form. Somehow, she could sense it more than she could see it. He was rumbling above her, shouting something to Jude. And she knew Jude was still in full transformation, could sense the static power of his Beast glowing from the pull of the moon, his power flickering out to her.

  But it was too late.

  Much too late.

  She was falling down, down, down, inside a dark hole.

  “I’m not going to make…”

  “Yes.” Mason pressed his lips to her forehead. “You are.”

  “Don’t let… Archer kill Carther.”

  “We’ve got this, baby.”

  Kalen’s mind landed at the bottom of a dark well, so distant, cold, and removed, where hands were worming their way through the cracks.

  They yanked at her hair.

  Pulled at her bloodied feet.

  Gnawed at her throat.

  She gasped, trying to breathe.

  Jude’s lips touched her mouth, where her flesh was torn by the stake. His oversized hands patted away her tears. “Shush, female,” he grated in the Alpha Beast’s voice. “Please, do no’ cry.”

  “Kalen,” Mason demanded, “blow out on the count of three.”

  She knew immediately what he was going to do. “No.” It would be unbearable.

  “I’m taking the brunt of the pain for you,” he sounded urgent, his voice edged in agony. “You’ve got to meet me halfway.”

  And do what? Erupt with blood the moment the large cavern in her chest crumpled in on itself? “Please, don’t.”

  Deep inside her, the well was getting colder, the water rising now, skimming her ankles.

  “One.” Mason’s hand pressed against her chest.

  “Don’t.” Lapping past her shins, the water lifted higher.

  “Two.” Another hand gripped the stake.

  “Stop.” Something swam by her leg, grazing it with sharp teeth.

  “Three.” The hand twisted the stake, lifting.

  Kalen screamed. The water erupted from the well and filled her mouth. She sank down, down, down, while hands pulled her into the abyss.

  “Sage!” Mason shouted. “Get in here!” He bit into his wrist, tearing at it to force blood down Kalen’s slack mouth.

  Mason had Jude’s shirt against Kalen’s chest, applying pressure. But the thing was soaked already. He had to do something and his power was waining. “Tear open your wrist, Jude. She needs more blood.”

  He watched Jude leave full transformation, not even skipping to half, but slamming right into his most human form. He gripped the side of his head, shaking it off, then tore into his wrist with his blunt teeth, his canines not even dropping.

  Sage ran into the dining room in the human way, his body torn and bloody. Bite marks littered his arm, the wounds oozing black. Gripping daggers in both hands, he said, “None of us can mist now, or I would transport Kalen for you.”

  “Fuck. I sense the wraiths getting closer,” Mason said, wishing for his medical satchel. “We’ve got to get her through the line somehow. Can’t Maestru open up their shields like he did before?”

  “He’s trying, but there’s too many of them now, even with Alpha Jordan helping him. All they’re managing is to keep the wraiths from spreading elsewhere on the islands and into Fort Myers.”

  Kalen still wasn’t swallowing, so Jude stroked her throat, trying to work his blood into her stomach. “Her color is fading away.”

  Mason gritted, “I won’t lose her.”

  “It’s a be-spelled stake,” Sage explained softly. “Remember, you’re the one who told Syon about it.”

  “But she’s not a pureblood.”

  “It still might not be reversible.” Sage walked to the window, studying the war between the wraiths and the joint factions. “I can’t figure out why they’re not coming inside here, except that Holston controls them. Oycher’s searching his mind while Archer and Bane hold him down, but Oycher’s having a time of it since Holston’s thoughts are jumbled up with Carther’s.”

  Mason could hear Kalen’s heart slowing considerably. “What has Oycher pulled from him?”

  “He’s intent on bringing Kalen’s mother back from the grave, and putting her soul inside Kalen.”

  Jude’s head dropped, his fingers tracing her bloody cheek. “She’d be better off dead, then.”

  A strike of thunder lashed above the house, the plaster shattering from the ceiling. Jude brought his body over Kalen’s, shielding her, yet leaving enough room for Mason to keep the pressure on her chest.

  “They’re coming for her!” Oycher shouted from the hall. “The wraiths, they’re coming for Kalen!”

  The staircase started crumbling, the furniture falling from the upper landing. Through a crack forming in the ceiling, the first wraith squeezed through, its smokey cloak floating behind it.

  Oycher pulled out a special blade, jumping high for not being in his vampiric form, and stabbed the creature in the stomach.

  “Quick, Sage,” Mason said, hearing the plea in his voice. “Make her yours!”

  Startled, Sage blinked those wild green eyes. “Into an Undead? You want her to be my vampire?”

  Jude trembled. “We want her to live. Change her.”

  Sage ducked when another wraith seeped into the room, its bony hand reaching out a with a sickle. Oycher attacked it with the same ferocity as the last one. But the battle was stronger with this creature, its powers equaling that of Oycher.

  Jude sprung up and pointed to Kalen. “Save my lass, whatever the price. I will pay it.” He flung himself into the thick of fighting, where more and more wraiths entered the house. All aimed for Kalen, with Pack males and vampires alike fighting to keep her free of them.

  But her heart had slowed even more.

  “She has minutes,” Mason pleaded as Sage dropped to his knees. “You said you owed me. I’m calling in that debt right now.”

  “I cannot transform into the Species now, which may — ”

  “Do something!” Mason had saved so many others. And this time, this one fucking time, when his mate’s life depended on him, he was utterly useless.

  “We’re not supposed to do this in front of werewolves, but we may not make it out of here for anyone to find out that I broke code.”

  Sage couldn’t drop his fangs, so he yanked out a clean blade before he pulled away the bloodied shirt and exposed Kalen’s chest.

  Mason had seen every injury imaginable but never his own mate’s trembling heart. “It’s about to stop.”

  The floorboards creaked below them, dark smoke flowing between the grooves, before bony arms pushed them apart.

  “Hurry!”

  Sage sliced his own throat and dropped blood into her wound. Species blood healed most, far above werewolf blood, and slowly, ever so slowly, Kalen’s chest shimmered with regenerating flesh. And her heart stuttered a few beats before speeding up.

  He could hear Archer and Bane thrashing with Carther, trying to keep him down as the wraiths grew in strength and numbers. To the left, Jude and Oycher were fighting back to back, swinging out blades in a circular formation and slicing through anything that thought to get to Kalen.

  “I t
hink she might come around on her own,” Sage moaned, the loss of blood draining him. “If not…I’ll finish.”

  When Mason looked back down at her, Kalen’s eyelashes were fluttering open, the blue-green swirls so reminiscent of the sea waters around Captiva Island looking up at him.

  “I love you, my Kalen.”

  She gasped, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. “I… love you.”

  “Don’t talk. Save your strength.”

  “Carther.”

  “He’s still alive.” For now. “We haven’t killed him. Stop thinking. Focus on me.” Her heartbeat picked up. “On us.” Thump. Thump. Thump. “Come back to me.”

  Her eyes widened at the sight of the wraiths.

  “Don’t look at them.”

  “They’re clawing at my soul… inside me.” Another explosion rocked the ground right as spears of black fire leaped through the windows. “They are… inside me.”

  Syon crashed through the window, his face savaged, his eyes finding Kalen. “Holston did this to her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Holston’s trying to bring Karen back, the fucker.”

  “Shut up!” Mason growled.

  “You studied… this,” Kalen gasped, focusing her eyes on Syon. “Stop them.”

  “I don’t know what element Holston used to ground the wraiths here.” He lifted a blade, shoving it inside a wraith’s stomach as it darted to Kalen. “It could be the size of a dime or this entire house.”

  “The wraiths are connected to a single element?”

  “Yes, and Holston is controlling them due to his kills and his virginal sacrifices.”

  Kalen fought to stay conscious, her eyes blinking rapidly the way she did when going into one of her memory trances. “Door.”

  “What, baby?”

  “The door, Syon, get the cross.”

  His eyes flashed in recognition. “Yes, it’s worth a shot.”

  Another jolt rocked the house, the front door flying open with a hurling blast of black wind. It encircled the foyer before swirling about their heads in a fury of dark power.

  Syon fought his way through the wraiths, hundreds of them, but just as he made it to the door, an inky wave overpowered him and brought him to his knees.

  Mason watched the commander reach high, trying to get to a spot inside the doorjamb. “It’s in the door facing, Kalen?”

  “Y-yes.”

  Mason grabbed Sage’s limp form and put the male on top of Kalen. “I’m going for that cross.”

  Dodging wraith after wraith, Mason bolted over the rubble of broken glass, wood, and plaster, landing straight inside the foyer. Then realized he hadn’t another special blade to fend off the creatures, and an eyeless wraith headed straight for his chest with a bloodied sickle. He lunged to the side just as a shot of moonbeam hit Mason in the chest.

  His werewolf erupted like a god among men.

  A roar sounded.

  His.

  Kill them, his werewolf snarled.

  Yes, Beast! Kill them all!

  Mason speared the wraith with his claws before he smashed it into pieces.

  He then spun, swirling with the celestial power of the moon, and ignited a wave of power that toppled every wraith in his wake. With his claws, he shredded foul flesh, sending dark creatures back to the caverns of the spirit world as he fought to make it to the threshold.

  When Mason finally reached the door, he pulled with his might against the dark wind as it whipped him backwards, and gripped the doorjamb. He could barely see the cross through the thick magic, instead feeling for it with his claws. Gritting his teeth, he tore the cross out with his claws and clenched the hot stone in the palm of his hand.

  “Be gone!” he cried out while crushing it with all of his fury.

  Then nothing.

  Absolutely nothing.

  No wraiths.

  No winds.

  No wails in the night.

  Just peace.

  He dropped to his knees.

  My female, his werewolf howled.

  Yes, yours.

  Then his Beta Beast stepped into the background, releasing his transformation peacefully. And Mason sucked in a ragged breath.

  Archer and Bane dragged an unconscious Carther through what was left of the foyer. Bane eyed Mason, relief washing his exhausted face. “The phantom left with the wraiths.” He looked at the door, then back to Mason on his knees. “That was you, baby brother?”

  Mason nodded.

  Bane smiled cockily. “I felt the Ruyter power rolling through me. Nice work.”

  Nice work? Mason rolled his eyes, his words not forming on his tongue. But he didn’t have to talk. All he needed was to get to Kalen. He raised his head and stared through the house, finding Jude lifting her in his arms. Her face had already half-healed. And as if she sensed he was watching her, Kalen cut her eyes to his, locking onto him. That string tightened between them, pulling his chest to hers.

  “She’s okay,” Jude said, his smile radiant. “And she’s still ours.”

  “Because no one can take her away,” Archer said as put Carther’s unconscious body next to Syon’s. He barreled towards Kalen. Then Archer stopped and turned around, his eyes landing back on Mason.

  “I’ve got him,” Bane said, heading to Mason.

  Archer shook his head no. “I’ve got him.” He walked over and squatted on his haunches. “You ready to stand? Cause I don’t think Kalen wants to see her male weak and pathetic on his knees.”

  Mason nodded and stood with Archer’s help. “Carther?”

  “Will be fine.” Archer looked at the moon, his eyes glowing ice blue as he urged Mason to walk to Kalen. “We didn’t hurt Carther too bad, so Dru can patch him up.”

  When they reached her side, Archer pressed his lips tenderly against Kalen’s temple. “Dru is coming for you and Carther now, in a chopper.”

  “I hate flying.”

  “I’ll blindfold you.”

  She reached out with a shaky hand and cupped Mason’s cheek. “Besides, I can feel myself healing, and I already have my own doctor right here.”

  “Sage saved you, not me,” Mason said, examining her healing chest.

  “His blood helped but you got rid of those… nasty, soul-stealing creatures.” She started to shudder and winced in pain. “I adore Dru, but it’s you I love. I want you to treat me. That is, if I even need it by the time the chopper lands.”

  How could he say no to his female? “I will treat you, love you, always and forever.”

  The chopper sounded overhead, and she made a face. “Who’s riding with me?”

  “All of us,” Jude replied. “And I’ll feed you on the way to Marco Island. Because you are mine, and I love you.”

  Kalen’s eyes glistened. “I love you, Jude Faden.”

  Archer leaned to kiss the top of her head. “And just so you know, I’ve loved you from the first moment you stepped up on Mason’s deck.”

  “Oh, Archer,” she whispered. “I love you, and I can’t wait to marry you.”

  “Mate me,” he corrected.

  “All girls dream of weddings,” she whispered with a wink.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  They were married in the late eve at the Sanibel Church. Only immediate family, including Carther, could fit inside the tiny building with its blue shingles and tilting steeple. But Pack males were waiting outside, flooding the private stretch of marsh encircling the ceremony. Many who were mated brought their females and Younglings to join in the reception, a way of welcoming Kalen back to Pack.

  Kalen stood at the altar with her three gorgeous males, each wearing a black tuxedo. Mason was the last to step forward in order to recite his vows with her, but she kept screwing up what she was supposed to say because she couldn’t help her wayward thoughts. He looked incredible staring down at her, his black hair the exact shade of his tux, his eyes flaring blue behind the violet. She almost wished her males hadn’t gone to so much trouble to plan this
human-style wedding because she was eager to get to the honeymoon. She blinked, trying to focus, and repeated what Jayce — who was officiating the service — had told her. “To have and to hold, to love honor and cherish…till death do us part.”

  Mason took a breath, readying to repeat the same thing, then shook his head. “I’m not human, and we both know death is never going to part us in the first place.” He took her hands in his, squeezing a little. “I promise to be your friend, your lover, your partner, and your protector. I will never side with anyone but you. In any conflict whatsoever, I will be your ally.” He released one of her hands, and brought his to cup her face. “I will lead you through all of the adventures this world has to offer, including the most rewarding adventure of all — raising our future Younglings together.” His thumb brushed away her sudden tears. “Above all, you are my equal in everything, and I will love and honor you for all of eternity.”

  Kalen whispered, “Mating you was the smartest decision I could ever make.” She threw her arms around Mason, and he lifted her with the crook of his arm to connect them in a sizzling kiss.

  Jayce cleared his throat. “Um, you males can kiss the bride…”

  Laughter sounded all around and the group jammed inside the little church clapped and whistled for the grooms and their bride.

  When Kalen lifted from Mason’s kiss, she was met with Archer’s mouth. He cupped her cheeks and pulled her into a devastating kiss, a show of his love. She gasped when he released her, barely catching her breath before Jude managed an even more explosive kiss than that of Archer.

  Their werewolves were shifting beneath their skins with tonight’s full moon, and she didn’t know how much longer any of them could hold back, but at least the ceremony was over.

  “Okay, if you four can break it up for a few minutes or so,” Jayce said as his Youngling, Ardan, tugged on his hand, “we can cut the cake.”

  Ardan jumped up and down, clapping. “Cake!”

  Jayce swung him high as he led the others from the church, his mate, Tatum, joining them at the door.

  Kalen wiped her face and studied her wedding rings, one band of gemstones from each of her males. Mason had chosen diamonds, Jude had chosen emeralds, and Archer had chosen rubies. “I love these bands,” she said. “Thank you.”