“Yes.” Gerard looked at his fellow Beta. “Part of our oath to serve the Alpha is to assist in upholding his honor. If he’s innocent,” his gaze shifted back to Warren, “he’ll empty his pockets.”
A tense moment ticked past, no one moving. Suddenly, Warren let out a snarl and reached for the hip holster under Samuel’s coat. Pulling the pistol, he shoved Samuel aside, raised his arm, and took aim – at Justin. Gerard and Phil dove at him even as he pulled the trigger. Justin ducked. The shot went wild and the bullet lodged in the crown molding near the ceiling. Gerard wrested the gun from Warren and turned it on him. Phil drew his own weapon and trained it on Samuel. The scuffle ended as quickly as it began.
Justin straightened again. “Where were we? Oh, yeah.” Walking right up to Warren, Justin stared into his yellow eyes as he reached inside his jacket and retrieved a handkerchief from the breast pocket. “There’s a reason Dad didn’t name you as his successor,” he said. He opened the cloth to reveal a tinted eyeglass lens bearing a deep scratch and speckled with dried blood – and going by the scent, Justin could tell it was his father’s. He glared at Warren. “You don’t have what it takes to be a true Alpha.”
As he watched Gerard and Phil drag Samuel and Warren from the room, Justin felt a tug within his body, like his insides tearing apart. He dropped to his knees with a grunt. “Oh, god,” he choked out. “What’s happening?” He grabbed the edge of the desk with one hand for support while clutching at his chest. “Savannah – what’s going on?”
At some point, Savannah’s life force had receded and allowed Justin to move back into control of his own body. She had healed him, and given him the strength he needed to finish what he started. For a brief time, their spirits had occupied the same space, and all her thoughts and memories had become his – which was how he knew about the lens in Warren’s pocket. Somewhere in the midst of the chaos that had just played out in this room, Savannah had pulled back. Now, Justin realized he couldn’t feel her presence anymore. He couldn’t feel her in his mind and heart, the threads of her essence woven with his own. He couldn’t feel her, at all. He remembered what she had said about astral projection and people who stayed out of their bodies for too long.
No, he thought. You can’t be gone. I can’t lose you, now. He looked around, overcome with panic.
“Savannah!”
Chapter Seventeen
Healing Justin had used up nearly all of Savannah’s life energy. Once she knew he would be all right, she dislodged herself from him, her spirit once more discorporate as she surrendered his body back to him. She floated beside him and watched as he began to realize she had withdrawn. It broke her heart to see him so fearful and desperate, to hear him calling for her. Oh, baby, she thought. I’m so sorry. Neither of us knew it was going to go down like this. She smiled sadly and reached out, yearning to touch his face one more time. At least you’re alive. That’s all that matters.
A groan from the corner drew Savannah and Justin’s mutual attention. Lady Dauphine was trying to sit up. Justin rushed over to her side. Savannah followed and watched him help the older woman to stand before guiding her over to a sofa.
“Are you all right?” Justin asked.
Lady Dauphine nodded slowly and touched her head. “Yes,” she sighed. She looked around. “What happened?”
“Warren’s been taken into custody,” Justin said. “He’ll be facing Clan Justice for killing my dad. Samuel will be put on trial, too, for acting as his accomplice.” He shook his head. “All because Dad wanted to take the Pack in a new direction, the same direction I wanted to take it in.”
“Some people cannot cope with change,” Lady Dauphine said. “One can honor tradition while embracing the future. But there are those, like your cousin, who equate such changes with the loss of power. They close their minds and their eyes to the vision of something greater simply because it is different – or they try to twist it into something darker.” She offered a gentle smile. “Your father understood this. He knew the time had come for his race to make itself known to the world. While it is sad that he will not be here to see it, it now falls to you to make it happen.”
“I don’t care about that anymore.” Pushing up from the sofa, Justin paced away, covering his face with his hands. “For the first time in my life, I found someone who understood me. I stopped thinking about myself and started thinking about her.”
Savannah could see the waves of anguish rolling off of him to form a fast-rising pool of negative emotional energy, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before he began to drown in it.
Justin raked his fingers through his hair. “But now she’s gone,” he muttered. “She saved my life twice in the last three days…I didn’t even get a chance to thank her. She just…left.”
“Did she?” Lady Dauphine closed her eyes. Tilting her head, she smiled again. “But I can see her.”
“She’s still here?” Justin asked, sounding frantic and hopeful at once. He rushed back to Lady Dauphine. “Where is she? Can you talk to her?”
“She’s right beside you,” Lady Dauphine said, her eyes still closed. She turned her face in Savannah’s direction, ‘looking’ right at her. Hello, my dear, she ‘said.’ It appears you have lost your way.
Yes, Savannah admitted. She could have added that it was Lady Dauphine’s fault for locking her spirit to this place, but she refrained. I stayed away too long. I just wanted to help Justin. He would have died.
So you were willing to sacrifice your life for his? Lady Dauphine chuckled softly. Well. A noble gesture deserves to be rewarded. If you will allow me, I will guide you back from the astral plane.
Savannah perked up. God, yes – please!
Lady Dauphine opened her eyes and looked up at Justin. “Take me to her,” she said.
They returned to the car. Justin stood back while Lady Dauphine dipped down and placed a slender hand against Savannah’s cheek. “She is very cold,” the old witch proclaimed.
Justin choked. “Oh, god – is she…?”
“The cold is actually helping to keep her body alive while her spirit is not in it.” Lady Dauphine drew a symbol in the air over Savannah’s chest and then another over her forehead, whispering incantations under her breath. “Give me your hand,” she said, holding out her own to Justin. He did not hesitate to comply. She guided him to place his palm over Savannah’s heart. “Your feelings for her will be a light to guide her home.”
“Just hope it’s not too bright,” he muttered, flashing a nervous grin. “Don’t want to blind her.”
The elderly woman treated him to a bemused smile. She cupped her hand over Savannah’s brow again. “I am opening her Third Eye,” she said. “This will also act as a beacon.”
“Whatever works,” Justin said. He looked at Savannah. “Come on, baby. Find your way back. We’re waiting for you.” He licked his lips and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Please, baby – I need you.”
Savannah let out a loud gasp, her body arching up in the seat. She blinked several times, disoriented. She saw Lady Dauphine leaning over her and she managed a smile. “Thank you,” Savannah said, her voice hoarse.
The crone bowed her head. “Randall Waylan was a very dear friend to me,” she said. “If not for your good heart and your great courage, his son would have joined him in death, and the men responsible would have gone on to wage war against Humankind.” She smiled. “I would consider it an honor to call you an ally in the fight against the world’s darker forces.”
“The honor is mine,” Savannah murmured.
Lady Dauphine glanced at Justin. “I think I will leave you with this one, now,” she said, and withdrew, stepping away from the car to give Savannah and Justin some much-needed time together.
Immediately, Justin slid into the vacated space. “Hey,” he croaked, offering Savannah a smile. He reached out to brush trembling fingers across her cheek; his eyes began to glisten as they filled with tears.
“Aw, hey.” Wrapping her arms arou
nd his neck, Savannah pulled him down for a hug. “It’s okay, now.” She could feel his hands sliding under her shoulders. She stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. “It’s over.”
“You saved my life,” Justin said, his voice now a whisper. He swallowed audibly, throat clicking, and pulled back far enough to gaze into her eyes again. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t.” Savannah gripped his blood-stained shirt collar and gave it a light tug. “You brought me back, Justin. By doing that, you saved my life.”
“I guess so.” After a moment, Justin leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “No more astral stuff, though – deal?”
Laughing softly, Savannah rubbed her nosed against his and nodded. “Deal,” she replied.
Epilogue
In the days that followed, Warren had been found guilty of the murder of the Clan Alpha. Samuel had been sentenced as an accessory to the crime. Both faced the harsh sentence of death, but Justin – whom the Clan Council had named Alpha Successor to his father’s post – made it his first act to spare them and instead sentenced them both to permanent exile.
“I still don’t know if this is what I want,” Justin said, as he sat behind his father’s mahogany desk. He reached out, fingers tracing the crack he had put into the wood surface during the argument he had with his dad the last night he had seen him alive. The Persian rug that had been stained with his blood had been removed, replaced by a new carpet. “It’s a huge responsibility.”
“Yeah, but you can handle it.” Sitting in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace, Savannah propped her chin in her hand. She had closed the restaurant today in order to stand as a witness in the trial. “You said you were going to prove you could do it.” She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Now’s your chance.”
Justin snorted. “I just thought I was going to have a little more time to get ready for it,” he muttered.
“It isn’t something you’re ever prepared for,” Lady Dauphine said with a beatific smile. Like Savannah, she had testified against Warren and Samuel, but had waived the offer to bring charges against them for their assault on her; their evil deeds, she had said, would come back on them threefold and without any assistance from her. “Your father doubted himself all the time.” She wandered over and settled her hip on the corner of the desk. “He always worried whether he was doing right by the Pack. And you had a lot to do with that.”
Justin grimaced. “Because I was an embarrassment…”
“No,” she said, gently correcting him, “because he thought you might be right. Your father once told me I was his most trusted confidant, and he had asked my advice on this matter.”
“I wish he would have talked to me about it,” Justin said sullenly. “Every time I’d bring it up, he’d shut me down.”
“Because he was afraid,” the crone said. “He might not have been ready to talk to you, but he did listen. Toward the end of his life, he had begun to see that it was time for Werewolves to make themselves known to the world of Humans. He believed it would encourage other preternatural races to step out of hiding, as well.”
“Wait – what do you mean, ‘other’ races?” Justin blinked, frowning. “You’re telling me Werewolves aren’t the only non-Human race?”
“Of course, there are others,” Savannah said with a chuckle. She got up from the chair. “Vampires, Faerie Folk, Dragons, other shape-changers…” She looked at Lady Dauphine, who nodded in confirmation. “Witches have known about them forever.”
“Seriously?” Justin huffed out his breath. “Wow. And I always thought they were just, you know, myths. Legends.”
“Many legends are based in truths,” Lady Dauphine said with a mild shrug. “It is what it is. But yes, they are out there…waiting for someone to lead the way.” She pointed at him. “That ‘someone’ could be you.”
“Damn,” he said, and rubbed his chin. “That’s an even bigger responsibility.” He looked up at Savannah. “What should I do?”
She smiled. “I think,” she said, as she circled around the desk to stand beside his chair, “that you should do whatever your heart tells you to do. But while you’re thinking about that, I want you to remember something important.”
“And that is?”
She reached down and gathered up his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Whatever you choose to do – whether it’s to take on the duties of Clan Alpha and be a great leader to your people while setting an example to others like you, or if you decide to hand the job over to someone else – you can count on me to be right beside you.”
He smiled. “How’s that going to work out with you and the restaurant?” he asked, giving her hand a squeeze. An idea popped into his head and he brightened. “Hey – now that I’ve got my inheritance back, I can offer to buy out your sisters! You’d be able to keep the property that’s been in your family for generations, you’d still be able to run the restaurant, and there isn’t a damn thing they can say about it.”
Savannah’s eyes widened at the suggestion, but she maintained her cool composure. “You do realize if you buy the building, that would make us business partners in The Goode Soul Café.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “Maybe I can even help out in the kitchen from time to time – you know, when the Alpha shit gets to be too much pressure.” He winked. “I do have a little experience on the grill.”
Savannah let out laugh. “Flipping one burger,” she said dryly, and gave him a playful poke. “You’d have to learn how to control yourself and not eat everything in sight.”
“I guess you’ll just have to help me find something else to help sate my ‘appetite,’” he said in a low, seductive rumble.
She leered. “Oh, I’m sure I can conjure up something…”
Lady Dauphine’s light chuckle filled the air. “You two,” she said, shaking her head as she stood up. “You are truly meant for one another. Two sides of the same coin.” She raised one pale eyebrow. “I suppose this means you won’t be needing any spells to dissolve your Bond of Familiarity?”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Sliding his hand around Savannah’s waist, Justin pulled her down to sit on his lap. “I plan to get familiar with her every chance I can get.”
Both women groaned at the bad pun. “And on that note,” Lady Dauphine said, making her way to the door, “I will bid you both a good night.” She paused and gave the young couple a knowing look. “Oh, and I will be more than happy to officiate your handfasting in May.” With a cryptic smile, she waved her fingers and drifted out of the room.
“’Hand-fasting?’” Justin frowned. “What’s that – some kind of ritual where you starve yourself for a few days? Because you know there’s no way I can go more than a few hours without eating.”
“It has nothing to do with food,” Savannah laughed. “In most Pagan circles, ‘handfasting’ is another word for ‘wedding.’ During the ritual, the couple’s hands are bound with a cord during their vows – that’s also where the term ‘tying the knot’ originated.”
“Ah,” Justin said, nodding, only to stop abruptly a second later. “Wait. Did you say ‘wedding?’” He pointed after Lady Dauphine. “She thinks we’re going to get married?”
“In May, apparently,” Savannah said. She placed a hand on Justin’s shoulder. “But don’t go freaking out over it. Just because a powerful witch tells you something’s going to happen doesn’t mean it’s written in stone. She was probably just yanking your furry tail. Relax! No one’s putting a shotgun to your head and forcing you to do something you don’t want to do.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Justin said with a grunt. He drummed his fingers against Savannah’s hip. “Although…maybe it could happen...”
She stared at him. “Come again?”
“Us. You and me. Handfasting.” Justin felt that warmth blooming in his chest, the heat of a gentle caress that first started when he found himself connected by a magical spell to this beautiful woman on his lap. He looked up i
nto the green eyes that continued to captivate him. “It could happen – right?”
Savannah’s breath hitched, and he could see her struggle to find her voice. “You…you’re saying you want to get married?” she asked. “To me?”
Justin smirked. “No, to the fireplace,” he said, motioning to the hearth on the other side of the room. He grinned. “Yes, to you.”
“Need I remind you that we’ve only known each other a total of seven days,” she pointed out, deadpan serious.
He shrugged. “Yeah? So? According to some people, the universe was created in a week. Come on, Savannah: if werewolves and witches exist – and vampires and faeries, and probably even Big Foot, too – then what about ‘love at first sight?’”
“But we didn’t fall in love at first sight,” she said. “As I recall, you were on the run from guys who were trying to kill you, and I was pissed off because you disrupted my ritual. ‘Love’ was the furthest thing from both our minds, at that point.”
“Okay, fine,” Justin said, throwing up his hands in frustration. “I’m talking about since then.”
“Settle down, Wolf-Man.” Savannah giggled and ruffled his hair teasingly. “You are so easy to mess with; you know that?” She sighed and shook her head, regarding him with a look of endearment. “My god…what am I going to do with you?”
He gazed up at her with a hopeful grin. “You could always bake me one of your pies,” he suggested, and wrapped both arms around her again. “We can discuss marriage, later – right now, I’d like to put in an order for those candy-apple lips.”
“Coming right up.” Cupping his face in both hands, she leaned in and kissed him on the mouth, long and slow and sweet. Then she hugged him around the neck and let out a deep sigh. “I’ve got to consult my Book of Shadows,” she said. “I need to see if there’s a rite to give thanks to the spirits for bringing you into my life.” She pulled back and looked at Justin, her eyes shining with affection and contentment. “My mother always told me, ‘When everything and everyone around you seems bad, if you just keep doing good, something great will come to you.’” Savannah stroked Justin’s cheek. “And she was right.”
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