by Zoe Winters
“How much do you remember about your parents?” she asked.
“Huh?”
She took a deep breath and plunged in. “I know your mom’s a demon, but she was human in the beginning. Do you remember when your dad talked about how when he marked your mom it didn’t extend her life past a human life span because wolf marks don’t work that way?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, if she hadn’t ended up a demon, their lifespans wouldn’t have matched up, and at some point they would have lost each other forever. I didn’t know at first, but while I was in that place, they ran some tests and found out I’d stopped aging. So I won’t get old, but in a few hundred years, you would. Maybe that sounds like forever to us now, but if you were right and you were going to mark me and tie us together, how would I feel when you died and left me? Shouldn’t we have the potential to have lifespans that match? You won’t age now. At all. If this was going to happen, I had to make sure that wouldn’t come back and bite us later like it did for your dad.”
Noah sighed. “But my mom was already dad’s mate when she later became a demon, and then because of their link he became immortal, too. And I heard that when Hadrian claimed Angeline, he got true immortality because guardians don’t die. So it might have happened anyway, even if I’d just marked you because of you being already immortal.”
“Maybe. But what if it didn’t? Or what if I couldn’t claim you after you marked me? If I’m your true mate, you should be happy about it, that we don’t have to worry about that later.”
“We should have talked about it first,” Noah said.
“Oh like you were going to just talk about marking me? I saw that look in your eyes. You weren’t gearing up for a reasoned conversation. You were intent on marking me right then. I had to do it then or never.”
Noah went to the sink. He gripped the edge of the counter and stared into the shattered mirror. Their eyes met in a fragment of the reflection.
“Sydney, I don’t think I can give you what you need. I’m not good for you. I’m not good for this pack. I can’t do all this.”
She growled from the pile of blankets in the tub. “Well now is a fucking great time for that after—”
Then everything went black.
Sydney opened her eyes, snuggled in the blankets in the tub, a large, warm furry body curled protectively around her. She glanced over to see animal bones near the sink, and blood on the tile floor. One of the other wolves must have brought him something to eat during the day.
She hadn’t even been in the tub when she was yelling at him. She imagined Noah catching her as she went down and wrapping her in the blankets. She wondered if he’d shifted to feed or because he was stronger in his wolf form and could better protect her. Either way, she knew he hadn’t left her side all day.
It was hard to stay angry at him under the circumstances. He couldn’t give her what she needed? Sydney thought maybe he could do a lot more than he thought he could. He’d done what needed to be done to get them out of there and find them shelter. He’d killed his own kind to protect her. When she’d smashed the mirror, he’d put aside anger and confusion to rush in there. And now, here he was guarding her.
Sydney ran her fingers through his fur. It reminded her of when they were kids, before he’d shifted for the first time. She’d woken up like this so often when they were young, with the wolf wrapped around her, guarding her. It was understandable why maybe she and Noah wouldn’t have understood there was something deeper in their connection, but had their parents not even seen it?
Or maybe they had seen it and had disapproved. Maybe that was why they’d been separated. And maybe there was still another reason she’d claimed him. When they got back they were going to have to deal with their families. Amidst happy reunions there could be disapproval from either or both sets of parents. Werewolves and vampires weren’t known to be very best friends, after all. There was the occasional odd alliance, but it wasn’t a normal way for them to interact.
If her father didn’t approve of this match, Sydney knew he’d try to separate them again. He wouldn’t care if Noah had marked her. But a claim was something different. He wouldn’t try to separate them with a claim in place no matter how much he might hate it. Even so, it would be better to keep that side of her reasons to herself. Noah wouldn’t appreciate hearing how to Anthony, her claim trumped his mark, not when they’d had their first fight over that same subject. With wolves, she was sure that the mark on her throat was enough. It was possible they wouldn’t realize there was also a vampire claim in play.
After all, Noah’s mark was pretty screamingly obvious—and not a gentle one. It was the one mark on her that wouldn’t ever heal. Her father would be livid when he saw it.
Sydney nudged the wolf. He yawned and stretched and buried his nose inside the blankets. She was hungry and she wasn’t about to sink fangs into fur. Gross.
“Noah!”
He made a snorting sound and snuggled some more.
“Hey! Wake up!” Seriously? If she were under attack, she wondered if he’d sleep right through it.
He stretched again and shifted into his human form. “Hey,” he said. He was over it, too. Maybe she should schedule all their fights for right before she fell dead for the day. It wasn’t the most healthy communication strategy, but it worked.
He kissed her over his mark and growled against her throat. “You hungry?”
For everything. Naked hot werewolf mate draped over her at the moment. There hadn’t exactly been time or mood to be amorous when they’d marked each other. There wasn’t time for fighting and make-up sex. There hadn’t even been time to finish fighting.
His erection pressed against her through the blankets.
“Let’s relocate,” she said. It was a huge tub, but with all the blankets and pillows, it was too cramped for anything but sleep.
Sydney watched as he stood and stretched. Oh, she could get used to this view every night. He reached down and helped her stand. She opened the door to go into the main room but leaped back out of the way and slammed it.
Noah moved in front of the door to stay between her and whatever was on the other side. She knew he hadn’t smelled anyone. There wasn’t anyone to smell.
“What is it?”
“The sun,” Sydney said. “It’s not down yet.” She didn’t even think vampires could wake up before the sun went down. Of course, she didn’t know any vampires mated to werewolves, either.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Noah stepped out of the room for a few minutes and then came back in. “The sun is setting now. It should be safe in about twenty minutes or so.”
“Still, I shouldn’t be able to even wake up before it goes down. Normally I slept a few hours past sunset.” She’d always been the last vampire to rise.
Noah got the blankets and pillows out of the tub and started moving them into the other room. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”
Sydney peeled off her clothes and got in the shower. A few minutes later, she sensed Noah. She felt his eyes on her through the glass, but he didn’t make a move to join her.
“Sun’s down,” he said. “You can come out any time. There’s a bathrobe on the tub, and Shira’s got a ton of clothes in the closet that would probably fit you.”
Sydney wrinkled her nose at the idea of wearing the clothes of a dead woman, but it would be a lot better than the awful white clothes she’d had to wear since living in that glass cube. She’d looked like a cult member.
The door clicked closed. Really? He’d said she was his true mate. She was naked in a hot shower with water dripping off her. He wasn’t getting in with her?
Then she realized… Noah’s never… He’s a virgin. He’d been taken as a kid, and the robot voice had seriously discouraged all fraternizing. When would he have had an opportunity? Of course he wouldn’t just jump her in the shower.
She shut off the water and grabbed a towel to dry off. She glanced briefly at the bathr
obe, but left it draped where it was. The wolf was clearly going to need some encouragement.
When she stepped out, she gasped. Flowers and candles filled the room. Noah was still lighting a few of them.
“After the way I spoke to you last night, the way I spoke to you at that place, I wanted tonight to be special. You haven’t had a chance to see my very best side,” he said.
The man had no idea how sweet he was. After everything he must have been through, being isolated from his family and other close social contact that wolves needed to be halfway normal—for years—and he was apologizing for all the stress he was under.
Sydney dropped the towel and stalked him across the room. “It’s just me. I used to tug on your fur when I was a baby. You don’t have to impress me.”
A long breath spiraled out of him, as if he’d been holding it since they were children. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a long time. He smelled clean and fresh from the shower. She wondered if he’d gone next door for that.
He wore only a pair of sweatpants—no shirt or shoes. She wanted to snuggle into him forever.
“You should feed.”
The pulse danced in his throat, calling to her. She very much doubted that she ever could have taken enough of Noah’s blood to endanger him, particularly when he was strong enough to throw her off him, but now with the claim, there was no way she could take too much.
“Are you still mad at me?”
He kissed the top of her head. “I was never mad at you. I was worried for you. I was afraid if the wolves knew, they might turn on us. I don’t know how that would go. I need to keep you safe.”
Sydney’s nose wrinkled as she looked into his eyes. “Really? Because I don’t remember it exactly that way.”
He sighed. “Part of it was just irrational macho wolf stuff. Okay? Is that what you want to hear? But that’s not me. That’s not how I feel. It was just an instinct. Are you still mad at me?”
In answer, she gripped the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers.
“Y-you need to feed,” he murmured.
“Oh, I can do both. Just let me take care of you.” Sydney shoved him back on the bed. She knew he was nervous, that he had to worry he wasn’t wolf enough for her because he hadn’t had a million conquests before. And she had experience.
When she shoved him back, he went because something had changed in her when they’d bonded and she’d fed from him. There was no doubt now that she’d be a normal vampire. She’d shoved him, and it had actually moved him. Unlike the weak push that wouldn’t have budged him two nights ago.
He seemed impressed, and she flushed. But then she was more interested in other things. “You had to have done more than just run in the exercise yard all those years.”
“I might have lifted a few weights on occasion,” he said.
She laughed. “Such modesty.”
“I’m a wolf. There isn’t a modest bone in my body.”
Like most of his kind, they didn’t shy away from or get weird about nudity. Even captivity hadn’t changed that trait. He’d put on the sweatpants for her comfort, not his. She pulled them off and drank in the sight of him.
That is yours. Forever, a dark voice in her mind whispered.
She straddled him and licked those perfectly chiseled abs and the lovely lines that framed his hips. His cock jumped when her tongue stroked it. He gripped the mattress so hard, his claws were starting to come out, and so was the mattress stuffing.
“You poor deprived thing,” she teased.
He chuckled. “What have I gotten myself into?”
Sydney slid up his body and positioned herself over him. She let out a sharp whimper when she took him inside her. He was so warm. Much warmer than a human. Their eyes met.
“You okay?” he asked.
She felt the blush rise up her throat and into her face. “Yes. You’re just warmer than I’m used to…” Way to kill the mood, Sydney. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
Noah’s hand rested on the side of her cheek. “Hey. I don’t care. You’re mine now. Nothing before that matters. I know sex and feeding often go together with vampires. You didn’t know I was your mate. You didn’t even know I was alive. I would never expect you to be miserable or alone. Ever. Okay?”
She nodded and began to move. She smiled when his breathing became more erratic, then she let her fangs come out and bit him. She hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been. This time it wasn’t overwhelming. He tasted like peace and love and comfort and safety, and she couldn’t believe she’d been drinking anything less for all these years.
Lust and tenderness, protectiveness and love made the blood sweeter than anything she’d ever had before. His hands dug into her hips, and a moment later he’d flipped the two of them.
The combination of his blood and the way his body rubbed against hers, sent her spiraling into the best orgasm of her life. It caused her fangs to clamp down harder, urged her to drink more deeply as she bucked and writhed underneath him.
He let out a roar when he came.
“Wow,” he said, as he collapsed on top of her.
She laughed and licked the last bits of blood that strayed down his throat.
They laid sprawled together for several minutes, and then Sydney started to cry. “I thought for years that I was never going to see you again.”
Noah held her hands in his. “Mates always find each other. Always. Destiny pulled you to me.”
Sydney wanted to say that was nonsense, but she wasn’t so sure right now. If Jacob hadn’t betrayed her and taken her to the city, would Noah have been motivated enough to fight so hard to get out?
“We should go downstairs,” he said. “I need to get a sense of how loyal they’re still feeling after they’ve had time to sleep on it.”
Noah pulled the sweatpants back on and blew out the candles around the room. Sydney forced herself to get out of the fluffy bed and went to Shira’s closet to find something to wear.
“Holy crap. This chick had a ton of knives.” Sydney gawked at the rows and rows of sharp, pointy weapons designed to do maximum damage and the array of holsters to conceal them. “Why would she have all this when she had claws?”
Noah poked his head in. “It’s not always convenient to shift to wolf form for fighting. With her size, she probably took all the advantages she could find.” He left Sydney alone in the closet to continue her search.
He was right, the alpha had been just about her size. It wasn’t a perfect match, but it was close enough that nothing but the most form-fitting clothing would reveal an ill-fit.
She chose a red tank top and jeans from the closet, making sure the top displayed Noah’s mark. They’d smell it on her, of course, but she wanted them to see it. If they saw how hard he’d marked her, it could only make him look better. Then maybe they wouldn’t notice her claim simmering just below the surface.
The mark she’d left on him wouldn’t heal, either. But hers was more discreet.
“Maybe you want to cover that,” she said.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror, then shrugged. “Or maybe I don’t. They’ll find out eventually. It’ll look weak to slink around in the shadows covering it. I’m not doing a thing, and if anyone has anything to say, they can get their ass beat.”
“I’m not sure I want to beat any asses right now,” Sydney said.
“Smart ass.”
She rifled through the drawers in the bathroom until she found a brush and some hair sticks. She ran the brush through her long blonde hair and then put it up in a bun with the sticks. She found some brown boots in the closet and added some jewelry.
“Are you going to the mall?” Noah asked.
“I can’t even believe you know what a mall is. No. I just thought, if we’re really doing this thing with the pack, I can’t look hesitant about wearing or using anything that belonged to the former alpha. We have to lay claim to everything. Isn’t that how wolves think?”
“Or I’ll beat asses.” They both knew these weren’t idle words. Sydney wasn’t sure if he realized it, but drinking a full normal amount from him had made her even stronger. She was confident she could hold her own with most of the wolves lower in the hierarchy. And she could bluff with the others.
When they reached the lobby, Sydney was underwhelmed. No one was down there. There was only one wolf in the bar. Had they deserted? Maybe they’d gone hunting. It was the full moon, still. But from what she knew, the alpha led the hunt on the full moon. Packs didn’t just wander off on their own without permission.
The guy behind the bar stepped out, nervously. “T-they were supposed to be back before sunset.”
“Where. Are. They?” Noah said, sounding very much like the asshole who’d called her by a number instead of a name in the exercise yard, back when she’d thought he might bust through the glass and kill her. “Rafe?” he growled.
Rafe was visibly shaking.
“Did they go on the hunt?”
The other wolf shook his head. When he spoke again, his voice came out barely above a whisper. It was hard to discern his words over the metal pounding through the lobby. “T-they went to bury her.”
***
Noah growled and Rafe jumped back as if he’d caught on fire. He thought the other wolf might piss his pants. Good. It wasn’t that Noah cared about them burying Shira. She’d been their alpha, maybe even for a long time. Giving her a proper burial ceremony was the right thing to do and would facilitate the transition that much easier with no bad blood. But they should have gotten permission first.
The fact that they’d slunk off to do it in the day behind his back was not a good thing. And he had no idea how he’d handle it. If he went on a killing rampage, they’d all fear him. If he acted like it was no big deal, he’d never hold the pack.
