by Quinn Loftis
“That’s it,” she said turning on her heels. “I’m going inside now, you coming?”
“That depends, are you going to be looking for something under the covers again?”
“UGH! Costin, seriously?”
“It’s a valid question to ask when your mate asks you if your co—,”
“Don’t,” she said and turned to face him but continued walking backwards towards the house. “We’ve got Jewel in a coma, Dalton MIA, the other healers dealing with pixies, and Volcan planning who knows what; there is no time for you to be trying to, as you call it, get a little practice in.”
Costin laughed out loud and as usual his carefree, playful attitude had her heartbeat increasing. “If now is not the time to get a little practice in, female, then when is? No time like the present, love.”
“Sure there is,” she argued. “It’s called at night, when the lights are off, some mood music is playing, and the end of the world is not happening!”
“Awe, babe,” Costin whined as he reached for her. “If we wait for that we will never get practice.”
“Okay, I’ll compromise.”
“Really?” he asked eagerly and she couldn’t help but laugh.
She nodded. “The world can be ending, but someone I care about can’t be in a comma.”
Costin’s smile dropped. “Well crap, every time we turn around someone you care about is unconscious.”
Sally patted his head and puckered her lips. “Awe, hang in there, big guy. I’m sure Jewel will wake up soon.”
He took her hand and pulled her toward the house. “If this trend continues you do realize that we won’t be able to have pups because I won’t know how.”
This drew a snicker from Sally.
“What?” He looked at her incredulously. “Haven’t you heard practice makes perfect.”
“Psht, please, mate. You can hardly say that you haven’t perfected your practice.” Sally felt her cheeks warm again.
Costin’s dimples deepened. “Oh hell, woman, I love it when you talk about my practice.”
“Get in the house,” she huffed as she pushed him through the door he had just opened. “And quit talking about practicing.”
He leaned forward as she walked past him and pressed his lips next to her ear. “I’ll compromise; I’ll stop talking about practicing if you will give me a game.”
Sally choked as all eyes in the living room landed on them. Damn wolf hearing, she grumbled inwardly.
“Chess,” Sally blurted out. “He’s talking about chess.”
“Did you say chest?” Peri asked, drawing out the “T” at the end of the word.
“Good one P,” Costin laughed.
Sally threw her hands up in the air. “I’m going to check on Jewel.”
“What about our game?” Costin called to her as he attempted to hold back his laughter.
“Yeah, don’t go Sally; we want to hear about this new came called chest,” Peri teased.
“Kara,” Sally hollered. “Come help me with Jewel. Dalton’s crap about me being the only one near her is moot now that he’s decided to up and disappear. Costin, keep your furry butt out here. If you get desperate for a game of chest, I’m sure one of these other males who aren’t getting any practice would be happy to accommodate you.”
The door closed behind Sally and she let out a deep breath. She wasn’t about to admit to Costin that she needed him in more ways than one, not when Jewel needed her. She needed some space from him or else everyone was going to see the longing she had in her eyes for her mate. She was pretty sure that she would invent a new shade of red if that happened.
“Everything okay?” Kara asked as she walked over to Jewel’s bedside.
“Kara,” Sally’s voice was clipped as she gathered the items for Jewel’s nightly bath. Kara watched her quietly as she continued to talk. “My advice to you is live it up for the next two years.”
“Why?” she asked truly curious as to what Sally would say.
“Because once your true mate finds you, you will spend so much time fending off his advances that living suddenly turns into just trying to not be pawed to death.”
Kara snorted. “And tell me again why having someone that looks like Costin pawing at you is such a hardship?”
Sally’s eyes snapped up to the young healer and a smile spread across her previously frustrated face. “He is pretty hot, isn’t he?”
Kara rolled her eyes. Sally wasn’t fooling her for a second. It was more than obvious that the brown eyed beauty was head over heels for her bartender, but Kara thought it was cute that Sally tried to act otherwise. “Oh brother, so it’s all a front isn’t it. The truth is you would much rather be playing chess, or what that implies, than be in here acting all mad at your man.”
“Of course,” Sally shrugged. “But as soon as he realizes that you want him, as bad as if not worse than he wants you, you lose the upper hand. And Kara, with these male dominants you have got to keep the upper hand at all costs.”
Kara nodded as she took the towels Sally held out for her. “Okay, noted. Keep the upper hand. What else do you got for me?”
“Never admit to liking any of their dominant, possessive, bossy ways.”
She grinned as she looked at Sally with what she knew was her innocent wide eyed look. “But what if I like that?”
“SHHHH!” Sally interrupted her quickly, batting her hands at her and glancing back at the door as if the males would bust in at any moment. “Holy crap, girl, I’m glad we’ve got two years to get you ready to put on a game face because as soon as I listed those three qualities your eyes went into bedroom mode. Chick, you are sixteen; there should be no bedroom eyes mode for you yet.”
Kara was laughing. “Wait, did you have bedroom eyes mode at seventeen, when you met Costin.”
Sally paused then shook her head. “Not the point.”
“She totally did!” Costin yelled through the door. “She had bedroom eyes, bedroom lips, bedroom—,”
“NOBODY ASKED YOU!” Sally growled as she bit back a grin.
Kara shook her head at the couple as she began to help Sally care for Jewel. It broke her heart to see the redhead so still. She wanted Jewel to have what Sally did. She wanted Dalton to put the kind of light in Jewel’s eyes that Costin did in Sally’s. If she was being honest with herself, she wanted a mate of her own to give her the same thing.
“Did I mention to live it up while you can?” Sally asked her as she washed Jewel’s feet.
Kara chuckled. “Honestly, Sally, everything I’ve been doing up until this point hasn’t been living. I don’t think that I’ll start living until I have one of those,” she motioned to the door where Costin stood on the other side, “looking at me the way Costin looks at you and the way I’ve seen Dalton staring after Jewel when I’ve caught him at her window. The way Lucian looks at Peri and Adam looks at Crina; those are things worth living for.”
Sally paused and looked at her, head tilted slightly to the side with her brow raised. “Your future mate is a lucky wolf,” she finally said after several heartbeats.
Kara’s mind immediately jumped to Nick but she squelched it before the fantasy could take root. “So is yours,” Kara whispered.
“YES, YES I AM,” Costin yelled through the door having heard even Kara’s whisper.
“Stupid wolf hearing,” Sally muttered and winked at Kara.
~
Volcan stood just outside the veil of Farie. The strain of cloaking his presence was wearing on him, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to flash from the draheim realm to Peri’s home and back again with Jewel in tow. His power was growing, especially with the connection he had to Jewel, but he wasn’t back to full strength yet. He found that he was restless and jittery with excitement. It had been a long time since he had wanted anything other than power, but after having spent time in Jewel’s brilliant mind, he realized that he wanted something else. He wanted someone to share his success and power with. He wanted to have so
meone see all that he would accomplish and experience it with him. But it couldn’t be just anyone. It had to be someone powerful in their own right and someone as intelligent as him, or at least close; he was done contending with imbeciles. And now Jewel had practically fallen in his lap, with Lorelle’s help he added begrudgingly.
He had told her that he would give her three days to decide. He didn’t bother to tell her that he would be taking her with him no matter what or that the other healers would still die even if she did choose him. There was no sense in having her hate him. He would tell her what she wanted to hear, and she would fall in love with him because of his power. Once she realized all that he could do for her and give her, she would forgive him and probably understand why he had to do it in the first place. Someone of Jewel’s intelligence wouldn’t grieve needlessly over loss of life if it meant knowledge could be obtained. It was obvious to him that she was his perfect counterpart. There was no way that she hadn’t been created to rule with him. And together they would bring a new era to the world not just the human realm but all of the realms.
~
Dalton felt whatever invisible weight had been holding him down suddenly lifted and his limbs were his own again. His body felt stiff and heavy after having been unable to move for three days. He clamored to his feet feeling as clumsy as a new born pup and shook off the effects of Volcan’s magic. His only thought was of her. He had to get back to her. He phased without thought and took off, extending his stride as long as he could to cover as much ground as possible. The run seemed impossibly long and he felt sure that he had not wandered so far. It had to be another one of Volcan’s tricks.
He attempted reaching her through their bond as he ran and, to his surprise, he felt her. His heart leapt and his wolf called out to her both vocally, through a soul piercing howl, and mentally.
“JEWEL!” His soul longed for her in a way he had yet to experience. The separation that Volcan had somehow accomplished between them had become painful, and he hadn’t even realized it because of his anger at being unable to get back to her.
“Dalton?” Her weary voice nearly crushed him as he realized that without him she had grown weaker.
“I’m on my way. I’m so sorry, Little Dove. I didn’t stay away on purpose.” He felt her confusion and tried to push his love and reassurance through their bond so that she would know he hadn’t left her. He hadn’t abandoned her and never would.
“I thought you were angry with me.”
“Frustrated, yes. But not angry,” he admitted.
“You will be.” The regret in her voice had him pushing himself harder. Something wasn’t right and his wolf felt frantic to get to her, to hold her, and to see for himself that she was alright. He finally saw Peri’s home come into view and it only served to make him run faster. He reached the door and ripped it open stopping only long enough to grab a pair of sweats and ungracefully jerk them on as he tried to keep moving, needing to get to her as quickly as possible.
The sight before him when he pulled the door open had him so weak in the knees that his huge form nearly crumbled to the ground. He braced himself on the frame of the door as he stared at his mate, who was standing at the foot of the bed she had laid in for months, staring back at him. Awake. She was awake and she was beautiful and she was crying.
“Where have you been?” she asked him. Hearing her voice out loud for the first time was music to his ears and balm to his soul. The tears in her eyes quickly removed him from his stupor as he closed the door and moved towards her in an instant. He didn’t hesitate as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the shelter of his much larger body. He buried his face in her hair until his nose was against her neck and instinct took over as he pulled her tender flesh between his teeth giving her a quick nip without breaking the skin—a dominate mate establishing his possession of her. She immediately molded to him, her arms coming around his waist and her head tucking into his chest.
“I had some trouble while I was hunting. I had no intention of leaving you for so long.” Dalton didn’t want to bring up Volcan just yet; he knew the evil fae must have been the reason she was so upset.
Dalton struggled with his need to touch her and his need to keep her pure, untainted from his past. He felt dirty and unworthy to hold something so clean, so precious, and for a fleeting moment wondered if all the past women he touched could somehow tarnish her. He knew she was completely innocent. His lips had caressed many a lover but should have only been reserved for her, his one and only. Her arms had never embraced another male, and yet his arms had been like a revolving door for females. It sickened him and he hated the day that she might run across those memories―memories he wished could be scrubbed from his mind and kept far from her innocence. No, he truly wasn’t worthy of the gift of her flesh, especially when he had nothing to offer her. But he was not foolish enough to think it would keep him from partaking of her when she one day offered herself to him as his bonded true mate.
He felt her body tremble as her crying intensified, and Dalton felt completely inadequate to help her. He didn’t know why she was crying. He knew they weren’t tears of joy because she was finally conscious. The emotions coming off of her were too dark and full of despair to warrant that. She felt defeated. He leaned back so he could look down at her. His hands moved of their own accord as the need to touch her overcame him. Dalton ran his right hand down her hair and pushed the strands behind her ear so he could better see her. His fingers trailed along her jaw, over her lips, and down her neck. He had longed to touch her, longed to show her his reverence by the care he would take with her. Her tears didn’t slow as his hand wrapped around the back of her neck in a possessive gesture and tilted her head back just a tad so that she had to look at him. Blessed be she was beautiful. She felt perfect in his arms, as if she had been there all along. He felt the darkness in him recede just a little as the light from her soul reached out for him. He felt his canines begin to elongate in response; the need to claim her and to tie her to him for eternity was nearly overwhelming. Her hiccups in-between sobs finally drew him out of his thoughts.
“What is it, Jewel? What has happened?” He hoped that his voice was gentle and didn’t convey the carefully controlled rage that was simmering just beneath the surface. She shook her head at him and tightened her hold. Everything tumbling out of her through the bond called to his protective nature―his instinct and drive to keep her safe and happy. Yet he was at a loss as to how to do that. “Please, talk to me.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. Her face was swollen and red. Tears stained the porcelain skin of her cheeks, and the ache in her eyes was enough to cause him physical pain.
“Did you know that when wolves mate in the wild, during courtship the male wolf will bow to the female, nuzzle her, and swing his head in a strutting fashion? He’s actually flirting with her, showing her his physical attributes and also caring for her by grooming her. And after an Alpha female has had a litter of puppies, she often retains control of the pack. The other pack members, including the Alpha male, serve her. In fact, there are instances where the lower ranking females are so afraid of the Alpha female that they won’t even go into heat.”
Dalton was taken off guard by her comments, and if the situation had been different he would have definitely been intrigued and would want to hear more. But in that moment he wanted to know what had her falling apart and what finally awoke her from her unconscious state.
She smiled, ducking her head with a warm blush. “Sorry, when I get nervous I tend to spew facts out like a full baby that’s just been thoroughly shaken.”
“You spew whatever you need to, Little Dove, I’ll listen.”
Jewel started to take a step back but he wasn’t ready to release her. His grip tightened just enough to let her know that she wasn’t going anywhere. He liked that she gave up without a fight. She was where she belonged and he wanted her to know it.
“I’m pretty sure that you aren’t going to
want me anymore when you find out what I’ve done.” She looked up into his eyes as she spoke, and he was surprised that she didn’t attempt to avoid his stare. She wasn’t intimidated by him and that was something that made him feel many things―desire, pride, respect, and admiration being among them.
“There is nothing you could do that would ever make me not want you,” he told her as his wolf pushed forward, desiring to convey the message even more strongly by marking her. “Does it have to do with Volcan and his delusional idea that you are going to be going with him?” Her eyes widened at his questions and he felt shame rolling off of her in waves. He was surprised to feel his wolf fighting him so adamantly for control; he did not like seeing their mate so upset.
“I didn’t build the wall.”
“I never thought you would.”
“He came back.” She paused. “At first I thought I’d be able to keep up the ruse of pretending that I believed him to be you. But when he called me Little Dove…,”
Dalton’s jaw clenched and a wave of jealousy flooded him. He knew then that he wouldn’t handle anyone else giving Jewel pet names. Silly, maybe, reality, definitely.
“It made me sick. Then the thought of him touching me again, kissing me even though it was just a mental projection of us, made me feel as though I would be cheating on you. So I told him I knew that he wasn’t my mate. I asked him to stop looking like you and then he revealed himself.” Her body trembled beneath his hands and he found himself unconsciously rubbing her back in small, reassuring circles.
“We talked. I basically asked what he wanted and his answer was blunt. He wants me.” The low growl from his chest didn’t even give her pause as she continued to talk. “He said some things, and I couldn’t deny most of them, and then he gave me an ultimatum, an offer that I had to accept. In every conflict in history there have always been sacrifices to be made…,”
“No.” Dalton cut her off not wanting to hear what she had to say because there was no way in hell he was going to let her do what he realized she was planning.
