They were back on the grassy plain, except it was night. The sky was a dark gray, now, but there was a watery moon that shed a little light on the rippling sea of grass.
“Fuck,” Caitlyn said. “That was close.”
“Yeah,” Sloan said. “Except, we’re totally lost. When I was here before, I followed our bond, and it led me to you. But now that you’re here, I don’t know what to focus on. I don’t even know which direction to go.”
Caitlyn thought for a minute. “Well, if you found me by focusing on our bond, maybe you can find home by focusing on your bond with the Bad Bloods.”
He grimaced. “I don’t know. I have a feeling they’re not saying all the nice things about me that you were saying.”
Caitlyn grinned. “It doesn’t matter. In their world, ‘fuck you’ is the same as ‘I love you.’”
That made him laugh.
He closed his eyes, and opened his heart once more, dropping down into the feelings he’d had earlier—his love for his crew and the strength he found in their bond. He pulled up memories of each one of them—Tank carrying him on his back; Xander breaking him out of Jared’s cell. Jasmin binding up his wounds; Brody throwing a football with him. Lissa’s eyes sparkling while she bullied him into helping her put up the Christmas tree. Flynn rubbing his cheek in the only catlike affection Sloan had ever seen him show.
He heard Caitlyn gasp, and he opened his eyes.
In the distance, he saw a towering glow of blue-white light, the same color as the boundary magic around the Bad Blood territory. It lit up the sky, flickering and undulating like the Northern Lights, a mighty beacon to light their way.
Caitlyn leaned against Sloan, her cheek against his shoulder. “It’s our crew,” she said. “They’re calling us home.”
Chapter 36
They stepped out of the spirit world straight into the living area of the cabin, where the whole crew was sitting in a circle with Tristan, Ashley and Israel—eyes closed, hands linked, blue fire circling them in a continuous stream, extending up into the air and through the ceiling.
Their beacon. It hadn’t just been Sloan reaching out to his crew that brought them back here. Just like with Caitlyn, while he’d been reaching out for them, they’d been reaching out for him too. They really had been calling him home.
Sloan cleared his throat. “Um, we’re back.”
Everyone’s eyes snapped open, and then they descended on Sloan and Caitlyn—touching, hugging, laughing, clamoring with questions and good-natured insults.
And crying—Caitlyn wasn’t the only one wiping her eyes. Even Xander looked suspiciously misty.
Jasmin and Flynn insisted on cooking a huge breakfast before hearing their story. Sloan and Caitlyn took turns telling it.
“So Donnelly’s dead,” Flynn said.
Xander, sitting on the barstool next to Caitlyn, poked her. “And Sloan didn’t let you kill him?”
“Uh, no?” Surely that was a good thing.
He shook his head. “He always lets me kill shit for him.” He nudged her with his shoulder. “I guess he probably likes me better than you.”
Asshole panther. “Probably,” Caitlyn said. “Next time he wants a BJ, I’ll tell him to call you, ‘kay?”
Laughter spread through the crew. Xander gave her the finger, and she wrapped her arm around his waist and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “Thanks for helping to bring us home.”
“Eeesh,” he said, shaking himself like a cat who’d been splashed with muddy water. “Stop that.”
She just grinned at him. “You love me.”
“Do not.”
“Yessss. I’m your second-best friend.”
“Nuh-uh. Jaz is that.”
“Third.”
“No.”
Sloan left them arguing, and took Ashley and Israel aside. He’d slipped off the bracelet he’d used to travel through the spirit world, and now he held both artifacts out to the dragon and her Guardian.
“What do you suggest I do with these?” he asked.
Ashley took the bracelets, turning them over in her hands, examining the workmanship. “These are very powerful,” she said. “And very dangerous, in the wrong hands. Can I take them?”
Sloan nodded. “I was hoping you would. I sure as hell don’t want to keep them here. And I don’t trust anyone at the Agency. I don’t know who Donnelly was working with.”
“I’ll make sure they get to the right person.” She put the bracelets in the bag and pulled the drawstring tight.
Israel said, “If we’re lucky, this was a single rogue mission—Donnelly’s one bid for power. Hopefully, now that he’s dead, it’s over.”
“We can only hope,” Sloan said, and went to collect his mate.
They walked slowly back to the trailer, holding hands in the spring sunlight. When they got to the porch, Sloan stopped and encircled her waist with his arms, pulling her back against his chest, so they could both look out onto the Bad Blood compound.
The crew was trickling out of the cabin, calling to each other, spreading out to go about their business for the day. Israel and Ashley were climbing up onto the roof, which was the only space big enough for Ashley to take off from.
Sloan and Caitlyn watched her Change into her breathtaking dragon form, rising into the air with Israel on her back before cloaking herself magically to fly home, invisible to those below.
“I’ve seen a dragon,” Caitlyn said. “That was fucking awesome.”
“And you’ve learned to swear, and play drinking games, and have wild leopard sex,” he added. “Not a bad start on your new life.”
“I learned something better than that,” she said, turning around and snuggling into his arms. “I learned that I can trust my heart, and that I can be a good mate. A true mate.” She reached up and cupped his face in her hand. She kissed him softly, then rubbed her cheek against his. “Even if I am an owl.”
He held her tight. “Your owl is beautiful. Perfect. You know what would be awesome? To have little leopard babies with owl wings.”
Her eyes went round, the way he loved. “That would be so fucking awesome. Uncle Xander would shit glitter.”
Sloan laughed. “Come on inside, Rex, and practice making flying leopards.”
He pulled her inside and into the bedroom, backing up, taking off her clothes piece by piece as he went. He quickly stripped naked himself, and then pulled her onto his lap.
It was a luxury to take their time, finding each other’s secret, most tender places and worshiping them. The energy between them grew slowly, heat and light and love, until his shaft slid inside her and stroked her deepest core.
They moved together, riding the currents of love and connection like a river, moving faster and faster as it rushed inexorably forward.
Sloan wrapped Caitlyn around him, her soft thighs and strong arms and wet heat enveloping him. He thrust into her, plunging deeper and deeper, wanting desperately to get to that place where their souls touched.
With a wild cry, Caitlyn exploded around him, pulling him tightly into her. He pulsed inside her, and blue-white energy radiated outward, crackling through the territory, making the boundary magic flare as they became one, snow leopard and snowy owl, together forever.
Watch for the next book in the Bad Blood Shifter Series, Bad Blood Panther, coming soon!
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Want more of these characters?
Silverlake Shifters:
Fugitive Mate
White Wolf Mate
Tiger Mate
Silverlake Enforcers:
The Enforcers: KANE
The Enforcers: ISRAEL
The Enforcers: NOAH
Bad Blood Shifters:
Bad Blood Bear
Bad Blood Wolf
Bad Blood Leopard
Bad Blood Panther (Coming soon!)<
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Bad Blood Alpha (Coming this fall!)
About the Author
Anastasia Wilde lives in the deep forests of the Pacific Northwest, where sexy shifters may or may not be found hiding among the tall, ancient trees. She writes hot paranormal romances about wild, passionate shifter men and the strong women who are destined to win their hearts. Broken, complicated, devoted, protective—love heals their wounds and smooths their rough edges (but not too much!). When not writing, Anastasia is traveling, nomming on any food involving bacon or melty cheese (ideally both), adding to her magical crystal collection, or relaxing with a glass of wine, watching the sun set behind the mountains.
Bad Blood Leopard (Bad Blood Shifters Book 3) Page 18
