by Morse, Jayme
Rain leapt on top of Seth, but Samara sunk her teeth into Rain’s hind leg, dragging her away from them. At first Samara thought Rain was going to turn on her, but Rain seemed too interested to watch Seth’s attack on Jason to pay any attention to Samara.
Seth held his ground, never once letting go of the grip that he had on Jason’s throat. Samara watched as Jason gasped for his final breath before his eyes fluttered shut.
Once his body fell, lifeless, to the ground, Rain turned and glared at Samara. This isn’t over, bitch.
Samara remained frozen in place and didn’t respond to her, too stunned by the fact that Jason was gone to even pay attention to what Rain had to say; she heard the words that came out of Rain’s mouth, but they didn’t register because of how shocked she was.
A pained expression on her face, Rain backed away from Samara and slunk off into the shadows of the woods behind them.
Samara was even more stunned that her brother had been the one to kill him than the fact that he was dead. She glanced over at Seth. Thank you for doing that. For saving me.
Seth nodded. I’ve been planning it for a long time now. He told me what was going to happen tonight, and I told him I would be by his side. What I didn’t tell him was that the reason was because I would be looking out for you.
Samara changed back into her human form, the blue smoke dancing around her even more strongly than it normally did. She watched as Seth changed back, too.
This time, when he looked at her, Seth grinned. “I’m sorry I had to make you think I hated you. It was all part of my act with Jason. I really had him really believing it, too. He thought I wanted you dead just as much as he did.”
Samara smiled. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you don’t hate me.” She walked over to the candles, which were still burning and blew them out. Picking them up, she said, “I should probably take these with me. I don’t want them getting into the wrong hands again.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Sam, look . . . I know that things have been awkward between the Vyka and the Ima for quite some time now, but I don’t want it to be that way anymore . . . now that I’m Alpha,” Seth explained.
“You’re Alpha?” Samara questioned, raising her eyebrows at him. She knew that every pack had a second Alpha in line, but she hadn’t realized that anyone actually knew who that was until the Alpha died.
“Well, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I did just kill the Vyka Alpha,” Seth explained. “By default, that is supposed to make me Alpha of the pack.”
“Oh, right. Wow, you’re Alpha! Congrats!” Samara smiled. “I wonder if Grandpa Joe ever imagined that we would both be Alphas one day.”
“Or that we would allow the Ima and the Vyka to live in harmony,” Seth replied. “If you’re okay with that, that is.”
“Of course I’m okay with that!” Samara beamed. “Nothing could make me happier.”
At that moment, Luke and the guys from her pack all bounded over to them. When they saw that she was talking to Seth, they wrinkled their noses, but they didn’t say anything.
“It’s okay, guys,” Samara told them. “He saved me. He killed Jason!”
“We know. We witnessed the whole thing. Well, most of it, anyway,” Luke explained. “I didn’t want to leave you, but I had to go back to get the guys for reinforcement. I figured that you would be okay for a few minutes. Once we got here, you were already decking it out with Jason and Seth was here, too.”
Luke paused, glancing over at Seth with a smile. “We were going to get involved, but it seemed like you wanted to do this on your own, and we didn’t want to throw you off guard. Plus, I heard you think about the spirits. I thought you were right. There was a better chance of the Trusted Ones helping you out if we weren’t involved and there weren’t more spirits invoked.”
He turned to Samara and swooped her up into his arms. “I’m just so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t made it.” Kissing her on the forehead, he added, “That was a really brave thing you did out there.”
“Thanks,” Samara murmured, noticing the Vyka approach them. When she saw Declan, her face softened. “But I couldn’t have done it without Declan. He was the brave one. He told me that Jason was planning this whole thing. There’s a lot to explain, but if he hadn’t told me, Jason wouldn’t be dead right now.”
Luke seemed to shove whatever feelings he had for Declan aside. “Thanks for doing that, man. It really means a lot to me.”
Declan only nodded, shifting in his shoes awkwardly. “No problem.”
“Jason’s dead?” Mark Stevens, one of the Vyka pack members cried, running towards Jason’s limp body. “How could this happen?”
“It’s a long story,” Seth replied. “And I’m your Alpha now.”
“You?” Mark laughed and shook his head. “Uh, no. I don’t want any part of this pack if you’re going to be the leader of it. I want a real Alpha, not a little twerp who thinks he can be a badass because his grandfather was Joe McKinley. Sorry, but no can do.”
Seth shrugged his shoulders. “You’re free to leave. Go to whatever pack you want.” He turned to his other pack members. “Anyone who wants to join Mark, feel free to do so.”
A few guys who Samara didn’t even recognize, but who must have joined the Vyka since the last time she’d seen them, followed after Mark. Once they were all gone, Samara realized that only Seth and Declan had been left behind.
“Wow, you have a really tiny pack now,” Colby commented, looking around and nodding.
Seth shrugged. “A lot has happened over the past few months. I’m just glad there’s still the two of us, honestly.”
“I don’t know if anyone’s thought about this yet, but . . . what if we combine packs?” Steve asked. “I mean, the two of you could join our pack. If Samara will have you, that is.”
Samara smiled. “Of course I will. Nothing would make me happier than to have my brother and my best friend on my pack.” Turning to both of them, she asked, “What do you say, guys? Do you want to be Ima?”
“But Grandpa Joe was a Vyka,” Seth said quietly. “Don’t you think he would have wanted to keep the Vyka alive? The pack’s going to die off this way.”
“After everything that’s gone on, I’m not so sure about that. Grandpa Joe fought against black magic. He wouldn’t have wanted us to keep the name of a pack that once used it,” Samara replied. “But maybe we could take a vote.”
Seth shook his head in disagreement. “That doesn’t seem fair. There’s more Ima than there are Vyka. Of course Ima will win.”
“I have a suggestion,” Colby spoke up. Everyone glanced over at him. Clearing his throat, he said, “This has actually happened a few times before with other packs who decided to combine forces. What they did was instead of going with either pack name, they chose a new name that they felt would be able to best represent them. A clean slate, I guess you can say.”
“I like that idea,” Samara murmured.
Seth nodded. “I like it, too. Okay, then, that’s what we’ll do.”
Samara glanced over at Declan and noticed that his face had blanched and his expression was stony.
“Is everything okay, Dec?” she asked.
Declan shrugged. “I . . . I just need some time to process all of this before I say yes. I need some time to think it over, if that’s okay.”
Samara nodded. “Yeah, take all the time you need. How about this? We’ll do initiation or whatever we have to do to form a new pack after New Year’s for whoever wants to go along with it.”
“Sounds good,” Declan agreed, darting his eyes away from her nervously.
Samara glanced over at Luke, who hadn’t said anything. What do you think of all this? Seth and Declan becoming a part of our pack?
I think it’s cool, Luke replied. I know you’ve missed your brother, and it’s good that you and your family can really be a family again, you know? Seth can even move back into your house without breaki
ng any rules or living under the same roof as the enemy.
And Declan? Samara questioned. She knew that Luke’s opinion about it wasn’t going to change her mind, but she wanted to know what he was thinking about it.
Luke shrugged his shoulders and let out a sigh. You already know how I feel about the guy, Sam. I’ll never get past those feelings, but . . . you’re my mate, not his. I have no reason to be jealous. And besides that, I do owe it to him. If it weren’t for his help, you might not be here right now. So, if he wants to be on our pack . . . then let him.
Samara smiled. You’re the best mate ever.
Chapter 24
“Merry Christmas!” Mrs. McKinley said, planting a kiss on each of Luke’s cheeks. She winked at him before scurrying into the kitchen to help Linda.
Samara turned to Luke, raising her eyebrows at him. “What was that all about?”
Luke shrugged. “Beats me. I guess your mom just likes me.” He flashed her a cocky grin, and she rolled her eyes at him.
Slumping her head against his shoulder, Samara let out a relieved sigh. “I can’t believe Jason’s finally gone. It feels so strange. I keep thinking that he’s out there somewhere plotting against us, but . . . he’s really gone.”
Luke nodded. “I know what you mean. It feels good to know I don’t have to worry about him coming back to your room at night. None of the Vyka will, since there’s no one left.”
“I wonder what time Seth is supposed to get here,” Samara commented, glancing at the clock. They were having Christmas dinner at six o’clock, which was in an hour, and Seth still wasn’t there yet.
“I think your mom mentioned that he was just having dessert with us,” Luke said. “He wanted to celebrate Christmas with Declan and his dad first, since he’s been living there with them and all, you know. That’s what he was planning to do before all of this happened.”
Samara nodded. She’d called Declan earlier that night to invite him and his father both to celebrate Christmas dinner with their pack, but Declan claimed to have other plans. Samara didn’t object or question it; the truth was, she knew it would be a little awkward to have both Declan and Luke in the same room at the same time. Eventually, they would probably learn to be friends, but it just didn’t feel like the right time yet.
“Samara, can I talk to you?” Emma questioned, coming to stand in front of her.
“Sure.”
Emma hesitated. Tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, she whispered, “It’s kind of personal. Come to my room with me?”
Shooting a confused look over her shoulder at Luke, Samara rose to her feet and followed Emma into her bedroom. Once they were inside, Emma closed the door behind them. Slumping down on the bed, she didn’t say anything.
“So, what did Colby think of his Christmas present?” Samara asked her. Her best friend had gotten Colby a hot dog grill because she thought they were his favorite food, but Samara hadn’t seen them open the presents they had gotten each other. They’d done presents before she had come over this morning.
Emma smiled. “He really liked it.” Tugging at the light blue sweater she was wearing, she said, “Do you like what he got me? I think it’s so pretty. It’s cashmere.”
“It’s a good color for you,” Samara replied, nodding her head.
“The boy has surprisingly good taste. Who would have thought?” Emma asked.
Samara laughed. “Maybe he just knows you really well already.”
“Did you give Chris his present yet?” Emma questioned.
Samara nodded. “Yeah, he said he’s going to leave for Alaska tomorrow morning.”
“Is he just going for a visit, or is he planning to stay?”
Samara shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t even know how long he’s going to be there for. He’s planning to try to talk her into coming back here, but I don’t think it’s going to work. I guess we’ll see.”
“Drama, drama, drama,” Emma commented with a giggle. “I hope whatever happens makes both of them happy. He seems so miserable lately.”
“I agree,” Samara replied, nodding. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“I need to ask your advice. What do you think of nice guys?”
“Um . . . they’re nice?” Samara laughed. “I don’t really get what you’re asking.”
“If there was a really nice guy who wanted you to give him a chance, would you give him one?” Emma questioned, a note of seriousness in her voice.
“If I felt like I was attracted to him, yes,” Samara replied, unsure of where her best friend was going with this. Emma still hadn’t told her the truth about the movie theater, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to. Samara hoped Emma hadn’t been leading Colby on when she’d kissed him, but it seemed like her best friend was becoming more open to the idea as time went on.
“Even if you were used to only dating jerks?” Emma asked. “I mean, what if you didn’t think you deserved any better than guys who treated you like crap? It might make you feel like you would hurt him eventually because hurt and pain is all you’re used to. And that would really suck if the guy was super nice and didn’t deserve to be hurt.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “Emma, I know you’ve dated a lot of jerks in the past, but you deserve a nice guy.” Under her breath, she added, “Like Colby. And you won’t hurt him . . . as long as you give him a real chance.”
Blushing, Emma rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t asking about me, Sam. I needed your help for homework reasons. It has to do with one of the books I’m reading.”
“Oh, okay.” Samara laughed, not buying it for a second. “What book are you reading?”
Emma glanced around the room. After a few moments, she met Samara’s eyes. “It’s called A Girl and Her Wolf. It’s by this new author named Alfreda Hitchcock. It’s a classic.”
“Oh, hmm. I’ve never heard of it,” Samara replied, trying to stifle a giggle. “I’ll have to check it out sometime.”
“No, you can’t do that!” Emma protested, redness blooming on her cheeks.
“Why not? It sounds like it’s really interesting if it’s making you ask my opinion about it.”
“Because I just don’t think it will be your type of book,” Emma replied. “It has a lot of romance, and I know that’s really not your type of thing.”
“Okay,” Samara replied, studying Emma’s face. Her lips were in a tight line, and she nervously darted her eyes to the corner of the room.
Emma glanced up at her. “That’s all I needed to talk to you about,” she said coolly. “I just needed your opinion for my homework. Come on . . . let’s go back in the living room before our mates start to wonder where we are.” She rolled her eyes, the same way she normally would.
Samara followed her friend out into the living room. Once she was in the living room, sitting on the couch next to Luke again, she did a Google search on her iPhone for A Girl and Her Wolf by Alfreda Hitchcock.
Just as she suspected, the book didn’t exist.
*
“Come on, let’s go outside,” Luke said later that night, grabbing her hand and leading her out the front door.
Once they were outside, standing on the front porch, the snowflakes swirling around them, Samara turned to him. “I’m so happy that we were able to spend Christmas like this. You . . . my family . . . the pack. It just feels so perfect.”
Luke stared into her eyes, his own sparkling in the moonlight. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He kissed her on the forehead before adding, “I’m so proud of you. I’m proud of you for standing up to Jason the way you did. If it weren’t for you, he would have gotten away. It feels good to know that he’s finally been put to rest.”
“It does feel good.” Samara sighed. “I just feel so relieved to know this is all finally over. It’s so nice not having to worry about Declan trying to kill people to make sacrifices, or trying to hurt us. We can finally start acting like we’re normal people again.”
Luke nodded. �
�I know what you mean. It feels nice to finally be able to focus on other stuff.”
Wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close in a tight embrace, Samara smiled. “I don’t want this moment to end. I wish it could be Christmas every day so everyone can always spend the day together.”
“I don’t ever want to spend another day away from you,” Luke said quietly.
“Me either.”
Grabbing Samara’s hand, Luke sunk down on one knee in front of her. He pulled a box out of his pocket and glanced up at her, his emerald green eyes full of magic and wonder.
A million thoughts raced through her mind. Her breath caught in the back of her throat, and her heart froze inside her chest as she just stared him, knelt on the ground in front of her. Was this really happening?
Opening the box, Luke said, “Samara McKinley, the first time I ever laid eyes on you, I knew there was something different about you. Once I got to know you, I would come to find it was that I wouldn’t want to watch another sun rise or set without knowing you’re mine. I don’t have a lot to offer you yet, but without you, I’ll never be anything. Together, we can do anything, and I promise to keep you safe for all of eternity. Will you marry me?”
Samara glanced into the admiring eyes of her mate, the tears sliding down her cheeks. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind, but one thing was clear: this was exactly what she wanted, what she needed. Through the emotions that erupted within her, without any hesitation, she managed to whisper, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
A smile spread across Luke’s face, as he pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger.
Samara glanced down at the ring; it was a princess-cut, vibrant green emerald stone surrounded by a halo of diamonds. The silvery white band split on each side, and both thin strips of metal were covered in diamond chips.
“It’s beautiful, Luke,” she whispered, wiping away the last of her tears, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Luke replied. Rising to his feet, he took her face in his hands and leaned in closer to her.
