Walker just sighed and turned back to where he could keep an eye on Aimee and the others. Today was only a meal with the family and not all of them. The children were with their daycare staff, and his sister Brynn hadn’t come as she was a Redwood now and couldn’t make it to as many meals as she used to. Max hadn’t attended either, but that was a whole other matter.
Walker had brought Aimee because he didn’t want her out of his sight but he also wanted to show her what she could have if she took a chance on him. He knew he was moving far too fast when it came to her, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d found the one he wanted to be with, and he didn’t want to wait any longer. Once again, he wasn’t like his siblings, and he honestly didn’t care. Their lives had worked out, but they’d gone through hell for their matings. Walker wanted to be the one, the Talon that, just once, found his or her happiness without the heartache in between.
But as he watched the darkness under Aimee’s eyes grow, he knew he wouldn’t get that chance given how hard and long they’d have to push to be together.
“How are things going on the fire front?” Walker asked softly, though he knew every shifter in the room could hear him. It was hard to have a private conversation with wolves around.
“We’re trying to get in contact with Audrey and plan a meet-up, but it’s been difficult since she’s had to hide her connection to us. We’re also tracking down a few fire witches in the Coven to see if they know the spell behind it so we can find who cast it to begin with. Gina, the Enforcer for the Redwoods, is the only fire witch we know well, but she wasn’t trained until later. And not by a fire witch. Plus, since she’s half wolf, her powers have always been wonky.”
Walker nodded, remembering when the woman had mated a Talon wolf and had come into her powers. None of the Talons had been able to find mates due to the horrors and atrocities his father and uncles had committed. The moon goddess had stripped them of the ability to form mating bonds at all, and it wasn’t until Gina and Quinn mated that anyone was able to find their potentials.
Now, the mating bonds were screwed up again, but Walker at least knew whom his mate was, even if it had taken longer than it should have for him to figure it out.
“If there’s anything I can do, let me know. I’m talking to the Coven about Aimee, as well, but it’s hard when I don’t want to give them too much information.” The Coven hadn’t always been trustworthy, but they were making strides under their new leadership, as the existence of witches had also been revealed during the Unveiling.
Kameron let out a sigh. “Whoever cursed her deserves to rot in Hell. She seems like a nice woman with shitty luck and circumstances. Whatever happens, though, I hope she makes you happy. You, of all of us, deserve happiness.”
Stunned by his brother’s out-of-character words, he froze for a moment before turning to look at him, only to find that Kameron had already moved on to another part of the room, probably to say something random and startling to whoever he spoke to next. Typical Kameron.
Aimee came up to his side then, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Wolves were typically more affectionate in public than humans, and though they hadn’t yet created a mating bond, his wolf had already decided she was his. It would only take the humans to catch up.
“Doing okay?” Walker asked.
She shrugged, and his wolf perked up. “Just a little tired.”
“We can go back to my place if you want. Let you take a nap.”
“I shouldn’t need a nap. I should be able to get through a simple meal without having to sit down because of sheer exhaustion.”
He let out a small growl before taking her hand and leading her toward the door. “You’re going to take a nap, and I’m going to do some more research. We’re going to figure this out.”
She tugged her arm away and frowned. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
He was aware that they had an audience, but he didn’t care. Aimee was hurting, and there was nothing he could do except make sure she sat down and relaxed. His wolf was already riding him hard, and his Healing tendencies weren’t helping in this situation either.
Before he could give them privacy, however, Avery stood in front of them, her two mates behind her. Parker’s skin was pink in some places, but other than that, he didn’t look like he’d almost died. The fact that Parker had been closer to death’s door than most knew wasn’t something they were letting people know—not unless they had to. Brandon frowned at him but didn’t say anything. The hairs on Walker’s arm rose, and he knew something was coming…something he knew would change everything.
The room quieted as Avery met his gaze then Aimee’s, his sister-in-law’s eyes clouded with a vision.
“You have to make a choice and make it soon. If you wait until the darkness ebbs, it will be too late. She must be Pack, or everything will be lost. She must be yours, or everything will be lost.”
As soon as Avery had said the final word, she passed out in her mates’ arms, and Walker turned to Aimee.
They were running out of time, and now they all knew it. But what else could they do but fall into fate? He wanted Aimee to be his, but never like this, never without a true choice on her part. He just prayed that if she did say yes, if she did become his mate, it wasn’t only because of what could happen if she didn’t become Pack.
He wanted her to want him for who he was, but in the end, as long as she could breathe into the next day and live, he would take her however he could get her.
Love and true mating or not.
Chapter Ten
The room exploded into voices and chaos at the end of Avery’s speech, and Aimee could only stand there and listen.
In the back of her mind, she could hear the words being said, but all the while, she knew she had to formulate her own thoughts and make her own choices. If she didn’t, she knew she’d lose herself, and Walker would lose the part of him that made him the man she knew, the one she thought one day she could love.
Someone asked if Avery was okay, and she heard an answer, but Aimee didn’t see who it was.
Another came to Aimee’s side and held her arm, but she only focused on Walker.
“If she’s mated in, she’ll be Pack, Walker,” Gideon said near them. “I can’t make her Pack unless she’s your mate or a wolf. And we can’t change her unless she’s already Pack thanks to the humans. And since humans—especially cursed humans—don’t react well to Pack magic without a mating bond, there’s only one choice if that’s what you two decide to do. She’ll be a Talon, Walker.” She felt, more than saw Gideon turn to her. “You’ll be a Talon, Aimee.”
She nodded, but she only had eyes for Walker. “I…I think Walker and I need time to think.”
“Not too much time,” Avery said softly from Parker’s arms.
Aimee was tired of curses and visions and everything out of her control. For one moment, she just wanted to feel normal. Yet she knew this was their normal. And the fact that all of them were willing to do what they had to in order to cure her was something she would be grateful for—once the shock of what Avery had said passed.
“Give us some air,” Walker said before pulling her toward the door. They were out on the path and walking toward his house behind the clinic without saying another word, and for that, she was grateful. Even before this, everything had been moving far too fast for her, and now it was as if it were going full speed ahead with no return or stops.
Soon, she found herself standing in front of Walker in his living room with a glass of whiskey in her hand and another in his. He had poured two fingers into each, and now they toasted one another before tossing them back. It burned down her throat, and she once again wondered how the hell this had become her life.
“Okay, then,” she said as he took the tumbler from her hand and set it down next to his on the coffee table.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting that,” Walker said slowly. “I thought we would have more time, and Avery doesn’t usu
ally have so many visions. But her mating bond with Parker and Brandon seems to have shoved them into high gear, and she’s still trying to figure them out.”
Aimee ran her hand through her hair before looking back up at him. “While I feel almost as if our choices are being taken away, I know that’s not the case.”
He gave her a sharp look but, thankfully, didn’t say anything so she could continue.
“Since the first moment we saw each other, we knew there was a connection. And be it supernatural or just a gut feeling, we’ve known.” She sucked in a deep breath, knowing she was jumping off a ledge where there would be no return. She wouldn’t be the same person once she made that leap. Though, honestly, she didn’t know if she was the same person she had been two days ago.
That was the thing about making decisions and coming to a crossroads in one’s life. Each turn, each corner rounded, led to a new version of the person you used to be, and it was what you did with that new reality that determined which turn you’d take next.
Walker’s eyes went gold, and his jaw clenched. “What are you saying, Aimee? I need you to be clear because if we take this next step, there’s no going back. There’s no breaking a bond if we find out the human parts of our souls aren’t who we thought they were. There’s no living apart from one another while we try to find ourselves because we will always be able to feel one another deep down in the depths of our souls. Mating isn’t a way to save your life or to listen to the visions of a foreseer. Mating is forever. It’s a blending of two wholes into a new existence. We’ll be mates. Not married, not seeing if we like each other. We’ll be entwined until the end of our days. And while my wolf—and the man, for that matter—would like nothing more than to take that step with you and find out who we are together as well as who we can be apart while still connected, I don’t want to force any of this. I’ve had my whole life to think about what the moon goddess’s decision would mean to me, and how I could form a personal connection with the idea that whoever my mate was, they would be perfect for me even if I didn’t know them as well as I should. You’ve only had a few months to even understand what a mate is, what they could be, and far less time to realize that I could be that person.”
Aimee stared up at him, wondering how she could want this man so much in such a short time. Everything was slowly tumbling out of her control, and she knew if she took this step, there would be no going back.
And the strange thing was…she didn’t want to.
“I don’t want to think about Avery or anything that could come of this. I just want to think of you and me.” She licked her lips and loved the way that, even now, his attention honed in on the action. “I want you, Walker. I want to take a chance. I know that part of this is because of what might happen, but only the part that is making us second-guess. I wouldn’t have been with you last night if I didn’t think there was a reason for us to be together beyond visions and curses. I’ve never taken a chance with anything, Walker. I’ve been the calm and reasonable one of my friends, the woman who never strayed out of my lane.”
“And now you want to go wild?” he asked, his wolf in his eyes.
“Only with you,” she said honestly. “Always, only with you.”
She put her hand on his chest, her fingers tangling in his shirt. She wasn’t shaking, wasn’t nervous. She was sure. And when he looked into her eyes, she hoped he saw that.
“You’ll be mine forever,” he whispered, lowering his head to hers.
“As long as you’re mine, too,” she said back, equally as soft. “That means we’ll have a long time to get to know each other.”
“Trust in fate?” he asked.
“This time. This time, I can trust.”
And when he kissed her, she arched into him, needing him closer than she thought possible. He slid his hand through her hair and used the other to wrap around her back and bring her closer. When he pulled away suddenly, however, she let out a sound of protest.
“I forgot to tell you exactly what happens next,” he said, his breath coming in pants. “You’re not a wolf, so you didn’t grow up hearing what the technical parts of mating are.”
She raised a brow, and he laughed.
“Not those parts. Well, okay, those parts too once I became a teenager. But mating happens in two stages. One is the human half, and that comes from me coming inside you.”
She frowned. “Didn’t you already do that?” And, yes, she knew her cheeks were pink, but if she could have sex, then she could talk about it. Somewhat.
He nodded. “Yes, but like Dawn mentioned to you, mating bonds have been difficult recently. Because we didn’t go to bed knowing we wanted to create a bond, and we didn’t complete the second part of the process, it didn’t take.”
Aimee swallowed hard. “And if it doesn’t take this time?”
His eyes glowed gold, and he kissed her hard before answering. “It will. And when I mark you as mine, we’ll connect my wolf. I would say connect my wolf to yours, but you aren’t a wolf.”
Yet.
That was left unsaid, and for some reason, while the idea of attaching herself to Walker for eternity didn’t scare her, the idea of becoming a wolf scared the crap out of her.
“Breathe,” he whispered, holding her close. “Like Gideon said, you’ll be Pack and connected to me on a Healer level and through our mating bond. You won’t need to be a wolf for me to try and sense those threads.”
“But I’ll have to change eventually,” she whispered.
He leaned back to meet her eyes, the pain in his gaze so intense that she wanted to soothe him rather than letting him do it for her. So she reached out and cupped his jaw, loving the way he turned his face into her hand and kissed her palm.
“If you want to live longer than a mortal lifespan, yes.” He cleared his throat. “One thing at a time, though. Okay?”
She nodded. “Mating first. Then whatever vision Avery saw. Then wolf. Got it.”
Walker shook his head before kissing her. “You’re so damn strong.”
“I don’t feel like that every day.”
“Then I’ll make sure you do.” And when he kissed her again, she knew there would be no stopping—not that she wanted him to.
He led her to his bedroom, and for that she was grateful. She was nervous enough right then, and she needed a bit of normalcy. Having sex on the couch wouldn’t have done it for her right then. Not that she’d say that to him since that would definitely kill the mood.
“Slow again?” he whispered against her lips, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“We didn’t exactly go slow last time.” Who was this woman speaking, and how had Aimee become her so quickly? She pushed those thoughts from her mind and arched into him.
They were standing in front of his bed, his body over hers as he leaned down. She wasn’t that tall, and he was above average in height. Without him lowering his head, she could only kiss the bottom of his chin. He was the one who had to lower his head so they could kiss unless she got a stool—something that was not out of the realm of possibility. Of course, she had a feeling he wouldn’t keep his head up and not bend down for her unless they were teasing.
And the idea that, after this, they could have time to tease and find out who they could be as a couple warmed her even as it sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
He traced her jaw with his finger, bringing her attention back to him and not what could happen next…what would happen next and after.
“I can’t wait to memorize everything about you,” he said softly. “To know every inch, to taste every inch.”
She swallowed hard. “As long as I can do the same.”
His grin went feral, and then he kissed her again, this time with so much heat, her toes curled, and she rocked into him. They were pressed so closely together that she could feel his arousal against her stomach, and she shivered. She’d already had him inside her once, yet this would be a new experience.
He cupped her face be
fore sliding his hand around the back of her head to cup her nape through her hair. “Slow,” he said once again. “I think slow will be good.”
“You say slow, but…” She arched into him then let out a gasp as he slid his hand between them and covered her heat through her jeans.
“Fine, just a little bit faster.” And when he kissed her again, there was more urgency, a spark that pushed them both farther and faster.
She tugged on his shirt, and he moved back, stripping it over his head without a second thought. When he helped her out of her clothes, she kept her lips on his chest, licking and sucking his skin as he palmed her bare breasts and slid his hands over the silkiness of her skin between her thighs.
When he let her take his jeans off, she wrapped her hand around him, enjoying his moan as she remembered what it felt like to have him inside her. And, soon, he would be again.
“You’re already wet,” he growled. “Just one touch, and you’re wet for me.”
“Only for you,” she said, her words truth.
He wrapped his hand around hers and pumped, the action erotic as their eyes met. “You like holding me? Like bringing me to the edge? You’re so damn hot when you touch me, Aimee. I could get lost in your touch forever.” He stopped her hand and squeezed once, hard. It wasn’t as hard as he could have given her with his strength, but the action stalled her movements, making her sway.
“If you keep touching me like that, I’ll go too fast, and I don’t want to wait. I know I said slow.” He growled low. “I lied.”
Then she was on her back, and his head was between her legs. She gripped the comforter, her mouth parting as he licked and sucked her lower lips. He teased her clit with his tongue before letting out another growl. The vibration went to her bundle of nerves and even deep inside her, though he’d kept his fingers carefully away from her opening, teasing her with his mouth alone. She came hard, calling his name, and soon, he was over her, capturing the rest of her scream with his mouth.
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