by Alisa Woods
The mayor looked at her with a kind of wonder. “You came for me.”
“I came for everybody.” Zoe wasn’t ready to process what that meant—that she’d saved the mayor, the fact that he was still a white wolf, that his blood still held the magical key to everything she had ever wanted. She didn’t want to think about that right now. Besides, there was something more important. “We need to destroy everything here,” she said firmly. “The Wolf Hunter’s data, the serums, any research he’s done. He has the DNA of all of us here in some capacity. I want all of it destroyed.”
The mayor nodded, and then said gravely, “I hadn’t used magic in twenty years… until today.” He gave a small smile. “But I think I have a spell that might be just right for this.”
She frowned at him, then glanced at Skylar, who was tucked under Daniel’s arm, holding back, watching them. Skylar gave Zoe a small nod of approval. Witches had extraordinary powers—Zoe was still learning that firsthand—but she wondered if even Skylar could have accomplished what she did today. She had said before that Zoe was more powerful than even she expected. And her grandfather was even more powerful than Zoe.
The mayor gestured to the charred door of the research lab. “It would be best if we moved a little further back.”
They filed out of the lab. Once they were all outside, the mayor closed his eyes and conjured a blue-green crackling fire in his hands. It was no ordinary energy ball, and Zoe’s eyes went wide as he levitated the fire into the air. He opened his eyes and sent the fire hurtling back through the open door and into the lab. The green magic didn’t just blast through the lab and set it on fire—it coated every surface, worming its way into every nook of the laboratory. Within seconds, the entire inside of the lab had been reduced to ash. No explosions. No fiery blast. It had simply decimated everything it had touched. A large pile of ash sat where the research chair and Declan’s body used to be. There were smaller ones for the cabinets and other equipment. But there was literally nothing left. Even the green magic had crackled and dissipated.
“You made the right choice, Zoe,” the mayor said, turning to her. “He won’t be able to harm anyone anymore.”
She knew he was right, but it still left a hollowness inside her.
With Troy’s arm around her, their entire group shuffled back to the elevator and took the slow ride down. When they emerged at the ground level, the entire place was swamped with wolves… and police. They were intermingled, talking tensely amongst themselves. Marco Wilding and Jaxson River were huddled with the chief of police. There was no sign of the extra private security Declan had promised was on the way.
A cheer went up as people caught sight of them.
Zoe was so dumbfounded she couldn’t quite take it in.
It was clear they were cheering the return of the mayor, who strode out to shake hands with the chief of police and Marco and Jaxson. Zoe held back with Troy by the elevator.
“I’ll be damned,” Troy said. “They were going to come after us. Together.”
Zoe shook her head in disbelief. But a further jolt of shock went through her when she saw something she never expected in a million years, even in this extraordinary moment—in front of a crowd of nearly a hundred people, the mayor shifted into his white wolf.
A stunned hush washed over the crowd. Nervous twittering ensued when the mayor shifted back to human and stood naked before them. He made some crack about having no secrets whatsoever anymore and quickly got dressed. A laugh went around the crowd…
A laugh.
Human police. Shifter security. A shifter gang, for God’s sake. All laughing together as the mayor got dressed after revealing he was a shifter himself.
And a white wolf.
Zoe had never been more proud to be a wolf and a citizen of Seattle in her entire life.
Troy didn’t sleep at all that night.
The Wolf Hunter was dead—Zoe had killed him with her white wolf magic, slicing off the man’s head in a rather final way. That wasn’t what was keeping Troy up… it was the look of disbelief and horror on her face that sent chills through him.
She’d been in shock afterward—Troy was an EMT, he knew the signs, and she was nowhere near processing what had actually happened during that brief battle inside the research lab. And with the tumble of events afterward—the police, the packs, the revelation of the mayor as a white wolf—it was all too much. On the ride back to the Riverwise estate, she had fallen asleep in his arms in the back of the van. He’d done his best to isolate her from the bumps and jolts of the ride, but her mind was already retreating from the events of the night, straight into unconsciousness.
When they’d arrived back at her room at the estate, she’d wanted to talk about what had happened, but he insisted that she needed to rest. And she did… but he didn’t want her making any hasty decisions during that post-shock-sleepiness phase.
Decisions like getting rid of her white wolf, the one who had just killed a man.
Decisions like the fact that she didn’t need Troy, not any more.
So he’d cuddled her in his arms, holding her in her bed, whispering soft reassurances until she’d drifted off to sleep, which hadn’t taken any time at all. And he’d spent the rest of the moon-drenched night thinking about the amazing bravery of the woman beside him. How she had, along with the other white wolves of her extended, sprawling, magical family, brought down a notorious killer that had been targeting not only her and her loved ones but every wolf in Seattle. And he couldn’t come up with a single reason why she would want to stay with him, Troy Hartman, an ordinary brown wolf who didn’t do much more than hold her hand when she needed it. And saw to it that she got rest when she needed that, too. The fact that he was desperately in love with her might count for something. But he was pretty sure he’d failed in the one thing that mattered—convincing her that her wolf was something worth loving.
Worth keeping.
She had her data and the mayor… it was just a matter of time before she finished making those serums she’d been working so hard on. That included the serum that might bring superhealing to more than just the white wolves… and the one that would eliminate the beautiful wolf that existed inside her.
These thoughts ran round and round in his head, like pups chasing their tails.
He must have drifted off at some point, because as the morning sun whispered through the window, spilling gray light across the bed, Zoe murmured in her sleep, and it roused him from some kind of dreamless agitation. The blankets were pooled on the floor, kicked free by their tossing and turning. He wanted to cover her up again, but he was afraid his movement might wake her. Then, even before he could find a way to slowly reach for the tangle of soft blankets, she turned over and opened those beautiful blue eyes and peered up at him from her pillow.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said, softly. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them, then propped her head up on her hand and peered at him with such a drowsy, sexy look, he couldn’t help bending down for a quick kiss… before she decided to banish him from her life.
“Mmm,” she said through the kiss. Then she broke it and smiled. “This is definitely the way to wake up in the morning.”
“A kiss to get you going?” He grinned.
“A hot man in my bed calling me beautiful? Yes, please.”
“Beautiful doesn’t come close to touching what you look like waking up.” He leaned in for another kiss, this time pulling her closer and deepening it. The feel of her t-shirt against the bare skin of his chest only reminded him he would much rather have the soft slip of her skin against his. She moaned into him, and his morning erection made itself very obviously known as he pulled her body against his.
His breath quickened. “Dammit, Zoe.” His hands had minds of their own, reaching for the bottom of her t-shirt to pull it off. “All you have to do is kiss me once, and I want you like crazy. Every time.”
“Yes,” sh
e said to his fumbling attempt to liberate her t-shirt from her shoulders. His cock was tenting out his sleep pants, and she still had her panties on, but her breasts were gloriously free. His cupped one with his hand, kneading her already stiff nipple, then pulled her close again with his other hand on her sweet little bottom. His lips were on hers again, devouring her, but she was opening up to him, grabbing at his shoulders, hands in his hair, urging him on.
“I want you, Zoe,” he breathed against her lips.
“Now. I need you inside me,” she said, making him groan. Her hands fumbled at his pants, but he brushed them away as he made quick work of stripping bare. Then he slipped her panties off even faster. This may be the last time he would be with her, and dammit, he should slow that down, draw it out, make it more enjoyable for both of them, but he couldn’t—he was desperate for her like a drowning man needed air. And he had her on her back, legs spread, begging for him, and there was only one thing to do with that.
He slid his cock in this beautiful woman with one long stroke that sank him to the hilt.
“Oh God,” she gasped, clutching at his back to pull him deeper.
“Tell me you want me,” Troy said, still deep inside her. He wanted to hear it one more time, even if it was just for sex.
“God, I want you so bad,” she whispered, and he could hear the need in her voice. That need had him pulling out and thrusting back in, hard—because that’s what her wolf wanted from him. Needed from him. That, and he couldn’t hold back if his life depended on it.
He hitched her legs up higher, hooking his arm around one to pull it to her chest and allow him to plunge even deeper inside her.
“Yes,” she panted as he pounded into her, one sweet stroke after another. “Yes, just like that.” The sounds she was making… the mewling cries of his name as her climax built… it was all driving him mad. With lust. With love. With the heartbreak that this might be the last time. But he barreled forward, his own body tightening, clenching, readying for that explosive release…
“Zoe, I want you,” he panted as they rushed toward the precipice. “Just like this. Forever.” The words spilled out before he could stop them.
Then she cried out, fingers digging into him and back arching up as she climaxed. He could feel her pulsing around him, clenching down on his cock, and it tumbled him over the edge. He groaned as he came, thrusting deep and staying inside her, emptying himself into her.
He’d said things he didn’t want to say, not out loud, not before he’d had a chance to talk to her, to process everything that had happened, but he couldn’t hold them back any more than he could resist the sweetness of her skin, the softness of her kiss. As they slowly came down, panting and moaning through the sweet aftershocks, Troy prayed he hadn’t blown it altogether.
He pulled out and tugged her around so that her back was pressed to his chest… so he wouldn’t have to face her. So she wouldn’t feel compelled to say anything.
But she did anyway. “Jesus, Troy, you know how to wake a woman up.”
He smiled in spite of the heartache building in his chest. “You’re hard to resist, Zoe Wilding.”
She was quiet for a long minute. Then two. Just when Troy thought she might be falling back asleep, she twisted around in his arms to face him. For another minute, she didn’t say anything, just lightly played some kind of tapping song with her fingertips across his chest. That soft touch was reaching inside him and doing things to his heart…
Finally, she stopped the sweet torment and looked up into his eyes. “You’re the first man I’ve ever been with.”
Jesus Lord, please don’t let her say she wants other men. He swallowed. “I’m a very lucky guy.”
She smiled, and it stirred him around inside. She softly touched her fingertips to his lips, tracing an outline of them. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s lucky.”
He kissed her fingertips, sucked in a breath for courage, and asked, “How are you feeling?”
She gave him a wicked smile that somehow managed to stir his cock, even though he’d just finished a blowout orgasm minutes ago. It was amazing how responsive his body was to her. Always.
“I mean,” he said, fake scowling at her, “how are you feeling after last night?”
Her expression quickly sobered. She gave it some thought, a small frown forming on her forehead. “Like I finally figured out who I’m supposed to be.”
“Oh?” His heart thudded. So this was it. “And who is that?”
“Someone who uses what she’s been given to do good in the world.”
He frowned, not quite understanding. “Haven’t you been doing that all along?”
She dropped her gaze to his chest, splaying a hand across it, then lightly stroking it again. “No. Not really.” Her eyes lifted to his again. “I’ve been so obsessed with getting rid of the part of me that I didn’t like—the part I hated, to be honest—the thing that I was convinced had killed my mother in the womb…” She swallowed and looked down again between them.
Troy held perfectly still, waiting, but his heart was leaping with her words.
“The Wolf Hunter was like me. The same thing happened to him with his mother, and look what it did to him? What it turned him into.” Her voice was growing more sure, more determined. “He wasn’t content with changing himself—he wanted to destroy other wolves. Lash out at the things he felt were evil. But other wolves aren’t evil. I guess it took me realizing that before I could see it in myself. Declan Hunter couldn’t do that, and in the end, it destroyed him. I don’t want to be like that. I was so tied up with trying to fix things that had happened in the past, things I was so afraid would happen again, that I didn’t allow myself to live… to even begin to understand what I was capable of.” Her gaze met his once more. “I never realized that maybe I have these abilities for a reason. Or even if the universe doesn’t have some grand plan for them… that I can make a plan. I can use these abilities I have for the greater good.”
“Do you mean…” Troy was still holding his breath. “Are you saying…”
A small smile grew on her beautiful face. “I’m saying I want to keep my white wolf. And I want to mate and have pups with her. And I’m going to start right now, right here today, in figuring out all the good things I can accomplish in this world with her as part of me. Because she is me. And she’s capable of amazing things.”
Troy felt like his smile might split his face. “Oh, Zoe…” Words were failing him. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.”
She grinned to match his smile, and his heart soared. “It’s like a burden lifted from my heart. And I have a certain hot wolf to thank for that. In fact, I think I should start thanking him again.” She leaned into him, planting a hungry kiss on his lips.
He reveled in the kiss for a moment but forced himself to pull back. “You don’t have to thank me for anything.”
“I disagree.” Her grin was back to wicked, but this time, he was the one who wanted to talk. To get it all out on the table. Because he needed to know what he was dealing with—what was possible—before he bumbled his way into asking for something that she would only shoot down. Like the first time he tried to kiss her. And all the other times she stopped him cold.
She was moving to kiss him again, so he stopped her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulders. Her pout was so adorable, he almost caved. Almost.
“So what are you going to do?” he asked. “With the database and the serums and your grandfather’s blood, now that you have access to it?” He assumed her grandfather would help her with just about anything. She had saved his life, after all.
Her pout dissolved into a serious look. “I won’t know for sure if my grandfather’s blood will unlock this superhealing superserum, or whether it will be something that humans can use, but even if it’s not, it has to point the way to so many research avenues. Once we go public with it, everyone’s going to want access to the data. I’ll publish for sure, maybe even before we hav
e definitive results about usability one way or the other. I could literally spend the rest of my life researching all the implications that will fall out of this finding. So, that will keep me busy.” Her eyes glittered when she talked about her work, and he could understand why—the potential to help people was simply enormous.
“And what about the other serum?” he asked quietly. “The one that suppresses your wolf? Or… eliminates it.”
She scowled. “That’s something Agent Smith used when he was torturing shifters. The Wolf Hunter, too. I was so mired in my own… drama… I don’t think I realized the vast harm something like that could do. If I had…” Her face reddened. “Any normal wolf would have destroyed those serums and the formula for them as soon as she understood what they were.”
“Hey.” His hand went immediately to her cheek. “None of that. You had your reasons. I’m glad you changed your mind—so glad, Zoe, you have no idea—but that doesn’t make you a bad person.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She still scowled, but his touch seemed to ease it somewhat. “But with the Wolf Hunter’s lab destroyed—with him destroyed—I’m going to do my part. I’m going to tell Grace we should destroy that part of the data. I can do it from here, and when I get back into my lab, I’ll get rid of anything that could be used to make it in the future.”
“That’s great, Zo,” he said with a sigh of relief. “Really great.” This way she would never be able to change her mind—and he was sure she knew that. His girl was wicked smart, and something like that wouldn’t pass her notice.
His girl.
He swallowed and dropped his gaze to the bunched up sheets, still hot from their lovemaking. “So, Zoe, I was thinking…”
She leaned in to sneak a kiss and cut him off. “You were? I was hoping for a little more hot-blooded action from my future mate.”
His head snapped up. “Your… future… what?”
“Mate? M-A-T-E.” Her grin faded a little. “Oh. You don’t want to—”
