by Fel Fern
“Stop,” Sylvia repeated. “You make Mama sad. Don’t want to lose Uncle ‘Tino and Uncle Deacon, too.”
Both Deacon and Santino seemed shocked into stillness. Both men turned back to human. Deacon gathered the little girl in his arms.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Zack heard the Alpha murmur.
Santino looked heartbroken, then glared at them. “What is that bitch doing here?”
Zack gently pushed aside Forrest, who let him past. The other enforcer looked grumpy, but Zack had to make a point. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Santino crossed the distance between them. Zack swallowed, aware of their size differences and how intimidating Santino could be when pissed. Santino bared his teeth. “Enlighten me, little cat.”
“I needed Madeline and Sylvia. Daryl and I are about to attempt what I came here for.”
“You just admitted it to me a while ago you have no idea what you’re doing.”
That made him flinch. Santino pointed out a truth, had every right to lash out at him. Santino twitched his lip, looking like he instantly regretted his words.
“Why don’t you let the healer try?” Madeline told him.
“Zack, explain,” Deacon said, walking up to them with Sylvia.
Both the Alpha and Santino grabbed jogging pants from the bin of clothes on the porch. Daryl mentioned most pack members always had a couple of spare clothes lying around. Thank God, because Zack would otherwise be distracted by his gorgeous mate, even if Santino could be a stubborn as hell sometimes and still pissed at him.
“I still want to try helping Sabine,” he told Santino. “Will you allow me to do that?”
Santino shifted his unfriendly gaze to Madeline. “Let me guess. You need the vampire.”
“I need all your help. Daryl told me when she got shot, he used his empath abilities while Elaine was closing up the gunshot wound on Sabine’s skull to pass what Sylvia was feeling. I’d like to replicate that.”
Santino huffed, but it was the Alpha who made the decision for them. “It doesn’t hurt to try,” Deacon finally said. Santino looked ready to protest, but the Alpha continued, “Zack’s the only healer who’s managed to give a helpful suggestion.”
“I can’t guarantee it will work, but Santino, isn’t it better to try first? Even if we fail, at least we made the attempt,” Zack asked, plea in his voice.
“That means inviting a vampire inside the house,” Santino muttered darkly.
“I have no idea why you have so much prejudice against our kind,” Madeline told Santino. “Your sister is twenty-six, certainly old enough to make her own decisions, and she’s no fool.”
Santino snarled at her.
“She cares deeply about Sabine, Santino,” Zack said in a soft voice. “Just now, she saved me from falling off a tree, and I know she’ll never hurt Sylvia. She adores the werewolf pup.”
Madeline coughed, and he had a feeling the vampire was trying to hide her embarrassment.
Santino narrowed his eyes. Yikes. Zack probably should have not mentioned that. “You fell?” Santino asked in a deadly voice.
“I was distracted and guilty. Can we talk about our personal problems later?”
Deacon gripped Santino’s shoulder, then looked at Madeline. “Are you here of your own accord, or does your help come with strings attached?”
“Let’s make this clear. I’m not here because I want your pack to owe my coven a favor. I’m here as an individual,” she said.
“Well then, I have no further objections. Santino?” Deacon asked.
“Fine, but only because Zack thinks the vampire can be trusted,” Santino finally said.
“If I become your sister-in-law, you should learn to say my name, wolf,” Madeline said, flicking at her hair.
“Maddy, come inside?” Sylvia asked by the door, sounding pleased. Then Zack remembered vampires needed to be given an invitation to enter a private residence.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Madeline answered with a smile.
For a second, Zack thought he made a mistake, but once inside the house Madeline only looked curiously at the photographs on the staircase wall with interest. He brushed shoulders with Santino. Every muscle in Santino’s body tensed. He reached for Santino’s hand, glad the dominant werewolf didn’t push him away.
“Don’t lose hope yet,” he told his wolf.
“We have to talk. After this, I mean,” Santino said.
Zack nodded, breathing hard. He bit his lower lip, not trusting himself to speak. Conflicting emotions churned inside of him as Santino gave his hand a squeeze and their little group went upstairs. He needed to focus on his task first.
Daryl, Deacon, Santino, Madeline, Sylvia, and he crowded the bedroom while Forrest elected to remain outside.
“Okay guys, I don’t know what I’m doing, but let’s give this a shot. Form a circle around the bed. Daryl, stand next to me, please,” Zack said, marveling as no one disagreed with him.
He knew putting three dominant predators in the same room wasn’t a wise idea, especially since Madeline and Santino still looked ready to throttle each other.
“Daryl,” he said, clearing his throat. “Can you do what you did before? Act like a bridge between everyone else?”
Daryl nodded.
“Everyone hold hands,” Daryl said in a firm voice.
“Seriously?” Santino asked, looking at Madeline with dislike, but nonetheless did as the empath asked.
Zack let his hand hover over the spot on Sabine’s skull where she’d been shot. Only a faint scar was left from the wound. He gently placed his palm on the skin.
“Okay, Zack, touch my shoulder,” Daryl said.
He did as the Esper asked, heart racing. Those first few seconds, he felt nothing.
“Everyone, send me your positive thoughts about Sabine,” Daryl ordered.
Zack closed his eyes, surprised to see a fuzzy image in his head at first, like that of a grainy television screen. He saw a dark-haired and silver-eyed skinny boy wearing a lab coat as rain drenched his head and body.
Zack’s heart ached, seeing the boy. Seven-year-old Santino tugged open the large coat he wore, and Zack saw a small wolf pup inside, fur like Sylvia’s and the pup had silver eyes like her brother.
“Mama!” Sylvia said excitedly. “Is that Mama, Uncle ‘Tino?”
“Sylvia, I need you to focus. Concentrate, okay, sweetheart?” Daryl asked, voice a little strained. Did being a conduit for other people’s emotions drain the empath too fast?
“More memories, please. I’m not sure how long Daryl can last,” Zack added.
More memories joined Santino’s, that of the Alpha’s. Deacon and the two siblings, a few years older, seeing their old pack compound burn down. The Alpha added positive childhood memories, too, and Zack had the pleasure of seeing his tough as nails wolf being playful and cocky.
Sylvia added hers, she and her mother falling asleep in the heart of the Devil Hills woods, both in wolf form. Sylvia, her mom, and Santino making cookies in the kitchen, and Santino scowling as he was covered in flour.
Last came the vampire’s. Zack hesitated, wondered if Sylvia might see something she shouldn’t. He saw Sabine and Madeline meeting in the woods, Sabine in wolf form and laying her paws and muzzle on Madeline’s lap, the two women talking walks.
“You really care about her,” Santino murmured with surprise.
“Of course, you dick.”
“Language,” Deacon warned.
“That’s good. Zack, ready yourself.”
“What—” Zack couldn’t finish because it felt like being hit with a ball of energy in the chest.
He felt warm all over, brain overflowing with all the emotions Daryl gathered from the others. Zack directed that energy to the sleeping woman in bed. Seconds turned to a few minutes. When he opened his eyes, everyone stopped holding hands and looked apprehensive, then disappointed.
Zack realized he still touched Sabine’s head. He
was about to withdraw his hand when slender fingers gripped his wrist. Silver eyes so similar to Santino’s narrowed at him. Hope flared inside his chest.
“Who are you?” she asked, voice a little harsh, probably rusty from not speaking for a while.
“Mama.” Sylvia jumped into the bed, repeating the words repeatedly, tears in her eyes. Sabine released his wrist and caught her daughter in her arms. Sylvia cuddled closer to her. Sabine reached out, stroking her hair, before looking at everyone in the room. She blinked.
“Fuck, Zack. I can’t believe it worked,” Santino remarked, approaching him and pulling him into a tight, bone-crushing hug. “Thank you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Santino refused to let go of his mate as Zack sputtered something incomprehensible. Deacon and Daryl started updating his sister about the weeks she missed. Sylvia changed to wolf form and curled into a ball next to her mother’s side. Santino noticed Madeline attempted to slip out of the window, but he knew he owed the vampire an apology.
“Madeline, wait,” he said, parting from his mate. “Stay. Please.”
“The Devil saying ‘please’? How can I refuse?” the cocky vampire said.
Santino rolled his eyes. Now that he’d seen how much the vampire meant to his sister and vice versa, he wouldn’t get in their way.
“Maddy, you’re here, too?” Obvious pleasure filled Sabine’s voice.
“Let’s give them some space,” Deacon suggested.
“It worked?” Forrest asked from the doorway, back in human form. Santino scowled, noticing the other enforcer borrowed one of his jogging pants.
“It did,” Daryl said with a grin.
Zack gave his cheek a kiss, before following Daryl and Deacon out.
Santino sat on the edge of the bed. Sabine reached for his hand and he squeezed her fingers gently. They were so alike in certain ways, seldom showed weakness to anyone, to other packmates. Only among family did they let their guard down.
“Thank you,” she told him. “For not giving up on me.”
“I doubted for a moment that you would wake up,” he admitted.
“I have plenty of things to live for,” she told him, but looked at her daughter. “Not just for Sylvia but for my family, the pack, and—”
“Me,” Madeline finished.
Santino snorted. “Gag.”
“That healer,” Sabine ventured, then shook her head. “We’ll talk.”
“We have plenty of things to catch up on,” he agreed. “Do you want me to take Sylvia?”
“No, I missed her too much,” Sabine replied.
Santino did what he hadn’t done in a long time, he extracted his hand from hers and mussed her hair, smirked when she frowned at him. Then he left the room. Santino found the others downstairs. Daryl and Deacon were in the living room couch, with Daryl resting his head on Deacon’s lap.
“Will he be all right?” he asked Deacon.
“Of course,” Deacon answered. Daryl’s snores filled the space.
Santino chuckled. “I’ll thank him when he wakes.”
“We’ll spend the night here,” Deacon offered, probably because the Alpha knew that while Santino might have accepted Madeline would be part of his sister’s life in the future, he still didn’t trust her a hundred percent.
“Appreciate it,” he told his Alpha.
“Get some rest, too.”
“Unlikely,” he said.
Deacon snorted. “I don’t want to know.”
Santino found Forrest and Zack in the kitchen but Santino only had eyes for one man. His mate. Santino walked up to Zack and pulled him to a tight hug. Santino brushed his lips over Zack’s about to deepen the kiss when someone rude interrupted them.
“Okay, maybe you two should get out of here and find a room,” Forrest suggested, munching on a cookie. Zack blushed. “I’m going to take this jar and head back to my mate, too.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” he said.
Once Forrest left through the back door, he turned his attention to his mate. “What do you say we head back to your hotel room for some much needed privacy?”
“Is that a question or a command? It’s hard to tell.”
“Zack, I want you to know, even if you failed or succeeded, the outcome was the same.”
“Outcome?” Zack asked.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. You’re my mate, and you’re not going anywhere.”
Zack looked baffled. “But just now in the woods—”
“I needed that run to let off some steam. I spoke to Deacon and told him there’s no chance of kicking you out.”
Zack walked up to him, glaring at him for some reason, then punched his shoulder. Santino hardly felt a thing, but Zack winced. Santino grabbed his fingers and gave them a kiss.
“You should have told me earlier, but then again, I also wanted to find out if my theory would work.”
Santino positioned himself behind Zack and planted kisses on the side of Zack’s neck. He worked his way to Zack’s mouth and kissed his mate, deeply and slowly, until they both panted. He pulled away and said, “Healers always think about others first. That’s why I’m here to remind you that when it’s just the two of us, taking care of you is my number one priority.”
“W-we should head back to the inn, in case the Alpha and his mate overhears,” Zack replied.
All this moving around annoyed Santino, but he already formed a plan in his head. He’d soon have a talk with Sabine. She’d be happy to know he’d be moving out. Sabine kept complaining he hovered too much, played the role of overprotective brother too often. Santino never anticipated wanting a place of his own, but he did so now, a house Zack and he could call home.
“You have that evil look in your eyes. Are you planning on doing dirty stuff to me?” Zack asked once Santino ushered his mate outside.
“Plenty of filthy things,” he agreed. “So you better not be too tired to play with this wolf.”
“Okay, good. Don’t underestimate us cats. We have plenty of energy.”
“Perfect,” Santino responded, flashing his teeth.
* * * *
Zack couldn’t remember the rest of the run back to the motel. Adrenaline raced through his system as he jumped from one tree branch to the next. Santino ran ahead of him, dark chocolate brown fur blending with the other natural colors of the woods. Zack didn’t lose track of his mate, though.
Leaving the forests, they entered the town. Santino slowed his pace so Zack could follow him back to the inn. They snuck through the kitchen of the Honey Bee again, but it was two hours past midnight, so it was empty. They passed by the lounge area, up the stairs, and slipped inside Zack’s room without incident.
They both changed back to human form. Santino locked the door behind him, locking his hungry silver gaze on him, the need there a reflection of his own. During the run, Santino’s words kept going through his head.
“You’re keeping me?” Zack asked, needing affirmation.
Santino eliminated the distance between them, closed one hand on the back of his neck. The dominant werewolf claimed his mouth, thrusting heat down his throat. His insides turned to jelly. Zack responded with equal passion. Shameless, he rubbed his body against Santino’s sweat-slicked skin. He groaned, aware of Santino’s dick curving up against his belly and his own rising from half-mast to full.
Santino slipped a hand between their bodies and gave his prick a squeeze. Zack nearly came from that move alone, but he held his orgasm back, not wanting to spoil the game so soon.
“Need you in me,” he whispered when Santino stopped kissing him.
“I intend to fuck you senseless, but I’m only giving you one warning, little cat.” Santino bit the side of his neck. Zack shuddered at the scrape of teeth on skin, a preview of what was to come, a promise. “By the end of this night, you’ll be mine in every sense of the word.”
Without guilt or lies to hold him back, Zack could no longer refuse. He wanted to give himsel
f completely to this wolf, his other half, his soul mate. Santino gave his prick a few tugs and pulls before thumbing the pre-cum gathered there.
“On your hands and knees, little cat.” From Santino, those words were an order.
Zack happily got into position, groaned when Santino nudged his legs apart. Santino grabbed the lube from where he left it the night before and returned to position behind Zack’s ass. The dominant werewolf patted his ass cheeks before squeezing out lube into his puckered entrance. Zack pushed his ass toward his mate, blushing when Santino swatted his buttocks a few times, making him even more aroused.
“Please,” Zack uttered, relieved Santino slipped one finger in, then added a second and third. His mate didn’t waste any time widening him for access. Good, because Zack didn’t think he could wait any longer.
Finally, Santino guided his leaking tip into his entrance. The dominant werewolf gripped his hips and pushed all the way in. Zack gasped but he was ready, welcoming the burn as Santino buried his prick all the way in. He breathed in and out until Santino rested his balls against his ass.
“Ready to ride, baby?”
“Yes.” That was the only word Zack had been capable of saying.
Santino quickly made him forget about the initial pain, starting thrusting in and out of him with controlled and steady strokes. Zack clawed at the carpeted flooring, moaning as Santino thrust into him faster, deeper.
“Touch yourself,” Santino ordered.
Zack obeyed, stroking his prick back and forth. Pressure built inside of him. The room fell away from his sight as Santino shifted the angle of his hips and found his prostate. Gasping, Zack arched his back as Santino went for his sweet spot over and over.
“Santino,” he screamed.
Santino sheathed his cock inside his ass once more and reached over to give the tip of his shaft a squeeze. Zack shattered, spilling strings of his cum as his mind flew twenty-thousand feet in the air. Santino pistoned in and out of him a few more times, before filling his ass with warmth. They weren’t done, though. Santino gently helped him to the bed. Zack leaned against Santino’s chest, completely sated, offering his wolf his neck, the ultimate show of trust and submission.
