by Tamsin Ley
“That’s true.” Ashlyn laid her cheek against the front of his parka. “Besides, I think I’d feel something if she was dead, even if we are disconnected.”
He nodded, knowing he’d feel the same way if he lost his wolf.
The cloudy sky had darkened to slate gray, a pale line to the south the only reminder of the setting sun. An icy wind had kicked up, driving snow into his exposed skin and biting through his clothing. If he was chilled, Ashlyn would soon be freezing. “It’s going to be full dark soon. Let’s set up our tent.”
But she refused to release her hold on him. “Kepler, look.”
He followed her gaze along the glacier’s jagged surface.
Not fifty feet away, a dark hole had opened in the ice.
Chapter Eighteen
Ashlyn trembled with excitement and self-doubt. The moment of truth was here. What if her wolf was dead? Worse, what if her wolf wasn’t dead, and she ended up with another animal? “I’m scared,” she whispered.
Kepler’s arms tightened around her. “You don’t have to do this. We can turn around.”
His suggestion that she give up only made her more resolute. “It took me half an hour to put on my snow gear. I’m not chickening out now.” She faced the cave and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
“Wait,” he said, digging in a nearby pack. He pulled out their ice cleats. “It may be slippery.”
As she pulled the cleats on over her boots, her pulse rushed through her ears and a cold sweat broke out underneath her parka. True darkness had fallen, and with the cloud cover, even the snow looked black. “I can barely see the cave anymore.”
“Just follow me.”
He squeezed her hand and led her across the jagged ice, their footsteps crunching against the snow. When they reached the entrance, she paused in awe. Deep inside, the ice glowed with faint, blue light. The same color as my wolf’s eyes. They stepped through, and the color began to flow like water, brightening with hints of yellow and green the deeper they went. Stones littered the cave floor, eventually forming a tunnel leading downward. Deeper and deeper into the ice they went, the living glacier creaking around them.
“This glacier sounds like it’s trying to eat us alive,” Kepler said, his voice muffled by ice.
She let out a nervous laugh. “This is nothing. You should see the other side of a hellmouth.”
Kepler grunted. “Touché.”
Eventually, the tunnel opened into a vast cave. The high ceiling danced with shifting ribbons of color more glorious than Ashlyn could’ve imagined. Trickling water echoed through the space. The cave floor wasn’t wet, but it definitely felt warmer than it had outside. Black boulders dotted the ice, some even taller than Kepler. As she crunched toward the cave’s center, the glint of falling water caught her eye. From the high ceiling, a thin trickle splattered onto a huge flat stone embedded in the ice.
Ashlyn drew up at the edge. The stone was only a few inches higher than the ice, and the falling water flowed over it to disappear into the glacier beneath. It felt like an altar, of sorts. Definitely otherworldly.
She let out a slow breath and lifted her foot to step onto the stone. “This must be the place.”
“Wait,” Kepler tugged gently on her hand, pulling her to face him. “A kiss for luck?”
The overhead ice aurora made his eyes glitter with the golden glow of his wolf. Through their mental bond, she sensed his worry. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips softly against his, lingering, savoring the feel of him.
Before she pulled away, he murmured against her, “I love you, Ashlyn Reed. No matter if you get your wolf back, a different wolf, a bear, or nothing at all. You’re mine. Always.”
She frowned, for the first time considering his stake in her actions. “Are you worried if I get another animal, we’ll no longer be mates?”
His lips thinned. “The thought crossed my mind.”
“Well, shit. Now I’m worried, too.”
“Just don’t get a chihuahua for an animal.”
She laughed. “Bad jokes are my deal in this relationship, okay?”
One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “I make no promises.”
She gave him one more peck on the lips and unzipped her parka. It was surprisingly warm inside the cave. “Hold this so I don’t get it wet.”
“Maybe you should take it all off so you don’t ruin your gear if you shift immediately.”
She smirked. “You just want to see me naked.”
“That, too.” He smiled, but his worry still showed through.
Wanting to lighten the mood, she ran her thumbs under the straps of her snow bibs and did a little shimmy as she stripped. “I’m too sexy for these bibs, too sexy for these bibs…”
His laughter echoed through the cave, his gaze following her with a hunger she hoped would remain, whatever the outcome was. Once she was fully naked, she turned back to the water. Goose pimples prickled her skin, and not only because she was naked. What if she did get some weird animal like a chihuahua? Stop doubting. I’m going to get my wolf back.
She took a huge breath and leaned toward the waterfall, tilting her head to let the cold liquid fall into her mouth. After several swallows, she stepped back. She didn’t feel any different. Her hands looked the same. She still had goose pimples. Then a warm spot spread in her belly. It filled her chest and ran through her limbs.
Overhead, the aurora cracked and snapped, and everything looked clearer. Smelled sharper. Kepler’s warm, male scent called to her, filled her with an acute hunger, and she swore she could detect the beating of his heart. As she turned to him, a familiar, joyous howl resonated in her head.
Wolf! Tears blurred her vision. You’re alive! I knew you were stronger than that monster.
She looked at Kepler, letting her wolf’s power rise into her eyes. His worried expression shifted to amazement, then a joy to match her own. “It worked?”
“My wolf is back,” her voice choked with a sob.
Whooping, he reached out and swept her into his arms, spinning her once before setting her on her feet and claiming her mouth with his. The mating fire flared within her immediately, and she kissed him fervently, tangling her tongue with his. His parka felt rough against her chest, and she fumbled with the zipper. “You are wearing way too many clothes.”
He shucked out of them and yanked her body against his. His thighs were hard against hers, and she lifted one leg up around his hip. He gripped her buttocks with both hands and picked her up the rest of the way, letting her wrap both legs around him. Centered against her core, the length of his erection pulsed with a need that matched her own.
Between kisses, he kicked their snow gear into a pile, then lowered her down toward it. “Oh, no,” she said. “This is my party. I’m doing the claiming here.”
She gave him a playful shove, and he collapsed onto the nest of parkas, his cock a thick line against his belly. She growled and knelt, wrapping her mouth around it, engulfing him until he hit the back of her throat. He tasted salty and musky and perfect as she cupped his balls and worked his shaft. Groaning, he threaded both hands into her hair, hips bucking upward to meet her with each stroke. “God, woman, you’re going to kill me. Come around here so I can taste you.”
She swiveled, lifting a knee over his head to straddle him. His tongue flicked out, penetrating her slit, and he grabbed her hips, driving her down against his mouth. He worked her folds as she sucked his shaft until she could no longer concentrate on what she was doing.
Breaking from his hold, she pivoted again, straddling his hips. He bared his teeth, eyes glowing golden, and gripped her ass, helping settle her over his shaft. She was dripping wet, her folds swollen and aching for him. With a solid thrust, she impaled herself on his length, gasping as he filled her, stretched her with exquisite pleasure.
He groaned her name, hips flexing upward to meet her. Her own voice emerged as a growl to match his, “My mate.”
“Yes.”
&n
bsp; Rolling her hips, she started a rhythm, plunging him in and out and ratcheting up the heat growing between them. The tightness in her belly grew and sweat slicked her skin. He moved his hand to press a thumb to her clit, and she exploded, back arching and head thrown back in a scream.
She’d barely finished when he flipped her onto her back and pinned her, continuing his thrusting as his eyes bored into hers.
“Kepler, I’m going to come again.” The pressure she’d thought would subside with her first orgasm only rose higher as he drove into her, over and over.
“Mine forever.” His teeth had sharpened, and she knew what he meant. What they both needed.
Lifting her mouth to his shoulder, she bit into him the same moment he pierced her skin over the claiming mark he’d made the last time they were together. Lights flashed before her eyes, and a moment of vertigo made her feel as if she’d been thrown back into the hellmouth. Then everything settled, and there was nothing but Kepler. It was as if she could feel his heartbeat inside her own chest.
“I love you, Kepler.” She settled back against the arm floor, too spent to move.
Chest heaving, he rested on his elbows above her, one hand stroking her hair as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you, too.”
When their breathing had settled, he rose and created a nest out of their discarded clothing. Settling her on top of it, he curled up behind her, spooning his warmth against her backside. “Is it wrong I never want to leave here?”
She smiled and wiggled deeper into his embrace, loving the way his cock pulsed back to life against her ass. “I feel the same way.”
Bathed in the blessed light of the Source, they made love the rest of the night.
Epilogue
Tessa’s house was surprisingly silent, considering over twenty people had assembled for Jen’s sentencing. Harsh morning sunlight poured through the great room’s two-story windows, making everything seem sharper than normal. The plush furniture had been pushed aside, and rows of folding chairs now filled the space. A mix of shifters and witches had divided themselves along an invisible line in each half of the room.
Among the first to arrive, Ashlyn and Kepler sat in front, facing a long table where three Shifter Council members awaited the proceedings. Ashlyn couldn’t take her eyes off them. She didn’t know why, but she’d expected the shifter leadership to look more like animals. They wore jeans and button-down shirts and had haircuts like any other person she might meet on the street. Sitting beside them, the Head of Covens looked more supernatural than they did, with her perfectly done French knot and flawless tan skin.
Kepler leaned over and whispered in Ashlyn’s ear, “Are you certain you want to be here? It’s likely to be gruesome.”
“Yes, I need to be here. I don’t want Hamilton to suffer,” Ashlyn said. “And burning Jen alive is barbaric even if Hamilton wasn’t included.”
“If I could give her worse, I would. She’s responsible for the deaths of at least nine shifters, and almost killed you, too.”
Ashlyn shook her head. “The agathion did, not Jen.”
“She opened the hellmouth,” he insisted. “She let him in. She’s a liability every second she’s alive.”
Leveling him with an angry glare, Ashlyn said, “Using that logic, you should’ve handed me over to the pack and let them kill me.”
He had the courtesy to blanch. “I sound just as bad as the pack, don’t I?”
She squeezed his hand. “No, but please consider another option besides burning her to death.”
Just then, Tessa appeared from a side hallway holding a pet carrier with Hamilton inside. Jen followed a few feet behind her, eyes downcast. Tessa stepped over a small circle of stones that had been placed around a bare wooden chair next to the front table and set the carrier on the floor. Jen sat on the chair and folded her hands in her lap, staring down rather than the assembled crowd. The coven leader stepped away and made a few graceful motions with her hands. Magic prickled through the room, making Ashlyn’s skin crawl as though she’d been swarmed by insects.
From the table at the front, the Head of Covens rose. In what had to be an expensive suit and stiletto heels, she looked like she belonged in a New York board room rather than this makeshift trial in the Alaskan outback. “This is the sentencing hearing for Jennifer Lynn Elliot on the matter of using forbidden magic, her part in the deaths of nine shifters, and the endangerment of another. Jennifer has admitted to her crime and agreed to bow to the will of this hearing. Before we proceed, is there anything else the guilty party would like to say?”
Jen looked up, gaze connecting with Ashlyn’s for a moment before she dropped it again. “Only that I’m sorry. I never expected people to die, I was trying to save my familiar. It was stupid to fall for the agathion’s lies.”
“May I speak?” Muffy’s voice rose from the crowd.
The Head of Covens frowned, but nodded. “Please provide your name and relationship to the guilty party.”
“Muffy, please don’t,” Jen said as a tear ran down her cheek. “Don’t associate yourself with me.”
Muffy ignored her. “My name’s Muffy and Jen is my sister. I want to point out that what Jen did was a mistake, not intentional. It’s like murder one versus manslaughter. I beg the court to consider a reduced sentence.”
Councilman Riordan rose from his seat, pale eyes flashing with his wolf’s power. “If it happened once, I might call it a mistake. But she let that monster kill those shifters.”
“She didn’t actually kill them,” Muffy pointed out. “In fact, neither did the agathion. They were technically killed by fellow shifters.”
The gallery erupted in protest.
“Because they went rogue!”
“Don’t try to turn this back on shifters!”
“You don’t come back from being rogue.”
“Enough!” the Head of Covens said with a forcefulness rivaling any Alpha’s.
The audience fell to grumbling silence.
“The point of this hearing is not about the why or how. It is about justice. Jennifer has admitted her guilt. The punishment for her crime is death by fire.”
Beside Kepler, Ashlyn rose. “I would also like to speak.”
The Head of Coven’s eyes twitched in obvious annoyance, but she pursed her mouth and nodded. “It is your right as one of the victims.”
“I’m not going to say what Jen did is forgivable, but I do want to point out that her familiar, Hamilton, helped me free my wolf from the agathion’s prison. I don’t know what part he had in the other shifter’s deaths, or why they went rogue while I didn’t, but Jen’s magic is what saved me in the end. I think Jen and her familiar tried to do the right thing.”
“Only because the agathion subverted his promise,” Tessa said, her face stony with condemnation.
“What do you mean?” Ashlyn asked, looking between the coven leader and the accused.
More tears slid down Jen’s cheek as she stared at the pet carrier where Hamilton had his face against the bars, staring pitifully at Ashlyn. “He promised to free Hamilton after I helped him. He did, only he didn’t send Hamilton back to me. Instead, he released my familiar into the hellmouth, alone and unprotected with no way back.”
Ashlyn remembered the sensation of being hunted in that dark void and shuddered. She turned to the gallery. “I know I’m a new face here, but I want to advocate for Hamilton. If I understand correctly, a witch’s familiar is tied to her in a similar fashion to a shifter’s animal.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the Head of Covens, who nodded in confirmation. Ashlyn continued, “My wolf was willing to sacrifice herself to save me, and I would do the same for her. I might even be tempted to make rash choices if I thought it would save her. I’m sure all of you feel the same way.”
She paused for a heartbeat to allow that idea to sink in before turning back toward the table. “Jen regrets her actions and is willing to pay the price, but burning her alive will also kill Hamilton. Ho
rribly, I might add. He doesn’t deserve that. As one of the victims, I ask that the court consider alternative ways to punish Jen without harming her familiar.”
“I understand and appreciate your forgiveness,” the Head of Covens said. “But the only way to ensure Jen no longer serves as a conduit for the agathion is the incineration of her soul.”
Throat constricted with emotion, Ashlyn asked, “When I came back through the hellmouth, I was able to fight off the agathion’s possession by becoming human again. There has to be a way to close off Jen’s power and keep the agathion from accessing her, too—besides burning her.”
“Yes!” Muffy spoke again, making all heads turn toward her. “Jen can revoke her magic. She can make herself human.”
This time it was the witches in the room who gasped. Words like “living death” and “zombie” rumbled through the crowd.
The Head of Covens’ cheek twitched as she seemed to consider. “That would break her bond with her familiar. Then he would not suffer her fate.”
Jen’s already pale face turned ashen. She clenched her hands together on her lap hard enough to make the knuckles gleam white. “If it means Hamilton gets to live, I’ll do it.”
“And then she won’t have to die.” Muffy moved toward the front table, looking frantically back and forth between Ashlyn and the Head. “She’ll be a harmless human.”
“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking.” The Head of Covens frowned deeply. “Such a sentence would only prolong your sister’s suffering. She’d most likely kill herself within the first few weeks rather than endure the void of losing her magic.”
Ashlyn recalled how devastated she’d been when she lost her wolf. How becoming human again after experiencing the supernatural had hurt. And she had only been connected to her wolf a short time. What would it be like for a witch who’d always possessed power to lose it? “Hold on,” Ashlyn looked at Tessa and back to the Head of Covens. “Will that really turn her into a zombie?”
