Chapter 30: Everett

Chapter 30: Everett

I was never more certain about something than I was about marking Aislin in that moment. I knew it was what I wanted because I had been thinking about it for days. Obsessing over it, wishing I could do it in the moments we were alone before. Aislin Mundy was my fated mate, and she was the only person I wanted to be with—the sooner I could mark her, the better. Now was the time to do it.

My relief was immeasurable when she told me to mark her. Propped up above her, with my cock still inside her and our hearts beating in time, this was as close as we could get before the marking ritual and still it wasn’t enough—I had to make her mine. Sealing our lips with a long kiss, I slowly brushed back her hair and revealed a tract of skin on her neck where the tendon was firm. Gentle pecks staked my claim on the spot where I was to draw her blood. She found a place of her own under my jaw, where I felt her hot breath against my ear. Our bodies fit together perfectly, snug as two puzzle pieces that had gone missing from their boxes, only to find belonging in each other’s shapes. Alone, we were lost, but together… She belonged with me, and I belonged with her. Somehow, miraculously, we worked. I wasn’t going to take that for granted ever again.

“Are you ready?” I asked between kissing her neck.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Aislin replied.

I pinched her skin between my teeth. Immediately, I felt her body tensing at the small pain, which would rise as I pinned the skin tighter until it broke. Aislin returned the favor. The sharp pain shot up through my jaw and sat in my head, burning throughout my body as though it already knew what was coming next. My heart pounded harder as I tasted her coppery blood, smelling sweeter than when it was shed in wrath. When I was certain that she had cut my skin too, I took in a breath, and together we uttered the words that would bind us.

“Mark us, Luna, we are ready to become one.”

Our voices entwined with one another, Aislin’s husky notes cradling my deep and passionate growls. We reached out to the Moon Goddess with our plea to solidify the fated mate bond, and she heard us.

Immediately, a supernatural warmth suffused our bodies. The sensation was so strange that it left me gasping, the ambrosial effect of the ritual pumping through my blood like honey, and through Aislin’s mirrored to mine. The small wounds we made on each other’s necks burned and sizzled with magic, instantly sealing the blood into soft pink scars, eternal declarations of our affections. They were signatures of our fervor which would let everyone know about the experiences, memories, desires, and intentions we shared, and that our lives would become permanently interwoven.

I once thought the Moon Goddess was foolishly mistaken in assigning Aislin as my fated mate, but now I knew she had carefully crafted our future all along. It gave me hope that maybe David wouldn’t succeed in his plans after all.

As the warmth receded, Aislin and I were left with the lingering giddiness of our spiritual marriage. I wanted to touch all of her. I couldn’t get enough of her. Laying there above her, I kissed her neck and succumbed to the craving that kept me glued to her body, ignoring whatever responsibilities usually compelled me to action. If I could spend the rest of my life like this, I would.

Aislin chuckled softly behind her lips, trailing her fingers behind my neck and through my hair. “Now you’ll never be able to get rid of me,” she mused.

“That won’t be a problem,” I said.

“I still can’t believe you like me.”

I chuckled too. “Even after I’ve marked you?” Laughter was an unfamiliar concept to me, so rarely did I employ it that it sounded almost foreign coming my mouth. I laughed more with Aislin than I had in my whole life. She brought that out in me, a deep joy that I’d never been able to unlock before.

“Yeah. It must be some elaborate farce,” she said lightly. “Secretly, you’re the world’s greatest jokester pulling a horrible prank on me.”

“I’ve never pulled a prank once in my life.”

“Never? So this is all legitimate?”

I hummed in amusement. “Yes. What else do I have to do to prove that?”

“Let’s see. From now on… I want ‘I love you’s’ on demand.”

“What does that entail?”

“It means that any time I ask if you love me,” Aislin snapped her fingers, “you tell me you love me.”

“So you’re asking for constant, perpetual reassurance.”

“I’m expecting—nay, demanding—constant, perpetual reassurance. Can you do that?”

I couldn’t imagine that ever interfering with my feelings for Aislin. If anything, I thought the regular reminders and nudges to express my feelings for her might be a good thing. It would help normalize me to be more open with her, and so even for this silly little condition that she imparted on our relationship, I was grateful. Leaning in, I kissed her again and murmured against her skin, “I love you, Aislin.”

She squirmed with delight and embraced me around my neck. “Thank you.” Unleashing a few rapid-fire kisses against my temple, she then added, “What can I do for you in return?”

Our relationship didn’t need to be a business exchange, and I was tempted to say that. But instead, I held my tongue and really thought about what I might want from Aislin to fulfill our relationship. “Hold my hand whenever you feel I’m closing off from you. Remind me of the connection we share. I don’t ever want to feel alone again.”

“You never will, I promise.” Aislin sought out my hands right there, weaving her fingers between mine. She smiled up at me, looking prettier than ever with strands of red hair splayed across the bed sheets, her freckles hiding in her dimples and the creases around her eyes. This beautiful spitfire of a girl was all mine.

We ended up curled together under the covers, my body embracing hers, forming habits that would become second nature. My arm draped over hers, my fingertips grazing her knuckles. I closed my eyes and listened to her gentle breathing, noting the difference in her silence compared to the wheezing of her injured lungs that forged our first few interactions. Her mind wandered, and through our newfound telepathic link, I explored the faint murmurings of her thoughts, endeared by how often she came back to this moment in sheer revelry. I didn’t know how truly amazed by our attraction she was until then. She meant it when she said she still couldn’t believe it. Aislin must not have expected my feelings to be sincere, but I didn’t blame her, not when I had acted like such a tool before.

In the morning, she was first thing I saw. Sunlight was caught in her hair like burnished brass, soft morning glow dancing across her pale skin, glittering in her eyelashes that fluttered with sleep. And when Aislin woke too, we rose and showered together, and there I watched drops eddy off her shoulders and down her hips, collecting under the curves of her butt. She made me feel like I was in a dream, only to abruptly wake once we went downstairs, returning to our solemn reality.

My packmates looked to me for the next course of action. They didn’t know if any day might be their last, but I was going to instill hope of better days to come.

“Today, we’ll resume spot checking the perimeter,” I told them confidently. “Groups of threes this time. This evening, we’ll have a hunt on the mountainside. Gretel Mundy will be returning to us tonight, but as she still has healing to do, she’ll just be observing. I want us to hunt with clear minds and strong bodies. We hunt in defiance of the ones that seek to harm us. We survive to spite them and prove that we are above their savagery. We will hunt, thrive, and sing tonight, together.”

The wolves gathered in my house cheered and clapped in agreement. They could use the encouragement, and I wanted to see their spirits lifted.

After sending out the perimeter patrol, I summoned Sebastian to my home office. Once more I found myself in the chair behind my desk, but no longer was I alone with my thoughts. The sun shone on my back and illuminated the room brought to life by Aislin’s spicy-sweet smell as she stood beside me. Gavin and Billie stood opposite the desk, with Gavin’s arm slung over Billie’s shoulder and Billie’s arms folded, and finally, Sebastian Hicks seated in a chair between all of us. He looked uneasy under the stares of two Alpha pairs.

“I’ll be direct about this,” I began. “We need the Mythguard to station a few sentries in Grandbay while the pack is sheltering here in Eastpeak.”

The lanky man glanced between all of us, but seemed to focus mostly on Gavin and I. “We have already taken several casualties from the conflict with Dalesbloom. My superiors are gauging whether or not it’s worth it to risk our operatives on any mission beyond another attempted extermination.”

“I’d think it would be worthwhile to keep somebody stationed in Grandbay to protect the humans inhabiting the town, wouldn’t you?” I challenged.

Sebastian pursed his lips. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“Are you going to continue searching for David and his followers?” asked Gavin.

“Until we receive an indication of where they might be hiding, it’s not feasible to waste time and money searching. Again, it would risk the lives of our operatives, and David and his followers have already proven to be an advanced level threat.”

“It wouldn’t be a waste of time,” said Billie. “You already know that if given the chance, they’ll kill us. They need to be dealt with as soon as possible.”

The situation had gotten so bad that even Billie now insisted that David be exterminated. I didn’t blame her. After all that man had put her through, I understood that she would sleep much easier knowing he was gone.

Gavin tilted his head down to Billie. “And Colt?”

She frowned, holding firm in her stance. “He’s not my brother anymore.”

“So he’s dead to us?” asked Aislin.

Billie nodded.

Gavin and I had no reservations eliminating Colt, but now with the approval of the girls, there would be nothing holding us back from getting rid of him. He’d lost his chance to redeem himself. Colt, David, Lothair, and Sibyelle were all condemned to death at the hands of the Mythguard. Or us, if given the chance.

“Very well. I’ll see if I can persuade my superiors to send search parties. But any more deaths caused by these searches may be on your hands,” warned Sebastian.

“What other choice do we have?” I asked.

“Besides waiting for David’s next move? None, I suppose…” Sebastian conceded, but he didn’t sound happy about it. He sighed, then looked between Aislin and I. “There’s something different about you two.”

We hadn’t told anybody yet that we were marked. Maybe he had spied the matching scars freshly cut into the sides of our necks.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Aislin and I have marked each other.”

Sebastian’s expression flattened.

Gavin and Billie, on the other hand, brightened up. “Really? Congratulations! That’s amazing,” said Billie.

“Nice,” said Gavin. I wondered if he was biting back envy, but he seemed very much in love with Billie. “So what does that mean for Grandbay?”

All eyes turned to Aislin, but I wasn’t afraid of her answer.

“I’ll be staying in Eastpeak with Everett after this,” she said with a glimmer of apology. “But don’t think that means I’m falling out of your lives or anything. My mom’s going to become your Beta, right Gavin?”

He smiled. “Yeah, if she wants to.”

“Good. And you’re still my bestie… and obviously, Billie’s my girl,” Aislin said warmly to the Grandbay pair. “So after this is all said and done, you can count on Eastpeak to be far more involved with Grandbay. Right?”

With the look she sent me, I nodded. “Yes. I will ensure that Eastpeak and Grandbay more actively maintain their alliance, as long as you do the same,” I said to Gavin.

“Of course,” he said.

“And Muriel…?” Sebastian interjected.

“She’s still with us,” said Gavin. “We’re going to get her back from David and never let anyone lay a finger on her again. Be it David or the Mythguard.”

Sebastian shook his head. “You’ll still have to argue that with my superiors.”

“Fine.”

He looked to Aislin. “And should I expect you to be involved with the Mythguard now too?”

Me and my fated mate had already discussed her involvement as a representative alongside me. She puffed with pride and threw a shit-eating grin at Sebastian. “You can expect my application once this is all over. I’m aiming for your Intervention Tactics Division.”

“Ah. Great,” drawled Sebastian.

Where once I failed to vouch for Aislin, now she would be at the top of my list. Even if Sebastian didn’t, I recognized her value and what she could provide to the Mythguard. I needed to keep my focus on my pack and the lumber mill, so Aislin could fill in the role that I was leaving behind. I wanted her to feel useful and like she had purpose.

“Lastly… the issue of Kiara Vale,” Sebastian continued. “We haven’t confirmed her whereabouts since we first detected her. It’s possible that she’s still somewhere outside of the three towns. We are already sending regular search parties out for her, but until we locate David and his followers, we won’t know if they have Kiara in their possession too.”

“Do you intend to abduct and relocate her once you find her?” I asked, unimpressed with how they had been dealing with the unicorns thus far.

“Our next course of action with Kiara is undecided,” said Sebastian.

That probably meant they would relocate her, which also meant they would still relocate Muriel once they retrieved her too. I shared a glance with Gavin, both of us figuring as much.

The Mythguard might have been critical to us protecting our towns and packs and getting rid of David, but they were still a threat in their own right. We couldn’t risk history repeating itself, allowing Muriel, Kiara, and any other unicorns in their care to become targets of shifters seeking the Lycan ritual.

“How did you know the shifter you detected was Kiara?” asked Aislin.

We all focused on Sebastian again. “We have ways of identifying unicorns under our care,” he said vaguely, then rose from the chair, sensing that he had overstayed his welcome. “I’ll keep you updated regarding our searches and the sentries positioned in Grandbay. Was that all?”

“Yes,” I dismissed.

He tipped his head and turned, leaving the office.

It didn’t sit well with any of us, how the Mythguard were approaching this issue. I never realized how unreliable of an ally they were until I found myself and my pack embroiled in a conflict that they were supposed to resolve for us. Perhaps Gavin, and even David to some extent, had a point: some wars were meant to be fought by shifters, and shifters alone. Only we could create our own justice.

With Gavin, Billie, and Aislin beside me, I believed we could come out of this alive. We were capable of passing all the judgment that was needed. I looked between my companions, and for the first time, I felt like our packs were truly united.

Eastpeak and Grandbay would stand strong against Dalesbloom.

David would come to regret ever trying to divide us.