9. Voss

9

VOSS

Her scent drew me nearer. I kept shifting closer to her with every hum she murmured over the food she tossed into her mouth. I was entranced by the way her jaw moved up and down to chew her food. I was enamored with the way she swallowed. There wasn’t a movement her body made that wasn’t the most spectacular thing on this planet, and I wanted to pull her against me and wash away Dom’s hungry pawing with our bond.

She reeked of his scent, and it didn’t take a genius to know why. I mean, Dom was never fucking late to these solstice festivals. They were his fucking responsibility, after all. They were his pride and joy, and for him to be late?

All I’m saying is that it took everything inside of me not to track him down and rip his fucking head off.

Then again, Dom was always a, ‘do first, ask questions later’ kind of asshole.

“What was that?” she asked quickly as she snapped her head over her shoulder.

I blinked. “What was what?”

She froze. A twig popped behind me and I slowly pivoted my body so that my entire body weight situated itself onto the hand I planted against the soft grass where we sat. The trees rustled with the breeze headed our way. The trees bent to the wind’s every gust and whim, and my mate stood to her feet.

“You take left, I take right?” she asked.

Then a deer came poking its head out of the shadows before the laughter of children scurried it away, with twigs crackling every single time it bounced.

“I suppose we could go after it,” I said with a grin as I eased myself back down, “if you’re wanting to hunt.”

She sighed, but I wasn’t sure what kind of sigh it was. I made myself a mental note to figure out her types of sighs. “Nope. All I want to do is sit and rest.”

“Then, sit,” I said with a nod of my head as I went back to splaying out and propping myself up onto my elbows. “Ronyn’s men have this place surrounded, so?—”

“What was that?” she hissed as she whipped her head in the other direction.

The wind kicked up, carrying the scent of Ronyn’s camouflaged troops. Before I went to answer her question, though, she shook her head.

“Nope. False alarm. Gotta get used to all these new smells,” she said as she plopped a piece of cheese onto her tongue.

My gaze slid down her body as she sat there, cross-legged, with the plate of food in her lap. The jug of wine sat off to the side, and every once in a while she stopped inhaling her food to chug from its top. The way her lips curled around the outside made my dick twitch. The way she hummed over the food made me want to elicit those sounds from her with my tongue stuffed between her lower lips. I resisted the urge, however. I wanted to take my time wooing my mate, especially if she hasn’t sensed our connection yet.

After all, it wasn’t every day that a shifter got to woo their partner naturally.

“Bexley,” Dom said with a nod of his head as he walked by.

“Dom,” I said curtly as I shot him a look.

She picked up her hand and waved. “Hey there, Dom.”

“Alpha,” he cheekily said, nodding his head. “Uh, Bexley?”

“Mhm?” she hummed at his beckoning.

“Dom,” I warned. “Let the woman eat.”

Bexley responded, however. “What’s up, Dom?”

He tossed her a wink. “Let me know if you need any more food or drink, okay?”

“I’ll get it for her if she needs it,” I said.

The smile on his face was positively devious as he walked by. After tossing a wink to Bexley that I wanted to catch and shove up his fucking ass, I watched him chase down Merida, no doubt for more of that wine she made for the celebration. But, not before I stole a glance up at Bexley’s face. I had to do something about this bond that didn’t snap into place for us before she sucked her way through my whole fucking pack. The way her cheeks flushed told me that I scented her correctly. Her and Dom absolutely fucked before emerging from the woods to attend the celebration.

Who the fuck was this woman?

Where the hell had she come from?

And why the fuck did she not feel our fated connection yet?

This woman came with more questions than answers, and it intrigued me all the more. I reached for a piece of venison off her plate and tossed it into my mouth, and the movement was enough to drag her attention from the man in the suit walking away to the man sitting beside her. Perched in the grass.

Desperate to know everything about her.

“So,” I said as after chewing and swallowing the meat, “your name is Bexley.”

She nodded as she handed me her plate. “Want anything else? I’m getting full.”

I smirked as I plucked an apple slice off her lap. “Don’t mind if I do.”

She giggled. “Us Alphas gotta make sure we eat. It’s hard, making sure your pack eats when you do. Especially when there’s not enough to go around.”

Her gaze found its way to the fire, and the licking flames toward the sky casted dancing shadows along her face. The second the sadness rolled over her eyes, gone was Dom. After all, it wasn’t as if our connection snapped fully into place yet. A shifter’s connection was a powerful thing when it came to taking care of one’s mate. The connection snapping into place for both shifters means that scents change and intermingle. From the moment the mating bond is secured, the scents of the partners commingle, providing protection from predators even when their mate isn’t around. So, it wasn’t as if I could just throw down a fucking fight, anyway, like the wolf in me wanted to. I had to shove Dom to the side. As angry as I was over him touching my goddamn mate, she wasn’t mine yet. Not completely.

And when that sad look in Bexley’s eyes rose to the surface, I no longer cared about that horny son of a bitch. All I cared about was making sure my mate and her pack were taken care of and safe.

I wanted to know about how hard it was out there for them lately, so I knew how to take care of her. “How long have you guys been out in the woods?”

Bexley picked up the jug again. “Weeks. I’m honestly not sure how many. They all sort of… blur together after a while.”

“You know,” I said as I stretched my legs out and crossed them at the ankles, “you’re still very powerful for an Alpha that hasn’t been locked to land with her pack yet.”

She slowly slid her gaze toward me. “There a question in there, Vossman?”

I chuckled at her nickname. “Really? Vossman?”

She shrugged. “I mean, come on. Your name is only one letter away from ‘Bossman.’ Did you really think, as an Alpha, that you wouldn’t have at least one person call you that?”

I smirked. “Let me guess. You’re going to be that person.”

She smiled brightly as she tossed a hunk of strawberry into her mouth. “Exactly.”

I chuckled as I looked back out over the compound as the children continued to run wild. “Where were you guys before all of this?”

Her smile slowly faded into one that was forced. “They wandered for weeks before I found them. I heard them for miles. Tracked them for… a while.”

“By yourself?”

She bowed her head and pushed her food around on her plate with her fingertips. “Yeah.”

“So, an Alpha without a pack stumbles upon a makeshift pack that needs an Alpha? Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

She swallowed hard. “Something like that.”

I felt Dom’s stare from across the way. As he hauled jug after jug of wine out of the bathhouse, I caught his beady little eyes from a distance as he turned his head. Every time he made the trek out of the bathhouse, or back to the fire, or over to the food tables, he stared us down.

I wanted to pluck his fucking eyeballs out with my bare hands.

He wasn’t the only one lurking, however. For whatever reason, Ronyn appeared from the northern forest tree line and started toward us. Stride after stride, with determination written all over his face.

And that’s when the tingling started.

The second the hairs on the nape of my neck stood on end, Bexley’s head moved. It slowly pivoted around, right in the direction my wolf sensed, and I shook the thoughts out of my head. There was no way in hell this woman was anything less than what she described. My head slowly pivoted with hers, and I was curious to see what direction it stopped in. Ronyn continued across the field. Bexley slowly stood onto her feet. And as I hopped onto mine, her and I were pointed in the same direction.

Looking at the same patch of darkness just beyond the line of the trees behind us.

Then, she took off running toward the children.

“Everyone! Get into the houses! Get into the trees! Get up, now!” she shrieked as she took off into a dead sprint.

Ronyn barked orders at his men. “Team A, fall back! Fall back! Team B! Circle around! Team C! Get the children into their houses. Let’s go! Go! Go! Go!”

And as the wind kicked up yet again on this brisk summer solstice evening, the stench of the dead wafted beneath my nostrils. The clacking of their cold, dead bones echoed through the treetops and rustled the grass beneath my feet as their annoying sound grew closer. I swear to hell, those motherfuckers were loud as the roaring flames of Hell itself.

There were vampires upon us.

And as the men of the packs shifted into their wolfish forms, I entrenched myself into groupthink.

Armies, listen to Ronyn’s orders. Dom, make sure the children are away and out of sight. Everyone else?

I felt my pack waiting on bated breath as the sound of the vampires grew closer. Let’s kick off this summer the right way.

Men and women of all ages and creeds shifted around me as we geared up for a fight. Our wolf forms tolerated the stench of the dead a lot better, and I shook my coat out as I slammed into all fours. I stood there, waiting for the first vampire to emerge. I heard Dom whipping around at a blinding pace, helping the women to gather the children into a safe area.

Then, Dom approached my right in his shifted form and Ronyn approached my left.

Kids are safe, Dom said in groupthink.

Men are in position, Ronyn said.

I hunched forward and placed my nose to the ground, readying myself for a fight. They’re coming from this direction. Be ready. I can’t tell how many there are.

Dom chuckled. There’s three of them. Measly little party. Probably a scout party.

I slowly looked over at him and stared him down in my wolfish form. Happy with yourself?

He snickered. The hell’s got your panties in a bunch tonight? I thought you were looking forward to this celebration.

There! Ronyn exclaimed.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Bexley roared.

Before any of us had a chance to move, I felt my mate latch her hand onto my back haunches. She kicked up her legs, ripping herself onto my back with nothing but the momentum of her body and her hand, wrapped tightly in my coat of fur. I felt her rushing all the way up my spine with those bare feet of hers, slamming into my vertebrae as I kept myself strong for her. Like a foundation that I’d never allow to crack. I watched her shadow on the ground as she twirled something in her hand. She ran as quickly as she could all the way up to the base of my neck before she leapt onto the top of my head and jumped. And when that first vampire managed to pierce the darkness of the woods, I saw her slash a spear coated in juniper right across that dead fucker’s face, before she dropped to her feet, impaling the vampire from behind, and paralyzed it from head to toe.

“That should do ya for a bit,” she snarled as she ripped her spear out of its back.

Then, she plunged that juniper-laced spear directly into the vampire’s immobile, icy excuse for a heart.

And we watched as it exploded into dust.

God, she’s sexy as hell, Dom said.

I snarled at him. Tuck your dick in and focus. You’ve already been selfish once this evening. No need to give it a second go.

Selfish, Dom asked as he worked his way in front of me. Are you fucking kidding me right now?

Now’s not the time, Ronyn growled as he snapped his teeth at Dom. Get over yourself. You got laid. So fucking what?

I didn’t just get laid, Dom said as he emphasized the last word, I got laid by my ? —

Look out! Ronyn exclaimed.

Bexley was the first to move. She leapt out of the way, scrambling into a tree without shifting once. I was captivated by her. No matter how much I wanted to focus, I simply couldn’t. I watched her scramble into that tree. I watched her crawl out onto a limb as she gripped it and leaned forward, as if scouting the woods from her perched position. My wolf senses kept me in check as I kept my gaze on her, following her every move. Ronyn leapt through the air and slapped a vampire out of air, mid-leap. My god, those fuckers knew how to jump. Ronyn slammed to the ground before Dom charged the dead motherfuck, sinking his teeth into its leg. Ronyn yanked that damned vampire around with Dom like a goddamn chew toy until its torso split in half.

And Bexley was there with the juniper-laced spear, which she stabbed directly into the torso wounds Dom and Ronyn created.

I wondered to myself why she hadn’t shifted yet.

I shook my head and ignored Dom. I wanted him to finish that sentence so I had a reason to dig his intestines out with my bare fucking talons, but we had much bigger problems on our hands. Dom was never wrong with his senses. He was pompous about them, sure. But, never wrong. And as we searched for that third vampire there in the shadows, it wasn’t until we heard children screaming that we all took off running.

But not before Bexley gripped hold of my fur and kicked herself onto my back.

“That’s Annabelle! Go, Voss!” she exclaimed.

Everyone poured out of their homes. The second those children scrambled, the entire pack came to their defense. Even though we were in a dead sprint, rushing across the field, by the time we got to where the third vampire was, the thing was nothing but a pile of dust.

Surrounded by the dusty women of the pack, who had no doubt been showered in the dust of the explosion.

Because that’s what happens when you kill something that’s already dead.

It simply disintegrates into fucking dust.

“Good girls,” Bexley said as she walked around and patted their shoulders. “Good, good girls. All of you. Seriously. Annabelle!?”

“Alpha!?”

She whipped around at the sound of the girls’ tear-eyed voice. “Annabelle!”

“Alpha!”

I watched the little girl rush into my mate’s arms, and I couldn’t help myself. I shifted back into my human form, cloaking myself in my regular clothing, and watched. She cradled that little girl against her chest. She stroked her fingers through her hair. She rocked the little girl side to side, until more of the children of our packs surrounded her. She took her time with each of them, hugging them all and stroking the tops of their heads. She asked them how they were, individually, and I realized why she was an Alpha.

Whether I saw her shift yet or not, she was an Alpha through and through.

You know that was just a scout crew, right? Ronyn asked in groupthink as he walked up to my side.

Only a matter of time before more come for us, Dom said as he walked up to my other side with his hands in his pockets.

I watched as Bexley looked over at me, and I saw how tired she had become. Even the kids were yawning instead of getting back to their original activities. I waited for our moment. I waited for her to sense it. After all, she scrambled around and helped us in her human form, of all things. She had to be exhausted enough for her barriers to drop. I waited for our moment to drop into place. I waited for the moment where she wouldn’t be able to do anything except jump my bones. I didn’t care if I hadn’t seen her wolf form yet, I knew she was mine. She couldn’t be anything other than a shifter with the skills she has, and I felt shitty for even questioning my mate. After all, a human simply wasn’t capable of what she was capable of. Not with everything I’d seen of her.

“Voss?” Dom asked as he nudged me. “Where are you, man?”

When another child came up to Bexley for a hug, however, she turned her attention away from me. Nothing changed. Nothing locked into place. At least, for her, anyway. I turned my back and stared toward the woods where we were sitting. The woods that were their infiltration point. I ground my teeth together as I shook my head softly, trying to process all that happened in just a short evening.

“We’ve been found,” I said plainly.

I saw Ronyn and Dom nod their heads out of my peripheral vision. I watched Bexley out of the corner of my eye walking with the women and children toward each of their homes. Almost as if she were escorting them herself. My soul ached for her to know the truth. I longed to take her into my arms and kiss her until she shoved me away just so she could breathe. But more than that, we had to come up with a plan to keep ourselves safe.

Because we were found again.

By her .

And I knew she wouldn’t stop until all of us were dead.