16. Chapter Sixteen

The contingent who’d traveled to the Capricorn pack had returned by the time we arrived back at our house with Frann and the bat-thingie in tow. Thanks to Mrs. Wynn, the Capricorn alpha had promised to stand with us in the fight against the council. Appreciative as he was, it bothered Ewan that his mother had secured the alliance. As a brand-new, very young alpha, it was a bad look to the pack for his mommy to be recruiting allies for him.

I felt bad that we had nothing uplifting to report and sort of like a failure since Drake hadn’t immediately agreed. Would she say yes in the end? Diana would have. I believed that with every ounce of my non-beating heart. Drake, Alpha of the Ophiuchus wolves, I didn’t know that woman.

The creature we’d brought back fascinated Colleen and Walter, as expected. They were confident they’d be able to determine which of the thirteen realms the monster had previously called home with Essie’s help.

Frann’s interest in our dead friend was purely tactical. She needed to understand the creature’s weaknesses, so the next time one showed up in the Snake Mountains, the Ophiuchus wolves could defeat it. The feathered, lizard-like beasts were sniffing around our territory as well, so I was eager to hear what they’d learn from it.

After the call with Walter, Winter opened a portal across the canyon to her temporary home. Birch hefted the creature over his shoulder and carried him through, with Winter and Frann right behind him.

I shrugged out of my jacket, collapsed on the couch, and listened to the magnificent sound of silence, suddenly exhausted. Ewan leaned over the back cushions and rubbed my shoulders, digging his thumbs into the space between my shoulder blades until I moaned.

“Want me to stop?” he whispered, cool breath fanning my cheek.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

Who knew vampires enjoyed massages as much as humans?

He chuckled and pressed harder. “You did really well tonight with all those wolves in Drake’s living room.”

I gripped the cushions and gritted my teeth, leaning into the glorious pain of him kneading my muscles. “It was easy after the bar.”

His mouth moved to my neck, trailing kisses down the sensitive skin before grinding his fingertips into my muscles again. My eyes rolled back.

“Right there. Harder,” I ground out, a corresponding ache pulsing at my core.

He wound his hand in my windblown hair and tugged my head to the side. His knuckles raked down my neck, pressing hard against the knots and drawing moans from throat. The pain was glorious, as was the pressure building between my thighs.

“You are the tensest vampire I’ve ever met.” Ewan brushed his lips over my earlobe, his tongue darting out to encircle it as his fingers kneaded my back.

“I have a lot on my mind.” The words rushed out on a moan, claws piercing the couch cushions. “Do that again.”

Ewan jammed his rough knuckle into a rigid muscle and wiggled it until I saw stars.

“Yes. Yes. Keep going,” I breathed.

“Why aren’t you this vocal in the bedroom?” he murmured.

My throat was so dry that I choked on my laughter. “This feels so good I might orgasm, if that counts.”

He pinched the spot just above my collarbone between his thumb and forefinger. My nipples tightened, straining against the cups of my new silk bra. He let go of my hair, his hand skimming my thin sweater before snaking between my legs.

He cupped me through my jeans and ground the heel of his palm against me as his other hand continued to work out the tension in my neck. The combination of pleasure and pain and Ewan was intoxicating. I pressed against his hand, trying to increase the friction, but my jeans denied me.

“Less clothing.” I panted out the words.

“You or me?”

“Both. Immediately. Or I might spontaneously combust.”

“Oh, yeah?” The amusement in his voice set my fangs on edge. He nuzzled my neck and then dug his chin between my shoulder and collarbone. “Does that feel good?”

“A little to the left. Yes, fuck. Right there.”

My hips bucked as I arched my back. Gaia, I needed the jeans off.

Ewan turned his face toward mine. “You are so beautiful.” He inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. “I love the smell of you. I can taste you in the air.” His large hand closed over my right breast, over my thin sweater.

“That’s because my panties are soaked. Are you planning on doing something about that? Because, in case you forgot, I’m perfectly capable of getting myself off.”

His growl echoed through the house as desire reverberated through our bond. The sharp points of his fangs skimmed my throat. “Want to know what I plan on doing about it?”

I reached for the button on my jeans. “No, I want you to do it.”

He caught my wrist as his fangs pressed harder against my skin. “You’re gorgeous when you’re demanding.”

Lips parted, body vibrating from the anticipation of his bite, I gave a breathy laugh. “I think you meant to say horny.”

This time, when his fangs traveled down my neck, they sliced the skin as he went. I loved to hate his teasing, or maybe I hated to love it. Whatever. My hormones raged worse than a teenage boy in the throes of puberty. All I wanted was for him to sink something inside of me, and I really didn’t care if it was his fangs or cock.

In a blur of motion, Ewan vaulted the couch, scooped me off the cushions and tossed me over his shoulder. I yelped and grabbed handfuls of his shirt. He sped up the stairs to our room and placed me on my feet at the foot of the bed. I looked up into his dark, lust-filled eyes and ran my hands down his chest, admiring the hard planes of his muscles.

Ewan smoothed my hair back from my face, a small smile spreading across his lips. “I owe you centuries of telling you ‘I love you.’” He cupped my cheeks as I curled my fingers around his belt.

Our bond sizzled with the intensity of his emotions and brought happy tears to my eyes and a rush of warmth beneath my legs. Maybe it was because I’d waited for so long, lived so many lifetimes without him, but I would never get tired of hearing him say those words.

“I love you. All of you. The good parts, the not so good parts, the wicked parts, the parts you hate.” Ewan’s irises were pure gold as he covered my mouth with his and swept his tongue into my mouth.

The kiss started off sweet and slow and so full of our love that I thought I might burst. I had never been great at expressing my feelings with words, probably because I hadn’t been allowed to have feelings for the guys that I had messed around with growing up.

My father didn’t demand I remain a virgin until my inevitable betrothal or anything and only asked that I be discreet. My mother was the one who warned me not to get attached. At the time, I had thought it was just her being annoying, but I understood now that she had wanted to save me heartbreak. If I had felt even a tenth of the love that I had for Ewan for someone like Liam, it would have killed me to sever ties.

He pulled back from the kiss, sliding his palms down the side of my neck, while he ran his thumbs down my throat. Our eyes met, his pupils blown. Gaia, he was so very beautiful, and so very mine in every way possible. The love I had for him was a physical ache in my chest. I felt the magical tether that bound our souls and intertwined our fates. The power in our bond was absolute, eternal, and overwhelming.

Memory fragments pierced my mind. Sitting across from King Orrin in his private chambers. Diana beaming with pride as she opened her cape to expose her pregnant belly. Running down a dark alleyway as a cloaked figure with a crossbow gave chase. Dancing with Enzo beneath the stars while no music played. Laying in a bed screaming as unbearable pain split me in half.

Ewan pulled me into his arms and cradled my head against his chest. Even though I didn’t need to breathe, I gulped air like I couldn’t get enough. Nausea made my stomach roil as pressure built behind my eyeballs.

“I’m right here,” he murmured against my hair. “Don’t fight them.”

Claws shot from my nail beds and ripped his shirt to shreds, leaving angry red slashes across his chest and stomach that healed as quickly as I had inflicted the injuries. The memory fragments kept playing in my head. Past and present warred for my attention. I knew I was supposed to embrace the memories, but they came too fast.

Ewan’s alpha power washed over me like a cool breeze yet failed to banish the shards of my past lives tearing my mind. Alarm shot through the bond. He pressed his wrist to my mouth. My clenched jaws refused to part, not even the promise of my sire’s blood enough to lure me fully into the here and now.

“Drink, Zara,” he ordered in his cold alpha voice.

My lips popped open in response to his command, fangs striking out like a cobra and settling deep in his arm. He turned me so my back pressed against his chest and wrapped his free arm around my waist. My eyelids fluttered as I swallowed mouthfuls of his blood, each one soothing my mind and knitting the pieces back together.

Using the arm around my waist, Ewan lifted me off the ground and carried me around to the side of our bed, where he sat on the edge with me in his lap. Concern hadn’t completely overshadowed his desire—he was rock hard against my ass. Normally, this would have done wonderful things to certain parts of my anatomy, but his blood made me sleepy.

“Good girl. Keep drinking.” He buried his face in my hair. “I love you, Zara.”

Hearing those three words alongside my name—my name, not Zosia’s—finally put a stop to the glitches altogether. Tension fled my body, and I relaxed against his chest. Ewan pulled his wrist free and tilted my chin for a soft kiss.

“Thank you,” I mumbled against his mouth.

Ewan ran his knuckles down my cheek. “Always.”

He lifted me off his lap and sat me on the bed. Exhaustion settled in my bones and sleep tried to claim me. I wanted to curl up my cloud-like mattress and give in to the darkness.

“Lift your arms, Zara.”

It took more effort than it should have, but I raised them over my head. He peeled off my sweater and deftly removed my bra. There was nothing sexual about it, though I did feel his appreciation for my breasts through the bond. He pulled me to my feet and crouched in front of me to take off my jeans. The scent of my still damp panties so close to his face elicited a growl as he rolled them down my legs.

He stood and pulled back the covers on the bed so I could crawl between the sheets. Despite undressing me slowly yet efficiently, he stripped off his shirt and jeans at vampire-speed and joined me. Ewan was an expert cuddler. In the safety of his strong arms, I gave into the exhaustion and let sleep lull me under.

“Don’t leave me,” I whispered, unsure if I’d spoken aloud until Ewan answered.

“Never.”

The reality of my new life as an alpha’s mate truly hit home the following afternoon, about an hour before my first pack meeting. I changed six times, unable to decide on the appropriate attire. Were silk pants the right vibe for discussing the Zodiac Council’s order? Or was a more casual look, like jeans, the way to go? Should I wear a dress? Birch had picked several styles that I wouldn’t have bought myself but showed off my curves without looking like I was going clubbing.

It doesn’t fucking matter.

My mother always wore black slacks, a blue or white blouse of which she had many, and a jacket—very business-like. I tried on a pair of black jeans with a red camisole and my leather jacket, which definitely didn’t have the same effect. Ewan’s never-ending pile of Arcane University sweats were folded neatly on a shelf in the closet. I eyed the stacks longingly. In another life, had I attended college? Not likely. Shifter packs still practiced many of the customs that the first alphas instituted literally centuries ago.

Both Ewan and Winter had only attended Arcane University because they’d tangled with vampires and their respective parents sent them to college. For him, it was punishment. For her, it was protection. Their friendship had eased my way to Nicasia.

Was it all chance? Had Mat somehow orchestrated the two of them ending up at school together at precisely the same time that I first encountered Enzo? It all seemed too perfect for happenstance, and he’d definitely been pulling our puppet strings at different moments along the way.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Ewan leaned against the doorframe of the walk-in closet, one eyebrow rounded as his crimson and gold gaze raked over my mostly naked body. The matching bra and thong were mostly see-through, with black lace piping and straps, and the first items he’d picked out in the lingerie store.

I batted my eyelashes at him. “Would you be mad if I said yes?”

He shook his head. “No.”

Heat blazed through the bond, making me wish for more than a piece of dental floss between my legs.

“What about jealous?” I asked as he crossed his arms and stared appreciatively at my ass.

“I have no reason to be jealous. You’re my mate. My wife. My heart.” He closed the short distance between us, his hands gripping my hips from behind while his mouth went to my bare shoulder.

“I see. So, no shifting because Gaia-forbid someone see me naked, but this is okay?”

Ewan ground his hips against my ass, pushing his erection against one cheek and stoking the flames of my own arousal. “You are my mate and their lu-leader. You can do whatever you please as long as it pleases me, too. And this outfit,” he pulled the string of my thong and let it snap against my ass, “pleases me very much. Now, if they look, I’ll tear their eyeballs out.”

His tone was thick with lust, yet he meant his words, including the one he refused to say. Luna. Jessica, the sales girl who’d helped Birch select most of my wardrobe, had also called me that. I recognized the term as soon as I heard it yet couldn’t place the origin. I would have asked him, but it would’ve ruined the moment and we didn’t have time for both a quickie and a fight. Later, when we weren’t in a hurry, I would confront him. Maybe.

I laughed shakily. “Do you really think getting me all hot and bothered before I meet your pack is the best idea?”

He pulled my hips snug against his. “Our pack. And no. Only I see you all hot and bothered. You’ll meet our pack nice and relaxed.” In a lower, throatier voice, he added, “hold on to the bar.”

I heard the zipper on his jeans and hurried to slide the thong down my thighs, kicking the scrap of material across the closet and then shoving the clothes aside to wrap my fingers around the cool metal bar. Despite the time crunch, Ewan didn’t rush. Not that it took him long to make me see stars.

The sex was just as much to ease his nerves as mine. This meeting was important and could very well end in disaster. His worries were mine and vice versa thanks to the bond. My inability to pick an outfit seemed ridiculous given the announcement he was about to make could tear the Taurus wolves apart.

“You could wear a potato sack and they will still love you,” Ewan murmured, face buried in the crook of my neck as he enjoyed a few moments of post-coital bliss.

“Enough to fight for me—a woman they don’t know?” I asked.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I leaned back against his chest and released the clothes bar to cover his hands with mine. “Enough to die for you.”

“You can’t know that,” I whispered, panic creeping in again.

“I can.” He squeezed me so tightly that it was a good thing I didn’t need to breathe. “Trust me.”

With a resigned sigh, Ewan released me. I turned and watched him pull up his boxers and jeans. “You aren’t going to shower?” I asked.

He gave me a fang-filled grin. “Nope. I want everyone to smell you on me.”

A hot flush crept up neck and into my cheeks as I thought about all the female shifters inhaling my scent on their alpha and knowing he was entirely mine. I had staked my claim. Sure, I was his mate and that should have been enough. Maybe my insecurities were showing. Whatever. I wasn’t only a foreign wolf in a foreign land, I drank my meals and my presence put their pack in danger. So, yeah, I felt entitled to those insecurities.

“You don’t get to shower either.” Fully dressed, while I stood in a sheer bra and nothing else, Ewan pulled me close for a soft kiss.

“No, see, I get you’re the alpha and all, but your alphaness is on my thighs, and your mother is going to be there. She’ll think I’m, I don’t know, not fit to take her place in the pack.”

“Your Zaraness is all over my dick,” he reminded me, giving my hips a squeeze. “My mother likes you and knows we aren’t children. We’re newly bonded. She expects us to have sex. I’ll make you a deal. Don’t shower now, and I will wash every inch of you later.” His hands rounded my hips to grab handfuls of my ass. “Gaia, you are so tempting even when you don’t try.”

Palms on his chest, I rolled my eyes. “I’m basically naked. Of course I’m tempting, and I smell like you, which I’m pretty sure turns you on and is the real reason you don’t want me to shower.”

Ewan gave me another quick kiss, expression turning serious. “Maybe a little, or a lot. Either way, it will keep my temper in check, which I’m going to need to get through this.”

His worry came hard and fast through the bond, and I would have done anything he asked to help ease his mind.

“Deal.” I grabbed handfuls of his flannel shirt and kissed him properly, with tongue. When we broke apart, I pushed him away. “Shoo. Got sit on the bed or something. I need to get dressed, and you’re too distracting.”

Like an obedient alpha, he left me alone in the closet but didn’t go farther than our bedroom. “Wear the silk pants,” he called as I turned my attention back to my outfit choices. “With the pink sweater.”

Unable to make a decision to save my undead life, I located my panties and then pulled on Ewan’s suggested clothes as those insecurities returned with a vengeance. Would the Taurus wolves accept me? Would they hate me because I couldn’t give the pack an heir? Did they all wish I’d died, and Angelica had lived to be their alpha’s mate?

“Ready?” He stood as I exited the closet.

Was I ready? No. But I wasn’t sure I ever truly would be. Not wanting my anxiety bleeding in his, I steeled my nerves and put on a smile. I was the daughter of the Gemini alpha, the reincarnation of an original wolf, and Ewan’s true mate. Our bond gave the Taurus pack immense power even without accounting for the fangs, so they should be happy to have me. This was the attitude I needed to get through the meeting.

We had already made the decision to fight the council’s order. There wouldn’t be a vote or debate, but that didn’t mean everyone would agree with Ewan’s choice. Tensions would be high, and I needed to remain calm for everyone’s sake.

Ewan took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I will banish anyone who isn’t happy to have you.”

I frowned. “Invasion of privacy much? Stop reading my thoughts.”

“Start talking to me about your worries and I will.”

That was fair, I supposed. I didn’t want to bother him with such trivial concerns when we were on the brink of war. So what if the Taurus wolves hated me? It didn’t matter. I didn’t matter. Ewan was their alpha and they would choose allegiance or exile based on him, not me.

He led me downstairs and out into the cold, crisp afternoon. There wasn’t a cloud in the gorgeous blue sky, but the scent of snow hung in the air like a promise. While I was impervious to the cold, it helped focus my mind as we walked.

My father held his meetings in our clubhouse, one of the few places the entire pack could assemble comfortably. The Taurus wolves were the largest pack and outnumbered the Geminis by triple. No structure in town could hold them all, so everyone gathered outside in the late afternoon sun.

Charlie and Birch met us before we reached the clearing. Rumors had been circulating since the council’s messenger had delivered an actual scroll like it was olden times. This didn’t surprise me. Pack gossip traveled faster than a dimensional fae. The scroll, however, was a shocker. I knew the council was antiquated, but still. Where did they even get them?

Ewan’s jaw tightened, his hand gripping mine a little tighter. He’d expected this, but that didn’t make it any easier. It felt as if we were walking into an ambush.

Sadly, that wasn’t entirely wrong.

The pack stretched throughout the large, snowy clearing at the base of the mountain. Instead of their voices quieting when we approached, they grew louder. People shouted questions, demanding to know if the rumors were true. All the angry, adrenaline-filled energy made my throat itch, and my wolf rose to the surface unbidden. We took our place at the front.

Ewan raised his hand. The simple gesture held so much power, and silence fell over the crowd. Ice crunched beneath the heel of my black boots as I shifted from foot to foot. Ewan’s other hand still held mine in a public show of unity.

Charlie and Birch stood several steps behind us in the snow, both scanning the clearing for signs of trouble. It was so different from the Geminis; my father had never needed his beta to protect him against internal threats. I’d never lived in a contentious pack.

It would take some time to get used to it, just like everything else about my new life.

“It seems many of you have heard.” Ewan pitched his voice so even those in the back and on the periphery could hear him with their wolf hearing. “The Zodiac Councils are demanding the surrender of all known and suspected eternals within twenty-four hours.” His fingers twisted painfully around mine. “We have no intention of complying.”

“That’s right!” a woman yelled. “The King of Wolves doesn’t take orders from anyone!”

Many agreed with her, and the air filled with similar shouts of encouragement. Others weren’t as thrilled.

“People will die if we go to war!” a man hollered.

Ewan nodded. “Yes. And people will die if we don’t. The Zodiac Council has decided we are the enemy. Even if Zara and I turn ourselves over to them, they’ll destroy this pack as punishment.”

This was, sadly, true. Back in the Valley of the Elements, when the fae turned on the wolves, they hunted our entire families. They would do the same now. The Taurus wolves were already a target.

Clearing his throat, Ewan listed off our allies, assuring his people they wouldn’t take on the Zodiac Council alone. The collective energy grew more feral, more primitive. Talk of battle and bloodshed had that effect on wolves. We fed off each other. Testosterone and adrenaline were a heady scent on the wind.

My throat constricted as hunger gnawed at my insides. I’d drank all my potions before going upstairs to select my outfit, but even Essie’s magic was no match for the pulsating fervor of the pack. The longer Ewan talked, the more the vast array of wolves craved a fight.

And the more I thirsted for their blood.

My fangs pierced my bottom lip. Every muscle was taut, my eyes surveying the crowd like a hunter searching for her prey.

“If you have one of them for dinner, I won’t have time to give you dessert later,” Ewan whispered for only my ears. “Put them away.”

“Ewan.” His name slipped through my teeth in a hiss.

“Look at me. Count to ten.”

Sensing trouble, Charlie and Birch moved closer. Ewan waved them back as I silently counted numbers in my head. The packs’ excitement was like a live wire that I couldn’t escape, couldn’t block from my thoughts.

Ewan rested his forehead against mine and ran his palms up and down my arms. “You are doing such a good job,” he whispered in encouragement. “Only a little longer. Keep smiling and nodding. No one expects you to say much. They just want to meet you.”

His tone was more teasing when he murmured, “Thank you for not showering.”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

He laughed. “It’s what I’m always thinking about.”

The moment broke the bloodlust haze and snapped me back to myself, which I supposed had been Ewan’s point all along.

He turned to address the pack again. “The decision to fight is not up for debate,” he said in a low voice that reverberated through the gathered wolves. “You do have a choice, though. Anyone who wishes to leave is free to go.”

The tension ratcheted up several notches. Behind me, Charlie swore.

What am I missing? I wondered as people started looking around curiously. Some wore harsh glares, as if daring their fellow pack members to speak up. Others were clearly uneasy, like Ewan had laid down a challenge.

A full minute of silence passed, time stretching with the fraught tension. My heart was in my throat. Ewan stared straight ahead, his expression blank. I mimicked him, projecting faux confidence.

“It is settled, then,” Mrs. Wynn called out, stepping forward for the crowd to join Ewan and me. “The pack is behind you.”