Chapter 31: Billie

Chapter 31: Billie

I never thought I  could say that my first time having sex was with Alpha Gavin Steele, but now, I wouldn’t want it to have been anyone else. I belonged with him, and I finally understood the tranquility that the fated bond imparted on someone whose anger was too wild to control. My rage at David and Colt ran rampant until I felt Gavin’s touch, and then I remembered what was most important to me, what I had come to hold dear, and how lucky I was to have it: the support of Grandbay, and the love of my fated mate. That must be what Gavin felt whenever I was around.

While we joined our bodies, I held onto him and never wanted to let go. Feeling him inside me for the first time was an experience I would savor and remember forever. He was so big I thought it would hurt, but he went slow enough that I had time to get used to him, and then it felt like I couldn’t get enough of him. The rhythm of his hips brought me an orgasm with such euphoric intensity that my body sweltered, my groin tightened and throbbed and the pleasure carried on for minutes. Adoration for him flooded my mind and never left. He had been so gentle and caring, even when he said he’d fuck me hard. I was curious enough about what he was capable of that I wanted to have sex again. barely an hour later.

Gavin laughed, brushing my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, we can do that. But I wanted to ask you something first.”

“What?”

His fingers trailed down my arm and entangled in mine. Before saying anything, he kissed my temple and breathed in, leaving me in suspense. I felt his heart beating in time with mine. “Can I mark you, Billie?”

I smiled. I was ready to make our bond permanent. I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to be with him and him only, so that nobody else could come between us, so that we could be connected on a metaphysical level. “Yes. I want to be your mate forever.”

Gavin kissed me, pouring every ounce of affection he possessed into it before pulling away. “You know what we have to do, right?”

Of course, I knew. The marking ritual was like a fairy tale I’d fantasized of since I was a child.It was a romantic union between two people that eternally bound them to one another under the eyes of the Moon Goddess. It could only be done between two willing partners, and it elevated each partner to their highest potential as a shifter, granting unbridled strength and stunning clarity in their beast forms while opening up a true telepathic connection between them. It had always seemed so far away to me, like I would never find someone who would want to mark me, let alone find my fated mate.

We both sat up, and Gavin clasped my hands. His nose grazed my neck, finding a tender spot away from my superficial veins where my scent smoldered most potently, and I did the same, his stubble scratching my lips. “Don’t be afraid,” he murmured.

I knew I would have to draw his blood, but I wasn’t afraid. We were doing this together, just as we would everything else for the rest of our lives.

First, I felt the pressure of his teeth pinching my skin. I reacted in kind, nipping a small fold of flesh, and we each bit harder until it burned with pain, first hot, then cold, then numb as blood rushed to the wounds and swelled out of the cuts we’d made. I couldn’t help the tiniest whimper from crawling out of my throat, but it wasn’t out of fear or agony or distress. I was excited, bursting with joy, and I could already feel the Moon Goddess’ inexplicable magic teeming from our blood as though she had been anticipating the moment we would invoke the ritual. When he felt it was enough and opened his mouth, I gasped from the intensity of it.

“Mark us, Luna, we are ready to be one,” we both said breathlessly.

The magic manifested between us, tingling—sizzling—sealing the marks we made into scars like my skin was being cauterized. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped Gavin’s arm, enduring the scorching sensation until it faded away.

Look, I heard a voice glide gently between my thoughts.

Opening my eyes, I saw Gavin tilt his head, exposing his neck where I had bitten him. There was no blood from the wound I made—the ritual had evaporated it, leaving his skin clean with only the raised pattern of my teeth on his flesh. I touched it, marveling at how the Moon Goddess could demonstrate her presence in this most subtle, yet most meaningful of ways, proving to us that she was real. That she had seen us, approved of us, blessed us.

Gavin examined the mark on my neck too, smiling. “Now you’ll never be without me,” he said.

“And you’ll never be without me.” I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to give him the world, and I would never be able to express enough gratitude for how he had saved me from the Hexens. He had become my world and I wanted to devote every breath to him.

Embracing me tightly, Gavin held me in the afterglow of our marking ritual before sinking onto his back and pulling me on top of him. He gazed up at me, trusting me as I trusted him. “Show me how you can take the lead,” he urged.

I had no reservations anymore. Nodding, I arched above him and worked our bodies into a heated tempo, amazed at how I could so quickly get his blood pumping, his heart racing, and how I could feel it in myself. I was in charge of this moment, ushering in satisfaction for the both of us with the cadence of my body. My hands went on his pecs, fingers buried in his dense chest hair while his hands gripped my thighs. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we were one.

After that, we both drifted into a vivid dream where we ran together as wolves, linked even in our subconscious.

It would take a lot of work for me to truly become the leader that Gavin needed to be alongside him. I still had a lot to learn about both what it took to lead and make decisions for the pack, and myself. My entire life, I had been meek and shy, easily stepped on, and afraid of my own voice. I couldn’t defend myself, or I’d be cast into the spotlight and forced to justify why I challenged my superiors. I had been a toy for David without even knowing it, and a punching bag for Catrina, and an object of pity for Colt. The family I thought I knew never wanted me; they only sought ways to use me, and had I not mustered the courage to run away, I would still be suffering under their sick and cruel authority. I owed it to my wolf for giving me the determination to become free.

“Are you still happy being Billie Jesper?” Gavin asked me in the evening.

I hadn’t thought much about it. “Elizabeth is my real name,” I pondered out loud, “but I’m still Billie. Just not a Jesper.”

“No. You’re a Steele now,” he snickered.

I beamed at the idea, iterating my new name between us. “Elizabeth Steele… Billie Steele. How does it sound?”

“Sounds good, baby,” encouraged Gavin. “You like it?”

“I love it.”

Later, I told Gavin what David was going to do to me. His anger surged again like wildfire, and if he didn’t have enough reasons to want to kill David, that alone nearly made him call up the Mythguard to bring David to justice. But I felt his anger and I soothed it, and the reckless, wrathful Gavin Steele that I had always known then pacified his temper, returning to rational thought.

“We can’t let him get away with what he’s done,” Aislin said firmly.

I crossed my legs on the couch in the living room of the pack house while Gavin paced in front of Aislin and I. “You’re right,” said Gavin. “Even if he decided today to call off the dragons and stop trying to take over Grandbay, he’s still too dangerous. He has to pay.”

If not for the fact that we were shifters, we could have gotten the police involved. But I don’t think any of us would be satisfied even if the result was that David rotted away in jail for the rest of his life.

“We have to kill him. There’s no way around it,” said Gavin.

“What about Colt?” I asked.

Beside me, Aislin pulled a foot under herself and grimaced. I didn’t know whether she was grimacing at Colt or something else.

“Dalesbloom will need a new Alpha to set everyone straight. I don’t know if Colt is the right person for that role,” said Gavin.

As much as I used to trust Colt, at this point… I wasn’t sure either. But a small part of me wanted to believe that Colt could be capable of better things without the influence of his father.

“If Colt serves David, then our only option may be to kill him too,” Gavin continued. He looked between Aislin and I, gauging our responses.

I sighed. “If that’s what it comes down to…” Even though it hurt to think about.

“You can let me handle that,” Aislin drawled, her eyes darkening. “It’s personal between me and that entitled prick.”

It hurt even worse to hear Aislin speak of Colt that way. “Why?”

“After we took you in, Billie, he had the balls to ask if I wanted get together. He thought he could use me to gain more intel on you.”

No, I wanted to say, it was probably because he felt lonely and wanted to reach out to the person he had feelings for. But my voice dried up in my throat and wouldn’t allow me to defend Colt. And maybe Aislin was right, anyway—I had put too much faith in Colt before. I kept my mouth shut.

“It’s decided then,” said Gavin. “We’ll have to do some undercover work finding someone in Dalesbloom to take over. We’ll exterminate David and replace him, and we’ll give Colt a chance—one chance—to renounce his father, or we’ll exterminate him too. I’ll present this to the Mythguard after our pack meeting tomorrow.”

“And if the Mythguard rejects our proposal?” asked Aislin.

Gavin folded his arms. “We do it with or without the Mythguard.”

Aislin nodded.

It made me anxious to determine the fate of another person, but this was a necessary decision. It was better than lying in wait for David to strike next. I just had to trust that our plan wouldn’t earn us the scrutiny of the Mythguard as well.

The future held a lot of uncertainties. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what would become of me in the next day, week, or month. What I used to know had always been predictable, but it had also been dry and hollow, and as unsure as I was of myself and my survival, I would rather be living this life than one caged inside Hexen Manor. It was time to step forward into the unknown. With the support of the ones I loved, I finally had the confidence to become strong and fulfill my destiny as a leader—as the daughter of Grandbay’s former Betas, as a guardian of those in need. My wolf sang within me, for Alpha Gavin was my mate, and I had finally found my family with him.

I was ready for this new beginning.