35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Isaac

" M r. Isaac, you're back," Roman's butler greeted me almost immediately after I let myself inside the house. "I hope your trip went well?"

I had nothing against the man, even though he was unnerving me with how much he acted like a vampire when he clearly wasn't one, but I had no patience left for him today.

"Where is she?"

If he was offended by my disregard, he didn't show it. Catching his hands behind his back, he gave me a reserved smile.

"She is out with Master. Perhaps you'd like to refresh yourself and rest until she comes back?"

"Out where? I need to see her now, " I snapped, taking a step toward him.

He didn't even flinch. "I'm afraid I don't know. But they should be back soon considering that dawn is approaching."

I had to ball my hands into fists before my nails got out and I sank them into his frail body.

"You may wait outside if you prefer or I can take you to a room," the butler offered again.

I took a deep breath and let it out. It wasn't his fault that she wasn't here. She probably didn't even know I was coming since Roman didn't bother to pick up his phone. After being unconscious for two days, I woke up to her voice in my head, telling me to come to her. I had rushed all the way back, desperate to see her and now that I was home… she wasn't even waiting for me.

Logically, I knew that I couldn't expect her to stay by the window for my return and if Roman had taken her out of the safety of the house, I doubted it was for a leisurely stroll. Still…

"Fine," I said, forcing my body to relax. "I could use a shower."

The butler nodded, heading toward the stairs. "Please, follow me."

We walked in silence, so I used the time to determine who was in the house. I had heard from Allison that Alice and Lily had gone somewhere safe to finish her recovery—somewhere where there wasn't a raging Elder threatening the lives of everyone—so I hoped that meant Lily was finally getting well and they were making some… progress. My sister deserved to be happy more than anyone I knew, even if it meant being apart again.

I almost didn't notice when the butler stopped, opening one of the many identical doors and motioning inside. "Please, make yourself at home. If you need me, you can call on the internal line or come find me. I'll let Mistress Celeste know you're back the moment she returns."

He barely waited for me to enter before closing the door. I stood frozen in the middle of the room, not sure what to do with myself until finally, I dragged my feet to the bathroom.

I hardly felt the hot water burn my skin or the steam that filled the space, making it hard to breathe. I stayed there for what felt like hours, waiting for the warmth to expel the tension from my body. It wasn't until I heard footsteps that I came back to reality and turned. I hadn't bothered to close the bathroom door, so when I found Celeste leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed and a smile on her face, I almost slipped and fell on the wet tiles.

"Having deep thoughts in the shower? How cliche," she chuckled, studying me in a way that made every strand of hair on my body rise. She was wearing a pair of dark pants and a top that reminded me of the night we attacked the hunters' Headquarters. Her hair was pulled in a ponytail and she looked tired but in one piece.

Before I knew it, I was wrapping my arms around her and breathing her in.

"Hey, you're… wet!" she grumbled, pushing against my chest, but when I didn't let go, she sighed softly and hugged me back. "I've missed you too."

Despite the lightness of her tone, her words hit me like a freight train, filling me with emotions that were hard to put into words. I held her tighter, releasing her only when she grunted in pain.

"You have no idea how worried I was," I whispered, touching her face to make sure she was real. When the bond returned, we had just finished speaking with the witches. The emotions I felt and the connection that filled the void had been so strong that it knocked me out for two whole days before I came to my senses.

My eyes trailed down her neck, searching for wounds or burns, but found only two fresh bite marks on the side. I tried to silence the jealousy that blossomed in my chest. This was what I had agreed on, she had been clear from the start. And while I was out there, trying to protect my people, Roman had been working on getting her back day and night. And he did. I owed him gratitude, not jealousy. Especially when she was here now, with me, and not with him.

"Did he really have to bite you so hard?" I grumbled, running my fingers over the mark. It was already healing and it would probably be gone in a few hours, but I had the inexplicable urge to cover it with mine.

"You can do it, you know," she said and when I met her eyes, I had a feeling she had read my mind. With every passing second in her presence, I felt the bond strengthening, but I had thought I had kept the thoughts to myself. "It's your face," she added, and when I gave her a puzzled look, she grinned. "Your face always says what you're thinking. That's one of your most endearing qualities."

Moving a step closer, she inclined her head to bare her throat to me. I wasn't sure if she even realized how big of a deal that was for my kind, but she stared with unfaltering confidence that made my heart beat faster and my dick go rock hard in an instant.

My eyes darted to the bruised skin, then back to her face, the fast beats of her heart doing things to my body no other woman had ever done. She held her breath as I leaned closer and pressed my lips against the bite before pulling back.

Her expression was hard to decipher, but I decided I didn't want to know. Instead, I picked her up in my arms and strode toward the bed, where I helped her discard her clothes. I didn't bother to ask why there was mud on her pants and leaves stuck on her shirt .

Once we were under the covers, I drew her against me. Her eyes flared, and she reached out for my already hard cock, but I grabbed her fingers and just intertwined them with mine. A look of confusion overtook her face and I could feel worry and uneasiness slip through the bond. I send back warmth and contentment, trying to make her relax.

"I just want to hold you," I whispered, pressing my lips to her forehead. "Right now, this is enough."

An unreadable mask fell over her face, and I reached through the bond again, but everything was quiet. "Every time I think I've figured you out, you surprise me, puppy." Leaning closer, she brushed her lips against mine.

"I thought I'd asked you not to call me that."

Her soft chuckle brought a smile to my face and when she snuggled into the crook of my arm, all of my worries drained away. Comfortable silence spread through the room with only our soft breathing and thundering hearts filling the space. She ran her fingers over my chest in slow, pleasant lines, veering no further than my abs, and to my surprise, I relaxed instead of getting more worked up by her almost naked body pressed against me.

"Were you really in Hell?" I asked after what felt like hours. Her fingers paused.

"Yes."

Something cold and sickening swirled in my stomach and I looked at her face in search of the horrors she must have seen down there. Yet her body remained relaxed and perfectly calm, which made me even more concerned.

"What happened?" I whispered hesitantly, eager to know, and at the same time, not wanting to make her go through those memories again. I had only heard rumors about that plane, but to go there…

My heart skipped a beat. Even if she came back, she had sold her soul to a demon and when she died for the last time, I'd never see her again…

"There isn't much to tell, really. Just a lot of fire, screaming, and death." My body stiffened and a low growl escaped my lips, but she chuckled. "I'm kidding! Well, mostly. Beleth didn't… hurt me. He took me there to protect me, if you can believe that. He could have been less of a dick about it, though."

"That… no, I cannot believe that!" I paused before the stream of curses spilled out and I watched her fight a smile. Her amusement passed over the bond, and I wasn't sure if I felt relieved or mad at how undisturbed she sounded. "What are you not telling me?"

"Only the parts that are going to piss you off," she sighed.

"What the… fuck?" My mouth fell open in indignation. So he did something to her after all! "I'm going to find and kill that piece of shit!"

I tried to get up, but she dragged me back down.

"No, you won't. You will calm down," she laughed while I struggled to break her grip without hurting her. "Isaac, look at me!" It was my name on her lips that made me drop back into bed, but it was the strict gleam in her eyes that kept me there. "I'm back and I'm even more powerful than before, so all is well. You will not kill Beleth's vessel."

"He took you to Hell!" I snarled, trying to suppress my shift as the wolf pushed to take over.

"Where he kept me safe," she insisted. I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was omitting something, but when I tried to peek into her mind, her mental wards snapped in place, leaving me snarling in frustration. "We need to talk about boundaries." She hissed, poking a finger in my chest. "Just because you can get into my head doesn't mean you can do it without asking! It's not trust if you have to check!"

I slumped back into my pillow, locking my eyes on the ceiling. Sharing minds with other people was like second nature to me and doing so with my mate felt natural, but… she wasn't a shifter. Moreover, our relationship had started with hate and suspicion, and even though things had changed, we had never built that trust.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, forcing myself to meet her gaze. When I found no anger there, I sighed with relief. "I won't do it again."

"Good," she smiled. "But you are right. There are several things I still haven't told you."

I rolled over,so I was facing her, trying my best not to show my impatience.

"Roman told me about the ward around the city," she continued. "I plan to take it down."

My mouth fell open from the shock, but she looked entirely serious.

"H-H-How?"

"I had a lot of my power stored in a medallion I lost when I woke up a few months ago. Roman found it. He had it with him when Beleth brought him to me." A light smile pulled on her lips. "I absorbed the magic in it and I'm close to my full power now. And the ward they put…" She grimaced, looking vastly disappointed. "It's fragile. It relies on conduits set up across the city, so if I take one down, the whole thing will collapse on itself."

"How… when did you learn all of that?" I frowned in confusion.

"That's where we were when you arrived. I needed to get a closer look."

I gawked at her, not sure if I should be relieved or terrified. It had taken an entire Coven to raise that thing. It had stayed active for weeks, with no one being able to even touch it. And she had just told me it was fragile .

"That's… great," I said, too late realizing my voice lacked the due enthusiasm. She noticed.

"You don't want me to?"

"It's not that…" I sighed, sitting up beside her. "Once you take down the ward, the witches will retaliate. I'm sure that if you can break their spell, you can handle an attack too, but you can't fight this war by yourself." She cocked her head, looking at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. "You are not alone anymore, Celeste. You don't have to fight alone. This is our fight too, but…" My shoulders slumped and I felt the heaviness of the past few days press on them again. I might have convinced the Blacktooth Pack and the witches of the Coven of Eternal Light to help us, but I doubted that would be enough. "We are divided and weak. I've been trying to unite everyone, to make them see that we are…" My eyes found hers again and the warmth I saw there almost took my breath away. "...not so different from each other and we can do so much good together, but it hasn't been going all that well."

Her expression softened, and she cupped my cheek, sighing heavily.

"Making people forget their hate and see past what they have been taught is hard, Isaac." She let her hand fall, turning on her back to stare at the ceiling. "It takes time, effort, and, well, proof. They need to see it's possible with their own eyes." She bit her lip, glancing at me as if to judge my reaction. "They need to be shown the ways we are the same to see past our differences. What is the thing that each of us—shifter, vampire, witch, or Fae—share?"

I stared at her in confusion, anxiously looking for the right answer while she waited. I was ready to snarl in frustration and say I didn't know, when she slid her hand to my chest, gently tapping her finger on the left side.

I sucked in a sharp breath .

How could I have been such an idiot? This made perfect sense. The only thing we all had in common was love. We all had mates, we all believed in mates, and we cherished them above everything else. Even vampires felt the same, Roman was living proof of that.

We just had to show them that. Show them we weren't that different and we could work together. That we could belong together. Like me and her.

"I want to claim you." I breathed, my thoughts running too fast to form a coherent sentence. "Claim each other, I mean."

Surprise flashed in her eyes, but it was gone much faster than I expected.

"A mating ceremony?" she muttered, and I nodded, relieved that she seemed to be thinking about it instead of outright refusing.

"The mating ceremony is very important for all shifters, regardless if it's a fated or…" I licked my lips, glancing at her, but she didn't react as I added, "...a chosen mate they are claiming. It brings people together like nothing else does." I pushed myself up, running a hand through my hair while my thoughts still raced a hundred miles per hour. "I want them to see us together, a shifter and a witch. This…" Turning toward her, I caught her hand in mine and squeezed gently. "This will show them we don't need to be enemies, and that despite our differences, love can overcome it all. I think it will—"

"Alright," she said, and it was my turn to look at her with shock.

I searched her face, but there was no trace of hesitation in it.

"A-Alright." I nodded, my body feeling like it wanted to explode with excitement while my mind clung to the unsettling feeling her quick reaction brought. Not that I wasn't happy she agreed, but… I had expected I'd need more to convince her.

"You don't want to?" A mocking smile blossomed on her lips, blowing away my anxiety.

"I've never wanted anything more," I muttered before claiming her lips with a hunger that almost consumed me. Her hands wrapped around my neck and she pulled me on top of her, our tongues twirling in a dance I have been dying to have my whole life. By the time I rose to my elbows, we were both panting and there was a light blush painting her cheeks.

"I love you," I whispered without thinking. Once the words were out of my mouth, I held my breath, terrified that I had been too fast, too honest, too eager. We both knew what the other felt, it was hard not to with the bond in place, but saying it out loud…

The smile that appeared on her face was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

"I love you too, puppy," she said, dragging me back down to her. I grinned against her lips, feeling the urge to jump and dance and make love to her until the world stopped spinning. She wrapped her legs around my waist and the scent of her arousal made me groan as my body pressed closer, eager to feel more of her.

She chuckled, the challenge in her voice shoving my restraint out the window while I pinned her hands above her head. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then she laughed.

"I told you not to call me puppy ," I growled, shifting between her legs so she couldn't close them. Wetness was pooling out of her pussy, her nipples pebbling from nothing but my roaming gaze. "Let's fix that habit of yours." She raised an eyebrow, looking like she was about to laugh again. "Call me mate ."

Her smile widened, but she only pursed her lips.

"Do it," I whispered, rubbing my cock over her clit. Her eyes rolled back, and she moaned, but no words left her mouth. "Say it and you may have anything you want."

She seemed to consider it, and when her eyes met mine, I knew I'd won.

"Mate," she purred, and that one word alone almost made me cum. I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to calm myself while she bit her lower lip.

"It wasn't that hard, was it?" I smirked, using my free hand to trace the outline of her body, touching only enough to tease. "Now tell me what you want."

"You."

With that look in her eyes, I expected that answer, yet it still made me happy. My fingers squeezed her thigh, pushing her legs open wider while her mouth parted in anticipation.

"You have me. Until death do us part," I whispered, thrusting inside of her and sealing that promise with a kiss.