34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nero was in trouble.

His agony funneled down the mating bond between them. Knowing he was in pain and being unable to do anything about it was Eden's turning point. With a surge of protective wrath, the wolf beneath her skin burst forth, overwhelming her senses, and swiftly taking control.

The shift completed within seconds.

Before Eden could catch up with what was happening, the she-wolf hurtled toward the door. A vicious sounding snarl heralded her exit to the patio outside, the sharper vision of the animal instantly assessing the situation.

Nero's panther was pinned beneath three wolves, each of them tearing into his flesh as the cat struggled for purchase and lost strength.

Her paws pounded against the blood-soaked ground, launching her newly shifted body into the beast aiming for Nero's throat.

In a fit of savagery, Eden's razor-sharp teeth snapped the rabid wolf's spine before she turned on the others. Weakly, Nero's claws connected with an opponent's belly, mauling it before Eden sunk her teeth into its esophagus. The last one was dead by her teeth only seconds later.

There was no time for victory: her attention was on Nero.

He'd yet to move from where he lay on the grass, panting. The gaping hole in his abdomen worried Eden the most, and blood darkened his ebony coat in too many places.

Seconds later, Luna manifested and crouched by Nero's side. "Shift back, Nero. I can't get a good read on where your injuries are through your coat."

Seconds later, his familiar face was grimacing below her, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. A wave of healing power sizzled across Eden's fur, ruffling it in an odd sensation she'd never experienced before. Instead of lying there and simply letting the healer care for him, Nero tentatively lifted a battered hand toward her.

"You're beautiful, Eden." He managed a tight smile. "I knew you could do it."

Whimpering, her wolf nosed under his hand, coveting the sensation of his touch. Crouching down on her belly, she crawled closer toward him and gently rested her muzzle on the sole unbroken patch of skin: his clan mark.

Nero was right—she had done it.

Eden had become vampire— and werewolf —when it'd been doubtful she could do either. Everything she'd ever been had changed.

She couldn't wait to explore the world with Nero at her side. The man who'd saved her, cared for her, and trusted in her. Eden loved him unconditionally, and always would.

The mating bond between them flared to life in vibrant color. What was once as impermanent as smoke now solidified, becoming a steel cable that connected them on a fundamental level. Eden gasped at the sensation of their connection intertwining their souls in a dazzling display of intimacy.

Gravity shifted, her spirit coalescing around loving and cherishing him. The life that had been black and white, now burst into dazzling color.

Nero was her world.

A painless shift carried her back into her human form, and Nero's arms immediately went around her to protect her from the violence around them.

"My mate. My love."

The deep rumble of his voice was a purr in her ears, and she nestled into him with a contented sigh of her own. "I love you, Nero."

"Sit still, sovereign. You're bleeding," came Luna's indelicate comment. And then, "Maybe get Eden a blanket."

With a jolt, Eden realized she was naked as the day she'd been born. Nero swiftly manifested a cozy fleece and swaddled her in it.

"We'll work on shifting with clothes."

The next twenty minutes were the longest of her life.

With half of his lieutenants out ensuring immortal secrets weren't exposed to humanity and Nero still wounded, Eden's stress levels skyrocketed. She felt the wolf within her anxiously pacing beneath her skin, ready to leap forward at a moment's notice should her mate or new pack come to harm.

"You're a beautiful wolf, Eden."

She frowned, suddenly self-conscious. "I am?"

He nodded. "I'm never seen a more marvelous creature. Your coat is a lovely reddish brown, and your eyes turn stark blue." An appreciative shake of his head. "Lovely."

Certain her cheeks were on fire, Eden dipped her head and nestled it into his shoulder. "Plenty of time to inspect afterwards. Maybe focus on getting better?"

"He'll be good as new in the morning," came Luna's response.

Then, he stiffened. "They're on their way back. Aidan and Key are injured."

In a single, mass teleport, a dozen immortals landed on the patio. Multiple, competing voices rose over the escalating sound, but Nero was already on his feet and moving toward the two more gravely injured parties.

Key, nursing a vicious looking laceration down her back, merely shook her head when Luna went to go to her first, motioning toward Aidan instead.

The wolf was pale, having lost a lot of blood from several areas of torn flesh along his legs. Wordlessly, Zia joined the healer a second later, aiding the attempts to put him right.

"Did you strap bacon to your legs and whistle?"

The alpha glowered darkly at Nero. "I was trying to lead them away from your defenseless Elemental. You're welcome."

"Jeremiah!"

Eden fought the urge to laugh as the redhaired Elemental turned an even brighter shade of crimson colored, half-hiding behind his busy mate.

"Yes, sovereign?"

"You're more trouble than you're worth." Nero was smiling, linking his fingers through Eden's and giving them a squeeze.

"I lost my concentration because of the way your matehood changed the psychic web. Thanks for that—and also, congrats."

A round of hearty congratulations split the air, and Eden found herself pressing into her mate's side in delight. It was Nero that finally spoke, his gaze finding Nina's through the crowd.

"Well, we've just created the second immortal born of two breeds. You're no longer unique, Nina."

Rampant shock rammed against Nero's psychic abilities. He grunted with the effect, turning to look at the man who'd experienced them first: Aidan.

The werewolf stared at Eden as though he'd seen a ghost. "Eden—you're—"

"I shifted," she said. "My wolf rose again, Aidan. She didn't fade, she waited ."

Despite the healer's calls for him to stop, the alpha was striding across the lawn to embrace the newest member of his pack.

As emotions spiraled from them both, Nero realized that Eden's rebirth hadn't only cured her, but it had shifted the darkness in Aidan as well. Her wolf's survival had been essential for the alpha who found himself on the edge. Before today, Nero hadn't noticed the one emotion that'd been missing from Aidan's emotional panel: hope.

***

Her paws were the color of perfectly toasted marshmallows. Nero had started her off in this streak of self-admiration, and now she preened whenever she noticed another beautiful detail about her wolf. She ran across the landscape, slightly unsteady, as she attempted to match the feline grace of her mate.

Nero put her to shame, bounding over foliage and downed tree limbs. Rocks didn't slow his panther down, and sand didn't eat into his grueling pace. With every stride, she worked for her run, focusing on where her paws went during each phase of the gait.

A subtle, cat-like yowl was Nero's way of teasing her. Then, his telepathic voice sounded in her psychic ear. You're thinking too hard, professor.

Perhaps she was.

Shaking her scruff indignantly, she allowed the wolf that was the second part of her soul to move forward and assume control of her limbs.

Immediately, the stumbling and unsteadiness ceased. Now she was easily keeping pace with the panther in front of her. Donning a wolfish grin, she urged the primal side of her faster, digging claws into the earth and flattening her ears. When it wasn't enough, she called on her vampiric speed to aid her, as she sprinted to overtake the cat.

Those emerald panther eyes widened marginally, then dug into his reserves for additional speed. Lost to the chase, Eden's happy yip had Nero's panther responding with a spirited yowl. As she came up alongside him, he held his head high—and pride funneled through their mating bond.

The link between them had solidified the night of the attack, but Eden had since learned that for a werewolf, the bond was secured with a bite. Given her biology and the duress of the attack, none of them were surprised that it hadn't been necessary.

Regardless, her wolf had demanded the bite be completed. Eden had said as much to Nero, and he'd been ecstatic. The Raeth couldn't wait to wear her mark. Running along the trails, the beast in her couldn't stand another moment.

Lunging toward the panther, she nipped at his neck. It was a love bite, but one that found its mark. A bead of blood dotted the dappled black coat, and her wolf howled in success. Through their bond, a pulse of satisfaction and pure, incandescent joy brushed along her own happiness.

When they neared the small clearing the cat had claimed as his own, the pair slowed. Shifting in a flash of euphoric ecstasy, Eden straightened her shirt and pants and leapt. She combed her fingers through his thick fur, lips curving into a smile.

"For a big, fluffy kitty, you've certainly got some speed."

The panther sent her a withering look, and then it was the handsome Raeth she'd fallen in love with was standing beside her. Together, they looked out upon darkened horizon, and Eden felt small compared to the vastness of the ocean before them.

When Nero's fingers linked through hers, she belatedly registered the compounding sense of guilt that washed through their mating bond. Eden hesitated to broach the topic, waiting for him to speak instead.

His thumb gently massaged her palm. "Eden, I know this isn't the life you chose. After the wolf bit you in Chicago, we've thrown one thing after another at you. You've been bitten, stalked, and threatened, and when that wasn't enough, you had a hemorrhagic stroke and shifted into a werewolf a few days later.

"I've known about you for eleven hundred years," he continued, "and even I didn't have time enough to prepare for what happened. Every step you took into the immortal world was riddled with violence, and I wouldn't blame you if it's left a sour taste in your mouth."

Nero's fingers tightened around hers. "What I'm saying, Eden, is that if you want to step away—if you want to live in Chicago and travel for your books and teach and spoil your cat rotten, I will support you. I meant what I said: mates, lovers, friends, or pen pals. If you want me there or even if you don't, all of it is your choice."

Eden was quiet for a moment as she thought through his words. In the end, she knew she had to be honest. "You're right, Nero."

He stilled.

"My life became a battleground the moment I met you. Every step here was traumatic. I fought a battle for my mind, in my body, and inside my soul. The last two weeks have been the hardest of my life, but Nero," she paused, "I wouldn't change anything because it gave me you.

"When I met you, I was a dying human who'd already given up on life. I'd let myself accept an early grave simply because I didn't have any other choice. Now, I'm an immortal, the very thing I studied and loved since I was a child. I'm a fledgling of the original vampire, and my wolf—" she swallowed the thickness in her throat, "my wolf is a fighter, Nero. When you were being attacked, she didn't freeze. She fought . For you—and for our pack."

He kissed her knuckles. "A wolf only brings out what we already were, Eden. That was always inside you. You were always a fighter."

Fighting through tears, she promised, "The point is, mate, that I choose you, and I'll keep choosing you. Every heartbeat, every breath. The good days and the bad. I will always want you, Nero."

"I'd follow you to the ends of the earth, Eden Hawthorne." He tenderly cupped her cheek. "My life here means nothing without you."

Her lips found his cheek, lingering long enough to breathe in the sea salt and rum scent that clung to his skin and enjoy the handsome cut of his features. Then, he was turning his head to possessively capture her lips with his.

A soft, delicate kiss spoke of his tenderness towards her. Every brush of his lips and every wordless smile: they all meant the same thing. Nero was hopelessly in love with her, and she with him.

Nero was her Prince Charming, her Count Dracula, her vampire in a Volvo.

Minus the sparkles.