Author: J.D. Tyler

He basked in her repeated declarations of love, given freely where she’d once been wary and unsure. Her feelings bathed him like the warm waters of a whirlpool, all of the sadness and struggle being cleansed and washed away.

The gurney bumped and rolled along, but there was no pain with the movements. Just a bone-deep exhaustion that threatened to drag him to the depths. He sensed he wouldn’t die now, but neither did he want to let go and sleep. He wanted to spend every second soaking up his mate’s love.

The cool air of the outdoors caressed his skin, and in seconds, the gurney was being loaded into a vehicle. An ambulance, most likely. Selene had to let go of his hand temporarily, but soon clasped him again as she climbed in and they shut the doors.

When the vehicle started rolling, she began humming a song to him. No words, just a soft tune, something low and pretty. Romantic.

I didn’t know you could sing.

Hardly singing. He heard the laughter in her voice in his head. I can’t really carry a tune. More like expressing my happiness.

Keep doing it. I like hearing you.

Okay, but you have to promise to sleep so you can recover. Deal?

Deal.

And so, his mate’s unnamed song lulling him, he finally gave in to healing slumber.

Fourteen

When Zan awoke to find his mate at his bedside, he blinked to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. “Selene?”

Her head snapped up, the magazine on her lap falling to the floor, forgotten. “There you are! It’s about time, too. How are you feeling?”

He considered that. “Good, I think.”

“Nothing hurts?” Bruised shadows colored the skin under her tired eyes. She looked worn-out. Anxious.

“Nothing,” he assured her. “Have you been getting any sleep, baby?”

She gestured to the other side of the bed. “Tarron had a twin bed brought in for me.”

“But it doesn’t look like you’ve been using it much.”

She smiled ruefully. “Guilty. But I couldn’t sleep until I knew for sure you were coming back to me.”

“Sweetheart, you had to know I would,” he said, taking her hand. “You brought me back. No way was I leaving again.”

“I know. But the past few days, worrying about you, especially after what happened . . .” She swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears.

Reaching up, he brushed away a stray drop from her cheek. “Hey, now, none of that. I’m fine, and I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Sniffling, she composed herself. “You’ve been asleep for four days. Melina said after you wake up, you could be out the next day, or the day after. As long as you continue to take it easy and lay off the healing for a while.”

“For how long?”

“At least six more months.”

“Shit. I don’t know if I can promise . . .” But one look at the worry on her beautiful face and he knew he could do it. For them. “All right, yes. Six months. I promise.”

Her relief was palpable. “Thank you.”

“For us? Anything,” he said with a smile. “I won’t risk ruining my health or at worst, killing myself. Again.”

She cleared her throat, looking uneasy. “Well, that’s the thing. I’m not exactly sure you could kill yourself now, at least not by overtaxing your body.”

He studied her curiously. “Hey, that’s great. But I have to ask, why not?”

“You remember that as a born wolf, I’m immortal, right?”

“Yeah. You told me that you and Nick both are, as is most of your clan.”

“Right.” She looked uneasy. “The point is, I have a gift. I’m a Spirit Catcher. That’s how I was able to pull your spirit back into your body so you could be healed.”

He nodded. “Even when I was dead, I gleaned that much. That’s a wonderful gift to have.”

“I think so, too, though I’m not sure it would work on anyone but you. I’d rather not find out.”

“I get the feeling there’s more?”

“Yes. When I was successful in bringing your spirit back, it was necessary for both Tarron and me to feed you some of our blood. For healing. Only it has a side effect—you’re now immortal, just like me.”

His mouth fell open, and he gaped at her. “No way.”

“Way.”

“I’m frigging immortal?” he blurted.

“Are you upset?” Her teeth worried at her bottom lip, and some of her anxiety began to return.

“Sweetheart, no,” he rushed to assure her, squeezing her hand. “That means I get to spend an eternity with you, right? Now I won’t die and leave you alone in a few decades.”

Once again, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “That’s right, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. You might have been immortal anyway, because of our initial mating. Or you might have enjoyed a longer-than-normal human life span because of being a turned shifter. But now it’s certain you’ll be like me.”

“So, will I be able to deflect silver bullets off my chest and shit like that?” he teased.

She snorted. “You’re not Superman, buddy. You can still get your ass killed in any number of ways, so be careful.”

“Hmm. I’d rather have the red cape.”

“Sorry—no can do.”

“Guess I’ll have to be content, then.”

Leaning over, she gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. He wanted to deepen the kiss and show his mate just how much he missed being in her arms.

A knock on the door interrupted their tender moment, and Selene sat back. “Come in.”

When it opened, Nick walked in, followed by most of the Pack and Prince Tarron. They were all wearing smiles, but was it his imagination or did the commander’s seem forced? Was that sadness lurking behind his eyes? God, he hoped Nick was getting over what Darrow had done to him. It wasn’t his fault. Surely he knew that.

“Damn, it’s good to see you guys,” Zan said, grinning at them.

Each of his brothers came forward to shake his hand, and some even gave him careful hugs. When it was Jax’s turn, his best friend held on a bit tighter than the others.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, jackass,” he said hoarsely.

They both laughed to lighten the moment, and Jax let go to stand with the others. Zan looked to Nick. “So, what’s going on? Any news about Owen Matthews? How are we going to bring that bastard down?”

“We won’t have to. It’s already done.”

“Jeez, somebody works fast. How’d that happen so quickly?”

“I placed a call to Grant, seeing as how he’s the only one we can trust,” Nick began. “He contacted a couple of high-up government officials he can trust, and they handled the situation. Seems as though an ‘anonymous tipster’ sent videos of Secretary of State Matthews, a CIA agent, and a White House staffer soliciting one Carter Darrow to commit the mass murders of innocent American citizens.”

Zan whistled through his teeth. “How the hell did they pull off faking a video like that one?”

“Easy. It wasn’t fake.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Seems like creating super-soldiers and rogue vampires just wasn’t enough to keep our little terrorists busy. They were ready to graduate to homeland and eventually global genocide, targeting citizens they felt were undesirable or unmalleable to their rule. Matthews and his followers, including Darrow, had a plan to bring down our government from the inside.”

“Insane much?” Aric muttered.

“For real,” Micah said, shaking his head.

“Grant’s contacts created a story for the media that reported Darrow killed in a standoff with federal agents. Close enough to the truth. So, Matthews and his cohorts are undoubtedly going to prison for life.”

“So, it’s over?”

“Yep,” Nick said, looking satisfied about this, at least. “Except for the pockets of rogues here and there we have left to eliminate, it’s really over.”

Zan could hardly believe it. The reign of terror that had started with Matthews betraying their team of Navy SEALs and forcing the creation of the Alpha Pack, then soon trickled down to Malik, Orson Chappell, Dr. Gene Bowman, and August Bradford, was finally at an end.

But there would be another threat, another day. There always was.

Just then, Melina pushed into the room—and stopped in her tracks, eyes narrowing on the large group. “What the hell are all of you guys doing in here? My patient needs rest, dammit, not to be worn-out yakking with you knuckleheads!”

“Now, doctor,” Tarron said in a smooth tone, eyes raking her petite form appreciatively. “We were just supporting our friend, that’s all. By the way, I was wondering if you could take a look at me. I have this uncomfortable stiffness that won’t go away.”

A couple of the guys snickered. Melina scowled at the prince. “I’ll just bet.”

“Oh, but I really do. Shall we?” Taking her arm, he steered her toward the door, ignoring her sputtering protests. Just before Tarron walked out, he looked over his shoulder at his new friends and winked.

The guys hooted the second the door closed behind them.

“That’ll take the starch out of her panties,” Aric declared over their laughter.

Zan just smiled. Maybe their resident doc was due for some happiness of her own. He sure hoped so. She deserved it.

As for himself, he planned to treasure every single minute with his mate.

Several barbecue grills were rocking, vampires and shifters were engaged in a fierce game of football under the floodlights, and the beer was flowing.

And Selene was glowing under the attentions of her mate, who’d declined to join the game. The evening cookout was a success so far, planned after sunset so the Pack’s new friends and allies, Prince Tarron and his coven, could join them. They’d traveled a ways to come from the Smoky Mountains to the Shoshone for a visit—but when your whole group could teleport, it wasn’t like travel was a problem.

Besides, as she watched Tarron flirt relentlessly with Melina—and the doc doing her best to avoid his attentions—she had a feeling they’d be seeing a lot more of the vamps around the place in the near future.

“Penny for your thoughts?” a low, sexy voice murmured in her ear.

“You can have them for a kiss.”

Turning to her more fully from his seat on their picnic blanket, he cupped her face and planted a sensual kiss on her mouth. Took it like he owned it, and he did. His tongue slipped inside to taste, and she wanted to drown in him.

After the kiss, she drew back and smiled. “Keep that up and we’ll ditch the rest of the party.”

“Fine by me.” A finger traced her lips. “But then you’d miss the arrival of your special guest.”

“I’d managed to forget.” A sudden round of butterflies assailed her stomach lining.

“No, you hadn’t.”

“You’re right, I hadn’t. It’s got me so nervous I’m about to be sick.”

He kneaded her shoulders. “Try to relax, okay? Everything will be fine. And if he steps out of line, he’s gone, and I’ll make sure he knows he’s not welcome here again.”

“Thank you.” She sighed. “But I want this to work, so badly.”

“I know you do, sweetheart.”

Just then, Blue walked up holding baby Kai, Mac and Kalen following behind him. “Ooh, let’s say hello to our friends Selene and Zan,” the Fae prince cooed, bouncing the boy and making funny faces at him. Then Blue used the feathered tip of his right wing to tickle Kai under the chin. The baby seemed delighted by his antics and gurgled a slobbery laugh. “Yes, you love Uncle Sariel the best, don’t you?”