“We should see Rhylan soon,” Jax suggested.
“One thing first.” Javier slipped from her grip to limp away. The only thing that could make him limp was silver.
Nora wanted to call him back and drag him to the SUV so Rhylan could treat him, but she let him go. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small lighter. Nora realized what he was doing when he bent and grabbed a small container of gasoline from near an ATV.
She opened her mouth to tell him no, to argue against it, but found no argument worth it. The farmhouse and Cordelia’s legacy needed to be destroyed. Her only concern was for the forests around it. As if reading her mind, Sydney plucked her phone from her pocket. She went into cop mode and began rattling off the address to the fire department, asking them to phone it into the precinct for back up.
The fire roared to life, licking at the walls of the damned barn. All of them seemed grateful to watch it go up in flames. Lives had been destroyed inside those walls. Now, not another soul would enter the barn. Nora felt a weight lift from her soul.
She eventually hobbled forward, claimed her mate, and led him back to Sydney’s SUV. Rhylan and Thalia arrived in time to watch the barn blaze against the falling night. Rhylan was more concerned with treating Javier and Nora, but Nora watched Thalia’s face. The young shifter had almost been interred in the barn twice. There was a burning triumph on the shifter’s face.
She spun on her heel and raised her hand for Nora. For a moment, Nora stood, stunned. Then she realized what Thalia wanted and slapped her hand against the raised palm.
Thalia, pleased with her high five, nodded and bent to help her husband.
Nora grabbed Javier’s hand and squeezed. It was over.
She let out a long breath. It was finally over.
Chapter Sixteen
Javier didn’t understand why his sister had called him to a pack meeting if he wasn’t pack. It wasn’t even like his mate was pack. He was a lone wolf. She was human. Still, he didn’t want to insult his sister’s wishes. She’d gone through hell and back to help him, and he knew what it had cost her now that his soul could process it.
He gripped his mate’s hand, wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her close, and made their way to the Lodge bar. His mind reeled, wondering what they could want from him. Would they tell him he needed to return home now that the fight was over? The hunters den had been demolished, house and all, leaving the mountain valleys open to the settlement of the pack.
Technically, Javier had worked alongside them, but he wasn’t pack. It was within their right to tell him to leave their territory.
Nora tightened her grip on his hand, pulling his attention down to her. She moved closer to him and leaned her head back. His gaze raked down her throat as she spoke.
“You’re nervous. I can feel it.”
He licked his lips and nodded. The worry was eating away at him unlike anything before. When his father called pack meetings, Javier had always stood at attention out of defiance. He’d never felt this kind of unease when called by his father. Perhaps because he had not cared what the old man thought of him. It’d been known he wasn’t happy with the direction his children were taking.
This pack, the small group of shifters, was different. Javier wanted to feel at home with them, and if they asked him to leave another part of him would be shattered. Would they allow him to visit his sister? Or, would they close down their borders? He loved them all, despite the short amount of time he’d spent with them. They were all heroes in their own way, no matter the ghosts some might have fought or the paths some might have walked. He would have been proud to call them his family.
To call them his.
He’d never thought of himself as Alpha material, but he suddenly found the desire to protect these people. It was all consuming, driving him forward with a proposition on his lips. He did not know if they would consent, but he had to try. He wanted to be there for them. He wanted to see Sydney reach Lead Detective status, to see Thalia’s food truck take off.
“Stop being so nervous,” Nora said through clenched teeth.
He looked down and realized he’d been squeezing his mate’s hand. She pulled away and shook her fingers. She was only human, after all. They were still working on finding a balance. Javier either treated her as though she were made of porcelain, usually after seeing the scars on her stomach, or forgot his own strength.
“What are you so afraid of, anyway? If anything, I should be the one waiting for the witch trial. They have every right to mount me on a stake and light the fire.”
Fear spiked through Javier’s heart. Instinctively, he reached out and pulled her into his arms again. “Don’t say things like that.” He tucked an errant hair behind her ear. The curl refused to obey and bounced free again. “You helped them destroy the hunter’s den. Without you, they never would have been able to do any of it.”
Nora’s lips pressed into a grim line. Her eyes were still dark, as though his words couldn’t light the shadows inside her. Javier touched her chin, gently pulling it up, and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was gentle. He wanted to press the shadows from their hiding places. He could only guess the things her mother said to her while they were trapped in the place between worlds. He knew some of it, confessions that should have turned Nora inside out.
“You aren’t Cordelia,” he said after pulling away. Their breath filled the space between them. “You’ll never be anything like her.”
Silence lingered between them as the words tried to sink in. Nora wasn’t ready for them, but he would be there to say them again when she was. He would say them every morning with her cup of coffee if he needed to. His mate was a strong woman. It took guts to defy your own family, especially ones like hers.
“We should go to this meeting,” Javier concluded. There was no reason to keep putting it off.
She swallowed and nodded. Her grip on his hand was tighter than his this time.
At the Lodge bar, the pack rose from their seats before Javier and Nora could sit down. Nora caught his eye with a look of confusion, but he shrugged and turned to follow. Javier was annoyed with the change in plans, but he had no place to complain.
On her way out, Thalia grinned from ear to ear and caught her big brother in a hug. Rhylan laughed, tugging her toward the door. Jax slung his arm around Javier’s shoulder while Sydney pulled Nora out the door.
The pack ventured into the forest, where no human eyes could pry. Javier understood. The matters of pack meetings were not meant for the ears of humans. It was better they stay blissfully unaware of what happened around them. If anything, Javier was happy the pack had invited him. He might not have been a part of their group, but he loved them all like family. Each of them was too good for this world, no matter what they thought of themselves.
Thalia threw her arms wide and spun in the darkness. Piece by piece, she shed her clothing. Jacket, shoes, socks. Rhylan wandered behind her, gathering it while shedding his own layers.
“If your pack is going to run, would you mind telling us what you thought we should know so we can leave you to it.” Javier felt a bitter need rise through him. He wanted to be a part of the run. The forest of these mountains called to him. For the first time in years, they were cleansed and waiting to be explored.
“Don’t be a dolt,” Thalia snapped. “You’re running with us.”
Nora’s steps faltered. Her hand nearly slipped from his, but he held on tight. She was caught, thrust into the world of humanity without a beast or magic. If she asked, Javier would change her, but he wasn’t sure that was what she wanted.
“Your sister beats around the bush,” Rhylan acknowledged.
Jax nodded. They reached a clearing, and everyone stopped. The pack seamlessly formed a half circle around Javier and Nora. All at once, they lifted their faces to him and dropped to their knees. Javier’s heart stuttered.
“We accept you as our Alpha,” their voices said in near unison.
“I don’t… I could never…” What? He could never live up to what they needed? He could never deserve them? All these things hung on his lips, but did not fall into reality. He realized before he could speak them that they weren’t true.
He hung his head, tears of happiness burning his eyes and a smile sweeping over him. “I may not deserve you, but I hope to be the Alpha you need.”
Nora gasped when she felt the circle of magic close around them. It snapped into place while threads wove through each of them. It bound them together into a single tapestry, a fabric that was unbreakable. Each thread, bound to their mates, connected to Javier. He felt the connection, his breath hitching.
Never once did Javier think he would step into the role of Alpha. Sure, it had been planned for him, as the son of an Alpha, but he hadn’t loved that pack the way he loved these shifters. He promised them everything he could give.
Safety.
Protection.
Love.
Whatever they needed, he would be.
After the magic bound them, Thalia let her head fall back and released a long howl. Her smile was disarming. It was the happiest Javier had ever seen his sister. Rhylan surged off his knees and lifted her into the air before they let the shift take them. Jax and Sydney were quieter about their romance, yet just as intensely in love.
Javier stood back, even as his wolf pushed him to shift and run with his new packmates. There was a new strength in him. It was given to him by the trust of his pack and it allowed him to hold off on his own shift to make sure they were safe. Once he watched them disappear into the dark forest, he turned toward his mate.
There was a sadness in her eyes that he wished he could kiss away. Her lips pressed into a thin line and tears rimmed her eyes, but she nodded and stepped back. Javier caught her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. She did not want to relent, but slowly softened.
Nora was both mate and Pack. He owed her happiness, too, and he would stop at nothing to find it for her. Javier tried to show the promise with his eyes, but Nora offered a small smile and turned back toward the Lodge before he could be sure if she saw it.
His wolf pressed forward, releasing a howl that shook the forest around them. Every animal in the mountains would know who ruled them. They were the top of the food chain, and Javier was their king. He raced after his Pack, wind in his ears and their scent in his nose.
He was their Alpha.
Chapter Seventeen
Nora laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The sun had risen outside and bathed the room in soft, white light. The future was wide open. It was brighter than she’d ever known before, even brighter than when she lived with Walter.
Still, no matter what lay ahead, Nora continually turned inside. She searched and searched but could never find exactly what she was looking for. Each time, she hoped beyond hope. It had to be there, even a fragment, she begged.
Yet, no matter how hard she searched, she could not find the magic that she’d been born with. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and she curled in on herself. Cordelia’s tricks had brought Nora’s magic back to her, but the process of dethroning the witch’s soul had burned away any traces of it. She ached to feel it, to know the magic of the world again, but it would never be there.
The door opened, and a mostly naked Javier strode through with two mugs. He set them on the nightstand and leaned over the bed to give her a kiss. The sight of tears in her eyes gave him pause. Alarm flitted through his eyes.
“What is it?” His voice hitched.
She shook her head. Nora would not turn time back for anything, but she couldn’t help but yearn for what she’d lost. She’d accept scars over and over if only she could have back what she once was. Instinctively, she reached out and gripped Javier’s wrist. The touch helped push back her own fear and grief.
“Talk to me,” he begged. “I can’t help if I don’t understand.”
Her throat tightened, like a hand squeezing around her. She wanted to tell him, to beg him to understand and hold her tight while she cried, but it was all stuck. Nothing would come out. No truth found it’s way into the world.
Instead, she turned onto her side and let the tears come. There would come a time when the tears diminished. Each day would be one less tear until none fell and she realized she could live in this world without her power. She knew how grief worked. Yet, that day felt so far away.
Javier wrapped her in the cocoon of his arms. His touch was gentle, but his arms strong.
“I’ll be here whenever you find the strength to tell me.” He paused. “There’s a lot I don’t talk about. My soul isn’t quite the same, but I remember the things that happened in that barn. Somedays, it feels like something that happened to someone else. Other days… other days aren’t so easy.
“I don’t know what is causing you pain right now, but I’m here for you. Nothing will hurt you as long as we’re together. We’re stronger that way.”
He didn’t understand. He’d endured pain, but not loss. Javier had lost nothing in this. No, that was not fair. For a time, he’d lost his soul. Javier had walked this earth an empty shell of a man. He’d been unable to enjoy his sister’s wedding or breathe easy after they freed him from the barn. Still, that’d only lasted for a time.
Each time he and Nora came together, a piece of his soul returned. She wondered if his body had forged him a new one, but now she could see that she’d been a tether between Javier and his soul. She was her mother’s blood and that had been what helped funnel his soul from Cordelia’s grasp and back into his body.
Now, only Nora was the one who’d truly lost anything in this battle. She did not miss her mother or her family, but the part of herself that had been magical.
“Jax knows a witch in New York,” Javier began.
She froze in his arms. A single tear fell down her cheek, unstoppable even though her body refused to function. How could he have known? How…?
“I don’t know if there’s anything she can do, but you might be able to… I don’t know, find a new path to magic? Your mother had none, and she found it, even if she took a dark path to get there. I’d like to think you might be able to find a path of your own to finding magic again.”
Nora processed his words. They meant that, at some point, he and Jax had discussed her sacrifice. They’d discussed her absence of magic. The thought stung, but it also gave her hope. There was a possibility that she could have what she so desperately missed, that Nora might not always be caught between the strong and the weak.
She could not be the wife of an Alpha with no power of her own. There was a possibility she could find a kind of magic that would make her his equal in power. The idea struck a spark of hope inside her. If this witch from Upstate New York knew what Nora needed, she would take it. Their pack would never suffer again.
Not as long as they had anything to say about it.
Searching deep and dragging up a mote of happiness, she slung her arms around her mate’s neck. The sensation of skin on skin amplified the happiness and brought a true smile to her lips. Sadness and regret might have latched onto her, but it was not eternal. The sun would always shine.
Her mate let out a hungry growl, letting his head dip toward the exposed skin of her neck. She was ready to tell him no, but desire unfolded through her and she wrapped her legs around him and pulled instead. He crashed into her just as his teeth sank into her neck. Nora cried out.
Everything she’d felt moments ago was gone, chased away by her mate. Her hands ran over the smooth skin of his back. She followed the rise and fall of his muscles, dragging her nails to pull growls from him. He was warm and solid above her. With him, Nora never had to question who she was or where she stood.
She was simply his mate.
Nora grabbed either side of his face and brought his lips to hers. They lost themselves in each other. Clothing slowly made its way to the floor, flimsy and forgotten in their lust for one another.
Agonizingly slow, Javier bru
shed his hips into hers. The bulge in his pants made her breath hitch each time it brushed her groin. She wanted to feel him drown in her, to feel the kind of magic only the two of them could make.
The life they had… it was good. Nora realized that as Javier lifted himself over her. Her breath caught in her throat. She reached to cup his face when she saw the glitter of joy and humor and desire in his eyes. It captivated her, something she didn’t know if she’d ever seen before.
“What?” Javier smirked, slightly confused by her sudden awe.
His hands never stopped moving. He held his weight on his elbows, letting his hands trail along her shoulders. Before she could respond, he dipped his head into the well between her neck and chest. His lips and facial hair left a shivering line along her skin. Nora shuddered and Javier released a possessive growl, pulling her close.
“I’m lucky,” she said finally. “I don’t deserve any of this, but I have it and I can’t believe how lucky I was.”
Javier pulled back. His brows arched with concern. He kissed her cheek, slow and gentle. “You deserve the world.”
She pressed her lips together, fighting back tears. She wrapped her arms around him and held on like someone might take him away again. Before she could argue with him, his lips met hers. He was soft at first, teasing her lips with gentle bites and soft caressing. Once she pushed back the tears, she let her lips open to him. His tongue brushed against hers before filling her.
She wanted to feel him drown inside her. They were two halves of the same whole and Nora suddenly understood what Sydney meant about it being worth a new bed a week.
The sex was that good.
Thank you!
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Javier Page 13