Her gaze fell on Rifter. “We’re allowing a single wish. It won’t solve all your problems. If you don’t choose wisely, you might even make things worse for yourselves.”
Leifr said, “We’ll be back to hear your answer soon. Don’t make us wait.”
Once the Elders were gone, the men were able to shift immediately. They stood staring at the place where the Elders had been as Rifter tried to process their sudden generosity.
If it was a trap, the Elders were determined to let the Dires set it and snag themselves. Rifter knew which wish he wanted, but it would most definitely make everything worse.
Vice spoke first. “Save Gwen.”
Rifter stared at his brothers as they all nodded in agreement.
“I know Rogue would agree too,” Jinx said. “And I’m sure as shit not counting Harm.”
“There are other things… As king, I’m supposed to choose what’s best for all, not for just me,” he said.
“What’s best for the king is what’s best for us,” Jinx countered.
“You could all wish for mates,” Rifter told them.
“And take away yours?” Stray asked. “No. Save Gwen. We’ll deal with the rest. We’ve got nothing but time.”
Chapter 48
The woman before her was so blindingly beautiful, it hurt. Gwen roused and stared down at her still-human body, confused. “Who are you?” she asked without speaking, as she was still very much in Sister Wolf’s form.
“I’m Eydis. One of the Dire Elders. And you have yet to complete your third shift,” the woman said.
No shit, Gwen wanted to tell her, but Eydis lifted a brow and frowned as though she did.
Mind-reading Elders. Something the Dires forgot to mention. “Will I finish my shift?”
Eydis pointed toward the group of men who stood in the woods, talking. About Gwen. “We left the choice in their hands. So many other things they can choose—and yet, they’re sacrificing their own wishes and wants for you.”
Gwen felt the tears rise.
“What if the Dires can’t save the weretrappers—and the humans—from themselves?”
“They don’t have a choice. It is their charge. They must find a way.”
“How long will you punish them?”
Eydis smiled, more chilling than comforting. “Include yourself in that, Sister Wolf. You’ve accepted their burdens.
She had—gladly. “Then hurry up and save me.”
“Impatient, just like the others,” Eydis mused. “The Dires saved you. But you will always be a danger to them. Always. You’ll have to live with that.”
She stared down at the men, all too willing to accept her despite that major flaw inside of her, something she could never change. “I can.”
“I still can’t believe they respect you. A half human,” Eydis mused. “Odd.”
Gwen heard the growl rip from her own throat.
“Now, now, little wolf, it’s not the time to fight me. You’ve got to get yourself out of this mess. We’re not the ones stopping you. Never have been. You’ve always been in your own way. I’m here to help you with that.”
Was that true? Gwen had never wanted to die, had made it clear she wanted to be with Rifter. So why would she stop herself from shifting?
“You haven’t given yourself over to the ways. You want it to be on your terms… your… science, as you call it. Forget your old ways; surrender to the new ones.”
“And I’ll magically transform?”
“I’ve never understood humans’ penchant for snark,” Eydis sniffed. “Don’t be so skeptical, human.”
“Half wolf,” Gwen told her.
Eydis smiled. “You won’t be alone this time. I have great power, and I don’t help just anyone.”
“Why me?”
“You’ve proven yourself useful. Loyal. And the Dires need help now, more than ever.” Eydis paused. “I was taken before my first shift—some call that lucky and say I’ll never know what I missed. But I know what I missed. Sometimes, I force myself to remember what it was like to be one of them.”
She put her hand on Gwen’s arm, and maybe for the first time, Gwen understood a little bit about the Elders. They could fix things—some things—but not until their Dires made the necessary sacrifices.
Nothing good can be attained easily. And for Gwen, being with Rifter was the best thing she could do.
We’ve got nothing but time.
At Stray’s words, the Elders were back, standing before them. But the difference was that there was no forced shift for the Dires. The men stood before their makers in their human form for the first time ever.
Eydis spoke. “Your Sister Wolf is strong. Not afraid to speak her mind.”
“My brothers and I agree that saving Gwen is our wish. But you should be saving her no matter what,” Rifter told them, pushing his luck to the edge. “We cannot be lone wolves for eternity.”
Leifr smiled, but it was far more wicked than comforting. “There have always been more.”
“Then why the fuck weren’t we told that it was truth?” Rifter growled, and this time Vice was holding him back. Never a good sign.
“You were never not told. You continued to search, did you not?” Leifr smiled as Vice’s Brother Wolf growled like it was ready and willing to attack. “Control your Brother Wolves, or I’ll do it for you.”
It was a command, not a suggestion, but Vice and his wolf had stopped taking either long ago.
“We never stopped looking, but every lead, every rumor was false. At least until we found Stray,” Rifter said. “So there are more… beyond Gwen?”
“One of you has known that for a long time,” Meili said, and, yes, Rifter would have to kill one of the wolves standing behind him for that.
“It’s time for the Dire pack to flourish,” Leifr intoned. “We can’t allow Gwen to be taken from you. Not when the great war between the supernatural and the humans is upon us.”
“Humans are performing dark magic. Lines are blurring. Prophesies long considered dead are being unearthed as true,” Meili continued. “There need to be more of you to fight the weretrappers and the witches. You must protect those humans you’ve been sworn to over the years. You must not let the dark arts win.”
Prophesies long considered dead… Rifter contemplated this before telling the Elders, “I will never let the dark arts win. And thank you for saving Gwen.”
“Your intentions were finally from the heart,” Eydis told him. “And so it will be done.”
Rifter nearly collapsed with relief. Brother Wolf howled a grateful response. But there was a catch here—there always was.
Eydis told them, “She’ll be immortal, and her blood will always be deadly to you. She’s your mate—and your kryptonite, all rolled into one.”
I understand, he told them. Wake her up.
Chapter 49
There would be time later to figure out who knew what about living Dires beyond their pack. For now, Rifter raced into the house toward Gwen, his brothers behind him.
The rain had replaced the snow once more, which meant trouble still lay ahead, and they moved through the water easily.
Once in the room, he found Sister Wolf curled on the pillows, her breathing shallow, and he swore his heart stopped.
“Hey,” he said softly, and the beautiful female lifted her head and stared at him and then at his brothers behind him. “You’re safe. You made a wolf shift… now come back to me, baby. I know you can do it.”
He heard his brothers leave in order to give them privacy, and he knelt by the bed and waited. Put his head down and prayed, then lifted it when he heard the growl quickly followed by a whimper.
Gwen was curled naked against the pillows. She was so still that, at first, a wave of panic rushed through him.
But her breaths were even, albeit slightly shallow. She was pale. But she’d made it. His silent prayer of thanks to the Elders earned him what felt like a light touch to his forehead, followed by a light bree
ze on the back of his neck.
Whether the Elders would be watching out for the Dires more closely now remained to be seen, but Rifter could only hope.
The worst might seem like it was over, but he knew it had just begun. But with his mate by his side, he had every reason to be hopeful.
“I’m really awake,” she said quietly after a few long moments as she stared down at her limbs, flexed her hands, which had been paws moments earlier.
“Did it hurt?”
“No, not really… it’s… it felt right. Finally.”
He brushed a hand across her cheek as color began to return. “Finally. Your wolf is beautiful.”
She flushed with pride. “I can’t wait to do it again.”
“Shift?”
“Yeah, that too,” she murmured. “Will you chain yourself down for me again?”
“Didn’t think you were that kind of girl.”
“I didn’t know I wasn’t really all girl.” She grinned. “I made it through, so that means I’m okay now, right?”
“You’re more than okay,” he told her, his hand moving to touch the bare skin of her back, the unmistakable heat rising between them. “Do you need to… rest?”
“I’ve rested enough for a lifetime. I feel like I could run a marathon.”
Her energy level would only continue to grow. Still half human, always would be, he supposed, but Sister Wolf would take over as much real estate as she could to protect Gwen. Sister Wolf would protect her as fiercely as his pack always would.
“The mating’s been accepted. Blessed. Eydis told me,” she said.
“We still have to do a moon run,” he told her, even as her hand found its way between his legs. Blood rushed to his cock, and its pulsating need for her overwhelmed everything else.
She obviously felt the same way as she stroked him, agreeing, “Yes. Run. Later.” Then she tugged him in for a kiss and he stopped talking.
Everything felt different. It was different because she’d transformed. Her body had somehow turned into Sister Wolf and back, and all the pieces somehow fit together perfectly.
Forget your science, her wolf whispered. Embrace your wolf.
Gwen planned on doing just that, and to Rifter as well. His scent was so powerful, called to her in a way too powerful for her to resist.
Giving herself to Rifter again, now that the mating ritual was complete, made it even more satisfying. There wasn’t danger in this coming together—there was hope. And so she undid Rifter’s jeans and let her hand circle his hard, thick length with no barrier, watching his eyes grow heavy lidded with her efforts.
So different than the first night they’d met, and yet, the feelings that started then had been real on both ends.
“That’s it, baby. Stroke me like that,” he told her, and she complied, loving the way she was giving this man—her mate—pleasure. Sister Wolf howled and Gwen wanted Rifter so badly she ached.
Rifter knew. His hand traced a path down her belly until it rested between her legs. His fingers found her core, and she realized that everything was more sensitive. Her skin tingled and her arousal surged as though she hadn’t orgasmed for years.
She needed one now. She straddled him and guided him inside of her, slowly at first, and then she pushed herself down hard so that he filled her completely. Everything about Rifter’s body against hers was right. Things were complete, inside and out. And when he held her hips, bucked up inside of her, she cried out.
The sensations, the pleasures, all magnified, until it all became one blur of taste and sound and sight. In the middle of everything, his lick along her earlobe made her shiver.
When he bit her shoulder, she shuddered, cried out in surrender of what she’d once been. Came hard, contracting around him, pulling his orgasm into hers, until both their breath ran ragged, their bodies slick with sweat.
And he was still hard.
“Hours. I need hours with you. Days.” He spoke to her in the old language, filled her with joy that she understood.
“We’ve got all the time you need,” she told him.
“All for you,” he told her. “Everything… it’s been for you, my fated one.”
“I love you,” she said. “I know, it’s the human word—”
“It’s all a part of you. A part of me.” He kissed her and she didn’t know how he could be so gentle and rough at the same time, the combination instantly setting her on fire. “I plan to spend forever doing this—tracing every part of you with my fingers, my tongue. My cock buried inside you.”
She couldn’t think of anything better.
Chapter 50
Angus sat in his car, engine off, and lit a cigarette, knowing that smoking wouldn’t be the thing that ultimately did him in. The job was a likely candidate, this one in particular.
He’d been shot at many times over the course of his career. Knifed. Kicked. Punched. Threatened to hell and back.
Four years earlier, Angus had found himself on the receiving end of right hook from Harm—a powerful punch Mike Tyson would’ve killed to have.
There had been rumors for years that Harm was into the occult, that he’d made some kind of deal with the devil to stay so youthful and good-looking. The success of his band was off the charts. The stories of drug abuse and infighting, more so.
Angus had been too embarrassed to consult anyone about his suspicions, but as soon as he’d purchased a book on the supernatural from Amazon, he’d been called into his supervisor’s office.
Big brother was most definitely watching.
He’d learned about a branch in the agency he didn’t know, and never would’ve believed, existed. A new world opened for him, one that made him go home and drink until he passed out.
Two days later, when the hangover finally passed, he went back in and found himself on some kind of crazy vision quest.
Harm had disappeared somewhere in this town. Angus had checked hotels, motels, inns. Hospital and morgue. Prison. No rental-car records or credit card activity. His bank accounts were strangely silent, and the money sat untouched.
How did a grown man—a highly recognizable one—disappear into thin air?
He pondered that some more as he stared out on the vast field of empty land where blood was found on the grass after calls of a disturbance by neighbors. Except there were no neighbors for fifteen miles in either direction, thanks to the woods. But it was an odd place for a clearing.
He needed to check with the buildings department to see who owned the property. Local law enforcement told him they were looking into it. Which meant they weren’t cooperating with his investigation.
Speaking of, the black-and-white cruiser pulled up alongside his car. He got out his badge and rolled down the window, saw it was the same man he’d met at the earlier crime scene, where Cain Chambers had been arrested and then released for lack of evidence.
“I’ve got some information I think you’ll want to hear,” Leo Shimmin told him as he held up the picture of a pentagram.
Angus glanced at Shimmin and nodded.
Rifter stood with Gwen in the kitchen as they all gathered around. Three days had passed since the Elders had visited, giving them plenty of time to recover.
Gwen had also shifted another time and back, just to prove to herself that she could. Rifter was pretty sure this relationship stuff was going to be the death of him in some way.
“What did I miss?” Gwen asked, because she hadn’t seen the brothers or Liam or the twins since she’d first awakened.
“We blew up the mausoleum. Liam killed Teague and put a bounty on Walker’s head. The FBI and the police are onto us. Rogue’s still out and the Dire army still needs to be stopped. Does that cover it?” Vice asked.
Rifter glanced at him. “And we need to find a witch strong enough to reverse Seb’s spell on Rogue, since killing him’s going to be impossible.”
He’d told the Dires about the mare spell on Rogue, but not Gwen. There was only so much a new wolf could handle,
and she’d taken on more than her share.
“Yeah, they’re all going to be dying to help us,” Vice muttered.
“I’ll get us one,” Jinx said with such certainty that no one said anything else.
He’d have to do it soon. The heat was really coming down on them hard. The wolves looked like they were part of a motorcycle gang and normally did nothing to dispel that rumor. This way, they were typically given a wide berth by humans, and generally, if the police were smart, they left the men to their own devices when they realized they weren’t causing trouble by selling drugs or running guns.
No, the wolves were just running.
But now the town was in disarray, as were their lives, evidenced when Stray turned the monitor to face them and scrolled through wanted posters with all their faces on it. “We’re in big fucking trouble.”
Indeed, this level of outing had never happened. Technology was really a bitch.
“Liam’s on here as well,” Stray said. “Someone’s done a hell of a lot of research.”
“Has to be Mars’s brother,” Rifter muttered.
Harm cleared his throat guiltily and they all turned to look at him. He wasn’t in the attic anymore like some fucked-up version of Scrooge’s ghosts, but he still wore silver bonds on his wrists and ankles.
“I’m wanted,” he admitted.
“We already caught you.”
“The FBI’s been trailing me—some guy named Angus Young. There have been murders that happened in every town the band played in—and then murders in every town I showed up in after the band broke up.”
“Someone’s been killing and putting the blame on you?”
“Yes.”
“You sure it’s not you and you’re trying to put the blame on someone else? Because you’re damned good at that.” Vice snapped his teeth together, thinking how much more satisfying it would be to have Harm’s neck between them, crushed like a paper cup.
Harm straightened. “I saved your ass from the outlaws and this is the thanks I get?”
“We were doing just fine without you,” Rifter said. “We’ll do fine if you’re not here.”
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