Bonded

by Reese Knightley

  Jace moved into Cage’s arms and drew strength from his mate.

  Alister stood silent and still, gazing after Roman.

  “It’s just as well. That fucker was toxic. I don’t know how he got his claws into Roman, but he’s better off alone then with someone like Marcus,” Alister said after a moment.

  “I know. It’s just that I think he wanted to have words with Marcus,” Jace told Alister. “Closure, and now he can’t.”

  “Shit,” Alister muttered and walked out the sliding glass door Roman had disappeared through. In a flurry, the highbred morphed into a raven, and dark wings carried him into the air.

  “How long were you listening?” Jace asked Cage.

  “A few minutes. Why? Did I miss something?”

  “Alister gave a history lesson to Lucas, and basically, with the mages dropping their shields, they have fucked us all.”

  “Oookay, well, not much then.” Cage tried to make light of it.

  Jace answered his mate’s sad smile and squeezed him tightly.

  “Our world as we know it has changed,” he murmured.

  “As long as you’re in it, I’ll deal with whatever life throws at us,” Cage responded.

  “As long as we both shall live.”

  “And baby,” Cage said, squeezing him tightly. “That’s going to be until the end of time.”

  “I hope so. I certainly hope so.”

  Fuck, Cage was nervous.

  He stood at the entrance to the room, gazing at all the people and smiling faces of those who were there for him and Jace.

  There was a lull in moving toward the dragon territory as Jonas and his pack were running late arriving at Roman’s place.

  To take advantage of the quiet, Cage had planned a surprise for Jace. Between taking care of the pack’s needs and running for their lives, Cage wanted Jace to know he was always the center of his world.

  “Ready?” He smiled over at Jace by his side.

  “For dinner? I’m starved.”

  Cage laughed and the sound drew several heads around with smiles.

  He advanced into the room and drew his mate with him to the long table that sat at the head of the room. Alister, Roman, Rafe, and Anton were already seated, and Cage and Jace took seats as well. Once the alphas began eating, the rest of the pack jumped in.

  The alcohol flowed easily, but shifters’ metabolisms ran so high, there was only a slim chance of actually getting drunk. If anything, it made them feel lighthearted in a time when they needed it the most.

  After the dinner dishes were cleared away, Cage stood and tapped the edge of his glass with a spoon, clearing his throat.

  “Family and friends. Thank you for gathering. He gazed around and then gave a heavy sigh. “We are at war.”

  He waited for the sudden noise of agreement to settle down. “I’ll understand if you bow out and feel that this isn’t your fight with the mages and hunters. I’m here to tell you that it is. If not your own fight, it’s your fight for your future. For the future of your family, children, and pack… for your right to love whomever you choose. Just as we fought for our females over the right to choose when to mate and bear their young, we fight now for the freedom to love whomever the fuck we want,” Cage finished amidst cheers, clapping, and pounding on tables.

  Cage held up his hands until they all grew quiet.

  “Jace and I have been in love for a few years now. He is my mate and we have blood bonded.”

  As he expected, silence once again reigned over the room. Everyone knew of the blood bond via the alphas, so there was no mystery around why they were together.

  “It is my honor to have this man by my side.” He turned to Jace, who was staring at him in awe, and smiled. Holding out his hand, he pulled Jace up when his mate took it.

  “Jace DeLeon, I want to bind myself to you in a wolf bonding ceremony in front of our family and friends. If you say yes, you’ll make me the happiest wolf on earth.”

  “Yes, with all my heart,” Jace whispered.

  Cage reached up and brushed the tear from Jace’s cheek with his thumb and drew his love in for a kiss.

  As the kiss grew longer, the pounding and shouting grew louder until Cage finally lifted his head to gaze at a breathless Jace.

  “My love.” Cage lifted their joined hands to the room and the cheering grew louder. “Ready?”

  “What? Now?” Jace’s eyes were large in his face.

  “Do you want to wait?” His heart lurched.

  “No. I don’t want to wait one more second,” Jace laughed and gripped his hand tighter.

  Cage gave a sigh of relief and tugged Jace through the room and out the door with everyone following. Reaching the part of the ranch Roman had setup for these types of occasions, Cage stepped into the clearing at the edge of the forest.

  “Oh my god, it’s beautiful.” Jace stopped with a gasp.

  The area was filled with white and gold, courtesy of Alister. It had been important that the wizard/warlock had given his blessing.

  The strings of glowing lights were all Roman and the wolves’ doing. Chairs sat on either side of an aisle with a small area and stage up front. Over the stage stood a trellis with lights and flowers. Littering the earthen floor were petals.

  “Now I know why you dressed up.” Jace spun to him, eyes alight with love and fire.

  “Yes.” He’d worn his best suit and in doing so, Jace had changed into one of his own smoking hot suits as a chance to dress up.

  Jace could have worn anything. Cage thought his mate looked sexy as hell in nothing but low-riding blue jeans, but he knew this day was important to both of them and the pictures that came out of it would be something they’d keep to show their children and grandchildren.

  “Ready?” he asked for the second time and held out his hand.

  “I don’t have vows ready.”

  “It’s not that kind of ceremony. We pledge our love before our pack and Rafe blesses the bonding.”

  “Oh, thank god.”

  Jace’s laugh caused his own chuckle and he drew his lover to the front of the haven and waited for everyone to take their seats.

  Cage squeezed Jace’s hand and guided his love toward where Rafe waited on the small earthen stage.

  Standing before Rafe, the crowd behind them grew quiet.

  “Pack, family, and friends, we’ve come together to bless the blood bond of this mated pair. May their lives be filled with happiness, prosperity, and love,” Rafe began.

  Cage turned and held both of Jace’s hands. Staring into his wide blue eyes, Cage had never seen anything as beautiful as Jace.

  Jace’s love glowed through his eyes and brought a lump to Cage’s throat.

  “Anyone who objects to this union, let them speak now,” Rafe addressed the crowd.

  Silence filled the area.

  “Then, as the South Region Alpha Leader, I bless this bonded pair. They are mated and bonded in the eyes of all packs,” Rafe declared.

  Cage drew Jace in and brushed his mouth over his mate’s lips.

  “With everything I am, I love you, Jace,” he whispered.

  Tears poured from Jace’s eyes and trailed down his cheeks, but he didn’t give a crap.

  “I love you, Cage. You are my heart,” he breathed the only words he could think of through his tight throat.

  When Cage kissed him, Jace dug his fingers into the wolf’s hair and gripped it hard to keep his mouth locked as the kiss turned fierce.

  Hooting and hollering began.

  “I guess that means it’s dessert time!” Alex shouted, and the forest echoed with laughter.

  “There’s cake!”

  Jace vaguely heard Griffin call out. Eventually, he put a fraction of an inch between them. Holding Cage’s loving brown gaze, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else on earth.

  No matter what the war brought, no matter where they ended up, he knew in his heart they’d be all right if they were together.

  It wasn�
�t only a wolf thing, it was a love thing.

  “Let’s eat some cake.”

  “I’d like that.” He smiled as Cage drew him toward a table tucked out of the way.

  Hugs and kisses from all of the packs commenced, and then they were eating their fill of the gooey, sugary goodness.

  Someone had managed to pipe soft music into the small clearing and Jace found himself in Cage’s arms, swaying to the sound.

  “You bitch!” Alex’s furious hiss snapped his head up.

  “Uh oh,” he muttered, not knowing exactly what was going on, but knew it couldn’t be good.

  Next to them on the crowded dance floor, Alex and Melissa were in a standoff. Melissa was in the curve of Griffin’s arms. Alex, looking sexy in a dark suit, glared at the female.

  “Alex,” Griffin growled in warning, but it was too late.

  Alex shifted and charged. Melissa shifted in a blink. The rest of the crowd gave them room as the pair crashed together in wolf form. Teeth savagely snapping, Alex cleaved into Melissa’s shoulder. The multi-colored wolf yelped and then took a bite out of Alex’s ear. The pair went rolling across the small clearing, toppling over a few chairs before the fight disappeared into the woods.

  Sight unseen, but the savage snarls could be heard by all.

  A pack member gathered Alex and Melissa’s clothing from the floor.

  “Fix this,” Cage growled, slicing a dark look at Griffin.

  “Fuck.” Griffin ran a hand over the back of his neck and tossed off his suit jacket. “I’ll handle it.”

  The enforcer left the dance floor, yanking off his clothing, and shifted into his massive form before he lunged after the fighting pair.

  “I’m so sorry,” Cage groaned, turning to him.

  Jace smiled. “It’s only family drama.”

  Cage chuckled and tugged him into his arms. The rest of the couples around them laughed, but not surprisingly, they continued dancing.

  Wolves. Go figure, Jace thought with a silent chuckle.

  “Why didn’t you command them to shift back to human?” He gave Cage a curious look.

  “They would have both been naked. I didn’t think that was best under the circumstances. Besides, they’ll answer to me later once Griffin knocks some sense into their heads.”

  “Don’t be too harsh on Alex,” Jace murmured, running his hands over Cage’s muscled biceps. “Jealousy is a powerful emotion.”

  “It is. Perhaps, you’d like to dole out their punishment. Melissa isn’t innocent in all of this. I’ve seen the way she flirts with Griffin.”

  “I know. And, no thank you. I’m not good at punishment,” he said and wrinkled his nose before slipping his arms up and around Cage’s neck.

  “I’m going to call you husband to the human world.”

  “I couldn’t be happier about that,” Cage whispered and kissed his lips.

  “All good?”

  Cage checked on Jace, who was sitting in the SUV with Alister and Rafe.

  “Yes.” Jace stepped out to stretch his legs.

  They’d been on the road for several hours with most of the combined packs running in wolf form. In total, they were made up of twenty-eight wolves. They’d broken into smaller groups and moved north. Once they got closer to the dragons’ border, they’d group up again and figure out what the fuck to do.

  Surely, the dragon king would take their side after the mages had removed the wards?

  Cage could only hope.

  Alister leaned forward from the back seat and held his gaze through the open window.

  “Any sign of him?” the warlock asked worriedly.

  “No,” Cage said gruffly.

  “He’ll show up,” Rafe said, but the alpha didn’t sound sure.

  Jonas was missing. He hadn’t shown up at Roman’s and nobody had been able to reach him. They’d waited an extra day, but with the threat of war on the horizon, they’d had to make a move.

  Cage knew in his gut that something had happened to Jonas.

  “I’ll catch up with you,” Alister snapped and slammed open the SUV door.

  Jace raced around the back end of the vehicle to catch Alister. “What are you going to do?”

  Cage hurried after his mate and stood silently behind him, offering his presence as comfort.

  “I’m going to find him.” Alister stared at Jace with burning eyes, and Cage realized there was nothing Jace could say to keep his friend with them and safe. “We should have been more cautious!”

  “Jonas is the strongest among us. If anyone can survive, it will be him,” Anton said, and then looked away beneath Alister’s furious gaze.

  “I agree, Jonas is the strongest,” Rafe said. “But they killed Franklin, so we should have known we were all at risk.”

  Cage couldn’t argue. They’d been so worried about him and Jace, they’d failed to think about the remaining Regional Leaders’ safety. If the opposing side got their hands on Jonas, they’d use him for leverage.

  “Be careful. Keep your phone on you, and check in or I’ll go out of my mind,” Jace told Alister, his voice wobbling with tears as he stepped forward.

  “I will.” Alister crushed Jace in his arms, gazing at him over Jace’s head. “Be safe,” the wizard murmured.

  “You too, my friend.” Cage stepped forward and pulled Jace into his arms.

  They both turned and silently watched as Alister took to the skies in a flurry.

  A little over a week later, the Swiftcrest wolves gathered in a motel just off the grid.

  With twelve pack members, his and Cage’s room was crowded, but they made it work for the meeting.

  “Times are probably going to get harder before they get better,” Cage said when the group grew quiet.

  Jace leaned his ass on the small desk and shoved his hands into his pockets. Each shifter had their eyes locked on the both of them. They looked to them, him and Cage, both for answers, but sometimes, like now, they didn’t have them.

  “As you all know, the hunters, together with the mages, have declared war on the wolf shifters. I don’t know if that includes other shifters, but I suspect that it might.” Cage went on. “Right now, they outnumber us. We are hoping for help from the dragon king once we reach their border. We also hope that Pethious, the leader of the warlock, wizards, and sorcerers, will help, but we haven’t heard back yet.”

  “Where will we stay? What will we do?” Brock asked as his voice wobbled.

  The youth was standing next to him and Jace reached out and cupped a hand on the back of Brock’s neck. “We keep traveling north as planned,” he said softly, and then glanced at his beloved.

  Cage’s warm, brown eyes were lovingly locked on his face. “That’s right. As Jace has stated, we’re sticking to the plan. We travel north. Our next stop is Yellowknife.”

  “And from there?” Tess asked.

  “We wait for Alister to show up with Jonas,” Cage replied.

  “What if Alister doesn’t find Jonas?” Lucas looked worried.

  “He will,” Jace said with confidence.

  “After we regroup, we’ll arrange a meeting with the dragon king.”

  “What if he won’t see us?” Trent asked this time.

  “Then we’ll make a new plan,” Cage said, holding his gaze.

  Jace smiled at Cage and turned to look out over the sea of faces. “Whatever we do, we’ll do it together as a pack. We’re family. Never forget that.”

  After a moment, he held out his arms and they converged forward. Of course, Jace couldn’t hug them all at once, but the power of the massive group hug melted his heart and the outpouring of love brought a lump to his throat.

  Eventually, he was able to hug and speak to each of them one by one until all of the pack calmed enough to head back to their own rooms.

  Cage closed the door after Griffin left and leaned back against it.

  “You,” Cage said huskily, his eyes glittering, “are my soulmate.”

  “Ditto, baby.” Jac
e smiled and turned, sauntering toward the bed.

  He tugged his shirt up and over his head and shook back his hair. It reached to his shoulders now.

  Hearing Cage’s light inhale, he grinned and tossed a look over his shoulder.

  His alpha was hungry.

  And so was he.

  “Come love me,” he whispered and set his teeth into his bottom lip.

  “For the rest of our lives,” Cage groaned. Naked in seconds, he was stalking toward him and the bed.

  “Yes,” he agreed.

  The future was uncertain and the threat of war scary, but there was one thing in life he was sure of, and that was the love he shared with Cage, a love that would last a lifetime.

  The End

  Coming soon, MARKED (Pacific Northwest Shifters book three) Alister and Jonas’s story.

  Out for Justice Series

  Ricochet

  Collide

  Rampage

  Destruction

  Bulletproof

  Code of Honor Series

  Cutting It Close

  Risking It All

  Bringing It Home

  Cobalt Security Series

  Without Warning

  Pacific Northwest Shifter Series

  Hunted

  WITHOUT WARNING

  Sneak Peek

  Harrison

  “Who sent them?”

  “I don’t know,” he lied, and he wasn’t sure why, but the thought of his uncle finding out how much he’d been duped didn’t sit well. And god, had he been duped.

  “That’s it! I’m hiring you a bodyguard!” his uncle bellowed.

  “Don’t, please. A bodyguard is the last thing I want or need.” His childhood from the age of ten had been filled with security, off and on.

  Uncle Dean looked troubled. “Harrison, I must.”

  “The last time I had a bodyguard, he was killed,” he said faintly.

  “I know how hard this is for you.”

  Really? He gazed down blindly at his hands and then lifted them, palms up, to his uncle as if the man could see how much blood had once covered them. Then he pressed his trembling fingers to his lips and the room blurred.