by Dana Archer
His fangs slipped into place. He tore at his wrist, ripping it open, and shoved the bleeding wound between her cool lips. She didn’t swallow. Didn’t move. Only her exhales warmed his skin.
“Gwen!” He leaned close and yelled. “Do you hear me, Gwen? Don’t you give up. I won’t lose you!”
Her eyelids didn’t even flicker. His pulse sped. He knew what he had to do—mate her. It’d be the only way to save her life. They were too far from human doctors, and what he knew of humans, how to ease their afflictions and pains, was centuries outdated.
He had no choice, but a flicker of unease slipped through him. He’d be taking the choice out of her hands. That was wrong. They’d reconnected only hours ago. She didn’t know of their tragic past. She didn’t know how he’d betrayed her. Lied to her. Used her.
She didn’t know how sorry he was for not looking beyond her soft exterior and uncovering the strong woman inside. Didn’t know how he’d watched her run from him—twice—and felt relieved.
The moment he soul-bonded them, she would. She’d know everything.
For the first time, he understood why Devin had chosen the path he had—partially mating Lena in the way of a breeding partner. By giving her a piece of his soul, he’d stopped her slip into death.
Xander could do the same with Gwen, and as long as he held her soul close to his, she’d be able to steal his life force, using it to heal herself. He’d cocoon her in his strength until her internal injuries healed. She wouldn’t be able to learn much in that time. He hoped.
He pulled his hand from her mouth and crawled over her. Most mate bites were delivered from behind as it put the female in a position of submission, but he feared moving her and causing more damage than he probably already had by rolling her over. Besides, what they were doing had nothing to do with lust or dominance. It was about survival, both Gwen’s and his.
He cut her top with a sharpened nail, exposing her shoulder, then opened his mind to Vlad’s.
“Get back here now. Gwen was shot.”
“What?! Is she ok—”
Xander slammed the door on Vlad. He didn’t have time to discuss details or think any longer about the consequences of his choice.
Instinct took over. Xander twisted his arm in front of him and pressed his bleeding wrist to Gwen’s lips, then bit the spot where Gwen’s shoulder met her neck.
She didn’t flinch as he ground his fangs into her bone. Her pulse didn’t quicken. His did, however. They were running out of time.
Xander closed his eyes and opened the pathway between him and Gwen. Her pain rushed over him, but not her fear. A sense of acceptance surrounded her. She wasn’t fighting, or maybe her body was too injured to do so. Either way, she was fading. The light in the pure white, pulsating orb that held her soul was dimming.
No. He wouldn’t let her go. Never again.
“Gwen, my mate, it’s Xander,” he murmured softly so as not to frighten her. She didn’t acknowledge him. That worried him.
Knowing he couldn’t waste another moment, he acted, surrounding Gwen’s soul with his. Peace slipped through him, along with a sense of coming home.
“Xander.” Pain tightened Gwen’s voice, but she recognized him. Reached for him. “I’m dying.”
“No. You’re not. I’m going to heal you, but you need to accept me. Do you, Gwen? Do you accept me as your mate?”
“Yes. I’m yours. You told me so.”
“I did. Do you feel the truth?”
A long moment passed. The sensation of Gwen’s mind slipping through his settled over him. He fought the instinct that made him want to pull away and blanked his thoughts. It was his only defense. He couldn’t push her away. He’d opened himself to her scrutiny with his question. He should’ve accepted her answer and finished this. Too late for regrets.
The crackling of a fire and a woman’s laughter surrounded them. The scent of roasting meat and sweet wine filled his lungs. And the press of Elizabeth’s body against his brought the memory of their wedding night rushing to the surface.
* * *
“Are you ready to finally love your wife, Xander Winchester?”
Elizabeth stepped back. A flowing nightdress flitted around her feet, covering his wife’s body from her neck to her wrists and ankles. He’d seen every inch of her many times, licked her head to toe, and worshipped her as a human would, loving her slowly and tenderly. All those encounters paled in comparison to this.
The marriage vow she took made her irrevocably his, at least by human standards.
He went to her without speaking and undid the interwoven silk strips holding the top edges of the gown together. The material parted, exposing her body. He ran the back of his hand over her chest and enjoyed the hitch in her breath in response to the slight touch.
“Oh, yes, Elizabeth Mary Winchester.” He raised his gaze to hers. “I am ready.”
Her coy smile tempted him to toss her to the bed behind her and ravish her, but he couldn’t do such a thing. She’d married a gentleman, not a male consumed by primitive drives she’d never understand. If she knew the truth, she’d run back to her father, and Xander would lose this feeling she elicited within him. He didn’t want that. Didn’t want to face the darkness again. Alone.
“Then take what’s yours, my husband.”
He slid his hands up her chest and over her bare shoulders, pushing the gown down her arms. The garment fell to the floor, pooling at her feet and leaving her naked while he remained dressed in the ceremonial tunic and pants he’d worn to their intimate wedding under the stars.
Normally, he couldn’t keep his gaze from roaming her body. He loved everything about it, from the many freckles on her skin to her narrow waist and the dark red curls hiding her sex. In this moment, with the power of the full moon riding him, he couldn’t tear his gaze from her bare shoulder.
He wanted to see his bite there. The longing took hold. He brushed his knuckles over the delicate spot. The raised scar would’ve been beautiful. It was a pity he hadn’t been able to sink his fangs into her. Such was his fate, though.
If only she’d been…
* * *
Xander yanked back, cutting off the memory before his thoughts drifted to the reason he’d married Elizabeth instead of mating her.
Gwen’s soul slipped from his grasp. The light in it flickered. A crack formed through the center of the pulsating orb, and her cry of pain resonated in his soul.
“Gwen!” He reached for her, but she slipped farther away. “No! Don’t fight this. Don’t fight us. We need each other. I didn’t realize it in that lifetime until it was too late. I won’t make the same mistake in this one. I won’t lose you!”
She whimpered but reached for him. “Please. Don’t want to die yet.”
It wasn’t the confirmation of their connection he’d sought, but he took her words as the agreement he needed. Without another wasted second, he twined a piece of his soul into hers, partially joining them, then pushed his strength—the power of the Winchester pack—into her body.
In a rush of agony that stopped her heart for the briefest of seconds and tore a scream from her throat, the damage to her body caused by the bullet healed. The moment the light in her soul brightened and her heart picked up his steady and strong beat, he eased back slowly, cautiously.
The crack in her soul he’d caused by abruptly yanking away from her remained as a thick line bisecting the glowing orb. With gentle metaphysical fingers, he mapped the scar he’d inflicted on her. No gaps showed, but the darkened line marred her pure white soul.
Guilt choked him, twisting him and sending a wave of fury through him. He’d done this to her. Hurt his mate. “Gwen, I—”
Rage washed over him, stopping his words. The fury didn’t belong to him or Gwen. Vlad had found them.
Xander released her shoulder, breaking their connection, and met Vlad’s livid gaze.
“You fool.” Vlad stepped over Reno’s lifeless body and strode forward. “You’ve ruin
ed everything.”
“No.” Xander dragged his tongue over the bite mark on Gwen’s shoulder, sealing his scent into her, then crouched over her unconscious body. “I finally did the right thing, claiming my true mate.”
“Yeah?” Vlad laughed. “And how’s Gwen going to feel when she realizes she only got half of hers?”
Chapter 14
The fury slithering through Vlad left him hovering on the edge of control. He wanted to hurt Xander, beating on him until the stubborn male understood the truth about their mate. It would do no good, though. The deed was done.
“Answer me.” Vlad flexed his hands. “How is Gwen going to feel?”
“Relieved.”
“How do you figure that?” Because he didn’t know how she would be. Her connection to Vlad hadn’t been severed. Despite the anger he felt, his wolves remained quiet. If anything, they watched Xander with curiosity.
Xander lifted a still-unconscious Gwen into his arms, then faced Vlad. “If I’d soul-bonded with her, she’d know every wrong I’ve committed against her. She’d hate me and resent me for forcing her into an eternal bond.” He motioned to her shoulder with a jerk of his chin. “This way, I’ll be able to earn her love before she learns the truth.”
Tension drained from Vlad’s muscles. There was still time to figure out how they were supposed to make this messed-up three-way bond work between them. “You didn’t take a piece of her soul.”
Xander lifted a brow, his haughty attitude in full force. “That is how a breeding bond works.”
Vlad swept his gaze over Gwen. The torn bloody shirt she wore left her upper chest exposed. Although no mark remained, the location of the blood on her skin hinted at the bullet’s entry point, the base of her throat. The truth became clear. The last of his rage slipped away.
“She couldn’t swallow your blood, could she? You had to do it.”
Xander rested his cheek against her head and closed her eyes. “I couldn’t take the chance of losing her and never finding my true mate’s soul again.”
“Now it’s our last chance with her.”
Xander held his gaze for a long moment. “Our?”
Vlad couldn’t decipher anything from Xander’s tone. He’d kept it neutral. Deliberately neutral, maybe? “Yes. Gwen is mine too, and we need to figure out a way to share her, because—”
“Vlad.” Gwen cut him off and stretched an arm to Vlad.
He met her gaze. Pain gave her eyes a hazed look, but it was the silent plea in her steady stare that urged him forward. He slid his palm against hers, and she curled her fingers around his hand.
They held each other’s gaze. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Hating you for loving Lena.”
He hadn’t been expecting that. “She wasn’t my true mate. You—”
“I told Gwen about Lena and Devin, how they’re mated and happy now.” Xander once again cut off Vlad before he could tell Gwen the truth. Probably a good thing. He didn’t have any solution to their unusual problem yet. Unlike the only other ménage bond in the shifter world, he and Xander weren’t gay, nor did they love each other.
“And my brother’s mate will be happy to finally hold her sister in her arms.” Dante walked into the cabin, sweeping his gaze over everything before focusing on Vlad and Gwen’s twined hands. “But if we don’t leave soon, we’ll be stuck here another couple of days. And with all due respect, I don’t want to be around two stubborn wolves as they fight over the same woman. Been there. Done that. Twice. And watched the poor girl die both times. I’d rather not make it a third. I’ve gotten emotional in my old age. I might even cry this time.”
Gwen gasped and tugged her hand from Vlad’s. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.” Xander’s raised voice echoed in the room. He turned his head and glared at the Royal feline. “And if Dante knows what’s best for him, he’ll shut his mouth.”
Dante smirked. “Don’t use your alpha stare or tone on me. Won’t work. I’m a lone cat, remember? I don’t answer to anyone.”
“But you’ll cry if I die a third time.” Gwen met Dante’s gaze. “Won’t you?”
“He never said you.” Vlad knew she was exactly whom Dante was referring to, but they didn’t need to get into this in front of the silent witness who’d watched the tragedies of their past unfold.
“Lena knows you’ve been found. She’s waiting for you,” Dante said.
“I asked you a question.” Gwen’s demand was delivered smoothly without raising her voice, but the directness in tone left no room for mistake. She wasn’t backing down.
A small smile tugged at Vlad’s lips. He fought it. Gwen might take it the wrong way if she saw it, but his pride grew with each moment he spent with her. It also left him questioning why she’d finally let her assertive side show. She’d never done so in his presence before. Her meekness had stopped him from approaching her.
“And I’m choosing not to answer it.” Dante motioned to her. “You’re still healing. You don’t need to deal with any other stuff right now.”
“I feel fine. Xander saved me.”
Dante snorted and strode forward. He held his arms out and glanced at Xander. “May I?”
Xander glared at Dante, then handed Gwen over without a word. Xander’s trust in Dante and his brother Devin was unbreakable. Too bad Xander didn’t feel the same for Vlad. Maybe if they’d talked years ago, they would’ve worked things out. Or not. Social norms would’ve made a ménage incredibly difficult then. Actually, they still would. Shifter culture didn’t advance easily.
Cradled against Dante’s chest, Gwen appeared fragile and small. The feline shifter stood two or three inches taller than both Vlad and Xander and carried more muscle. With his short black hair and black eyes, he looked daunting. The dangerous vibe he usually gave off added to the effect. There was no hint of the killer he could become in this moment, however. He brushed Gwen’s blood-soaked hair from her shoulder exposing Xander’s bite, then tapped a single finger to the base of her neck.
“The bullet entered here, little sister. Do you know what would’ve been in its direct path?”
“Yes.” Gwen lowered her voice. “I know.”
Dante leaned closer, forcing Gwen to meet his gaze. “Tell me. Just so we’re clear on the facts.”
“My trachea.”
“What else? ’Cause at the distance you were shot, that bullet would’ve been moving fast, and this delicate neck of yours doesn’t have much to stop it.”
“My spine.”
“What did they teach you about spinal injuries in that fancy school you went to in order to become a nurse?”
“That they can cause paralysis or—”
Dante shifted his hold on Gwen and set her on her feet. Then released her. She gasped and crumbled, her legs giving out. Both Vlad and Xander rushed forward, but she never hit the ground. Dante caught her with an arm around her waist.
“Xander might’ve stopped you from dying this time and started the healing process, but you’re not fine. You won’t be fine for several hours at least. Maybe longer. So, don’t tell me you’re fine and don’t argue with me when I say you have enough to deal with. I’m the only male you’ll meet over the next several weeks who doesn’t have an agenda where you’re concerned. Got it?”
Gwen held Dante’s gaze and nodded. “Yes. I got it.”
“Good.” Dante lifted her and handed her over to Xander. “Then take what your mate can give you and grow a set of balls, little sister. You’re going to need them. The Winchester pack is about the most bloodthirsty group of immortal assholes I’ve ever met.” He chuckled. “That’s why I hang out with them. Makes me feel like I’m among family.”
As much as Vlad hated to admit, that about summed up his birth pack.
Chapter 15
The flight back to West Virginia on the Alexander pride’s personal jet was as uncomfortable as the last time Vlad had flown on it. Then, Lena and
Devin had been fumbling in their relationship, and Vlad had been the antagonist who’d forced their issues to the surface. Today, within the metal belly of the plane, Vlad would do the same. Except this issue involved him, and the outcome would determine the fate of his eternal soul.
“Shower with me, Gwen.” Xander brushed his lips against Gwen’s neck. No blood from the gunshot covered it. Xander had gently cleaned it off her before they ever got on the plane, and Dante had offered his shirt to replace her torn one.
Xander hadn’t blinked an eye as Dante had stripped Gwen, exposing her bare chest. Each time Vlad got within touching distance of her, though, Xander was there making sure he couldn’t.
Resentment thickened, leaving Vlad angry and unable to do a thing about it. He couldn’t risk pushing his ex-friend too far. As alpha, Xander could order him off their pack lands. That couldn’t happen.
Gwen flicked her gaze to Vlad, then to a shirtless Dante, who was stretched out on a nearby sofa with an arm covering his face. “No. I don’t feel strong enough to stand on my own. I’ll wait until I can take a bath.”
“I’ll hold you up, my mate.”
“I know you will, but I want to wait.” She turned her head, bringing her lips within a hairsbreadth from Xander’s. Vlad held his breath and waited. Would she kiss him? Part of Vlad wanted that, if only to see her eyes close as Xander twined their tongues.
“Why?”
She licked her lips, leaving a tempting sheen of moisture. “I’m not ready for what will happen when we’re alone.”
Xander slid his hand to the back of her head, holding her still, and kissed her. Slowly. Gwen’s eyelids fluttered before closing. She lifted a trembling hand to Xander’s shoulder, and Vlad gripped the armrests of his chair.
The desire to go to her had never been stronger. Watching Xander kissing Gwen didn’t dampen it. The sight of them sharing this passion enflamed Vlad. Even his wolves urged him closer. They’d accepted the unusual bond between the three of them. To them, it didn’t matter with whom they had to share Gwen as long as they could experience the calming effect she had on them.