by Dana Archer
Finally, Xander eased back, leaving Gwen with a drowsy, aroused look on her face. “You don’t need to fear this thing between us. It’s as natural as the moon’s cycle.”
“I know, but I…” She lowered her gaze, her words trailing off as her cheeks reddened.
“No need to say more.” Xander rubbed his knuckles over her jaw. “For you, I will wait.”
“Thank you.” Gwen’s breathy voice betrayed how Xander affected her. “I’m going to try to get some rest. I haven’t slept much in days.”
“Then after my shower, I’ll make some calls from the phone in the bedroom. I have much to arrange.”
“Will you make sure Lena knows I’m safe? I should call her, but I’m tired.”
“Of course.” Xander turned to Dante. “Make sure my mate isn’t disturbed. She wants to rest, not talk to anyone.”
By “anyone,” Xander obviously referred to Vlad as he was the only other person in the cabin. Vlad locked his jaw before he said something he’d regret. He hated this game he was forced to play.
Vlad reached out mentally to Xander. On a sigh of reluctance, Xander opened to him. “I know what you want to talk about, Vlad, but it must wait. I need to get my thoughts in order. Being alpha makes this harder.”
“No. It makes it easier. Nobody would dare—”
“Later.” Xander cut the connection and focused on Dante. “Answer me, Dante.”
Dante slid his arm to the top of his head and raised a brow. “Do I look like a male you can order around?”
“No, you look like the grown-up version of the child I saved from being beaten to death at the hands of your father.”
Ice slithered into Dante’s eyes. “Noted. Nobody will talk to Gwen while I’m here.”
“Thank you.” Xander inclined his head, trailed his fingertips over Gwen’s arm, then headed toward the private bedroom.
The moment the door closed, blocking Xander from view, Dante glanced at Gwen. “There is much gossip in the shifter world. I don’t know how much reached you while you were held prisoner, but you might be interested in hearing about the two single shifter wolf packs bordering the Winchester pack lands. The alpha of the Kagan pack is mated to a human female who is pregnant with his children, and the alpha of the Jager pack has two mates, a shifter female and a shifter male. I have a feeling you might find the information”—Dante slowly turned his head and focused on Vlad—“useful in your situation.”
Gwen’s brows furrowed, then her eyes widened. She flicked her gaze to Vlad, then quickly looked away. Her cheeks reddened.
Vlad sat straighter in the deep-cushioned recliner. Excitement and disbelief mixed. Did she sense their connection too? He wanted to ask but didn’t want to frighten or embarrass her more. Learning she belonged to two shifter males might be intimidating, especially for a virgin human.
“You’re right.” Vlad forced himself to meet Dante’s stare. “Those matings are unusual. I can’t help but wonder if our goddesses influenced their pairings as they did for Mira and Josh.”
The Shifter Council and the rest of the community were still reeling—some amazed, some furious—at the outcome of the prophecy surrounding Mira, Devin’s sister, that allowed her to mate a human male and conceive half-breeds. Vlad hadn’t cared if their mating went against nature. With Josh in her life, Mira was finally smiling. She deserved happiness after the centuries of hell and shame she’d endured for killing her mate.
“I’m not surprised. The elders think the goddesses are doing their best to prep the world for the day when the general population learns about the other species living among them. It’d be foolish to only prepare the Royals. They did create the singles too.”
“If that’s the case, they’ve foreseen something horrible for us.” Vlad didn’t want to contemplate what, but he knew what the actions of the humans would stem from—fear and jealousy.
“Probably.” Dante shrugged. “Humans abuse and kill their own for being different. It’d be foolish to think they won’t act aggressively toward us. Even if they don’t, they’ll resent us, treating us as second-class citizens.”
“Not all.” Pride strengthened Gwen’s voice. “My stepfather didn’t feel that way. He gave his life trying to protect Molly when those shifters came for her and fought for countless shifters during his years in Shifter Affairs. Those humans who worked in his department did also.”
“My apologies. Your stepfather was a good man, but sadly, few humans are,” Dante said.
“I think you’d be surprised at the number who’d be accepting.”
Dante inclined his head at Gwen’s words, stood, and walked toward the pilot’s cabin at the front of the plane, leaving Gwen and Vlad alone. He’d have to thank Dante later.
Vlad moved to where Gwen sat with her legs folded next to her on the couch. She watched him approach with a neutral expression, not speaking or yelling out to Xander.
It would’ve been nice if hunger had flared in her expression, but not seeing the evidence of her interest didn’t surprise him. She’d had years to perfect her indifferent mask.
He stopped in front of her, then stood there, debating his next move. They had many things to discuss and only a short time to do it in. His opportunity would be cut short if she refused to allow him the chance, though. “Will you shout for your mate if I talk to you?”
Never breaking their gaze, she shook her head.
All these years, he’d waited for her to look at him, to acknowledge him. Gods, if only he hadn’t been so stupidly blind where she’d been concerned. If he lost her to Xander, it was his own fault. Wasn’t going to happen, though. Winchesters never gave up.
He knelt, his chest brushing against Gwen’s outer thigh. Energy whipped through him with the slight contact. Her nostrils flared, a sign she felt something too. Good. She needed to sense their connection too if he had any hope of getting her to believe him.
“Do you remember the day we met?”
“Yes, I remember. You pulled both Lena and me into your arms and tried to kiss us.”
“I only tried to kiss you. Lena kissed me first.”
Gwen lowered her gaze, color staining her cheeks. “Then the two of you slipped onto the dance floor.”
“Only for one song. The moment Lena realized you were gone, she left me standing there alone.”
Gwen’s lips twitched as she obviously fought a smile. She flicked her gaze to his. The amusement in her eyes betrayed the effort she made to hide her emotion. “Were you even able to stand for long on your own?”
He chuckled. “I was a little drunk.”
“A little?” This time, she did smile. It brightened her face, and a wave of peace swept over him.
“I was off duty. Getting drunk was what I did. It was one of the few things that drowned out the noise echoing in my head from the constant fighting of my wolves.”
“I can’t even imagine how that feels, to always be the peacemaker for your wolves. Their discontent must get old.”
Discontent. That was a nice way to put it. The word didn’t come close to capturing the truth. Being the battleground for three dominant immortal wolves who all wanted to be in charge sucked. “Yes, it’s unbelievably hard. That’s why it’s such a miracle when we find the one person who can calm us.”
Gwen stared at him for a long moment before she spoke. “Your true mate.”
“Yes.” He brushed her hair from her mate bite, letting his fingers caress the raised entry points. Her mouth opened on a shaky exhale and her eyes drifted closed. Her reaction confirmed what he’d suspected. The bite she wore might’ve been made by Xander, but he wasn’t the only male whose touch would awaken her.
With his palm covering the bite, he said, “And my wolves calmed that night. Instantly, Gwen.”
Her breathing quickened. “You said Lena wasn’t your true mate.”
“That’s right. Lena isn’t my true mate.” He leaned over Gwen and lowered his head to her shoulder, brushing his lips over the mate bit
e Xander had seared into her skin. Gwen groaned, a husky sound he’d only ever fantasized hearing. “You are. I was just too wasted to realize the truth.”
She gripped his shirt but didn’t push him away. She pulled him closer. “You slept with Lena. After I came to you.”
No denial of their connection. Vlad’s pulse raced. She also wasn’t trying to deflect it by claiming she couldn’t have more than one mate.
If he’d been attracted to males, he’d plant a wet, sloppy kiss on Dante’s mouth for bridging Vlad and Gwen’s issues. Actually, maybe he would anyway.
“After the two of you left the party, I started drinking harder. I had to or else I would’ve followed.” And maybe mated the wrong female, guaranteeing not only his misery but Devin’s too. “By the time I got my hands on you, I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Which is why you took off after making me your beloved human.”
The memory of sucking on her cut hand had tormented him for years. The moment he put his mouth on her, he’d gotten hard. He’d known there would’ve been only one way to ease the ache. It had taken every ounce of honor he’d had to resist pushing Gwen to her back and taking her. “You were a child, Gwen, and it was Lena who’d reached for me. Accepted my touch. You’d rejected me, turning away and then running.”
Gwen shoved him back and scooted toward the center of the couch. “I was seventeen.” She shot him an annoyed look. “Almost eighteen. That’s not even close to being a child.”
The fire in her eyes was new. Then again, she’d avoided him for years. Maybe the fire had always been there, simmering below the surface.
“I turned seven hundred a few months ago.” He waited a moment, letting that fact sink in. “All humans feel young to me, even those at the end of their lives.”
She turned her body, leaning her side against the back of the couch, and closed her eyes. “I can’t change what I am.”
Sadness tinged her voice. Why? He couldn’t come up with a good enough reason. “I wouldn’t want you to. I don’t want to lose my true mate.”
“I can’t be yours. I’m Xander’s.”
Here was the denial, yet her words held no conviction.
He gripped the cushions on either side of her face to avoid pulling her into his arms. “You’re also mine.”
“I can’t be.”
“Did you not hear Dante? It’s possible. The Jager alpha and his mates prove it.” And if Gwen could somehow conceive Xander’s children, he’d never have to hand over the pack. For Gwen, that was the best outcome. No one would dare harm the Winchester alpha’s mate.
“Then why is it this is the first you’ve mentioned it? You’ve known me for years.” She narrowed her eyes. “Yet you never touched me. Never even acted like you wanted to. You slept with Lena and probably several women after her.”
Dozens more than that. He’d lost track. “Sex only matters between mates. With other females, it’s an act, something to temporarily soothe our darker sides. Nothing more.”
Her nostrils flared again, in anger this time. Her glare hardened. He’d never seen her look at anyone the way she did him, as if she wanted him to hurt.
Curses zinged through him. He’d screwed up and said the wrong thing.
“Gwen, I—”
“This conversation is over.” She pressed a balled fist to his chest and shoved.
Her push didn’t come close to having the strength to move him, but he eased back. “No, it’s not. You need to understand what I’m trying to tell you. You’re my true mate. I know you feel it too.”
“You don’t know what I feel.”
“Then tell me, because unless you lied to me, you said you did feel our connection.”
“Yes, I wanted you that night we’d met. Lust I’ll admit to, but I thought it was sick for me to be drooling over a man my sister was dancing with. So, I ran, but I couldn’t stop thinking of you.”
“Because you sensed this connection between us.” He pressed the point she needed to admit.
“I sensed that I was horny, and I was tired of my friends teasing me because I was still a virgin who’d never even kissed a guy. Even Lena joked that she’d share one of her lovers with me. I decided to take her up on her offer when I saw you slip into her room.”
“That’s why you came in? I’d thought it was because I broke that lamp and woke you.” The lamp she cut her hand on, forcing him to heal the injury and turning her into his beloved human.
“I was the reason you broke that lamp. I slipped into Lena’s room. You were standing there, staring at her bed, obviously waiting for her. The door clicked closed behind me, and you whirled around with your fangs bared.” Gwen pushed to her knees, bringing her lips to within a hairbreadth of his, exactly as she’d done moments ago with Xander. “And I still went to you. I would’ve let you take me then, Vlad. In my sister’s bed. On her floor. I hadn’t cared. I only knew I’d needed you inside me.”
He settled his hands on her hips. “I wished I had known.”
“It doesn’t much matter now, does it? The past can’t be changed.” She slipped around him and pushed to get up. “I’m not sure I would want it to either. Things sometimes happen for a reason.”
He stopped her with a hand on her thigh. “You’re right, because I would’ve mated you. After losing you twice before, I wouldn’t have waited, and it would’ve been the worst mistake of my long life.” She needed Xander too.
She rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t want to discuss this anymore. I want to get a shower and change.”
“I won’t let you go this time. I’m going to fight for you.”
She dropped her hands. “Then why didn’t you fight for me the last two times I lived? Xander told me about finding me those times. How he loved me. Married me. Where were you then?”
“In the shadows. Watching you. Wishing I was the one loving you instead of Xander.”
Dante strode into the room. His steps quickened. He mouthed the word back and jerked his head toward the door leading to the private bedroom. Only then did Vlad hear Xander’s raised voice as he called Xane selfish, among other things.
Vlad sat back on the recliner, and the door flung open. Xander zeroed in on Gwen, then scanned the room before glaring at Vlad. “Everything okay, Dante? Was my mate able to rest?”
“Until you started yelling. She sensed your distress and wanted to go to you.” Dante motioned to where Gwen sat on the edge of the couch. “Vlad and I had to talk her out of it.”
“Of course.” Xander crouched in front of Gwen as Vlad had done. “I should have thought about that and kept my temper under control. It’s difficult at times.”
Her brows pinched. “Why? I thought you said I calm you. That’s how you know I’m yours.”
“It is. You’ve bridged me and my wolves, allowing us to coexist peacefully, but the effect is only partial. I need to be able to see you. Smell you.” Xander slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders, then stroked his thumb over his mate bite. Her air escaped in a rush, and she swayed toward him. He pulled her into his embrace. “And touch you.”
“But why?”
“I need the reminder that you’re here because we aren’t soul-bonded. What we share is a one-way bond, or what many shifters refer to as a breeding bond. You hold a piece of my soul, allowing you to feel my emotions, but I don’t own a piece of yours. Without it, your emotions are blocked to me.”
“And until we soul-bond, you won’t share in my memories. Right?”
“And you won’t experience mine. Only when the pathway to our souls is open will we share that intimacy.”
She worked her jaw, then glanced at each male in the room before wrapping her arms around her chest.
“I changed my mind. I do want to get clean. I don’t want to meet your pack mates looking like this.” She motioned toward herself and the baggy clothes she wore.
“Then I’ll help you.”
“I’ll do it myself. I feel stronger than I did a few minutes ago. Resting m
ust’ve helped me.” Her features hardened, daring him to call her a liar.
Xander studied her, then nodded. “I’ll wait right outside the bathroom.”
“Great. If I fall, you’ll hear me.”
“Yes.” Xander slid his hands under her and lifted Gwen’s curvy frame into his arms. He glanced over his shoulder at Dante. “I hope you will stay with us for a little while. I would appreciate you looking after Gwen when I can’t be with her.”
“Isn’t that a task the Winchester pack’s protectors should be doing?”
“I need a male I can trust explicitly.”
With one sentence, every protective drive Vlad possessed flared to life. “Why? Will Gwen be in danger?”
Xander didn’t acknowledge Vlad’s question. He kept his intent focus on the Winchester pack’s honorary member, waiting on Dante’s agreement.
“Then I will cancel my plans and stay in your little neck of West Virginia. I’ve been meaning to spend some time with Devin’s new family anyway.”
“You’ll arrange those visits so you don’t put Gwen at risk.” Xander uttered the command, fully assuming Dante would follow it.
“Of course. I won’t leave Gwen unless she’s in her mate’s presence.”
“Thank you.” Xander walked toward the private bedroom. “We’ll be out once the plane lands, not a minute sooner.”
The moment the door closed, Dante spun on his heel and focused his deadly stare on Vlad. “You’d better not screw this up. I refuse to watch that woman die a third time because her mates are too weak to be the males she needs.”
“You knew all along?”
“Suspected it.” Dante gave a half shrug. “And freaking pitied the three of you because I figured one of you would get left out in the cold.”
“That was me. Both times.”
“Then you better get yourself together and make this work so it doesn’t happen again. Weathermen are predicting this will be the snowiest and coldest winter we’ve had in over two hundred years.”
“Let it. This time, I won’t be left out.” He’d rather pay someone to take his head.