by Leia Stone
“Get back!” Astra shouted, but her voice was not her own. It was deep, barely human, and full of power. The force of that power slapped against me, as if trying to push me back. I jerked Creek away, yanking my fingers out of Demi’s abdomen, and rolled onto my side just as the blue mist exploded out of Astra’s body. It rose up slightly into the air and then shot down into Demi with the force of a million tiny bullets.
Holy shifter.
Demi’s body seized and jerked wildly as the blue light pelted into her like hail dropping from the sky. Astra arched her back, letting loose with a wail of pain and I frowned. Was this normal? I should have asked more about the healing with Walsh. I should have asked more about the Paladins. I’d been so dismissive of them, and Demi never talked about them, probably for fear of upsetting me. I was going to do better after this, take an interest in her people.
Our people.
I would care for them as if they were my own, as she had clearly done for the city wolves in my absence.
Astra’s wail grew in intensity and I backed up, getting to my feet and handing Creek off to Sage.
Something wasn’t right. This didn’t feel normal. Why was the healer in pain?
“Are you okay?” I asked Astra, looking from her to Demi with a frown.
Demi had stopped convulsing, and I shook my head in disbelief when my gaze narrowed to her shredded and bleeding stomach—or what had been her torn open and bleeding stomach. Now it was … healed. Five metal shell casings littered the floor underneath her ribcage as if they’d been magically pushed out.
What the hell kind of healer was this girl?
I looked up in absolute joy to thank her, then I noticed blood blooming in Astra’s abdomen. That’s when she started to fall.
Moving quickly, I rushed forward, leaping over Demi to catch Astra. She collapsed into my arms as the crowd broke into sobs. I gathered from the headdress and amazing healing abilities that she was important to these people, and now I was at a loss of what to do.
I knew she was their priestess, but I didn’t know culturally what that equated to. President? Pastor? Mother Teresa?
“Get a doctor!” I shouted, moving Astra to her back so that I could start plugging holes in her stomach just as I’d done for Demi. She had bullet holes in the same place that Demi had.
What the hell kind of sorcery is this?
Chills ran up my arms when I realized what Astra had done. She’d taken Demi’s injury, not healed it. She took it into herself. A small, innocent seventeen-year-old girl.
“Fuck. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” I told the girl, reliving the nightmare I’d just went through with Demi, but now with a stranger that I somehow felt responsible for.
Astra reached up, grabbing the sides of my face, and smiled sweetly. “Take care of Demi. She’s special.” Her voice was weak, too weak.
Shit. No.
I looked over at Demi just in time to see her chest rise with a giant breath as she gulped in lungfuls of air.
Oh thank God! She was alive, and I’d killed her most cherished pack member.
She is going to kill me.
“What did you do!?” My voice croaked as I gasped for air and rolled onto my side to see Sawyer holding a bleeding Astra in his arms. I remembered getting pumped full of bullets and then losing consciousness on Pearl. Now Sawyer held Astra, who was bleeding from the stomach in the exact places that I had.
She’d healed me.
No!
Dizziness and panic slammed into me as I tried to remember what had happened when she’d healed Walsh. How had I helped her? I’d claimed her … but now she was already mine.
Mine.
My alpha power surged inside of me and I sat up, reaching out to take her from Sawyer, who looked crestfallen at the seemingly dead teenager in his lap.
There was so much blood…
Sawyer released her and I pulled her to my chest, tears brimming in my eyes. There weren’t many people that I truly cared about like I cared for this girl. Her faith in me, her belief that I would return from the Wild Lands and save the Paladin people, kept me alive in my darkest moments in the woods.
‘Astra … take from me what you need. You’re mine. You have to stay with me. I need you.’ I spoke into her mind, latching on to her soul with my alpha power. I felt my power, like small tendrils, hooking into Astra’s energy and pulling her back from wherever she was drifting off to.
‘Careful, Alpha. You could kill the both of you.’ Rab’s warning washed ice-cold fear down my veins and I froze.
Willow knelt beside me, fanning sage smoke at the both of us. “You can’t take too much of the injury from her. She’ll need to be the one to heal that wound. Just take enough to keep her alive. Otherwise, you’ll take it all back into yourself and you’ll both perish.” Willow’s voice shook. I nodded, and the realization that I was about to do some very serious and advanced magic with zero training came over me.
“Demi…” Sawyer’s voice pulled my attention and I snapped my head up to look at him.
‘Don’t you dare tell me not to save this sweet girl,’ I growled through our bond, and he balked, looking guilty, before nodding and lowering his head in submission.
Taking in a deep breath, I let my intuition guide me. My power was so enmeshed with Astra’s soul, it was hard to tell where she began and I ended. My stomach cramped as I pushed energy into her and she sucked it from me like a vacuum. I could feel the magic leaving me in gushes and I gasped as more pain sliced into my stomach.
“That’s enough!” Sawyer yelled, stepping forward, but Rab was quick and positioned himself between Sawyer and I.
“She’s got this,” Rab stated, staring down my husband.
I couldn’t focus my attention on the dominant male pissing match, I had to concentrate on this energy and power that I felt. I needed Astra to regain consciousness before I pulled my magic back.
‘Astra … come back,’ I whimpered, the pain in my stomach growing unbearable.
Just when I thought that I would die from this agony, it eased, and Astra’s eyes snapped open.
“Alpha.” She looked at me weakly and I felt the power she’d sucked from me so freely shut off like a faucet.
The pain stopped and I reached for her shirt, pulling it up to see there were puckered holes there. They looked red and angry, some still bleeding, but closing slowly.
Relief rushed through me. I wanted to shake her for doing such a stupid thing as risking herself for me, but thought better of it.
“Don’t do that again. Don’t die for me. Ever,” I told her angrily. I fucking loved this girl. Somehow along the way she’d become like a little sister to me.
She gave me a small smile, a smile that said she would do it all over again, and I just shook my head in disbelief.
Walsh showed up just then with the only remaining pack surgeon we had left at his side.
“Get her into medical and make sure she’s not internally bleeding,” I snapped to Dr. Pearson. “I think it’s sealed but … she needs fluids, and let me know if we need to donate blood.”
He nodded, bending down with Walsh to take her.
Willow placed a hand on mine. “I’ll go with her. Make sure she’s okay.”
I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
Everyone had gathered in rows and rows of people, fanning outward into the village, to see the big show. Their eyes went from me, covered in blood, to Sawyer, their alpha fresh out of prison, and then to Luka, a traitorous vampire on our lands, before finally resting on Pearl, the motherfucking dragon that no one knew existed until now.
‘Please make them leave. I can’t right now. I need to process,’ I told Sawyer, looking down at my bloody clothes.
I … died. I remembered this bright light, and then I was floating among the stars looking down on the planet from thousands of miles away. I remembered Sawyer’s voice calling me home, and then Astra’s energy, before being sucked back violently.
Now I wan
ted time with my baby and more time with Sawyer. I needed to regroup and I didn’t want my people to see me weak like this.
“These men…” Sawyer pointed to Luka, Bennett, and Talon. “…are here as my guests. They will not be harmed.” His voice was clear. That was an order and a threat. “Get back to your tents and continue your chores. We’ll have a pack meeting tomorrow to discuss our plan to get Wolf City back.”
There was a chorus of cheers at that and everyone disbanded. When the meadow was clear of most of the people, Sawyer reached down and pulled me into his arms, lifting me up off the ground. “Are you hurt?” His voice was gruff.
I shook my head. “Creek?” I looked around and Sawyer nodded, walking me over to Sage.
Sage handed me my son and I pulled him into my chest, a sob ripping from my throat. I fucking missed him so much. Babies, puppies, and new cars all had this distinct smell, and Creek was no different. I wanted to bottle it and keep it forever; he smelled so fresh and clean.
He leaned into me, trying to nurse through my shirt, causing Sawyer to chuckle. “Looks like I’ve got competition.”
I grinned. “Take us home. I want one night as a family. Tomorrow we can plan a war.”
He nodded, and I told Rab to make our guests comfortable giving them whatever they needed, including Pearl. Then Sage led the way to our small but quaint two-bedroom cottage across from Astra’s meeting hall-church. The second Sawyer stepped inside, I could see that he was impressed. His approving gaze ran over the handcrafted furniture and then into the kitchen.
“You can set me down.” I held on to Creek, who was now asleep.
Sawyer shook his head. “Where’s the bedroom?”
Sage pointed down a hall and he nodded, walking in quick strides through the living room and kitchen and down the hallway into my room.
“Astra gave me this place, got it all ready for me,” I told him. Everything that was adorable and handmade in this home was because of Astra. I wanted him to know that.
He nodded, looking around with a reverence. “It’s nice. She’s a very special girl and I’m grateful to her.”
She’d better be okay. I could never live with myself if she wasn’t. I felt so empty and depressed knowing she was sick right now, healing from injuries I had sustained. I didn’t feel like myself, I felt empty, sad, and … off. I was about to say as much when the truth of what I’d just said knocked into me like a truck. In all the drama of almost dying, I’d totally forgotten.
My wolf.
‘I’m so sorry!’ I sobbed as I reached out to her through our bond, horrified that I’d forgotten her for a moment in all the near-death drama. But she didn’t answer. She was cuffed, gagged, cut off from me as I was from Sawyer when I’d been in a similar situation.
Sawyer looked down at me, seemingly confused at my sudden sobfest.
“Sawyer, my wolf,” I croaked, the full weight and emptiness of knowing half of my soul was in prison while I was free settling into me.
He nodded solemnly, setting Creek and I on the bed as he crawled in beside us. “I know. I’m so sorry, my love.”
“But…” My eyes brimmed over with tears and Sawyer reached up and cupped my chin, forcing me to look at him.
I was met with the fiery yellow gaze of his wolf.
“Demi Calloway-Hudson, I will not let anything bad happen to any part of you. I promise.” His voice was barely human, thick with his wolf, and I nodded, trusting in him.
I needed to lean on him right now, because where I was, it was too dark, and he was my beacon of light.
Lying together with our son between us, I couldn’t help but think that my wolf had again sacrificed something so that I could be free.
‘I’m sorry,’ I told her. ‘I’m so sorry.’
I rested my forehead on Sawyer’s, and we both lay there a long time before I finally got up and showered off all the dried blood. Then we fell asleep, for the first time as a family.
Creek cried for a bottle in the middle of the night and I groggily got up to make one. Shuffling with my baby out into the kitchen, I found that Sage already had one in her hands. “Heard him crying. I’ll take him until morning.” She tipped her head at the room Sawyer slept in and gestured for me to go back and lay with him.
I was so exhausted after nearly dying, I wasn’t going to argue. I nodded gratefully, and shuffled back down the hallway. Slipping in bed beside Sawyer, I tried not to wake him, but he stirred anyway.
“Is it the baby? Need help?” he asked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. “I’m up. I’ll change a diaper or whatever you need.”
Bleary-eyed, he looked at me through tousled hair and long lashes. Shirtless, covered in tattoos, Sawyer had never looked sexier. This new felon Sawyer was hot as all hell, and my body suddenly thrummed to life with need.
“Sage has him.” I inched closer to him, my pelvis lining up with his hardness, and he froze.
It had been a year since either of us had touched each other, and our bodies seemed to realize it at this very moment. It was like someone flipped a switch and we both turned into horny rabbits.
Reaching out, he grabbed my hips and pulled them harder into him as I clung to his neck, bringing his face closer to mine.
Our mouths met in a hungry, messy, sexy-as-all-hell kiss. It burned with fire and passion the likes of which I’d never seen from him before. We were hungry for each other in a way that felt almost dangerous, in a way that almost hurt. I raked my nails along his neck, down to his abs, not caring if I pushed a little too hard. I wanted to claim him, I wanted to devour him.
He was mine.
A growl ripped from his throat and then suddenly he was on top of me, pinning me underneath him. I pawed at my underwear, trying to struggle out of them, when he reached down and yanked them hard, tearing them off.
Yes. Holy motherfucking yes.
I moaned, so ready for this as I pulled off my t-shirt in one swift move. I’d dreamed about this for so long at the cabin in the woods. Being with Sawyer again, making love.
Reaching into his boxers, gripping his hardness, I tried lining him up with my center.
“Not yet,” he commanded in his deep, authoritative alpha voice.
“Yes yet,” I huffed, trying again to line our bodies up.
He grinned, and I was about to beg him when he dragged his tongue down my neck and circled my nipple. My skin prickled, my core tightening as I arched my hips, searching for him.
“Sawyer. Please,” I begged.
His wet warm tongue trailed from my breasts down to my bellybutton and the realization of what he was about to do had me absolutely aching for release.
“God, I missed you,” Sawyer huffed, his beard trailing down my pelvis until I felt his tongue lapping between my legs.
A strangled cry left my lips, and I reached down to thread my fingers into his hair. His hands came under my butt, and then a deep pleasure started to build between my legs as I became unglued. This wasn’t some long, drawn out pleasure session, this was hard and fast and fucking amazing. Waves of ecstasy rocked my body as I clenched my thighs, arching my back and rocking into Sawyer’s mouth.
One second his head was between my legs and the next he hovered over me, finally lining himself up with my center as we pressed our bodies together as one. The second he filled me up, his moans of satisfaction occupied the room and I raked my nails down his back.
This Sawyer was new. He was so strong and sure of himself. And it was completely and utterly the sexiest thing alive. I looked up into his chiseled chest and stared at the word Demi tattooed over his heart.
Reaching down, he threaded his fingers into the back of my hair and his eyes flashed yellow. Deep, throbbing pleasure and heat opened inside of me at the same time as our imprint seemed to come alive. It was like it was a living thing, trying to show the other person how much we cared for one another. I was everything to Sawyer, I felt that. He adored me, he possessively wanted to provide for and protect me and Creek, and he wou
ld let the whole world burn before allowing one more bad thing to happen to me.
Our bodies moved in a perfect rhythm, a feverish passion that tried to made up for a year of being apart. When I couldn’t hold on to it anymore, I allowed myself to unravel, turning my head to the side to bite into the pillow as his body started to shake above me.
Now that I had Sawyer back, I knew there was nothing we couldn’t do so long as we were together.
The next morning, Sawyer and I showered together and then stepped out into the living room, where Sage was asleep with Creek on the couch. Her back was facing the open room and Creek was tucked between her and the couch back so he wouldn’t fall off. She had the best motherly instincts. I was so grateful to have her help in raising him.
Reaching over, I shook her shoulder gently. “Go get some rest,” I told her, “I’ll take over now.”
She looked bleary-eyed from me to Creek, and then nodded, planting a kiss on Creek’s forehead. She shuffled off to her bedroom.
Sawyer swooped in beside me and replaced the empty spot where Sage had just been, raising his arm above his head so that he could lie on it and stare down at our son. “You and Sage did all of this alone? In the woods with no diapers or anything?”
I could feel the pain in his voice, regret and shame. I knew he wanted to be there for me and Creek, I felt it through our bond.
“Yep. We made do,” I told him.
Sawyer nodded. “You’re amazing. Tell me everything. I want to help take care of him. How often do we feed him, when should I change his diaper, how do I change his diaper?”
Creek stirred at the sound of Sawyer’s voice and I giggled. “Well, first off,” I whispered. “When a baby is sleeping, try not to use your loud alpha voice right in his ear.”
Sawyer looked up at me, terrified. “Oh. Shit,” he whispered, just as Creek started to cry.
“And we feed him now. Take your finger and stick it near his mouth. If he starts sucking on it, he’s hungry.”