Eternal Mourning

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  He’d take out the Healer for daring to stand in his path, and the little cat would be cursed again—a fate worse than death if he imagined right. And then he’d take out Parker and finish his plans.

  Yes, this would work, and while he waited, he’d pay Audrey a visit.

  She hadn’t broken yet, after all, and he wanted her screams.

  Always.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Walker wanted to be anyone but himself just then, but he knew there wasn’t another way to get through this. He knelt by his mate as she cried out, her body bending and breaking as she started her first shift. He was a Healer, damn it, but there was nothing he could do to ease her pain and help her shift along. He could only sit back and watch, soothing her cries as she went from human to lion.

  The first shift was always the worst when one had been changed from human to shifter instead of being born with the ability, and that wasn’t something he could change, even as a Healer. When pups were first able to shift, the moon goddess shielded them from the pain so they could learn the process easier. When they went through puberty, the shield fell away, and they had to learn to shift through the agony, but at least they knew the steps to go from one form to another. When an adult was forced into the change, there were no barriers from the pain, and they had to persevere through it—tears and screams and all.

  The next day was the full moon and the hunt, but since the moon was already so full now, he and Aimee had decided that she would try to shift for the first time tonight. No one in his family had wanted her first shift to be surrounded by so many people, and they had agreed that the two of them could go off alone and try to make this work the first time. Others would be curious, and even though they would try to give her privacy, the thoughts would still be there. It would shed even more of a spotlight on her and make the change about something far greater than her. In a world where she hadn’t had much choice, he wanted first shift to be about her and not what it all could mean in the grand scheme of things.

  Aimee let out another whimper, and he sat next to her face, barely holding back the urge to lift her into his arms and hold her close. Her skin would be far too sensitive right then for him to touch her without causing her more discomfort. He just had to sit next to her and let her know that he was there for her. Once she was in her cat form, he would begin the long shift as well, and then they would run together. That was their plan anyway. At this point, he might just wait for her to shift, then put her on his lap and hold her until the sun rose. He wasn’t sure his wolf could do any more, not when their mate was in trouble, and there was nothing they could do about it.

  After what seemed like hours but had been less than ten minutes, Aimee let out a chuffing noise, and he blinked at her.

  “You are fucking beautiful.”

  She tilted her head sideways, and he wasn’t sure if it was the cat he was talking to or his mate. She was in the in-between stage where the internal battle over dominance would take time—and a few more shifts—to get right. For now, though, all he could do was stare at his mate and know that he was one lucky bastard.

  “You know, I knew you’d be a lion, but seeing you in the flesh, all gold and silky, it’s something else. You’re stunning.” He grinned and ran a hand down her soft fur. It was shorter than a wolf’s and felt just slightly different, but he loved it. She was all sleek and powerful, and he had a feeling she would become a force to be reckoned with once she grew into her new life. Kameron was already on the hunt for her to be on his team, and while Walker enjoyed having her by his side at work, he knew the best place for her would be where she shined. And after he’d seen her hunt like she had in human form to save Hannah, he had a feeling she’d be a soldier soon.

  He was just so damn proud of her.

  “I’m going to shift now, and then we can go for a run. Want to walk around a bit in the clearing and get used to your new form?” He kissed the top of her head, and she purred. Purred. Hell, he had a feeling he was going to love her as a cat. “I won’t be long.”

  She tried to nod, realized that it wasn’t an easy movement in animal form, then slowly walked away, each step more careful than the last as she learned to walk on four paws instead of two feet.

  He quickly stripped out of his clothes and pulled on his bond to his wolf, his inner beast eager to join their mate on a hunt. The change came far quicker than he’d expected, and he had a feeling it had to do with the fact that neither of his forms wanted to wait. Soon, he was at Aimee’s side. He licked her head, then bit down gently on the ruff of her neck. She chuffed, then did the same to him, marking him as hers. Later, they would mark each other once again in human form, claiming one another as mates, though the bond was already there and settling.

  He took the lead, keeping an eye out as she ran beside him through the forest. His animal was far more suited to the terrain than hers, but she kept up, the power and grace in her movements breathtaking. She had a decent endurance level from what he could see, and he had a feeling as she grew into her animal, it would be even better. He knew his family would love hunting with her when the time came. But for now, she was all his, and he relished the run—and his mate.

  When they were through, he led her through to the clearing and began to shift back. Aimee was already a pro at it, though she’d never gone from animal to human before, and he knew she would be as dominant as he was, at least. She might even end up being more dominant in the end, but that didn’t bother him in the least. After watching her almost fade away because of a curse, seeing her stronger than him would be a feast for the eyes.

  When they were back in human form, naked and sweaty, he pounced on her, needing her taste more than his next gasp of air. She arched under him, her pussy wet and hot as his cock pressed against her.

  She tasted of shifter and his, and he wanted to pound into her, fucking her hard until they both came, screaming each other’s names loudly enough for the entire den to hear that they were both claimed. Both taken.

  When she pulled back, arching her breasts so her nipples brushed against the hair of his chest, he groaned.

  “Thank the goddess,” she whispered, echoing what those in the den said of their deity. “I’ve been waiting for you to touch me like this. I thought you didn’t want me. Or at least, were afraid to hurt me.”

  He growled and bit her lip. “I was giving you space. Do you not feel my dick hard and ready to be inside you? Of course, I wanted you.”

  She reached between them and gripped his length, giving it a squeeze that left him breathless and aching. “You say that, but you didn’t fuck me. Didn’t act like you wanted me. Not like this.”

  He kissed her hard then bit her lip again. “You’re saying dirty words, I think I like it.”

  “I’ll like it more when you mark me as yours and claim me again while you get this,” she squeezed, making his eyes cross, “inside me again. I’ve missed you. It feels like ages since we were together.’

  He sighed and rocked his length between her folds, making them both pant. “It has been ages. I thought I was giving you time.”

  She licked her lips, arching up. “If I wanted time, I would have told you.”

  He’d made his mate feel as though he hadn’t wanted her. He would have to make it up to her. “I’m sorry.” He thrust the tip of himself inside her. “I want you.” He thrust in and out, just a bit more. “Always. I’ll always want you.” He slid home, hard, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her. She rolled them over, surprising him, and seated herself on top of him. The action left her breasts accessible, and he cupped them with his hands, pinching and rolling her nipples. Each time he did, her inner walls clenched around his dick, and he pumped up into her harder.

  They made love with abandon, biting and clawing at each other as she rode him, and then he pulled out and flipped her onto her knees so he could fuck her from behind. She thrust back against him, meeting his hips as he slid in deep. Soon, they were both panting and sweaty and closer to coming than
they had been before.

  Her endurance, apparently, had been increased in more ways than one.

  “Touch yourself,” he growled into her ear as he hovered over her. “Make yourself come on my dick, then I’m going to lick you clean.”

  She shivered and did as he ordered, calling his name as she squeezed his cock with her pussy. Then he pulled out of her, slid down between her legs even though his cock ached with the need for release, and latched on to her clit. She was still coming as she rose again, her cunt drenched as she pushed against his face. He fucked her with three fingers, curling his hand, then pulled out and speared her with his cock again as she came once more.

  He pumped in and out of her, fast and hard, and she clawed his back before biting his shoulder, marking her as his. He came hard then, and she joined him, her body wrenching away from him as she arched. He bit her nipple, marking her there as well as where he had before, then collapsed on top of her, spent, and in fucking love. He was still inside her, hard and hot as he spoke to her.

  “I love you, Aimee mine. Fucking love you. I love your strength, your passion, your fearlessness. I just love you.”

  He kissed away her tears as she cupped his face and licked his lips. “I love you, too. I think I started falling for you the moment you caught me as I fell through the wards, only I didn’t realize it then. I love you so much. I never thought I’d find something like this. Someone like you.”

  He smiled then, his body relaxing as he held onto her out in the clearing and under the stars. “And the best part is that we have a long while to enjoy that.”

  She snuggled into him, their bodies still connected. “That sounds…perfect.”

  Yeah, it did, and he knew that, no matter what, he’d fight to keep it that way. Even if it meant doing things no Healer should do. Because of Aimee, he’d fight, he’d kill…he’d do whatever it took.

  “So, we’re watching Fallon then?” Aimee whispered as Brie and Gideon walked up to them.

  “Yeah. Since tonight’s the full moon hunt and we already ran last night, they asked if we could.” He winced as he looked at her. “I’m so used to saying yes when it comes to family that I didn’t ask you. I’m sorry.”

  She took his hand and shrugged. “Say yes all the time, Walker. I’ll do the same if they ask me. They’re family.” Something he wasn’t sure she was used to beyond her friends, but that was something they would get into later. She still hadn’t contacted her family, and he wasn’t sure if she would. She’d said they weren’t close, and the evidence of that was mounting day by day.

  Before he could talk about that, however, his brother and family were standing in front of him.

  “Thank you so much for watching Fallon,” Brie said with a smile. “She wants to hunt but is still too young to be out with the big wolves.” She kissed Fallon’s nose, and the little girl snuggled into her mom’s hold.

  “It’s really no problem,” Aimee said, waving at Fallon, who in turn held out her arms. Aimee held the little girl close and smiled, bringing images to mind of her doing that with their child.

  They were already moving fast, but it was the male in him just then that couldn’t wait for that vision to become real in truth.

  Gideon must have known the direction of his thoughts because his big brother just gave him a knowing grin.

  “Have fun on your hunt,” Walker said dryly.

  “We’re going outside the den wards through our territory again, but we’ll be close in case you need us.”

  Walker nodded. “I was planning on taking the ladies for a walk under the moon if that’s okay.”

  “You should be safe in the clearing near us. It’s guarded, and a lot of the pups will be out there with their sitters since it’s not good to keep everyone trapped within the magic for days on end.”

  That was the problem with wards sometimes. It kept people out, but it also kept their own people in, and that was stifling for anyone, especially a pup. The night of the hunt was the best time to take them out in groups since everyone was just slightly stronger on full moon nights. And, thankfully, they wouldn’t be in the clearing they’d been attacked in before. He’d rather not make Aimee relive that anytime soon.

  She was healthy, the curse was gone, and she was his. There was nothing to worry about.

  The other couple headed to where the hunt would be, and Walker took his girls to the clearing—a different one from the night before as that one was just for the two of them for now. As he watched Fallon run around with Aimee, he couldn’t help but think how much his life had changed in the past few months. He’d been the one Brentwood in search of a mate and securing the bonds themselves, and when that hadn’t happened, fate had brought Aimee to him in the most unexpected way.

  Their lives were far from settled, and there were still so many unanswered questions when it came to her curse and this new form of hers, but for the time being, he was…happy.

  He met Aimee’s eyes as Fallon bounced around in her little wolf form, yipping and barking like an adorable wolf pup, then froze as an eerily familiar magic hit the air.

  “Aimee, down!” he yelled and slammed to the ground himself, arm-crawling toward his mate and niece.

  His mate had thrown herself over Fallon as fire burned over them from four directions—the same curse that had come for Parker. Only this time, the fire didn’t reach down. It was as if this were a warning, not a full-scale attack.

  He could hear others around them shouting and screaming, their feet hitting hard on the ground as they ran, but Walker knew it would be too late.

  This wasn’t the same curse as before, he’d been wrong. He met Aimee’s gaze, made his way to her, and gripped her hand.

  “Hold on,” he yelled. They watched the fire, not hot like before but cool, almost as if it were in a vacuum—or rather, the vacuum itself. There was a small opening where someone could escape—someone far smaller than he or Aimee.

  “Fallon, honey, I need you to run through that hole and don’t look back until you see someone you know. Can you do that?”

  His niece looked at him with eyes far wiser than she should have, but then again, she was the future Alpha and carried within her a power he could never hope to comprehend.

  “Go. Find your parents.” Fallon reached out, cupped his face with one tiny hand, then crawled away before running full-tilt on her tiny toddler legs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another soldier pick her up almost immediately outside of the fire zone, but Walker couldn’t see anything else.

  It was as if the spell had made a cross and marked the spot where Aimee and Walker lay. He held his mate, and the fire lowered and lowered until, eventually, it brushed against them, not hot, but so cold that it felt as if he were burning from frostbite instead of flame.

  He couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and as the screaming started, he held his mate and thought of nothing else.

  He’d been happy. Hopeful.

  But in the end, he’d been wrong.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Aimee woke up with a start, her body feeling as though she were bruised all over. It took a second for her to remember what had happened.

  Walker.

  She needed to find Walker. There had been flames that weren’t flames, and Fallon had made it to safety. Then, everything had been so cold, and she’d held onto Walker as the world darkened. She couldn’t remember anything beyond that. Somehow, she wasn’t where she’d been when the fire slid over the sky. She was instead in a new location, one that didn’t smell familiar. Of course, she was so new to these senses, she could be wrong.

  She turned her head, only to be forced to hold back bile as her stomach revolted from the quick movement. After sucking in a breath, letting the cold air clear her head, she opened her eyes, unaware that she’d had them closed the whole time, and froze.

  Walker sat across from her but far enough away that she couldn’t reach him. Someone had torn his shirt off, and long lines of burns and cuts covered his chest, blo
od seeping slowly from the wounds. From the looks of it, he was unconscious, his arms raised above his head and secured by manacles and chains that looked as though they’d come from some movie about medieval torture chambers.

  Fearing the worst, she kept her gaze on him until she could clearly see his chest rise and fall with his breaths. She could also feel him through the mating bond, but she was still so new to that, she was afraid to truly trust it.

  That’s when she noticed the chains on his ankles. Whoever had taken them—most likely the fire witch and Blade—they hadn’t wanted Walker to escape. She looked down at her own legs and noticed that they were unchained, but her arms were secured above her head as his were. Whoever had made the metal did a good job, because even with her newfound strength, she couldn’t get free.

  “I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” an unfamiliar voice said from beside her. Aimee turned to see a woman with long, white hair and black robes moving toward her. She was truly beautiful, but there was an edge to her that frightened Aimee. Not to mention that the magic crackling in the air was familiar…but it wasn’t that of the fire witch. No, this was another magic user, and Aimee had a feeling the reason she could almost recognize the magic was because it had been rooted inside her body for as long as she could remember.

  This was the witch who had cursed her.

  And she wasn’t happy.

  “Scarlett and Blade have plans for the wolf, but as for you, they’ve given you to me as a present. I don’t normally take gifts from other witches, but since you’ve been on my radar for some time now, I might just take them up on it.”

  “Having time for a monologue, are you, Chloe?” A woman with long, red hair and a skintight, red dress prowled through the door behind the witch, a man who looked to have some power but didn’t taste of Alpha by her side. Aimee didn’t know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling she was about to find out.