Eternal Mourning

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Chloe shrugged. “It’s about time she realizes what she is to me and why she shouldn’t go around breaking curses she knows nothing about. She’s lucky she survived the separation in the first place, but now that she’s here…well, I’ll make sure she doesn’t do it again.” She raised her chin at the other witch. “And, Scarlett, darling, you’re the queen of monologues, taking this bad witch thing as far as making sure your dresses match your mood… I mean, really, a red dress for a red witch? How cliché.”

  “Now, ladies…”

  Both Chloe and Scarlett glared at the man with them, and he shut up quickly. Definitely not Blade, then. She knew of no Alpha who would back down that quickly unless their mate looked at him that way.

  “Keep your mate quiet, Scarlett. He’s annoying me.”

  Scarlett just rolled her eyes and patted her mate on the ass like he was just a piece of meat to her. There was no love in their interactions, no way for them to show off their bond like Aimee had seen others do; like she did herself when it came to Walker.

  “You’re the one who cursed me,” Aimee said, gathering her courage. She wasn’t about to go down without a fight. She had spent too much of her life already on the defense rather than fighting for herself.

  “Of course, I am. I’m Chloe, an air witch far older than you are, darling.”

  “What did I ever do to you? Why did you curse me?”

  “It wasn’t you, it was the blood that runs in your veins. Didn’t you ever wonder about your family and how nothing ever worked right for them? I found your grandfather when he was young and knew he was goddess-blessed. She does that to some humans, you know, blesses them because, apparently, they have some important part to play in fate. It’s rare, and even rarer for a witch to find and be able to use. Because of your blessings, I was able to use the curse to steal your luck, your fate, and your energy so I could live longer. And when you started to fade long before your time, well, let’s just say I wasn’t happy. I’ve been on the hunt for another family I could drain because you were my prize and yet you were far too weak to last long.”

  Aimee couldn’t believe her ears. This woman was so selfish that she’d cursed an entire family for her own greed. And Chloe wasn’t done, apparently.

  “When you broke the curse—something that shouldn’t have happened by the way—you stole my future. It’s not fair that the moon goddess only lets mates of shifters and shifters themselves become immortal. She should have gifted the witches, as well. And because of that, I took what was mine. She should have blessed all of us, not just a few humans who didn’t know what they had.”

  “I guess you’re lucky you had me,” Scarlett’s mate said, his voice soft. He looked soft, as well, and Aimee wasn’t sure what it was about him, but she had a feeling the fire witch had broken him long ago. Fate could be cruel it seemed—on both sides of the coin.

  “I guess so,” Scarlett said with a shrug as if she didn’t care. “You get to keep your little lion, but remember that you work for us now. Got it? I could have killed her right away and said ‘screw you’ to your little curse and long life, but I’m a giver.”

  Chloe snorted. “Sure, honey. And I’m the witch Easter bunny. Watch me hop.” She gestured toward Walker, who was just now stirring. Whatever they had done to him when Aimee was unconscious must have been bad, and she had to swallow back the bile that rose in her throat. “What are you going to do with that one? Looks like you already played a little.”

  Flames danced around Scarlett’s fingers as she flicked them as if she were playing with a coin, the way Aimee’s father had long ago when he was happier and liked doing parlor tricks. It hurt to think that his happiness had been taken away because of the witch in front of her.

  “Blade wants him dead, and for an example to be made. I don’t mind, as it keeps my skills sharp.” She slid her red-hot fingers over the edge of a blade on the counter near them as if she were telling a little joke as she spoke.

  They were laughing as if his life meant nothing to them. As if he were just a toy from them to play with instead of the mate she loved and the one she had vowed to protect as she’d marked him as hers.

  Power like nothing she’d ever felt before slid through her, and she stood, her legs sure and no longer shaky. When the trio turned to her, she didn’t give them time to wonder what she was going to do. Instead, she tugged at the chains, letting her cat come to the surface and show in her eyes.

  Before the others could react, the chains snapped from the wall. Walker stirred then, and she knew he was waking, could feel it along the bond, but she wasn’t done yet.

  They should have tied her feet as they had his.

  They’d made a mistake.

  And they would pay for it.

  The witches mumbled something under their breaths, but Aimee was faster. She slammed one end of the chain into Scarlett’s face, and she screamed, knocked back into her mate. Aimee took the other chain and wrapped it around the air witch’s neck twice, then pulled. Without air, the witch could do nothing, and without breath, the witch would die at Aimee’s hands.

  So be it.

  Aimee tugged and pulled, her cat at the forefront as the air witch weakened under her strength. The chain tightened again, and she looked up to see Walker pulling on the other end, keeping Chloe in place. He could barely do it with what little slack they’d given him, but with his help, the air witch fell to the floor, purple mottling her neck, and her gaze empty.

  Scarlett went to scream something at them, and Aimee jumped from the counter where she’d landed in her haste and threw herself over Walker. Scarlett didn’t have time to finish her curse, however, because the door slammed open, and Gideon and Brie stood in the opening where it had fallen off its hinges.

  The cavalry had arrived.

  And Momma Wolf was pissed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Walker had never been happier to see his Alpha and sister-in-law in his life. Still chained and hurting from whatever the fuck Scarlett had done to him, he tried to hold onto his mate, but she was having none of it.

  The room filled with Talons as Kameron, Parker, Avery, Brandon, and Max stormed into the small dungeon after Gideon and Brie. Somehow, the magic of the fire had spat him and Aimee there. Aimee was trying to pull the chains off him but couldn’t reach. Max was there to help one-handed and was so full of rage, the manacles broke in his hand.

  As Aimee tried to help Walker stand, other wolves not of his Pack who smelled like Aspens filled the room, and the fight began.

  If it weren’t for Fallon almost being hurt like she had been, Walker knew Brie wouldn’t have come to fight alongside Gideon. It wasn’t that she wasn’t allowed and didn’t know how to fight, it was that her wolf fought in different ways. It was easier for every dominant around if she stayed behind to be protected while she protected them when they got home—even from themselves.

  But she was beyond enraged, and he could see the wolf in her gaze—something he didn’t see often when it came to her. She and Gideon fought like they’d been alongside one another for centuries, rather than the few short years they’d been together. Kameron was going after the fire witch, but as he went to claw her neck, the witch’s mate—who Walker now knew was also some kind of cat shifter—stood in front of her, taking the blow. By some stroke of luck, Kameron’s claws slid through his artery and, without a Healer, Walker knew the man wouldn’t make it. Then, when Kameron slid his claw down to the cat’s heart, it was over.

  The witch screamed, and the other fights in the room froze for a bare moment as Walker leaned heavily into Max as Aimee held him up on his left.

  Fire slammed into the walls surrounding Scarlett, burning her own wolves as the Talons ducked. As a witch, her life was tied to her mate’s, and though she wouldn’t die right away, she might only have minutes or hours to live depending on the mating bond they’d shared.

  Kameron had not only killed the cat but also the witch.

  However, from the looks of it,
she wasn’t going down without a fight.

  “We need to get out of here,” Aimee called out over the roar of flames. “The whole place is going up in flames.”

  “Come on,” Max said, half dragging him. Walker was out of energy, and it was only because of his fight for Aimee that he’d been able to help her take out Chloe.

  The Talons left the others where they fell and scrambled back to their trucks where they’d somehow used the bonds to find him and Aimee. They weren’t on Aspen land, and he hadn’t been able to scent Blade or even Audrey, so he had no idea where they were.

  But he was damned thankful that they’d come.

  That his mate had been stronger than he’d thought possible.

  Fire licked up the walls and poured through the windows as they drove off, then the building where he’d been chained too far away from his mate to touch her and make sure she was alive exploded into a thousand shards.

  Taking the shifters inside with it.

  And, perhaps, just maybe, the witch as well.

  The others spoke, asking him questions and talking about battle plans, but he could only hold onto Aimee, gritting through the pain. Leah would be able to help later, but for now, he would just breathe. Just be.

  The Aspens had declared war, even if they didn’t know it.

  Nothing would be the same.

  Ever.

  BLOOD BOUND

  Blade carried Scarlett’s beaten and battered body to one of his strongholds and cursed. He needed her for his plans, and he’d be damned if he lost her because she’d lost her mate. She wasn’t his mate, and he couldn’t keep her alive that way, but there were other ways. The air witch had been alive for over a century after all, hadn’t she?

  “Wake up,” he growled. She looked up at him from under sooty lashes and glared. “How do we use your magic to keep you alive like Chloe did?”

  His witch let out a pained breath and sat up, holding out her wrist. “It won’t be the same magic, but I can blood bond to you. Not a mating bond,” she added quickly. “And I won’t take your life force. You’re connected to the Pack, so it’ll slowly draw power through the Pack bonds without killing anyone.” She paused. “Maybe. But it’s going to hurt.”

  “I’ll own you,” he spat, holding out his wrist and giving her a knife. She’d said blood, and that meant there needed to be cutting, something she liked to do with molten-hot knives if he remembered right.

  She met his gaze. “You already do, don’t you?”

  She’d been right. It had hurt. She’d screamed, and he’d held in his own, not wanting to show weakness, but when she was through and the magic had worked its way over him, he knew she was bound to him in a way she hadn’t been before. The Pack wouldn’t be happy about this, but he’d blame the Talons.

  He’d blame the air witch and that little lion the fucking Brentwoods now had in their arsenal. He’d blame Audrey, and when he was done teaching her a lesson, she’d blame herself.

  He was done letting others do the dirty work for him. All they’d done was make mistake after mistake. It was time for the Talons to know whom they were messing with. And when they figured it out, it would be too late.

  Finally.

  EPILOGUE

  Walker slid into Aimee, their hands clasped as they moved as one. Their bodies were healed and whole, and now joined as they made love under the moonlight as it shone through the open window in their bedroom. She arched into him, and he took her mouth, increasing his speed as he thrust in and out of her.

  She clung to him, her claws digging into his back, pushing his wolf even more.

  After they’d come, they lay sweaty, spent, and tangled with one another, their chests heaving as they panted.

  “Round four?” she mumbled, her eyes closed.

  Walker let out a strained laugh. “That was already round five. I think my dick is sore.”

  “Aw, poor baby.” She reached between them and patted his length. “Does he need a kiss to make it better?”

  He covered her hand with his and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. “Away, woman. You’ll break me.”

  “We wouldn’t want that.” She kissed him again, this time lazily.

  “We’re going to be late for the Pack meeting,” he said after they were both calm, yet hadn’t moved from their positions in the bed.

  “True, but this is very comfortable.”

  He bit her neck gently, and she purred. He could really get used to this whole purring thing. When she did it when he was inside of her? Well, let’s just say he came like he was a teenager getting used to sex again rather than the man he was.

  When she pinched his butt, he laughed and then rolled over, pulling her on top of him. “I think I like this position,” he said warmly.

  She rolled her eyes, kissed him, then moved to get off the bed. “I thought your dick hurt.”

  “True, but we could push through.”

  “So romantic.” Then she sashayed over to the bathroom, careful to lock the door behind her. Considering that they’d started this whole bout of sex in the shower earlier that day, he couldn’t blame her. They really needed to make it to the Pack meeting since the elders wanted to talk to the two of them beforehand. Shit, they needed to get a move on.

  Walker ran to the guest room and quickly showered there before pulling on some jeans and a flannel, button-down that Aimee loved. When he met her in the living room, he couldn’t help but stare at her, his attention solely on her as always. She’d put on jeans and a flowy shirt that emphasized her breasts and her healthy curves.

  He loved the way she’d filled out. Hell, he’d loved the way she looked before, too. But now, she was healthy and no longer cursed. The air witch was dead and could no longer hurt her or her family—the same family she was starting to contact more. He was grateful for that. Maybe without the magic of the air witch on their shoulders, the others could move on and have a decent life.

  He was going to do his damnedest to make sure Aimee had hers.

  “Ready?” she asked, practically bouncing. Walker had energy, but Aimee had it in spades. She was already training with Kameron to see if she was truly a soldier, and it had only been about a week since everything happened. She was seriously thriving, and his triplet was ecstatic to have a secret weapon in his arsenal. As long as Aimee was safe and could take care of herself, Walker was fine. If she got hurt in training, however, then he might just have to kick Kameron’s ass. Out of principle, of course.

  He and Aimee made their way to where the Pack planned to have their meeting to discuss what would happen within the den, and how the Aspen’s new threat would affect them all. There had been no news from Audrey, nor had Blade taken credit for what Scarlett and her mate did. They all knew Blade was behind it all, but since the Alpha hadn’t been there in person, there was also plausible deniability.

  War where they had to be careful of what the humans saw was a whole different animal than how they’d been able to protect their dens in the past. If his Pack wasn’t careful and they attacked the Aspens openly, they could end up in worse trouble with the government and the humans around them. It was a guessing game, one where they had to be strategic, but he believed in his Pack and his family and knew they would find a way to protect everyone.

  Xavior and a few of the other elders stood by a group of trees near the Pack meeting place. Not all the elders went to the meetings since some were so old, living in the present was hard for them, but Xavior went to them more often than not. They didn’t have many elders because of what had happened in the past with Walker’s father, but the Pack was getting better. Slowly.

  “Ah, you’re here.” The older wolf said with a wink. He looked the same age as Walker, until you looked him in the eyes and saw the depth of knowledge and age within. “I see you’ve been busy.”

  Walker let out a low growl. Elder or not, no one would be allowed to embarrass his mate.

  “Walker,” Aimee whispered.

  He squeezed her hand then i
nclined his head. “You wanted to see us?”

  The others introduced themselves to Aimee, but it was Xavior who spoke. “When Gideon told us about Aimee’s family being goddess-blessed, it helped us remember something. When you two mated, her power was introduced to the Pack through your mating bonds. Because of that, her blessing was also introduced.”

  Walker froze. “The mating bonds. That’s how they’re healing and how others are starting to see who their mates are or could be again.”

  “Because of my family?” Aimee asked, sounding as shocked as he was.

  “The blood in your veins, yes. By having another goddess-blessed within the Pack, and because she is mated to another goddess-blessed, it seems to be healing the bonds. It will take time, and we don’t know what will happen in the future, but it seems that the mating bonds are righting themselves.” Xavior frowned. “Or, at least, finding that new normal where they are more easily recognized. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are different altogether, but not as…shattered as they once wore.” There was a howl in the distance, and the elder nodded. “We’re needed at the Pack circle. We can talk more of this later.”

  And with that, they left without another word, leaving Walker and Aimee reeling.

  “We…we did that?” Aimee asked, her voice hoarse. “Others will be able to find their mates now?”

  Walker grinned and brought her in for a kiss. “That sounds about right. I can’t believe it. All that research to see what we could do, and it seemed the moon goddess and fate already knew how to fix it. She brought me you.”

  Aimee smiled, her eyes going bright with her cat. “I’m pretty sure she brought you to me.”

  He kissed her again, needing her taste even though they had to leave soon. “I love you, my mate.”

  “Love you, too, my wolf.”

  And he kissed her again, ignoring the second warning howl. He had his mate in his arms, and a future where they could flourish. He’d been searching for his purpose for long enough to know that what he needed was in his arms and in his path. His mate was strong—stronger than she thought she could be. A fighter who never backed down. And he was who he was always meant to be. A Healer, a mate, and a protector.