by Kamryn Hart
“What’s going on?” the shifter asked.
“You’re free. Erin’s dead.”
The shifters who were still conscious looked at Erin’s dead body.
“You do that?”
Derek nodded.
“Thanks.”
Derek nodded again. “Can any of you walk?”
The one with broken arms stood up as well as the one Derek had hit underneath his chin.
“Help me get the others out of here,” Derek said as he hoisted up one of the shifters with his feet shot through. The one with a bruise under his chin picked up and supported the other shifter with shot up feet. Derek handed off his shifter to that one too, not wanting to place any more stress on the one with broken arms. Then Derek went for the one he had hit in the head. The guy was out cold, so he picked him up and carried him.
They filed silently out of the room. After that initial crash, Derek had tuned out anything else happening in the cabin. He had to focus on what he was doing. When he was done with Erin, he didn’t catch any more sounds suggesting a struggle. Probably because the shifters downstairs had woken up and weren’t fighting anymore. He could smell Blue Wolves. Not just Blue Wolves. He could smell Willow. Her scent, being in heat, made her smell cut through the rest like a knife.
“Someone must have gotten to Erin already,” a baritone voice Derek didn’t recognize came from downstairs.
“It was Derek.” The sweet sound of that voice was unmistakable. Willow.
Derek’s heart beat faster.
“Derek!” she cried. “Where are you?”
He wanted to call back, but what should he say? He heard the light pounding of Willow’s feet as she ran up the stairs. She was coming right for him. Then she was in front of him. Beautiful as ever. Not a scratch on her pretty face. Her eyes shimmered. Her lips quivered.
Nick was right on her tail. He took one look at the shifter Derek was carrying and took over, taking that shifter into his own arms and guiding the others downstairs. Now Willow and Derek had some privacy. Not much since if they said anything the shifters downstairs would hear, but it was some privacy nonetheless.
“Willow,” he said quietly.
She ran. She closed the small space between them and jumped into his arms. He caught her ass and she wrapped her legs and arms around him. She squeezed him as tightly as she could—which was pretty damn tight—but he didn’t mind it. Had she missed him this much?
“How did you find me?” he asked.
“The Moon. The mark on my neck,” she replied, sniffling.
“Because you’re my mate,” he finished, saying something he would never have said only a day before. Only hours before.
Willow squeezed him tighter and then loosened her grip so she could gaze into his eyes. “Yeah, because I’m your mate.” She brushed her fingers against his forehead, feeling the dried blood. “Are you okay?”
“I am now.”
“I’m so happy I found you,” she said, touching him even more softly. She was turning him into a shivering, jittery mess.
Derek could read the look in her eyes. She wanted him to kiss her. So he did. He captured her lips and kissed her like he never kissed her or anyone else before. It was a slow caressing of lips, a brush of teeth. He tangled his tongue in hers, trying to pour into her all of the emotion and words inside of him that he didn’t know how to say. He tried to show her how much she meant to him.
“Willow!” Nick called from down the stairs. “We’re leaving. C’mon.”
Willow stopped their kiss, though it was obvious she didn’t want to. “We should probably go help move all these shifters or something,” she said. “We’ve got a witch who can heal them, but it looks like you already took care of most of that. Did you kill Erin?”
“I killed her.”
“Then it’s over.” Willow let out a sigh of relief.
She unwrapped her arms and legs from Derek’s body, and he set her down on her feet. She grabbed his hand, and he gladly held hers in return. He let her lead him down the stairs. For some reason, he was feeling nervous to see Nick, to see anyone in Blue Pack.
The front door to the cabin was open and so were all the windows, airing out the heavy smell of incense. The shifters who were practically naked were given clothes. Blue Wolves, and what Derek assumed were Trinity Shifters, were scouring the house, finding all of the shifters Erin had enslaved.
Nick came in from outside and rested his eyes on Derek. “We’re loading everyone up and taking them back to Moonwatch. It’s the closest safe place where these shifters will be able to recover, and we’ll be able to make enough room for Josh to do his thing.”
He walked up to Derek and Willow and held out his hand. “We got off on the wrong foot. I want to start over.”
Willow let go of Derek’s hand, encouraging him to take Nick up on his offer. He did, he took Nick’s hand and shook.
“If you want to be a part of Blue Pack, you’re welcome. You’ll just have to pledge your loyalty to me, the Alpha, on the next Full Moon.”
“I don’t know about that.” Derek smirked.
Nick tensed a little, but he didn’t fall for the bait, apparently determined not to have a fist fight repeat.
Derek clarified, “The only one I pledge myself to is Willow.” He turned to her. “If you’ll still have me. I want to be where you are. I’ve been a giant dick, but I want to make it up to you if possible.”
Willow hugged him again. “I want you with me too. We have a lot to learn about each other.”
Derek didn’t know how he had ended up so lucky. To even have the chance to be this wolf shifter’s mate was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It was the best thing that was ever going to happen to him as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t going to let it slip by. He wasn’t going to fight against it. He was going to fight for it tooth and nail. His life was literally changed overnight. No, things weren’t perfect, but he could only see them getting better from this point on. He had helped save a bunch of shifters from a psycho human bitch. He had a real chance with Willow. He had a pack of wolves willing to accept him.
He wasn’t alone anymore.
Epilogue
A MONTH LATER
The morning rays of sunlight crept through the window. The warmth eased Willow from her sleep. She opened her eyes to see Derek, her mate, lying beside her. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was deep. He was sleeping peacefully. Peacefully. It was a big deal. His nights had been rough the past month, but each night was getting better.
Willow smiled. She gently touched her mate’s face and kissed his forehead. He didn’t stir. He continued to sleep peacefully which was what she wanted. She would let him rest in his good dreams for as long as he was able to. He deserved that.
She had noticed a lot of changes in him. He wasn’t so defensive anymore. He was more at ease with the other Blue Wolves, and he was considering the idea of pledging to Nick as his Alpha. He was coming around to the idea of truly being part of a pack, part of a family.
Derek said he didn’t like Nick and that he didn’t want an Alpha, but Willow knew those were simply excuses. She knew he wanted to belong, but he had been hurt too many times in the past for him to take such a big leap immediately. He was already taking a huge chance with her. She knew it wasn’t easy for him, but she was determined not to let him regret it. She knew he wouldn’t. They had fallen into step naturally like they were meant to.
She couldn’t imagine life without him now.
When she first met her Fated Mate, she thought everything would suddenly be perfect. It turned out she was very wrong about that. She was even at the point where she wondered why the Moon would have picked him as her mate. The hurtful words he said to her after he fucked her the night they met, that he didn’t want her, broke her heart. But so much had happened since then. The hurt and confusion she felt before seemed like a lifetime ago.
She got to know Derek. She learned about his experience with love and family
. Those things didn’t exist in his life. They existed now. She hoped he felt them. She had been careful around her mate. She didn’t want to say something she didn’t mean, so she had never told him that she loved him. They had both guarded their hearts after everything that happened. But she knew it now. She loved this stubborn, fierce alpha. It was time to tell him that immutable truth.
She whispered in his ear, “I love you, Derek.”
She silently promised to tell him again when he woke up. It turned out he was the perfect mate for her, even if perfect had its less than perfect days. They worked through it.
Willow slid out of bed, yawned, and stretched. She left the room quietly to take a nice relaxing morning bath. Once inside the master bathroom, she got the water running in her Jacuzzi and started to undress.
She thought about Erin, the shifter collector, and the toll she put on everyone. Especially the shifters who were her slaves. It was unfortunate, but having their minds, their free will restored, wasn’t perfect. They were mostly fine, but none of them could give any leads about the witch who did this to them. It was like a window of time before they were stripped of their free will and during their time being captive had been erased.
Most of the shifters that were brought back to Moonwatch to recover had gone on their way, returning to their homes and families. A few stragglers stayed behind. One of them was the famous Cedric Snow. He wasn’t ready to face the limelight, and she couldn’t blame him. The news said his younger brother was inheriting everything he was meant to. It seemed his parents had written him off as an irresponsible runaway like everyone else. It was a dick move. They wrote him off like it was nothing. Luckily, Moonwatch had room for him and the others in the newly finished motel. It was also lucky that Nick was such a giving Alpha. He was helping shifters that weren’t even wolves! Trinity had offered to take these shifters off Nick’s hands when they cleared out, but he said if they wanted to stay for a while and sort things out, he wasn’t against it. Willow was damn proud of her big brother.
Derek caught the name of the witch responsible for providing Erin with her soulless shifters. The Trinity Shifters had heard of Beatrice, but not much more. She was on their list of dangerous Black Witches, and they were actively searching for her.
The Trinity Shifters took care of any collateral damage Erin might have caused, making her disappear entirely when they cleared out the cabin she was staying in. They certainly knew what they were doing. Nick was impressed and exchanged contact information so he could keep in touch with them without using Casey as an intermediary. Specifically, he asked for Bruiser’s contact. Something about that grizzly shifter was intriguing, and he knew how to get shit done. With everything going on, Nick didn’t ask for more Trinity information before they cleared out of Moonwatch, but Willow knew he would in the future. There were shifters blessed by the Earth and Sun like how wolves were blessed by the Moon. There was still so much they didn’t know. Nick might consider joining the alliance. He wasn’t going to jump into anything, but it might be the best thing he could do for Blue Pack and all the Awakened Wolves they had been helping. Trinity had powerful forces and knowledge far beyond Blue Pack’s.
Understandably, all the Awakened Wolves staying in Moonwatch wanted to stay in Moonwatch even when Trinity offered to help them. There was one Awakened Wolf in particular who Willow wished would have taken them up on their offer though. Max. In the last month, he had regressed more and more. He said he didn’t want to go with Trinity because he didn’t want to be any farther away from his girlfriend than he already was. Nick let him stay, but Willow knew it was a hard choice on his part. The reason he didn’t make Max leave was because the Trinity Shifters admitted they didn’t have a better way of dealing with him than Nick did.
Aside from poor Max and the soulless shifters still in recovery, everything in Moonwatch was pretty much perfect.
“How are we supposed to help him?” Willow said aloud. It wasn’t night, but the Moon could always hear her. Why it didn’t tell her how she could help Max, she didn’t know. The Moon was all about doing things in its own time.
Willow turned off the water and slipped into her Jacuzzi after she turned on the jets. The warm water was so soothing and the jets massaged her skin. She hummed in contentment. It was too bad she never got a chance to use her Jacuzzi when she was in heat. It probably would have soothed the buzzing in her body. Well, it didn’t matter now. She wasn’t in heat anymore. It only lasted about three days or so. She was happy about that because it was driving her crazy. The best part? It didn’t change the magnetic energy between her and Derek. That pull was still there and strong, it just wasn’t completely debilitating like being in heat had made her feel.
She always wanted her mate. Whenever they were alone, she wanted to make love with him. Over and over. He felt the same way. She was on birth control and had been since she had started messing with humans in Tinsdelle after Casey left her, but that wasn’t enough for Derek. He always insisted on condoms whenever they made love. He wanted to make Willow’s chances of getting pregnant as low as possible—aside from abstaining of course. It didn’t bother her too much. She understood Derek was not ready to think about kids at all. She hoped one day he’d change his mind, but she wasn’t going to press or express how much she wanted kids until he was ready. She’d wait years if she had to. He was worth it. Besides, her niece was well on her way.
She couldn’t complain about where things were at.
She sunk lower into the water, allowing it to come up to just under her nose. She closed her eyes and focused on the soothing water jets.
She was over Casey. She no longer had a hole in her heart. She was able to see him and his family off with a smile when they returned to their home, promising to come back again soon. She was looking forward to their return too. She wanted to make an effort to get to know them better. His family was beautiful. She was happy for him. She could say that and mean it. Julie and Howard had their son back. They started living together again too.
Everything was okay.
Willow sat up straight when she heard the sound of her mate’s feet padding against the wood floor outside the bathroom. He peeked his head inside, a grin on his face. “Morning, princess.”
Willow grinned back. “Good morning,” she replied. When Derek had first called her princess, it felt condescending. That certainly wasn’t the case anymore. It was an endearing nickname she loved to hear on his lips.
He ditched his clothes in the hall and walked into the bathroom. Willow watched him with a heated gaze. His cock was erect and bobbed with each step he took. Heat rushed to her pelvis. She involuntarily squeezed her legs together in response to the overwhelming sensation. She wanted him inside of her. If she had her way, she wanted him inside of her without a condom. The thought made her hotter. She was practically panting.
“Someone is happy to see me,” she remarked.
She moved over as Derek dipped into the tub. He grabbed Willow from behind and seated her in his lap when he was comfortably inside the bubbly water. He pressed her tight against him, his erection pressing against her pussy. Willow’s breath hitched, and a whimper escaped her lips. She wanted this so badly. Was he going to indulge her? Would he make love to her just like this?
“Derek,” she whispered as she squirmed in his arms.
He allowed her to move. She rotated so she could face him, wrap her legs around him, and feel him better. His cock brushed against her clit. She arched her back and breathed heavily. She laced her fingers on the back of his neck, feeling the buzzing energy of his Lunas Sigil seep into her fingers. He kissed her hard, bruising her lips. She reciprocated.
“Is this okay?” she managed to ask when they had stopped kissing. She couldn’t contain the little shudders coursing through her body. She was subconsciously rubbing her pelvis against his, stimulating her clit and urging his cock down her slit. She needed him inside of her.
“It’s okay,” he replied, breathless.
Derek grabbed her ass and assisted her in guiding his cock inside of her pussy. Then he let her ride him on her own terms, matching her with shallow thrusts of his own.
“Mm, Derek,” Willow tried to speak as she kept moving. Her brain was frazzled, but she needed to tell him. He needed to know.
“What?” he asked after a moment of thrusting and holding her.
“I have to tell you something.”
“Right now?” He thrust into her harder.
Her clit was rubbing against his solid abdomen, and he was buried deep inside of her. Making love like this, having him inside of her with nothing to separate them, was more powerful than she had anticipated. She knew the words she wanted to say, but she couldn’t speak. She moaned and whimpered again, rubbing against her mate more fiercely as he met her with harder thrusts. She was going to come. The pent-up energy squeezing in her body was about to unleash.
Right when her orgasm hit, Derek withdrew and moved her off of him. Her eyes were fluttering. The release was intense, but the absence of him inside of her was jarring.
“What the hell?” she breathed.
“I’m not ready yet, princess,” he said as he smirked at her.
He held her close to him again and kissed her. She felt his swollen cock teasing her entrance again. He felt ready to her. He touched the back of her neck, somehow cooling and heating her body at the same time.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he whispered. He pulled away from her and grinned. “Even when your face is as red as a lobster, you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my goddamn life.”
Willow flushed. “It’s the heat of the water and your body against mine. Of course my face is going to be red,” she yipped.
Derek kissed her fiercely, biting and sucking. He was taking control now. He had learned to give her moments of control, but he had this need to be in control—it was probably an alpha thing. He ran his hands up her body, the water making their skin on skin contact that much smoother. There was no friction, just smooth slippery skin. He ran his hands across her breasts and pinched her hard nipples.