He’d waltzed in like he owned the place, and even Barrett had frozen when he’d seen him.
Pulling back, she saw the smile in Savage’s eyes. “I’ll be up soon, love.”
“Feel free to wake me up.”
“Ah, the newly mated.” The sound of Alexei’s baritone voice followed her up the stairs. “If I’d known you had so much help, I wouldn’t have rushed here with the journals.”
Sydney curled up in bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. One thought struck her as the world faded out—why had she gotten so tired so suddenly? It really wasn’t like her. Not at all.
“Lily.”
Sydney whirled around. What the hell? She stepped backwards and realized she was barefoot. What the heck? Why did this feel so familiar?
“Lily, please wait.”
“No.” She spoke words but she didn’t know why she was saying them. “Who are you? Leave me alone.”
The man who stepped toward her both was and was not Savage. One second he looked like her love, the next he didn’t. Shorter and his hair was lighter, but then he changed again.
“I prayed to the moon for you. Don’t you know me? I licked away your tears.”
“What you’re saying isn’t possible.” She spoke again. “A wolf licked my tears.”
“Yes, exactly.”
She looked around and grabbed a large stick off the ground. “I should be dead. I don’t know why I’m not. I’m not going to let you do to me what those other men did. If you come near me, I’m going to hit you with this stick. I’m going to hit you hard.”
Dark-haired sort-of-Savage raised his eyebrow. “I’d like to see you try. I must beg you, my Lily of the Moon, don’t go any further in that direction. If you do, you’ll wake the Garto. I hate the Garto. I wouldn’t want to have to put him to sleep.”
Chapter Ten
“You could have emailed me the information.”
Alexei maintained his usual bored stare. It was his version of the mask.
“I’m not sticking the former Alpha Prime’s journals into circulation over email. You’ll forward it and then someone else will forward it and then before I know it the whole damn group would be reading his journals. You said Garto, and I came to help you. A thank you would suffice.”
“A thank you?”
Savage raised his fist, his wolf surging forward. He could see Alexei’s death in his head. Snap. He’d take off the other man’s head. He’d done it before. Would be so easy. Savage lowered his arm. He wasn’t that man anymore. He had a mate and maybe a baby coming.
Alexei raised a dark eyebrow. “What happened there?”
“I thought about killing you. I changed my mind. This time.” He leaned forward. “Thank you for the fucking books. Do they say anything about killing the Garto?”
“Why do you hate me?”
“I can’t tell you how much I detest the question. Second time in two days.” He shook his head. “This time it’s easy. I hate you because you beat my brother when he was down and laughed about it. I hate you because you are that man. I never get over hating the people who hurt those who are mine.”
Alexei nodded. He rocked on his feet once. “I am sorry that happened. Deeply. Those days….”He shook his head. “I can apologize to Hayden, probably should. Truth is, I can hardly think of the time. It’s…complicated. You’re right. You’re also wrong. I was that man. I’m not him anymore.”
“That’s an easy thing to say. I’d like to claim my past is nothing too, yet we both know it’s not true. You were a grown up, and you thought it was funny to pick on a guy whom Lucian deemed less worthy than you.”
“I died.” Alexei spoke slowly. “The experience was…changing. Not only in that it really sucks to die. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. It hurt. Badly. Then things happened on the other side I couldn’t even begin to describe to you. When I came back, five days had passed. I can assure you, as I dug myself out of my own grave I was not the same man who once abused your bother. It does, however, finally make me understand your hostility. Don’t forgive me if you can’t. I understand. You have a Garto Wolf. Let’s do something about it.”
“And you want what in return?”
The Alpha from Boston tapped his foot. “There is always a price for everything.”
“That’s why I asked.” Asshat.
“How about you start working on forgiving me. I’ll reach out to your brother.”
Fuck. “I’m not really good at the whole moving-on thing.”
“You have a True Mate, gifted by the Moon. I bet she can help you. Or the baby in her belly. He’ll probably go a long way toward helping, too. You want me to be Alpha Prime when he’s young. Ask yourself if you want him to live in a world where anyone else is in charge.”
Alexei walked into the living room. “I’ll let you digest. I’ve even put up with the Alpha from Phoenix for a while. That’s how much I want to help.”
“Wait.”
Alexei turned around, his head tilted slightly to the side. “I’m all ears.”
“Just tell me. Can I kill it?” If it were possible to end the Garto he’d do it, end of story.
“No.” Alexei walked closer. “That doesn’t mean she dies.”
****
Savage came into the room. He’d been hours later than he expected to be thanks to the mess in the living room. Barrett and Alexei together were a nightmare. Neither one of them could let the other speak.
The unkillable Garto. What the fuck was he going to do?
Get through the night, and she’ll live. Of course, that wouldn’t any of the future murders. Lucian’s text seemed to indicate Sydney would live if she could get to sleep. That had to mean the next morning after the shift.
He rubbed at his face. It was dark in the room and she was out cold, still fully dressed, the Lily totem hanging down from her neck. Savage slipped off his shoes and climbed into the bed next to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist before he tugged her against him.
Savage expected her to wake up or stir. When she did neither, worry formed in his gut. “Sydney.”
She rolled over then, pushing deeper into his chest. “Sleep.”
Okay. Some of the anxiety eased. She wanted to sleep then he’d leave her be. Maybe she was so tired because of the baby. Both Barrett and Alexei seemed pretty sure Savage’s mate was pregnant. Even if he lived through the Garto, the idea of fatherhood would be even more frightening.
He’d never wanted to be responsible for fucking anyone else up.
Stupid fucking pervert. His father’s voice rang heavy in his mind. You’re no son of mine. I don’t care if Lucian thinks you have a destiny. You’re not special, you’re sick.
Savage stared at the dark ceiling willing his childhood shame to return where it belonged. He was the Alpha of San Francisco. He had a True Mate. She was pregnant.
She raised her head to look at him, her eyes unclear. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Shit, he had to be projecting his angst into the air, and he had woken her, which was the last thing he wanted to do. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She sat up on her knees. “Take off your pants.”
“What?”
“Have you stopped speaking my language, my Alpha?” She scooted foward and tugged at his pants. “Take them off.”
“Your Alpha?” He did as she wanted and removed the white khakis, throwing them onto the ground. If his mate wanted them off, he’d take them off. She scooted down to the end of the bed. “Boxers too.”
His heart kicked up. “My mate wants to play?”
“Your mate wants to play, my Alpha.”
“You know I am always up for your pleasure.”
“That’s what I hear.”
She kissed his stomach lightly, and his abs jumped. What was she doing? “Sydney, love?”
“Quiet. It’s my pleasure to take care of you tonight.” She looked up at him, a smile across her lips, which could only be called sult
ry. “As Werewolf women have done for their Alphas for all time.”
“I’m not sure exactly to what you’re referring.” And he’d heard of everything in the bedroom.
“What is the word you’d use? Oh, blow job. Sounds so crude compared to my desire to give you pleasure.”
“Sydney.” He pushed up on the back of his elbows “You know what that is?” Because she’d been unversed in most sex acts, and blowjobs seemed a bit out there. Most Werewolf women didn’t like them, and males weren’t interested in acts of sex their females didn’t enjoy.
“I’ve been having dreams.” She scooted further down, trailing kisses all the way until she reached his cock. The sultry smile returned, and she blew once on the tip of his erection. His whole body jolted.
Holy. Shit. “What kinds of dreams?”
“Dreams of eternity, and I want to make my mate feel good tonight. It gives me pleasure to do so. So shut your mouth, Alpha, and let me try something new.”
He didn’t know exactly what had come over his mate or exactly what she’d been dreaming, but he wasn’t going to say no, not when she told him it gave her pleasure. That was all he ever wanted.
She took him down her throat in one swift thrust. He groaned and closed his eyes.
“Did they give you instructions in the dream? Because that is…wow?”
Sydney licked her lips before she went down on him, again pumping up and down on him. He gripped the bed sheet. This was the sweetest torture. He wanted to thrust his hips and push himself deeper inside her mouth, but he wasn’t going to. She set the rules and said what she wanted. This was giving her pleasure.
Shit. Even as it made him hotter than he’d ever been. Finally, he couldn’t hold off anymore; his hips had a mind of their own. He thrust into her mouth.
“Sydney. I can’t…I’m….”
She moaned, and the vibrations undid him. Savage came hard pushing into her mouth, emptying himself until he was spent. His muscles were useless. He couldn’t move if he wanted to.
Sydney sat up and chewed on her bottom lip. “You look like you enjoyed that.”
Savage moaned. “I did. Anytime it’s your pleasure to suck on my cock, please know I am floored by how much I loved it. Only…how?”
“I told you. I was having an intense dream. I think I saw some things which were …inspiring.”
“That’s the part I’m having trouble with.”
She lay down next to him. “In my dreams, I seem to be Lily.”
He let her words sink in. “You learned how to give an experienced made-me-come-really-fast blowjob by watching the mother of all Werewolves do it?”
“Yes.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Can’t go there in my head. Too far for me.”
She laughed before she yawned. “She was a girl, Savage. Before she was the Mother of anything, she was girl who didn’t want to die and then didn’t want to be a Werewolf.”
“I’ve never heard that. Some imagination you have there.”
As his mate slipped right back to sleep, he was still awake. As spent as he was, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t followed her into oblivion.
Until he did.
****
Sydney walked down the stairs on quiet feet. She had a mission, and she needed to carry it out before she forgot. The memory, the vision, would fade. But when Lily gave her an instruction, she intended to do as she’d been told.
Alexei sat on the couch. He looked up when she entered. Around the room, people slept. They wouldn’t wake, not until after she’d done what needed doing.
“Sydney? You okay?”
“Alpha Prime? Isn’t that what you’re calling yourself?” She pointed a finger at him. “There are things you weren’t to interfere with. Instructions you were given.”
He sighed loudly. “I take it I’m talking to Lily. Or at least some version she’s sending me through you.”
“You were told not to interfere in certain matters.”
He stood, the full power of his Alpha present. She wasn’t afraid. Sydney could see his whole existence from birth to death to rebirth. Alexei didn’t intimidate her.
“I don’t take instructions from you. You sent me back. I will do as I see fit. If I want to help Savage save this girl from the Garto, that’s what I’m going to do and you can suck it up.”
She shook her head. “You’re not the only one with a destiny.”
“Get out of her head, Lily. Stay dead for a while.”
Sydney suddenly felt dizzy; the room spun and everything turned white. She cried out, and a strong arm grabbed her. What was happening? Where was she? Her head ached. How had she gotten to the living room? She’d been in the bedroom with Savage, she’d felt powerful, and then…and then….
Alexei looked down at her. “Sydney, you okay?”
“I don’t know how I got here.”
A bang upstairs sounded, and suddenly she was wrenched out of Alexei’s grip. Max had her, and he was passing her to Savage.
“Why were you touching my mate?” Savage snarled at Alexei.
Alexei sat down on the couch. “She was sleepwalking. I kept her from falling. Must be all the stress. Take better care of your mate, Savage. I wouldn’t want anyone to hurt her.”
****
The morning of the upcoming fight with the Garto shouldn’t have been so beautiful. In her mind, when she’d pictured the day—when she’d actually let her mind travel to the night the Garto would come—it had always been raining. Pouring. Bright lightning in the sky, powerful blasts of thunder. Beautiful sunshine, a light breeze, and white, fluffy clouds in the sky never figured into her musings.
She stared upwards. Where was the rain?
The night before had been really weird. First, she’d conked out when she shouldn’t have been so exhausted, then she’d woken up rearing to go down on Savage, which she had adored and couldn’t wait to do again, but she hadn’t even considered putting her mouth on his erection before then. Finally, waking up again in the living room in the middle of some standoff between Alexei and Savage had been disturbing.
Sleepwalking? She’d never done so before, ever.
Her head hurt.
A strong arm belonging to the mate she’d never expected wrapped around her waist. “You okay””
She could lie, and he’d smell it. Some day he’d show her how he shielded himself so well. The man went around telling untruths to Alphas, and no one seemed to know.
“No.”
“It’s all going to be fine. Tomorrow, you’ll wake up and we’ll head to San Francisco.”
She turned until she could rest her head against his chest. “Hard for me to imagine it. I mean, I spent all of half a night in San Francisco. Part of that was trying to get out of your club.”
“I’ll always be grateful you made the trip.”
She snorted—not ladylike, but what did she care? “Yeah. Talk to me after you’ve spent the night fighting the thing. You might wish The Moon had done things differently.”
He tapped her chin until she looked up at him. “Even if we’d only had one day together, one hour, one minute, I could never regret any of it. You’re my own, my love, my mate. Sweet Sydney. Tomorrow night you sleep in my arms in our bed listening to the sounds of the water.”
“Okay.” She kissed him, and her heart melted. Different than when she’d been desperate for relief, this was about Savage being her strong, sweet man who held her and told her it would all be all right. “I love you, too. You never say it outright. You call me love. You say my love. Gorgeous words. I thought maybe one of us should speak the words. I love you, Savage.”
“Sydney.” He pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed tight. “I…I thought I had said it. I’m not good at this.”
“You’re the best at this.”
“I love you.” He opened his eyes and kissed her nose. “Love. Love. Love you.”
Okay, if she didn’t want to start weeping, she needed to focus on something else.
“Have you eaten?”
“Um.” He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly. “No, I guess not. I don’t tend to eat in the morning.”
“Eggs.” She stepped away. “You need eggs.”
“I could eat some eggs.”
Hayden was right. He never fed himself. Good thing he had her to do it…at least for the day. Her wolf prowled around. Full Moon days were always agony. Her wolf wanted out, she wanted to let her, and they were both stuck until the sun left the sky. A thought dawned on her.
“I’m your pack. I mean, a member of it.”
He cleared his throat. “You’re my mate.”
“Well, obviously. Yes. I mean, I’ve never had pack. I always follow my father during full moons. That’s changed. Tonight, it’s you.”
Savage took her hand. “Tonight will be complicated. I may not shift at all.”
They walked toward the house together. “Won’t that be…really painful? I mean, can you do that?”
“Alphas control and manage their changes. I don’t ever have to shift. Yes, I mean, it hurts.”
“You think you should fight the Garto as a human?”
She made her way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He still hadn’t answered her.
“I’m not sure, love. If I need to shift, I’ll shift. If the situation seems like my pulling out a gun and shooting the fucker in the head will handle it better—then I’ll do it. We have to get you through to the morning. That’s what we’re going to do.”
She pulled out the eggs. “I can’t believe you’re so calm.”
“I’m really not. I’m shielding from you. I have absolute confidence in my ability to do this.” Someone cleared his throat, and she found Alexei standing in the doorway. Savage growled but didn’t move. “What makes me nervous is you are going to be really, really mad. Please forgive me.”
She set down the eggs. His words took a second to pass through her mind.
“Why would I be mad, Savage? What did you do?” He placed a hand on the side of her face. His Alpha energy moved through her, making the room spin. What was he doing? “Savage. What?”
Her mate moved around until he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Sleep.”
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