Page 66

SASHA

“ A lpha, bears sighted!”

My hair stiffened, resembling hackles on an angry wolf. “Where?” I demanded, speaking into my phone.

“Along the northern rim,” Kevin, my senior sentinel, said. “They’re several miles out from the heart of our pack. I have sentinels in position. Do you wish for us to engage?”

A full day had passed since the werebear’s attack and the Hopecrest pack was still picking up the pieces.

We had just buried our deceased pack mates and held the funerals that afternoon.

The realization that more werebears were closing in on our pack, when we were still weakened and battered, made my chest burn with anger.

“Hold them off,” I snarled. “Engage if they attack. I will round up the warriors and meet you there.”

I went to jab my thumb on the end call button when Kevin spoke up. “Sasha, there’s something else you should know.”

I stilled. “What?”

A pregnant pause. “Damon is here.”

My lungs seized. “You see him?” I whispered.

“Um… Yes.”

I attempted to swallow the lump lodged in my throat.

It didn’t budge. Kevin was one of the few in my pack who knew of Damon’s intimate connections to me—that he was my fated mate.

He’d been there when Alpha Ryan had stated such during our visit to the Silverfang’s pack office.

Kevin had been a valuable friend and kept the secret alongside Garret.

I let loose a watery smile. “Thanks, Kev, for letting me know.”

“Sure thing, Alpha.”

Then the line went dead.

I stared down, blinking, at the screen on the phone.

My thoughts were a jumbled mess, a tangled web that no one could unravel.

Slamming my eyelids closed, I grappled, gathering my composure.

Then I whirled around and set to work gathering warriors primed for battle.

The ones that seemed to need a bit more recovery time, I left behind to guard the camp with a few able-bodied sentinels.

With my warriors at my side, I raced into the shadows of the night that clung to the trees.

My feet ate up the ground, legs propelling me forward.

I was unaware of the swift footsteps of my fellow pack members around me, failing to notice those who could transform and run on all four paws.

With grim determination, I sprinted forward.

As I drew closer to the site, a whiff of bear drifted toward us on the breeze, along with the scent of my pack. I pushed on, arms pumping at my sides.

Up ahead, I caught a ring of figures intercepting another group. My eyes grew slitted. The sentinels had cut off Damon and his bears, but instead of a battle that I half expected to come across, I met a stand off.

Damon’s voice carried in my direction. “I need to speak with Sasha.”

My inner wolf growled, her anger at his betrayal a palpable thing.

“Get your mangy asses off our land,” I growled at Damon as I came up beside the line of sentinels.

Claws unsheathed, fangs bared, my pack moved into battle positions. Damon’s gaze swung to me, a look of wonder sweeping across his face.

“Sasha,” he breathed.

I took a menacing step toward him, intent on slashing his face. Damon’s eyes grew solemn and what he did next stole the breath from my lungs. Damon dropped to his knees. He tilted his head to the side, angling his neck toward me.

The ultimate gesture of submissiveness.

A collective gasp erupted from both werebear and werewolf.

“I come to you, Sasha,” Damon said. “To bring you an offering.” He gestured behind him at a group of bears among his sentinels. My eyes narrowed on Rick and his bears dealt the attack. “They are yours to kill.”

My head whipped back to Damon. I blinked in a daze, wondering if my ears had failed me. I was sure I’d heard wrong.

“You’d turn us over to the wolves?” Rick barked at Damon. The other bears at his side—prisoners, I realized—grew agitated, sensing their lives were ending soon.

Damon snapped his dark gaze to Rick. “No. I am offering you all to my fated mate. I am granting her the honor of slaying you worthless scum!” Damon’s fangs jabbed out. “Be grateful that I’m not the one killing you. I’d drag your deaths out for ages. You’d be begging to die.”

Fresh tears stung my eyes. I blinked, trying to stop them, to no avail.

Damon had signaled this sacrifice, and I knew it.

He was earnest. He’d come all this way to prove that he and his clan were innocent.

Now, his pack had no affiliation with Rick or the rogue bears.

It was unheard of for an alpha to surrender his pack mates to death over such a scheme—no arrangement could be so elaborate.

An alpha would die for his pack, except in one instance: If those pack mates were traitors. Only then would an alpha execute them.

But Damon’s giving me the respect of the pack offended by Rick’s heinous crime to deal with his fatal punishment.

My heart swelled so much I feared it would explode. I swallowed the tears lodged in the back of my throat and gave a jerky nod to Damon. His shoulders relaxed, and I sensed Damon’s relief, signifying his comprehension of the array of emotions swirling in my eyes.

I turned to the rogue wolves. Damon pushed to his feet and stepped to the side.

With a lift of his chin, he called his sentinels to him, leaving Rick and the group of bears displayed and unprotected.

A menacing growl tore from my throat. Rick’s gaze lost its usual cockiness and showed a flicker of fear since my first encounter with the bear.

He whirled an imploring gaze toward Damon. “W-Wait! We... Perhaps we can work something out,” Rick said. He licked his lips. “I-I have information that you need regarding the Dark Fae Lord!”

Pitiful. A sorry excuse for a Were, Rick wasn’t above begging for his life.

Sentinel indeed.

My inner wolf snarled. Her claws sank into my mind as she relished Rick’s blood slipping down our throat. Throwing back my head, I let out a keening howl to engage. My pack howled their rage, their lust for the blood of those that hurt us.

I launched forward, and before Rick could utter another plea, sank my fangs into his throat.

The metallic tang of blood burst inside my mouth.

With one vicious yank of my head, I tore his throat out, leaving Rick’s corpse to collapse onto the hard earth.

Around me, my pack slayed the other rogues.

The werebears’ cries for mercy—their last screams—were a morbid melody to my ears.

Then everything in the forest grew silent.

I cast a final disgusted glance at Rick’s body and stepped around the carnage, facing Damon and his bears.

I dipped my head. “Thank you,” I told Damon.

His lips tipped up with a ghost of a smile. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m not finished.”

I blinked at him.

Damon turned and faced his clan. They fastened curious eyes on their alpha.

“As you’ve all heard,” Damon began, “Sasha Havens is my fated mate. Even though I’m a werebear and she’s a werewolf. I am not ashamed of belonging to Sasha in such a way. I love her.”

My heart rocked to a stop. Some of the weres around us gasped in astonishment.

My breaths came out in erratic pants, and I blinked fast. Did he really mean…

Damon glanced over his shoulder at me. And that was the only answer I needed. Raw, open love shone within his blue gaze, with amber flecks shooting through them.

He faced his clan mates once more, a snarl on his lips. “If any one of you objects to this mating, then you are free to go. Because I’m not fucking leaving her side ever again.”

A knot expanded in my chest. My gaze flittered to his clan mates before meeting those of my own pack.

I wondered if I would see rejection or disgust in their eyes over a mating between enemies.

My eyes snapped wide. Not one latent or wolf stared at me with open derision.

Instead, a hint of joy flashed among them all.

I turned to face Damon’s clan. None had left.

They met their alpha’s challenging stare with proud expressions.

My heart swelled. Tears slipped down my cheeks and a watery smile lifted my lips.

They’ve… they’ve all accepted us being together, I mused.

Damon, satisfied that his clan welcomed the revelation, dismissed them, and turned to approach me. He paused before me, so close that the toe of our shoes touched. Damon raised a hand and brushed my tears away with gentle fingers.

“It is all right, everyone,” I announced to my pack. “You can return home.”

Chuckles rose from my pack members, a few eyes gleaming with mirth, as they headed back deeper into the forest.

A seed of hurt and anger sprouted deep in my core. Twisted and fierce, it expanded until it became impossible to contain. My vision brightened, my eyes glowing amber. I whirled on Damon.

“Do you know all the shit you’ve put me through?” I asked, narrowing my bright crimson eyes. Damon’s brow shot up and he took a step back. “All these years I’ve suffered—my wolf has suffered—because of your fucking rejection!”

Damon’s bears took that as their cue and excused themselves, picking up the bodies of the rogue bears and traipsing back the way they’d come.

He stared at me. Damon’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “What are you saying, Sasha?”

I growled at him. “I’m saying you’re an asshole! You were from the beginning.”

A look of resignation crossed his features. The vibrant light in his eyes only moments before now dimmed.

He gave a curt nod. “I respect your decision, Sasha. You won’t hear from me again if that’s what you want.” He backed up a step before turning away. “I…I want you to know I’m sorry, Sasha.” Damon began walking away from me.

“You were an asshole from the beginning,” I repeated.

“But then you changed.” Damon paused mid-stride.

“You were worried about my safety when we went investigating on the trails. You defended me against those werewolves at the bar.” I shook my head in wonder.

“Defended me! Hell, you stood up for me. You stayed by my side at my worst moment, laying in bed with me watching stupid Asian dramas.” I gave a laugh as tears sprung from my eyes.

Damon slowly turned around to face me. A look of open astonishment was visible in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re a thorn in my side that won’t leave me the hell alone. A goddamned idiot.” I smiled. “But I’m an idiot too. For falling in love with you.”

Damon’s lips parted. His pupils expanded, amber flecks bleeding through the blue of his eyes. He licked his lips. “Sasha… are you?—”

I grabbed hold of his hand. “Hush. Come with me.”

Damon eyed me with curiosity, but let me lead him through the forest back to camp.

I ignored the awestruck stares and gaping from my pack as I weaved through the cabins.

Anxious excitement consumed me and I didn’t care about others’ opinions about me bringing Damon into the pack.

Slick moisture trailed down my thighs, my arousal knotting low in my abdomen.

One glance behind me showed Damon’s nostrils flaring, his eyes glowing red as he caught a whiff of my heat.

I no longer led him. Instead, he was at my side, his hand squeezing mine.

I found my cabin and moved us inside, closing the front door.

I had just enough time to switch on the lights when Damon hauled me into his arms and carted me off to bed.

He fumbled around my cabin for a spell, searching for my bedroom, to which I howled with laughter.

Stumbling upon it, he opened the door and kicked it close.

He laid me with such tenderness upon the bed, my wild curls spilling out over the sheets.

His eyes shone down on me in the dark, my night vision enabling me to see him in all his masculine glory.

His gaze glowed with compassion. He looked at me like he had just come home and I was the answer to everything right in his life.

The notion brought tears to my eyes. He hooked a finger beneath my eyes and wiped the tears away.

Damon stretched his body over mind as his forearms bracketed my head to lift most of his weight off my smaller form.

His warmth enveloped me and my wolf purred at the male heat of him.

He dipped his head and brushed his lips against mine—the touch lighter than a feather. I breathed into his mouth. My heart thrashed against my ribs, toes curling.

“God, Sasha,” Damon whispered. Coal-dark lashes fanned his eyes, making the blue of his eyes more startling in their beauty. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

With a giggle, I gave him a soft smile. “It might convince me you feel that way if you give me a few more kisses.” I winked.

Damon chuckled. “Saucy girl.”

I laughed. Then his lips were on mine. And the world stopped. His lips melded against mine, the firm fullness causing my skin to hum. The wet velvet heat of his tongue swept across my lower lip, only to be replaced by teeth that nipped into my lower lip before covering my mouth.

I gasped, my back arching to get closer to him.

A dark chuckle escaped his chest. “Bears are all about teeth.”

“Good thing us wolves don’t shy away from bites,” I whispered against his mouth before claiming his lips in a fevered kiss.

I moaned into his mouth, sparks firing off in every cell—scrambling my brain.

Our bodies writhed against each other. I threw a leg over his lean hip, guiding him closer to me.

I wanted— needed— the delicious hardness that ground against the most sensitive part of me.

“D—Damon,” I panted. A groan tore from my lungs. “You—oh—you feel so good.”

Damon’s lips drew away from my mouth. He trailed open-mouth kisses down the column of my throat.

Fire scorched me everywhere he touched. And I burned for more.

His lips trailed lower still, coming to the swell of my breast. My nipple peaked beneath my shirt, the clothing abrasive against the tender flesh.

I couldn’t help but let out a desperate whimper, yearning for the thrill of his tongue encircling my sensitive bud.

Then he stopped.

He drew back a little to gaze into my eyes. “Shit! I’m such an idiot,” Damon growled. “Sasha, about the investigation?—”

I shook my head. My body cried out for him. “It can wait.”

Damon tensed in my arms. “No, no. I have information to stop this madness once and for all… To stop the Dark Fae.”

I pressed a finger over his lips, shushing him. “It can wait,” I said. He stared deep into my eyes with a burning desire, mirroring my own. “Right now, I just need you.”