Page 27 of Pack Rage (The Splintered Bond #4)

Chapter 26

Opening Up

GRIGOR

I t was more difficult than I had dreamed to keep my power from reducing the house above us into rubble as I surged into my mate’s body. The pleasure was a maelstrom that caught me, the overwhelming bliss nearly blinding. Power from the connection filled me, healing me from the silver poisoning and beginning to refill my magical reserves.

At long last, my wolf had claimed his mate. He wanted the world to know what had just happened, wanted the earth itself to be as transformed as he was by the connection that lit up his weary, feral soul.I felt such compassion for that part of me, the side that had made certain we stayed alive, though it was a punishment at least as horrific as the life I’d lived, to suffer through all those years alone.

But now . Now, she was here, asking to be let inside. So we turned our attention from shaking the world on its foundation, to doing something far more difficult: allowing the one we loved most to see exactly who it was, what it was, she had claimed.

Her wolf walked into my spirit on small, dark paws. Her coat was every bit as dark, though it glinted red, and her eyes were amber fires that warmed me as she moved through my memories, exploring. Searching. What was she looking for?

Not that it mattered. I’d trespassed on my beloved’s thoughts many times, before I had any right. As she ran through my past, through the threads that made up the tainted web of my magic, sniffing and sneezing once when she approached the oldest memories I had, I knew I had no choice. I belonged to her. She owned my body, my mind, my soul itself.

The earth stood still, but inside, I quaked to think of what she had found when her wolf stopped running.

“Oh, Grisha,” she whispered, and I knew she’d seen my earliest memories. “I’m so sorry you had to wait for so long. I’m glad you lived. Glad you survived… everything. We’ll be together from now on. Your wolf and mine.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks, and I opened my eyes, wondering. I couldn’t remember crying since… since I was Grisha, and my mother held me. I tried to clear my mind, to think of what my perfect mate needed most.

My wolf growled low in my chest. Ah, of course. “Your wolf is ready to emerge. Would you like to shift, my queen?”

“Can I?” she asked, but before she’d finished her question, I’d used the connection between us—a wide, amber bridge of power as thick as my wrist, and a hundred times stronger—to help her slip into her wolf form.

She was as small as I remembered from her one disastrous shift after the battle at Southern. I’d thought the red on her coat back then had been blood, but if it was, it had soaked into her wolf’s form somehow, tinting her a rich ruby hue. Her snout was narrow and perfectly shaped, her ears dainty, with the circle of metal still pinned to the left one, though the tufted fur along the edge obscured it somewhat.

“You are magnificent,” I praised, as she turned a circle on the mattress, trying to see herself. “My wolf would like to come out and meet her in fur.” She yipped in agreement, and I changed.

We tussled on the rumpled bed, the scent of our lovemaking pleasing to both our wolves. She lifted her tail in the air enticingly, but I nipped her flank playfully. There would be a time for our animals to mate as well, but I could feel others approaching.

Damn, it was good to have enough of my magic back to extend my senses. Soon I’d have enough to break down the doors, if we needed. Enough to protect my mate, and my brothers, and level this whole tainted building if necessary. I wasn’t there yet, though, even with the fresh mating bond. But soon.

A soft knock at the door had her jumping down and sniffing at the handle. It opened, and Finnick and Brand stood there, gaping at her beauty from the doorway as she preened.

“There you are, wildflower.” Brand stripped out of his clothing. His shift was like a droplet of water falling as he moved from one form to the other effortlessly.

“By the moon, Brand, when did you grow into a bear for real?” Finnick muttered, backing up to make room for the monstrously large wolf to pad into the room. My own wolf was impressed, but not threatened by him, not even when he turned those silver-white eyes in my direction.

Well, perhaps a little. He was the largest wolf I’d ever seen, a dark chocolate brown that reminded me of a grizzly bear, though he moved with a far more sinuous grace as he nuzzled and licked at our little queen’s darker coat. She scraped her teeth along his shoulder, where her mark lay, though it was hidden under his fur. I could sense it, though, my own fresh claiming bite somehow connected. We were all connected now, invisible cords running from me, Brand, Glen, Luke, and Finnick to her, our center. They were all strong, except one.

Finnick stood at the door, his hands gripping the frame so tightly his knuckles turned white as he stared inside, his expression heartbreaking. It was deep love tempered by an equally deep loss, an ocean of regret and shame.

Pup? His damp green eyes met mine before he dropped them to the floor.I spoke into his mind, though it was harder than it should be. He was keeping himself shut off from the shared bonds. Pup, let it go. She has forgiven you. Shift, and greet your mate. I could tell he was planning to say no, so I put a thread of command in my inner voice. He needed to be reminded that he was no longer who he had been. You will not punish your wolf for your own choice to push her away. Let him greet her, Finnick Dimitrivich.

A wave of gratitude shot from him to me, as the command calmed at least some of his turbulent emotions. Already sprouting fur, he stripped off his clothing and finished the shift. His wolf was also larger than mine, and lean, his russet coat shining even in the low light. He stepped silently into the room, but Flor immediately whirled to meet him.

She growled low, circling him, and the rest of the wolves in the room went still and silent, waiting to see what she might do. Flor was forgiving—sometimes too forgiving for my tastes—but her wolf was an unknown. Hackles raised, fur bristling, she stalked up to Finnick and sniffed the place on his shoulder where her mark was hidden under gray fur. Then she stared directly into his eyes and stuck out her tongue.

Finnick blinked, uncertain what to do. He glanced at me and Brand. I had no idea, but Brand seemed to understand. He let his own massive tongue hang out.

A wave of shame rushed out of the poor pup as he understood as well—not only what Flor’s wolf was demanding, but why. I listened to his thoughts, seeing flashes of what had taken place. This was the part of him that had touched another. The place where Flor had marked him, and the same place where his own misguided feelings of betrayal were concentrated.

I saw flickers of memories, his wolf rising, forcing Finnick’s human side—the weaker half of his soul, from the wolf’s point of view—to lie dormant.

Back then, his wolf had tried to chew off his own tongue. He’d almost succeeded before Finnick had regained control of their body. But every time he slept, the wolf woke, until Finnick had been forced to lock him away, using too much of his strength to do so.

Now Finnick’s wolf struggled to be still, but managed, keeping his legs stiff and his tongue out as Flor approached, growling and sniffing at his muzzle. Was she going to bite the tongue off for him? A part of me approved of the idea. But it would hurt her, if she did. I readied my hold on the bonds, in case I needed to protect her from his pain.

She pressed her nose against the tip of his tongue, lapping the small mark where she’d claimed him. Then, she bit down, gently, carefully, pressing her teeth into the same marks she’d left the first time, before pulling back to stare directly into his eyes. They had never been physically intimate, and I knew that this bite would strengthen their connection further, but after she withdrew, the low growl in her throat almost playful, I realized that her bite had healed him. Healed his wolf, through blood. His spirit was energized, and the bonds between us all sang with new power.

Blood magic? I wondered, but didn’t see any red sparks.

Moon magic , Brand’s voice thundered in my mind.

I wasn’t certain what he meant, but I accepted it. Though I wasn’t certain how comfortable I was that the Mountain shifter had been able to enter my thoughts so easily, and without me noticing his presence. I lifted my lip, showing my sharp teeth.

His wolf let his tongue hang out, lolling in obvious amusement, before he nuzzled Flor once more and trotted away. A moment later, Finnick followed, his spirit obviously lighter. I hopped back up on the bed and shifted into my human form.

Flor stood on four legs, the cutest, disgruntled look on her furry face. I had to bite my inner cheek not to laugh, since she was concentrating so hard, she’d crossed her eyes. I didn’t help her this time, though. She needed to know how to shift without any interference, and in another minute, she did just that, sneezing and shifting almost at the same time. Somehow, the sneeze made her do a half flip and while she was human-shaped in the end, she was also upside down. One leg was propped on the wall behind the bed, and the other had almost smacked me in the face.

“Don’t say a word,” she warned.

I mimed zipping my lips, and she unfolded herself, curling in to hold onto me. She slept for an hour or two like that while Brand and Finnick shared their thoughts with me, sketching in the details of our plan.

When that conversation ended, I checked in on Glen, who had escaped whoever had been chasing him, at least for the moment, and was safe. Then I reached for Luke, who was resting. We were all gathering our strength for the coming fight.

When Flor awoke, we made love again, slowly, staring into each other’s eyes the entire time, as if we couldn’t bear to look away. Or at least I couldn’t.

“I have to leave soon,” I said quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear, and tracing the circle of metal that still marked her. But now that I knew how she felt about it, how it reminded her of Del and learning to fight for her own survival, I no longer found it unattractive.

She sat up. “Where are you going? Are you planning to just… kill everyone?”

How she knew me already. “I had thought of doing just that. But I’m still not at my full strength, and Luke is in their hands. He needs to face his father and gain his rightful place as Alpha. Finnick feels a deep need to confront his own Alpha and make him pay for his crimes. The witch is not here, not close.”

“You’re sure?”

“As sure as I can be without seeing her in front of me. She was using a spell to hide, but let it fall. I can feel her through her blood, now that I know she’s one of my line.” I scowled, still incensed that I’d allowed a witch like her to capture me.

I’d used some of the energy I’d gained during our mating to send tendrils of my magic out to search for my blood. Other than Finnick and Elina, I was certain there was no one else alive with even a drop of it. Not on this continent, in any case.

“You need a little revenge, too,” Flor teased.

“Maybe,” I agreed, and kissed her thoroughly. “In a better world, we would stay together for many days, with nothing to do but learn the heights of pleasure. I would have no goal but to explore the mystery of your perfect body. Even if this wasn’t how I pictured our joining.” She ducked her head, but I lifted her chin before the thought could take hold. “No, my queen, you were perfect. It was only the setting that left something to be desired.”

She arched her eyebrows. “Oh? Where had you pictured this moment?”

I stood, pulling on my clothes reluctantly. “Perhaps I’d planned to make a bed for you, for us.”

“A bed?”

“Yes,” I said, not bothering to hide the truth of it. “I’d hoped to make a strong, sturdy bed from the bones of everyone who hunted you. Everyone who hurt you.”

Her laughter filled the room as she rose, unfolding her perfect, lithe limbs. By the moon, she was distracting. “Grigor, tell the truth. Did you keep all the bones from the toadfuckers who hunted me?” When I didn’t answer, she went on, muttering to herself, “I saw lots of guts. A few fingers, but not many bones.”

“I may have collected some of them,” I replied, trying not to reveal the location of the cache in my thoughts. I wasn’t sure if the idea of a bed made from the worthless males’ bones disgusted her or appealed. Even if I didn’t make a bed, they could come in handy as benches, or chairs. A suitable throne for my little behrserker queen.

“You could make something with them,” she agreed, tapping me on the nose before she covered her perfect body with clothing again. Then she grabbed a package of peanut butter crackers and headed to the door. “Maybe Brand would join in. He’s a carver, you know. It could be a bonding thing.”

I would never have imagined I would be fighting laughter as I left my soulmate in a prison to sneak away. But I never would have imagined being so… It was such an unfamiliar emotion, I had to search for the word.

Happy. That’s how I felt as I followed Flor and bid goodbye to her mother and the still-wary Hilliers, shaking hands with Finnick and exchanging nods with Brand. When I cast a quick look-away spell and walked right past the Enforcers at the secret entrance to the lower levels Finnick had shared with me, I was more than content. I was hopeful and happy as I left the lower levels to find the witch, ready to end her before she could do any more damage to one of my own. The emotion itself was a distraction.

A dangerous one.