Page 121 of Samhain Savior

“Mate?” he questioned, his head tilting to the side. With his features still hovering somewhere between man and wolf, he looked like a curious puppy, and I rolled my lips in to smother the smile that wanted to bloom at the thought. “But, you wear his collar.”

I blinked, my hand going to the collar at my own throat.

“I do,” I admitted, looking at Archer. His face was stoic, but I could feel his anxiety at the situation. He understood what I was doing, but he didn’t like it.

And hereallydidn’t like the direction the shifter’s questions were going.

“I wear this collar by choice.” That wasn’t exactly true, at least not in the beginning. But it was now. I couldn’t imagine being without the comforting presenceof Archer’s magic, the way it lived within my chest and on my neck gave me comfort that I couldn’t begin to express. “I wouldn’t take it off, even if I could.”

“And you will not harm her?” he asked, his gaze narrowed on Archer.

“Never,” he swore. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her, including remove your head from your shoulders if you even so much as look at her wrong. Now, do you want her help or not?”

The shifter stared at me, chest still heaving with heavy breaths as he drew air in through his nose. As I watched, his nostrils flared, and he once again made a face, as though what he smelled didn’t belong.

Finally, he nodded, stepping toward me hesitantly.

“I won’t kneel,” he rumbled.

“I won’t ask you to.” He’d had enough of that to last a life time.

Approaching the sitting area, I climbed onto the low coffee table, allowing myself to be tall enough to reach his neck without him having to bend even a little. Seeing what I was about, he moved closer, his eyes darting from me to Archer and back again. Outside, the sounds of the battle raged on, but so far, no one had disturbed us.

Lifting my hands, I assessed the collar, seeing that it had been soldered closed.

That bitch.

“I can remove it, but it might hurt,” I admitted, swallowing down my nerves. I’d barely begun to understand my magic, but something inside meknewthat I could do this.

“Pain is not an issue for me,” he said, and lifted his chin.

Blowing out a breath, I raised my hands, careful not to touch his burned and blistered skin. The metal was hot to the touch, and I spun it in my hands until the soldered joint was facing me. Closing my eyes, I focused, thinking of the light that lived inside me, the light that now danced with Archer’s shadows. Rubbing my thumb along the join, I concentrated on the feel of it beneath my skin, picturing the silver melting and turning liquid at my command. Power flowed through me, and I could feel the metal changing, the collar resisting the magic I was pouring into it. The shifter—whose name I didn’t know—hissed, but didn’t move, his body still as stone while I wrestled with whatever magic had been infused into the awful collar he’d worn for who knew how long.

Finally, just as sweat began to bead on my forehead, I could feel it.

Him.

Archer was there, his hand on my back as he poured confidence through our bond. The magic within in mesurged, and the collar in my hands popped open, two pieces falling to the floor as the shifter took his first free breath.

Staggering back, he let out a roar, his face morphing from man to wolf and back again, looking like he was in excruciating pain. After what felt like ages, he settled, his features now fully human and showing me a man who was handsome and rugged, rough and raw. I gaped at him as he ran his hands down his face, wondering just how long that vampire had kept him like that, suspended between his two forms and forced to fight at her whim.

The very idea broke my heart.

“Thank you,” he rasped, shock and disbelief infusing his words. He turned to the window, making to open it so he could leave, but I called out.

“Wait! What is your name?”

He paused, pursing his lips, then answered, “Decker.”

“I’m Delilah,” I offered. “And this is Archer.”

“Thank you, Delilah. The Stoneclaw pack owes you a debt.”

And then, before I could say anything more, he opened the window and disappeared into the night, a free man once more.

Chapter fifty-seven

Archer