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MACK

T here was no easy way of sugar coating that announcement. It wasn’t as if Ella was going to ask if she had to take him for a walk every day. #notadog

Still, seeing her turn pale and speechless gutted him, even if he’d expected a similar reaction.

Mack had been through a lot—as had all the wolves—since being changed. The king had sent them to Greenwood, where they had the space and privacy to learn who they were, but it also felt like they were being hidden away.

They were.

Never once had Vincent made them feel like they were anything but victims of the crime against them. And still, it was hard to feel like they were normal.

Vampires lived in secrecy as a species. Add in being a fucking wolf, well, it was a mind fuck.

Kurt said he thought the king would fly the other wolves to the Italian Moretti castle near Rome, where the king had lived for many years before moving to the United States. There, they would be as safe as anyone else on the planet.

At least he hadn’t forgotten them.

For that, he was grateful.

They were his pack, part of his extended family, now. As was Ella—if she didn’t reject him.

His plan had been to tell her before bonding them but given there could be a nuclear war at any moment, Mack refused to wait.

It had been Kurt who had changed his mind.

“Why have you waited?”

“You know why.” Mack shook his head and when Kurt lifted a brow, he’d added, “My wolf.”

“And?”

“I could turn her...fuck man.”

Kurt leaned forward on his knees and squinted at him. “What makes you think that?”

He was about to launch into a whole, you lost your fucking memory vampire or are you just dumb speech when he sat up straight.

“You never got infected.”

“Welcome to the party, Einstein.” Kurt shook his head. “That’s held you back?”

“Well no. There was my father, but that’s sorted. So, you didn’t...nothing...?”

“No tail. No barking.” Kurt sat up.

Mack knew it was still a risk. One vampire not changing was hardly a solid dataset when it came to scientific studies, but it was a good sign. That and none of them had died from it.

Losing her would be catastrophic.

Feeling their connection was the rightest thing he’d ever done in his life. It just didn’t feel like it right now, as Ella stared back at him like he was a monster.

If she rejected him, it would be over for them both, regardless of the idiots playing nuclear war games.

Shit, maybe he should’ve told her beforehand.

Ella let out an awkward, short laugh. “Wolf. Like is that a job title or—”

God.

“A real wolf,” he replied and took her hand. “He won’t hurt you.”

Another stupid laugh. “He? Okay.”

Mack wasn’t sure if she was going into shock or humoring him. She’d felt his wolf; he’d felt the moment the two met after his wolf nudged her.

Giving the beast more control, he watched her brows lift in surprise. The canine let forth a soft growl and metaphysically brushed against her.

“What is that?” She climbed to her knees and gripped her arm. “Mack!”

“Come.” He climbed off the bed and led her into the shower, turning both taps on. Ella remained silent, staring into space while he kissed her neck and gently washed her.

They stepped out, and he dried them off, then dug through his bag and pulled out some sweatpants.

He felt her fingers on his back.

“Do you mean this?” she asked, outlining the large wolf tattoo he’d had done not long ago.

Mack turned, tugging her naked body again his. God, he could fuck her again. And again. The need to be inside her a compulsion he had to push back for now.

“No, baby.” He cupped her breast. “I mean inside me. The one you can feel. A real one.”

“That’s...no. It’s not possible. You are confused.”

Patiently, he waited for the right time to explain. There was no way he could do this while she was naked. His cock was already hard again.

Reaching down for a dress and cardigan, he pushed them into her arms. “Dress before I eat you alive again.”

“I’m quite happy for you to do that. And if you could stop talking about this silly wolf stuff...”

He let out a growl—his wolf didn’t like that.

Bending, Mack tugged out a pair of panties and handed them to her. “Dress.”

“I need a bra,” Ella said, lifting her feet and tugging them up.

“No, you don’t.” He smacked her bottom, then pressed his cock against her ass. “Jesus, this mating business is amazing. My father is a jerk.”

Ella glanced over her shoulders as she pulled up her panties. “Do I want to know what that means?”

Yeah, that probably needed explaining, but not tonight.

“A story for another day.” Mack slid his feet into some Nikes. “Come on, let’s go find some grass.”

“What for?” Ella pulled on her cardigan, and he took her hand, leading her out into the hallway where he strode through the mansion, looking for the right place to do this.

Kurt and Callan were leaning against a doorway and looked up when they headed in their direction.

I need you. He telepathed to Callan.

You mated.

Mack nodded. I’m going to introduce her to my wolf.

Callan glanced at Mack, and as they passed, the two vampires followed them.

Ella looked over her shoulder, then up at him.

Mack leaned down and kissed her, then pushed open a door that led outside.

“Um, what is going on?” She smiled nervously at the three of them.

“Mack is a wolf. He is going to explain and show you how it happened.” Callan said. “I am his alpha.”

He cursed, watching her smile fade.

“We will watch her.” Kurt told him and, fuck, he was grateful for their support.

“Mack.” Ella gripped his arm.

He took her hips. “Callan was taken by humans a few years ago. Kidnapped. Locked in a science lab and experimented on.”

She gasped.

“He was there for many months. Tortured.”

“Oh my God.” Ella glanced at Callan, who remained expressionless. The memories were painful for him and Mack regretted making him revisit them.

“Their cruel experiments changed me. With the help of the warriors, I was able to escape the BioZen lab—”

“BioZen? The place that exploded in the city?”

Mack and Callan nodded.

“I’m sorry, that’s horrible. But...why are you telling me this?”

“Because,” Mack said, tightening his grip on her hips, as if by holding her tightly he wouldn’t lose her. “Like Callan said, it changed him. And some of us were also infected.”

They called it an infection as a way of keeping the blame from Callan. Vampires bit one another; had he known what would happen to him, he wouldn’t have.

“I was infected,” he added.

Ella swallowed and licked her lips uncomfortably, her eyes darting fucking everywhere.

“They’d changed his DNA, babe. Callan is a wolf shifter, and so am I.”

Her hand slapped to the spot he’d bitten her while bonding, and Mack’s heart splintered into a thousand shards.

It was as he feared.

Ella took a step back, her heart slamming inside her chest as her skin paled. Shock was setting in.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God. You infected me too!”

Mack nodded to the warriors, who moved closer. There was no way he could let her run. They were in Italy, on the verge of a nuclear war.

There were no guards on the property, only the SLCs, their mates, and the royal family.

“I don’t know. We don’t think so. But you are my mate, and that includes my wolf.”

“This is insane, Mack. No.”

There was only one thing left to do. He had to show her.

Mack dropped his sweatpants.

Then shifted.

Ella screamed.

ELLA

E LLA HEARD HER scream, piercing the night air as a large black and gray wolf appeared in front of her. It was almost as if someone else had done it. She’d never screamed like that in her life.

The wolf was enormous.

Kurt and Callan closed in on her with mutters of stay calm, it’s okay.

“It’s not fucking okay. He is a WOLF!” she screamed, sounding deranged.

The wolf stood on all four of its strong legs, then shook out its fur like a puppy and tilted its head.

At her.

“It’s—he’s—looking at me,” she exclaimed, her voice all wonky and screechy.

“Hey Mack,” Callan said, reaching out and patting his head.

He barked.

BARKED!

“This is”—she turned her head back and forth between the wolf and the warriors—“this isn’t normal. Is this some joke? Mack, are you fucking with me? This is not funny.”

Another bark—well, more of a woof—her mate was woofing at her.

Ella’s eyes hurt from being so wide, her heart rate dangerously high. Suddenly, everything was just too much. Way too much. Evacuating her country. Leaving her family. Bonding with a male who...was...a...

Ella felt the world closing in on her.

“Oh fuck, she’s going to faint.” Kurt grunted.

The world turned from fuzzy to black. The last thing she felt was a huge, warm fur body wrapping around her, cushioning her fall.

Mack.