Page 5

CHAPTER 5 - RAZE

I transported Little Wolf back to the commune’s boundaries, using mothman spit taken from a dead vampire soldier. Protection spells warding the sanctuary’s boundaries flickered with pale light. Naked as the day I emerged into this world, I stepped through it with no resistance.

Every time a new shifter came to stay, Gable, the warlock who set the enchantments up, added their hair to the spell, permitting them egress and ingress to the sanctuary. In preparation for a weekend visit from my mate, I searched all my shirts and located samples of her hair, and had Gable add her to the spell.

Magical wards meant the Guardians couldn’t step foot in here if they came searching for us, but they could blockade us and prevent outside supplies of medical items and some food.

Limping steps carried us along a crushed rock path, closer to my cabin. Everything ached from being electrocuted and raising hell when the vampires injured my mate. Blood dripped from open wounds, but I didn’t care. Only getting her inside and safe mattered to me. I could fall dead for all I cared, as long as she lived.

Residents of the sanctuary eyed my torn body and contusions with alarm, though not as much as my mate, the stranger in their midst. After being exiled from their lands or packs, abused, starved, and beaten, they were wary of anyone unfamiliar stepping foot into the commune, least of all a human.

“Where are we?” Little Wolf clung to my shoulder, her agitated scent spurring my beast’s militance. “Because we’re not getting a warm welcome.”

“You’re safe here.” I cradled her harder, brushing her hair, failing to lower my wolf’s edgy response to her anxiety and my throbbing body. “This is the shifters commune I told you about, run by Pack Hester.”

“Okay, good.” She buried her face in my neck, and I clutched her tighter.

“Luna introduced me to the leader, Liv.” I kissed the top of Astra’s head. “She gave me sanctuary to stay here as long as I need.”

“I’m glad Luna looked after you,” she murmured, clinging to me, her arms trembling around my neck from a combination of shock, adrenaline, and expending excess magick to defend her harem.

Forest sheltered the sanctuary for miles in every direction, giving it privacy, protection, and ample sources of wild food should we get low on stock. Wooden cabins with chimneys lined the track, some with gardens, others without. Roofed shelving stocked cut wood for fireplaces when winter hit. Communal gardens supplied the sanctuary’s members with vegetables and fruits. Livestock in paddocks provided our beasts’ protein supply. Kids played in the central playground, winding down slides, rocking on swings, or climbing on rope structures that Pack Hester set up for the families residing here.

Some shifters were gifted permanent settlement here, depending on their circumstances or refugee status. I was lucky to win a spot, thanks to my affiliation with Luna, who traded a valuable rubied knife with Liv in exchange for my accommodation. Liv wanted more—my promise to protect the commune and Pack Hester from enemies should the need arise, and I gave it. I thanked the Munyara daily for his protection and Liv taking a chance on me.

My wolf and I were content having Astra back after two months apart. We didn’t want to release her back to the Guardians, but knew they’d come for their asset and cause problems if we didn’t. For now, she’d stay with me, just until I got her tended to by a healer. Then we’d discuss her return.

I killed the vampires who dared harm what was mine. They only lived as long as they did because they drugged me to the hilt, my senses unable to pull together two words, let alone move in coordination to protect her. The instant her magick hit me, I came alive. The drug evaporated from my veins, my strength surged, and new senses emerged.

My thoughts fell away as two shifters rounded on me from either side of my path, preventing me from taking another step. Liv, the sanctuary leader and owner, and her mate, Dash. I far outweighed either of them, and my beast thundered, willing to take them down if they got in my way. Amnesty and kindness granted me by Liv prevented me from raising a claw to either of them. I just had to convince my wolf of that when he was the dominant personality in my mind right now.

“Raze, you know the protocol,” Liv warned, low and severe. “You put the sanctuary in danger by bringing an unauthorized stranger here.”

Instinct prompted a growl from my wolf, warning her to stay away from my wounded and shaken mate. “Don’t come near my mate, Alpha. She’s wounded and needs a healer.”

“Easy there, Raze,” Dash warned, low and deep, teeth on display, a gun aimed at my skull if I made one wrong move. If my wolf went rogue, the smaller werewolf would need a weapon to put me down.

The male had nothing to fear so long as I kept my feral beast in check. I didn’t want another fight when I was weak from the confinement and wounded in battle. My wolf desired my mate’s safety and calm, and I wrangled him into line for the moment, lowering my aggression. Further aggression put my mate in danger.

Little Wolf locked her arms around me as if fearing our imminent separation. “Okay, put the gun down and bring it down, both of you.”

Dash’s throat sounded like a chainsaw, telling her not to give him orders.

The human element of me flushed with pride at her bravery. My wolf side rumbled at her. This was the way of wolves, communicating with growls, barks, howls, and teeth to others. She might have read a thousand paranormal werewolf romances, but she still didn’t understand our culture.

“Raze just tore the heads off four vampires who tried to kill me.” Astra added context, giving Dash the once-over. “And I don’t want you to be next.”

Liv’s shewolf lowered into a defensive stance that prompted her mate to go with her. “What did the vampires want with you?”

Little Wolf raised two palms. “Stay back and don’t do anything aggressive. Raze has been tortured and he’s in pure Lycan mode.”

A rolling growl thundered out of my throat to corroborate her story.

“They kidnapped me because my magick and scientific knowledge can cure a genetic defect putting their race into extinction,” my mate explained, and I crushed her tighter to my chest. “They kidnapped Raze and hurt him to force me to comply.”

Dash let off a warning before his shewolf brought him back down.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Astra sniffed.

Liv’s fangs retracted, her mouth softening into an amused smile that conveyed relaxation to lower the tension. “I think the human just insulted you, Dash, and called you smaller and weaker than her man.”

Dash growled at his mate, then Little Wolf, not finding the joke funny. Neither did my beast who let out a sharp snap and growl. His prime focus was getting his mate inside that cabin, and if he had to go through the mated couple, he’d do it.

“Let us pass,” I growled. “She’s hurt and needs treatment.”

My heart picked up speed, warning her that wasn’t happening. Little Wolf could argue all she wanted. In Lycan society, a female mate always came first in terms of being fed, cared for, and tended to. Period. Dash understood that and didn’t argue with me.

“No, you need it more than me.” Little Wolf brushed my wild hair.

“We’ll get you both looked at.” Liv peeled away. “I’ll send the healer and warlock in when they arrive.”

She glanced over at Dash and nodded, and he stepped away to make a call to a healer.

“Go to your cabin, Raze,” Liv ordered, trying to assert some control over my feral wolf. “We’ll talk about the rules when you’re well.”

“Yes, Alpha.” I continued to my cabin on the edge of the commune.

My mate stroked my nape. “For a moment there, I thought there was going to be a fight.”

“It’s just wolves asserting themselves,” I reassured her.

My legs screamed as I climbed the stairs of my cabin, unlocked the door, and glanced over my shoulder before throwing it open, carting her inside and setting us down on my sofa, her straddling my lap.

With my wolf alleviated somewhat, I nuzzled into her hair. “I thought I’d lost you, my mate.”

She finger-combed my sweaty, bloody hair. “We’re okay now. Styx and his crew are dead or scattered. They won’t come for us.”

Yes, they would, revenge burning cold and dark in their minds.

“I’m not letting you go back to the Guardians,” I said. “It’s not safe.”

“I don’t ever want to go back.” She hugged me tightly, conveying her distress at our ordeal, and my beast thundered with the urge to go on a vampire-destroying rampage.

The shaking in her arms and chest spelled her bravery faltering, giving way to sobs. Tears dropped onto my skin, burning me worse than any slash from a vampire.

During our time in captivity, my brave little mate didn’t show our enemy any weakness to exploit. Now, her anguish and distress crashed together in an almighty tidal wave she couldn’t hold back. Her whimpers prompted a resurgence of my wolf’s aggression to destroy. I had a battle on my hands to soothe him and my mate.

I let her release it all, whining, nuzzling her, licking her, and resting my head on her shoulder. “You’re safe now, my mate. Nothing can touch you within the sanctuary’s protection spells.”

She cried for a good few minutes until she sucked in a shuddered breath and steadied her heartbeat. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I brushed the back of her head, the entire thing almost fitting into my hand. The more she spoke to me, the more my wolf calmed.

She sniffed and traced the edge of one of my cuts. “Where’s the healer?”

“They’ll be here soon.” I didn’t let up on caressing her, my wolf needing to soothe.

“Not soon enough.” She wrung her hands, and I clasped them, lifting them to kiss them.

Sunken veins indicated severe dehydration. The vampires didn’t care whether we lived or died. They only cared for their species’ salvation.

“You need water, Little Wolf.” Reluctantly, I shifted her from my lap and got up to fill a glass of filtered water for her.

She gulped it down and gave me back the glass. “Your turn.” My bossy mate marched me back for three glasses of my own.

I brought her back onto my lap, cuddling her and kissing everywhere I could reach, longing for her soft skin and silky hair.

Little Wolf stopped my affections to study the gashes on my face, putting on a brave face for me. “So Liv’s the Alpha? I like a bossbabe. I dig that idea.”

My fierce mate never let Knoxe beat her down, her strength and fortitude one of many reasons I admired and loved her. Bravery she shared with Liv and admired her for it. Though Little Wolf was happy to step back and let Knoxe lead our team.

“Knoxe is your Alpha.” I didn’t call her out on it when she didn’t like to show vulnerability after being bullied and teased as a teen. “And you’re the center of our harem.”

I checked the bruises and scratches on her. Blood dried over her skin and tattered clothes. I held my beast back from marching out of here and tracking down the remaining vampires to tear off their heads.

She tried pushing me away, more concerned with my wounds. “A girl can dream.” She adopted humor to cover her shaking hands, her body descending from an adrenal high.

I brushed a rusty, blood-crusted hand down her dirty face. “Stay there. I’ll be back.”

My wolf protested at leaving her alone to grab a wet hand towel from my bathroom cabinet. Instincts had him on high alert, resistant to the idea of anyone touching our mate, and by his reaction to Liv’s approach, he might refuse a healer getting close enough to treat her. I had to hold him in check long enough for them to do their duty. I hurried back to her and cleaned the grime and blood splatters from her face.

“I’ve missed you like crazy.” She stroked my naked belly, lowering my beast’s discomfort.

“Not like I have missed you,” I croaked.

Separation for wolf shifters was much harder than it was for humans when mates were connected by their souls.

“We’re together now.” Her fingers trailed along my bloodied face.

For how long? A few days at best? Soon she’d have to leave and report to the Guild in Bathurst, and they’d return her to the Guardians. Saying goodbye a second time would break my wolf and me, and I feared we wouldn’t be able to let her go again.