The Burning Claw: Book 10, The Grey Wolves Series (25 page)

Bethany felt more tears well up in her eyes and her breath caught as emotion filled every empty place in her. It wasn’t only her emotion she was feeling, but Drake’s as well. Through the mate bond, their feelings and passions entwined, morphing into one. She wasn’t sure which were hers and which were Drake’s.

His fingers danced across her skin as he played her like a piano and her body sang for him. Bethany loved seeing the passion that filled his eyes as he pulled back and looked down at her, taking one of her hands and lifting it to his lips. He kissed each fingertip, her palm, and wrist, holding her gaze the entire time. He ran his nose up her arm to the bend where he inhaled deeply. When Drake’s tongue darted out to taste her, Bethany sucked in a quick breath. He was assaulting all of her senses, overwhelming her with his presence.

“Drake,” she breathed out his name.

“Hmm,” he answered, never taking his mouth from her skin.

“Jen explained more of the Blood Rites to me. To complete it, I have to—” she sucked in a breath, pausing her words when he pushed up the hem of her shirt, exposing her stomach and ran his hand across the expanse of her flesh. “I have to bite you,” she finished and squirmed under his attention.

“Be still,” he grumbled as he held her hips still.

“I’m ready,” she said unable to obey him and continuing to wiggle against him. “I’m ready to bite you.”

D
rake froze as he stared down at the flat stomach and smooth flesh he’d been reveling in only seconds ago. Bethany was everywhere. Her scent covered him and his wolf loved it. He rose slowly until he could look her in the eye. He had an arm under her head, supporting his upper body, bracing himself above her. “Do you really understand what that would mean? I’m not saying you aren’t capable of understanding. I just really need to know if you understand,” he said, his voice was thick with emotion and gruff with his wolf so close to the surface.

She nodded.

“Our lives would be tied to each other. If I died, you would lose your life as well and vice versa. Our souls would become one. Being apart would be very difficult, much more difficult than what we just experienced. Our need of each other would increase and touch would become essential to the health of our wolves. Do you really understand how serious and permanent this is?” He wanted her to bite him more than he wanted anything else, but he didn’t want her to do something in a moment of passion only to regret it later.

“Drake, I didn’t expect to have anything. I thought I would be a slave to those monsters until they finally drained me. You think I’m worried about being tied to a man who loves me, adores me, and needs me? I’m more scared that you’ll wake up one day and see how damaged I am and ask why the Great Luna gave you such a pathetic mate. But you want me now and I’ll take that. I want you for as long as you will have me.”

Drake leaned more heavily on one arm as he lifted the other to wipe away the tear sliding down her cheek. “Forever,” he said softly. “I will have you for all time. You’re mine.”  He slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her toward him while at the same time turning his head and lowering his neck to her.

As her teeth broke through his skin, he didn’t wonder how this was possible. Bethany wasn’t a full Canis lupus. But Drake trusted the Great Luna. If she had given Bethany to him as his true mate, then she would work out the details of the Blood Rites.

The bond grew stronger as the call of the Blood Rites was satisfied and Drake let out a relieved sigh. His wolf was practically rolling around with satisfaction. Of course, both wolf and man wanted to complete other things, but Drake knew Bethany wasn’t ready for that, not yet. She was curious, he caught that much through the bond when he’d been kissing and touching her, but she still had reservations and that was okay with him. He would wait centuries for her to be ready if that’s what it took. She was worth waiting for.

When it was done and she pulled back from him, he looked down at her and his heart was flooded with joy at the smile on her face.

“You are stuck with me now,” she said a little breathlessly.

He chuckled. “You were stuck with me the second I saw you.” His smile faded as he grew serious. “Bethany, my beautiful mate, please don’t ever forbid my touch again. It was torture.”

“Drake, my handsome mate, don’t give me a reason to forbid your touch.”

He groaned and laid his forehead against her chest. “Great, maybe Jen rubbed off on you more than I thought.”

She ran her fingers through his hair and he rumbled in pleasure at her touch. He would never grow tired of her touch.

“What now?” she asked softly.

Drake bit back the words his wolf was riding him to say. The last thing his little mate needed to hear was that now that they’d completed the Blood Rites, he was just as eager to complete all of their mating. His wolf was practically salivating at the thought of consummating their relationship.
Not yet
, he growled at his wolf, who snarled back at him.
Stupid human,
the wolf told him again. Drake nearly rolled his eyes. His wolf had become quite obstinate since they’d found their true mate. Before meeting Bethany, Drake had begun to wonder if maybe the abuse he’d suffered under the leadership of his former Alpha had caused the wolf irreparable damage. It seemed that since finding their true mate, his wolf was beginning to heal.

“Drake?” Bethany’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He pressed his lips gently to hers. “For now let’s just enjoy this part of our story. It will change quickly as time passes. We will never get this time back. Let me enjoy you. Let me meet whatever needs that you have.”

Bethany smiled warmly up at him. “Any need?”

The mischievous glint in her eyes gave him pause. But he finally nodded.

“I’m pretty sure I
need
a foot massage.”

Drake laughed. “Okay. I can handle that.” He sat up and pulled her feet into his lap. She had tiny, cute feet which were attached to sexy, shapely calves.
Focus, Drake,
he snapped at himself.
Just her feet.

“Unless you really want to massage my sexy, shapely calves. I’m okay with that.”
Bethany’s voice filled his mind.

Drake’s eyes snapped up to hers. She was staring back at him with a look in her eyes that was having an incredible effect on him. And he was pretty sure that she didn’t even realize it. “Behave,” he growled as he began to rub her feet. “Don’t start something you aren’t ready to finish, beautiful.”

Bethany laughed. “Just keep telling yourself that I’m not ready to finish it; maybe soon you’ll believe it.”

Drake decided not to examine that statement too closely and instead focused on his mate’s feet. It was such a simple act, rubbing her feet, and yet the fact that he was once again touching her—was free to touch her—pulled the breath from his lungs. He never wanted to stop touching her; he never wanted to be separated from her, not for any reason, even for a simple disagreement.

“Don’t,” Bethany whispered as she laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes.

Drake stopped and looked at her. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t ever stop touching me.”

He felt his heart swell inside of him and his wolf laid down, feeling contentment for the first time in a very long time. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll never be far enough away from you not to be able to touch you.”

Chapter 14

“I’m safe. Well, at least that’s what they tell me. So why do I feel like something terrible is coming? It feels like danger. Danger to someone, but not to me. I wonder, not for the first time, if I was rescued from the lion’s den only to be caught in the wolf’s den?” ~Zara

Z
ara held Titus’ hand as they walked through the large mansion. It still shocked her at how big the place was. At first, she’d stayed holed up in the comfortable room that they’d given her.  But she couldn’t stay like that, not after having been trapped underground for seven years. She couldn’t imprison herself just because she was afraid to face what the future held. Even so, she still wasn’t ready to be out and about, mingling with the…wolves. She needed something to keep her busy, something to distract her, at least for now. When Alina had knocked on her door and explained to her that Vasile had a task for her, something inside of Zara awakened. She realized that her life wasn’t over. She was still alive, capable, and others saw it too. Or at least Alina and Vasile did. After the Alpha female spoke with her about moving forward, Zara realized that’s what she wanted, to move forward and leave all the ugliness behind. She knew, however, that moving forward wouldn’t be that simple. Zara understood that there would be times she would slip back into the dark places of her mind. When she’d expressed this to Vasile’s mate, the words Alina answered with shook her deep in her being.

“Everyone has dark places. Some are darker than others, but everyone has them. The people who survive those dark places are the ones who have people around them, pulling them out when they can’t make it back on their own. You, sweet girl, have us. We are your pack and the pack never leaves anyone in those dark places. When you find yourself slipping into the darkness, all you have to do is call out. I will hear you. Vasile will hear you. Rachel and Gavril will hear you. Jacque and Fane will hear you All of your pack mates will hear you and we will be there to pull you back because you do not belong to the darkness. Just because you have experienced hard, horrible, awful things, does not mean they own you. You belong to us and you will quickly learn that we don’t share well.”

How could she say no to that? So Zara had agreed to take care of a little boy names Titus who had also been held captive by the vampires. One of the she-wolves—Zara thought her name was Priath, but couldn’t remember exactly—took her to the Serbian pack mansion to take over the care of little Titus.

Zara hadn’t been in the same coven as Titus so she had no idea what his experience had been like. She hated the idea of one so young being held captive by those filthy vampires. It was one thing to suck the life out of a teen, but out of a small child? That was a new level of sick for her. As she looked down at the little boy who was chattering away, her stomach rolled at the idea of him sitting in a dark room or cave waiting, wondering if they were coming back for him. She knew the feeling. You didn’t want to be alone, but you didn’t want the vampires to come either.

She knew that children were resilient and she hoped Titus would be too. The forgiving innocence that was innate in a child’s heart could be his saving grace. She hoped that he wouldn’t grow bitter over what he’d endured. Zara hoped that Titus would be able to let go of his time with the horrible monsters and instead focus on the future he had. He didn’t yet know that he was surrounded by werewolves, but she didn’t think he was going to have a problem with the news. Not only were kids resilient, but they were also extremely accepting.

“Zara.” Titus’ little voice drifted up to her.

“Yeah?”

“We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Friends can talk, right?”

Zara’s brow creased. “Of course they can. Do you need to talk?”

“Yeah, I kinda do,” he admitted.  “You lived with the monsters too, didn’t you?” he continued.

She nodded. “I did.”

“Did the angel ever come see you?” Titus looked up at her with wide eyes that saw too much for a child his age.

“No, little man, the angel never came to see me. I bet she comes to see you because of how special you are.”

“You’re special too,” Titus said and squeezed her hand. “I’m not glad we were with the monsters, but I wonder if we would have ever met if we hadn’t been with them?”

“If we were meant to be friends, Titus, then nothing would get in the way of that. And apparently,” I held his hand up and shook it a little. “We were definitely meant to be friends.”

“The angel said we’re survivors,” he said almost too soft for her to hear.

“She’s right. We are survivors and we will never be alone again,” she told him.

“I’m glad we survived,” he said. “My mommy and daddy are survivors. They’ll survive, right?”

Zara felt trapped between the proverbial rock and hard place. She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she also didn’t want to cause him any grief or pain. “You said the angel told you that you had a new mommy and daddy coming, right?”

He nodded.

“Well, I don’t think she would have said that if they weren’t going to be your mommy and daddy for a very long time. So that means they are going to survive.”

Titus scrunched up his little face as he considered her words. After several minutes, he finally nodded. “I think you’re right.”

Zara nearly let out an audible sigh. Titus seemed like the kind of child that followed every answer with another question. Zara imagined it could get exhausting. If he quit following that particular line of thought, then she’d take the small victory.

“How long am I going to be with you?”

Zara shrugged. “For as long as you need to be.”

“Are we staying here or going to your new house?” he asked.

“We’re going to stay here for a few more hours and then we’re going to ride with Decebel and Jen over to Mr. Vasile’s house.”

“That’s where the new baby is, right?” His face lit up. Judging by the hundred-watt smile, this kid liked babies.

“Yes, the new baby is there,” she confirmed. She looked at him curiously. “Titus?”

“Yeah, Zara.”

“Why do you like babies so much?”

“Because they like me.” He answered with such confidence that Zara felt she must have been dense not to have already known the answer.

Zara grinned down at him. He liked babies because they liked him—seemed like a good enough reason to like someone.

“Have you ever met a baby that didn’t like you?” she asked him, a grin creeping across her face.
It felt good to smile
, she thought.

“Nope. And I’ve met a lot of babies in my lifetime.” He nodded as if agreeing with himself.

A small laugh slipped passed Zara’s clasped lips. “A lot of babies?” she asked, trying to be just as serious as he was being.

“Yep, like four or five at least. Maybe more.”

“Where’d you meet so many babies?”

Titus looked up at her, his little forehead drew together as his lips turned down. “At the baby store.” He sounded exasperated as though answering her questions was exhausting. “They had them in these bins behind this big window and people walked by and pointed at the one they wanted.”

Zara’s mouth opened as she had an
ah-ha
moment. She realized he was talking about a hospital. “Well I’ve never been to the baby store so I didn’t realize there were so many,” she said, humoring him, which she felt was a much better tactic than trying to explain the birds and bees to a toddler.

“One day, I’ll take you there,” Titus told her.

Zara chuckled. “Whatever you say, T.” They continued walking and Titus continued to say hilarious stuff that had Zara in stitches, though she had to bite most of it back so she wouldn’t hurt his feelings. She decided somewhere along the way that if she ever had children, and that was a
big
if, she hoped at least one of them was like Titus.

“
L
et’s load up, crew,” Jen yelled as she fastened Thia into the car seat. Even though Rachel had offered to watch the girl, Jen had refused. She and Decebel would both be on this little trip, and Jen knew that no one could protect the girl like they could.

She saw Zara walk out of the door holding Titus by the hand. They’d formally met only an hour before and Jen instantly liked her. The girl had backbone. She was strong and Jen respected that. Everyone loaded up into the large SUV and then waited. Jen tapped her fingers on the side of the door as she grew more agitated at her mate.

“He told me to hurry, so I hurried. He told me not to take too long getting ready, so I didn’t freaking take too long getting ready. He said I needed to be ready to go, in the vehicle, with my seatbelt on, at five-thirty,” Jen growled as her voice got progressively louder. “Well, here I am, furball. Where the crap are you?”

“Um, Mrs. Jen,” Titus voice came from behind her. “You don’t have your seat belt on yet.”

Jen heard Zara shush the adorable little boy and Jen grinned to herself. She turned and wiped the emotion from her face. “You’re correct, Toby,”

“Titus, Mrs. Jen. My name is Titus.”

“Forgive me. You’re correct, Tony, my belt isn’t yet buckled, but once—”

“Titus,” he corrected again, but a little more forcefully that time.

“Whatever. Anyway, once it’s buckled, then Mr. Decebel should be ready to go too. Correct?” He grinned and gave her a thumbs up as if he totally understood where she was coming from.

She laughed. “Thanks, Travis,” Jen said as she turned back around and buckled her seat belt.

“Titus, Mrs. Jen. My name is Titus.”

Jen held up her hand and gave him a thumbs up. Just then Decebel came hurrying out of the front door, his usual scowl in place—set to full scowl mode. Is there such a thing as a scowl mode? If there wasn’t, there should be, she decided. She watched as he paused at his door and tilted his head back. Then quickly shook it and opened the door.

“Everyone ready?” he growled as he climbed in and slammed his door.

“
We
have been ready for a while, Alpha,” Jen purred. “Mayhap I ask why you were not here on time? After you so thoroughly impressed upon me the importance of being punctual!” Once again her voice rose and this time was accompanied by a snarl.

Decebel put the SUV in drive and pulled out of the driveway. “I was taking care of some things.”

“Uh-huh, and what do those things happen to be?”

“Damn,” Decebel’s eyes shot up to the rearview mirror and widened. “I mean dang, female. Why are you snapping at me and prying?”

Jen’s eyes widened and she nearly sputtered but kept her dignity by clamping her mouth shut until she could get actual words out. “Did you just ask why I was prying?”

“Ouch, wrong move, dude,” Zara said softly from the back seat, but their werewolf hearing picked it up with no problem.

“You have things you don’t tell me,” he countered.

“Deflecting, brave move,” Zara murmured.

Jen liked this chick. “I’m a female; I deal with things you don’t need to know about.”

“Why can’t I deal with things
you
don’t need to know about?” Decebel shot back.

“Counter a question with a question, could work, but sometimes flies back in your face,” Zara’s commentary of their fight continued.

“Because you don’t have a period, or thong issues, or underwire poking at you,” Jen ticked off the things she dealt with one by one on her fingers. “You don’t carry a watermelon sized baby for nine months and then push her out of a hole much smaller than a watermelon. You don’t become a milk machine and have big round stains on your shirt when your nursing pads fail to do their job!”

“Oh, wow, busting out the big guns with female-only issues. Let’s see how our Alpha handles that one,” Zara again added her part to the fight.

“You can’t keep using those things as ammunition,” Decebel started.

“Why not?” Jen snapped. “They happen on a recurring basis, some of them like clockwork. And will continue to happen for the next thirty years. I think I can dang well use them as often as I need to. Now what made you late?”