The Scarred Heart (Wilde Creek#5) (8 page)

“How old is she now?”  Row asked, taking the cookie that Kammie handed him.  Ahmani was the daughter of their oldest son.

“She’s six.  Quite a fierce little female,” Fayar said, smiling proudly.

Row couldn’t wait to give his own mother some grandkids to fawn over.  As the small group ate snickerdoodles and drank hot chocolate, they talked about everything but the elephant in the room – Row leaving the sleuth and joining the wolf pack.  He wasn’t sure how to show Kammie that Oakville was better for her than Wilde Creek, but he knew he’d figure it out.

“Kammie and I would like to use the sacred cave tomorrow night,” Row said.

Fayar nodded.  “When your mother told us that you were coming home with your truemate, I had the cave cleaned and prepared.  Everything you need is inside.  Breakfast will be the following morning at nine so you have a chance to sleep in.”

“We almost missed our breakfast,” Gloria said.  “It’s easy to lose track of time in the cave because it feels so secluded inside.”

“Thank you,” Row said, standing and shaking Fayar’s hand.

“Keep me apprised of your situation,” he said.

Kammie said goodbye to Fayar and hugged Gloria before donning her coat.  Row took her hand as they left the house and began their trek back home.  She was quiet, and he let her have the silence.  He wasn’t sure what to say anyway.  He wanted her to
want
to live in Oakville, but he understood how used to her old life she was.  He’d live and serve with her in Wilde Creek if that was what she chose, but he hoped like hell that she’d see how much better she’d be treated in the sleuth and want to move.

“Would you have to keep doing the monthly battles if you lived here?” she asked suddenly.

He squeezed her hand.  “Before I left to take Dani to her people, I told Fayar that I was growing tired of the battles and he offered me the position as trainer to the young males.”

“That would be your job within the sleuth?”

He nodded.  “Why?”

“I was just wondering what you’d do if you – if we – were living here.”

He stopped walking and she turned to face him.  “What are you thinking about,
Adara
?”

“This place is different than Wilde Creek.  I mean, I knew it would be, but just from what your mom shared, you have a place of good standing here.  You’re a valuable member of the sleuth, not an afterthought.”

At his confused look, she clarified, “In Wilde Creek, you’d be my mate.”

“I’m your mate wherever we are.”

She shook her head.  “No, it would be
what
you are in the eyes of the pack.  You’re a powerful male and a good fighter.  Here you’re respected, but in Wilde Creek the definition of what you are is related to me – you’d become, in essence, a lowly omega.  I can’t stand the thought of you being reduced to that when you’re worth so much more.”

“I don’t care what my title is as long as I get to be with you.”

“
I
care.  You hate how my pack treats me, but I’m used to it.  Do you think I could handle you being treated that way?”  Tears glistened suddenly in her eyes.

His bear growled in approval.  She might want to move to the sleuth!

“
Adara
, what are you saying?”

“Gloria took my coat and saw my scars,” she said, absently rubbing her elbow.  “She asked me who hurt me, and then she growled.  It was soft, but it was angry.  She looked like she wanted to hunt down my uncle and kill him.  She looked like you do whenever we talk about my past.  Brynn is sweet, and concerned that everyone is happy, but she has limited power because Acksel is truly the law of the pack.  He won’t deviate from the rankings, and he’s very much an ‘it’s always been this way’ sort of guy.  Your queen wants to kill on my behalf and she’s known me for an hour.  I thought you were unique and that you felt the way you do because you’re my truemate, but I think it’s all bears.  Your mom also told me that she wanted to hurt whoever hurt me.”

“I don’t think bears are the only ones who don’t like to see their people abused.”  He rubbed his neck and growled.  “I
do
think that Acksel and Brynn wouldn’t allow the sort of suffering you dealt with to happen now.  They both seem honorable.  But they’re steeped in tradition that says physical scars are a weakness that can’t be tolerated.  Instead of teaching you how to protect yourself so no one ever lays a hand on you again, they shoved you to the bottom of the hierarchy and allowed their people to treat you as if you don’t matter.”

“I’ve hated for you to see how I’m treated.”  She flushed in embarrassment, and Row shook his head.

“I’ve hated it too, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore, sweetheart.  We can take a different path, together.”

Her eyes shone brightly with tears as she looked up at him.  “I want to live here.  I want to leave the pack and join your sleuth, and raise our kids here.”

Emotion filled him.  He knew it couldn’t be easy for Kammie to choose to leave the only people she’d ever known, but she was doing it for him, and he loved her for it.

“If it’s what you want, then it’s what I want.”

She snorted and laughed, brushing at the tears that spilled over her cheeks.  “You wanted to take me out of Wilde Creek from day one.”

“True.”  He kissed her gently. “You’re mine to cherish, Kammie, to protect and love.  I just want you to be happy.”

“I’d be happiest here, with you.”

“Then this is where our life will be.  I promise I’ll be the best mate to you, and the best father for our children.”

“You’re already the best mate.  You were willing to clean strangers’ homes for me without complaint.”

“My bear was complaining a lot.”

She chuckled and leaned into him, resting her ear over his heart.  “I love you even more for that.  Thank you for not pushing me.  I’m sorry I’m such a mess sometimes.”

“I love everything about you.  Wherever you are is home for me, and whatever the next chapter of our life together brings, I know it will be amazing because we’re together.”

“The next chapter of our lives begins tomorrow night in the sacred cave.  We’ve got a date with some oil and old furs.”

“And lots of love.”

She smiled up at him, and it was his favorite smile – the one that made him feel warm from the inside out because he could see that she was truly, sincerely happy.

“How about we head home and warm up right?”  He swung her up into his arms and carried her the entire way to his house, over the threshold and straight to the bathroom where they warmed up under the hot spray of the shower.  His bear rejoiced to know that Kammie wanted to stay with the sleuth.  He’d thought it would take a long time to convince her, but it had happened quickly, and he was grateful.  Even if she hadn’t realized it, she’d been ready for a change, and a bear stomping through the woods on the full moon was just the sort of change she needed.

Chapter 8

Row wouldn’t let Kammie do anything to get ready for their time in the sacred cave.  He said that the males were supposed to do everything for their females, and so she listened to his advice and walked to his mom’s house for a short visit in the afternoon.  Alice was a sweet woman who always seemed to have a smile on her face.  When Kammie was welcomed into her home, she found a small group of women sitting in the living room with books in their hands.

“I’m sorry, I can come back another time,” Kammie said, realizing she’d interrupted a gathering of some sort.

“Nonsense,” one of the women said, putting a bookmark in her place and closing the book.  “We’re just having our weekly read-and-gab.  Family is
never
interrupting, unless the bedroom door is closed.”

Kammie smiled.  Alice introduced Kammie to her friends, she-bears from the sleuth who’d been getting together to discuss romance novels – in between sharing laughs about their mates and families – for several years.

Aggie, who wore her silver-streaked hair in long waves, patted the couch next to her, and Kammie sat down.  “Now, Alice tells us that you and Row are going to the sacred cave tonight.  Do you have any questions about it?”

“He mentioned oil.  What is that for?”

Delphi passed a plate of pecan pie bars to Kammie, and she took one.  “The oil is used for anointing.  Row will recite what amounts to marriage vows to you.  They’ll follow a basic script, but he’ll be able to make the vows his own.  Then he’ll touch lavender oil to both sides of your throat, over your heart, and to your lower belly.”

“A lot of females become pregnant during their night in the sacred cave,” Aggie said.  “Our people believe that when a truemating such as yours occurs, the great bear spirit blesses the union with a cub immediately.”

Kammie knew she looked surprised.  “Wolves only go into heat once a year, in September.  I can’t get pregnant right now.”

Stella smiled thoughtfully.  “I think you might be surprised what happens when truemates come together, wolf biology or not.  Besides, Alice has been wanting a grandchild to fawn over.  The only question is whether she has to travel to visit her grandcub or if you and Row will be here in the sleuth.”

Kammie felt all their eyes on her and she was glad she and Row had already made this decision.  “We’ve decided to stay.”

The women cheered, and Kammie found herself enveloped in a group hug that warmed her right to the core.  As they settled back into their seats and Aggie gave Kammie her copy of the romance novel they’d read, Kammie knew she and Row had made the right choice.

Row disliked the wolves, but he’d seen only the bad side of things.  Kammie knew that there were wolves who liked and cared for her.  Jeremiah and his mate Honey, Brynn, Adam, and some of the other omegas.  But the truth was that pack life was harsh because the laws made it so.  The ranking hierarchy forced the alphas to evaluate their people based on their physical abilities.  She wished that her pack had been as loving and welcoming as the sleuth.  Even if Fayar didn’t show affection to Gloria as outwardly as Brynn and Acksel did, there was no denying that the two loved each other greatly.  For Kammie, that was all that mattered.

Tonight they were going to the sacred cave, and in the morning the sleuth would celebrate their mating and welcome her as one of their own.  They didn’t seem to care that she was a wolf or that her body was riddled with scars – they only cared that she and Row were mates and were happy.  She’d only been in Oakville for a short while, and already it felt like home, which she attributed not only to the kindness of the bears but also her amazing mate.

She’d show him just how thankful she was…later.

* * * * *

Row wouldn’t let Kammie carry anything to the sacred cave.  He carried the cooler containing their food, as well as a large pack on his back.  Along with dishing about the sex in the romance novel, Alice’s friends had advised Kammie to wear something sexy under her clothes and to treat the sacred mating the way a human male and female would treat their wedding night.  Kammie didn’t own anything remotely sexy, unfortunately, so she went a different direction.  She hoped that Row would be pleased.

They neared the cave, and Row said, “Give me two minutes.”  He handed Kammie a flashlight, because the sun was setting and the woods were growing dark.

He disappeared into the cave and she heard a lot of hurried movements.  True to his word, he reappeared shortly and said, “I wish I could carry you inside the cave, but the entrance is too small for me to do that.”

“You’re so sweet.”

“Only to you.”

She kissed him and gave him the flashlight.  Going to her knees, she peered into the entrance of the cave.  She had to crawl on her hands and knees for the first few feet.  Row had set an electric candle where the tunnel turned sharply, and she followed more flickering candles for a little longer, before the tunnel opened up and she was able to stand in the rough-hewn chamber.  The cave was circular, about ten feet across, with shelves hewn into the walls for supplies.  Row had set electric candles on the shelves to illuminate the space.  On the floor was a thick pile of furs, and he’d arranged pillows and blankets along one edge.

Row’s hands slid around her waist and he kissed her neck.  “What do you think,
Adara
?”

“I think it’s amazing.”

The air was cool but not chilly.  She bent over and took off her boots and Row set them in the tunnel outside of the chamber, along with his own.

Row took her coat and laid it along one wall with his, then turned to face her.  He took her hands and lifted them, kissing the tops.  “When I left here to take my sister to her people, I never expected to find my truemate in the woods of a strange place.  Meeting you changed my life in a heartbeat, Kammie.  I would be lost without you.”

Tears stung her eyes.  “You’re the most amazing mate, Row.  I don’t know what I’d do without you either.”

He stared down at her intently.  She could hear the faint rumble of his bear and knew that both man and beast were excited for what was to come.  She and Row were already marked according to wolf traditions, but she was going to be joining his sleuth as his mate, and she wanted to wear the crescent mark.

He caught her around the waist and drew her against him as his mouth descended on hers with a gruff growl.  She loved the way he kissed her, as if he couldn’t get close enough to her or touch her enough.  His tongue slipped against hers in a dance that made her skin tingle and her wolf growl happily.  Tugging his shirt from his jeans, she ran her fingers up his back, feeling the heat of his skin.  She raked her nails down lightly, then slid her hands up the front of his shirt, undoing the buttons as she went.  His broad chest was thick with muscles that bunched and contracted as she traced them with her fingers.  Rubbing her fingertips across his nipples, she circled them until they tightened under her touch and smiled against his mouth as his hands kneaded her waist.

She pushed the shirt off his shoulders, and he released his hold on her long enough to take it off and toss it aside.  Then his arm was around her once more, his hand slowly caressing the front of her body.  She could feel the heat of his touch through the thin shirt she wore.  He eased from the kiss as his hand cupped her breast, and she knew he could feel that she wasn’t wearing anything under her clothes.

His thumb rubbed her nipple as it hardened under his touch, and he gazed down at her.  “Is my sweetheart naked under her clothes?”  His voice was rough and husky, and it made her toes curl.

She lifted her shirt, slowly baring herself to him.  He watched intently, reminding her of the first time she’d stripped for him.  She was aware of her scars and she thought she probably always would be, but she wasn’t ashamed of them anymore.  Row had changed her life so completely just by being himself and caring about her.  She didn’t even really recognize herself anymore, but she was glad for that.  Starting their new life together with a new attitude was just what she needed to do.

He helped her tug the shirt off and growled possessively.  “You’re beautiful.”

“I’m yours.”

He kissed her and then slipped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her waist and rubbing his cheek against her stomach.  “I’m yours too, Kammie.”

He opened her jeans and tugged them slowly down her legs, kissing her flesh as it was bared to him.  His growl, when he realized she wasn’t wearing panties, sounded a lot like a purr.  She would’ve liked to buy sexy lingerie for him, but she knew in that moment that her mate thought she was sexiest when she was naked.  She loved that knowledge.

After she stepped free of her jeans, she went to her knees and undid his, cupping his ass in her hands as their lips met in a kiss that seared her all the way to her soul.  She could feel his erection through his jeans, and it was a heady feeling to know she turned her mate on no matter what she wore.

He stood slowly as she pushed his jeans down his legs, allowing him to step free of them and toss them to the side.  She reached for his cock, but he pushed her hands away gently.  “If you touch me, I’m going to forget to mate you properly, and it’s important to me that we do this right, sweetheart.  I want to wear your mark on my arm and I want you to wear mine.”

Earlier in the day, he’d told her that he wouldn’t mark her if she didn’t want him to.  He understood that she had enough scars to last several lifetimes and that she might not want another.  It hadn’t even been an option in her mind, though.  Taking Row’s crescent mark was a way to cement their mating, to make it clear to one and all that they were mates and nothing would separate them.  She hadn’t had a choice with her other scars, but she would choose Row’s scar.

He lifted a Mason jar from one of the shelves and went to his knees before her.  After unscrewing the metal lid and setting it aside, he placed the jar between them.  He took her hands and placed them on his hips, patting them gently.  Then he dipped his index finger into the jar, coating it in the clear oil.

“Kammie Townsend,” he said as he stroked his finger down the left side of her throat, “I, Sorrow Grayson, vow myself to you for all eternity.”  He dipped his middle finger into the oil and stroked it down the right side of her throat.  The oil was warm and smelled of lavender.  “I vow to be the best mate to you, to care for you in every way, and to protect you from harm.”

He coated his ring finger with oil and brushed a slow line over her heart.  “My heart is yours.  My soul.  My life.  Everything that I am is yours, from this moment forward.  I will honor and love you for all of my days.”

As he dipped his little finger into the oil, he gazed into her eyes.  She’d never felt so connected to anyone in her life, and she believed it was meant to be this way – truemates were special and meant to be revered.

He stroked his finger across her abdomen from hip to hip.  “I vow to love and protect our children, to see them safe from harm in all ways and teach them all that I’ve learned.  I promise to be a good dad, and to love their mom fiercely.”

His hand rested on her hip, fingers digging into her flesh lightly as the words that he’d spoken hung in the air between them.

She felt his claws press into her arm, and she lifted her hand to his bicep.  “The crescent moon,” he said reverently, “holds a place of honor for bears.  We gather under the crescent for celebrations, and the mark reminds us of our tie.  I mark you as mine, Kammie.”

The cut was a swift twist of one claw against her skin.  The wound burned slightly, but she was too focused on his bicep to think too much about a small ache.  She let her claws out and envisioned the curved mark in her mind, using the one he’d made as a guide.  She moved as quickly as he had, cutting his arm with her claw in a curved line.  She stared at the blood that welled on his arm, and then looked at her own.  He rubbed his finger lightly over her cut, gathering her blood on his finger, and then rubbed it along his own.  After mixing their blood on his arm, he stroked his finger over her cut, their blood now combined on both of their marks.  The mixing of blood prevented the cuts from healing entirely, so that they would scar.

He lowered his mouth to hers with a growl.  As their lips met, she slid her hands up his back.  He drew her closer until their bodies touched, his cock trapped between them, hot and hard.  She eased onto her back, tugging him with her as they settled onto the furs.  Row held himself slightly above her, his fingers tracing slow patterns up and down her waist.

He nipped her lower lip and kissed her chin, nuzzling her throat.  Cupping her breast, he fit his mouth over her nipple, sucking gently.  Tingles raced through her as he hummed against her flesh, and she sank her fingers into his hair, fisting the soft strands as he feasted on her breast before moving on to the other nipple, sucking and licking it to a hard point.

He kissed down her body slowly, his hands following his lips as he mapped out her curves until he reached the apex of her thighs.  Row was the only man she’d ever let between her legs this way, and she was glad she’d saved that part of herself for him alone.  He teased her with his lips and tongue, driving her forward to the height of pleasure, his hands wrapped around her thighs and holding her close as he feasted on her.