Watching Out For Fangs (The Cloverleah Pack Book 7) (27 page)

Chapter Thirty Five

Vadim woke with a start and looked around for Josh. But he could tell in an instant that he wasn’t at Cloverleah anymore. Unless Cloverleah had suddenly developed a thick fog, rugged cliffs and the sound of the pounding surf. He was reminded of his home in Russia – a tiny village surrounded by mountains, bordering the Black Sea. What in heaven’s name was he doing here?

“I always thought this place was a bit stark, but you always liked it.” Vadim turned, and through the fog he could make out the figure of a small man coming towards him.

“Edward?” Fuck. That meant he was dead. Fuck, fuck and double fuck again. Vadim’s heart lurched. Josh. His precious Josh would die because of his carelessness. Would he ever see his mate again? Surely the Fates wouldn’t be that cruel. Josh would die, and if that was the case then Vadim was determined to just sit the fuck down and wait for him. He wasn’t going anywhere in the afterlife without his mate.

“You don’t seem overly happy to see me.” The parody that was Edward was now standing before him, looking just the same as he had the last time Vadim had seen him alive. Slim, dark hair, a pinched face that never looked happy…a bit like now.

“I’m not happy I’m dead, no. I’ve left my mate behind and this will kill him.”

Strange how the urge to make Edward feel better, something that had been ingrained in him for so long, was now curiously absent. Vadim had often dreamed of what it would be like to be with his bond mate again – to have that opportunity to right the wrongs, to see his little human smile. Now, all he could think was Josh was going to die and it was such a fucking waste of such a young life.

“Your true match. Yes, I know. He’s working hard to bring you back, you know. But then your heart has always belonged to me, so he won’t have any luck with that.” Edward didn’t seem overly perturbed one way or the other, but then that was his nature. Looking at him now, Vadim couldn’t work out why he spent so much of his life, with his emotions, his needs, and his dreams tied up with someone so….selfish.

“If it is the matters of the heart that will decide my fate, then I will be back with Josh in no time,” he said firmly. To his surprise Edward laughed, and it was not a happy sound.

“You think you’ve given your heart to a wolf shifter, how absurd. You gave me your promise. You told me you would never love another. I heard your vow when you buried those who killed me and so I waited for you. Centuries I have waited for you. And now you’re here and we can go on into the afterlife together, the way it should be.”

“I’m not leaving Josh. He’s my true match…the one I’ve been waiting a dozen lifetimes for. I’m not going anywhere without him.” Vadim was a little worried. He wasn’t sure where he was exactly, but if Edward’s words were true, then there was still a chance he could go back. Unfortunately he didn’t think he would get a lot of help from his deceased bond mate, the man seemed as unhinged as ever.

“But you love me, you always have. Even after my death you clung to my memory, forsaking all others,” Edward purred running his hands down his slim frame. The man looked as pretty and as sexy as he ever had.  His tight ass was clad in tights, which highlighted the muscles Vadim loved to pound. The open necked shirt showcased the slim neck that Vadim fed from as often as he was allowed. The neck he had literally begged to bite, but so rarely got to enjoy the privilege.

Feeling around behind him, Vadim found a rock and sat down. He needed to focus on Josh and their bond. It was still there, muted, but still present. If only he knew how to use that bond to send him back to the living again. He could feel it – feel their connection, but it was as if something was blocking it, stopping him from being with the one he loved. His mother was right. It was Edward, or rather his connection to his bond mate that was keeping him tied to this semi-netherworld. He knew what he had to do.

Sliding down off the rock, Vadim planted his butt firmly on the ground and crossed his legs.

“You’re ignoring me. You have no right to do that.” Edward’s voice was as shrill and harsh as he remembered.

“You have every right to be angry, Edward,” Vadim said. “I have kept you tied to this place, waiting for me, and I had no right to do that. I knew years ago that we were better off apart.”

“No. You don’t mean that. Dying has addled your brain. You didn’t keep me here. I waited for you.”

“There was no need,” Vadim said. “You didn’t love me in life, and I doubt that has changed with your death.” He looked up at Edward’s angry face. “Do you deny it? Even now, do you deny the many others that shared your bed when I was away?”

“You never gave me the attention I deserved,” Edward sneered. “Always running around like a little puppy, but never being the man I needed, the one I wanted. It wasn’t as though you were faithful to me.”

Vadim waited for Edward’s words to hurt him, but he felt nothing. It was the same argument they had always had and four hundred years later, it was decidedly old. He knew there was no point in trying to get his bond mate to understand something his true match had known instinctively. Josh. He needed to get back to Josh.

Ignoring Edward, Vadim flicked out a claw, and slashed his wrist, letting the blood drop softly onto the dirt below. “By the Fates, with all I hold dear, I release you Edward and beg for absolution,” he said loudly, closing his eyes and calling out to the mists, praying that someone would hear him.

“You can’t do that.” Edward’s voice sounded weaker but Vadim didn’t open his eyes.

“All that tied us is now gone. I release you to the afterlife where you belong. That which bound us in life…”

“No!” Edward’s voice was faint, but if Vadim could still hear it then the man still had the power to keep him from his mate.

“That which bound us in life, has turned to dust. Nothing more but memory be, Edward I release thee.”

Vadim heard a shriek, a moan and then nothing but the sound of the waves on the surf below. Taking in a deep breath, and keeping his eyes still closed, Vadim searched for his connection to his mate.

Josh, Josh, where are you?

I’m here my love, but you need to come back.
Josh’s voice sounded so calm, so normal, so full of love that Vadim almost wept.

I can’t live without you, my mate. Please come back to me.

I’m coming mate, I’m coming. Keep talking to me, and I’ll follow your voice.

His eyes still closed, Vadim stood up, his mind seeking and following the warm tones of Josh’s voice. He moved forward, one step after the other, each one bringing him closer to the man he loved more than his own life. Dimly he was aware he had stepped to the edge of a cliff, but he didn’t open his eyes. When he fell he knew his mate would catch him.

I love you.

Stretching out one leg, Vadim felt himself pitch forward towards the surf below, Josh’s words of love in his ear.

/~/~/~/~/

“Holy shit. That was the last thing I expected to see when I woke up.”

Josh wearily lifted his head and saw that Vadim’s eyes were finally open and he was staring at Matthews’s balls, which were inches from his forehead. The big man blushed but sat back, releasing Vadim’s face and pulling Dean into his arms.

“You came back.” Josh could hardly find the strength to speak, let alone hug his mate and fuck him into the mattress, which would be a normal reaction to your mate coming back from the dead. Relief poured through him and he wobbled, unable to keep himself upright. He fell onto Vadim’s chest and clung on with the last of his strength.

Strong hands tried to pick him up, but Josh refused to be separated from his mate. Even now, he could hear Vadim’s heart beat accelerating, pumping the life giving blood Josh had given him through every cell of his body. His mate was alive. Vadim was going to be well. Now Josh needed to stay awake long enough to enjoy it.

“Oh just zap them both,” Kane said to someone. “They’re not going to let go of each other anytime soon.”

A rush of magic, a blur of the senses, and Josh found himself still laying on top of his mate, but now cocooned by the softness of their shared bed. Vadim’s hands combed through his hair, and Josh was comforted by the simple action.

“You almost drained yourself for me.” Vadim’s reproving voice sounded above him. It sounded healthy enough so Josh went back to nuzzling the broad chest muscles under his face. Even though his scent was mixed with others, the unique essence of Vadim was underneath it all, and it comforted Josh like nothing else could. He had been so sure his mate was dying.

“Without you, I was already dead,” Josh said, when the tenseness of the muscles under his face seemed to demand a response. “You would have done the same for me.” The muscles he was laying on relaxed and the stroking through his hair started up again, so Josh presumed his ancient vampire had no witty response to that.

Josh felt unbearably tired. He knew he should probably get something to eat, and possibly a shift would help him, but he was too tired to even do that. His wolf, calm now that Vadim seemed alive and healthy, was suggesting a nap was a good idea, and Josh was inclined to agree.  But it was so peaceful, just lying on his mate, their limbs entangled around each other automatically now and Josh was happy to enjoy the peace – that dream state where you are aware enough of the people around you, but too tired to do anything about it. However, when Vadim’s voice did break the silence at last, his words had Josh pulling on every last bit of strength he had, just to stay awake.

“I saw Edward.”

Josh tried to raise his head, but Vadim’s hands stopped him, so he spoke into his mate’s neck instead.

“You
saw
Edward. Four hundred years dead Edward?” Fuck his mate had been closer to death than Josh had thought. Although it did give him some measure of pride that he’d still been able to pull his vampire back from that.

“Yes, he was waiting for me to go with him into the afterlife.”

Josh might have felt like his whole body had been hit by a truck, but his jealousy over Edward was enough to make him growl.

“Did you… how did he… what happened?” Josh listened as Vadim explained how Edward has assumed they would go together into the afterlife. How he was still a spoiled little shit who still assumed after all this time, that Vadim had been unfaithful to him during their lifetime together. Josh couldn’t stop growling and he was sorely tempted to kill himself, dive into the afterlife and deal with the annoying man once and for all. But Vadim explained how he’d done the absolution ritual and Edward was out of their lives for the rest of time.

“It was my fault,” Vadim said softly. “My vow, when I killed Edward’s murderers, it tied him to me somehow, and even though you regenerated my heart, in some psychic way, he and I were still bound.”

“More like he stuck around after death because baiting you and making your life a misery was just too much fun for him to give up.” Yeah, Josh wasn’t going to be holding any Edward parades anytime soon. If the little shit had loved Vadim, liked he claimed he did, then he should have been happy that his bond mate had met his true match. But even in death, all Edward could think about was himself. Josh wasn’t going to waste any sleep worrying about a dead man.

“You really need some food, love. Let me get up and get you something.” Vadim’s voice was quiet, but insistent.

“It’ll come,” Josh said, taking another deep inhale of Vadim’s scent. He knew that food would be delivered to them pretty quickly. While his vampire had been unconscious, the pack had told Josh how Vadim had saved Dean from the Atlanta Alpha and it was that rabid wolf that had caused all of the damage to Vadim’s leg trying to take him down.

His vampire mate didn’t know it yet, but he was now a firm, fully-fledged member of the inner circle and one thing the men at Cloverleah were good at doing was supporting the men they called family. So when the knock at the bedroom door did come, just five minutes later, Josh managed to raise his head long enough to say “I told you so.” Vadim’s smile told him that maybe his vampire did understand the workings of a wolf pack after all.

Epilogue

Vadim grinned as he peered through the leaves at the sandy colored wolf who was busy sniffing the forest floor, trying to track his scent. He’d learned that if he bounded up a tree, then across to another couple of other trees, and then retraced his tracks, that Josh had a hard time working out which tree his mate was sitting in. Vadim would have jumped across to another tree just to make things more interesting, but while he could land silently, the leaves in the trees would give him away.

And there were plenty of leaves around now. Spring was in full bloom, the weather was warm and the days were longer, allowing evening runs like this one to be had without worrying about body bits freezing to death. It had been three weeks since the Atlanta pack invasion and life for the men at Cloverleah had settled back to normal.  Vadim and Josh had moved back into Scott’s house and Vadim admitted to himself at least, that he did prefer them having their living spaces to themselves. He’d become quite a dab hand at killing zombies and other such creatures on the video games Josh liked to play and found he had a weakness for marshmallows –the pink ones.

Eloise had come for a visit, and while Vadim had been momentarily discomforted by the fact he had answered the door in jeans and a t-shirt, his mother was too gracious to mention anything about his new preferred clothing choices. He wasn’t so sure that he wanted Josh learning how much of a player Vadim had been pre-Edward, but Josh had taken to Eloise and her stories with good grace. If anyone knew how to embarrass a centuries old vampire, it was his mother.

Short, sharp barks, pulled Vadim out of his reverie and he looked down to see the wolf, bouncing underneath the branch he was sitting on. “Took you long enough,” Vadim called down, before levering himself off of the branch, landing on his feet on the soft ground below. Within seconds he had an armful of hot, naked shifter and as hot lips pounced on his, Vadim honestly couldn’t be happier.

“Ready for Vegas, love? Ready to be mine?” Vadim said softly when Josh finally let him up for air.

“Already yours,” Josh said with a snorted laugh. “More importantly, you still got some wind in those legs of yours? Because I’m thinking how hot your ass would look with my cock in it – couch or bed, your choice.”

Vadim stopped himself from groping Josh’s ass long enough to fumble about in his pants pocket, pulling out a small tube of lube. He waved it in front of Josh, knowing he had a huge smile on his face. “I’m thinking, hot shifter ass up against a tree being impaled by my cock.”

“Oh, you have such a way with words.” Josh smiled at him, and just like so many times before, Vadim found himself lost in his man’s brilliant blue eyes. Cupping the face he had come to adore with one hand, he stared deeply noting the swirls, the lights and the love and passion that shone beneath them.

“You know I love you, right?”

As he had proven time and time again, Josh seemed to know what he needed.

“I will love you till the end of time,” he said softly. Then he laughed, “How can I not when you’ve already offered me your ass against a tree no less. What would your coven members think?”

What would they think indeed? But as Vadim let his mate manhandle him in the most delicious fashion back onto a sturdy tree trunk, he found he really didn’t care. His mother was right. He needed to start living, and being with Josh was the best life ever.

The End