Holocaust (The Deadwood Hunter Series Book 3) (32 page)

“Hey,” Caden said gently, tilting her chin up when she looked away, “this will always be your home. A lot of things have changed recently, but our pack still needs a heart.”

“He’s not here, is he?” She couldn’t feel him and although there seemed to be a lot more members, the pack was missing a vital part.

“No, he left the day you did. I’ve looked but I can’t find him.”

Lexia pulled Caden’s head toward her, kissing his cheek and holding him close. Always the one to hold everything together, no one realized how much he hurt. “I’ll bring him home, Cade.”

“Soo, where do we unpack?” Miles asked. “Oh, and we brought a new prisoner, too. Shall I dump him in the cage?”

“What?” Caden gasped.

“He’s kidding,” Lexia said, glaring at Miles. “There’s no need to put him in the cage. I’m sure he’ll be fine when he comes to.”

Miles laughed.

“Lexi,” Caden muttered, shaking his head.

“What, he wouldn’t let us pass,” she said defensively as they walked toward the house.

“That’s his job.”

“Well, then he needs improvement. Good job I’m here to take over training.”

“There is nothing wrong with how I train.” Lexia turned at the booming voice of Caleb.

“Hey, good to see you looking so well,” Lexia said, walking into his embrace. The last time she’d seen him, he’d still been shaking the effects of his bullet wound.

“So you’re back?”

“I’m back,” she confirmed. “Me and my motley crew.”

“Good job we built a few extra cabins then,” Caleb replied.

Chapter 46

Three days she’d been walking the Black Hill Ranges. Deeper into the mountains she’d gone and still she’d found no sign of him. Her supplies were about out and she was starting to contemplate shooting a rabbit before she starved.

Draining the last of her drink, Lexia sought out water instead of her panther. Determined to not return without Lincoln, she’d carried on searching, pushing her body to its limits, realizing she wasn’t as fit as she once was.

“Damn you, Linc. I don’t even know the way home. Where are you?”

Fear of dying out in the wilderness had been clawing at her. What had once been a tiny flicker, had grown into a burning flame as the hours ticked by.

Hearing water, she changed direction. Carefully maneuvering across they rocky ground, she left the flatter forests below and climbed mountainsides.

“I wonder if Caden will send search teams if I don’t return soon?” she muttered to herself. “A-ha, water,” Lexia cheered. She came across fresh water pouring through cracks in a cliff face. The rock glinted in the late afternoon sun.

Holding her bottle under the stream, she filled it then drank down deeply. Emptying the next bottle over her head, she pushed the strands of hair from her face, feeling a little more refreshed.

Deep and aggressive, the growl made Lexia jump. Heart a brutal drum, she turned slowly. A hissing cry left the panther as Lexia faced him; lips pulled back, his teeth in sharp focus. If it hadn’t been for the ache in her chest, she’d have thought the panther was a wild animal and not Lincoln. There was nothing civilized about him, nothing remotely human.

For an awful second, she was filled with fear, a paralyzing fear born from the knowledge she might have lost Lincoln forever.

No!

Mind screaming against the impossible idea, Lexia took a step toward the snarling panther. Lips quivering as he growled, she lifted her palms, taking slow, steady steps to the side, until the cliff face wasn’t at her back. Lincoln didn’t move from his higher position. Crouched on a large rock, it would take only one leap for him to reach her.

“Hey, pretty panther.” She smiled. His mewling, high-pitched snarl pierced straight through her heart. “Come on, Linc. I know you’re in there somewhere.”

No growl this time but still, his body language remained aggressive.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Even if you attack me, if I’m destined to die here, then I’d rather it be by your hands than from the elements.”

That statement got his attention. Body relaxing slighting, Lincoln stopped his soft growling and waited.

“I’m going to tell you something, something I’ve not told anyone,” she told the cat who held her heart. “I’ve done a lot of talking over the last three months. Told Caden’s mother things I’ve never told anyone, but this I’ve never told.”

Deciding Lincoln wasn’t going to rip her throat out just yet, Lexia sat on a nearby rock. Staring at the ground, she brought Derrick’s face into her mind. “I met my biological father.” Lexia glanced up to see no reaction.

“His name was Derrick. He didn’t know who I was to him, not until the end. He was a good man, Linc. He cared for me. He protected me. He even scolded me.” She laughed through her tears. “Derrick loved me. Not that he understood it, neither did I, but when Lucy told me, it all made sense.”

She had to stop and take a breath, the memories too fresh, too painful. Looking at the panther, she continued. “He lived through years of torment so his wife and the daughter he’d never even met, would be safe. And in the end, he died. He died for me. He should have gone home. He should have met his daughter. I guess my fathers are cursed, destined to give their lives in return for mine.”

Rage like liquid fire licked through her veins. “My mother stood there, her wicked, joyful smile, lighting her face.” Each word, flung from her mouth with such hate. “She was willing to kill every person I loved and I still couldn’t kill her.”

The panther dropped down. Head on his paws, he looked at her with sad eyes.

“I still hesitated, and that hesitation cost Derrick his life. He took the bullet Lucy had intended for me. In the end, she told me how I was just like her; how I destroyed all I loved. Derrick died in my arms, Linc, just like my dad. Both of them died in my arms to give me life, and what have I done with it?”

Angry, Lexia balled up her fists dropping to her knees. She locked eyes with the angry cat. “I threw it all away, Linc. I proved her right. I didn’t see your pain. The one person who loved me through everything and I destroyed him. I destroyed you. Please don’t let that be true,” she choked.

“I was sitting in my room. Lola was asleep next to me, and as I was staring at her, I realized she’d never know who her father was. She’d never know the joy of a father’s hug. She’d never know what it’s like to have a father love you so unconditionally that they’d give anything for you to be safe, even their life. But she could have that. She could have a father, a home; she could have you.”

Crawling to him, she begged, “I’ve been punishing myself, Linc. I live with a constant gaping hole inside of me. A pain so crippling, it’s what I deserve. I’ve done unspeakable things. I have changed beyond recognition. I’m nothing like the girl who fell in love with you. But don’t Derrick and my dad deserve to have given their lives for something?”

The panther dropped from the rock, prowling toward her. Lexia continued, ready for her life to end if that was what he chose. “I promised Derrick as he died that I’d live, but what I’m doing isn’t living. That gaping hole, that crippling pain, it’s all caused by your absence. You see, Linc, throughout the longest of days and the darkest of nights, when I was at my worst, I still loved you. Our love is the strongest power anyone could come up against. Lucy tried every day to break it, but she never succeeded. I’m still lost. I still have no idea who I am, or where I fit in this world, but I know one thing. I might have changed. My soul might be tainted with blood, but the one thing that has never changed, the one thing which survived from my old life, is you. Our bond, our love.”

On her knees, she looked the panther in the eyes. “I’ve hurt you. I’ve thrown you away, but you still loved me every single day. Please, Lincoln, forgive me. Come back to me and be the father to my daughter. Let’s go home, to the pack we were always destined to lead.”

With her face inches from his, she spoke in a bare whisper. Tears rolling down her face, pain etched on her every feature. “Please, my pretty panther, let’s go home.”

Lincoln shifted, falling against her. Wrapping her arms around him, Lexia absorbed his heat, his strength. Gripping to him as if he may just be a dream, she ran her lips over his bare skin, kissing her way to the face she’d thought she’d never see again.

Slowly, he stripped her clothes, touching her body as if a mirage. Kissing her with a hunger, a passion, that had no equal.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured against her neck. “All I ever wanted was to save you and I failed.”

“No, no, Linc.” She gripped his face, holding him gently, making sure he looked at her as she spoke her next words. “You saved me. It was your love that I clung to, even when I didn’t realize it. You saved me.”

Their bodies touched, skin met, breaths mingled in passionate gasps. It had been so long, yet it felt as it always had, soul wrenchingly perfect. A love not even the darkest of evil could break.

Epilogue

Lexia sunk into the hot water of the bath she’d just run. Releasing all of her tension in a long sigh. Even though all of her skin had healed and her hair had grown back to just above her shoulders, she hadn’t quite fully recovered. A hard day’s work made her muscles ache and joints creak, yet it was nice to feel a little human again.

Lincoln’s childhood home was finally starting to feel lived in, and there were plenty of people living on pack land now. Shifters and Hunters alike. Though there where days the two races clashed, mostly they got along, and some even becoming friends.

They’d spent the day finishing one of the log cabins they’d been building for the new pack members. Slowly she could see the light and hope returning to her friends eyes; she didn’t think any of them would truly be able to leave behind the horrors of their pasts, but she supposed that’s why they were all together.

Making the most of the alone time she’d been given, Lexia rested her head back, and relaxed, briefly smiling as she heard Lola’s excited shriek.

After finally taming the beast that was their child, Lincoln opened the bathroom door in search of his mate. Her body glistened in the candlelight as she stepped from the bath and turned toward him. Every curve highlighted the heaviness of her breasts, the plump curve of her ass and the ripple of muscle down her stomach. She was perfection and she was his.

Smiling that smile – innocent and seductive all at the same time – her eyes glazed with desire. She arched her back, baring that curvy, sexy body to him as she held out a hand.

“I’ve put Lola to bed,” Lincoln told Lexia as he took her hand. “She kept pulling up on the side of the cot and squealing.” He chuckled.

Smiling fondly, she stepped a little closer to him. Lincoln glanced at the masterpiece in front of him a second longer before pulling her against his chest. Running his hands over her slick wet body, he bit back a moan as his body came to life.

“God, you are perfection,” he breathed against her neck. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Lexia replied softly.

Pulling back, Lincoln looked into her eyes, the fear of losing her still fresh even after two months. “You can never leave me again. I won’t survive.”

Her hands cupped his face, eyes glistening with all the emotions she felt and demons she carried. +“Never,” she whispered. “Never.” Pulling his lips to hers, Lexia poured all she felt for Lincoln into her kiss and slowly the fear of her leaving faded.

She never planned to leave. Lincoln was her heart, her home.

THE END