The Alpha's Heart (Wilde Creek Two) (22 page)

“I do,” she said, and Acksel was proud that her voice was strong.

Hollis gave the blade to Acksel and he gripped it lightly.  Dragging the blade across his left palm, he cut a thin line in his flesh.  He slid the blade across Brynn’s palm, making a matching mark.  She didn’t make a sound.  Skimming the edge of the blade along the blood that welled in each cut, he mixed their blood together on the blade and lifted it over his head so the pack could see their combined blood.

Gripping her left hand in his tightly, he fused their wounds together and said loudly, “I accept your place as alpha female, Brynn Mara, from this day forward.”

Hollis shouted, “By blood the vow was made.  Let none tear it apart.”

The pack howled their approval.  Acksel lowered the blade and gave it to Hollis, who wrapped it in a piece of hide and gave it to Acksel before leaving the porch.

“I claim you as mine, Brynn,” Acksel said, stepping close, still squeezing her hand.  “My alpha female.  My mate.  My heart.  My life.”

She touched his cheek with her free hand, her eyes shining brightly.  “I claim you, too, Acksel, as my everything.”

Together they wished the pack a good hunt and dismissed them.

She pulled her hand free and looked at the mark.  It had healed to a narrow, pink scar.  “Shouldn’t this still be a raw wound?”

He rubbed his thumb along the mark.  “The blade was coated with a special healing oil that Gedding brought.  It healed the wound but caused it to scar, not just make it disappear like the oil he used on you after your kidnapping.  It wasn’t just so that it didn’t hurt and would heal, but so that it would scar for me as well and my shifting tonight wouldn’t erase the mark.”

She grabbed his hand and inspected it.  “So you’ll keep this mark forever?”

“Yes.”

“Neat.”

He hauled her against his body, loving how her lush curves fit perfectly against him.  “Do you feel any different?”  His wolf was prowling under his skin, urging him to either hunt or strip their mate.

“I feel like your mate, Acksel.  But I already felt like that, since you sexed me up so well before we came outside.”

Growling, he kissed her, shoving his wolf aside for a moment longer to enjoy the moment.  His control was slipping and he knew he needed to get on with the hunt so he could come back and really enjoy his mate.  With a final kiss, he let go of his control of his wolf to bring on the shift.

* * * * *

Brynn stood on the porch and watched the pack.  The air was almost electric.  The moon in the sky bathed the yard and people with a faint light.  It was magical.  Her palm felt a little weird, which she attributed to the fast-healing oil.  The short but powerful ceremony had bound her by oath as alpha female to the pack.

Acksel’s hand brushed over her shoulder.  “Sweetheart?”

She looked up at him.  His eyes were bright, almost glowing.  “You’re my mate.”

“Yeah,” he growled.

“These are my people.”

“That, too,” he lowered his head and kissed her neck. He licked her pulse with a soft snarl that almost sounded like a purr.

“My pack.”

She felt his fangs trace along her throat and shivered at the contrast of his strength and her vulnerable neck.  “I’m so happy to be here, Acksel.  I’m glad to be your mate and alpha female of the pack.  Go hunt.”  She cupped his face and pushed him away before she got any more turned on and he started removing her clothes.  Again.

“Want to stay,” he growled.

“The sooner you leave the sooner you can get back.  Go on, Alpha.”

He growled lightly, leaned in to lick her neck again, and then leapt down the steps.  He stripped slowly, never taking his eyes from hers.  Her body heated as she watched him unveil himself.  The strong shoulders, muscular arms, chiseled abs.  She’d traced those muscles with her fingers and tongue, scratched her nails across his strong back in the throes of passion.  A small smile curved the corner of his mouth as he unbuttoned his jeans.  He was sexy and he knew it.  Sometimes his arrogance annoyed her, but this was not one of those times.

“I’ll be back soon.”  His voice was still dark and growly, and she felt it slither down her spine like a rough caress.

“I’ll be here.”

He dropped his pants, revealing an erection that made her body tingle, gave her another smug smile, and then dropped to the ground and shifted.  She’d seen Mia shift, but she hadn’t wanted to see her friend’s lady bits too closely so she hadn’t really watched.  But Acksel was all hers and she watched every second as his body cracked and twisted and reformed until a beautiful wolf stood before her.  He was bigger than a natural wolf, with pale gray and dark gray fur.

She walked down the steps and went to her knees, sinking her fingers into the thick fur around his neck.  He made a wolfy-sounding purr, letting her explore him for a few moments.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw some wolves waiting along the line of trees.  Acksel was going to hunt with his friends and family.  Malachi, Sam, his dad.

Kissing his snout, she said, “I love you.  Have a good hunt.”

He licked her palm as she stood up and moved away from her towards the wolves that waited for him.  He looked over his shoulder, barked once, and then bounded into the woods and was gone from sight, the others on his heel.

She stood in the silence surrounding the yard for a brief moment.  She wished she was a wolf and could shift and be with Acksel in every way, and she would probably always wish that she was like him and the others.  She heard the sound of paws on the ground and saw two wolves making a slow circle around the perimeter of the house.  She wasn’t alone; Acksel had seen to it.  Several wolves were taking thirty-minute shifts, alternating so that two wolves were patrolling around the house at all times while Acksel was gone.  Acksel had asked for volunteers instead of just ordering wolves to do it, and she had been surprised when all the protectors stepped forward, willing to watch over her so her mate could hunt and run with his pack.

She’d worried that she might feel out of place with the pack, in a position of authority over those who were different than her, but she’d been widely accepted by the pack and welcomed with open arms.

“Are you hungry, Brynn?”  Eveny asked from the doorway into the house as Brynn turned and moved up the porch steps.

“I could eat.”

Luke turned on the kitchen light with a soft snort.  “Ev says that all the time.”

She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.  “Hey!  It’s your baby that’s making me hungry.”

Brynn smiled as Luke pulled Eveny close and kissed her, tugging her out of the way so Brynn could walk into the kitchen.  Eveny was only two weeks farther along than Brynn.

Because Eveny couldn’t shift with her pregnancy, instead of heading home with her mate after the wolves went out to hunt as she’d done with the previous full moons, she had asked to stay and keep Brynn company, which she’d readily accepted.  Brynn and Eveny had known each other but hadn’t been close, and she was looking forward to getting to know her mate’s sister.

Eveny sat down on Luke’s lap at the kitchen table and Brynn joined them, looking over the items that had been set out.  Platters and bowls held everything from sandwiches to chips to cold salads.

“Yuck, Ev, what are you doing?”  Luke made a face.

Eveny had taken a ham and swiss sandwich apart and remade it with a layer of potato chips and dill pickles in the middle.  She slapped the halves together and took a bite, wiggling in his lap happily.

“It’s good.  Crunchy.”

Although Luke looked like he had never seen anything more strange, Brynn could also see the love that shone in his eyes.  Luke loved Eveny.  He’d fought for her, saved her, and would do anything for her.  The same as Acksel had done for Brynn.

“You’ve changed him for the better,” Eveny said when the sandwich had disappeared.

“You think so?”  Brynn smiled as she took a bite of a hamburger patty, plain, with a side of several other patties.

“Of course.  Love does that to guys.  He’s still a badass, but he’s not such an asshole.”

Luke nipped her shoulder.  “I don’t think you’re supposed to call your alpha an asshole when you’re talking to his mate.”

Eveny winked at Brynn.  “She knows better than anyone what an asshole he is.”

True.

As Brynn was about to start on her second patty, she heard a sharp bark from the yard that sounded like a warning.

“Someone’s coming,” Eveny said.  Luke put Eveny on her feet and went to the back door, his body tense.

“There are three wolves with the two protectors,” Luke said, looking over his shoulder.  “But everyone is in their shifted forms so no one is talking.”

Eveny joined Luke and made a sound of surprise.  “They’re here for you, Brynn.”

“What?”  She put down her fork and joined them at the back door.

The two protectors were standing on either side of three smaller wolves.  Each of the three smaller wolves held a dead rabbit between their jaws.  As soon as Brynn appeared in the doorway, the females dropped down onto their bellies, their ears flat, their heads tilted to the side.

“What the hell?”  Brynn whispered.

Eveny said, “It’s Carissa, Ava, and Hailey.  They’re bringing their first kills to you as their alpha, to ask for forgiveness.  In the old days, if a wolf was on their alpha’s shit list, they would ask for forgiveness by bringing a kill.  If the alpha rejected the kill, the wolf knew they were still on the shit list.  If the alpha accepted it, then whatever the wrong had been would be forgiven and forgotten.”

Luke hummed in his throat as he pulled Eveny against him.  “Cool.  Gross, but cool.”

“The question is whether you want to let them suffer a bit longer, or if you’re willing to forgive them for being bitches, put it behind you, and move forward.”

Brynn wasn’t one to hold a grudge.  She’d proved herself capable of being the alpha female.  She might not be able to shift, but she could throw a table with the best of them, and her aim was pretty good with a crystal pitcher, too.

Moving onto the porch, she stepped down to the yard and looked down at the females.

She went to one knee and touched the wolf on the far left.  She wasn’t sure how she knew who it was, but she was certain that it was Carissa.  “I forgive you, Carissa.”

The wolf whined and laid the rabbit at Brynn’s feet and she picked it up and cradled it in her arm.  She thought she would be grossed out completely, but she wasn’t.  She was…happy.  The center wolf was Hailey, and she touched her head and said she forgave her and accepted the rabbit, moving to Ava and doing the same.  Brynn stood slowly and wished the females a good hunt, then watched as they loped away into the woods.  As she turned towards the house, she saw Acksel standing just at the edge of the woods.  He barked and nodded his head and then darted away.  She didn’t know how he’d known what was going on, but she was glad that he had witnessed it.

Looking up at Eveny and Luke, Brynn said, “What am I supposed to do with these things?”

Eveny looked thoughtful and said, “It’s good luck for our people to have the fur of pack kills in a new pup’s room.  One of the pack members is a tanner and he can use the fur to make something for you, like a pillow.  We’ll take them to him tomorrow, but for tonight you can just stow them on the front porch.”

“We haven’t set up the baby’s room yet, but that sounds neat.”

“Wait’ll you see what a pack baby shower is like,” Eveny laughed and Brynn had a feeling that it would involve more furs and animal skins.

“I can’t wait.”

* * * * *

Acksel stopped at the creek and took a long drink, letting the swiftly moving water rush over his blood-soaked muzzle.  His dad, Sam, and Malachi were nearby, finishing their kills or lazing in the woods and enjoying the night.  It had been a very good night.  His pack had accepted Brynn with open arms.  He’d been worried that he would have to make a show of strength to get the pack to accept her, or that more members would leave.  After making the announcement that pack members could mate who they chose, including non-wolves, they’d lost several families.  But aside from the problems with the females in the beginning, the pack had accepted his mate as their leader, and no one else had left.

Sitting on his haunches, he looked up at the night sky.  Brynn would never be out on a hunt with him.  She’d never share a kill in the way that wolf pairs could.  But that didn’t make her any less perfect.  She’d proven she could stand up for herself after knocking two females out and thoroughly terrifying the third.  She’d shown herself to have compassion for his people, evident in the way that she had forgiven the she-wolves who had brought her offerings earlier that night.  And she’d proven her courage, in her willingness to stand by his side in spite of the uncertainty that faced them with the changes to the pack law.  She’d embraced everything about him and his people.  The best thing he’d ever done was stumble into her home.  If not for that one drunken night, he might have mated a she-wolf and always pined for Brynn.

Mate
.

It was definitely time to go home.  The protectors were keeping watch over her, as were his sister and brother-in-law, but he wouldn’t feel entirely at ease until he held her in his arms again.

He howled, a sign that he was ready to call an end to the hunt, and the call was answered by his pack from all over their territory.  The three males with him trotted alongside as he turned towards home and his mate.  He shifted in the yard, grabbing the jeans that he’d left there and tugging them on.  Bidding his dad and friends goodnight, he headed into the house.

Luke and Eveny were in the family room.  The TV was on with the volume low and Luke looked up at Acksel as he came into the room.  Eveny was snuggled in his lap, asleep.  “Brynn went to bed about an hour ago.  She tried to stay up, I think, but it’s pretty late.”

“Thanks for staying,” Acksel nodded, wishing he’d come home earlier while his mate was still awake.

“I put the rabbits on the front porch in an empty box.  Ev said you could take them to Daniel to get them made into something for the baby’s room.”  Luke stood with Eveny in his arms; she snorted softly but didn’t seem to wake up.