The Trail Back (22 page)

“You really didn’t like me wearing that shirt,” Kaitlyn said.

She held out her arms, and he walked into them. He kissed her, her taste igniting his need to mark her, to again stake his claim on his mate. He let his fangs descend and scored his tongue with them. Kaitlyn moaned as she sucked hard on his tongue and swallowed his blood.

He broke their kiss and quickly shed his clothes. He let one of his claws extend and stroked the razor-sharp point across his chest, just above his nipple. Kaitlyn’s eyes went wide, the pupils dilating as she licked her lips and lowered her mouth to the cut.

It was his turn to moan as Kaitlyn’s warm mouth enveloped his sensitive nipple. Her tongue teased at the hardening nub. Their mate was now safe, and as soon as Sean joined them, they’d celebrate vampire-style.

* * * *

Josh was anxious to get back to Abbie, but destroying all evidence that the vampire’s had been here was important for all paranormals, as well as for Abbie’s continued safety. Landon had accompanied Brody on one of the demon’s first trips back from Pine Falls. With his help, he and Elliot had all the bodies collected, and the cabin ready to be burned, in less than an hour.

“Shane was so angry that I took him to the clinic instead of to Caleb’s,” Brody said. He raised his hands in front of him, palms up, and Josh felt the air charge and snap against him painfully as Brody created a huge ball of rolling blue heat above his hands. “I imagine that, even as we speak, he’s attempting to gnaw his broken leg off and limp to Abbie whilst bleeding to death.”

Josh suppressed a laugh as the ball of fire grew bigger and bigger as it approached the cabin. The cabin didn’t burn to the ground. It was incinerated into ash the moment Brody’s created fire touched it.

“Remind me again never to piss you off, Brody,” Josh said. “You really are one scary guy.”

“My scary guy,” Landon said.

He picked Brody up from behind and hugged him, kissing down his neck as the demon squirmed and laughed, all the while calling out to be put down. Once Landon had released him, Brody stared intently at the ball of fire. It quickly grew smaller until it finally disappeared. He then turned and wrapped his arms around a smiling Landon.

Josh saw the joy and love the mated couple shared. Brayden had tried to point it out to him only a few days ago, but he’d been blind to such emotions. He wasn’t now, and the glowing warmth in his heart grew stronger. He ached to touch his mate. To feel her soft skin against his as he spread her out before him and licked her all over.

“Down, boy,” Elliot said. He slapped him on the back, and Josh stumbled forward a few steps. “I hope you’re thinking about your own mate and not mine. You stink of lust.”

Josh adjusted his aching cock in his borrowed sweatpants. Brody had brought them back for him on one of his trips to Pine Falls. “Mine, big guy. Definitely mine.” He smiled, the muscles in his face stretching naturally into the unfamiliar formation.

Landon made a big show of gasping and stepping backward. “What a horrible sight,” he said. “Don’t do that around small children. They’ll have nightmares.”

“He was whistling earlier,” Elliot said. “I’ve discovered that he has no musical talent. The birds flew away in disgust.”

Brody wriggled loose from Landon’s arms and came to stand in front of him. He put his hands on his hips and looked Josh up and down. “I think he’s adorable.”

Landon and Elliot both laughed loudly.

“Thank you, Brody,” Josh said. “Thank you for all you’ve done in protecting not just my mate, but the whole pride. You’re a wonderful man and an asset to our pride.”

Brody’s eyes filled with tears, and he threw his arms around Josh’s waist. “Adorable.”

Josh heard roars, and then silence as Caleb’s living room appeared before him. Abbie was asleep on Brayden’s lap. She was such a tiny wolf. Her muzzle and face were covered in blood, and his heart lurched.
Had they lied? Was the blood hers? Was she hurt?

“She attacked the mayor,” Brayden said, correctly reading his rising panic. “Brody started boiling him from the inside and Abbie and Kaitlyn killed him. She was very brave.”

Josh looked down at Brody. The demon had released him and was staring up at him. “Thank you again. That was probably therapeutic, or some such thing, for her. You better go back to your mates. They’re probably frantic that you left them there.”

Brody smiled mischievously. “They deserve it for teasing you.” He waved and disappeared.

“It’s over?” Brayden asked. He stroked Abbie’s fur as Josh moved closer and did the same. His palm tingled at the contact. She opened her eyes and blinked up at him.

“It’s over. We can have our forever now. Let’s go and get Shane before he gnaws his own leg off to get here.”

Shane had been stuck in a room with Cameron Harvey for the last hour and a half. They both lay on cots on opposite sides of the room, shifted with splints on their broken legs. Cameron had been unconscious but was now stirring.

“Shane,”
he said, blinking and looking around him.
“Where the hell are we?”

“We’re in the broken-leg room at the clinic.”
Shane growled softly and lay his head back down, determined to sulk until they let him go to Abbie.

“Are you sure you don’t have a head injury, too? I could swear you just made a joke.”

Shane snarled at the other man, but really, his heart wasn’t in it. He felt different, he was frustrated about the delay in getting to his mate, but he didn’t feel angry any more.
“It’s over, just so you know,”
Shane said.
“We killed all of them. Those that came here, and the ones in Canada.”

“No shit. That’s great. Anyone hurt?”

“No one’s said much. They’re all busy with the hybrids and Ray. He was pretty banged up, but he’ll live.
”

A sweet honey scent wafted in just as he heard his brother’s voice.

“He’s over here, Bray. There’s no snarling, so he must be asleep.”

Shane tried to stand, but the brace made it impossible. Brayden walked into the room with Abbie holding his hand. She was dressed in pale blue sweatpants and a black hoodie. She had a pair of socks on her feet. Her hair has matted with dried blood and stuck out at strange angles.

She was so beautiful that his chest hurt. His heart continued to stutter as she ran across the room and wrapped her arms around him.

“Shane, I’m so sorry you got hurt.” She kissed his head. “Thank you for staying alive. Thank you for coming home. I love you so much.”

More kisses rained down on him as he let out a whine. He’d never made such a sound before, but he was so happy to have her here.

“How are you feeling, Cam?” Josh asked.

Cameron yipped, and Josh just chuckled. “You’ll be out of here by morning, all healed up, I already asked the doc.”

Shane whined again. He didn’t want to wait until morning. Abbie’s scent was wrong. He wanted to get her home and cleaned up. Then he wanted to roll around in their bed with her until she smelled of them again, only of them.

“We know you’re not happy about staying here the night,” Brayden said.

“I’m not leaving you here, Shane,” Abbie said.

She unwrapped herself from around his neck, and he felt cold with her warmth gone. She left the room alone and Shane struggled to rise and go with her.

“She’ll be right back, Shane,” Josh said. He put a hand on his rump and pushed him flat on the bed again.

Abbie padded back into the room, her wolf tiny and brown. She was just as beautiful like this, and his heart stuttered again. Brayden picked her up and put her on the bed next to him. She curled herself against his stomach and rested her head on his front paw.

“Abbie said we weren’t going home until we all went together,” Brayden said. He pulled up a chair and rested a hand on Abbie’s rump. “She insisted we all stay together. So here we are.”

She felt so good, so right. He took a deep breath in and laid his head next to hers. He licked her muzzle. She still smelled wrong, but she tasted perfect. He relaxed against his mate, soaking up her warmth and love.

“I love you, Abbie. You are my life now,”
Shane said.

“I love you, Shane. You’re my life, too.”
Shane felt her in his heart and heard her in his mind. Their mating link was complete, and she was theirs.

“You, Josh, and Brayden are everything to me. Will you and Josh show me your world? Show me all the beautiful places you like to visit.”

“We’ll share it all with you, mate. We’ll make a life together here. We’ll even go with you when you take out your groups of dumb tourists. Josh and I will scare the bears away for you.”

Shane didn’t mind waiting until morning for his leg to heal, not now he had Abbie and his brothers here. It was incredible how everything had changed in just a few days. He let his wolf enjoy the feel of its mate and drifted into a healing sleep. The splint would heal his leg but his mate had already healed his soul.

* * * *

Abbie woke and was momentarily unsure of where she was. It was dark and the room smelled of antiseptic, blood, and her mates.
The clinic.
She lifted her head and rubbed it over the thick, soft fur of her mate. Shane’s coat was as soft as silk, not course and rough like hers. She hoped all their pups were arctic wolves like her men. They were just so pretty.

“Men aren’t pretty, sweetheart. We’ve already had this discussion,”
Shane said.

He nipped at her scruff, and she wriggled against him. If she hadn’t been afraid of falling off the bed she would have rolled on him. He was so soft that her wolf wanted to feel him all over her.

“We’re not alone,” Brayden said. “If you two don’t stop we’ll have to kill Cameron.”

A light flicked on, and Charlie walked into the room. Abbie could see that she’d gotten very little, or perhaps no, sleep. She looked exhausted. “I’ll take X-rays of your legs to see if the braces can come off.” She walked to Cameron’s cot and started to wheel him from the room. “I’ll be right back. Jason wants you all to be there when they test his vaccine on Kaitlyn. I think we should also test it on Abbie before we go to this vampire council.”

“We better get you dressed, Abbie,” Josh said.

He rose stiffly from his chair and picked Abbie up. He and Brayden had stayed all afternoon and through the night, only leaving to get coffee and sandwiches when they needed them. Abbie had refused all offers of food, only taking a little water. She felt tired and queasy. The taste of the mayor was still burning in her throat. When they returned, Cameron was dressed, and his brother, Ben, was handing him a coat.

“Good to see you all healed, Cam,” Brayden said. “Thanks for everything.”

“No need for thanks. It’s what a pride does,” Cameron said.

“We’re not going to see you for a while,” Ben said. “Samson Reed has a job for us back in Eminence. They need our help and we get to train under ‘The Machine.’” Both brothers were smiling widely.

“You’ll both regret that enthusiasm after one day of my brother’s training,” Jason said. He was leaning against the doorframe, his massive shoulders nearly filling the doorway. He looked nearly as formidable as Samson. “Shane is getting dressed. He’ll meet us in the conference room.”

Jason left and Abbie let go of Brayden’s hand to approach the two men. “Thank you for helping to keep me safe. I’m sorry you got hurt, Cameron.”

Abbie gave him a hug but let go when Brayden and Josh both growled loudly.

“Thanks, Abbie. It’s a little too soon to go hugging other men,” Cameron said. He stepped away from Abbie, and he and his brother scurried to the door as Josh’s growl grew louder.

“Maybe in a century of two they’ll cope with it better,” Ben said. He laughed as he ducked a metal jug as it sailed over his head to hit the opposite wall of the corridor.

Josh wrapped his arms around her from behind. “The scent of other men on you drives our wolves crazy. Show us some mercy.” He nipped at her neck and the sensation made her nipples harden. She wanted to show him a lot more than mercy. “That’s not helping.” He growled in her ear.

“Let’s get to the conference room before I lock this door and taste that sweet pussy,” Brayden said. Abbie’s pussy clenched in response, her core throbbed, and her clit tingled. She didn’t know how they could turn her on like this with just a word or two. She felt like an entirely new person.

Her mates had not just healed her. They’d also freed a part of her that had been dormant. It had been waiting for them to complete her. Now she was the Abbie she was always meant to be. She wished she’d had the epiphany somewhere else, like naked in bed with her mates equally naked around her.

Josh kept her in his arms as they walked down the hall to the conference room.

“Jesus, Abbie,” Shane said. He met them at the doorway to the conference room and buried his face in her neck. “What the hell were you just thinking,” he whispered. “I nearly came in my damn pants—worse, in a pair of Landon’s pants that I’ve just borrowed.” He nipped at his mark and laughed as she moaned. “Payback, baby.”

He stepped back and Abbie tried to reign in her desire and stop the scent of arousal. She glanced up at the people in the room, expecting to see them all staring at her with knowing smirks on their faces. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

The room contained a large table. The chairs surrounding it were filled with members of the pride, none of whom were looking her way. As she breathed a sigh of relief, the aroma of arousal flooded her airway, not all of it her own.

Aiden was sitting with Kaitlyn on his lap, her other mate, Sean had his face buried in her neck, her long black hair effectively obscuring whatever he was doing to make her blush. Caleb sat with Meg on his lap, his brothers sitting on either side of them. Each held one of Meg’s hands in theirs. They were all laughing quietly as Meg also blushed scarlet.