Page 89 of Blood Magic

We would get what we wanted. All of it. Axton fought us, viciously and fiercely, but in the end, not even a county master could stand against two savage wolves. Two alpha wolves.

It was too bad I couldn’t separate myself into three different physical beings, because Zach landed on the ground and lay there, motionless, bloody, and pale, and maybe he was dead, I thought maybe he was just fucking dead, and I couldn’t do anything until the wolf and psycho killed the vampire.

In the end, the alpha stood back to watch as I fought the vampire master alone. He stood in front of the fallen human, protecting him, and all parts of me loved him a little more for that.

At last, the master gave one final scream, satisfying me, and I batted him away almost playfully, my wolf taking a moment to pounce on him and lick the blood from his destroyed face before I forced my shift.

There was no time to play. I needed to take his heart and head and tend to Zach. And I wanted Zach to see the master’s death and know he was free. It was important to be free, as I very well knew.

But after I shifted to my human form, naked and hurt and full of crazy, I was unable to resist running to the alpha. He opened his arms and watched me come, pride and something else, something I couldn’t identify, on his beautiful face. He wrapped me up in his arms and for a few seconds, we stood there, silent and victorious.

The pack slipped from the shadows and surrounded us, panting and tired, drawn automatically to their alpha now that the vampires had fled. As their wolves, they had no resentment of me. They simply threw themselves to the ground and rested, ready to shift to their human forms when it was time to do so. They would stay as wolves a while longer, just in case the danger returned.

I’d never felt more like I belonged than I did at that moment.

Finally, I pulled away from Jared and turned to Zach. He’d somehow managed to stand, though he looked like he was near death with his torn, thin body and the grayness of his skin. He stared at me, but I wasn’t sure he even saw me.

I found my clothes and re-dressed, then took Zach’s hand. “Help me end the bastard, Zach.” And I half held him up as he walked between me and Jared. When we reached Axton, Zach fell to his knees beside him. And as he’d done the first day I’d rescued him, he silently held out his hand for a blade. This time, it was the alpha who gave it to him. I hadn’t brought so much as an extra knife with me because that night, it was all about the wolf.

I knelt beside him, and when he found himself too weak from blood loss to decapitate the master, I put my hand over his, and we finished the job together. When it was over, he simply sat there, his shoulders drooping, and stared for the longest time.

“It’s done,” I said, gently. “It’s over. Let’s go get you healthy.”

But he growled like a feral animal and with one last surge of energy, he forcefully yanked a lock of hair from Axton’s skull and wrapped it around his hand. It would be a reminder to him of his survival. Of his strength, and of his vulnerability.

It ended there, not only for him but for the humans, some we didn’t even know about. The mind control magic died with the seer Kaloni and with the former Clinton County Master, Frederick Axton.

I hoped.