Cazz glanced towards the door, shooting a dark look that way, then turned back to me. I frowned a question at him, but he was looking at Maya.
“The power… is it unsafe for her to use?”
“Not exactly,” Maya said grimly. “Clearly they’ve both survived whatever that was. But it does better explain why it came on so quickly for her, and grew so strong so fast. She needs training to control it. The hormones and her tiredness will make it more difficult to control even at the best of times. But with her lack of experience and the stress of… recent events,” she said the words with a twist of distaste on her lips, “I imagine it will be even more erratic. She needs help, Cazz. Training.”
~ JESSE ~I stared at Cazz, half-thrilled, half-nervous. “Will you stay laying with me?” I asked suspiciously.He huffed. “Yes… but if you don’t mind, I’ll shift. My wolf form heals more quickly, so any rest in that body will be worth twice what it would be as a human.”I felt myself tense, felt my eyes widen.All this time, and I’d never actually seen him fully in his wolf—not when I could pay attention.I swallowed hard. “I… okay.”His expression grew concerned. “Does my wolf frighten you?”
~ CASIMIR ~As Jesse slid slowly into sleep, her exhaustion and tension seeping out of her, I took a very few minutes to simply enjoy the knowledge that our love had been a success, that we had truly built something together. A family. God, what a thought—there was a soul already alive that was made of me and her.As I thought of how close I’d come to breaching that bond—and it occurred to me what the likely fate of our child would have been if I’d done that—I had to breathe through the panic and let myself sink into the sensation of her arms around me and her weight leaning against me. Her trust in sleeping with my wolf, in clinging to me as she rested… It was a balm, and one that made the bond glow. But that connection between us was still thin. Present. Not broken, thank God. But thin. And… da
~ CASIMIR ~I rolled my eyes, but didn’t reply immediately, I was turning the whole situation over in my mind, examining it.I deeply appreciated the skill of what Jesse did—in a way no one but Maya would be able to—by keeping her compulsion in such a narrow field, and yet so devastatingly effectively. It was extremely clever of her. But it had its weaknesses too. Not that she’d hear any recrimination from me—I’d made my own mistakes. And I had been using the power for decades.It had been one helluva weak. It was only by God’s grace that neither of us had killed ourselves or each other.But that thought left me with such a pang, I turned away from it and back to the packs, and how we could sift our way through these idiots.
~ CASIMIR ~I sat there, stewing in an entire life’s worth of political machinations, education, and hierarchical jousting.Even my father had always agreed that the culture came from the top. I’d prided myself when I removed him by immediately taking steps to lower the sense of threat and intimidation that wolves felt from the throne.But my perspective had been off.Being an improvement on my father hadn’t killed the root of the weed that plagued us. It had only driven it underground. And now we were finally seeing those green shoots and leaves, full of poison and malice.And I’d done nothing to stop that. If anything, I’d worked in the shadows more. My father had never hidden his compulsion
~ JESSE ~My heart pounded painfully.It had been so wonderful waking up in his arms. And even though that niggling rush of nerves was still there, I’d been eager to come back to bed and be held by him.But walking back into the room to see him staring daggers and Rake, all that fear and agitation—and rage—rushed to the surface.I heard myself blurting out the truth of what I’d done to Rake, then got angry at myself for feeling defensive when it wasn’t my fault. And then Cazz was stunned and that felt good, but then he got mad and the moment his face went dark and he rais
~ JESSE ~He licked his lips and his forehead pressed into lines. “Jesse,” he breathed. “God, I’m so sorry, but it wasn’t what you think—”God, I wanted to slap him!“What part of that wasn’t what I think, Cazz?!” I shoved the words at him through gritted teeth, dashing away the tears that wouldn’t leave me alone. “What part of that wasn’t a fucking knife to my heart?”“The part where I made her leave because even though I thought you were with Rake, I couldn’t stop loving you. And when I came…&rdquo
~ CASIMIR ~I was trembling when she fell into my arms, still shaking when I picked her up and carried her to the bed so carefully, afraid she might actually shatter in my arms. When I got her there, I murmured to her to just rest and breathe. And when she sank into the bed, her head on the pillow, drawing her knees up to her chest, I just curled myself around her—around both of them, I reminded myself.And even though everything was awful, and I was sick with the pain I’d put her through, it was such a blinding relief that she hadn’t run, that she was still here and letting me touch her.I sent a hurried prayer up to God that all these
~ CASIMIR ~There was silence in the link for a moment. Then Rake’s voice came through just a little bit hushed, ‘Wow, okay. Thanks.’‘I mean it.’‘I can tell.’‘But?’ I asked with my teeth gritted.‘But…’ He hesitated for a minute, then sighed. ‘Do you still want me to be the challenger? Or is that just going to make this worse?’‘No. I… I need to hear what you
~ CASIMIR ~I was pretty sure if I didn’t get inside her, I was going to eat her alive.Scooting with her in my lap, still straddling me, I got her so both my knees and her back were flat against the wall. Then I flipped open the wide, leather cuffs that had been secured directly to the wall and first lifted one of her hands, to strap it in so her hand was levered above her shoulder, but with her arm comfortably bent so she could relax. Then I did the same with her other hand on the other side.So I straddled the banana-seat, while she straddled me and her hands were secured to the wall behind her.Her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and her eyes were bright with desire.Overwhelmed again with how much thought she’d put into this, for a moment I just took her face in my hands and kissed her. But that drew us together—my cock pressing against her, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips, teasing
~ CASIMIR ~“I made a new Den,” Jesse whispered, her hands over her mouth, staring up at me—those beautiful eyes wide, but also a little fearful. “I know it’s not the same, but I got Ghere to help me because he remembered what things you’d had before and… I hope you like it.”Like it? Was she serious?My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I was having trouble breathing.The room seemed smaller than I remembered because the walls were painted a dull black. But the tighter space than what I’d had down next to the Den just made it feel more intimate.There were two lamps, one on each end, and a chandelier high above. Candles everywhere, though she hadn’t lit mo
~ JESSE ~It was Cazz’s turn to plan the monthly date. But I was humming about this one. Things were finally ready, and impossibly, Ghere had helped me successfully pull off the surprise. But I still had to figure out how to get Cazz there without ruining it.He’d taken me out to the meadow again—my favorite date. Though we’d enjoyed several others now too—and we’d just finished eating. He was leaning back against the cab of the truck, looking out at the city lights, his brows a little heavy.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him, though I had a hunch.He had his arm around me and I was leaning on his shoulder. His hand trailed up and
~ CASIMIR ~I came out of the bathing room after a long bath rubbing my hair with a towel, to find my mate standing in the middle of the chamber with her arms folded and looking sternly at my daughter, who sat on the floor in nothing but a diaper, with her chubby legs straight out. She, too, had her arms folded and her lips pursed in the perfect reflection of her mother.The two glared at each other and half my heart went cold, while the other half wanted to splutter with laughter.“Abigail, I have told you—”“No!”Our daughter could only get her tongue around a few words so far, but
~ JESSE (a few weeks later) ~I had just finished nursing Abigail and was holding her on my lap while Reeca sat with me on the couch.Her eyes were bright and she was beginning to smile, so I was tickling her cheeks to see if I could get her to do it. But she was sleepy because she’d just eaten and only yawned and cooed.“She’s a very calm baby,” Reeca commented from the other end of the couch, smiling. She loved babies, and had been so helpful when I was tired—and just for reassurance for me.She was a calm presence in any room, and with Abigail, she showed a lot of delight and joy that she seemed to stifle in other areas of her life.“Reeca,” I said carefully, because I’d b
~ JESSE ~I was too tired to do more than lift my hands to his neck, so I just curled my face into his chest and let him settle us into the chair, cradled in his arms with my ass in his lap.When he’d sat, I had my head resting on his shoulder and my body curled in his arms.“Do you hurt?” he asked quickly.“No, just tired, like I said.”I felt him relax a little then and another chill started in my blood.“Cazz… what’s happened?” I asked quietly.He turned his head to meet my eyes and lifted his hand to comb hair back from my face. His throat bobbed, but his touch was g
~ JESSE (Hours later) ~My dreams were disturbing—my body in pain, screams of terror, darkness, the floor shaking, the mountain falling, humans fleeing and wolves…I tried to break free, tried desperately to open my eyes and to speak, because I knew I was asleep. But all I did was fade… in and out. The nightmares, or nothing.And through it all, his voice.“Heal… live.”My heart ached. My body hurt. My chest didn’t want to expand. It was as if my flesh fought his words, and I didn’t understand.But finally, the dreams faded and I could hear a heartbeat. Little, and quick. And feel warm flesh. And the breath of my m
~ CASIMIR ~I felt the moment the power went out of Jesse. The entire mountain felt it.I howled with triumph and shifted, sprinting towards the room, ecstatic when there was no sense of Maya gripping my mind or stealing anything from me. But of course, there was no power left for her to steal.I prayed and pleaded and ran, Rory and the others coming in my wake. And the moment I broke through that door in my wolf—the only power left to me anymore—everything slowed. Though my body whipped and my mind was singularly focused, it was as if everything happened in slow motion.I caught a bare glimpse of Jesse on the bed, and at first my heart leaped. She was moving, awake, aware,
~ JESSE ~Maya had me sitting up in the bed, curled forward, gripping my knees. Reeca on one side, helping prop me up, a guard on the other.My body was nothing but a conduit for pain. Wave after wave, my entire lower body condensing, contracting, pushing to get this baby out. I could barely think.Cazz was there, so quiet, so distant, but there, calling his encouragement and pushing love at me through the bond.There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t make it, when I thought my body would give and I would just drift away.But then I caught Maya smiling. Leaning forward between my legs, reaching, grasping, for