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“When you surrendered yourself to me, just like this, I knew you were mine. There could be no other for me, not after that, not after you. I’d tear anyone to shreds just for thinking of you the way I do.”
I remember the chain around my neck before I transformed earlier, and fear jabs through me at the thought that I may have lost it. But it's still there, pressed between our bodies and warm to the touch. I take it off, clutching the claw and ruby in my hand as I reach around her and press it to the mark on her chest.
“Raina led me back to the bear,” I say huskily. “And I killed it. Take this as a sign of my love and a declaration that I’m yours from this day until the day I die.”
The magnitude of my statement makes Ruby’s breath hitch in her throat, and when I open my hand and she sees the claw and the ruby she gasps, reaching out to take it with a trembling hand.
“I have nothing for you!” she says suddenly, turning in my arms and looking up at me sadly.
“There’s only one thing I need from you, and Raina gave it to us both,” I say, covering the handprint on her chest. She smiles and lays her hand over her own print on mine. “There’s only one thing I’ll ever ask of you, it’s not material and it can't be bought with money.” I lower my hand to her belly and her eyes fill with fresh tears. “Give me a child, Ruby, a family. That’s all I want.”
* * *
We lie in each other’s arms till dawn, not saying much but feeling it all. Ruby’s body under my hands is like the finest white silk, and she strokes my skin and asks me about every single tattoo embedded in my flesh. We share our life stories, talk about first silly loves, and reminisce about the good times with family and friends. Everything is different now, everything is doubled. We have two families, two packs, and an unknown amount of battles ahead of us.
“You must know…” She bites her bottom lips and her eyes full of worry. “I mean, you can't honestly believe my people would kill a pup, for any reason.”
“I wish I did know that my love, but even on the brightest of days there’s always a shadow. A shadow of evil stained that sacred sight with the blood of an innocent, and I will find out which one of the Silver Dawn pack did it.” I stroke her face gently as her eyes search the darkness for anything to say, some retort to defend the pack she was born into.
“I can't imagine it, not from any of them. Even the old wolves who adhere to the old wild ways would never hurt a pup, enemy or not. Please, Chase, please believe me!”
“I’m a tracker, no matter what you hope for I’ll find the killer, and when I do you’ll have to accept whomever it is and not get in the way of justice.”
“I’ll… I’ll try…” she whispers. “But what if it’s not my pack, and not your pack? What if there’s a danger out there that we just don’t know about yet? A threat to both of us, both our packs? What if no matter how hard we try there’s an evil trying to make sure we’re always pitted against each other?”
“No evil will ever separate us again, no pack disputes will come between,” I say fiercely, my thumb caressing her cheek. “If there’s a third threat I’ll kill it, but I don’t believe there is.”
She nods and sighs, looking around my trailer for the first time since we walked through the doors. “Is this…where you live?” she asks, her voice veiled as if she’s trying not to sound rude.
I look around and chuckle. I never bring women here, only ever to their place or a hotel. There are piles of clothes in the corner, clean, but just piled there. No dishes because I don’t eat here, but nothing else is sitting around either. The trailer is bare, no decorations at all except a calendar with half naked biker babes from the 90’s that’s been there since I was a teenager and on the same month the whole time.
“This is where I sleep, nothing more. I’m with the pack or in the bar more than I’m here.”
“I don’t want to sound like a snob, but… I can't live here…” She winces when I look at her, like she’s afraid I’m going to yell.
I cup her cheek and turn her to face me and she turns her body to face mine in the bed. “I would never ask you to, I’ll find a better place for us, I promise.”
“Hmm…can it be a little cottage on the edge of the forest? With a metal roof so I can hear the rain sing to me? A little white picket fence so our pups can't get out of the yard…and chickens?”
“That’s what you want? Not another giant mansion?”
“I’ve had the mansion, the servants, I just want a little home with you. I want to fill it with babies and when our family is too big for the house I want you to build more rooms. I want to live there until I die.”
I have to laugh, and I kiss the tip of her nose. “One step at a time, Princess, first we have to deal with the pack fallout and find the killer. Then I’ll build you whatever you want wherever you want.”
“I’m with you, forever…” Her eyes swirl with unease. “But I’ll have to go back to my family and explain all this.”
“Not without me, you won't!” I growl, leaning over her like someone might come in the door and take her right then and there.
“If you come, there’ll be a battle, and I can't stand the thought of that. I have to face them as a mated woman and tell them I’m with Dark Moon now, heart and soul.”
“And if they don’t let you leave again? What then? Do I get to raid your family home and kill them all to get you back? Because if they take you I won’t care who stands between us, I’ll destroy them. You could already be carrying my child, Cassius himself couldn’t keep me from you now.”
“I’ll come back to you, I’ll always return to where you are. Your arms are my home, and you’d never have to fight through them to get to me because I would never let them hold me.” She kisses me softly, settling her head against my chest, and contentment fills me. Tomorrow we can talk about our packs. About how to navigate the fact we’ve found love in the space where only hate has ever spawned.
I can feel sleep coming for us both. Like a heavy weight pulling us into the bed, our eyes close and we hold each other as we fall deeply asleep. This is our life now, together as one, our first night will mirror every night from now on. I look forward to tomorrow, and the next day.
When I finally drift to sleep my hand is lingering on her stomach while I pray to the moon for her to quicken and bring us a pup.
