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My hands tighten, drawing Cricket tighter against me. Does that mean the healing is working?
My Luna’s eyes open, and they settle on mine with a fierce certainty. “I can take away some of the pain, Jackson, but I cannot heal your mate. Not alone.”
The entire bar goes eerily quiet. Evelyn just said she can’t heal Cricket alone, but the knowledge is tempered by the first truth that she spoke.
The Luna has declared Cricket my mate.
Cricket leans into my chest as she hears the words and her body heaves with a sob. There’s no denying it now, we belong together. I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her neck. There has to be a way to save her, there just has to be…
I feel Evelyn’s magic pulse through Cricket as she starts chanting in Latin. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, goosebumps covering every inch of my skin. Within the space of a few heartbeats, I can feel weight being lifted off Cricket, her breathing comes easier, her body seems more able to stand on its own.
Then Evelyn sits back, nodding. “I’ve done all I can for the moment.”
“She needs to come back to the mansion with me,” I say without thinking.
I feel Ryder coming before he grabs my shoulder and whips me around. “No!” he snarls. “I’ve just found out I have another sister and mate or not, you can’t just take her away!”
I peel his hand off my arm and bare my teeth. One word powers through my mind.
Mine.
“Rachel is a healer too, she can do just as well as Evelyn!” Ryder growls.
“Then we’ll let her try,” Evelyn says as she slips delicately off the barstool and fixes her shawl. “Let Olivia stay here tonight, let Rachel see what she can do. I’m sure there’s much to be discussed in the meantime.”
Evelyn strokes Cricket’s face gently with a small smile before she turns on her heels and leaves the building with Killian on her tail. I can hear him trying to reason with her as to why she should come with them, but the Luna just waves him away and walks out the door.
I bury my face in Cricket’s hair, imagining what the night has in store for us when I hear the swinging doors open again. I look up, ready to fight, but I recognize Cole as he walks through the doors and straight towards me.
“Jackson,” he says seriously, eyes scanning the crowd for anyone who might attack and landing on Ryder as he bristles next to me. “Ryder, surely you must see the irony in this?”
“What irony is that?” Ryder scowls.
“Your Beta claimed my sister, and now my Beta claims yours.” Cole laughs, actually laughs out loud, and claps me on the shoulder. “Congratulations, my friend. She’s beautiful. Nice to meet you, Cricket.” Cole extends his hand to her and she moves to shake it but I grab her hand and pull her back with a snarl.
“Relax, my friend, she’s yours.” Cole smiles, eyes drifting over to his own sister, who’s in Chase’s arms near the back door. “Ryder, I think it’s time we sat down and discussed the actual threat here. I understand there was another attack?”
“Not here, Cole,” Ryde says, shaking his head. “Let's meet near the cliffs. Where this all began, we’ll plan on how to end it.”
Cole nods in agreement, and Ryder spins on his heel and stalks out. The Dark Moon pack turns to follow their Alpha out the door, faces somber and hard.
In no time at all, only Cole and myself and a handful of Silver Dawn are left in the bar. Behind the bar itself, Bob is polishing a glass and watching everyone warily. There’s a stack of broken chairs in an unused corner from when I arrived and they tried to keep me from my woman. I know exactly what Bob is thinking.
With a sigh I reach into my pants and grab my wallet, putting a couple hundred dollars on the bar in recompense for my act of destruction. Bob eyes the money and takes it with a silent nod. He never interferes with wolf business, but he won't turn down payment for damages rendered.
“I’ll see you at the cliffs?” Cole asks me, his eyes going from mine to Cricket’s with a small knowing smile. When I nod he turns and waves everyone out of the bar.
With a heavy sigh I lean on the bar and turn Cricket in my arms. She wraps her smaller arms around my waist and Bob goes into the kitchens without so much as a nod. For the first time since I laid eyes on her, we’re well and truly alone. I could pick her up and put her on the bar right now, sink inside her and seal this for both of us without another thought…
“Was that your Alpha?” she asks, her voice muffled against my shirt. My shirt that still smells like her.
“Yes,” I say, trying not to let her hear the stress in my voice. I don’t want to talk about Cole, I want to mate.
“And Ryder, he’s my Alpha?”
“Not for long. As soon as we mate, you’ll belong to the Silver Dawn.” Possession fills me to the very core. Cricket belongs to Silver Dawn, she belongs to me.
“Do you have brothers and sisters?” Cricket asks, pulling away and looking outside where Ryder and Rachel are mounting their bikes. Her large eyes search mine, big as the moon itself. She could hold an entire galaxy in those eyes, they’re so beautiful.
