007~ WHERE SHE BELONGS

Raze

The forest is quiet now except for her steady breathing against my neck.

We stay like this for a while before I finally shift carefully, not to wake her.

My fingers brush damp strands of hair away from her bloodied face.

"She's perfect," I murmur.

"Of course she is. She is ours." Khaos's voice is low and reverent for once.

Glancing down at her, a smile curls across my lips.

He's damn right about that.

There is blood over her body, most of it from the bastard I killed, mixed with dirt.

I need to clean her up.

Carefully, I lift her higher into my arms and carry her toward the river. It was the first place I ever encountered my mate.

I had gone for a quick swim after arriving at the crescent moon pack when suddenly her scent hit me.

It was unlike anything I had never smelled.

Wild jasmine mixed with rain-soaked earth and a warm smoke beneath it.

It was intoxicating, slamming into my senses so violently that I'd forgotten how to breathe.

Khaos had gone completely feral, growling, Mate.

The closer she came to the water, the stronger it became.

And when I surfaced, I found a pair of horrified but fierce blue eyes staring back at me.

I'd spent years believing the moon goddess had denied me a mate. Then she gave me a beautiful, defiant Wildfire who nearly tore my fucking throat out.

My lips twitch.

Of course my mate would be nothing like anyone else.

The moment my feet enter the river, she stirs and a tiny whimper escapes her.

"I have got you."

I lower myself into the water, keeping her against my chest.

She doesn't react as I scoop water over her shoulders, washing away the blood and dirt clinging to her skin.

The silver markings are still there.

Everything else has returned to normal even her wounds are almost healed, yet those strange markings remain, shimmering beneath the moonlight.

I trace one with my fingertip, and she groans softly, snuggling deeper into my chest.

What the hell are you, Wildfire?

I continue to scrub her, but his scent is still on her.

Even after he's dead and I've washed her, I can still smell him.

I want it gone along with the memory.

My fingers thighten around her arm.

"Easy," Khaos warns. "She's hurt."

I exhale slowly, forcing myself to relax as I wash the last traces of blood.

I wasn't going to hurt her.

'Raze.'

A familiar voice slips into my mind.

Rhonna.

'Where are you? The other Alphas are looking for you.'

I'd almost forgotten about them.

Those bitches had spent the entire festival looking at me like some fucking freak, making snide remarks they thought I couldn't hear and speaking to me as if sharing a room with me was beneath them.

Dickheads.

If it weren't for the old bastards back at the pack, I wouldn't have attended this stupid festival in the first place.

Then again, it was because I attended that I found my mate.

'Get everyone ready,' I say as I rise from the river.

'We're leaving for Blood Moon.'

'Raze, we shouldn't —'

I sever the mind link before she can finish.

My gaze drops to the shewolf sleeping peacefully against my chest.

"Let's get you back where you belong, Wildfire."

I hear footsteps moving fast towards us. I don't sense any bloodlust but my body tenses immediately.

A woman in black dress bursts through the trees, her dark hair falling wildly around her face. Her green eyes are wide with panic but the moment her gaze lands on my mate wrapped in my fur cloak, she stops dead.

Then her lips tremble as tears spill down her cheek.

"Oh moon goddess." She rushes toward me.

"Take another step, and it will be your last." My voice booms through the forest.

She freezes, then a broken sob escapes her, "Vae... my poor baby."

I remember her now. She was the woman who came together with my mate for the moon dance.

"Vae," I murmur.

Her name is beautiful.

Behind her, another voice yells.

"Zeldnie!"

A man comes running after her his expression furious.

"I told you not to run too fast. You're hurt."

He is the Alpha who ruined my mate's mood earlier, Alpha Aldric of the Crescent Moon pack.

'I told you we should have killed him then,' Khaos growls.

Alpha Aldric follows Zeldnie's stare, and his eyes land on the woman in my arms.

"Vaelra?"

He takes a step closer and reaches for her.

"Touch her and I'll rip your fucking arm off."

He freezes, his blue eyes narrowing. "She is my daughter."

Yeah, I can see the fucking resemblance now.

"No," I growl. "She is mine now."

Silence follows immediately after my declaration. The woman's hand flies to her mouth, and Aldric's face drains of colour.

He takes a step backward.

"No..." he shakes his head. "No, that can't be."

'Let's kill him now.' Khaos says.

I almost agree.

Why the fuck is he acting like being mated to me is the cruelest fate he can imagine for his daughter?

His gaze drops to Vaelra again.

"The moon goddess... she isn't that cruel."

"Watch your fucking mouth," I grit out, my arms tightening around her.

I won't hesitate to kill him here, my mate's father or not.

The woman steps forward again. There are still tears streaming down her face, but somehow, she's smiling.

When her hand touches my arm, my skin prickles.

I glare down at her hand but she doesn't pull away.

She looks up at me without fear and whispers, "Please."

Her eyes then moves to my mate. "Take care of Vae."

I am about to tell her I don't need anyone telling me how to treat my mate when she takes my hand in hers and squeezes.

The urge to shove her away is immediate yet my body doesn't fucking move.

She must be using some kind of spell because there's no other reason I'd be standing here, allowing a stranger to touch me without breaking their wrist.

"When she wakes up she is going to try to run away," she continues. "She would fight you but you have to keep her there. No matter what happens..." she chokes on her tears. "...she must not leave your pack."

"Zeldnie, what are you saying?" Aldric's voice rises behind her.

"We can't let her leave the pack and certainly not with him..." he points at me.

"Her life would be in danger."

"Then what do you suggest I do?!" She screams, turning to face him.

"Will you protect our daughter, Aldric?"

His face crumples. "Zeldnie—"

"I'd rather my daughter leave with her mate than stay with her coward of a father."

'I like her.' Khaos sounds pleased. 'Let's not kill her.'

When did we discuss killing her in the first place??

'Raze, we're at the border.' Rhonna mind links me.

'On my way.'

I turn away from them to leave.

"Wait."

I stop.

Zeldnie reaches for the necklace hanging around her neck, her fingers shaking as she unclaps it.

She puts it in my palm. "Give this to her when she wakes up. Tell her I said she shouldn't worry about me and be happy."

I grunt in response, closing my fingers around the necklace before leaving.

At the edge of the territory, nine wolves stand waiting, including Rohnna.

The moment she sees me she smiles and almost rushes into my arms, but she stops on her track and the smile on her face falters when she sees the shewolf now on my back.

Her gaze moves from Vaelra to me.

"Are we taking her with us?"

Her voice is steady but I can hear the slight strain beneath it.

"Yes," I reply without slowing down.

Pain flickers across her face only for a second then she smiles it off, straightens her shoulders and nods. "Of course."

Rohnna had seen Vaelra at the moon dance and asked me why I'd been staring at her. I hadn't told her she was my mate then, but I know she's smart enough to figure it out now.

I stop a few steps ahead and order, "Shift."

Immediately, bones begin to crack one after another as they shift.

I close my eyes.

'Khaos.'

A viciously pleased growl rolls through him. 'Finally.'