“Well, Kendrick.” Tristan grinned from ear to ear as the wolf Kendrick had held ran to him. “I’d say there isn’t a person here, except your woman who held my brother’s mate in a state of agony for years, who you haven’t harmed. I’ve been trying to figure out who should have the right to kill you. It would be easy to say me. Wouldn’t it, Dad? Isn’t that what you would have done as Alpha? Everything came down to you. But I think I’m going to handle things a little differently.”
“Whoever you send over here will have to beat me. None of you can do that.”
“That’s not true,” Carrie called out. She walked toward her mate and took his hand. “Gabriel beat you in sparring. More than once.”
Gabe stared at their joined hands for a second before looking back up. “I did.”
“You’re weak right now. I can smell your lack of energy all the way over here. You’re beaten. You come over here and I’ll wipe the floor with you.”
The Gabriel of old would never have let that stand, exhausted or otherwise. She’d watched him during training tear through wolves twice his size after hours of working them out. It had always driven her crazy. He had no sense of weakness, no idea he could be bested.
“Tristan, he’s not wrong. I’m a mess.”
What? Did you hear that?
Her wolf nodded, also stunned silent.
“I know.” Tristan smiled. “I’ve been where you are, remember? Our father was once responsible for cursing me as well.” Tristan took another step forward. “So who should it be? Cullen? He’d kill for the chance. My guess would be that he dreams about it nightly. Or maybe not. See, Cullen has been mated long enough now that his priorities have rightly shifted. That’s why you killed all the mates years ago.”
“You know nothing.” Was it Carrie’s imagination, or had Kendrick paled a little?
“I know quite a bit.” Tristan nodded. “A mated pack is a strong pack. The mates remind us to value family, tradition, safety. Only unmated males would follow you to certain doom with a wolf army and the destruction of the human beings whom we share this world with.”
“Gabe.” Bad time or not, Carrie needed some answers from him.
“Carrie, please stop talking in my mind. I think it might kill me.”
She jolted. He’d whispered his words and her wolf ears had let her hear them perfectly well. He didn’t want her speaking telepathically. It might kill him? Anger rocked her body. After years of waiting for him to tell her it was time to leave the hell he’d negotiated for her, he couldn’t tolerate her voice in his mind? Did he have so little care for her needs?
Clawing out Gabriel’s eyes wouldn’t solve anything, but it might make her feel better. She dropped his hand.
“Carrie.”
She waved his words away. “I shouldn’t have brought this up now.” He’d broken her heart. For forty years she’d held on and he’d squashed her resolve. When this was over, he’d have to answer for it. Her mate. The giant asshole.
Tristan advanced on his father. “Shall I ask Michael to end you? Theo? Malcolm? Az? Rex? Ben? I know Matthew would like to take a swing at you.”
“I’m getting enough of these games, boy. You come at me yourself, or are you afraid?”
Her Alpha shook his head. “As a matter of fact, I’m completely calm. I’m not even really angry. Do you want to know why? Because I’ve made a decision. I know exactly who should take your life away. And then you’ll get to meet our Makers and my mother. My feeling is that your suffering has not even begun.”
Drea launched herself forward. Carrie had spent enough time watching the woman that she knew exactly where the witch intended to go. Elizabeth’s throat. Rex saw it too. Thank the gods for all of Gabe’s early training. Rex grabbed his mate and shoved her out of the way, putting her behind him.
Carrie moved at the same time. Shifting as she bolted through the air, she landed on top of Drea’s body. The wicked woman hit the ground with a loud thump, at least three feet before she would have reached Elizabeth.
This time her wolf did not present her with any compulsion to stop attacking the other woman. She didn’t have to endure any longer. The woman needed to die. Tristan could figure out Kendrick’s death.
She’d earned the right to Drea’s death.
Her fangs dug into the woman’s throat, tearing the skin from her bones. Blood splattered everywhere and in the distance she noted that Kendrick had roared. He couldn’t reach her and she had no interest in turning around to see why.
She destroyed Drea until she felt the woman’s life slip from her body. Even then she couldn’t stop obliterating what remained of the woman’s shell. Drea’s soul had moved on somewhere else. Hopefully to someplace very uncomfortable.
Carrie raised her head. Elizabeth stood in front of her, a hand raised in the air. It took a moment to register what had occurred. Rex’s mate must have constructed some kind of barrier around her. Kendrick pounded on the invisible wall but couldn’t get through.
Well, that explains why he left us alone.
Gabriel caught her eyes. He stood right behind his former Alpha. Earlier he’d claimed to be exhausted but now the red glow of his eyes said he’d end Kendrick if he made one move through the barrier toward Carrie. Tristan stood next to him. He gave Carrie a quick nod, which made her heart swell with pride.
She’d never killed anyone before. Animals were another thing altogether. Hunting prey in her wolf form had always been as natural as breathing. But killing a person fell into an entirely different category. She had no idea how she’d handle the idea later. Right then the adrenaline surged through her body, making her hands shake and heart beat fast. Nothing bothered her at all and she didn’t mind the temporary reprieve from any distress she might feel later.
Of course, the possibility remained she wouldn’t care then either. Drea had needed to die before she could cause any more trouble.
I liked it.
She grinned. I know you did.
“Carrie.” Gabriel spoke in her head. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
She ignored him. When she’d spoken in his head earlier it had caused him so much distress he’d thought it might kill him. He could wait his turn for her attention now too.
Tristan advanced on Kendrick. “Now I guess you’ll have lots of people to see on the other side. Let’s hope our gods are more forgiving than I am.”
Tears swam down Kendrick’s face. “She was my mate. You should have treated her with more respect than that.”
“And you shouldn’t have murdered my mother.” Tristan turned to the crowd. “Gabriel, I think our new wolves should get a chance to tell Kendrick what they think of their new, shortened lives. Maybe they’d like to personally thank him.”
Gabriel pointed at Kendrick and the made wolves growled, some of them snarling at the same time. “Kill him.”
Even as it happened, Carrie knew she couldn’t fully digest what she saw. She called the shift onto herself and moved out of Elizabeth’s protective barrier. Liz nodded at her and Carrie smiled.
Kendrick’s creations leaped into the air knocking Kendrick down on the ground as they went. The man who had tormented her for so many years, who had killed her parents, destroyed the pack, and tried for so long to take what didn’t belong to him died without uttering a word. In retrospect, it was fitting for a wolf to go out that way. He’d been mated, or so he claimed, to Drea. To live without his mate would be unbearable. In the end, Kendrick went as a wolf should, without complaint to follow his other half.
Pieces of his skin flew everywhere. Blood splattered on the ground and the sound of hungry wolves finally being given their just deserts made all the noise she could hear.
Angel Kane moved next to her. “I suppose any way he died would wind up being anticlimactic. I expected him to fight back. Didn’t you?”
Carrie shook her head. “For what? Drea died. His wolves abandoned him for Gabriel. In no scenario would he make it out of here alive. Plus, your father turned
out to be a big coward in the end. Plenty tough when others could do his bidding. No honor where it counted.”
Sick wolf, her wolf reminded her.
Like she had read her thoughts, Angel spoke again. “At some point, he stopped being well. Someone should have noticed. Someone should have done something.”
“It won’t happen again.” Carrie stared at Tristan and Ashlee. They stood holding hands, each one wearing a grim expression on their faces. Victoria’s daughter would never let the pack fall apart due to Tristan’s mental health. She could see the strength in her; feel her resolve through the link she shared with all of the pack. Victoria would be proud of the daughters she’d raised. They were strong, passionate women who knew their place in the world next to the men they shared their souls with.
All of Westervelt beat within her heart. They were smaller than they’d been when she was a girl; however, they were stronger than she’d ever known them. Scorched in fire, they’d risen from the ashes like a phoenix again and again. Nothing would topple this group. Not ever.
Her eyes sought Gabriel. He’d turned his back on the pack and limped away from the scene of carnage playing out in front of her.
Enough. Timing would never be perfect and she would get some answers from him now.
She took off after him and caught him in a few seconds. He regarded her for a moment in silence before bending down to one of the clothing boxes. Without a word, he handed her a shirt and pants and waited while she dressed. She put on the clothes, still without speaking and waited for the man she’d trusted for four decades to tell her what had changed within him that made him seem like a virtual stranger now.
Finally she couldn’t wait anymore. “Explain to me what is happening. The curse is gone. Your wolf is back.” She grabbed his arm and shook it. “Where have you gone? I don’t know you at this moment.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s probably a good thing. With our mating dissolved it’s the best possible thing for you. My punishment won’t have an effect on you.”
Carrie suspected if she looked in the mirror she’d resemble a landed fish. Her mouth hung open and she stared at him without being able to utter a word.
Do you have any idea what he means? She looked to her wolf for clarification.
Her wolf shook her head. Everything seems in order for our mating on this end.
“What exactly do you mean by our mating dissolved? I’m afraid I have no idea what that means.”
His eyes bore into hers. Nothing but pain shone through them. “It means we’re not mates anymore. You’re not inside of me any longer. The gods have saved you from me.”
Chapter 14
How much pain do I have to take before I can just die? He looked at his wolf.
His wolf sighed. I miss her.
That stated it mildly. Me too.
He closed her eyes. She wanted to talk about this and he supposed she had earned the right to have it out with him. For forty years she’d endured hell because he’d asked her to. This beautiful lady who had once been his hadn’t realized she’d mated a fool.
The universe had fortunately given her a second chance.
“We’re not mated anymore, as you must know.” He cleared his throat. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about everything. I wish I could go back and undo everything. I’d find a different way. Some set of circumstances where you could have been separated from me, not died, and not had to live with Kendrick.”
She put her hands on her hips. Carrie’s anger had always been a living, breathing, palpable entity in his life. Fierce and proud, she could lay into him like no other soul on the planet.
“I have no idea what you are talking about and I am seriously considering taking you back to Tristan and asking him to figure out if you’ve lost your gods-damned mind.”
He swallowed. This couldn’t be easy on her. “Which part of this are you not following?”
“None of it. I don’t get any of it. But let’s start with the not being mated part of it anymore.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Which part of it don’t you understand?”
Carrie didn’t say anything for a whole beat of time. Maybe she wouldn’t; maybe he could go somewhere, dig himself a hole and die in it rather than live another moment without her.
Tears streamed down her face. He jerked backward like she’d struck him. “Why are you crying?”
Not that he couldn’t understand, but she should be basking in relief, not sadness. He sniffed the air. Nope, he did not scent happiness or relief.
“Why don’t you want to be my mate anymore?” She sniffed. He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them. “How is it even possible for you to decide that?”
“It’s not. I would never want anything but to be with you. But you’re not inside of me. Over time, and I certainly don’t blame the universe for doing this considering that I am the weakest, most pathetic male on the island and not worthy of you, the gods took your soul from my body.” He rubbed his stomach, the center of his body where she should have been wrapped up nice and tightly inside his core. “No mating to speak of.”
She reached out and grabbed his hands on his abs. “Are you serious?”
Her words brought him up short. “Are you saying you’ll still have me?”
Carrie didn’t say anything. She took his hands and brought them to her heart. He could feel its strong beat beneath his palms. “You’re right there. I can see all your colors. Feel your warmth. I’ve hung onto it for forty years like my lifeline. Are you telling me that my side of this abandoned you? Gave you nothing to have of mine for all that time?”
“Oh, Carrie.” He could barely speak. His throat tightened and a lump formed where his vocal cords should be. “This is not on you. This is on me. I’m just nothing. I think the gods changed their mind. They have a fierce warrior wolf in you. When I watched you take down Drea, without hesitation or thought, you looked…”
There were no words, nothing to say.
“I looked what?” She still hadn’t released her hands.
“You looked like a vessel of the gods sent down to remove evil from the earth. I wanted to be there with you, to help you. Then I realized you didn’t need my interference. You had it totally in hand.”
She pressed her head against his chest, rubbing her forehead on his shirt. Her hair smelled of flowers. He took a deep sniff knowing it would likely be the last time he got to do so.
“I have always needed you. Every day with Kendrick and Drea I craved your presence. Seeing you again kept me going but barely. I’d reached my end and then you arrived.”
“They took you from me.” He touched her red hair because it felt soft and, well, he had to. “Minute by minute you faded away.”
She looked up at him. “Tell me something.”
Her lips were pink and plump. It would be so easy to kiss her. So simple and so wrong. “Anything.”
“Do you still love me? After all this time being apart, when you look at me are you uninterested, or do you still love me?” Her brown eyes shone up at him. In the distance, a cheer exploded. Tristan must be making some kind of speech on Kendrick’s death, but Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to care about anything but Carrie.
“I adore you.” Gabriel rubbed the inside of her wrist. How did she manage to keep her skin so soft all the time? “I’ll love you every day of my life until I take my last breath.”
“Then we can fix this.” She shook him. Surprisingly hard.
She’s tough. You just watched her kill Drea.
He smiled. I’ve always known how capable she could be. She’s tougher now and it’s gorgeous on her.
“How do you suggest we do that? You’re missing from my body. I’m half a man without you. It seems pretty clear.”
“No.” She patted him on the chest. “You’re not half a man. Tristan told me nearly everything he is today is because of your influence. You’re strong and capable. I refuse to let you think yourself as anything other th
an that.” She took a deep breath. “This is part of the spell Drea did. There’s no other explanation. I haven’t aged and neither have you. That would indicate no mating. But I still own your soul. That says mating. Kendrick did something.”
Her words made some sense. “When he took you with him he said he was going to break me. That I would come to him when I’d lost it. What if this is how he arranged it?”
“Day by day.” She put her hand around the back of his neck. “Hour by hour. He took away me. That’s the equivalent of one mate losing the other to death. What happens when one mate dies? The other does. And yet you’ve hung on. Tell me the truth, Gabriel Kane, and don’t you dare lie to me. Do you want to die?”
He didn’t have to think about it twice. “Every day without you.”
“You’ve resisted the urge to die for this long and you still think of yourself as weak?” She raised her voice to such an octave he thought it likely everyone could hear her even over Tristan’s words.
“What do you suggest that we do? Go use the witch we have now? Is she someone’s mate?”
She nodded. “That’s right. You weren’t here either. Elizabeth is Rex’s mate and she’s fabulous. Rex, it turns out, is also not your father’s son.”
He took a deep breath. “Nothing surprises me anymore.”
“I know.” Carrie stood very still looking at him. Her eyes darted back and forth in her eye sockets. He’d seen her do this before when she fell deep into thought. “And we don’t need Elizabeth.”
“What do you think we require?” He’d do anything at this point for one more chance. If such a thing happened to be possible.
“We put it back.” She took his hand and yanked him forward. “Come with me.”
Carrie ran so fast he had to strain to keep up with her. His body didn’t want to work. Kendrick had died. What else remained for him to do?
Knock it off. I understand the compulsion, but we have to let Carrie see what she can do. We’re not going anywhere. Not if she still wants us. His wolf ordered.
Right. He had to stop being so despondent.
She pushed through the doors of the residence and a few seconds later they arrived in his rooms. He hadn’t seen them in almost a year. They smelled like Carrie now. He warmed at the thought she’d slept there, in his room surrounded by his stuff.