“Because he’s Alpha Prime, and he apparently died and came back to life at some point himself. I’m sketchy on the details. He wasn’t in a real sharing mood, and I’ve never felt like hanging out with him for long periods of time.”
“I don’t particularly feel like following all the orders he gives he says each time he’s around. Should I want to if he’s Alpha Prime?”
As much as he couldn’t believe he’d think it, he’d rather follow Cyrus than Alexei. Rumors had him drowning his own pack mates.
“He hasn’t turned on his Prime mojo yet. I don’t know why. Again, not good friends with Alexei.”
“What does it mean?”
She shook her head. “I’m going to have to show you. Explaining it doesn’t really work.”
“Okay.”
His body surged, energy as strong as the sun convulsed through him. He vibrated as if every cell in his body had turned on at the same time. He jolted to his feet. If need be, he could run to Canada and back in an hour.
“I can be Healer Prime or I can be Healer Prime. It all depends on how much of it I let loose. Alexei has clearly been holding back.”
“Well.”
He tried to slow his beating heart and it didn’t work. Beaux needed to digest the new knowledge. Powerful didn’t begin to cover it.
“Then let’s go save the kids.”
One problem to tackle at a time.
Chapter Seventeen
Lake watched the scene from what Beaux had deemed a safe distance, which meant she didn’t actually see what was going on at all. His pack had made a planned assault on the warehouse based on information from her visions. They were inside—assaulting—and she cooled her heels on the sidewalk.
Pain banged into her shoulder. A member of her pack must have gotten hit with something. She closed her eyes. Vincent. She took a deep breath. He was okay; the hit had been superficial. She sent him energy and knew the second he received the surge.
Thank you.
She smiled. They’d all started sending her messages. Or at least thinking in her general direction. The fact she now actually heard those thoughts didn’t freak her out.
Her phone vibrated, and she looked down to see who wanted her attention. To talk to Cyrus or not to put him through to voice mail? She answered. Beaux was doing fine. He didn’t need her worry, and he’d get to the children in the basement. Yet, she couldn’t help but obsess.
Better to talk to Cyrus. Even if he pissed her off.
“Hi brother.”
“How is the Healer Prime?”
She stared at the warehouse. Someone growled, and another human screamed within its walls. She tapped her foot and then made herself stop. “Fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
“Did you call you to be annoying?”
She stood up and walked around the car. Twice.
“No,” he laughed. “I wanted to let you know we got the kids. They’re here with me now.”
Joy overwhelmed her, and she nearly went down to her knees. She could hear them. The children. They weren’t okay, not yet, but now she knew they would be. Her hands shook, and she grabbed the side of the car to keep herself upright.
Could she send them relief from so far away? Yes, by the Moon, she could. She was the Healer-Fucking-Prime. Cyrus had found himself a new Healer. She wasn’t strong, yet she was competent. She’d get the job done with a little bit of help.
Lake took the picture of the kids out of her brother’s mind. They’d all be feeling more relaxed. Soon.
****
She walked slowly through the room. A big giant dorm-like house Beaux had chosen for the children to stay in. There were fifteen sleeping fitfully now. One by one, she examined them, placing her hand on their foreheads as she passed them. Some of these kids she had seen during her captivity. Others she met for the first time.
Where she could give comfort, she did. Energy, calmness, a sense they’d finally be fine.
If they had families to find, Beaux would do so. He had a way with the Lone wolves. He would get word out there that the children were being found. If some of the kids were orphans who didn’t have family, Beaux would make them pack. Every werewolf child would be home soon. One way or another.
She would make them feel better. The Moon had gifted her with rebirth. She’d use it. Lake smiled at the thought. Not that she’d tell Beaux about her sudden belief in destiny. Much more fun to argue with him for the next five decades.
****
She lay face down on the bed, not sleeping. There was, it seemed, such a thing as being too exhausted for the rest. The best she could manage seemed to be laying still and not moving.
“You totally overdid it today, sweetheart.”
Beaux’s voice wafted over her, and she groaned. He’d been so quiet for so long, she’d almost completely forgotten he was in the room. Except that the smell of sandalwood would always tell her when he was nearby.
She lifted her head to stare at him and take in the downward slope of his dark eyebrows.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
He moved toward her in the way only Beaux could. How did he manage to glide like that when he moved? It was so…Alpha.
In a second, he’d flipped her onto her back. “I’m serious.”
“What would you have had me do? Who should I not have helped today?”
If he had an answer, she wanted to hear it because she’d been asking herself the same damn question for an hour.
“I think we need to set some boundaries for you and I’ll enforce them.”
“Like what?” She sat up, and they nearly bumped chins. If he really wanted to help her, he could stop talking and….
“No long distance healing unless it’s life or death.” He tugged at her shirt and she let him pull it over his head.
“I don’t know if I can do that. The children all needed me today. The ones Cyrus found. The ones Alexei recovered.” He nibbled on her neck, and she sunk back down into the mattress. “Is this where I don’t come unless you tell me to?”
“No.”
He smoothed his hand over her pants, stopping to run his hand over her pussy. The fabric rubbed on her sensitive spots, and wetness pooled between her thighs.
“No?”
Beaux shook his head. “The next time we have sex. We’re not having not sex right now. I’m not going to be putting my cock inside of you.”
“You’re not?” Then what the hell was he doing? “Teasing isn’t nice, Alpha of mine.”
“I’m not teasing. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to make you feel good. I said I wasn’t going to put myself in you. I want you to come, Lake. And then I need you to sleep.”
He yanked off her pants and threw them over his shoulder. “Besides, I don’t think you’re listening to me.”
Beaux put one finger inside of her, and her entire focus shifted. Everything fell away when her mate touched her.
“I’m listening to all the words you say, my love.”
“Good.”
He put a second finger into pussy and she cried out. How had she done without this for so long?
“Then you’ll pay attention to my words. I can’t protect you if you don’t at least give me this. Anyone who needs you can come here to you or they can leave you alone. Unless it’s life or death. The kids benefited from your help. I won’t have you overdoing it. Not if it’s going to make you this bone-tired all of the time.”
He put a third finger into her and she cried out. How was she to think when he did that to her?
“Say, yes.”
“This is coercion. You do realize what you’re doing.”
She could hardly draw breath to speak to him. Her whole body turned into a raging ball of heat.
“I know. I do play dirty, my love. Say yes.”
“Okay.” She panted. “Yes. Yes. I won’t do any more distance healing unless it’s really important. And I decide what’s important. “
He blew in her
ear. “We’ll discuss it.”
Then there was no more speaking. Only his hand inside her body giving her immense pleasure. He found her clit and stroked it over and over in the rhythm she’d only known Beaux to find so easily. No other lover had ever come close. He was her world.
She came, hard and fast, exploding around his fingers as she cried out his name. Tears streamed down her face and she hadn’t been aware she was shedding them. Beaux kissed them away, murmuring nonsense until the shakes from her orgasm ceased and the tremors in her body quieted.
“Sleep now. There will be plenty of people who need your help tomorrow. I know this isn’t the end of our discussion. I look forward to a lifetime of them.”
****
Lake didn’t know how long she slept, but she woke up alone in a pitch black room. Beaux wasn’t present; she could tell instantly. When he slept beside her, she woke up warm, embraced in his heat.
Why had awakened her? She sat up before looking left and right. Nothing caught her attention, and yet she knew something had brought her back from a deep, solid dreamless sleep.
She slipped from the bed on quiet feet. Before she went anywhere, she had to find clothes. If she and Beaux were alone, nudity would be a perfect way to greet him, but seeing as the entire pack could come and go as they saw fit day or night, running into them completely naked might make things kind of awkward. The Alpha’s Mate should probably not earn a reputation as a nudist her first week fully mated.
Lake flipped on the light and made her way to the closet. She hadn’t had any time to shop and hadn’t stopped to empty her apartment in New York City before she’d come for Beaux. He’d have to be okay with her wearing his too-big-for-her clothing for a while.
A pain hit her in the stomach, and she doubled over, catching herself on the wall before she hit the floor.
“Oh, what the hell?” She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through her nose. Someone was hurt.
Lake turned her power on. No matter what she did, it always seemed to remain dimly there, but in this case she wanted it to hit her full blast.
She needed information. Who was hurt, where were they injured, and where were they located. She’d promised Beaux no long-distance healing. But if it was waking her than it had to be pretty serious.
Beaux’s face drifted in front of her mind’s eye, and she gasped. Beaux? He was hurt. Her lids opened, and she ran for the door. She knew where he was, and it was a serious wound. Someone had shot her beloved.
She rushed out of the house. What the hell had he been doing in the woods by himself anyway? She sent him healing energy as she answered her own question. He’d been praying to the Moon. Every night, dropping to his knees, and now he’d gotten himself shot.
Lake. Don’t. It’s not safe.
The woods were dark except for the light of the moon. He wasn’t going to get to die because he lost his focus sitting on his knees giving thanks. So help her, from now on, he’d do it with a guard, and, if one couldn’t be found, she’d do it herself.
“Lake. Seriously. Stay back.”
He hollered at her, and she knew he really thought they were in trouble. Blood seeped from his wound, pooling on the ground around her. She was so focused on the sight she almost didn’t duck in time when a bullet whizzed by her head.
She hit the ground with a thud. “Who is doing this? The True Believers?”
“I wish it was simple. I think it’s two werewolf-hating assholes who hate us. Apparently, if I’m hearing them correctly, they stumbled upon someone shifting a few weeks ago, and now they have it out for us.”
“Are you telling me the Alpha of this pack and the Healer Prime are being held hostage—one of us injured—by two nobodies with a couple of shot guns?”
“Yes.” He laughed and it came out more of a groan. “Can you heal me from there?”
“I can. I’d rather do it skin-to-skin. It’ll be more effective.”
He coughed, and she saw when he moved his hand away from his mouth that he wiped blood away. Her stomach clenched. That was bad. Very, very bad.
“Considering if I move from behind this tree, they’re going to get a shot at me and if you try to get away from the bush where you’re hunkered down, you’ll get it, we don’t have much of a choice here, sweetheart.”
“We do.”
The shooters were human and it would be something she hadn’t tried before. Considering the circumstances she’d have to give it a try.
“What?”
Lake raised her head another inch so she could get the shooters in her view. They were young men, and she really didn’t want to kill them. It went against her nature. But they’d shot her mate in the gut and tried to put a bullet in her head.
They’d have to handle their headaches.
She pushed her energy from her body. Lake didn’t know exactly what had happened to her when she’d been dead. If she’d seen anything or spoken to anyone, she had no memory of it. She had all kinds of knowledge she hadn’t possessed before. Somehow it had been downloaded into her brain, and right then she was going to use it.
Humans got massive migraines when confronted with wolf energy sent into their skulls. It took under two seconds for the fools to drop their shotguns and collapse onto the ground.
With Beaux hurt, there was no time to waste. She walked up to the men who were holding their heads. One of them writhed on the ground, and the other rocked on his knees. She had two choices. The first, send them enough of a jolt to knock them out cold for hours. Or, as her second option, push enough energy into them they never woke up again.
Lake cocked her head to the side. “You shot my mate.”
The man on his knees raised his eyes to look at her. They were red and bloodshot. His body shook, speaking of pain in each labored breath. “You’re monsters.”
“Really? What makes a monster?”
“Lake.” Beaux bellowed. “Get away from them. They’re not safe.”
“Oh, I think they’re safe enough.” She knelt down in front of them. “I find them to be rather pathetic, really. These two small-minded fools who saw something they didn’t understand and decided to shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Lake….”
Beaux needed her.
“Go to sleep you pieces of shit. My mate can decide if he wants to kill you later.”
She pushed another drop of energy at them, and they were both out cold. Without another glance at the scumbags, she made her way to Beaux. He was drenched in sweat, with his hand covering the hole in his stomach.
“Don’t go running up to people with guns.”
“They’d dropped their weapons already. Trust me, I have this well under control.”
Now if only she could be less nervous about what happened to Beaux. Simply because she had the ability to heal didn’t mean all the werewolves in her life would live forever. Tragedies would happen. She wasn’t in control of the universe.
“Move your hand.”
“It hurts.”
She nodded before she squatted down. “Come on, Alpha-boy. Don’t be a baby. Move your hand.”
His eyes flared. “I was shot. I’m not being a baby.”
“Move. Your. Hand. Or I will move it for you.”
“Great bedside manner.”
She gritted her teeth. “Beaux.”
He finally, and, with painstaking slowness, took his hand off the wound. Her mate hissed in his breath, and she quickly replaced her own hand where his had been.
“Don’t worry, my love. I’ve got this.”
And she did. Power surged through her, and she knew he would heal. By the next sunrise, he’d be as good as new. Then they could talk about his checking his surroundings before he let his guard down.
“Go to sleep.”
He raised his eyebrows over his tired eyes. “In the woods?”
“I’ll get one of the guys to carry you back.”
Really? He had been shot and he wanted to focus on where he went to sleep
?
“Not very Alpha-like to need to be carried around.”
Lake rolled her eyes. “Go to sleep because I said so.”
“No.” He leaned his head against the tree. “And don’t go all Healer Prime on me and try to force the issue.”
She sent warmth through his wound, feeling his body’s own natural healing abilities kick in. The bullet moved toward her hand. It lodged itself against his small intestines. They would have to be healed.
“This is going to be a process, and its likely going to hurt. I don’t usually do this with anyone awake.”
He shrugged, which she could tell hurt him from the way he winced.
“You’ll adjust plus it gives me the side benefit of getting to stare at how beautiful you are while you work.”
“Did you get shot because you were down on your knees worshiping the Moon?”
If he wouldn’t sleep, he could talk. Whether he liked it or not.
“No.” He shook his head.
“Then how did the local idiots with a hunting gun manage to shoot you?” The bullet moved nicely, and the moon in the sky fueled her powers. It was cold but not bitter. All in all, it might be a beautiful night if not for the circumstances.
“I smelled strangers and thought I could run them off as I have in the past. They were slightly trickier than the previous humans who have tried to invade here.” He shook his head. “I thought I smelled fire and it caught my attention.”
She sniffed the air. “I don’t scent anything.”
“Well, neither do I now. Do I have a brain tumor?”
“No.” She kissed his nose. “I’d know. I woke up because you were shot.”
“I knew that would happen. I hope you’d have the sense to get some of the pack to come with you.”
“I was a little focused on getting to you.”
The talking didn’t seem to be slowing the healing. Beaux would be okay. She had to keep reminding herself because, if she stopped to really think about what had happened, the worry would take ten years off her life. Why had he thought he smelled fire?
She looked up from his wound to ask him and saw his eyes were closed.
“Beaux?”
He didn’t answer, and she shook him gently. She’d wanted him asleep but suddenly passing out? His fainting didn’t fill her with confidence. Lake did a quick scan of her mate. Other than the obvious—having been shot—he seemed okay.