Authors: Janet MacDonald
Chapter Fifteen
Anya sat on the
edge of the cliff and looked out over the bay. It was so lovely there at
sundown. The sky was painted in a brilliant mix of reds, purples and pinks as
the sun dipped down on the horizon. She watched the seagulls overhead as they
drifted lazily on the air currents and called out to one another. It reminded
her of the family she would never have. She didn’t want to be married to Craig,
didn’t want to give herself to any other man other than Dante, and she knew
they would never be together again.
As she eyed the
dark swirling waters several hundred feet below where she sat, she let the
tears trail down her cheeks. Mitch didn’t understand, could never understand,
and her heart sat full of grief. When Craig drove her wolf into submission and
then mated her, it had severed the claim Dante had created the night they had made
love. The claim on her now was Craig’s. She didn’t want it, didn’t want to feel
this link with him. He’d stolen more than Dante’s rights as her mate. He’d
stolen her will to live.
The waves
crashing against the cliff face at the bottom were hypnotic. They rolled in,
decimating themselves against the hard shear wall of stone with a thunderous
boom. Tomorrow she was to wed Craig and be expected to stay obediently by his
side for the rest of their lives. It was not going to happen. Even if her wolf
would let her run to Dante, which she knew all too well it wouldn’t, war would
erupt. It was not something she would be able to live with either. She trailed
her fingers along the edge of the cinder blocks tied around her waist. She
wondered if Dante would forgive her for this. She hoped with all her heart he
would.
The sounds of
running feet from somewhere off behind her barely caught her attention, her
mind so lost in her sorrow.
“Anya…oh god, no,
Anya, wait!” she heard Mitch yell, and she turned her head to look at him.
His face was
ashen-white as he stared at her from the edge of the clearing thirty feet away.
Her tears streamed down her cheeks, and she turned back to look at the sunset.
She closed her eyes, and whispered, “I love you, Dante.” With a simple push of
her hands on the edge of the rocky face, the salty sea air whizzed by her as
she plummeted to the raging waters below.
The bay engulfed
her in its cold grasp, and she welcomed it. She knew the pain breathing in the
salty sea would bring, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. As
she sank deeper into the dark gray swirling depths, she let her breath go. Water
rushed into her lungs, and she allowed it to steal her life away. Her last
thoughts were of the wonderful moment when she and Dante had become one. Her
true soul mate, if not in this life, then maybe in the afterlife.
* * * *
Dante broke through
the clearing to see Anya sitting on the edge, her long, blonde hair flying in
the wind. Before he could get the chance to cry out her name, his heart leapt
into his throat as he watched her disappear off the cliff. “No!” he screamed.
He couldn’t
think, couldn’t breathe, and his heart stopped cold. He heard the pounding surf
as it smashed into the face of the cliff as he ran toward it. The dark,
swirling, foamy swells below revealed nothing to him as he looked over the
edge. Somewhere down there in the turbulent waves was his Anya, and he dove
off.
The water broke
around him as he plunged into it. An icy chill swept over him as it enshrouded
his body. There was no sign of her, and he searched in the cold, darkening
waters for her. He saw nothing and swam deeper, the need to breathe pulling at
him to resurface, and he did. It was a struggle to break free to the surface. The
undertow there was pulling fiercely at him. He sucked in a lungful of air
before he went under again, a slow swirling movement of blonde hair caught his gaze
deep down several yards away, and he swam toward it.
He saw her
sinking slowly, something tied around her waist to hold her down. Her hair
flowed all around her and her arms floated over her head, swaying eerily in the
strong undertow. Dante pushed himself to reach her, forced his legs and arms to
draw him closer as the current tried to drag him farther away. Dante reached
her and pulled her into his arms, trying to swim back up. The added weight dragged
them both down. He gripped the rope around her and struggled with the knots in
it. It wouldn’t give. He tried to pull it over her, but found she’d fastened it
tightly around her so it couldn’t slip off. His attempt to untie it proved
fruitless as well.
As Dante’s lungs
burned for air, he fought again to drag her upward to no avail, the current not
aiding his attempt. It pulled them farther out into the bay as they sank deeper
still into the gray murky brine. His lungs could handle no more, the burning
nearly too painful to take as his body’s need to breathe pulled at him to
resurface. He wouldn’t leave her, he couldn’t leave her. Without her, he would
be lost.
Dante swept her
hair from her face and looked at her in the growing darkness. Her pretty blue
eyes stared vacantly at him, and he knew she was gone. In that moment, it was as
if he had died. His heart and soul shattered like fragile glass smashed against
a wall. The images from his dream flooded his mind. He knew she was dead, and
that he too would die there with her.
He pulled her closer,
and refusing to let her go, he kissed her lips one last time before he let the
last breath expel from him. As they slipped deeper into the bay, he stayed with
her cradled in his arms. No one could keep them apart. Darkness embraced him as
the salty sea stole him away to be with his Anya forever.
* * * *
Mitch looked
down at the still form of his sister, her skin so ashen even compared to the
white material she laid on top of. Her eyes closed, hands lain out over her chest,
he fought the tears, struggled not to weep in front of Alex. His little brother
hadn’t bothered to hide his own tears as they flowed freely down his cheeks.
Across from her laid the man who had jumped in after her. He looked even paler
in the same position as Anya.
The room was
suddenly hot and suffocating. Mitch heard the soft murmurs of the pack, many of
them too in tears. He never believed Anya had meant the words she’d hurled at
him, never dreamt she’d actually take her own life. He wanted to die himself
now, knowing he’d driven her to do this. All because of an age-old grudge
between the Silverbacks and the Temple Island pack. His heart had never felt
such grief, not even the death of his own mother had felt like this.
Mitch stepped away.
He couldn’t look into the eyes of Anya’s twin, his own flesh and blood, nor
could he look at any of the pack members who stood in the hall. His mate, he
heard sobbing, and to her, he raised his eyes.
“Mitch, please…you
have to let her go,” she said. She was right, he had been wrong.
“I know. I will,”
he choked out.
“We’ll take good
care of her,” the young man named Memphis said. And he stepped by him to go into
the room in which the lovers lay.
As the members
of the Temple Island pack followed the young man, there was heaviness in Mitch’s
chest. As they brought the stretchers out, he saw his sister’s hand slide down
and dangle over the edge, which broke the tears in his eyes. They flowed from
their rims and trailed freely down his cheeks.
“Wait, please,”
he croaked.
He rushed to the
motionless form and took her fallen hand in his and held it briefly. Mitch
brought it to lips and kissed the soft, cool flesh of the young woman he’d
raised not only as a sister but almost as his own daughter. Memories of her
laughing, smiling and playing as a child flowed through his mind. He would give
anything right now to have those times again.
“Please…oh, god.
I’m so sorry,” he murmured.
“Mitch…” The
voice was weak and soft, and he looked into Anya’s eyes.
“Please forgive
me,” he whispered.
“I love him,” she
told him faintly.
“I know. I’m so
sorry. I won’t stop you from being mates,” he croaked.
Anya gently squeezed
his hand as tears rolled from her eyes as well. Both she and Dante had nearly
drowned. Mitch, Alex and Memphis had dove off the cliff shortly after Dante
had. However, by the time they’d found them, both were not breathing, and it
was a struggle to get them out of the water. Dante held Anya in his arms, and
for the life of them, they couldn’t get him to release her until they were on
the shore.
It was nothing short
of a miracle they’d been able to revive them. If they’d been humans, they
surely would have both perished in the salty depths of the bay. Now as Mitch
gripped his sister’s weak, fragile hand, he knew that above all else, all he
should have ever wanted was for her to be happy.
“You’re free to
come see her anytime you wish.” He heard the gravely, weakened voice of the
Temple pack’s alpha as four of his pack members carried out his stretcher.
Mitch watched
them leave. His pack stood behind him. Now he would deal with Craig. His giving
his sister to him had been a mistake. He’d thought Anya would grow to love the
man, even allow him to be her mate. He never thought Craig would force that on
her. That was not what he’d wanted, nor was it something he thought Craig would
do. It was an unforgivable act in his eyes, and Craig would pay for that with
his life.
Chapter Sixteen
Dante and Mitch
rushed toward Craig and his three other pack members. They’d finally tracked
them down after three long days of searching. Together, their packs were now
one, both alphas signing an accord to conjoin the two and bury the grudge that
had been between them for decades.
With the rage of
what Craig had done to Anya flowing in him, Dante lunged at the other wolf. His
only thought was on killing the bastard. The small group attacked, but between himself
and Mitch, they easily drove off two of the weaker males. Now it was just Craig
and his beta, and there would be no mercy shown even if they fled. Dante would
kill him there and now. Never again would he be able to touch his mate.
In the
aftermath, he howled in unison with Mitch, both victorious in their battle. If
he hadn’t killed Craig, he would have had to do what was unthinkable. He could
never live with that, and now she was free again to be his. Now Dante could
reclaim Anya as his, the claim severed with Craig’s death allowed him to do so
without forcing it on her.
Tonight would be
one of much celebration. Both he and Anya would wed, as would Cora and Alex.
The ceremony was to be held in Silverback territory. The party would be on the
island afterward, a mixing of the two packs. It would be a bit tense, but
eventually they would grow and become more and more united. Their bloodlines
and future pairings of mates would ensure the two packs became prosperous.
* * * *
The harvest moon
hung full in the sky, casting enough light to make it easy to see as they rode
to the temple. She was a little tired after the festivities of the wedding and
the wild party they had afterward. Nevertheless, she also had a sense of
excitement welling inside her. Tonight they would be united as one again, and
she was more than a little eager to have that happen.
As many of the
partygoers had begun to leave, Dante had taken her aside and told her they had
to come there. It had been in a voice that didn’t sound like his, but somehow
she’d known it was still him. An urge to come there had taken over her as well,
and the closer they got the stronger the urge to be inside the temple became.
Now as Dante led her into the ruins, the fine hairs on her arms stood on end,
and a shiver ran through her.
He led her to
the altar, and as she looked up at him, his body shimmered ever so slightly in
the moonlight coming in from the gaping hole through the ceiling. She stood
frozen in one spot while he shifted. The sounds of his body morphing filled the
air, and soon an inhuman Dante stood before her. Although she should have been
afraid, she wasn’t. A strange sense of calm filled her as she looked at him.
The glowing
embers in his eyes glinted in the light as did his claws. His mass was bigger
overall, and she ran her gaze over him. She swallowed hard. His body was
covered in short, black fur, and his erection looked enormous. He tilted his
head and lowered it to her face, sniffing her before his long tongue licked her
cheek. He stood upright again, and she had to look upward to see his face. His
lips curled to reveal a set of long, pointy teeth, and he growled deeply.
A soft whimper
slipped from her throat, a sign of her submission. He reached out to her with a
large fur-covered hand, and his claws hooked into her dress. A simple tug
sliced the material free. Anya stood in front of him, butterflies filling her tummy
as her dress fell to the ground. She shivered a little in the cool fall air.
“My sweet Terra.”
He growled.
Something deep within
her stirred at hearing that name. Anya felt she was not alone in this body,
another now dwelt inside her. As his claws trailed along her cheek, and he
leaned down, her heart raced wildly in her chest. “Jared!” the words had come
from her mouth, but the voice was not her own.
The moment their
lips touched, she felt the connection. Even if his body was that of something
other than a man, he was her mate. How he had come to posses the spirit of the Wolf
Lord was a mystery, but she remembered she’d dreamed of this. As he leaned her
over the altar, she knew it’d been more than a simple dream. It’d been a
vision. He’d told her about what had happened when he drank the water, and it
had changed them both in ways no one would ever be able to make sense of.
Dante’s body
rippled again, becoming a man as he pulled her legs apart and nestled between
them. With both his hands resting on either side of her shoulders, he stared
down into her eyes. The glowing ember within them was the only thing that
remained of the beast. The feeling of him penetrating her made her gasp. She
hadn’t realized how ready she was, the feeling shooting darts of pleasure into
her. The water in the stagnant pool drenched them as he moved into her and her
body slid on the smooth surface.
Every cell in
her felt as if it was exploding as he filled her, their union now sealed. The
heated waves of pleasure crashed in around her and her mind went dizzyingly
blank. Every slow thrust ensuring it felt good, that she got to feel all of
him. Her orgasm sat on the edge, the pins and needles bursting all over her as
her body tensed for it. Dante seemed to sense her racing to the edge, and his
movements quickened.
She moaned
deeply and panted, her hips grinding up to meet his. Her lover growled deeply,
and it rumbled through his chest. The feeling was absolute rapture as a
wildfire of heat rushed over her body, and she constricted on him as she came.
Her mate stiffened, arched his head back and howled like a wolf. The heat of
him spilled into her. It was like tossing gasoline on an already raging fire,
adding to the power of her climax.
*
Dante could
still feel Jared’s presence as they’d mated, knew a part of the Wolf Lord claimed
his mate. He had no control over it. This was something they needed to do. The
urge to ensure this act was fruitful, that her womb would become full of life,
was all consuming. As they kissed, he felt the fullness of her lips and the
warmth of her skin. Her smell was heavenly, mixing with his in the air within
the temple.
Dante lifted off
her, and she sat up, her bottom near the edge, and he smiled. With a gesture of
his head, she turned around, lying on her belly over the altar, her bottom up
in the air. He caressed the wet flesh of her bum for a moment before he pulled
her back. Never had he been so fully ready to mate so soon after coming.
He reached out and
gripped her by the shoulders and slammed himself into her. The scream that
ripped from her lips sent an electric rush over his body, and he did it again,
eliciting another cry of pleasure from her. Dante roamed his hands over Anya’s
soft, silky wet skin as he stayed his movements. Her body trembled. She rotated
her hips, moving him inside her, and he growled in pleasure. As he pulled slowly
out of her, she moaned deeply, and he brought his hands down to tightly grip
her hips.
With brutal
force, he plunged into her again, and she met his thrust with an equally fiery
demand of her own. The hard, rhythmic motion of their bodies crashing into to
each other was increasing steadily in tempo until Anya became still. It allowed
him to drive his body into hers at a fevered tempo, which threatened to bring
them both over the edge of their climaxes. The wave that flooded over his
erection threatened to pull his release from him, and she cried out her
pleasure as she came. Her tight inner sheath relentlessly pulsated over his
rigid length as she climaxed, and it was a hard battle not to join her.
Dante stopped, lost
in the sensations her body gave him, needing to look her in the eyes. He pulled
away from her and rolled her over onto her back. Her long, blonde hair was
plastered to her skin, her eyes all glassy, and she smiled up at him. Dante
seized her legs and wrapped them over his shoulder, then leaned forward as she
gripped him in her hand to guide him back into her.
He took his time
and moved, keeping control not to climax. The feeling of his building eruption
was a slow almost painful burn within him. Nevertheless, he would not go
harder. He wanted to relish this feeling, to make it last as long as possible. Now,
as her legs relaxed and her knees went to her chest, it allowed him to be
completely inside her. The feeling was almost more than he could take. He pumped
hard and fast, his own need consuming him. Anya seemed to be enjoying the
harsher treatment. Her body gripped his in a repeat of unyielding pulses as she
gasped louder. Her breasts heaved on her chest, turning a lovely flush of
crimson. The scent of her told him she crested.
Anya grabbed
hold of his arms, her small hands trembling as she cried out, and her nails dug
into him. Her legs wrapped over his shoulders, stiffened and shook. The torrent
of her body washed over him, the waves of heated cream making her slick and the
scent more than he could take. Dante kissed her hard as she quivered under him,
and he knew he would not last through her climax.
Together they
came, both crying out in concert. It was the most exquisite feeling to pleasure
his mate as she did him. He collapsed on top of her, careful not to crush her
with his weight. Their mouths found each other, and the kiss pulled at every
emotion within him. He’d lost her once, she’d died as did he, and they had been
reborn. He knew why, knew there was a reason, and as he pulled off her and
stared into her shimmering blue eyes, he saw the moon reflecting in them. Just
like him, Anya’s soul was now infused with the spirit of someone else.
In a way, it was
the reunion of Terra and Jared. Their souls now fused to a mated pair so they
could finally be together once more. They needed to do this here, now, to
ensure the return of something that had been lost to their kind eons ago. A new
generation of werewolves would begin with their first child. Images of her,
plump and pregnant, caused him to smile more. She was the most beautiful
creature he’d ever laid eyes on, and she was all his. Now and forever.