“My sweet mate, what would I do without you?” he whispered.
She sighed, and he felt her relax against him. “I hope we never have to find out.”
* * * * *
Cinder felt weary to the very center of her being and her body ached, especially her burned hands. She’d been able to ignore the pain when she’d been running on pure adrenaline, but now that she was safe and going home, the pain had returned. She couldn’t see much in the dim light from the dashboard, but she could feel the blisters on her hands from where the Wiccan powers had burned because she hadn’t been able to control them as she had always done before.
She pulled Lorene’s oversized sweater from around her shoulders and slipped it over her head. The soft knit was long enough to reach her thighs and cover her and the fabric smelled of lavender.
She hoped that when she shifted on the full moon, her wounds would be healed. If she were still her fully Wiccan self, she could have created a poultice to help her hands heal, but she wasn’t a Wiccan anymore. The
lygisa
book had some healing spells, though, so she’d look for one when they got to the house.
She closed her eyes as she rested against Adam’s strong shoulder. Inwardly, she could feel the wolf even more than she’d been able to feel her prior to being taken. Perhaps having the
lygisa
and wolf taken away from her had made her more sensitive to the beast. She was anxious to see the pack and to thank the males who had come to help her.
She hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until Adam was gently waking her.
“We’re home, sweetheart,” he said with a low murmur. His warm hand slipped over her cheek, and his fingers tickled her neck.
She blinked open her eyes and smiled. “It’s good to be home.”
He pressed his lips to hers and then pushed open his door. The headlights illuminated Adam as he strode around the front of the truck, and she realized there were people standing in the front yard. Adam opened the passenger door and helped her out. Her knees were weak, and she felt as though she’d boxed ten rounds with a grizzly, but she’d never been happier than at this moment.
Her wolf rejoiced to see the pack, and the connection that Cinder had felt to them through Adam bloomed. She stepped away from Adam and walked slowly toward the pack. They stood quietly in front of the house. The headlights turned off automatically, but lights from the house still illuminated the people. They parted as she walked into their midst, closing ranks around her until she was surrounded. Stretching out her hands, she reached for them, brushing her fingers against their bodies. As she touched the pack, she felt them reach for her wolf, comforting and strengthening her from the inside out. The connection between her and the pack morphed, until it wasn’t a connection through Adam, but one of her own. The wolves closest to her had grasped her arms firmly but gently, and the wolves around them held on to one another, until she felt that she was being touched by every pack member. Their wolves touched her, rubbed against her in her mind, and filled her with a sense of belonging she’d never experienced before.
Her hands began to tingle as warmth filled her and a sense of family settled over her. She might be Adam’s mate, but these were her people now too. She wasn’t a stranger standing on the outside, she was one of them. In that moment, she knew that they would die for her, and she would die for them.
A
lygisa
blessing came to mind, and she felt the warm power flare inside her as she spoke the ancient words, asking the spirits of the
lygisa
before her to bless and protect the people who had come to mean so much to her. She felt the pack’s thankfulness for the blessing, felt as though she’d touched each of them in some way. One by one they moved away, but two males stayed – Doc and Leo.
Leo looked over her head and then met her gaze. “I’m sorry for the part I played in the beginning of things. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know you didn’t Leo. I was never mad at you, anyway.” She smiled and he grinned.
“I’m glad you’re the alpha, Cin. I always knew you were special.”
Doc elbowed him. “That’s quite enough, lover boy.”
Leo gave her a little wave and walked away. Flexing her fingers, she looked down at her hands and saw that the flesh had healed completely.
“I’m healed,” she said, noticing that all her aches and pains had disappeared.
Lorene smiled. “The
lygisa
powers work both ways. You can heal the pack with them, and the pack can fortify your natural healing powers through your connection. It’s why a
lygisa
can’t survive the loss of the pack. You’re entwined with them.”
“Thank you for coming with Adam to help me. I don’t know what would have happened without your power and support.”
“The coven will always be here for you, Cinder. Even though you’re not technically Wiccan any longer, I consider you a friend and I
always
fight for my friends.”
Cinder hugged Lorene. Adam thanked her and then they watched as Lorene got into her car and left. A part of her was sad to see Lorene go, because she felt as though she wouldn’t see her much in the future, but regardless of whether she was part of the coven or not, she knew that she’d never forget how Lorene had helped to save her life.
“I guess you don’t need a doctor,” Doc Whalen said, smiling broadly.
“Thank you for coming.”
“You’re my alpha, Cinder. I would move heaven and earth to help you if I could.” He nodded his head at Adam and walked away.
Adam slipped his arms around her. “How do you feel?”
“Glad to be home.”
He pressed his mouth to hers briefly. “All I want to do right now is get you in the shower.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Do I smell that bad?”
“You smell like another pack, and my wolf is snapping at me to cover you with
my
scent.”
Wiggling her brows, she said, “Sounds fun.”
He pulled her against him with a soft growl. “It will be.”
Adam leaned against the kitchen counter and took a drink of coffee, watching Cinder talk to the wolves sitting around the table. The large oak table – carved by a pack member – held twelve comfortably. On full moon mornings, the alphas’ house was a hive of activity. Every pack member was required to check in and find out what their full moon duties were.
There was a lot to be done today. It wasn’t just a standard full moon. Cinder was joining the pack as his mate, the alpha female, and also fully gaining her
lygisa
powers. It was also her first time shifting. He had no idea what it would be like for her. Sixteen years was a typical shifting age for most. Cinder was nineteen plus one and had only recently begun to experience the more wolfy side of her heritage.
She stood and joined him, leaning against him with a soft sigh.
He could feel tension in her body. Motioning with his head, he wordlessly told the wolves to leave them alone, and they complied immediately. Wrapping his arms around her, he inhaled her sweet scent and kissed the top of her head.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
“I feel kind of weird.”
“Weird how?”
She rubbed her cheek on his chest and hugged herself closer. “My joints hurt a little, and I feel antsy.”
“All wolves feel a bit different on the full moon. It’s your first one, and your wolf is finally getting a chance to stretch her legs.”
“What was your first full moon like?”
He chuckled. “I spent the morning working for the alpha, and then I went carousing until the pack gathered. I shifted and was inducted into the pack, and then I went hunting with my dad and grandfather.”
“Carousing? You mean you went to find a willing female?” She lifted her head with a smirk.
He gazed down at her. Her eyes were a pretty mix of green and the gold of her wolf. “Where were you when I was growing up?”
Her hands flexed on his back, and a soft growl seeped from her throat. “Good way to change the subject, Alpha.”
He grinned.
“So if I was a normal wolf and this was my first full moon, what would I be doing?”
“You’re not a normal wolf. You’re alpha and
lygisa
,” he pointed out.
She stared at him. “Oh, just tell me.”
Adam said, “If you were a male, you’d be working to clean up where we meet to celebrate, or doing whatever your superiors said. As a female, you’d be either with the female members of your family or with the unmated females. During the first few full moons, new wolves aren’t asked to do anything but to be safe. Their families watch out for them. But once they’re comfortable and willing, then they check in with their superiors and do what’s asked of them.”
“I’ll be a superior, right?”
“The most superior.”
“Superior-ist?”
He chuckled. “Whatever you want to call it. You’re the highest-ranked female. When you’re ready to assume the responsibility, the females will meet with you, and you’ll hand out the jobs. Cleaning and cooking in our house and helping pack members who need it.”
“I want to be a new wolf this full moon.”
“What do you mean? You
are
a new wolf.”
“No, I mean I want to help out. I want to know what needs to be done so that I have a better understanding of the pack. Let’s go work today.”
He wasn’t surprised that Cinder wanted to be with the pack today. She felt connected to a group like she never had before, and she wanted to explore what that meant.
“All right, my mate. There’s work to be done. It’s an important full moon, you know.”
She picked up the
lygisa
book from the counter and took his hand. He pushed open the back door, and they stepped out onto the deck. A young male was mowing the lawn; the scent of cut grass permeated the air. He could see a few males and females inside the barn, cleaning. Stepping down onto the grass, they walked through the yard and into the woods.
She stopped a few feet into the woods and looked back at the house. “I can feel them.”
“The pack?”
“Mm-hmm. They’re busy and happy.” She smiled and touched her free hand to her chest. “I feel happier knowing they’re happy.”
“They’re happy you’re here, sweetheart, but not as much as me.”
“Aw.” She smiled further, her cheeks darkening in a blush.
As they walked to the clearing where the pack would gather to celebrate the full moon, she told him about speaking with her mom earlier that morning.
“She said she thought that the alpha had drawn the whole pack into dark magic. The demon probably was very seductive, making a lot of promises in exchange for their loyalty.”
“Was she upset?”
“Of course, but upset that I’d been taken and nearly killed. She said she wished she’d never brought him back when I was eighteen because then he wouldn’t have known where I was. I told her that it wouldn’t have mattered because they were using dark magic and would have found me regardless.”
His wolf gnashed his teeth. “I wish I could have protected you.”
“The bad guys are dead, and we’re all safe. I think we won that battle.”
They walked into the clearing. Wolves removed debris from the wide area where the pack would gather. Cinder raised her head and looked at the sky. The trees had been chopped down years ago to create an opening in the thick canopy so that the moon could be seen shining brightly in the clearing.
“There’s a monthly rotation so that every wolf helps prepare the clearing.”
“What are we going to do?”
He took the book from her and gently turned the old pages until he found the preparation instructions for the
lygisa
ceremony.
“We’re going to get the wood ready. Or, rather, I’m going to chop it, and you’re going to haul it. Sound like fun?”
“Not remotely.”
He chuckled. “While we’re working, I’ll tell you about being a wolf.”
He handed the book to her, and she followed him to where several trees had been felled and sectioned, ready to be chopped. He picked up a section of oak and set it on a large stump. Lifting the axe, he swung it a few times in practice, and then he brought it down smoothly into the center of the log and split it.
“Cool.”
He grinned. “I had a lot of practice as a teenager. Read the instructions, love.”
She settled on the grass and opened the book, laying it in her lap. “A fire is laid from the wood of oak trees. Why oak?”
He set another piece on the chopping block and split it. “It’s strong and lives a long time. It’s a symbol of the strength and longevity of the pack and their bond to the
lygisa
.”
She hummed in her throat and looked down at the book while he swung the axe again. “Tell me about your first shift.”
“I shifted for the first time the month I turned sixteen, just a few days before my birthday. It’s good luck for wolves to shift in their birth month.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because it makes us more awesome?”
She laughed and threw a stick at him.
He was fortunate to grow up in a pack that cared about the young wolves as much as his did. After his fifteenth birthday, he was allowed to begin working on the full moons. He was a glorified errand boy, but he hadn’t cared. He’d been so hungry to shift and join the ranks of the pack members.
“I was a total pain in the ass the week before the full moon. My parents were sure I would shift, so my dad and grandpa waited with me that night in the clearing. They talked me through the shift and then took me on my first hunt.”
“New wolves shift in front of the pack?”
He tugged off his shirt, wiping the sweat from his brow with it, and then tucked it into his waistband. “Being naked and shifting is normal for us. The pack shifts together and goes to hunt in our territory. And I’ll point out that Wiccans like to get naked together for their ceremonies too.”
She rolled her eyes so hard he was surprised they didn’t pop right out of her head.
“We wear cloaks and we’re all women, and the guards who are there always turn their backs to us. It’s entirely different.”
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
“You really want everyone in the pack to see me naked?” She stood, hugging the book to her chest.
“They won’t be paying attention, love. They’re going to be waiting for us to share our pleasure with them.”
“It sounds totally kinky and strange since your parents are going to be there.”
He laughed and closed the distance to her. Sliding an arm around her waist, he pulled her close until their bodies were touching. He bent and kissed her ear, enjoying how she shivered. “After your
lygisa
ceremony and after you join the pack as alpha female, I’m going to pull you down to the ground and fuck you. When we come together — and we will, sweetheart – we’re going to focus on that hot, twisting, amazing feeling deep inside of us and push it out to the pack.” He leaned away from her to look into her eyes. “You think the pack is happy now because you’re here with me – with them – but wait until they feel our love for each other like a physical being. Sharing our pleasure is a way to tie the pack together.”
“Then I’ll shift?”
He nodded. “Angie has some clothes for you to wear so you don’t have to be naked during the ceremonies or when we share pleasure. Maybe someday, though, you won’t mind it. I’d love to see your beautiful body highlighted by firelight.”
She rested her cheek against his shoulder. “Thank you for sharing your life with me, Adam.”
“There’s more to tell, love, but first, we’ve got wood to haul, and then you’ve got some
lygisa
stuff to get ready, right?”
“I do.”
Tucking the book under her arm, she picked up a piece of wood, and Adam scooped up several logs. They returned to the clearing together. It took six trips to fill the fire pit. He could have sent others to grab the wood, gotten a wheelbarrow, or even carried a lot more than he did each trip, but he enjoyed walking with Cinder and talking to her. She wanted to know everything about the pack, and he shared everything he knew. By the time they were finished hauling wood, he’d filled her in on pack history and about his rise to the rank of alpha, and she’d shared with him stories of her childhood, her mom, and her desire to join with a more friendly coven.
“Being half-Wiccan was hard,” she said, holding his hand as they walked through the woods to the house. “I had the power, but I wasn’t
whole
, and some covens are exclusive. Once the corners found out that I was part wolf, even though at the time that part of me was dormant, they strongly suggested I find a different coven.”
“There are packs like that, but ours isn’t. The previous alpha had a Wiccan mate, and several of the younger wolves have mates who aren’t wolves. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter what a person
is
, only what they do with what they
are
.”
“You’re pretty sexy when you’re being noble.”
Stopping at the bottom of the steps, he tugged her close and growled softly when her curves fit against him perfectly. “Wanna take you upstairs,” he said as he slid his hands through her hair and fisted the soft strands lightly.
Nuzzling her neck, he let her scent wrap around him and the wolf, who he’d kept at bay all morning to honor Cinder’s request to be treated like a new wolf, was suddenly there. Without another word, he lifted her into his arms and stalked into the house. He couldn’t get to the room fast enough, and when he did, the slammed door and thrown lock were loud reminders to everyone that he and Cinder didn’t want to be disturbed.
For a while.
* * * * *
Cinder could have stayed in Adam’s arms all day and been thoroughly content. Being with him kept most of the aches at bay, and the little that slipped through was manageable. When she wasn’t touching him, she felt as though her bones were trying to pop apart. Her wolf paced in her mind, anxious for the full moon, but the powerful part of her – the
lygisa
– was growing too. She could feel the power bubbling inside her, growing stronger in preparation to come to her completely. As a natural Wiccan, she’d always had powers, so she’d never gone through a real awakening like this. It was as if she was seeing the world for the first time. Unlike her Wiccan power, the powers of the
lygisa
were wolf-centric. She could feel the pull of the moon on the pack members, and could even sense where the pack was at any given moment. At first, she’d been most aware of Adam and his family, but as the day had waned, she’d come to realize she could sense each pack member.
A grinding noise brought her back to the present, and she smiled at Angie, who was helping prepare the ingredients for the
lygisa
spell. Cinder looked down at her own mortar and pestle and gave one more twist for good measure and gently set the pestle on Adam’s office desk. They’d begun work in the kitchen, but the females had been so interested in what she and Angie were doing, they had been too distracting, so she and Angie had taken over Adam’s office. Not that he minded. He was busy in a meeting with the highest-ranked wolves in the front room. On the next full moon, she’d be in the meeting, too, but for this first one, she had more important tasks to complete.