Page 86 of Dawn of the Pack

I could stay like this for hours, but Lily cups my cheeks and withdraws, pressing one more soft kiss to my lips before promising, “later,” in a breathy whisper. My blood surges, but I kiss her forehead and allow her to reconnect with her other mates. Once again, the sight of her with them doesn’t spur the jealousy I experienced just weeks ago. Now we’re all one, and what makes her happy makes me happy. Whatever she needs.

When we’ve all shared a moment and finally step back outside, a lot of the crowd has dispersed. The remaining individuals are in human form, and apparently waiting to report.

“We’re sweeping through the… facility underground, alpha,” a man with black cargo pants and a stern expression advises. “So far, we’ve released a few individuals. The people who worked here volunteered to assist us, so it’s going quickly. I do need to advise,” his sharp gaze darts to my face before returning to Lilliana’s, “we found the witch, and she’s… gone.”

“Oh no,” Lilliana sounds genuinely upset, and turns her sad green eyes to me. “Derrek, I’m so sorry. I know we had our issues, but she was your cousin, and she did help us-”

“Don’t worry about it,” I squeeze her against me and reassure her. “She was trying to kill me, to take my power, when these three came in and saved me. And some girl, I think she’s in one of my classes. Where is she, by the way? Is she okay?”

I redirect my gaze to Milo, who nods. “Yeah, Amber’s fine. She woke up not long after we came outside. Bitched about it being cold, then said she felt weird and shifted back into a wolf.”

“I should talk to her. I think I know why she feels weird.”

The three guys exchange a look.

The tall blond one, Landon, speaks up. “Why do you think that is?”

“Azalea had finished the ritual. All she had left to do was kill me, and all the magic in my blood would join hers. Since your friend spilled Azalea’s blood instead, I suspect she may have gained Azalea’s powers.”

“No way.” Shock flits across Jared’s dark face. “I didn’t know that was even possible. Can anyone just steal a witch’s powers like that, if they do the ritual?”

“Not exactly. It’s… well, it’s kind of complicated. But basically, Amber must have some witch blood, otherwise it wouldn’t have worked. And it works on witches and warlocks.”

Landon swats Jared on the arm, hard. “See? I told you they weren’t all called witches. The guys are warlocks.”

Jared ducks his head guiltily.

I snort. “Who told you we’re called witches? That’d be like calling the three of you girls.”

“I dunno. I just heard it somewhere.” He shoves his hands into his pockets and kicks the pavement with his borrowed boot.

“Anyway,” Lilliana draws us back to the issues at hand. “Apparently Azalea’s death is not a surprise, or something to mourn. Is there anything else?”

The older man shakes his head. “You can head out, alpha. We’ll wrap things here and get everyone on their way home if they haven’t left already.”

“Thank you, Richardson.”

He nods, then spins on his heel and heads back toward the dungeon entrance.

Lilliana smiles widely at the four of us. “Well guys, should we head home?”

As if by some undisclosed plan, the others allow me to claim the third row seat with Lilliana, who immediately curls into my side. She falls asleep quickly, so I settle in for the long ride and close my eyes, too. With my arm wrapped tightly around her, I feel as if I can finally rest.

But sleep doesn’t come. Despite spending the previous night practicing spells, my body is anything but overcome with exhaustion. In fact, I almost feel lit up with racing energy rippling over my skin.

Not to mention lust.

I know my brain should run over the multitude of revelations I’ve had recently, but the only thing I seem to focus on is her cherry vanilla scent and what it does to my body. Every tiny movement she makes is a tease to my newly upgraded senses, despite the completely unsexy situation we find ourselves in right now. My fingers toy with a strand of her curly hair, and I try to focus on making mental lists of things I need to take care of. There’s certainly lots to deal with, after everything that’s happened.

But my thoughts invariably return to the details of the dream that seems to be burned into my brain. Instead of trying to fight it, I decide to lean into this train of thought and maybe work my way through it instead.

I wonder when I might get her alone, claim a night of her time to myself. I’m sure many interesting scenarios are bound to crop up, suddenly being part of a five-some. But I want it to just be us two for the first time I’m with her. I need to lavish her with the sort of patient attention I’m fairly certain eighteen-year-old boys are unprepared to muster. I’ll take all the time I need to convince myself that it’s truly real, that the dungeon is a distant nightmare and this beautiful woman in my arms is the truth.

Once I let my thoughts wander, the rest of the ride goes surprisingly fast. Almost before I realize it, we’re passing the wooden sign proclaiming we’re now in Smoky Falls, and I draw in a deep, grateful breath, knowing that she’s safe now, protected, on pack lands.

I don’t plan to wake her until we reach Harridan house, but Lilliana stirs the second we cross the boundary, and after a quick glance outside, says to the driver, “Maxwell, please take us to Derrek’s apartment.”

Dutifully, the driver turns right instead of continuing down Main. I don’t even have a moment to wonder how he knows my address before Lilliana’s delicate hand settles on my thigh and squeezes.

---