Page 26 of Sinful Shifters

Around us, the statues that form the ring of stones for the Mating Circle light up. The four alphas, their four mates, four warriors, and four witches that make them up move in unison to turn their faces towards us. Gasps go up at the sight, and I hear murmurs that they haven't moved for decades, generations even.

The werewolf world has been weakening, our ways dying out, our people receding. It's time for that to change. Strength is back.

Speaking the words that will bind me to the pack forever, I open up the connection of the bonds.

And I bring others into it. The lone wolves. Splinter packs. Those who have remained in the pack but lost their way.

As I do so, I feel keenly the lack of my own mating thread. This would all be easier with Rina's guiding hands on mine. But I won't push her to mate with me until she's ready, and that'll be when she's wet with her heat, dripping and begging, clear-eyed and fully prepared.

I call on the twelve to guide me. They strengthen the pack, and with their knowledge and power, I fold the coven into it and make us both strong again.

Rhea gasps as power flows into her. "The ancient magic... I can feel it!" She marvels as she holds out her hands. "The ancient magic of the wellspring turns to ancestral magic in my hands."

All her coven sisters, and the few brothers, gasp in delight at the power.

And the pack gasps as well, as mating threads light up around them. Many of the lone wolves called to our borders have fated mates who were waiting within its bounds. Even Laila Canyon, the late alpha's mate, has someone—and as she embraces the woman with short hair and stares into her eyes with a somber expression, it becomes clear why she was never meant to be the alpha's mate.

A small commotion starts up around Rina, and I move through the crowd to discover that her mother Talon, and Ali's mother Harry, are intertwined. Somehow, the power of the Mating Circle has folded him into the pack and given him a mating thread, even though he has no wolf.

"I can't believe it... I can feel the pack." Light shines in his eyes. "Finally, I belong. I have a home. And I have you, Talon."

As they kiss, Rina stares in horror, and I have to pull her away.

"Remember, fate does strange things," I remind her.

"Like give my notoriously single mother a mate?"

"Maybe he's your father," I tell her, which makes her stare at me with even more horror, though it seems like a good thing to me. "That would make Ali your sister."

"No—there's no way. Mom would've told me by now." She shakes her head. "Besides, I'm pretty sure my dad is dead or something."

Talon isn't the only odd pairing that's formed in the new pack. A witch in the coven named Greta has discovered a great love for a warrior wolf named Cole. Uneasiness spreads through the pack at many of the changes, but I reach out to calm it. Lucian helps me, our warrior bond folding into the pack even more easily now that I'm its alpha.

There's just one thing left.

Taking Rina aside, I hold her small, delicate hands in mine, and stare into her gorgeous bright blue eyes. What I'm about to ask of hershouldbe a formality, but after everything, it can't be guaranteed.

"Caterina Birch, daughter of Talon Birch, omega of the Mountain Pack," I feel my heart kick up a beat, "will you be my intended?"

Chapter21

Rina

I've never really known what I wanted out of life, other than a little peace and security. When I became the First Alpha's mate, it seemed like I had both.

Recent events have proven me wrong. Now, I have to find a new path in life. Something that frightens me as much as it exhilarates me.

"I'll be your intended," I tell Thale, my heart racing, despite the inevitability of all this. "I want to mate with you. To be with you forever, or as long as we can get."

As he sweeps me in his arms and passionately kisses me, I moan into his mouth, and feel my heart quicken. Twinges start between my legs, my perfume misting the air.

"Is that cedar and smoke?" Harry comments, making me jump back from Thale. "I swear I smell something."

He's far away from us, down the path to the Mating Circle, but my perfume has no bounds.

"You might draw Klaus's attention again if even a human can smell your perfume irght now." Thale takes my hand and gently squeezes it, looking worried. "I can't lose you again."

"And I don't want to be kidnapped again. But the coven has gone over all the wards and made them as secure as possible. Surely that's enough."

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