Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(79)

She frowned and let out a soft sigh. Torin tightened his arms around her and kissed her temple. “Stop. It’s not your fault. There are mates inside the Pack who don’t have the mating bond, and they are as close and in love as much as those with the bond.”

“I don’t understand. We are mates; our wolves know each other. I’ve known since I first went through my heat cycle.” She clamped her mouth shut. Fear chilled her because she had shared too much.

After several moments of painful silence, he spoke. “You knew since you were eighteen?”

She nodded and studied her fingernails. “Are you angry? I didn’t know how to handle you or anyone outside of my family then.”

He took a breath, but kissed her forehead. “No. I’m not upset. I knew then as well, but you’d lost your parents. You needed room.”

“I never told Jason.”

“Me neither. He was so protective of you and trying to deal with his own grief. I’m not that big of a jerk. Believe it or not, I can be patient.” He lifted her chin with his index finger. “You are worth the wait. You know as well as I do, once the wolf finds his or her mate, there is no other.”

Her cheeks heated like they always did when he complimented her. “We finally accept it, and fate has other plans.”

He kissed her lips. “We’ll work it out.”

He was right. Besides, they had a lifetime together. “Tell me about your childhood.”

For a moment, she thought he would avoid the question, but he laced his fingers with hers and lifted them to his lips. “My parents were killed during the first attacks by Onyx. I was two months old.”

She gasped. “Oh no. You never knew them.”

“Luna took me in and raised me as her own. Royce and I never got along though, so, when I was sixteen, I joined the junior soldiers and stayed in the apartments designated for them. Back then, things were different. Royce believed the soldiers should be strong and therefore isolated them at a young age to strengthen their will and heightened their senses.” He made a growl-like noise in his throat.

Cora could imagine how frightened the kids had to have been. Left alone and conditioned into good soldiers or assassins. “Rumors drifted around that Royce was actually connected to Onyx and Luna killed him when she found out.”

“People need to mind their own business. It’s true, and I’m grateful for it. Royce would have turned the whole Pack over to Felix, and we’d been killed or turned into mutants.” Pausing, he took a breath. “Luna changed everything that day. The junior soldiers were returned to the families, and, with my and Hayden’s help, she put the Pack back on a healthy track. Yet we were still too weak and vulnerable to Onyx.”

“She merged her Pack with Keegan’s.”

“Yep. It was rough at first, but we learned to live together for the most part.”

She shrugged. “I think we do pretty well. We are a strong Pack.”

“Yep.”

They fell silent, and Cora traced circles on his upper thigh. “You were friends with Jason.”

He cupped her cheek, drawing her gaze to his. “We don’t have to talk about him if it pains you.”

“Yes, we do. You were his commander and friend. I’m not the only one hurting from his passing. He was my protector, my overbearing brother, and an ass, but I loved him. He was the last of my natural family.” She sniffed, and Torin wiped a tear from her cheek.

“You were the squirt and the bratty sister he brought everywhere with him.” Torin swallowed. A flicker of sadness flashed across his features. “Jason was a good male. He loved the Pack and his job as its protector. He died with honor.”

Smiling, she stared into his eyes and felt comfortable doing so. She didn’t know what had changed. Maybe her wolf recognized she wasn’t the only one who had lost Jason. The whole Pack lost him. It could also have had something to do with the relaxed way they sat and talked, getting to know more about each other.

She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m falling in love with you.”

His lips lifted in a sensual smile. “I fell in love with you years ago.”

She squeaked when he lifted her up and turned her so she straddled his lap, then all thoughts vanished as he kissed her. She could be with him like this for the rest of her day.





Chapter Eight


Cora hummed softly as she packed the backpack with the things she needed to begin the first stages of laying out the new security system. The system would be made up of wireless sensors, cameras, and magic, encircling both dens about five hundred feet from the property lines. And that was only the first layer.

Two more layers of security would be set behind the first, about one hundred and fifty feet from each other. Then wards would protect each individual den. Was it overkill? Maybe, but Alec and the Alphas loved the idea of the layers and how each one would differ slightly from the other.

Cora glanced up as Ana and Gina entered the command center—as Alec called it—and nodded. Frowning, she studied Gina as she came to stand next to her. The third layer of security had small bombs filled with tiny balls of silver, the one thing mutants had a weakness for.

Gina picked one of the round, palm-size bombs. Cora’s heart skipped a beat. “Please be careful with that.”