"It's the blood."
She closes her mouth. Swallows. "Blood?"
"All the blood I had. A whole cooler. Frangelico gave it to me to fight vampires."
"You gave it to me?"
"I gave it to you. I didn't know if it would heal or kill you, but you were dying anyway. I could only hope." I touch her face tenderly. "And it worked. It healed you. Took all the blood I had, but it was worth it. It saved you."
"You used the blood," she murmurs to herself. "But, what about the vampires? The one-eyed vampire? I saw him, he was there. You can still get him-"
"No, Kit. No more. We can't stay here. I can't go back to the king. And I can't hunt the one-eyed vampire anymore. I can't risk anyone finding out about you. The vampires were trying to turn you."
"Trying to-" her brow wrinkles.
"I figured out what they were doing. All those blood exchanges. They want an army to fight Frangelico. They tried to turn you." For a horrible moment, I wondered if the blood could have turned her into a vampire. But no. Jordy's alive and her fox is strong. The blood did its healing work.
"Grizz." She touches my face. "What about your revenge?"
"I don't need it. All I need is you."
She closes her eyes and lets her forehead meet mine. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For ruining things. For using up all the blood. Now you can't get revenge."
"Jordy." I pull away and catch her chin. "You didn't ruin anything. You saved me. I was gonna drink that blood, fight the vampires, and die. I didn't think I had anything to live for but revenge. I was wrong." I tuck my face close to hers and whisper against her lips. "I have you." Fuck, I have to kiss her.
Her arm slides around my neck and I lift her, carrying her swiftly out of the room. Away from the blood and gore. Away from the scene of her death and rebirth.
I get as far as the front door before I haul her against me and claim her mouth. I kiss her in the vampire's house, my hands running up and down her body, squeezing, claiming. She's soft and warm and whole. I was so fucking stupid. I could've missed this. I could've lost her forever.
A dog barks outside, a random warning. I break the kiss and Jordy puts a hand to her face, rubbed red by my stubble. She laughs at the beard burn, and I have to kiss her again.
This time she breaks away, still smiling. "We need to go."
Right. "We gotta get outta town before sundown. Out of the valley."
Her face falls and I cup her chin. "It's not like that. I'm coming with you this time. I promise this, Jordy. I will never leave you again."
"Okay," she says, looking up at me with such trust. I don't deserve her. I'll spend the rest of my life treasuring this woman, caring for her and protecting her and replacing every bad memory of vampires with a hundred good ones. She's gonna know how special she is. She's gonna know she's loved. I'll dedicate my life to it. To her.
"We'll have to be on the run for a little while. Make sure the vampires think you're dead, and I'm too devastated by your death to hunt. We'll run for a bit, but then I'm gonna take you to my place up north."
"Really?" she asks, her eyes shining.
"It's not much," I caution. "Just a cabin the woods, in the Sierra Nevadas. No one around. Just you, me, and a bunch of trees."
"Sounds wonderful."
I shake my head. This fox. So cute. "You excited about that? Living in the woods with a grumpy bear?"
"Yes," she repeats, and laughs breathily as I tug her hair. "Yes. I'll go anywhere, Grizz, as long as it's with you."
EPILOGUE
Grizz
I SIT in the old dentist chair, a half smile on my face. Jordy's got her sketch pad out and she and the tattoo artist are poring over her designs.
"I was thinking the mountain right here." She uses her hand to map out the placement on my body, "and the giant saguaro with the paw prints at the bottom."
"What sort animal is that?" The artist asks. "Wolf?"
"Fox," Jordy corrects. She glances at me and I wink at her. Her hand is still resting on my bare chest, and I capture it and place it more firmly over my heart. She wrinkles her nose at me.
"Let me see what I can do." The artist takes the sketch and studies it, rubbing his goatee. He's not as good as the one in Tucson, but he'll do. We've been running for over a month now, with no sign of trouble. Tomorrow I'll take her to my cabin in the woods, but first I want to imprint my memories on my skin.
The artist turns away, and I take the opportunity to haul my mate into my lap.
"Grizz," she protests, until I kiss her breathless. I squeeze her ass through her jeans and she rubs against me, the public place forgotten.
"Love you, Kit," I tell her, because I promised myself I'd say it out loud and often.
"I know," she whispers back, and wriggles off me before the tattoo artist returns.
"Ready?" he asks.
"Yep." I keep Jordy's hand in mine as the artist starts to prep the area. "You gonna cover up all my scars?" I ask her.
She shakes her head. "Scars make us who we are." She lifts my hand and covers the spot above her left breast where she bears the scars that made her who she is.
I stroke the spot through her shirt. "What about tattoos then?"
"The marks we choose tell us where our heart is. Who we belong to."
Satisfied, I relax back into the seat. With each breath I inhale her scent. By the time the needle starts to buzz, I'm in a trance, surrounded by Jordy.
In a few hours, I'll walk out of here wearing her mark on my skin, but I don't need a tattoo to know who I belong to. The moment we met, she owned me. The ink on my skin is nothing compared to the marks she left on my heart.
The End
From the authors: Thank you dear readers for continuing to love on our bad boy alphas!
We know Jordy was never reunited with Foxfire-you'll have to read on in future books for that happy family reunion.
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