Chapter Eighteen

Sam.

I watch the cottage come into view and wonder for a few moments what time it actually is. The moon is low on the horizon and I know we must be close to morning. When we pull to a stop out front, Alec comes to the door and lifts me from my position in the back seat. I pay him no mind, and watch Donnie as he lifts Ocoee from the now bloodstained side of the seat he is lying on. No sound comes from my friend, not a single whimper, and I know he is too far gone to feel the pain any longer.

“Put me down,” I protest, trying to free myself from Alec’s grasp. “Go help Ocoee, I’m fine. Please.” He doesn’t acknowledge me and refuses to put me down until we are inside, when he takes me to the bedroom and lowers me onto the bed. He waves his hand through the air and a fire jumps to life in the stone fireplace at the foot of the bed.

“Stay here. Do you understand me?” His voice is harsh, and I know he is serious. I nod in response to him. “Look at me, kitten.” He softens his voice now and cups my chin in his hand, raising my lips to his and kissing me gently. “I need you to stay here, please. I have things I can do for him. But I need you here. Safe where I know I don’t have to worry about you.”

“Yes, sir,” I say and nod my agreement to him. If my listening and staying put will help him help Ocoee, then I will do as I am told.

Alec nods back at me and I watch him leave the room, pulling the door closed behind him. I sit on the bed and watch the fire for a long time, but finally I rise and cross to the closet, where I unzip my bag and pull out the small gift box that I stashed inside. Taking it with me to the fireplace, I throw it in and watch as the flames turn blue and then green, the wrapping paper burning quickly first, then the box igniting and lastly I can see the leather lying in the fire, slowly being burned. The collar that Colin meant as a gift for me stares back out of the fire at me, threatening me with what is still to come.

When I lift my hand and rub the hollow of my neck, I can still almost feel the tight collar he had placed around my neck. I gag, bending and heaving onto the floor at the thought of having his hands on me and what he did to me. I crack open the bedroom door and cross the hall to the bathroom. The floor creaks under my feet and I know Alec will know I am no longer in bed. But I can’t stay there like this, covered in dirt, blood and the memories of the night.

Sitting down on the side of the bathtub, I watch the water swirl around the drain and then flow down into the darkness as it warms. As I test the temperature on my wrist, I watch the crusted blood and grime get washed away, revealing perfectly healed, soft, pink skin. No signs of the deep gashes remain on my wrists from the handcuffs holding me suspended to the barn’s rafters.

I rise and slowly step into the tub, picking up the handheld shower head and rinsing my body. Caked in mud soaked blood as it is, I take a while to get clean. As I scrub, I wince. The pain is still there at some of the lesser healed lashes on my back, thighs and chest. Alec was right. I’m still healing and should still be resting. I carefully sit on the bottom of the tub and allow the water to wash away the memories of Colin whipping me in the barn as I cry until there is nothing left.

The water runs cold and I know I have sat here too long, much longer than I had originally planned. When I hear the door click open, I look up into Alec’s deep emerald eyes and the look I see there breaks me again.

“He’s gone?” I ask, sobbing and holding my arms out to Alec, like a small child who needs to be held.

“No.” He rushes towards me, turns off the water and takes my still wet body in his arms. Holding me against his chest. “No, he is going to be all right. He wants to see you. He wants to explain himself.”

“Ocoee? He is alive?” I’m shocked. I saw his mangled body on the backseat of the car next to me on the ride here.

I put two and two together and realized what he had done, the marks on my body as I cleaned away the blood so mirrored those on his. What he did for me, how he could have survived it, I’ll never know. Nodding, I allow Alec to lift me from the tub, helping me to my feet so he can wrap a fluffy white towel around me. When he does, I hiss as he brushes against my back.

“See, you’re supposed to be resting for a reason,” he says, chastising me, he signals for me to turn. As I do, I show him my back and it is his turn to hiss out his breath. “I’m going to kill him.”

Alec’s words fill my ears as I turn back around to face him. I don’t know what my back looks like, marred with the now pink scars from the whip Colin used on me. I can tell from his reaction and from what I saw of Ocoee that I will forever be scarred by this night. The tears overwhelm me again, and I am crying for what seems like the millionth time tonight. When Alec lifts me in his arms, still wrapped in the towel, he carries me back across the hall to the bedroom.

Collecting one of his large t-shirts and a pair of underwear, he helps me dress, then lays me back on the pillows just as I hear a knock on the door. I watch his back and notice how tense the muscles in his shoulders are.

This still isn’t over, I think when I see him open the door. Donnie is standing in the doorway, holding Ocoee in his arms. He seems so much smaller than he did just yesterday. So much… I search my mind for the right word… less. It finally comes to me.

Alec motions for Donnie to enter the room as he steps aside, holding the door open and I watch him bring Ocoee to me and settle him on the bed next to me. My friend slowly raises his head and slides his body towards mine, just minutely. Enough to rest his head on my lap.

Give us a moment, please. I hear his words in my mind and realize he is speaking to the men. Alec and Donnie both nod and leave the room. I turn my attention to Ocoee, ready for an explanation. Ready to listen to his words and to understand what he has actually done. What will he pay for his choices and how can I ever repay him for those?

***

Alec.

As I close the door behind us, I let out a large sigh of relief. They’re both alive, both safe. We cross to the living room and settle onto the couch next to each other. Donnie and I are both exhausted, but fully aware that this fight is far from over. We have been able to hear the wolves all night and neither of us believe for a moment that Colin is dead. Finn has yet to show his face and I know he will send word as soon as it is done.

“Tell me what happened between those two.” Donnie points back over my shoulder towards the bedroom, where I imagine Ocoee is telling the exact story Donnie is requesting. “I have an idea of what he did. But can you explain it to me?”

I nod and begin.

***

Ocoee.

Child, I push the word into her mind to grab her attention.

She watched the two men leave and her focus remains on the door, but I need her to listen to me now, in order for her to understand. When Sam turns her head and looks down at me, there are unshed tears in the young woman’s eyes and I know she suspects what I am going to tell her.

“You took my injuries onto yourself.” I let her words fill the room between us but do not yet respond. Turning my head into her hand, encouraging her to scratch behind my ears.

I did. I nuzzle her other hand with my nose and push my face under it, trying to get her to use both on my ears now. Two ears, two hands to scratch them. I raise my head and look up at her. I want her listening, but distracted so she will focus on me and my still being here, not on what I am going to tell her.

“At what cost? Why?” Sam asks as she continues to scratch behind both of my ears. Then raises my head to hers and kisses me on the end of my nose. I smile a friendly smile at her, but know it comes off more as a snarl in this form. She giggles at me, good. I need her relaxed.

To save you, it was a cost I am willing to pay. For you. For Alec. To see the two of you together, happy as fate intended.

“What aren’t you saying, Ocoee?”

***

Sam.

I fear I know what he is going to tell me. He took my pain and suffering and will die because of that. He is going to leave me and Alec behind. No longer able to be here with us. A tear runs down my cheek and he raises his nose, pushing it against my face and wiping away my tear.

“I saw you. In your human form, back at the circle,” I tell him as I scratch his ears again, then I shift on the bed and lay my head on his side, feeling the warmth radiate from him and the softness of his fur under my cheek.

I know. I was once a powerful medicine man. Able to heal those who needed me through harnessing the magic in the land. The land in Wicklow, the circle of standing stones, is ripe with magic that I could harness to heal you.

I listen to his voice in my mind as I continue to keep my head on his side, listening to the deep thudding of his heart in his chest. He is here with me for now, at least.

Stop it with all of that. I am not going anywhere. I will still be here with you. In fact, I will be with you always now. The cost of what I did is not so great as to take me from you, child. Merely keep me here, in this form, on this plane permanently. As a mere dire wolf, with one exception. That being, I will still be able to speak with you.

“What? So your magic is gone? All of it?” I try to clarify what he is telling me. If he can no longer travel the planes or shift forms, then that means it is all gone. All of it, for me. “Why?”

I told you, it is the cost I was willing to pay to spare your life. I turn and inhale a deep breath of his woodsy scent. The smell of pine in his fur makes me smile.

“I’m sorry, Ocoee,” I whisper gently in his ear.

Don’t be. I am not. This is just my next adventure, and when I am done here in this lifetime, I will move on and find another.

“Wait!” I sit up, confused now what he means. “What do you mean, done here? You’re healed, you will not die.”

No, not today. Hopefully not tomorrow. But someday I will, the life of a dire wolf. One lifetime is all I will have to remain with you now.

“No,” I breathe out the word and collapse onto Ocoee’s side. He whines and I am angry with myself for forgetting he is still injured. I reach up and pat his head. “I’m so sorry.” As he licks my hand, I cry into his side.

Finally, after hours of fighting the battle of my lifetime, I drift off to sleep, curled with Ocoee in the bed. Feeling protected.

***

Saturday—Kildare.

Sam.

The morning light breaks through curtains and I see Ocoee is still curled in bed with me. The fire is long burned out in the stone fireplace at the foot of the bed and they have brought in a chair from the other room. Alec is half propped in the chair next to the bed, gently snoring. I untangle my legs from Ocoee and slip from the bed. The floor is cold on my feet as I tiptoe to the chair only a few steps away. Gingerly, I lower myself onto Alec’s lap and smile as I feel his arms close around me.

“Good morning, kitten.” I feel the rumble of his words in his chest as I settle my head onto his shoulder and smile up at him.

“Morning.” I drop my eyes, ashamed to look him in the face now that I know what Ocoee has done for me.

“Don’t do that,” Alec says as he puts a finger under my chin and pulls my face back up to his. “Don’t turn away from me. He knew what he was doing. You didn’t force him to do it.”

“But he will die now,” I protest weakly.

“We all will, eventually, one day. He doesn’t see it that way. He sees it as the next adventure waiting for him.” Kissing me on the forehead, he goes on, “When I saved him, on the banks of the river so many years ago, he told me not to. He asked me not to waste my time or magic on him.” Alec sighs. “I didn’t listen to him then because I was saving him for selfish reasons. I wasn’t ready to be without him. Not willing to lose my friend.”

I shift in his lap so I can see his face better while he speaks. “I’m ready now to face a world without Ocoee in it. We still have time, by his accounts, a lot of it. But the reality is that one day he will move on. He is ready for that and he was willing to give up the magic that he had left for you. For me. For us.”

I shake my head. “It’s not fair.”

Life isn’t. I turn to the bed and see Ocoee sitting up, his purple eyes looking at us across the room.

“Thank you,” I tell him. Only just now realizing I forgot to thank him last night when he told me his story.

No need to thank me. I did it for, as Alec said, selfish reasons.

I tilt my head to the side, showing my visible confusion at his confession. But neither of them explains further. I catch a look exchanged between them, and I wonder if they’re having their own conversation without me.

I’m hungry and suppose I’ll have to depend on you for that now. He yawns as he stretches on the bed and jumps down, heading for the door. When he stops in front of it, the thing doesn’t open for him as it has so many times in the past. Alec waves his arm and the magic flowing from him opens the door for Ocoee.

“Donnie can help you with breakfast,” he calls after him as he closes the door with another wave of his hand. “I’ll be having mine in here.” His tone becomes playful as he leans in to kiss me.

Alec waves his hand after he breaks away from our kiss and a tray filled with pancakes, fruit and whipped cream appears on the end of the bed. Cold glasses of juice with drops of condensation sliding down the sides catch my eye and I smile. This is the first time I’ve seen him use his magic in this way, and I look at him in awe.

“You can do that, but have been making me cook for you for a week? Seriously?” I giggle and look at him, shocked by what he has been holding back from me.

“I paid good money to have a slave for ninety days,” he replies and smiles at me. “Don’t get too used to it. Once you’re fully healed, I expect to see you back in the kitchen waiting on me, slave.” His words are teasing.

With his arms still wrapped around me, he stands from the chair and sets me on the bed next to the tray of breakfast. Sitting down next to me, he takes a glass of juice and smiles as he sips at it. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes and I know what he is about to say, even before the words escape his lips.

“Tell me what happened?”

Sighing, I pick at the food, trying to focus on it and not the small amounts of pain I still feel throughout my body from the nightmare of the previous night.

“He came to the apartment.” I don’t go on. As I picture Colin in the doorway when I opened the door, my naked body, Alec’s collar around my neck. I reach up and touch my skin there now, where I first wore his collar and then the one Colin forced on me. Tears sting my eyes. I set down the pancake I have been picking at and turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe out the words. “I’m so sorry.”

Taking me in his arms, he speaks quickly, “No. No, kitten. I’m sorry. I should have never left you alone and unprotected. You have nothing to apologize for. I am to blame, not you.” Alec kisses my forehead and wipes away my tears. “Ocoee told me not to leave you, begged me to let him stay. But I trusted the wolves had him contained here. I was convinced you would be safe there, that I had you far enough away from him.” Alec drops his head into his hands and his shoulders heave.

“I don’t blame you. This isn’t your fault. There is only one person to blame for this, and that is Colin.” I rub small circles over his back, between his shoulder blades. He looks up at me with such love in his eyes that it takes my breath away. The pain that I also see in the deep green pools tells me he is still blaming himself for what happened and my words have not freed him of that guilt.

“Alec,” I sigh out his name, “please. This isn’t your fault.” Placing my hand on his cheek, I lean in and kiss him softly on the lips, tasting the tang of the orange juice still on them.

“Sam,” my forehead is still pressed to his, our lips brush together again when he says my name, “I thought I lost you.” His words settle around me and I think back to the moment in the barn when I had given up hope and accepted that my only course of survival would be to submit to Colin.

“You didn’t though, I’m right here.”

Taking his hand in mine, I lift it to my face and press his palm to my warm cheek. Hoping the feeling of my skin against his will bring him back to the reality that I am still here with him. Slowly, he slides his hand back behind my head, holding me to him with it wrapped around the base of my neck.

When he closes his hungry lips over mine, I breathe into him, letting my entire body relax against his. I hear a crash as he lays me back on the bed and his foot knocks the tray of food to the floor.

“I’m not cleaning that up,” I say and giggle at him. Watching him wave his hand in the air, I know that the mess is gone. Next to us on the bed, the small plate filled with strawberries and cream reappears.

“You need to eat something, kitten, let me.”

Alec picks a berry from the plate between his thumb and forefinger, dipping it into the white cream, and then lifts it to my mouth. When I close my lips over the fruit and sink my teeth in, the taste of the sweet whipped topping mixed with the juice from the berry is divine and I smile at him.

“Thank you, sir.” Dropping my eyes, I blush at the word and look up at him through my lashes, remembering the night we were together before everything went to hell. Remembering his collar on me and his words to me, mine to him. I am yours, sir.

I reach my hand up to the empty hollow of my neck and gently lay my fingertips there, feeling the space where my collar should be but knowing that I wouldn’t be able to bear the feel of it on my skin and the memories it would invoke of my time with Colin.

“What is it?” Alec asks, closing his hand over mine.

I know he can see the pain in my eyes because he mirrors my thoughts and nods. “I have just the solution. Allow me?” Holding his hand in the air, he waits for my nod of approval.

When I give it, he drops his hand and I feel the light touch on my skin. Under my fingertips, a charm appears. Running my fingers over the heart shape, I can tell he has gifted me with a necklace.

“Here,” he says, holding up a mirror, and I am again taken aback by the magic this man possesses and the things he is doing. Slight, small, and lightweight, just long enough that the heart shape pendant rests in the hollow of my neck. Looking in the mirror, I see the small silver heart, with the infinity symbol in its center and two tiny diamonds decorating each loop. I watch my fingers trail over the chain and the heart in the mirror for a moment before I smile at him and the mirror disappears as quickly as it came.

“For you. This,” he runs his fingers over the chain, following the same path mine took, “will be your collar now. You’re mine. Do not forget that, kitten. No matter what. We will find a way to make things work between us, regardless of what the world has dealt us.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s beautiful.”

I lean up off the bed and kiss him, then dip my finger into the cream on the plate next to me and put it in my mouth, sucking the tip clean, letting the suggestive look in my eyes speak for me. Alec shifts on the bed next to me and takes the hem of my shirt in his hands as he rises up onto his knees. I let him lift it off over my head and see him toss it to the floor. When he lies back down next to me he takes another berry from the plate, dipping this one in the cream as well, he runs it from my lips down over my collarbone, between my breasts, trailing down over my abdomen, dipping it in my navel and then stopping just at my pelvic bone.

I look down and see the trail of whipped cream over my skin, following it with my eyes. They hitch at the pink lash marks over my chest and stomach. I feel the tears building in my eyes.

I will never look the same to him again. The thought crashes over me and I sniff back my tears, trying to hold them in.

“Look at me, kitten. You’re beautiful to me, no matter what.” Licking the cream from my lips, he kisses down over my jaw, following the same path he took with the berry with his tongue now. “Your skin is amazing,” he murmurs against my breasts as he kisses one, then the other on the bright pink scars marring my flesh there. Then, continuing down over my body, his tongue dips into my navel and I suck in a deep breath through my teeth at the sensation.

“Can you take them away?” I ask softly, hoping that he will say yes and wave his hand through the air, freeing me from a lifetime of looking at the scars and remembering the pain.

When he shakes his head, I feel the tears fall down over my cheeks. “Ocoee tried. Magic cannot heal all wounds.”

Moving back over top of my body, he kisses me on the lips. “But time will,” Alec tells me softly before kissing me again.

I can taste the sweetness of the cream on him, and his lips are still sticky with it. He trails kisses down over my jaw, following the same path down my body again. Kissing each scar as he goes, his hands soft on my still sensitive skin. The trail of kisses continues until he has kissed away every slash mark down my chest, stomach, and thighs.

“Roll over, kitten,” he instructs as he takes my hand and rolls me onto my stomach, taking the waistband of my underwear in his hands. I lift my hips off the bed and give him easier access to slide them down over me. Then, starting at my shoulders, I feel his flutter soft kisses over every mark across my back.

As the time goes on, I know it is worse than I had imagined. I have yet to see it in the mirror and I refuse to indulge in the thought now. I let Alec kiss away the still dull pain and shiver as he kisses my lower back, over my behind and down the backs of my thighs. The pillow under my cheek is damp with my tears by the time he is done.

I roll to look at him, on his knees near my feet. Bending my legs, I drop my knees to the side and expose myself to him. Having his hands and lips on me, while emotional, has awakened something inside me. The need to have him touch me. I slowly run my fingers down over my skin, slipping them over my hip and through the soft patch of curls between my legs. Watching Alec’s eyes widen as I do so, I know he is enjoying what he sees. I run my fingers down through my lower lips, then back up to my clit. Gently rubbing it and tossing my head back, I let out a moan, watching him all the while. Hoping to entice him to me.

Crawling forward on his hands and knees, I watch as he lowers himself between my legs, “This is mine,” he says as he takes my hand by the wrist and stills my motion on myself. “Did you ask to play with what is mine, kitten?”

“No, sir. May I?” I rasp out the words, my voice husky with my need. Instead of answering me, he simply pins my wrists to the bed by my hips and then closes his mouth over me. The warm sensation of his tongue sliding up my slit and circling my sensitive clit has me arching my back up off the bed.

“Alec,” I breathe out his name softly. I need this, need him to erase the memory of someone else’s hands on my body from my mind.

“Stay,” his voice is commanding as he releases one of my wrists and runs his fingers over my hip, down the inside of my thigh and up to my pussy. When he slides first one, then two fingers inside me, I clench down around him, encouraging him to slide them in deeper.

I need more, I scream at him in my mind, his slow teasing bringing me closer to the edge, but not close enough for me to fall over the precipice and into my much needed pleasure.

“Tell me what you want me to do, kitten,” he murmurs against my pussy and I smile down at him.

“I want you to make love to me.” I’m honest and straightforward. Unafraid of asking for what I need.

“How? I need detailed instructions. I don’t know what to do,” Alec tells me softly, his head still between my legs, tasting me, sucking me, and nipping me.

The building orgasm is closer now. I feel it just at the edges of my mind and my body is coming alive with a buzzing through my fingers and toes. When I don’t answer him right away, he stops what he is doing and props himself up on his hands between my still parted legs. Glaring down at him, I twitch my fingers, grabbing hold of the sheet but not lifting them from the place he told me to keep them. I remain obedient in this alone.

“Sir,” I whine. Arching my back and pulling my hips off the bed, I bring my waiting pussy closer to his mouth again. His deep laugh rumbles the bed under me and I watch him smile, licking his fingers. Tasting me on them, but not making any move to take me again.

“I told you, I don’t know what to do,” he feigns ignorance still. I huff and slam my palms on the mattress at my sides. Hating every moment of this, but knowing if I’m going to get what I want, I will have to give him what he is asking for.

“Kiss me,” I say finally, demanding and harsh.

Watching Alec’s eyes widen in his face, he doesn’t make any move to kiss me and I exhale loudly at him. “Please, kiss me, sir.”

“That’s more like it. No reason to be sassy just because you’re not getting your way, kitten.” His tone is teasing, and I know I am forgiven. Walking himself up the bed with his arms on either side of my body, he stretches the length of his torso over mine and I grind myself on the bulge in his pants. When he kisses me deeply on the mouth, I part my lips to him and feel his tongue twirl around mine, tasting myself, and a hint of the whipped cream in his mouth. It is a divine taste. I moan loudly, the sound filling my ears and the surrounding room.

“Please, sir. I need you, I need you to show me who I belong to and erase the memories of everything else.” I say the words against his lips and he nods his head at me. His forehead bumping against mine, I feel the longer hair on the crown of his head brush my face as he turns. Brushing kisses over my jaw and down to my earlobe, nipping it with his teeth before the trail of kisses moves down my neck and over my collarbone.

Taking his body language as an agreement to my request, I lift my hands to his waistband and slowly slip my fingers under it. Finding him rock hard and ready for me. No underwear hinders the path of my hands as I slip his pajama pants down over his hips. The length of his cock springs forth and I wrap my hand around the base, squeezing tightly before I pump my hand over the fullness of him, up and down.

I listen to him groan against my neck as he continues to kiss me. He moves down over my shoulder and to my breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth and rolling his tongue over it. Then, catching it between his teeth, he tugs hard, and I gasp.

“Sir,” the word is drawn from me by his teeth as he continues to do the same, again on the other breast, then back and forth between them.

All the while, I continue to pump his length in my hand, slowing my pace as I run the head of his cock up and down my slit, coating him with my wetness. When I hear him groan again, I wrap my legs around his hips and lift myself from the bed, trying to slip him into my waiting center.

“No. You’re supposed to tell me what to do, remember? I’m still here, following your last command to kiss you. What now, kitten? Done with my kisses? What’s next?”

Looking directly into my eyes, Alec smiles. I see a glint in his and I know he is enjoying our slow love making, having fun toying with me. But I need him, hard and fast. I want him buried deep inside me. Blocking out the memories of every man before him.

“Please, I need you inside me, sir. Now.” When I say the words, he pushes forward between my legs and the head of his cock slowly parts my lower lips. When I toss my head back at the feeling of him sliding into me, he buries his face in my neck at the same time that he continues to kiss my skin, now afire with sensations I can’t control.

I whine at the tedious pace with which he slides into me, then out again. Kissing me on the end of the nose once, then running the tip of his nose up over mine, Alec continues to tease me. Never filling me completely, only just once does he slide halfway into me before he withdraws to the tip again.

“What’s wrong, kitten? I’m giving you what you want. You said you wanted me inside you. I am.”

“I want you to make me come. I want you to bury your cock deep inside me and fuck me, then rub your fingers over my clit and make me come on your cock.” He tosses his head back, laughing at me, as I growl the words at him.

“There she is, there is my kitten.” He pounds forward into me now and I gasp at the feeling of fullness having his erect cock deep inside me. “See, was that so hard to say?”

Picking up his pace, he pounds into me harder. Bringing me right to the edge of orgasm before he slows, smiling down at me. Alec knows exactly what he is doing. I love him and hate him for it at the same time. Getting lost in his touch, I relax and let him make love to me slowly. Alec’s hands on my body are soft and gentle, not in any way demanding of me. I get now what he was doing, not rushing me into it. Letting me take the lead and then doing only what I tell him I need.

“Sir,” I say, gasping out the word. “Alec, please. I need you. Show me who I belong to.” When our eyes meet, he nods and smiles at me.

“I’m right here, kitten, you’re mine. Only mine.” His words pull apart the thin control I had on my senses and I tighten around his cock deep inside me.

***

Alec.

I can feel Sam relax under me and I drive forward into her further, harder, and faster. I don't want to push her to the limit, yet. When I feel her inner walls clench down around me, I slow my pace again. The throbbing in my dick is intense and I need to own her, show her she is mine. Not letting my need push me to push her, I take a deep, steadying breath, drop my head to her neck and breathe in her scent. The lavender soap she used in the shower last night still lingers on her skin.

“Kitten,” I purr the word in her ear, “come for me.” Speeding up as I ride her body with mine, I growl at her, “Now!”

As I feel her tighten around me again, I slide my hand down her body between us, being mindful of the still tender, healing skin. Reaching her hip, I feel the curve of her thigh and continue lower. Brushing my fingertips over the curls on her pubic mound, I dip two fingers in and find her bud. My prize, what I was searching for. Pushing down gently and rubbing small circles over it, I know when she is close and her velvety walls tighten on me more, pulsing with her pleasure as she comes on me.

The rush of moisture between her thighs is glorious and I toss my head back, laughing at what I have accomplished. “There you are, ride it for me,” I command her as Sam wraps her legs around my waist and grinds herself onto me, pinning my fingers on her clit and rubbing it against my pubic bone as we make love. Pushing deeper into her another time, I don’t stop my motion with my fingers, wanting to drive her over the edge again.

“Again,” I tell her as I look into her eyes, they’re glossy and I know she is still coming down from one orgasm as I bring her to the brink of another.

“Yes, sir.” Her voice is low and husky as she calls out my name then, “Alec!”

It is the sweetest thing I have heard in all my years, my name on her lips. When I see her white teeth catch her bottom lip between them, I smile. Jealous of them, wanting to hold her lip between my teeth, I lower my head to hers and run my tongue over her bottom lip. When she releases her grip on it, I take it in mine and snap at her. Capturing her lip in my mouth and sucking on it, the taste of the strawberries still in her mouth is sweet.

When I sit back, pulling her with me so she is still on top of me, straddling my waist, I reach behind Sam to the plate still sitting on the bed. Taking a strawberry and dipping it in the cream, I raise it to her lips and watch as they, swollen and wet from my kisses, close around it. Taking the end of it in her mouth, she lets out a quiet sigh. I pull her to me and close my mouth over hers, tasting the whipped cream spread over her bottom lip and nipping at it again.

“You taste amazing.” I let the words settle around us as I continue to kiss her. My tongue enters her mouth and I taste the strawberry still there. “Look at me.” Brushing my hand over her forehead and pushing the hair from her eyes, I coax her to open them and look at me. When she does, she smiles, and the small crinkle of her nose makes me smile, too. Brushing my nose over hers, I feel the chill in it and kiss her.

***

Sam.

Alec is sitting up in bed. As he wraps his arm around my waist, he slowly raises and lowers me down onto him. Being on top of him, he slides so deeply into me that I feel him pushing at the entrance of my womb. I grind myself onto him, shoving my heels into the bed for leverage and riding him. I arch my back. When his hand twists into my hair and pulls my head back, exposing my neck to him, Alec closes his mouth onto my skin, his tongue tracing over the hollow in my neck where the heart pendant lies against me. The warmth I feel in the metal from it being closed in his hot mouth moves through my body down to my sex and the feeling makes me fly higher.

“Thank you.” I smile again and close my hands on his cheeks, pulling him to me, kissing him deeply and still tasting the sweetness of the fruit we shared. “I want you to come for me, sir, make me yours. Come for me.” As I tell him this, I grind myself down on him again. The arm still wrapped around my waist pulls me from him and he releases me, dropping me down onto his cock again.

“Yes,” I say, hissing out the word against his lips. “I’m going to come.”

“Touch yourself. I want to watch you make yourself come on my cock while you ride me, kitten.” Releasing my hair and using both of his hands on my hips, he pistons me up and down over his hard length as I slide my hand down between us and find my clit. Stroking it, bringing myself to the brink, I squeeze my eyes closed.

“No, open them. I want to watch you. I want to see it in your eyes when you’re about to explode around me. Watching you, feeling you, all of it, kitten, give me all of you.” Doing what I’m told, I slowly open my eyes again and meet his gaze.

I match my pace to his as he helps me to ride him. The buzzing in my ears is turning into a loud roar as the thrill spreads through me again. “I’m going to come,” I tell him softly, not breaking eye contact.

“Me too, kitten, hold on,” he commands me and I do as I’m told, holding on as long as I can. Feeling him piston in and out of me, my body pounds against his, the sounds of our lovemaking mixing with our moans filling the room with nothing but our grunts. Feeling his cock swell inside me, I tighten around him and rub myself faster, applying firmer pressure.

“Almost there, kitten. Fuck,” Alec rumbles and I can feel him blow inside of me just as I come around him. We are still and I rest my head on his shoulder, panting loudly.

“I’m yours.” The words escape my lips and his thumb rubs over the pendant around my neck and he nods his agreement.

“Mine.” The word makes me glow from within and I smile at him, knowing true happiness now. I recognize the look in his eyes, and it frightens me for only just a moment. The fear of losing it settles to the surface and I know what I’m seeing in them. Love.

***

Later, we lounge on the couch in the living room, a fire roaring in the stone fireplace. I watch Ocoee curled on the hearth, sleeping deeply. Still recovering from his wounds, my wounds. Donnie sits in a chair across from us as we sit in comfortable silence, waiting for what I’m unsure. I will know it when it comes.

That is when there is a knock at the door and I watch Donnie rise and go to answer it. Noticing how tense his back is, and the bunched muscles under his shirt make me nervous for who may be on the other side. I don’t think they would bring him here, allow him to be here. Alec picks up on my fear and squeezes my hand.

“It’s okay. You’re safe, Sam. Relax, it is just Finn,” Alec reassures me.

Shaking my head, I clear my mind of the doubts that I let creep in and turn my eyes back to Ocoee, his movement catching my eye. I see him stand and cross to the front of the couch, putting himself between us and whoever is about to enter the cottage. Alec pats him on the back.

“Easy there, old boy. It’s fine. You two are on a hair-trigger.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I widen them to say, what do you expect? His low chuckle tells me he thinks we are in fact safe, and I trust him, so I breathe and let my heart rate slow. I watch Donnie step aside and lead Finn into the room. The two men take the empty seats across from the couch and I listen as Alec tells him about the events of the night before, filling in the gaps in my memories with what Ocoee has told him. Finn remains quiet for a long moment before he opens then closes his mouth.

“He is still on the lands, but I lost him in the night. Can you help me track him, Alec? Anything we can use to find him and end this today?” Finn’s hands are in fists in his lap and I know he is dreading what he is about to have to do. However, I can see the acceptance on his face, the knowing that he has no other options left. Colin has driven us to this point.

“I’ll need something, something of his.” Alec’s words to Finn leave me thinking, but I wait and hold off on my information.

“I have nothing. When he came to the keep, he didn’t have any bags. Left nothing behind.” Rubbing his hand over his face, I see him turning it over in his mind, trying to come up with the one thing we need to help us find him on the acres of land.

“I have something,” I say as I rise from the couch and leave the room. When I reach the bedroom, the fire has long since burned out. But I see it lying on top of the ash and burned pieces of wood in the fireplace, the last bits of burned and frayed leather, the metal buckle still fully intact.

Reaching in carefully, I test to make sure it is not hot. While still warm to the touch, I can pick it up out of the fireplace. My skin crawls as I close my fist around the piece of it that remains. Quickly, I make my way back to the living room and walk straight for Alec. He holds out his hand to me and I drop it into his.

When he looks up at me and his eyes meet mine, I know they are full of tears. I wipe my hands on my pants, trying to rid myself of the evil feeling that slithers through my skin from touching the offensive thing. But I don’t break our eye contact. He looks down at the object in his hand, quickly jerking his head back up to meet my gaze again. I nod once, then shake my head. Unwilling to give him any further explanation right now.

“It’s something that belongs to him, something he feels he owns.” I spit the words at them as I turn and sit back on the couch, my back straight and stiff, unable to relax now that I have brought the memories back to the surface. I jerk when I feel Alec’s hand on my back, then quickly let him infuse me with his calm. He motions to my neck, and I reach up slowly, placing my fingers on the pendant there.

“Mine,” he mouths the word to me. The other two men in the room are oblivious to the exchange between us, or at least pretend to be for our sake.

“This will work.” Alec’s jaw is tight when he says the words and he slips the piece of Colin’s collar into his pocket. I watch as he, too, wipes his hand on his pants, trying to free himself of the same offense I felt by touching the thing. “Donnie, stay here with Ocoee and Sam. Finn and I will go and put an end to this.” Donnie nods and Ocoee growls.

I will not sit by and let you fight this battle alone. Ocoee’s voice fills my mind and I watch Alec turn to him.

“No, you have no powers left. You’re still weak and healing. You, too, will stay here.” The commanding tone in his voice tells me he means what he says.

I am still your elder. I will do as I damn well please.

Finn and Donnie exchange a look between them, and I know that they too hear the conversation in their minds. Alec doesn’t push the topic further. I feel he knows that there is no point. Ocoee is beyond reasoning with on this topic. I can tell by the look in the dire wolf’s eyes, he means it when he says he will go. Invited or not.

***

Alec “Do you have a map of the lands we can use to scry?” I ask Finn as I stand and pace the room. The offensive piece of the collar that was intended for Sam shifts in my pocket and the feeling is unsettling. While we need the thing to find Colin, I would rather it didn’t exist, and I can tell from the state of it she feels the same.

“In the library at the keep. Let's go get it now.” Still hesitant to leave Sam here, I stop and look at her. She nods at me.

“Go, this needs to end today and you’re losing daylight faster than any of us would like.” The strength of this woman astounds me, and I am in awe of her at this moment. To face what she went through and come out on the other side stronger than she was before is incredible.

“Let’s go,” I tell Finn. Then lean down over Sam to kiss her, then turn to the door.

Closing the door behind us, I cross to the car and climb behind the wheel, waiting for Finn to get into the passenger seat so we can head to the keep. The drive is somber. Both of us know we plan to end his brother’s life before the day is through, and I cannot imagine what he is feeling right now. Ocoee is settled in the back seat, determined to come with us.

“Tell me if you need me to do this, Finn, honestly. If you need me to be the bad guy so you don’t spend the rest of eternity hating yourself. I’ll do that for you.” When I glance at him, the angry look in his eyes tells me I was wrong to suggest it.

“You wouldn’t do it for me. You would do it for you and Sam, and you have every right to do so. I would do the same.” When he turns to look back out the window, his anger has dissipated. “I have to do this for my pack. I’m the Alpha. I can’t have someone come here and challenge me and let that challenge go unanswered. This isn’t just about you.”

“I understand. I’m sorry I offended you with my suggestion. I simply wanted to make this easier on you if I could.” Gripping the steering wheel, I pull to a stop outside of the front door of the castle.

“Nothing about this is going to be easy, and I suspect nothing could or would make it any easier.” The truth in his words hurts me. I do not want to kill another man but want and must are two entirely different things.

We exit the car and climb the castle steps. “I’ll be back.” Finn leaves me standing by the front door. As I watch him cross the grand hall and climb the steps, I look around the open space, still as in awe of it as I was on Christmas day when I first stepped inside. The past weeks have flown by and been incredible, bringing Sam into my life, along with other new friends and new enemies who now must be dealt with. I see Finn come back down the stairs with Melody and Summer in tow.

“The two of them are going to go up to the cottage.” He motions to them and hands Melody a set of keys.

“This way,” Finn says as he leads me to the library off the main hall.

When we enter, I look around at the bookshelves, and the faded chairs near the fireplace. Waving my hand, I light a fire for us. Hopefully, this will not take long. But it may and I’d rather be warm during the time we wait. Finn opens the drawers of his desk, searching for the map I need. Crossing the room, I reach into my pocket and pull out the remains of the collar and toss it onto the desk just as he produces the map.

From my other pocket, I produce a crystal pendant needed in order to scry. Laying the map out flat on the top of the desk, Finn looks up at me for instructions. Ignoring him, I go about my business and position the pendant and collar just so.

***

Sam.

It was around noon when I watched Finn and Alec leave. Ocoee left shortly after them, heading in the direction of the field behind the cottage. Now there is a soft knock at the door and Donnie stands.

“I’ll get it. You stay put,” he says. I try to shift from the couch, but he holds his hand out to me and is already at the door before I can get up.

“Hey,” I hear Summer’s voice and see her raise up on her tiptoes to kiss Donnie. He lets her in and Melody follows behind.

“Hey, Chica,” Melody says as she crosses to me, Donnie closing the door behind them. The four of us settle into the living room and wait.

The silence is deafening. For a long while, we all just sit and stare at each other. None of us knowing exactly what to say to the others. The surreal ness of the day seeps into the room and at last, we all relax. No longer waiting for the other shoe to drop. That’s when I hear it. The howl of a wolf behind the cottage. I jump up and run to the bedroom. Looking out the back window, I see Colin standing in the field. Ocoee stands between him and the cottage. A car pulls to a stop about one hundred yards from them.

Watching as Finn and Alec step out, I see Finn shift and run for his brother, I squeeze my eyes closed.

This is it. I think. This is the end. The howling starts again and I open my eyes. Summer, Melody, and Donnie have joined me in the bedroom.

“We can’t just stay here and watch. We have to do something,” I tell them.

“You can and you will. They left me in charge of you, and you will keep your ass right here where I can see you.” Donnie’s words are harsh, and I wince at the truth in them. If I got in the way now, I would only be a distraction, hindering more than helping them.

Summer and Melody each take one of my hands in theirs and squeeze them gently as we watch the scene unfold. Alec throws his hand out towards the wolves and Colin is thrown to the ground. Ocoee runs forward, going for his throat at the same time that Finn reaches him. The window shakes with the impact of the two wolves hitting the ground.

I can hear snarls from outside the cottage, and I wonder what brought them here for the final fight. I realize I already know the answer. They were tracking Colin and Colin was tracking me, coming here for me again. Watching the wolves fight, I see the green and purple magic bursting forth from Alec’s palms as he aids Finn and Ocoee.

Watching in horror as they continue to battle before me, I keep my feet locked in place. Alec’s magic is having little effect on Colin. No matter how much he hits him with, Colin gets right back up. There is a buzzing in my ears and my heart is racing. I have a bad feeling. I know this will not end well.

The three wolves continue to snarl and snap at each other. Finn gets in the way just as Alec shoots another blast of magic toward Colin and he gets pushed to the ground. I hear Melody gasp and feel her hand in mine, digging into the skin. Alec takes the chance to charge toward Colin just as the werewolf turns to face him. The two glare one another down as they close the space between them.

More magic flies and I hear Colin yelp as it assaults him again and again as Alec gets closer to him. I realize too late that Colin is not stopping. He isn’t being held back by the blasts of magic at all. He is going to take down Alec, going to collide with him any moment and then there will be nothing stopping him from killing him.

My hands fly to my face, tears soak my cheeks, and I can’t breathe. Can’t see. Everything inside me hurts and I need to get to them. Need to stop them, somehow, some way I need them to see reason.

Finn gets back up off the ground and circles around behind his brother just as Colin lunges for Alec. Ocoee throws himself in front of him, and I scream. It’s blood curdling. Melody and Summer’s hands are on me, trying to turn me away from the window. Attempting to keep me from watching as it all unfolds before my eyes. Alec uses both hands together, magic erupting at the same time Colin snatches Ocoee in his massive mouth.

Ocoee rolls away from Colin, and his white fur is red with blood. My heart aches for him. Without his powers, he is a mere dire wolf fighting with werewolves twice his size. I throw open the window as I see Finn again go down and Colin rises onto all fours behind Ocoee.

“Ocoee!” I scream his name, but it is too late. Colin’s jaws close around his neck and he shakes him like a rag doll, tossing him to the side. Ocoee’s body slides to a stop closer to the cottage. I lunge through the window, my bare feet hitting the icy cold ground as I run to him.

“Sam!” I hear all three of my friends yell from inside the cottage. Ignoring them, I take off towards Ocoee.

As I run, I watch Colin turn his attention back to Alec, rush him and snap at him the same as he did Ocoee. He isn’t in there anymore, our friend. This beast here in the field is nothing but a cursed monster, just as he always said he was.

I can hear Donnie’s booted feet hitting the ground behind me and I know he has followed me through the window. I am beyond caring. I need to reach my friend; he needs my help.

“Sam!” Hearing Alec call my name, I stop next to Ocoee and stoop over him. “Sam!” I hear him scream again and look up from Ocoee toward Alec.

Distracted by me, Alec turns his back to Colin and my eyes are wide as I watch the wolf tower over him. Reaching my hand out to him, my shout is cut off as Colin swipes Alec across the back with razor claws. Blood splatters to the ground and Alec crumples forward.

When Alec hits the ground with Colin on top of him, I’m frozen, suspended in time. I can’t watch this, can’t see it happen. I’m going to lose them all. Colin to the madness, Alec to Colin, and Ocoee as he bleeds out in front of me.

A howl breaks through the din of the fighting and I look past him to see Finn with Colin on the ground. Colin’s eyes are trained on me. The deep brown color they used to be before the darkness took him over.

Child, I hear Ocoee’s voice flow into my mind. I turn my attention down to him. Tears are pouring down my face at the sight of his broken body. Take care of him for me. He loves you, you two are all that each other has now.

Crying, I rest my hands on his sides. They come away from his fur bloody and I hear an animalistic sound escape my throat.

No! No! Ocoee! I call into his mind, trying to reach him. Please, no! I’m wailing, pressing my face to his side. I feel his labored breath come to a halt, and then I let out a scream.

***

Alec.

I hear Sam’s scream. The sound ripped from her throat is sheer pain and I know what it means.

Ocoee. I call to him, trying to search for him in my mind. But he is nowhere to be found. He is gone. Finn still has Colin on the ground and I fire another round of magic at his side, trying to keep him there. I see him looking directly at Sam as she rises and runs toward the two werewolves.

“You killed him, you son of a bitch!” she is screaming as she runs toward them. Struggling to get my broken body off the ground, I rise and break into a sprint, trying to intercept her just as Donnie reaches her and wraps her in his arms, pulling her to the ground with him.

When I reach the two on the ground, she is sobbing uncontrollably and Donnie hands her over to me. I collapse forward with her. My back torn open and bleeding, I feel lightheaded and barely able to focus on the woman in my arms.

I hear growls from behind me as the two brothers continue to fight. A loud yelp fills the air, and the sound of cracking bones follows it. The silence tells me it is over. Looking back over my shoulder, I see Finn standing next to his brother’s lifeless human form. I try to stand, but fall to my knees on the ground next to Sam.

Donnie bends and puts his arm on my shoulder, reaching over and lifting Sam. Then allowing me to use his arm to haul myself up off the ground. The three of us make our way slowly back toward the cottage, away from the solemn scene behind us.

***

Finn.

While I have Colin on the ground beneath me, I try to reason with him, get him to listen to me in his mind about this. Sam’s screams fill the air and he tenses.

Get off of me, you son of a bitch. She is mine! The monster that was once my brother roars beneath me and I look into his eyes. They’re dark pits of anger, hate, and dark magic now. Colin is gone.

Closing my jaw around his neck, I jerk and hear the snapping of bones. The debilitating feeling in my chest takes over as I watch him shift back to his human form. I do the same and stand next to him, looking down over his broken body.

“I’m so sorry, brother,” I tell him softly, bending to rest my hand on his still warm cheek. “You left us no other choice.” The years he spent thinking he was cursed and hating what he was, turned him into a monster, he only needed something to trigger it in him.

Sam was that something, unfortunately by the time she came along, I fear it was already too late. He had been hating himself for decades. I turn and watch Donnie pick Sam up from the ground next to Ocoee’s body. Alec, following along, his back shredded from Colin’s attack on him.

***

Alec.

I follow Donnie, leaving Ocoee behind. By the time we reach the front door, Melody and Summer are opening it for us. I take Sam inside. She is still keening like an injured animal, and I know she won't recover from this as well as she did the night before. Her own injuries will be easier to heal from than the pain of losing our trusted friend and guide.

When I turn and see Finn standing in the doorway, I see the dark look in his eyes and know that he, too, will not recover from this day. Melody falls into his arms, and he hugs her tightly. Donnie puts Sam down on the couch and sits with Summer in the chair across from the couch, the six of us all silently mourning the loss of those we love.