Chapter Sixteen
Dain
Tan made that face again, and I growled, loud, deep, and long.
“Tan. If that was Garrick inside there, you can’t tell me you’d be okay with standing out here. You’d be in there, by his side, in a fucking heartbeat. Let me through.” When he still hadn’t moved to open his shield, I growled out, “I need to get to my viramore. Now!”
Tan jumped, then shook himself out. “I’m sorry. You’re right. And he… hopefully you’ll be immune to the… snowstorm. Or something. I dunno.”
“Tan.”
“Okay, okay. Fuck. Don’t die.”
I wasn’t planning on it.
He gulped in a breath, nodded, and moved his arm up before slashing it down.
Right in front of me, a tear opened up in his shield just enough for me to slip inside.
My eyes immediately began to water from the onslaught of wind and snow.
I was covered in a layer of snow after only a step or two, so I raised my arm in front of my face to try to block everything out.
There was ice flying everywhere, and for one second, I doubted my ability to reach Lanche before I really was torn apart by the ice and wind.
But then I paused and looked around.
Sure, the wind and snow were hitting me, but… but the ice was flying right past me, over me, around me. Not a single sliver of ice hit me as I stepped forward.
That had to prove that Lanche was still in there, didn’t it? He was protecting me as much as he could.
Right?
Taking a breath, I pushed forward another step.
Everything was white, but I didn’t need to see to find Lanche, did I?
If I would’ve been thinking more clearly earlier, I could’ve found Lanche without Tan’s help.
All I had to do was follow my connection to him.
Maybe he wasn’t in control of himself or his magic, but no one and nothing was stronger than a viramore bond.
So closing my eyes, I concentrated on the newly formed bond Lanche and I shared. It took a moment to find the silvery thread, but once I did, it seemed to flare to life, almost growing stronger before my eyes.
I took a breath, kept my eyes shut against the storm, and followed the silvery cord.
The wind was so strong, it was difficult to move, but I was a werewolf.
I had a strength of my own that no human possessed.
It felt like wading through thick mud, but I pushed myself through the foot-tall snow and howling wind, using my were magic to the best of my abilities to put one foot in front of the other.
Then another step.
And another.
And another.
Finally, after what felt like years of walking through a blizzard, I could tell I was close to Lanche, so I opened my eyes and found my one true soulmate only three feet away.
“Lanche!” I yelled over the wind, but there was no reaction, no acknowledgement.
“Lanche!” I stepped closer, and my snow yeti’s gaze didn’t move from over the top of my head.
“Avalanche!” Still nothing, so I moved closer. “Avalanche! Lanche!”
I moved closer still until there was only inches between me and his chest. But he didn’t look down.
“Avalanche Rudolphus, I’m gonna need you to snap the fuck out of it and come back to me. Okay?”
When he didn’t move even a muscle, my heart clenched, and I felt tears threaten to fall again. But I pressed on. There had to be a way for him to gain control again. There had to be.
Fuck. Please, baby. Please, come back.
I never thought I could miss a person who was standing right in front of me, but in that moment, I did. I missed the way Lanche always smiled and blushed whenever I caught his eye. I missed his sweet laughter. I missed his gentle touch, his tender being, his amazing, wonderful, beautiful self.
Fuck, I missed everything about him. My poor, sweet, snow yeti.
My eyes watered. I needed him. I needed him like I needed the air to breathe.
“Lanche… I… I need you. Please. If you don’t stop this, I’m afraid the king will have to… do something to stop you, and I can’t have you hurt. I won’t let them hurt you. I promise. I just… I need you, Lanche. Please. Please come back to me.”
He still didn’t respond, and a sob came out of my chest before I could stop it.
Without thinking, I fell into his chest and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his soft fur as I cried.
“Please… please, Lanche. Come back to me. Please.”
With everything I was, I pushed everything, my senses, my adoration, my love, toward my viramore, praying that some part of it would get through. Praying that if I couldn’t have him back, maybe he could at least feel how much I cared about him.
Because I knew he was in there. He had to be.
A blast of greens and reds came out of my chest, and I gasped as I watched it move toward my viramore.
Holy shit. My magic… it was here… it was trying to help me.
I gasped in surprise, hope filling me up as I concentrated on that magic.
Even though I normally couldn’t feel my own magic—it normally just felt like extra strength and stronger senses to me—I could feel it now as it reached out to its mate, to my Avalanche.
My magic ran along our silvery bond, searching for him, reaching out to my one true love.
At first, nothing happened, and I collapsed into him, crying and begging. I probably got snot all over his pretty fur, but after several minutes that felt like they lasted an eternity, I finally felt a small… tingle that wasn’t my own magic.
I froze. “Lanche?”
He still didn’t move a muscle. It was like hugging a stiff, strong, and soft statue. But there was… something. Like part of him, whatever part wasn’t being controlled by some dickhead, was trying to find me too.
“Avanlanche Snowball Rudolphus, I order you to come back to me. Right now.”
With all of my might, I pushed my own sense of self, the part of me that was made of magic, the werewolf side of myself, out toward him in one huge blast of magical energy.
An oomph came out of me as I felt it collide with… with something. With something that felt like a frosty morning filled with sunshine. With contentment.
With happiness.
With Lanche.
“Lanche!” I yelled, partial sob, partial excitement. “Please, Lanche!”
As I held my snow yeti tight, I felt his chest exhale loudly, and then his arms twitched as if they were fighting some invisible force that didn’t want him to move.
“Come on, baby. You can do it.”
Finally, finally, his arms came around me, and he sort of sagged against me.
“Lanche! Oh my Mother, baby, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me.”
He breathed out, then buried his face in the crook of my neck and inhaled, his body trembling in my arms. “Dain.”
Another sob wracked my body, and I held him tighter. “Lanche. Oh fuck, you’re okay. You’re here.”
He nodded, and I felt the wind around us come to a sudden stop, the snow and ice in the air disappearing as if they’d never been there. “I’m here. I’m here.”
I cried, a mixture of happy and leftover-terror tears. “Fuck, I was so scared. I was so fucking scared.”
His arms tightened around me. “You brought me back. I’m okay now.”
I nodded against him, and we stood there simply holding each other for a long time.
He was back. My big sweetie brute was back, and I was never going to let anyone take him away from me again. Ever.
“You’re staying with me forever now, just so you know.”
He snorted quietly, clearly worn out and exhausted. “I like that idea.” After a few minutes, he asked, “You know Snowball isn’t my middle name, right?”
I snorted. “It was a good guess, though.”
He chuckled quietly and kissed my neck. “Thank you for coming.”
I leaned back and glared up at him. “Of course I fucking came. Did you really think I’d let you be taken over by some selfish, horrible, evil asshole? No fucking way.”
His gaze turned fond as he cupped my cheek with one of his big furry hands. “I know.”
“You better.” I gave him a small push that was more like a nudge, especially since I just pulled him closer.
He snorted, then leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. “I love you, my sweet and grouchy werewolf.”
I snorted but met his gaze. “And I love you, my big and beautiful snow yeti.”
His gaze softened further, and he leaned down for another kiss before he gasped in pain. “Mphphpmm. Holy crapola.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
His shocked eyes met mine, wide and filled with something like wonder. “It’s… it’s back.” He looked down at his chest, and I followed his gaze.
“What do you…” I trailed off as I watched in fascination.
Lanche’s chest glowed a bright blue, pulsing with his heartbeat. I was scared something was wrong for a few seconds before I realized the shape of the glow was one of an icicle.
My eyes shot up to his. “It’s back? Your icicle?”
He nodded, still looking mystified.
Before I could stop him, Lanche placed his hand over his heart, and I could feel him push with his magic.
Slowly, the icicle poked out of his fur, coming right out of his chest and into his hand.
Thank goodness it passed through his skin without leaving even a tiny mark behind—yay for magic. That could’ve been horrific.
But… now it was out in the open again.
What the actual fuck?
I gasped and pushed on his hand. “What are you doing? Oh my Mother, Lanche, put it back. Please, baby, put it back.”
To my horror, Lanche held the icicle out to me. “It belongs to you now.”
“What?” I pushed his hand away from me. “No fucking way. I already lost it once. I’m not going to be responsible for it again. No way.”
“You didn’t lose it. Someone stole it from you.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, not any better. And now that everyone in the entire territory has seen what you can do, it’ll be in even more danger. Put it back. Now.”
He shook his head, grabbed my hand, placed the icicle in it, and curled his fingers around mine, folding them between both his hands. “It doesn’t… fit anymore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I love you, and you love me, so my icicle is yours. Forevermore.”
I shook my head, my eyes tearing up again. “I can’t. Lanche… please. I can’t. I… I can’t. Wh-what if someone steals it again?”
He sent me a soft smile and cupped my cheek so I’d look up at him. “You love me?” I nodded. It wasn’t a question. Not anymore. I loved him with my whole heart, and he could feel it through our bond. “Then place it where no one can ever take it from you.”
My brow furrowed. “What? That doesn’t even make any—”
He cut me off by placing his hand over my heart. “Right here.”
I blinked. What the… “I can, like, push it into my chest?”
He nodded.
“Won’t it hurt?”
He shook his head. “Nope. It’s magic.”
That… wasn’t a great explanation considering my transformation was magic, and yet, it always hurt, but… I figured he’d know better than anyone.
“Why would I be able to…” I trailed off when he lifted an eyebrow. “Right. Because I’m your viramore.”
“Yep. Exactly. Go on.” He waved me on, and all I could do was stare at the icicle.
“Do I just… push it in?”
He nodded. “Think about me as you do it, and it should slide right in.”
“Well, that shouldn’t be too difficult considering you’re all I think about anyway.”
That made him grin. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Then I held the icicle up to my chest right above my heart, looked at my snow yeti, and thought My Mother, I love him more than anything in the world.
With an ease I didn’t expect, the icicle slid right into my chest, taking my breath away for a few moments. And he was right. It didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it felt good.
Right.
Like it was always meant to be there.
I took a breath, shaking myself out as his wonderful magic that was just as beautiful as he was secured itself into place, settling there like it was always meant to be. And… well, considering he was my viramore, it was.
Lanche leaned in and whispered, “And now you can use my magic any time you want.”
I blanched. “I’m not going to control you, Lanche! What the hell!”
He chuckled. “No, sweetheart, you can use my magic the way I would. With my icicle inside your chest, you can use magic yourself. You don’t have to go through me.”
My eyes widened as I stared up at him in shock. “You… but… but… what?”
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about that right now. I think we have other things to worry about first.”
I grimaced because he was right. We had a lot of other shit to worry about before I had to think about every way possible to keep Lanche’s icicle safe inside me. Forever.