Chapter 22
Ciara
Holy shit. I’d done it. Somehow, I was standing on pack lands as a wolf.
And I was looking into Conri’s wolf eyes as he stared at me.
Almost too late, I remembered my manners, and I lowered myself to the ground, writhing on my belly in front of him, submitting to my alpha like I’d never been able to submit before.
He raised a massive paw and placed it on my head, pinning me to the ground under the weight of it.
But I wasn’t worried. This wasn’t violence or aggression.
It was acceptance.
Acceptance in a way no one in our pack had ever been able to accept me.
Did wolves cry? Hell. Maybe I wasn’t crying. Maybe Conri was.
When he lifted his paw, I glanced over my shoulder at Jason. Even when I hadn’t fully known him this morning, I’d been aware he was important, and I remembered so much more now. And this shift hadn’t hurt. It had been instinctive, the only thought in my head to protect what was mine.
Mine. That word sounded right in my head. It felt right as it rolled through my body.
But something else felt equally as right—the ruffle of my fur as the breeze played with it, and the tingle of my muscles as they ached with the need to run.
I yipped my excitement.
You ready? Conri’s voice echoed in my head, and I whimpered, cowering for a moment. Get up. It’s a pack ability. If wolves could smile, my brother was smiling now, his loopy grin lopsided and teasing.
I yipped again and snapped at his haunch before running off, the trees turning to blurs beside me as I raced down familiar paths I’d only ever wandered or jogged before.
The others weren’t wrong. This mode of transport clearly made patrol so much easier, and a wave of sadness threatened to crash over me at how much I’d missed so far in my life.
No wonder my inner wolf had been impatient all this time. No wonder I’d had such a love-hate relationship with the outdoors. It hadn’t simply been a call inside me. It had been a cry. Probably a fucking ugly one, too.
Conri chased me, close on my heels but never overtaking me, like he knew it was important for me to lead this one, like he understood that I wanted to see everything around me without having my nose in his ass as he ran ahead.
And it felt good to have him at my heel. If I’d needed protection, he was right there. He had my back. Just like he always had.
And now I could be everything I wanted to my brother. I was part of his pack.
I wouldn’t be a disappointment to any of them anymore. Well, unless I factored in that I was vampire now. That was probably worse than being half human.
I slowed my run when I reached the lake. This was where I’d first seen Jason. Where he’d first seen me. It was essentially where my fate and future were sealed.
I lay in a patch of sunlight and looked out of the gleaming water. It barely rippled today, even with the light breeze that still ruffled my fur now and again.
You okay? Conri’s voice was in my head again.
This is weird and intrusive.
He snorted a laugh. It was a sound he’d made often as a wolf, but I’d never really put it down to the funny thoughts they were all thinking at each other. I’d forgotten they could even do this weird mind thing before Conri had gotten in my head.
Hey.
I looked at him.
You okay? he repeated.
I nodded, still unused to the weight of my head in wolf form. It was as if my whole skeleton had become denser or my center of gravity had changed or something. I’m great, actually.
But you’re one of them. Even though he was wolf, I could see his shudder.
I know. There wasn’t anything else I could say. It feels right, Con. I couldn’t imagine being anything else. And look at the gift he gave me.
There was silence in my head while my brother gazed at me, seeming to take all of me in. Finally, he nodded, too. I see. It’s quite the gift for both of us.
I was about to reply when a sharp needle of concern pierced my thoughts. We should get back, I think. Jason’s worried about me.
Conri huffed a laugh again. He needn’t be worried. You’re with me. I should be the one who’s worried when you’re with that leech.
I rolled my eyes. Guys and their pissing contests.
But at least I had two men who loved me and would protect me no matter what. Not every woman was as lucky as me. Not every woman got to be both a vampire and a wolf shifter, either.
I stood, the movement still uneasy and a touch wobbly while I figured out where all of my limbs were. Four legs were certainly harder to coordinate than two.
Come on, slowpoke. I tossed the challenge over my shoulder as I took off back along the path. Race you.
Conri laughed behind me, but this time the sound echoed through my mind as he streaked past me, little more than an oversized blur of fur. I redoubled my efforts to catch him. I didn’t especially want him alone with Jason.
But as I moved my legs faster, they tangled, and I face-planted in the soft dirt. Within seconds, Conri was back at my side, and he shifted into his human form as he helped me up. Then together, we walked back to the house, his hand on my head as I padded along beside him.
“Jeez, dude.” Jason’s voice seemed loud when he first saw us. “Will you put it away? Allow a man to retain some personal delusions of grandeur.”
I laughed but didn’t take my gaze off my mate.
The nudity in the pack didn’t bother me—it never had, but it felt different now that I had a man of my own.
Which reminded me, I needed a blanket or something to cover up.
I hadn’t thought about my clothes when I’d shifted to prevent Conri taking Jason out.
“Ciara’s going to come into the house. She needs to shift in private so she can change. I don’t want every pup in the place ogling her. You coming inside?” Conri’s call to Jason was halfway civil, and I trotted to the top of the small set of steps and waited on the deck by the screen door.
Jason nodded his agreement and joined me as Conri opened the door. He went straight upstairs, and I followed him, diverting to my room as I heard him shout back down to Jason.
“Take a seat in the family room. I’ll be down to learn your intentions in a few.”
I bit back a smile. I could tell when my brother was only teasing, but I didn’t know if Jason could,
A short while later, we all met back in the family room, although instead of sitting, Jason was standing awkwardly where he could see the whole space. I walked over to him and stood on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you.” And I meant for everything. For claiming me, for gifting me my wolf, and for knowing when I needed a moment with my brother.
He nodded then turned his attention to Conri when he entered the room. Conri threw himself into one of the worn, overstuffed armchairs, and watched Jason like he could make him uneasy.
Except that wouldn’t work. There was no way to stare down a vampire, although I was sure plenty had tried.
I took Jason’s hand in mine. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have to introduce the two of you.”
Conri shook his head. “No, you really don’t. And I don’t remember my sister being part of my deal with Nic.”
“We made an amendment.” Jason glanced at me.
I rolled my eyes and squeezed his hand. Seriously, this whole interaction would go a hell of a lot better if neither of them talked.
“I’m making the transition to vampire.” The words were unnecessary, but maybe Conri needed to hear them anyway.
“Half vampire,” he corrected. “You’re a hybrid. I need to look back through our lore and see when the last one was. You got any information?” He looked sharply at Jason.
Jason shook his head.
“So you mean you just bit my sister with no knowledge of whether that action could kill her? I thought leeches didn’t bite wolves, anyway. I thought we tasted bad?”
Jason stared straight ahead, the only sign he was bothered by Conri’s words a slight tic under his eye. “What can I tell you, Conri? She tastes just fine?”
I squeezed Jason’s hand as embarrassment warmed my cheeks. That seemed a little too revealing of the things we'd done.
But Conri merely laughed. “Don’t tell the others. I don’t need any more vamps with a taste for shifter blood or you’ll decimate my pack.”
Jason laughed too, and I relaxed my grip. If the two of them were sharing a joke, we’d get out of here without bloodshed.
“We should probably get back.” Now that Conri had mentioned blood, my stomach gnawed uncomfortably, and that wasn’t part of my new lifestyle that I wanted to flaunt around my brother.
Conri stepped forward and opened his arms. “Thank you so much for showing me, Key.”
My eyes were suddenly blurry, and I swiped them with the back of my hand. “Of course I showed you. How could I not?”
The thing we’d both wanted most of our lives had happened. I could shift. I couldn’t imagine not sharing it with him.
“But you could have stayed away.” As I stepped into his arms, he glanced at Jason. “Thank you for helping her achieve this. Now you need to look after her.”
“Always.” Jason’s voice was a little rougher than usual, but I stood in my brother’s arms and absorbed everything it meant to be family.
I’d always have a place here. Now I simply had two places.
“I mean it.” Conri’s voice was gruff now as well, and I grinned.
“So do I.”
When I stepped back, Jason took my hand and smiled down at me.
“Nothing is more important than Ciara.”
“Agreed.” Conri nodded, but his declaration made me sad. He needed a mate of his own. Something more important than a sister.
We left the house on a wave of rushed words and a promise to come back and chat about the home on the land with the red wolves.
I still needed to talk to Jason about that, but perhaps now I was even better placed to be their caretaker.
Now I could run and see what they saw how they saw it.
I’d know all of the dangers and be able to fix them.
“Thank you.” I squeezed Jason’s hand as we approached the car.
He chuckled. “Anything for you.”
My stomach grumbled and he laughed again.