Chapter Fifty-Eight
Jay
Caleb clocks the mark on my neck instantly.
His chest and shoulders heave at the sight.
“He marked you?” Caleb stalks over and grabs the guy by his scruff just to toss him into a tree. He storms after his prey, growling. “You marked what’s mine?” Without giving this guy a chance to catch his breath, he pulls him up again to send him flying with another blow.
Caleb pounces on him again, pounding this guy’s face in until the guy is fighting for his life. His breathing is labored sounding more as a wheeze, but he’s still alive. I didn’t get a good look on the guy’s face, but I could never identify him now.
Caleb turns the male’s head to check his neck for a mark. When he doesn’t see one, he exhales a sigh of relief. Exhausted, he stands and slowly faces me.
“Are you okay?” he asks hoarsely.
Still too stunned that he’s here to speak, I nod.
Blood is splattered all over his face, neck, hands and chest. You would have thought it was war paint with how much blood he is covered in.
He holds the man’s neck in his grasp, ready to tear it clean off from his body.
I hold my hand up to stop him, while the other is pressed to my neck to stop the bleeding. “What’re you doing?”
He drops the body. “Are you choosing him?” He stands, and his fists clench. “If I don’t do this, then you’ll be tied to him. Is that what you want?”
I dig deep and find my voice, shaky as it might be. “No.”
He nods and picks the male back up by his neck.
Softly, I ask, “What’re you doing here?”
“I came for you,” he says.
“There’s nothing left to fight for. You practically said so yourself.”
“You think I’ll ever be done fighting for you?” Caleb snaps the wolf’s neck while staring directly into my eyes.
The wolf wheezes for a few beats until his heart stops. My mark sizzles and falls off in ashes.
“I’d burn the world down for you, Jay.” He stalks closer to me.
His words, although desirable, have a growl and menacing tone to them.
Oh, his words . . .
“You are the most delectable prey, created specifically for this hunter. Ever since I found you, I can’t smell, taste or think of anyone else.
I have tried to fight every instinct, but each time, I end up tracking you down.
” He laughs. “Every instinct leads me back to you, and I am powerless. I can track anyone and anything, but without you, I am forever lost.” He grabs my hands and cups them to his chest.
“But, the witches? What about the war? Your pack? They’ll take everything.”
He inches closer to me until he’s cupping my face.
Tears spring from my eyes, and he rubs them away with his thumbs.
“Not everything,” he breathes, staring deeply into me.
“They can have it all—my title, my pack . . . I won’t fight them for it.
There can’t be a war over territory if there’s no dispute.
They can have it all, as long as they leave me with you. ”
“But . . . The king, he—”
“Can do whatever he wants. And if he wants Bloodhound to stay intact so bad, then he can fight for it. I’ve always been one to choose my battles, and you are one I refuse to lose.”
I lick my lips and want to throw my arms around him and just accept everything he’s saying, but why now?
Before, it seemed like his hands were tied.
“I just don’t understand what’s changed.
Plus . . .” I scoff. “I–I don’t even know how to be a luna.
What if—” Caleb sinks to his knees in front of me. “What’re you doing?” I blink.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten on my hands and knees, praying for someone like you to come along.
I should have been praying that I’d be worthy of having you.
You are a natural luna. I wasn’t prepared for someone like you.
I played it safe and let pride get in the way, but I will spend every day showing you my unquestionable and unshakeable loyalty.
I will fight for you, and for us to my last breath.
Jay, if the world is still standing, you’ll know I’m not done fighting because I’d burn it all down for you. ”
I swallow the lump in my throat. Butterflies flutter in my stomach.
“I was scared to lose any time with you, but I realize now that no length of time with you will ever be enough. I don’t know what the future holds, and I don’t know what the consequences will be, but playing it safe doesn’t get me you.”
I swoon.
“They might come after us.”
“You mean me.”
“No, I don’t.
“You’re right,” I concede.
Caleb stares up at me, hanging on every word.
“I don’t need you.”
Caleb averts his gaze and hangs his head.
“I can protect and defend myself. I don’t need you to hunt for me. I know how to survive on the land. I don’t need you for any of that.”
Caleb nods.
“I know how to survive. But without you . . . I wouldn’t.”
He looks up at me.
I inhale. “Since I can remember, I’ve had to fight for my survival.
When I escaped and no longer had to, I stopped.
I stopped eating. I stopped trying.” I crouch and place my hand on top of his.
“None of my survival skills matter if I don’t use them.
And without someone like you to make sure I do—someone who makes sure I’ve had enough to eat that day”—I chuckle—“someone who cares enough about me to make sure that I am alive. Just because I can take care of myself, doesn’t mean I will. You make sure I do.”
He scrunches his eyebrows. “They might come after us. They could kill us.”
“I don’t care.”
“You might be running for the rest of your life.”
“Then we’ll run.”
“You’d be forced into situations where you’d have to fight, maybe even kill.”
He’s testing me. I could reassure him by saying I love him, but he needs more than that.
“I forgive you.”
He perks up, mouth agape. “What?”
“I forgive you.”
With a smile, I rest my forehead against his. “I choose to kill, to fight, to run. Of my own free will, I’d do it for you.”
There, on our knees, he grabs my face and captures my lips. Our tongues intertwine as he pulls me closer. I’m whimpering into his mouth, trying to catch my breath. Along with a whimper, a single tear escapes me.
He breaks our entanglement, and his lips trail from my jaw down to my neck, leaving sensual kisses in its wake. He sucks on my collarbone.
I claw at his back, aching for him to sink himself into me. To claim me.
Seconds later, he’s tugging at my clothes. “Take this off.”
At my undress, he tears off his shirt and covers me completely, claiming my mouth again. Our hands roam each other, but we aren’t close enough.
I unbuckle his pants and yank down his zipper. Together, we pull his shorts off.
“I need you. Please.”
“I know, baby. I’ve got you.” He places himself at my entrance and pushes in deep.
“Oh,” I cry out at his first thrust.
Every kiss, every touch, every thrust is pure possession. And, yet it still isn’t enough.
I can’t wait anymore. And I don’t have to. I pull his neck to my lips and suck at the soft spot, readying him for me.
“Jay. Mmm. Don’t tease me, baby.” He moans as he continues to thrust into me.
There are no tricks. No games. No fights left to be had except those we choose to face together.
I sink my canines into him, and the world slows. Colors become more vibrant.
My wolf surfaces, reaching out to connect with his. “Mate.”
He slows, but he continues to roll deep inside of me, like he wants to connect to every part of my innermost soul. He holds me a little closer and instinctively, sucks the same spot he did once before, then sinks his canines into me, claiming me as his.
His wolf speaks to me. “Mate.”
He comes inside me, and I come undone with him, tying us together forever.