Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Corbin
Snapping Death’s neck between my teeth, I release him and immediately turn in my mate’s direction to watch the light dim around her body, her body slumping to the ground as she falls.
I throw my head back and howl up at the dark sky, shift and rush to her side, dropping to my knees next to her and feeling for a pulse, only finding the faintest one. I can barely hear her heart beating, and it’s enough to make me want to lose my mind.
“How did she . . . how the fuck did she do that?” Justice gapes, coming to kneel on the other side of my mate. “She protected us from the blood witches and helped us kill them all.”
“Not all, some escaped,” Tucker muttered.
My brothers continue to talk, but I don’t pay them any heed. The only thing I can focus on is my mate and knowing if she dies, I’ll go with her. I can already feel my body waning in strength.
“We need to get her back home,” Dane declares.
“Maybe get her to the meadow and let her heal as she did the other time she passed out.” I nod at his suggestion and stumble to my feet, scooping her in my arms as I do so.
I won’t be seen as weak, not even in front of these shifters.
They’re my brothers, but I don’t give a shit.
At this moment in time, I can say I’ve all but been driven half mad between the blood lust of battle, killing, and knowing my mate was in danger.
Now she is dying, and I won’t see that happen here in this place.
It’s cold, and she needs warmth. To save her, I need to get her away from here and pray to those who might help her, as she’s done nothing but be selfless from the moment I met her.
To her, it’s about caring for others. Saving them. Giving to them as she can.
“You okay, Corbin?” Justice asks, watching me closely as the other two do as I demand.
“Not by a long shot.” The answer is the only one he’s going to get.
I’m not about to tell him that if my mate dies, as does my pup she’s carrying, I go with her.
A flash of light appears mere feet ahead of us ,and on the other side, I recognize it to be the meadow.
“What the fuck?” I growl, not having time to deal with bullshit games.
To my surprise my brother and Big Daddy step through it looking grim.
“Let’s go,” Big Daddy commands.
“How the hell did you do that?” Dane asks with a grunt.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cyrus snaps and looks to me, then down to Karsyn. “Harmony’s waiting in the meadow. You don’t have much time.”
“No shit,” I sneer and start in their direction, barely keeping myself from collapsing. My strength is draining away, and my mate’s life is nearly at the brink of flickering away.
Cyrus moves to my left side and Big Daddy to my right. Together, they helped me through the portal they came through. I’ll have to remember to ask how the hell they managed it if I live long enough.
“Lay her among the lavender and lilies,” Harmony commands timidly, or maybe nervously, the moment we’re all through and the portal seals closed.
Doing this, I drop down next to Karsyn, not having the strength to move farther.
“Corbin, you need to hold Karsyn’s hand. She’ll need the connection of the bond you two share to help,” Harmony murmurs, kneeling next to my mate.
I don’t bother asking questions. I simply do as she says and watch her closely as she closes her eyes and puts her hands, one to Karsyn’s chest, the other to her stomach.
She starts chanting, her voice similar to the way my mate’s was when I witnessed her enchanting the town to protect them, yet it holds a difference.
Long moments later, no other sound can be heard but Harmony’s voice, but as I watch Karsyn, her body begins to glow. Her lips part, and she rises, levitating just above. The only thing still connecting her is my grip on her hand.
“Come back to me, Syn,” I murmur through the link the two of us share. She hadn’t yet learned to communicate through it, but she’d always heard me before. I hope she does now. “I need you back, baby. Don’t leave me like this. Don’t take our child with you. Don’t leave Sage alone without me or you.”
Suddenly, Harmony stops, and a burst of flames consumes Karsyn and me.
“The fuck is that?” Big Daddy demands.
“How is it not burning them?” Justice asks.
Ignoring them and everyone else, I grin and stand, feeling my strength returning.
Reaching for Karsyn as she continues to stay hovering over the ground, I wrap her in my arms and pull her to me.
“That’s right, my beautiful Syn, come back.
” The flames grow brighter, and I lean in and press my mouth to hers, sensing her coming awake.
“We need to give them a moment,” Harmony remarks, but I barely hear her or anything else. My sole focus is on the woman in my arms.
Karsyn’s mouth opens under mine as I lower her to the ground and come over her, consuming her mouth, thrusting my tongue inside hers, taking from her what I need.
I reach between us ,jerk the hem of her dress up to her hips and unzip my jeans.
I release myself, find her entrance with the head of my cock, and plow inside her tight pussy.
A moan escapes her lips, and the dread I’d felt leaves my body completely.
My wolf merges with me, and together, we sink to the hilt inside her sweet heat.
For the first time, feeling her completely whole and not just within her soul.
The wolf has fully emerged within her, whereas she still hid a week ago.
Breaking my mouth from hers, I look down in time to see her eyes flutter open.
“Corbin,” she utters on nothing more than a breath.
“Fuck, Syn, you can’t do that shit again,” I growl, thrusting harder inside her, watching the pleasure burn in her eyes. “Never again, you understand me?”
“Yes,” Karsyn whispers, hands sliding up to wrap around my shoulders. “I only did it because of my love for you, and I know if anything happened to your brothers, you’d never forgive yourself. I did it for us.”
Fuck me. This woman of mine. My mate. My hybrid. My little witch. She’d do anything for those she cares about and do it selflessly.
With a growl, I lower my head to the crease of her shoulder and sink my teeth in, latching on to her just as the orgasm flows from her and her pussy tightens all the more, the muscles there squeezing my cock almost suffocatingly.
Several strokes later, my own releases barrels out of me, and for the first time ever, I feel the little teeth of my mate sink into my neck close to my shoulder.
Her bite prolongs the pleasure consuming us both, and I want nothing more than to keep us right here where we are, but there are still matters to attend to now that neither of us is dying.
Releasing Karsyn, I let out a breath, kiss the side of her neck, and lift to meet her gaze. “I hate to say it . . .”
“But you have more to do,” she finishes for me. “I know, but I want to be with you. I need to be with you. Please.”
“Baby, you ain’t out of my sight,” I inform her.
There’s no way I’m not keeping her close for the time being, and if anyone has a problem with this, they can get the fuck over it.
She’s more than earned her place at my side and the respect for those in this club.
“Now, let’s get moving before your brother’s and dad’s heads explode. ”
“Their heads can’t actually explode, Corbin.” She giggles.
“Doesn’t matter, baby, they need to see you, and I need to see to business. First up, finding out how the fuck my brother came through a portal and Harmony saved you.”
“Harmony has the gift of healing,” she answers.
“It’s the reason she’s your brother’s mate.
The bond they’ll share is as ours is, but where I conduct from the ground to help you and those around, she can heal from the ground, take the energies within the ground, and pour its healing powers within those who need it most. She saved me because in saving me, it saves you, and in doing that, saves Cyrus from losing himself.
” Taking a breath, Karsyn’s gaze clouds over, and she touches her fingers to my cheeks.
“Two brothers, rivals by choice but connected by blood. These two will face more challenges than they know, but if one goes, the other will be driven mad and in turn, follow the other.”
“What does that shit mean?” I ask, slowly pulling from her clenching pussy, stuffing my still hard cock in my jeans, and fixing her dress as I sit back.
“What it means, Corbin, is that whether you like it or not, your lives are intertwined. You die, he dies. And with his death, so will Harmony.”
“This shit is fuckin’ confusing as hell.” Shaking my head, I stand, bringing her with me. “Do they know about this?”
“Considering Harmony’s not only a hybrid as I am, she’s of the earth and the daughter of a seer, Corbin, she knows that and more,” Karsyn answers, brushing grass from her hair.
“It is not for me to say or to interfere, but know this, there’s more to come.
The danger isn’t over. Not for them. The Red Cap wants her, and Cyrus will have to face his battle and learn what’s important to him and what’s not. ”
Well, hell. That’s not what I expected to hear.
“Who the hell is the Red Cap?” I ask, cocking my head slowly, feeling my neck pop.
“Shh,” she whispers and closes her eyes, letting me see what she’d seen within Death while she’d been in a sealed room. The memories within the man who killed my mother.
I want to kill him all over again, but it’s done and over with.
There’s no going back, I have to go forward, and in doing so, it’s time to handle other things, for instance, the little matter of who brought the dead wolf to the clubhouse and finding out what Hummer is doing back in town.
She knew I would kill her, and I still will if it comes down to it.