“Shit shit shit. Is it coming back?” Darce tried to look behind them through the small window but couldn’t see anything apart from brush, low bushes and dirt screaming past.
“Keep going!” Jack bellowed. The driver didn’t need any encouragement. The engine roared as he pushed it harder and faster. Then, just when Darce didn’t think things could get any weirder, the crazy bastard driving cut the headlights.
“Fuck! Can you even see?”
“Don’t ask.” Palmer shook his head, his knuckles white as he held onto the seat to stop himself from rattling around. “Freaking weird shit happening all over tonight.”
Darce nodded, holding his breath in case the gunship came back. Seconds stretched out, becoming minutes and he slowly released a sigh of relief. They might just make it through tonight alive.
The humvee rumbled on through the darkness, leaving the death and the destruction of the camp behind. Head against Darce’s shoulder, Toni breathed a sigh of relief and let the motion of the vehicle and the warmth of her mate’s bigger body lull her into a light doze. She was still aware of everything going on around her—and of the other Lycans—but didn’t care. All she cared about was the man she loved and being held in his arms. Warm. Safe for now. There would come a point when they’d have to fight again but that was too far away to think about. For now, all she needed was him and some rest.
Because she was beat. Totally and utterly. No fight left in her. Her body was changing, had been since Darce had made her feed from him to heal her injuries. Who knew Lycan blood would have such a dramatic effect on her? Would change her so much into something else. A Hybrid. Not a Blood, not anymore.
She could feel the changes in her body. A new presence lurked deep within, nestled right next to her soul. Feral. Wild. Female. Was this how Lycans felt with their dual natures? Was this how their wolves felt within them? Because it was certainly a new entity—separate but inextricably linked to her.
She’d first felt its presence in the ring, when it had burst free to help her save Darce but she couldn’t recall all the details—like the memory was fuzzy and degraded somehow. All she knew was that she had changed. Darce’s blood had changed her and for that she was glad. It made her feel special to have such a connection with him.
The rumble of the humvee and the soft murmur of conversation lulled her further into sleep. She wasn’t fully healed yet, despite Darce’s life-giving blood. The skin across her abdomen pulled when she moved. A warning all wasn’t completely okay beneath the surface.
She came to a while later to realize they’d stopped. Darce smiled as she looked up into his handsome face.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re here.”
“Beauty? You need to get your eyes checked, buddy.” She grouched but sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Despite her tone, the compliment warmed her through. He thought she was beautiful.
The Lycans sat in a semicircle around a small campfire. No more than a few twigs in a pile, the fire gave off minimal light and smoke but it was enough. Darce took her hand as they walked toward the group, and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She returned it, even though she didn’t feel in the least reassured, wariness invading every cell in her body. After all, up to a couple of days ago, she’d been hunting these people. And here she was walking up and expecting them to welcome her with open arms just because she’d gotten down and dirty with their LT?
“We’re still down Sanders and Richards.”
The pack’s big alpha, Jack, dug viciously at the dirt between his bare feet with a stick while he spoke to the two men who sat opposite. With a start Toni recognized Fredericks and one of the other SARAs.
“Plus your two guys and the two we picked up in the ring with Darce’s gal. You guys aren’t telepathic by any chance, are you?”
Toni didn’t hear the answer but she figured it was negative when Jack shrugged.
“Huh,” Jack said. “Didn’t think so, but figured it was worth a shot. Stranger things have happened. I’m sure they’re okay, just being careful making their way back to us.”
The pack alpha looked up at Toni and Darce’s approach and rose to his feet, unfolding himself with a lazy grace which would have clued anyone in that he wasn’t human.
“Hi there.” He extended his hand with a smile. “I’m Jack Harper.”
Toni smiled back, her fears eased at the smile and the open, honest expression on his face. Stepping forward, she took his hand and shook it.
“Hey there. I’m Toni, the homicidal bitch who tried to kill you all a couple of nights ago. How you doing?”
Jack chuckled, the deep amused sound rolling around the small clearing, and looked at Darce. “I like her already. C’mon. Grab a pew…we have things to discuss.”
They slid into place next to the woman who had been with them in the humvee. Like the others, she was dressed in tattered fatigues which hung off her tiny frame. But unlike the men, she wore a T-shirt at least three sizes too big for her. Toni drew in a breath and rolled it over her tongue. Lycan for sure, but her scent held tones of Jack’s in the same way she knew her own held hints of Darce’s. She offered the woman a smile as she settled down and Jack started to talk again.
He turned to the two SARAs.
“So, you guys still sitting on the fence in all this? Or was coming back to help us just a flash in the pan?”
Fredericks shrugged, hands clasped loosely in front of him, elbows on his bent knees. Someone had been at him with a medical kit. Bright white dressings were dotted all over his torso.
“We didn’t ask to be part of this, but we are. No running. No hiding. Not anymore.” He looked off into the distance for a second, his expression tight. His head twitched to the side—that rapid movement she’d noted before—then he looked back at them.
“Sow the wind, then you damn well better be prepared to reap the whirlwind.”
“Amen to that, brother.” Jack nodded and held out his hand, his expression serious. “They want a war, then we’ll damn well give them one. Us, the pack and your guys…when they catch back up with us. You ready?”
Fredericks took his hand and shook it firmly.
“Bring it on.”
Epilogue
“Antonia Fielding, do you take this man to be your mate?”
Jack Harper’s deep voice rang out as the gentle summer breeze washed over the little group assembled on a bridge in the ass-end of beyond. The landscape cut away beneath them, the silver ribbon of a river meandering hundreds of meters below their feet.
Toni smiled, the chiffon skirts of her dress rustling around her legs as she looked up at her groom. He was so handsome it made her heart ache. His hair tumbled around his shoulders just the way she liked it, and he wore black slacks and a shirt open at the neck.
They couldn’t marry in a church, but she didn’t care. Apart from the fact she still wasn’t sure if she’d spontaneously combust if she tried to set foot in one, all she needed was right here. All she needed was Darce and the pack who had rapidly become a second family. They still hadn’t recovered Richards or Sanders and the status of the two missing SARAs was unknown, but Jack had asked them to go ahead with the ceremony anyway. Something bright to look forward to in the dark times.
She gripped the small bouquet of flowers Lilly had managed to rustle up from somewhere along with the dress, and gazed deep into Darce’s eyes. They shone with love and devotion so deep it stole her breath away. She knew without asking he would lay his life down for her, and she would him.
“Do you promise to love and care for him, as long as you both live… As he will love and care for you? Will you help him when he needs help, and turn to him when you need help? Do you promise to stand by his side in the good times and bad, and, when he pisses you off totally, promise not to kill him?” Jack’s voice dropped from serious to joking and he winked at her. “Because, seriously, he’s a pain in the ass.”
“Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence, boss.”
Darce’s lips broke into a broad grin at the teasing and he stepped forward to take Toni’s hand, his vows already made. Going down on one knee, he lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Then he rubbed them against his cheek, the gentle move making her knees weak.
“What do you say, babe. Take a chance on me?”
Tears of happiness collected in the corners of her eyes as he stood and took her in his arms. Heart almost overflowing, she nodded.
“I will. Always and forever.”