A hush settled over the area, silencing the night creatures. Xander could almost feel the anticipation of the world around him. His next move would set the path of the Winchester pack. There was only one he could take.
Xander joined Vlad at the edge of the circle and turned, facing east and pressing his back to Vlad’s, then dragged his sharpened nail across his palm. The first drip of his blood hitting the ground sent a tremor through the earth the entire pack would feel.
He reached back, holding out his hand for Vlad. “Let’s walk. I want to finish this before our pack shows up.”
Vlad grasped Xander’s hand, and energy flared between them, tying them together. Pack mate to alpha. The symbolic ritual represented the communal bond, a never-ending circle of life and the tie every member of the pack shared with the alpha and consequently to the goddess that had birthed the first Winchester.
Magic built, and the air around them hummed. Their heartbeats picked up the same rhythm. Their breaths synced.
“Why? Afraid of what they’ll think?” Vlad’s taunting question hung between them.
“Afraid, no. Regretful, yes. I should be walking this circle with Xane, not you.”
“You’ve already broken tradition by mating Gwen, but our pack will understand once they realize how much you love her. How much you respect her. That you’d do anything to make her happy. You do still want that, don’t you?”
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be here with Vlad or contemplating the reality of his pack mate’s claim to be Gwen’s true mate too. “Yes.”
“Good.” Vlad released Xander’s hand and took a step forward.
Xander did the same, following the edge of the clearing. The tugging on his chest as he cast the circle slowed his movements but strengthened his muscles, energizing him. Power rushed into him from the balls of his feet and flowed out with the blood running down his hand. The night brightened, a glow that emanated from him, from Vlad, from the blood of their pack being spilled.
The howls of his pack mates carried through the night, a chorus calling the pack home. With each haunting cry, Xander’s steps slowed more, a reaction he couldn’t stop. He craved the connection of his pack mates as much as they needed him. A warm mental caress slipped over him as they approached.
Tingles skipped across his skin. His body awakened, shaft twitching and the familiar ache settling in his balls.
He exhaled on a groan, overwhelmed by the rush of desire and the need to feel a woman’s soft, giving body convulsing around his shaft. The lust caught him off guard, but it shouldn’t have. This close to the full moon, a shifter’s primal instincts intensified. Avoiding the touch of his pack for the past few months exaggerated the needs assaulting him.
Had Gwen not been in his life, he would’ve welcomed the relief the females in his pack would offer, but his true mate awaited him. His promise they’d wait before giving in to sex dimmed the ecstasy the night ahead offered, but it didn’t kill it. He had much to teach Gwen before she became his. Or theirs, if that was indeed the will of their goddess. It was time to find out, once and for all.
The familiar scents of his pack mates drifted to him. Xane’s came first, followed by his cousins and their females, many of whom had graced his bed over his long life. There’d be shock, disbelief, and jealousy once he dismissed them in favor of Gwen. Hiding her mated status wouldn’t save her from the latter. Those shifter females who’d been vying for his favor and the chance to be his mate would hurt Gwen, emotionally if not physically.
Unless he made the consequences of upsetting Gwen perfectly clear.
The sight of Vlad approaching drew Xander’s thoughts to the ritual at hand. They had to finish the circle, sanctifying the ground and transforming it into the portal the Winchester spirit would use to connect with Xander during the next full moon.
For months, the Winchester spirit had remained dormant, unable to offer its guidance or glimpses of its lost pack mates. Xander craved those moments, if only to see his little brother Eli once more. One day, he’d get the clue they needed to rescue him.
Vlad stopped a few feet away. His blood ran freely, dripping from the ends of his fingers. It would until they clasped hands, completing the circle. Xander stopped too, mimicking him, and opened the mental pathway between them.
“I am not your enemy, Xander.”
“If I viewed you as such, you wouldn’t be here.”
Vlad inclined his head, never breaking their gaze. “Before Elizabeth, we were friends. Inseparable. We shared everything: battles, victories…women. You remember those times, don’t you? How we’d communicate just like this while we fought our enemies and pleasured our lovers? We were extensions of one another. Even our wolves accept the open pathway between us. Then and now. Do you deny it?”
“No, I do not deny it.” Xander had missed it. Craved it, even.
“Then for what we once shared, listen to me. Look into my soul. Walk through my memories. Whatever you need to do in order for you to accept the truth.”
More like confirm it. Either way, Xander would take Vlad’s offer. He wanted to understand why Vlad had ignored Gwen in this lifetime. Had he sensed the truth of their unusual bond and was reluctant to claim Gwen for himself? Or had he doubted Gwen was his?
The reasoning was as essential as the driver behind why Xander had refused to mate Elizabeth and Tabitha. Without knowing the extent of their sins against their true mate, they’d never be able to earn Gwen’s forgiveness.
With the power of the pack fueling him, Xander reached deeper into Vlad’s psyche. The wall enclosing Vlad’s soul faded, allowing Xander access. Memories assaulted him—all of Vlad on the outside, alone and bitter, as he watched first Elizabeth, then Tabitha, and finally Gwen in Xander’s arms. Finally, Vlad’s guilt over his attraction to Gwen swamped Xander. She was too young and innocent to dirty with his hungers. Hadn’t Xander thought the same thing?
Xander pulled back from the cold, dark emotions that accompanied those scenes and fought his own twisted feelings. Vlad had been right all along. They’d both fought over the same true mate.
He wanted to rage, to curse fate, to question why their pack’s spirit hadn’t clued him in to this before. None of those reactions would make up for the past.
“And what’s the truth?” Xander asked the question, even though he knew the answer. The glimpse into Vlad’s soul had spelled it out perfectly.
He wanted Vlad to ask for permission to love Gwen instead of being the one to offer up a spot in their bed to Vlad. Maybe that distinction was wrong, but his alpha nature demanded it.
Vlad moved to the spot opposite of where they’d started. “Gwen belongs to both of us.”
Xander closed the distance between them and stared at the male he’d once shared everything with. Soon they would again. The surge of anticipation unfurling within him couldn’t be squelched. Memories of past pleasurable encounters they’d shared mixed with the satisfaction he’d felt while Vlad had watched him and Gwen together.
He no longer wanted to question their bond. He wanted to explore it and experience the ecstasy such a connection could give.
It had to happen on his terms, however.
“Gwen is my mate, and as such, mating law guarantees me the right to determine who is allowed near her. That includes any shifter who claimed her as a beloved human.”
“Doing so will leave her miserable.”
Likely that was the truth, but Vlad wasn’t an expert on Gwen’s feelings any more than he was. “You don’t know what Gwen needs.”
“Neither do you. True mate or not, she’s a stranger.”
No truer words had been said, but the weight of Xane’s gaze boring into Xander reminded him of their audience and their limited time. The deal he and Vlad were hedging around had to be solidified. “You’ve allowed me into your soul, exposing yourself to me. You did not do so without a reason. Ask what you wish me to do with the knowledge you shared, or do not bring this topic up ever again.”
“Allow me to mate Gwen too.”
“And if Gwen doesn’t want that? You do remember what Lena said all those months ago, don’t you? Gwen saved her virginity for you, and you shunned her, choosing other women…choosing Lena to sleep with instead. That hurt Gwen. Deeply. I saw her pain, her confusion, her embarrassment when she spoke of you.”
“Which is why we need to work together to convince Gwen that she wants to spend eternity with both of us. With the depth of our sins against her, it’ll take a team effort to earn her forgiveness. We can do that.” Vlad grinned. “Work together to shatter her resistance. Prove to her she needs us. Make her crave what only we can give her.”
Xander snorted. He couldn’t disagree with Vlad’s statement. They could make Gwen yearn for their touch. “Yes, I know.”
Victory sparked in Vlad’s eyes. With a smile on his face, he held out his hand. “Is it a deal, then? You allow me to love her too, and together, we convince her to soul-bond with us.”
Xander glanced from Vlad’s open palm to his shit-eating grin and said the only thing he could.
“Yes. It’s a deal.” Xander grasped Vlad’s hand, sealing the circle and their deal with magic and the force of their pack.
The ground shook. Lightning brightened the sky. And the exuberant cries of their pack mates carried through the night.
Vlad stepped back, breaking their connection and allowing those who’d watched the ritual to approach. Xander went through the motions, greeting his twin and his pack mates, but ignored any attempts to question him about his actions over the past few months, along with the invitations from the females in the pack.
He couldn’t form any rebuttals that wouldn’t hurt his pack mates. Silence seemed safer. His thoughts kept drifting to the deal he’d made with Vlad. Or, more precisely, the revelation of what their reality involved—sharing Gwen.
“Are you ready?”
Vlad’s low question came from behind him. Xander glanced over his shoulder and met Vlad’s hazel eyes. A glow emanated from them, deepening the green and betraying his hunger. His lust. Seeing it sparked Xander’s. His breaths quickened. His shaft stirred. And resentment rose. They’d both been stubborn fools, refusing to consider the possibility they’d shared the same mate before Gwen.
Then again, why would they have? Ménages didn’t exist in the shifter world. Everyone knew that. Everyone accepted that. Except for a trio of single shifters who’d proved everyone wrong. For that, the Jager pack would have his gratitude.
Too bad he and Vlad hadn’t been the ones to take that step years ago. Things could’ve been different. Then again, maybe there was a reason. He didn’t know. Only their pack’s goddess did.
He shoved the regret back and asked, “For what?”
“To give our beloved human her first lesson in what belonging to us means.”
Vlad’s response would be acceptable to those within earshot. Lovers could be shared. Anywhere, anytime, and with anyone.
“Yes.” Xander nodded. “Let’s go train our…female.”