Chapter Seven
“Let me get this straight. You three faced the vampire leader and got your ass kicked. It took the empath witch and the alpha female to help you kick some ass?” Gratsky asked.
Brent narrowed his eyes. “Not the point,” he hissed.
“Right. Well, I will say this much. You three bring me the most interesting women,” Gratsky said with a sigh. “A newly turned bear. A witch. And now a human bit by both a vampire and a bear. I should probably consider asking for a raise.”
“Is she going to be all right?” Brent asked tightly.
“Will she live? Yes. Will she be a bear shifter? I don’t know.”
“Will she be a vampire?” Jackson asked. Brent glared at him, and he shrugged. “What? You don’t care?”
Honestly? Brent didn’t care. He didn’t give a damn how Tara woke up from the bed as long as she woke up, and she was happy. It didn’t matter whether she was a vampire, a shifter, or some freak hybrid of both.
“Doubtful. To change into a vampire, you have to actually die. And since Tara here is still very much alive, there is no way she can be a full-blown vampire. Now whether the vampire bite mingles with the shifter bite remains to be seen. What’s really interesting is that Tara was fairly immune to de’Massier’s charms.”
Brent’s head shot up. “What do you mean? Is that unusual?”
“De’massier is a powerful vampire. To have someone immune to him is quite intriguing. It’s more than just your relationship with her. She’s resisted his requests from the very beginning. That means that there is something very special about your Tara Schmidt.”
“What do you think it is?” Micah asked.
Gratsky shrugged. “Most likely, it means that humanity is evolving. They’re finding ways to defend themselves against more powerful species. It’s a fascinating thought. But what I can tell you is that between your three mates, absolutely no one is going to mess with this pack.”
“Sure. We have nothing to do with it,” Micah said sourly.
Gratsky grinned. “You do deserve credit. How you got Stacey and Natalie to fall in love with you two is beyond me.”
Brent tuned them out. He was watching the door to Tara’s room anxiously. Part of him wanted to be by her side right that very minute, but he knew she wouldn’t be happy to find her by her bed. She’d been perfectly fine in her life, and then he had to put her danger.
And turned her.
“I need to leave,” he said abruptly. “Keep me posted.”
“You’re leaving?” Jackson stared at him. “She’s going to want to see you when she wakes up.”
“I doubt that very seriously,” he muttered, and he slipped out the door. Deep down, he feared he would never see here again.
***
“It’s so romantic to wake up and find that your boyfriend isn’t there,” Tara said sourly. Brent’s head shot up from his desk, and he stared at her. “It’s even better when two whole days pass, and he doesn’t even send you flowers. Or a card.”
“Tara,” he breathed.
“It’s even better when a stranger has to tell explain things to you. You know, the part where the guy you were dating turned out to be the leader of the vampire clan and was trying to manipulate you. And the fact that you alpha female can shift at will. And that your second-in-command married a witch.”
He lowered his eyes. She was pissed. Of course. She had every right to be angry. “I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t. That’s okay. I just thought that you should know that I’m alive and kicking. I thought I’d come by to say goodbye and tell that you I’ve leaving.” She waited a heartbeat which she watched his reaction. She was rewarded with the sad look in his eyes. “Except that I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not?” he muttered.
“So then, I thought I’d come by and say hi and give you a kiss, but I’m pissed at you. So that’s not going to happen.” Her eyes narrowed when he leaned back in his chair and regarded her with interest. She was not going to let him get the upper hand.
“I couldn’t figure out why you’d stay away from me. I don’t really take you for the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am approach. I think we both know that it was more than that. And you can’t be pissed about putting me in danger because de’Massier did that. Not you. And you can’t really be distraught over biting me because I’d be dead if you didn’t. But you’re a really hard guy to read. So tell me, Mr. Jenson. What’s going on through that head of yours?”
“Marry me,” he said softly.
Of all the words that she expected to come out of his mouth, those were not even in the top thousand. “What?” she whispered.
He scooted his chair back and stood. “I love you, Tara. I’ve loved you from the very beginning. I didn’t have one single reason for keeping you close to me except that I selfishly wanted you. And for the first time since I met you, I finally realized that you’ve had no say in this. So I gave you a choice. You’ve had days to leave. And you’re still here. By choice. No one is keeping you.”
She tried to hold her ground as he stalked her, but soon she was pressed up against the wall. “And you think that because I decided to stick around that I should marry you?”
“I think that you stuck around because you love me. And I’m going to marry you before you have a chance to change your mind,” he said softly. His hands skimmed her arms, and she shivered.
“Jesus, Brent. I do love you. But you have no idea what I’m going to become. When the full moon rises, I might be some weird bear vampire creature. I could be hideous.”
“You could four heads and still not be hideous,” he murmured. “And I don’t care what you become. You’ll always be you, and I’ll always love you. Marry me.”
“Once again, no flowers. No ring. No candlelight dinner. You know, at some point, I’d like to feel wooed and courted,” she pointed out. He frowned, and she reached up to stroke his face. “But nothing about this relationship has been traditional. So yes, Brent Jenson. I will marry you.”
He captured her lips, and she held him close. For the first time in forever, she finally felt at peace. “I’ll spend the rest of my life courting and wooing you,” he whispered.
“Oh, I know you will,” she said with a grin. “And I’ll protect you until the day I die.”
Three weeks later, when the full moon lit the Woodland pack and everyone stared at her nervously, she watched as everyone else shifted.
But her. As she stood in the middle of the woods, surrounded by the most dangerous creatures out there, she never felt more powerful. She didn’t need to be a bear or a vampire. She had the strength of both running through her veins, and the love of a man devoted to her.
So she ran with the pack, human on the outside, and powerful on the inside. And she knew that this was where she was meant to be.
THE END