The Pack: Rule Number 1 – No Mates
Chapter Three Hundred Four
PAUL
Marie Monet’s voice sang into the phone, thick with mirth and heavy with the drawl of wisdom that one can only gain by seeing too much death. Or by conjuring darkness too often. “Hello little wolf. It’s been a long time. You have need of something, no?”
With Anastacia still so close to me, it’s hard to focus. Her right hand is lutching the top of my right thigh and her left hand strokes my scalp as she drags her fingers through my hair over and over again. It’s bliss, but I know better than to keep Marie waiting, so I answer as best I can, “I do, Marie. You know, I still remember what you said that day…” A dark chuckle sounds and I snort. “You knew then, didn’t
you?”
“Mmhmm… I hope you have been good to her, despite your fears,” she chuckles and I swear my pulse jumps at just the power in her tone. “It is time, no?”
“It is,” I acknowledged, countering Anastacia’s confused expression with an adoring smile.
“Then I will see you when you get here. Do nothing until you do, I will see you soon,” Marie says and I can practically see her finger posed to end the call already.
“Wait! What do you mean, do nothing? And I need your help with something before I get there.”
“Do you think I do not know that? Silly little dog. Of course I do, I have known for much longer than you have what this night would bring and so long as the girl does not leave her home tonight, she will be protected. I saw to it years ago. On the day you left. The shadows will not find her, so long as she remains indoors.”
“How do you know which girl I’m-”
“Paul, need I demonstrate the extent of my gifts for you again when you get here? I am short a few of my stock, perhaps you would like to become one of them after all.”
“N–no. Absolutely not. Please don’t.”
A loud cackling laugh reverberates through the phone. “Then understand it is done. You bring your love here, the moment you arrive. Do not attempt to search for him do not fear that he will follow you, but she must come directly here. She will need something that I possess to achieve her goals. The Shadow will not go quietly. And… you must not mark her until after we have met.”
“Wait?! What? But she says that my bonding her will protect her. Why wouldn’t I-”
“Paul. There are things you do not understand. You let a shadow loose at dawn, no?”
“Let it loose? We destroyed it.”
Marie laughs arrogantly. “You did not. How can you banish a shadow when you, yourself, cannot even feel the sun? No. That shadow still lives, but you did do something right. You bound him to the ocean and a shadow cannot find a host there, so until a suitable host ventures into the waters in which you placed him, he will be imprisoned there. However, he is not destroyed. That shadow lives.”
Well, fuck.
“You are fucking creepy, do you know that?” I hiss, completely serious.
Unlike Anastacia, Marie is not offended. “Oh, I do hope so. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I will see you tonight, poochie. Goodbye.”
After I hang up the phone Anastacia claws my leg. “Was that Madame Marie Monet?”
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Chapter Three Hundred Four
“It was. You know her?”
* I know of her. She practices blood magic. Gran never messed around with that shit and always bade me steer clear of her daughter. How do you know you can trust her?”
“Because she’s never lied. Her daughter is the one I spoke to you about before. The one I thought was my mate. When she and her father stopped here in the summer, we met at the docks. I fell for her instantly Then I chased her to New Orleans and took her virginity-”
“You WHAT?”
“Yeah, I know, chill.”
“You’re lucky you’re alive.”
“To be fair, I thought she was my destiny at the time, she had such a draw on me-”
“She charmed you! Ha!” Anastacia snipes, rolling her eyes. “And you had the balls to accuse me!”
Ignoring that, I carry on, “-as I said, I thought she was mine at the time, but Marie knew that she wasn’t. The very first thing Marie said to me when I arrived on her doorstep was ‘You are in the right place and the wrong place at the same time‘. She knew I was there for a reason, and she knew what that reason was. On the day I left she told me not to worry… that my mate would find me when the time was right. Of so I pretty much lived in fear course, she tortured me for a good week before she released me to my dad – who had come looking for me of witches after that. But… I didn’t know the significance of a lot of the things she said until…”
–
–
“Until?”
“Until I met you. Now though-” I squeeze her hand on my leg “-they make sense.”
Her big indigo eyes brighten as if a huge weight has been delivered from her. As if something that has been troubling her heart has, at long last, been satisfied. “So you finally believe me, then. You believe everything I said to you… about Gran and about… you?”
Now that I know Anastacia isn’t going to jump out of my jeep, I pull back on the gas, allowing the jeep to slow to a crawl as we approach the fire station. After parking my jeep in the back lot behind the station, I turn in my seat to face Anastacia and my breath stutters. “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, so much as I was afraid of the power you would have over me. But when I saw you out there on the deck… and you couldn’t breathe, I thought I might lose you and… I realize now that I could have lost my chance. That if you had died right there… you would never know how much I wanted it to be true. You would never know how perfect I think you are for me. I wouldn’t be able to tell you that the very first time I laid eyes on you, when the elevator doors opened and I got my first real look at you, I thought… Please, let her be mine. I want that. I want her…” Shaking my head at myself, I pound a fist into the dash. “I saw the way you had charmed all the guys in that place and it pissed me off. I guess I kind of hated you for it.”
Anastacia’s eyes flash violet, but she doesn’t release any magic. “I was only trying to survive. I could feel the energy there at the station. I knew there just had to be more shifters about, and I thought… if anyone could keep the hounds off my back, it might be wolf shifters. So yeah, I tried to charm your buddy, but it didn’t work on him because his heart is protected by the mate bond.” She swallows thickly and T search her eyes as they deepen in color, going from indigo to ocean blue. “The moment you stepped off the elevator though… all thoughts of charming the next shifter I came across completely fled my mind. I didn’t even try to charm you.” Anastacia sucks in a deep breath, shaking her head as if to clear it. “I knew the moment I saw you that I wanted you to like me for me. I didn’t want there to be any doubt. but that didn’t happen… you doubted me anyway.”
“So then, what was all that purple mist shit you tried to hit me with at my house? When I first got you to my house and I tried to go outside? I saw it come for me. I saw you reach out. It looked like a fucken phantom hand made from purple fog. What was that?”
She frowns, “I wanted to protect you. I was trying to stop you from going outside… but my magic wouldn’t touch you. It… went around
you.”
Smirking to myself, I picture the look in her eyes when I dropped my clothes on the living room floor and stepped out onto my porch. I could see that she wanted me, and right then, she could have had me no questions asked. I eye her lips then tell her, “You used the wrong magic for that one, little demon. Because had you simply gotten naked instead… I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. I would
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Chapter Three Hundred Four
have done any little damn thing you said.”
She laughs and drags her fingers through my hair again. “My mistake then, I’ll remember that for next time.”
Don’t get hard, penis, don’t you dare. There’s no time.
“Just so you know, every time I look at you, I can see that you were crafted specifically for me. Despite the way I’ve acted, you are the epitome of every fantasy I’ve ever had – given life.” And although I don’t want to look away from her, I do. Because the truth is, I’m ashamed of how I’ve acted from the moment we met. After watching Demonic nearly destroy his bond with Draven, I thought I knew better than to fail my mate should I find her. But I didn’t, and for that, I’m an even bigger fool than he was. But, who knows, maybe things were always meant to happen this way. According to Madame Monet they were set in stone from the very first time I journeyed to New
Orleans.
That crazy old hag probably knew who my mate was even then, damn her
“So,” Anastacia starts, taking a glance around at our surroundings seemingly for the first time since we’ve parked. “I have to admit, I’m confused. I thought we were flying to New Orleans.”
“We are,” I say quickly, while I text Logan what I need so that the pilot inside is ready. Logan pretty much runs this place, even when he’s
not here.
“Okay… well, Paul… not sure if you’ve noticed, but this is hardly an airport.”
“Grab whatever you want to change into now so that you can do so inside, because once we’re in the air there won’t be space,” I say, stepping out of the car and scanning the skyline as I walk around to open her door. Lucky for us, most of the fog and rain has dissipated, although not for long. However, by the time the showers start again, we’ll be in another state.
“In the air?” Anastacia snickers, glancing around at the fire and emergency trucks in the immediate vicinty. “Am I missing something? Is there like… a magic school bus waiting inside, or what?”
“Nope.”
“Well then Paul… how are we flying there?”
I pull her in close just as I get the confirmation text from Logan that everything is set. Staring at her lips for a long moment, I realize, I haven’t taken the time to taste her yet and as much as I want to right now… I know I can’t risk doing so yet. Fucking her against my jeep would be much too tempting and we don’t have time for it. “I thought it might be nice if we made it to New Orleans as quickly as possible, so we are not taking a plane, but we are flying.” Anastacia arches an eyebrow as I drag her out of the jeep and spin her around so that she can see the roof of the building next to the fire station. “We’re going in that.”
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