The Pack and The Ruffian

Checking In

Taylor watched Mya as she sat in the lounge chair on the back deck of their cabin. She held a whiskey glass, half-empty, as her arm dangled off the side of the chair. Taylor poured herself a glass of wine and walked out to join Mya. She gasped when Mya grabbed her arm and pulled her down onto Mya’s lap. Then she settled more comfortably and relaxed into Mya’s chest. Mya was shaking as she held Taylor, they’d lost a part of their hearts, but they still had each other. She just hoped that she would be enough for Taylor.

“Whatever thoughts you’re having, stop,” Taylor said quietly. “Let’s see. It wasn’t your fault, what happened to Jane. I miss her too. I don’t blame you. And we’re going to be okay.”

“I should have gone in with her.” Mya dropped the glass to the floor and wrapped Taylor in both arms. “I should have been there to protect her. It should have been me.”

“Don’t ever say that again!” Taylor sat up and shifted so she could look into Mya’s tormented eyes. “It shouldn’t have been either of you! But you are soldiers. You are both fighters! I hate that she’s gone, I lost a part of me when she died. I felt her die. She was my mate, our lover, and our partner. But don’t you ever say that it should have been you! I love you, and we still have each other, that’s more than other couples can say.” She softened her tone and touched Mya’s tear-stained cheek. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to go on without her. But I do know that it’s easier because I still have you.”

“When Emily stepped out with her when I saw…” Mya swallowed and looked away from Taylor. “It felt like my heart was ripped from my body. I blamed Amber for not bringing her back, then Sam for taking us there. Then myself, for not telling them that it wasn’t our fight. Then I was so f*****g mad at Jane.” She choked on the last sentence. “She should have followed the order to stay with the group. But she just had to follow Emily, try and protect an alpha that wasn’t even ours.” Mya swiped at the tears angrily. “If she’d stayed with us, she would still be alive!”

“If she’d stayed with you, she’d not be the Jane we love,” Taylor said quietly. Her own tears blinded her. “She did what she felt was right.”

“Why the hell didn’t she shift?” Mya asked angrily. “She would have been more alert. She’d have been able to dodge Diego. She could maybe have healed!” Mya tried to stand but Taylor held her in the chair. “I don’t understand why she didn’t shift.”

“We’ll never know. But as I said before, she probably wanted Emily to face her challenges alone. So, she could say for sure that she’d defeated him.”

“She could still have stayed out of the fight,” Mya said stubbornly.

“Yes,” Taylor said. Because she had no idea what else to say. Mya was right. “We need to talk about her stuff. Her mother wants to collect some stuff for her sister.”

“No.” Mya shook her head. “It’s our stuff…”

“Baby, they lost her too.” Taylor leaned down and set her glass down then placed both hands on either side of Mya’s face. “Tris deserves to have something of her sisters.”

“We’ve never even met them, none of them bothered to be here yesterday. None of them even acknowledged that she died, Tay.” Mya buried her head between Taylor’s breasts. “I don’t feel like they deserve a part of her.”

“I know. And yet, they are her family.”

“We are her family.” Mya insisted. Then she took a deep breath. “Fine. But her weapons stay here. That display was her pride and joy. It belongs where she was happiest. With us.”

“Okay baby.” Taylor kissed the top of her head and lifted her chin. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Mya said softly and pulled Taylor down for a kiss. Her body as always went from zero to full inferno in seconds.

“Take me to bed.”

“Tay.”

“Please, Mya. Let us have this, I need you.” Taylor let her hands drift down to the bottom of Mya’s shirt, she slipped her hands under the fabric and touched the hot skin beneath. “Let me have you.” She cupped Mya’s naked breasts and squeezed. “Please.”

Mya looked into her eyes, saw the need and the desire, and just under that the pain. “Okay, baby,” Mya said and pulled Taylor down for a kiss. She stood with Taylor in her arms and kissed her while she walked inside to their bedroom.

“Who was this woman that you stayed with?” Morgan asked as she lay on Alex’s chest. They’d made love, and then ate, and made love again. But still, the thought of this woman that Alex stayed with for three days stayed with her.

“Come on, you don’t seriously think that I’d hurt you by sleeping with someone else?” Alex chuckled but sobered when Morgan stayed quiet. “I didn’t sleep with anyone, and I haven’t since we’ve been together. She was just a good person, who helped me, instead of handing me over to Ava as an intruder.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

“Because, honestly, I didn’t think of her. I got home, we got the news about Jane, and we rushed to get here.” Alex shrugged. “I really only thought of her again when we started talking about Ava.”

“Okay,” Morgan said. But she held her head pressed tightly down on Alex. She knew she had no solid claim on Alex, they’d never promised anything to each other. But she loved her. She wanted more. Could she ask for more?

“Morgan?” Alex wanted to lift her face and tell her she loved her. She would only ever love her. But Morgan always seemed so distant, and when that subject somehow rose, she always shut it down. Alex took a breath. She would have to take the leap. She would have to prove that she was committed to Morgan. “I’m in love with you.” Alex smiled. “I’ve been in love with you since the first time you snuck up on me.” She traced Morgan’s cheek with a finger. “I know you need freedom, that you don’t want to be tied down. But I love you. And I would never want to smother you or tie you down.” Morgan looked away and hid her face from Alex. “I’m sorry, that’s too much, just forget I said anything.”

“No.” Morgan shifted so she straddled Alex. “I can’t forget what you said.”

“Then pretend I was crazy for a minute.”

“I can’t forget what you said, because I love you too.” Morgan grinned, then leaned down and kissed Alex. “I love you too.” She laughed when Alex shifted and rolled them over, she covered Morgan with her body.

Hunter sat down on the bed, Gem scooted closer and circled Hunter with her arms. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.” Hunter covered Gem’s hands on her stomach with her own. “I feel like I’m asking Michelle and Ash to walk into a trap with us.”

“This Paine isn’t expecting us, she thinks Sam and Amber will come. We have the element surprise on our side. And we know to expect an ambush.” Gem kissed Hunter’s nape. “And she’s going to have to face three vampires and a combination of whatever Ash is.”

“I guess so.” Hunter stood and finished getting undressed then got into bed with Gem. “Why is Ash not a Lycan? She has the same blood in her as Amber.”

“I guess Amber had the gene and when she got the rest, it activated.” Gem crawled into Hunter’s arms. “I guess it was lying dormant waiting for a chance to get out.”

“Mm, maybe.” Hunter kissed Gem’s head. “You smell good.”

“You always say that.” Gem laughed.

“Coz you do.” Hunter pulled Gem on top of her. “Promise me you’ll stick close to me?”

“Love, I’m not going anywhere.”

“No, I mean here in Amber City.” Hunter pulled Gem down and cradled Gem’s body with hers. “I need you. Tori needs you.”

“Okay. I promise, but you have to do the same, we need you too.” Gem kissed her. “We should call my mom, let her know Tori will be staying a little longer.”

“Tomorrow,” Hunter said and opened her legs, so Gem settled against her. “Let me love you now.”

“Seriously?” Michelle swore and slammed her fist against the wall when the noises from the hotel room next to theirs became impossible to ignore. “Do they have to go at it like rabbits?” Laughter followed her banging, and she swore again and shifted to stand.

“Stop.” Ash laughed. “Remember when we were young and in love?”

“We’re still young and in love! But we know when not to behave like children.”

“Maybe you should come over here and behave like a child with me?” Ash dropped the sheet that covered her naked body. “I had plans for you, baby.”

“You did?” Michelle grinned.

“Yes, but first, tell me what’s really bothering you?”

“Nothing, I just…”

“Don’t lie to me, I hate that.” Ash c****d her head and waited.

“Fine. I’m worried that this Paine woman knows that Sam and Amber won’t bring Mya here and that she has a plan to attack them while we’re all here.”

“Because she will think that Amber and Sam would leave Mya behind.” Ash nodded. “That’s possible. But then she’d have the Gamber to face, and a pack of wolves. And with us here instead of Sam and Amber, she’s going to have them too.”

“Yes, I suppose. But I still worry that she gets past their defenses. Sam will wage a war if one more of her wolves gets hurt. Especially Mya or Taylor.”

“Yes, I know.” Ash agreed. “And that means we go to war.”

“Precisely,” Michelle said. “We’ve had a sort of peace for years now. I got used to it.”

“Me too. But this is sort of exciting.” Ash said. “I’m kind of happy that we’re here with Hunter and Gem.”

“You a bit bored, honey?” Michelle asked.

“No, well maybe a bit.”

“Well okay, but let’s not go looking for unnecessary trouble, okay?”

“Okay.” Ash grinned. “Now come to bed.”