Page 25 of Bad Medicine

ChapterTwelve

We didn’t talk. There wasn’tanything to say that couldn’t be said better with our hands, our mouths, ourhearts, our bodies. Something deep had shifted inside me. Something had changedand I was not the same.

Maybe I would never officiallylive in Shadowfield with Jared and his pack. Maybe I’d run the city and chasenonhumans and help lost spirits forever. Maybe he’d visit me in Huntersburg,and I’d visit him in Shadowfield, and between work, we’d find each other. We’dlove each other.

And that was okay.

That was pretty damn perfect.

He knew it, too. We belonged toeach other, however that might play out. Unlike the last time we’d ended up ineach other’s arms, this time was slow, sweet, hot, tender. It was, quitehonestly, the best sex of my life, because it was so much more than sex. It waseverything.

When he lay on top of me, hiswarm flesh sliding against mine, he dipped his head to murmur against my lips,“I love you, Kait Silver. I will love you forever.”

That made me a little sad,though I couldn’t have said why. Maybe because it was just so raw. Maybe it wasbecause the moment was so perfect and I knew it couldn’t last, that I had to goback to the world. That this fierceness would ease.

I made my vow right back tohim. “And I will love you forever, Jared Walker,” I whispered. “God. So much.”

And something was born thatnight, something almost sacred. Did it mean we wouldn’t fight, or argue, orbehave like absolute assholes at times? Nah.

But we would love each otherthrough anything that ever came, and I would forever have his back, his heart,his protection. As he would have mine.

That night, we bonded. Thatnight, we became mates. Mates without chains preconceived notions, constraints.

He was inside me, in all ways.

His wolf touched my wolf, oursouls entwined, and our bodies joined. I could feel a heart beating, but Ididn’t know if it was his heart or mine. It was like death, in a way, becausesomething had to die so this…thisthingcould live.

I could absolutely never losehim. I would always feel him no matter where he was. I would always find him. Iwould always know if he was in trouble. And I would always save him. As hewould me.

As he already had.

I moved with him, our bodies inperfect sync, our fingers entwined, our mouths joined, and when I found myrelease, it was like the world exploded. It was a beginning.

I’d found my mate. I’d found myforever. And there wasn’t anything better than that. Whatever it meant.

My wolf was satisfied.

Afterward, I lay with him,grabbing some much-needed sleep until Eli came to tell us that once again, Zachwas seizing. He went through the terrible episodes three more times before thenight ended, and twice well past dawn. Dr. Hayes came once to check on him anddeliver some meds, and finally, Zach slept peacefully. The seizures stopped.

The alpha and I slept, as well,and it was a good, deep, restful sleep. When we went in to check on Zach beforeI left, he was eating a little breakfast, his hands were free, and hisblindfold was off.

He looked like hell, but he wasalive, and I believed, he was through the worst of it. He seemed to believe so,as well.

“I’m going to survive thisthing,” he said, his voice hoarse.

I crouched beside him. “Yeah,you are.” I leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “My mother gave me her house inHuntersburg. It’s huge and private. You’ll have a place there, unless you’regoing back home to your family.”

He shook his head and gave me awan smile. “My family is here. I’ll be staying. Thank you, Kait.” He looked atthe alpha, who stood behind me. “And thank you, Jared. You saved my life. Youboth did.”

He wasn’t ready to leave thecabin. Not yet. He wasn’t even ready for the chain to come off his ankle. Buthe would be. And then, the ordeal that had started when the vampires took himwould be truly over.

That night began a new chapter.

For all of us.

ChapterThirteen

Ten minutes after I leftShadowfield, my cell rang. Max had changed my ringtone on our way back fromHuntersville, and Bon Jovi’sBad Medicineblaring suddenly through thecar nearly gave me a heart attack.