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Silver had been waiting for this signal. I felt my omega’s magic pounce. He reached through the pack bond—lancing through our alpha’s hope and heartbreak—and yanked Sasha’s wolf free.
Power blasted through the pack as a magnificent silver beast tore from our mate’s skin. The beast yelped as she landed, legs splayed on the infirmary floor, and whimpered as her depleted muscles shook with the effort it took to remain standing. Then she fixed a determined eye on her alpha and half-crawled, half-walked to his side.
Grimm played his part, though I could see him trembling with the need to join her. To make this easier on our mate. But our fierce little alpha had never asked for anything good in her life to come easy. If it was worth having, she knew it was worth fighting for. Tooth and claw.
Our alpha’s fur and tail were standing erect with pride as he held the sacred space. When the silvery she-wolf reached her mate, their snouts almost touching, her bright essence spilled over and into the pack bond. Our pack surged in elation, welcoming their newest member—their alpha mate—into the fold.
However, a feral snarl curled Sasha’s lips as she looked Grimm dead in the eye. His eyes flashed back, acknowledging her dominance with a wave of pure adoration. The silver she-wolf shook her head in confusion as his love washed through us like a balm.
Sasha fell to her belly with a huff and rolled over, licking up at Grimm’s snout in capitulation. Then—the feral beast who feared his blood would be forever tainted by violence not of his own making—bent his head low. With utmost care, Grimm took our mate’s throat in his jaws and held her gently in place as he accepted her fealty.
My heart beat triple time as I gloried in this ancient embrace. This was the moment the Soul Reapers’ pack bore witness to how two alphas became one. For although Sasha’s wolf would never be cowed by force, her fierce loyalty could be earned with love.
I flopped down at my mate’s side, panting in relief, while Silver did the same on the other. With a small cry, Grimm shifted back into his human form. Sasha whined and yipped as she clambered joyfully into his lap, scratching up his human skin as she went.
The two of them looked absolutely ridiculous. The Prez of the Soul Reapers just sat there, tears of joy streaming down his face, as he petted and soothed our mate’s silvery form.
“You’re beautiful,” he mumbled over and over. “The most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen.”
Sasha rolled her eyes at me in an ‘um, I know, can you believe this idiot’ kind of way and my tongue lolled out of my mouth in agreement. Then our mate snuggled down into her alpha’s arms and fell into a healing sleep with a wolfish sigh.
50
BEAUTIFUL HEARTACHE
Grimm
At some point as she lay sleeping in my lap, Sasha shifted into her human form. I carried her back to the clean bed after Checkers changed the sheets.
My clubhouse was a mess. The pack was in complete disarray. The Soul Reapers were torn between mourning countless losses and celebrating each precious victory. I knew as their Prez and alpha that I should be out there, checking on our people, but I couldn’t leave the infirmary.
I was already doing something vital, I was holding vigil for Sasha. Our little alpha. Waiting right by her side as I’d promised.
Doc’s reassurances that my mate would soon wake from her deep slumber feeling—if not good as new, then greatly rested and well on her way to recovery—meant nothing to me or my proud beast. We’d seen the life drain from her limbs.
If I took my eyes off Sasha’s slender frame, even for a second, it felt like the nightmare would return. Only this time it would steal her away for good.
A cold cup of coffee sat ignored on the bedside table. The hefty meat sandwich beside it, also untouched. I didn’t have the energy to bother with any of it.
Silver slept fitfully beside her. Our omega had insisted on his bed being pressed up against hers before he fell into his own healing sleep. His wolf was rushing to finish the job so he, too, could hold vigil at our mate’s side.
Mongrel was back to holding up the wall, his keen gaze never leaving Sasha’s face.
“Does it get better?” I asked, licking my lips in surprise that the words had even made it out. Doc was resting on a cot, ignoring the world, but Mongrel’s eyes darted to mine when I spoke so I forced myself to go on. “With the bond. Do you worry any less?”
He smirked and shook his head. “More.”
“Figures,” I sighed and rubbed her limp hand across the stubble of my cheek.
Ever since I’d caught her for the second time—as that sick bastard tried to take her from us—I hadn’t been able to stop touching her.
“But everything is more,” Mongrel mused, head resting back against the wall and eyes tipped up to the ceiling in consideration. “And life gets to be more, right along with it.”
I hummed. “So it’s worth it then? All the heartache. All the pain.”
Mongrel sent me a wolfish grin.
“Don’t forget the pleasure, Grimm. That becomes so much more, too.”
