Page 38 of Happily Undead in Dark River

The sun was freshlyin the sky when Brody stood in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest which made both his biceps and his chest look fantastic. “Okay. Out with it, Rainey.”

I raised my eyebrows, sipping my wine that was liberally mixed with blood. “Hmm?”

He gave me a stern look. “What’s wrong? You’ve been weird since we got back from my Grandmother’s house. Is it the Mate thing?”

“No. Nothing is wrong,” I said automatically. He tilted his head, reading my heart rate, scenting the lie or some other Alpha bullshit. Seriously, sometimes it was like dating a coked-out sniffer dog who moonlighted as a therapist. “Not really. Some part of me knew you were my Mate too. Am I unhappy that I had to find out from your cousin? You bet your ass. But no, it's not that…” He just waited and I sighed. “It finally dawned on me that I’m a bit of a selfish asshole.”

He looked like I’d slapped him with a fish, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “What? What do you mean?” He came over and pulled me onto his lap.

“I mean, you have a life here, a life filled with responsibilities and people who need you. I’ve been dragging you back to Dark River, when you should be here, being Alpha. And then there's the whole Alpha Mate thing, it's like I’ve robbed your chance to have a proper Mate, one where you could have kids and a family that didn’t want to eat you and you didn’t have to share her with a hundred other people.”

“A hundred?” he laughed, but I smacked his chest.

“You know what I mean. A lot. And they aren’t all shifters. We can never leave Dark River, as if Walker would ever do that, or Nico, I mean if me and Nico end up, you know.” I trailed off and Brody just waggled his eyebrows, the cute bastard. I gave him a stern look. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m making you choose every single day, and that isn’t fair.”

Brody kissed me, a soft tender thing filled with love and promises. Then he pushed me off his lap until I landed on my ass on the ground. “Hey!”

He shook his head at me. “You listen here, Red. You aren’t making me do anything. I’m not choosing between the Pack and my Mate. You aren’t making me choose you as the person I will love with every fiber of my being for the rest of my life over some hypothetical perfect shapeshifter Mate. You definitely aren’t stopping me from having kids, if I even wanted any, which I don’t. Just because I’m an Alpha, doesn’t mean I am Primo Stallion.”

I resisted the urge to make a dirty comment about what was in his pants, which was good because what came next made me tear up like a big baby.

“You’ve undoubtedly changed the course of my life, Raine. Because now, instead of walking through life alone, I will have you by my side always, and that fills me with an immeasurable amount of pride. I will have four or five men who will help me protect you from anything life throws at you. Your love isn’t a finite well, Raine. I’m not worried that it will dry out and I’ll be left behind. Your Pack is my Pack too, and I love you.”

I climbed back into his lap and buried my face in his neck. “Smooth-talking asshole, I love you too. So much. I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“Oh, I have regrets.” He grinned. “I regret not convincing you to let me put it in your-” Something made me lean over him, touching my nose to his, kissing him to stop his words. Maybe there was some truth to the ancestors looking out for him.

Because the moment our lips touched, the house exploded.

Chapter Twenty

Icoughed, a gust of ash pouring out from between my lips. Light seared my eyes and I slammed them shut.

“Brody?” Someone was grabbing me, pulling me out of the rubble. “Brody!?” I shouted again, my hands reaching out in front of me. “Tex!” I struggled against the hands holding me.

“Stop!” A ragged voice, more of a rough grunt than a voice yelled in my ear. “Ghost.”

I looked over my shoulder, opening my left eye enough that the sun seared it but I got a vague impression of Ghost’s face. “Ghost, put me down. Get Brody!”

“Will.” The word was strained, like it physically hurt him to speak. He placed me in the trees, and I realized I was bleeding. Ghost was bleeding too, I could smell it. My fangs elongated, but I clamped my mouth shut.

He put me down in the shade of the treeline, the sun no longer mixing with the burns of the explosion. He placed me down on top of someone else, and I could tell instantly it was Tex from the scent. Thank fucking god.

My fingers found his face. “Tex, are you okay?” I ran the tips of my fingers over every inch of his skin I could feel. He didn’t answer me, and I felt a huge gash on his head, but his heartbeat was strong and I could hear him breathing. Just unconscious.

I leaned forward, licking the wound on his head, sealing the wound. I heard footsteps, and I poised my body over Tex’s, my fangs bared in a snarl. No one would hurt my Mate.

“Woah, woah, Raine. It’s just me, Kelly,” someone said, but I couldn’t see. Her scent was familiar, but I didn’t know her well enough to be able to pick it over the smoke that had burned my nose.

“Brody,” I growled, the predator overcoming the human again. “Stay back. Too much blood.”

I heard her heartbeat move away, and I sighed around my fangs. “Ghost has him. It’s okay,” she said, and I heard sirens and shouts. “I’m going to stay here with you, right over here. No one will come near you until you have yourself under control. But they have to put out Brody’s house because it’s on fire.”

I nodded, and settled back over Tex, my ears attuned for even the slightest sound, but it was all muddled by the ringing in my ear, the shouts of the fire crews and the crowd gathering around. My arm wasn’t working properly, hanging limply beside my body. Broken or dislocated I couldn’t tell.

When someone crunched towards us, my body stiffened again. “It’s just Ghost with Brody,” Kelly yelled, and I stood. I kept one foot beside Tex, needing to be anchored to him, but I needed to feel Brody myself.

I could hear Kelly warning Ghost not to go any closer to me, but he seemed to be ignoring her. I could hear his pulse as he got close to me, and the overwhelming scent of Brody’s blood hit me. My hands grabbed for him as Ghost laid him beside me, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I touched his neck and felt his pulse. He was alive. “Help him,” I said, my voice rough around my fangs.

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