Page 40 of Brick

After a few minutes, she rose unsteadily to her feet, and then they walked into the woods to the clearing. Already a fire had been started in the pit.

Cinder rushed to them, checking on Jade and then asking if Brick needed her to help heal his wounds, which he didn’t but appreciated her asking.

The high ranked males and elders stood around the bonfire as more wood was added, and then the body of the male who’d tried to take Jade away was laid on top and covered with more wood.

“This is an old tradition,” Adam said, “to burn the bodies of our enemies and banish them from the world. This male could have walked away at any time, but for whatever reason, he chose to push himself and his agenda on Jade and Brick, and as a result, he lost his life. Let the smoke and ash carry away the memory of this male’s attack on our people, and let it be a grim warning to any who would come against the Thorn Hollow Pack. Our people are united in strength and loyalty. Come against one of us, and you come against us all. One pack, unbroken.” He lifted his head and let out a deep howl. Brick joined in, as did the others, lending their voices to the declaration made by their alphas.

“I’ll bring you something for your throat, Jade,” Cinder whispered when the last howl’s echo had ceased. “Unless you want to shift?”

Jade shook her head. She settled on the ground next to Brick and he leaned against her.

Adam walked over as Cinder disappeared to the house to make tea. “I’m glad you’re both safe. We can put a hold on the mating ceremony. With that male dead, the threat is gone to Jade’s safety.”

Brick nodded and Jade rested her head on Brick’s shoulder and sighed.

He wished he could talk in his shift. He’d tell her how scared he was that she’d be taken or hurt while he was fighting Malrick, or worse, that he might die trying to keep her safe and she’d be left unprotected.

But mainly what he wanted to say was that he wasn’t just falling for her, as he’d said before everything went to shit.

He’d full-blown fallen.

It was fast, but that was the way things were with truemates.

He was in love with his mate, and he was so damn thankful that he’d get to tell her the three most precious words in the world once he could shift again.

They sat in silence with Adam and several others, watching the flames as they destroyed the male who’d tried to take everything from him. He was glad that Jade was safe and he’d never have to worry about that male again.

The anti-shifter people? Yeah, they were still a concern. But right now, his mate was safe and that’s all that mattered.

Chapter

Seventeen

Whatever was in the tea that Cinder had made for Jade had done wonders for her aching throat. By the time Brick was able to return to human form, the remains of the male who’d come after her weren’t recognizable as anything but bones, and she was feeling like herself again.

“We’ll keep the fire burning until the bones are ash,” Everett, one of the pack elders, said as he poked at the wood and moved some of the logs around with a long-handled metal rod. “Then we’ll scatter them in the creek. You two can head out. The elders will handle things.”

“Thank you,” Brick said.

He looked down at Jade. “You ready, sweetheart?”

“I’m ready to talk to you privately.”

Her body was humming like a tuning fork and had been ever since the healing tea had fixed her aches. She’d spent the last two hours talking quietly to her wolfy mate about her past and her hopes for the future. He’d been a captive audience, gazing up at her with amber eyes. She’d spilled her proverbial guts to him, telling him everything she could think of about her past and how crazy she was about him.

“Of course,” he said. “But let’s take my truck instead of walking.”

She grinned and said, “I’d like to get mated tonight. If you want to still?”

“We don’t have to. That male is dead and no longer a threat. We can wait until the full moon.” He looked down at her, his brows drawn in thought. “But I do want to if you do. But not for any reason other than you and I can’t wait until the full moon because we’re just so very crazy about each other that we can’t wait a minute longer.”

She couldn’t help but smile. She was definitely crazy about him. “I want to do it for us and I don’t want to wait.”

“Then let’s talk to Adam and Cinder and get somewhere private so we can talk.”

They said goodbye to the elders and he took her hand, walking with her toward the alphas’ home. “Clothes would be nice,” she said, glancing at his nakedness, which just made her wish they were closer to being somewhere private.

“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “I bet they’re still in the road, or maybe the security team picked them up. I can grab some from my room though.”

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