Page 92 of Pack Ruin
I shrugged. “It’s connected to the dining hall. It’s got lots of bathrooms and guest rooms. Nice carpet, and I don’t know… The rogues—theTenebrisboys are used to sleeping together.”
“Denning,” Sergeant told me. “That’s what it’s called. In some smaller packs, they still den. All in one room, or one house.”
Iris hummed. “We could den together, I suppose. The females, I mean. If we could use weapons ourselves, we’d be even safer.” She was practically batting her eyelashes at Sergeant, clearly hoping for some sword lessons.
I snorted and held up my steak knife. “I never had any problem keeping myself safe with this. And there’s a shit ton more of ‘em in the Pack House. A couple dozen, at least.”
Iris nodded grimly. “Let me go ask the girls.”
When she left, I pressed a hand against my heart. It was aching. “So, Tenebris. Sounds badass. It’s a good name. And they have a truly great Alpha.”
Sergeant stayed quiet, as we watched the females gather together. He put a hand on my shoulder. “Your pack will, too. Don’t stop fighting. Your pack needs you.”
“Southern isn’t mine. Not really.”Not exactly.“It’s my past.”
“I didn’t mean Southern.”
40
One Dark Thread
FLOR
Sergeant’s pack and the unranked females moved into the Pack House that night. I spent it in the cave with Glen, curled up in front of the small fire on a rug made of deerskins. Someone had washed him off and put clean clothes on him, before I arrived. He still smelled a little like gasoline, but I didn’t care.
We were safe, it was quiet, and when he woke up just before dawn, we were able to hold each other and cry without anyone seeing.
Well, anyone besides Bo and Leroy. Bo had greeted me at the cave the night before by falling at my feet and thanking me so profusely for saving Delia that I was embarrassed. I had to threaten to kick him to get him to stop trying to kiss my feet.
He’d said I could kick him to the moon if I wanted to, but he was never gonna stop looking for ways to show his gratitude. “I’ll even make you some more piles of guts, Miss Florida,” he’d vowed, his eyes wide. “I’d do anythin’ for you.” Leroy had finallypulled Bo away, and I’d ordered them to guard the cave from the outside, so I could sleep.
I had nightmares for all four hours I lay next to Glen, visions of Brand dropping from the sky, and Luke being pinned to a table and cut apart by witches. Finnick making love to dozens of women, one after the other, each one more beautiful than the last. And Grigor, dead and crumbling into silvery ash.
I woke to soft fingers in my hair, and blinked my eyes open to see a pair of ocean-blue ones smiling down at me. “Hey, Dream Girl,” Glen rasped. “We’re alive.”
I scrambled to sit, and poured some water from the pitcher the boys had filled. “Just barely,” I muttered, handing him the cup.
“How?” He beckoned me to him. As soon as I was close enough, he pulled my face to his and kissed me sweetly, gently, as if I were the most precious treasure in the world.
After a moment, he sat up as well, running a hand over his torso. The bullet holes were all healed, but the flesh was pink where each one had gone in, and where he’d taken wounds from blades and claws.
“How, princess?”
“Sergeant says it’s a witch thing,” I whispered, not sure what Bo and Leroy might think. “That the way those kinds of bonds work is different. Wolves have solid connections, but the other ones…”
“The moonblessed side,” he supplied.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “That’s how Brand was able to send all that healing through the bonds. Normal shifters can’t do that, right?” I checked in on my bonds. Grigor was still absent, Finnick felt the same, and Luke was…Huh.Luke felt contorted, like the bond was twisting around. It didn’t hurt, but it was peculiar. But Brand?—
I gasped as I felt him close. Really close.
Glen didn’t notice that my attention had drifted. “...never heard of it anyway. Mates can share a little. Alphas and their mates, of course, share and increase power. But not healing, not from thousands of miles aw?—”
The voice that interrupted him was deep and rich, and filled with emotion. “I’m not thousands of miles away.”
Brand stood at the entrance to the cave, dressed in nothing but a pair of ruined, torn trousers. In one hand, he held Leroy off the ground by the collar of his shirt. Under his other arm, he had tucked Bo tightly against his side. Both of the boys looked like they’d been knocked out.
“Bearman!” I shouted and ran across the cave floor. “Put those idiots down and kiss me.”
