Beneath a Blood Moon (36 page)

Desmond growled, long and low, the sound reverberating in his chest. Twisting around, Dustin glared at us. “Quiet down back there,” he ordered.

While Desmond tensed beneath me, he ceased making any noise.

“Sorry about that, sir. Mr. Desmond was growling, and the last thing I need is to have to and calm her down to keep her mate from losing his shit.”

“I apologize for him, sir,” Holly said, grinning at Desmond. “Please don’t bite us.”

“You’re safe for the moment, Holly. I wouldn’t dream of biting a cop without her permission,” he replied.

“Yes, sir, you would.”

“You’re right. I would,” Desmond admitted cheerfully.

Dustin cleared his throat. “I apologize, sir. As I was saying. There you are. You’ve somehow landed the man of your dreams, but you find out he comes with some impressive baggage of his own. You’re okay with competing with his dead wife; you’re happy he’s noticed you at all. You can live with it. But then his wife’s killer comes after you. You kill him, robbing your man of the revenge he’s been hunting for more than half a year. In reality, he’s a wolf and such things are, ah, considered rather sexy. Unfortunately, you don’t know that, so you’re worried and stressed. He’s relieved you’re alive and still with him. However, those assholes in your pack are taking advantage of your uncertainties, convincing you that your mate would be better off without you. You’ve been told mating bonds are permanent until death, so you decide to go for a swim in the ocean, believing you’d be doing everyone a favor if you just drowned, which is exactly what you do.”

Sighing, Desmond took hold of my hand, flicking at my finger tips. Puzzled, I watched him. My wolf urged me to flick him back, and when I did, he dodged my strike, wiggling his fingers at me in a taunt. She stirred, seizing control enough to voice a mock growl, flicking at him until she grazed him.

“Yes, sir. Will she recover? Well, that depends on her, sir. Physically, she’ll likely be fine by tomorrow morning. Mentally and emotionally? I can’t answer your question. Trauma this extensive does not vanish overnight. A good therapist, some quiet time with her mate, and surrounded by people who genuinely want her around? She may bounce back quick. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have many people who genuinely want her around. Holly likes her. Hell, I like her. She’s got brains and she’s feisty, at least when people aren’t trying to beat her down. Her mate adores her, as does Mr. Desmond and his mate. Everyone else? From her point of view, they look at her, compare her to Mary, and find her lacking.”

There was a long moment of silence. “You want my opinion, sir?”

Desmond chuckled, “That’s like inviting a fox to a hen house for dinner.”

“Let her decide what she wants to do, sir. I think the only decision she’s gotten to make for herself since all of this started was who she wanted for a mate. Give her time. Let those pathetic excuses for Fenerec wallow, and if they take too long seeing the error of their ways, have Desmond take over Seattle’s pack, systematically exile each and every last one of them, and let them experience what it’s like to be alone and unwanted in the world. I think Desmond would enjoy it.”

“Damn straight I’d enjoy it,” Desmond snarled. “Make them petition Sara to be allowed back in. If that doesn’t humble them, nothing will, and as Sanders’s mate, that’s her right. If they can’t accept her, well, we can relocate them to new packs.”

After a few moments, Dustin hung up, offering the phone back to Desmond. “He’s considering it and will get back to you tomorrow.”

“Who knows? Maybe the mere threat of me becoming their Alpha in a pack without Sanders will be punishment enough.”

Holly snickered. “The mere threat of you being in their pack will give them nightmares, sir.”

“Why?” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

With a small smile, Desmond curled some of my hair around his finger and gave a gentle tug. “Because they made your mate lie to you and they know it, dear. I do not like when people turn my friends into liars. It doesn’t hurt I’m a scary son of a bitch when I want to be.”

At Holly’s orders, we stopped at Walmart so she could buy me clothes. I ached from head to toe as I changed, grateful she had chosen soft and warm over appearances. If anyone complained about me wearing yoga pants when we arrived at the hotel, I’d do my best to ignore them. My wolf preferred the idea of biting them in the face.

Maybe I’d humor her.

“Eyes on the road, Dustin,” Holly growled.

“Pretty woman in rearview mirror, Holly,” Dustin growled back.

While I blushed, my wolf preened. Embarrassed that she enjoyed being admired while I changed, I flipped my middle finger at him. “Weren’t you the one who told me faces were high in protein or something?”

Desmond laughed, reached between the seats, and adjusted the mirror. “Your rearview mirror privileges are revoked until she’s done changing.”

“Spoilsport.”

“Should’ve paid,” I retorted, wiggling my way into the red sweater Holly had purchased. “Only Sanders gets free shows.”

“Lucky, lucky man,” Dustin replied. “How much?”

“How much can you afford? Add ten thousand to that number.”

“I think I’ve been rejected, Holly.”

“Sorry. It must be so hard to be you.”

Digging through the bag, Desmond pulled out a thin, plush blanket, pulled me to him, and wrapped me in it. “There. Now you get nice and warm and stay that way. While we Fenerec do not catch colds, we can come down with an assortment of unpleasantries, including fevers and stomach bugs.”

“Lung infections are possible, and if she doesn’t come down with one, I’ll be surprised,” Dustin said. “Saltwater does a good job of stripping the lungs of all the good stuff protecting them from infections.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, Sara, you have some choices to make. You can share my room with Wendy and I or you can share your mate’s suite. Unfortunately, his suite connects with Joseph’s.”

“I have a room at the hotel,” I replied.

“You’re not staying alone, Sara.”

“I detect a territorial dispute in progress,” Holly stated. “Mr. Desmond, if I might offer a bit of advice, why don’t you let her invite someone to stay in her room instead of trying to move her out of her space.”

“Very well. Sara, who do you want to invite to your room tonight?”

My wolf fixated on our mate, and as always, her lust bled into me. After tonight, would Sanders even want me?

I whispered, “He won’t want me.”

Desmond and Dustin both snorted, but it was Holly who said, “You really don’t get how mating bonds work, do you?”

I flushed, staring at the back of the driver’s seat.

“Sara, he wants you as much as you want him. Put him in the same room with you, and he won’t be able to keep his hands off you, reassuring himself you’re still in one piece. One thing will lead to another, and you’ll find out just how much he needs you,” she said before chuckling. “Now that’ll be some classic revenge, when his pack feels how happy you make him when you take him to your bed. Let them suck on that for a while. Go for gold and have fun all night long. Then you’ll
really
feel better in the morning. That’d teach them all, especially if he fills your belly with a puppy.”

“Nine months of no changing to her wolf wouldn’t be a healthy endeavor at this point in time, Holly,” Desmond stated.

“She’d be fine,” Dustin stated. “Remember, I’m a water witch, and I was just checking her health. There’s nothing wrong with her, she’s fertile, and from what I can tell, she’s been in rut plenty long enough for puppies to be an option should she want them. Her wolf’s tough and so tame she shouldn’t have a problem with it, assuming you and Sanders help her through the full moons.”

My face burned so hot I feared I’d erupt into a ball of flame. “Puppies? You mean children? Us? Have kids?”

“Let’s see, if you two went for a full mating tonight, you could change this moon without any risk to the baby,” Dustin said, making thoughtful noises. “You might even be able to change next moon as well, since it’d be early enough. I’m okay with making the runs to Seattle to help out with the checkups if Holly and Barry are.”

“You are terrible. They’ve been mated less than a full month and you’re planning puppies for them,” Desmond said, his tone amused. “Forgive them, Sara. Fenerec and bonded witches love puppies more than life itself. If you cretins really want her to have his puppies,
you’ll
have to educate her on the mating rituals, or they’ll just be having a lot of exercise without any puppies as a result.”

I gaped at Desmond. “Wait, are you seriously telling me I don’t need birth control anymore?”

Laughing, Desmond kissed my brow. “You’re adorable. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You won’t have any puppies unless you want them, and I think Sanders is so resigned to the fact he could never have puppies with Mary that he hasn’t even thought to teach you your part of mating should you want them.”

“Mary couldn’t have kids?” I blurted.

There was a long moment of silence, which Desmond broke with a sigh. “She was sterile, yes, even when she was young enough to have children. He’s so used to having a partner who simply couldn’t have children it probably hasn’t occurred to him it’s a possibility now.”

“He wants kids?”

Desmond nodded. “Well, this was not a conversation I anticipated having tonight. Yes, he does. He’s an Alpha, which makes him approximately twice as obsessed with puppies as normal Fenerec. It’s his job to help females in the pack make it through the full moons without changing if they’re pregnant. Seattle hasn’t had any bitches mate in a couple of years—that’s mainly because all of the mated bitches decided to have puppies the same year a while back, so there’s quite a few little ones running underfoot right now. He’s a good Alpha; they didn’t lose a single puppy that year among the Fenerec bitches, and they got exceptionally lucky with only one miscarriage among the human and Fenerec-born bitches. That couple tried again the next year with better success.”

My wolf liked the idea of puppies a great deal.

“Now that would be a hell of a nice surprise for him,” Dustin said, snickering. “I wonder how long it’d take for him to figure it out?”

“We are not betting on them having puppies,” Desmond scolded. “Be considerate.”

“We are,” Holly protested. “Hell, it’s perfect. You like the idea of kids, Sara?”

I covered my face with my hands and whimpered. “I can’t believe we’re talking about this.”

“Why don’t you just explain to her how she can make Sanders fertile if she decides she’s ready to have puppies at some point in the future,” Desmond said. “If you want to make a bet, we will bet on how long it takes him to explain what she already knows.”

I was so distracted by the thought of raising a family with Sanders I almost missed Holly’s explanation on how females ensured a male’s fertility while mating.

By the time we reached the Plaza, I was so perturbed, intrigued, and bothered by the idea of having children with Sanders I couldn’t think about anything else. I watched Desmond with narrowed eyes as he talked with Holly when we entered the lobby. Dustin made a quick stop at the front desk to replace the key to my room, which Desmond claimed for safekeeping. I didn’t even notice Joseph nearby until we reached the elevator and he cleared his throat.

My wolf’s rage ignited, and before I could stop her, she wrestled control of my body away from me, balled my hand into a fist, and cleaned the Fenerec’s clock.

Joseph crumpled to the floor.

Abandoning her control over me, my wolf left me standing over him, breathing heavily as I stared down at the Seattle pack’s unconscious Second. The elevator dinged open. I stepped over him, shrugged, and held the door for Desmond, Holly, and Dustin. “Coming?”

Holly stepped over Joseph. “Why don’t I take the lady upstairs to my room while you deal with the baggage?”

Sighing, Desmond shook his head, prodding Joseph with his toe. “Oh, no. And prevent her from delivering her latest trophy? I think not. I can’t wait to see Sanders’s face while he tries to figure out who went after his Second and won.”

With strength to rival a Fenerec, Dustin dragged Joseph into the elevator. “The pretty little princess took boxing lessons, apparently. I will strive to make certain I’m not on the receiving end of your ire.”