“She has poisoned her blood,” the witch says calmly. “She is compromised. This ritual demands pure blood, or the magic will reject your request.”

  Jadick turns back to me, eyes blazing with a fury I have to wonder doesn’t somehow burn him like the poison is burning me.

  “Jadick,” I say, the word a choked sort of whisper.

  His eyes narrow. “Just hold on and fight it,” he grinds out. “You’ve done it before.”

  But I shake my head, a smile curving my lips despite the blinding agony.

  I reach for his collar, grabbing fistfuls of the fabric and drawing him down to me.

  “What are you—?” His anger and confusion are all the invitation I need.

  Yanking him close, I plant my mouth against his, pushing all the venom I’ve held in my mouth past his angry lips. Holding myself against him so that the poison seeps in before he can reject it. The fire fuels me. Or maybe it’s the magic.

  I can feel the moment it hits him. The way his body stiffens. The locking of his muscles in protest.

  He tries to wrench away. But I don’t let him.

  With magic swirling and poison igniting, I kiss the wolf to death.

  Jadick staggers backward the moment I release him. He falls, clawing at his mouth as his lips flush bright red then immediately begin to turn blue. He gasps as if his throat is clogged, and I fall back, watching with paralyzing relief as Jadick slowly suffocates.

  The poison is a relentless spiraling, though, and before Jadick has stopped jerking against the invisible force stealing his life, black dots dance before my eyes. I blink them away, determined to see this.

  Someone yells, the words unintelligible to me.

  Beneath the archway, Rina begins speaking again, but her words are lost to my ears.

  Then bodies are surging forward. A hand grips my shoulder, but I’m no longer aware of any sound I make against the pain.

  A face swims into view.

  Tripp.

  “Mac,” he mouths.

  Then he’s gone again.

  Hands appear.

  Another vial is tipped to my lips. Its contents empty themselves down my throat.

  Rina, the witch, stands over me. Her gaze is calm though intent. Lines of concentration appear on her forehead as she waits for my death.

  The fire inside me continues to consume.

  My wolf howls, writhing as it slowly dies.

  “..not working,” Rina says to someone else. She sounds sad, and I wonder if I should just stop fighting and let myself go.

  “…blood,” a familiar voice snarls.

  Levi.

  He stands over me, back in his human form. His handsome face is streaked with blood, but the desperation he wears is clearly for me as he rakes his eyes over my face. His hands cup my cheeks, and he leans in and says, “Don’t give up on me.”

  He crushes his lips to mine.

  I fight him, terrified of the poison still clinging to my tongue. But Levi’s grip is like iron, and he climbs up on the stone altar, pressing himself against me until I’m consumed by him.

  By us.

  My wolf stirs, and Levi’s grip on my hip tightens. He kisses me harder, his tongue swirling against mine with no sign of succumbing to the poison.

  Rina’s voice lifts, growing louder with some incantation she’s uttering. I don’t hear the words, nor do I care. If I’m dying today, I’m going out in a blaze of passion.

  Levi’s mouth is a balm to the fire burning me up from the inside. And then, suddenly, I gasp as his teeth pierce my delicate throat. Blood rushes to meet him. But he’s already backing away and urging me to bite him too. I open my mouth to protest but find my teeth already lengthening for his skin. My wolf—she wants him. Any way she can get him.

  Levi’s throat is at my lips.

  I bite, sinking my teeth into the space just above his collarbone.

  The fire inside me is chased away, replaced by a heat much more enjoyable. My wolf slams herself against my skin, desperate to break free. Levi climbs off me, urging me to sit up. The moment I do, I feel the magic of our mate bond rooting inside us.

  The poison is no longer a threat. Even without shifting to complete the healing, my wolf is strong and whole, and nothing of its destruction remains. Even my arm is healed.

  When I look back at Levi, I know why.

  Worry, fear, hope, elation, love—they pour into me. Levi’s gaze reflects every single feeling, and I know whatever bond I thought we had before has just increased ten-fold.

  Are you okay?

  Levi’s voice in my head has me yelping in surprise. When I’ve regained control, I stare at him.

  I can hear you in my head. How?

  His brow lifts. Magic.

  Rina—?

  I start to look at her, but his answer stops me.

  No. Not Rina. Us.

  I don’t understand.

  We’re mates, Mac. Our bond is strong.

  But the poison. I should be dead—

  Jadick was wrong. Love doesn’t make us weaker. It makes us stronger.

  Are you saying love healed me? I can’t help the sarcasm as I say the cheesiest words ever. Your kiss was that powerful?

  He sends me the mental equivalent of a smirk. Are you saying you don’t like the idea of a little sexual healing?

  I shake my head. Whatever.

  Fine, the antidote might have had something to do with it. The point is you’re safe now. He leans in, his wolf nuzzling me again.

  And my mother? My—My father??

  Vicki’s fine, they both are.

  Relief floods me then. The idea of losing my dad to a war I brought to his doorstep would have been a loss too big to bear.

  What about you? I suddenly remember Levi’s injuries.

  Healed. But what matters is that I have you, Mac. And look. We get a do-over after all.

  I soften at that, still reeling at the idea that we can hear each other this way. I try to remember how long it’s been since our pack could communicate this way. Decades, for sure. When I look over, I catch Rina watching me.

  Her expression is softer, too, like she knows what we’re saying to each other. Impossible.

  Before I can work through it all, a rumbling comes from the gardens at our back. I look up to see my father stalking through the crowd of wolves gathered there. His shirt is torn and stained with blood, and he grimaces as he walks, but he’s on his feet, breathing, fighting, looking like a force to be reckoned with. And that is enough to make my heart swell with love.

  As he approaches, Black Moon pack and Jades alike all part for him.

  He wears a sword strapped to his back like some kind of medieval hero. Guns are strapped across his chest and down his legs. He’s not injured that I can see.

  I exhale as he approaches.

  “You okay?” he asks me.

  I nod, and satisfied, he hurries over to untie my mother. The moment she’s free, she hurls herself into his arms.

  “I thought you were—” She doesn’t finish as she chokes on her own relief.

  “I know,” he assures her.

  She sobs quietly against his shoulder, which is a definite first, but their embrace is short-lived as she turns to Rina.

  “This is not okay,” she hisses.

  “Isn’t it?” Rina asks, unruffled by it all. “Isn’t it all more than okay?”

  My mom’s face flushes.

  Before she can answer, Burnett pushes to his feet where he’d crouched to check Jadick’s vitals one last time. When he turns to us, his face is ashen.

  “He’s dead,” Burnett says, half-shocked, half-lost at the news.

  “And you’re fired, buddy,” Tripp says cheerfully.

  He brings an elbow up and slams it into Burnett’s face. “Whoops,” Tripp says gleefully.

  Burnett growls, ready to fight, but Levi steps between them, baring his teeth.

  “Stand down,” Levi orders.

  I can feel the alpha energy radiating from Levi, but Burnett doesn’t bow. My wolf strains to act. Mostly, to rip Burnett’s heart out for daring to defy an alpha. But then I notice Burnett’s gaze flicking to me as if waiting for a command.

  His eyes widen, and I freeze as I realize what’s happening between us.

  Energy like nothing I’ve ever felt before winds its way around me and then reaches for him.

  A tie binding us.

  A rope stretching across the distance that—

  No!

  My wolf tries to resist, but the alpha bond has already taken root.

  I snarl, shaking my head and tossing my body as I struggle to fight it off. But deep down, I know it’s too late.

  “Mac,” my mother says, her voice hushed. “I feel…are you…” The thread reaches for her too. She takes a step toward me and then drops to one knee, bowing her head. “I swear loyalty to you as my alpha.”

  Immediately, my father does the same. He draws his sword and lays it out on the ground before him. “Mackenzie, I swear loyalty to you as my alpha.”

  The sound of his deep voice rings out in the silence.

  Behind me, voices rise, and I turn to see other pack members dropping low in a show of deference and respect to their new leader. One by one, the Black Moon pack swears their loyalty. And then Burnett drops to one knee, muttering an oath of loyalty. To me.

  CHAPTER 25

  Dozens of wolves profess their loyalty to their new alpha, and instantly, the invisible thread that tethers me to only my mother and father multiplies. A connection tethering us all forms so quickly that even my wolf is dumbfounded. For a moment, no one speaks. They’re all waiting—probably for me, though I have no idea what to say or do next. In the weighted silence, Levi steps close, eyes searching mine.

  “Hail the new alpha,” he says.

  I wince, but his elation isn’t teasing at all. It’s simply happiness.

  “How do you feel?” he asks when I don’t answer.

  “I don’t know,” I admit. “I’m alive.”

  His expression softens. “You are more than that.”

  Instead of answering, I look at the others. Tripp and Grey stand close by, and I notice their posture is angled toward Levi. “You’re still Jades,” I say, wrapping my head around all this.

  They nod. Tripp shrugs. “I mean, I could be swayed for the right number of tacos.”

  Grey smacks him.

  I look down at where my mother still kneels.

  “You’re okay with all this?” I ask her.

  “Ask me again after I’ve taken orders from my own daughter,” she says, but there’s a glimmer of unmistakable relief in her eyes. And something else I never thought I’d see. Pride.

  Rather than acknowledge it, I look at Rina, who watches us with a soft smile.

  “Thank you,” I tell her.

  “I didn’t do much,” she says with a wink.

  But I don’t believe her. Turning it all over in my mind, I suspect she’s done a great deal, mostly where we couldn’t even see it happening.

  “We should clean all this up,” I say, a little uncertain.

  Levi leans in and whispers, “Maybe let them all get off their knees first.”

  “Oh.” I look around, startled to realize the pack is still kneeling. And waiting. Shit.

  “Uh, you can rise,” I call out.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Levi fighting a smile. He’s enjoying this, and why shouldn’t he? We’ve won. We’re alive. And the Clemons’ line of alphas is done.

  Still, there are enough questions unanswered and problems to solve even in the midst of our victory. Even without Jadick, we’re still prisoners, thanks to the curse.

  I square my shoulders as the pack gets to their feet. The Jades continue to look to Levi, but at least, there’s no more animosity between the two groups.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  Levi shrugs. “Whatever you want.”

  I have no idea what to do with that. For as long as I can remember, there was an expectation for me. A duty to perform. My time has never been my own, not where the pack is concerned. Looking out over the others, I realize it’s probably been the same for them.

  And suddenly, instead of feeling overwhelmed by this new title and responsibility, I see the opportunity in it.

  “You’re all free to go,” I call out.

  After a beat, some begin moving slowly toward the garden’s exit. Others remain, looking uncertain. I try again. “I mean, you’re free to go forever.”

  Everyone stops and looks back at me, eyes wide. Even the Jades mumble uncertainly now.

  “Uh, Mac, that’s not how this whole alpha thing works,” Tripp says in a low voice.

  I ignore him, determined to make this right any way I can.

  “Look, we came here today to fight for you because we saw the injustice and the oppression that came with the Clemons line of alphas. Fated mates or not—the choice should be yours. And so should your choice of which pack to belong to. For decades now, you’ve been forced to remain here. Those who left were hunted down and dragged back. That ends now. Apparently, I’m your new alpha.”

  Tripp snickers.

  Even Grey looks slightly amused.

  I cast a glance at Burnett, who, despite his oath of loyalty, still puts me on edge.

  “But I don’t have to be,” I add. “If you want to go, you’re free to do so. I won’t stop you, and no one will come looking to bring you back either.”

  A weighted silence hangs, and then, slowly, people begin to move again. But a voice interrupts.

  “And us?” a female calls out. “What happens to the Jades now?”

  I see Nely standing at the front of the crowd of Jades who’ve come together in a separate group. Levi catches my eye, and I wait for him to address them, noting the sense of connection between him and them through my new alpha awareness.

  “Same goes for all of you,” Levi tells them. “You’ve given up everything for this moment, but you don’t owe us anything for that sacrifice either.”

  His words make me think of Frankie, but I purposely turn away from where some of the pack members have come forward to collect her and the other dead or wounded.

  “If you want to go, you’re free to do so,” Levi adds.

  Murmurs go around, and then Nely asks, “What if we want to stay? What happens then? There are clearly two packs on land made for only one.”

  Levi hesitates. It hits me then—two packs, two alphas. Nely’s right. It’s never been done before.

  “Well?” Levi prompts. “What do you say?”

  I blink when I realize he’s talking to me. “About what?”

  “Nely’s right. If we’re going to truly end this, one pack makes sense.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t agree too quickly,” he adds.

  “I just… It doesn’t seem fair to re-burden the Jades with a curse they escaped when they defected.”

  “Mac, do you not feel it?” he asks, cocking his head to study me. “The curse is gone.”

  “I…” I look at Rina for confirmation. “But the ritual was incomplete. Doesn’t that mean the curse still stands?”

  “The curse remained as long as a Clemons ruled this pack,” Rina explains. “Now that a new alpha has been chosen, the curse is finished.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I suppose time has a way of erasing—or changing—our stories.” Rina raises her voice, including everyone in what she says next. “A century ago, my mate was the alpha of these lands.”

  My jaw drops. Nothing she said could have shocked me more. And not only because she’s just admitted to being over a hundred years old either.

  Rina continues, “We were the strongest pack in the entire country then, with a bloodline that offered a mate bond like no other wolves in our history, thanks to my magic. Back then, my husband’s second was Arthur Clemons. Unfortunately, Arthur had a thirst for power we didn’t see coming until it was too late. With the use of black magic, Arthur challenged my husband and won. Soon after, I was banished, both for being the mate of the former alpha and for being a witch.”

  “That’s where our distrust of witches comes from,” I realize.

  She nods.

  “And that’s when you cursed us,” Levi adds quietly. There’s no judgment in his tone, though. Only understanding.

  Rina sighs. “It wasn’t my proudest moment. Or most mature. But yes. The curse meant, as long as a Clemons was alpha, their mate bonds would be weakened. As a loophole, Arthur decreed mate bonds were forbidden. He thought by refusing your fated mate, the pack could still be strong. He demanded it, in fact.” She glances at my mother and then me. “But he was wrong.”

  “You broke the curse when you killed Jadick,” Levi tells me.

  “I don’t know what to say,” I admit. “When I drank that poison, I thought for sure we’d failed.” Levi winces, but I turn to Rina. “When you said you’d made a blood oath to Jadick to end the curse…”

  She smirks. “Didn’t I keep my word?”

  I shake my head. “You put an awful lot of faith in us.”

  “I put faith in you, Mackenzie. And it was rightly placed.”

  My mom steps up and slides an arm around my shoulders. “It was,” she agrees. “Thank you,” she tells Rina.

  “The women of our family were brave in their choices,” Rina says. “I’m glad to see those choices have made you stronger. Our people were always meant to lead this pack. You put things right again and have given me peace.”

  “The Mac pack,” Tripp says, and a few cheers go up.

  I glare at him. “Absolutely not.”

  “Right.” He ducks his head.

  Levi tugs my arm, obviously entertained. “So? One pack then?”

  “Please don’t make me choose, Mac,” Tripp puts in.

  Grey shakes his head.

  I hesitate then look back at Rina. “You were banished because you were an alpha’s mate,” I say. “With no authority of your own.”

  “Back then, it was tradition that the male ruled the pack,” Rina says.

  “Well, times are changing, and so are we. If we combine the packs, we do it as dual alphas. Equal in title and authority.”

  Levi grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”