“Take my blood.” He held his arm out. “Give her what she needs.”

  “What the hell?” Nicholas stood in the open doorway, taking in the scene. “What can I do?”

  Having his brother and father here settled his wolf, who was going out of his mind, howling and trying to get out.

  “Get Cole,” Gator told him as he tossed aside a soaked piece of gauze and went back to stitching. “I need him.”

  “I’m here, mon ami.” The big male shoved past Nicholas.

  “Help her,” Aaron pleaded. He’d beg the devil if he thought it would work. He tilted his head, rubbing his face against his shoulder, unashamed of the tears rolling down his face.

  “Start a transfusion,” Gator instructed.

  Moving fast, Cole dug through the large plastic tote and pulled out a blood transfusion kit, the same kind the military used in the field. The man had just about everything they might possibly need, short of an X-ray machine.

  His movements fast and economical, he set up the equipment. Aaron had no idea what it all was for, but Cole did.

  A cold alcohol swab was wiped over the crook of his arm and a needle inserted. A pumping mechanism began to pull the blood from him. Another needle was inserted into Jesse’s arm, and the blood flowed into her.

  Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the mating bond. He rested two fingers against her neck, counting the slow beats of her heart, shutting out the organized chaos around them. He could almost sense her. It felt like she was behind a thick piece of glass, just out of reach.

  “I’m losing her.” Gator’s grim pronouncement snapped his eyes open.

  “No.” He placed his hand over her heart. “Fight, Jesse. You have to live. If you die, I’ll follow you.”

  His father swore. His brother sank down beside him and gripped his shoulder in silent support. No one stopped working.

  A shimmer caught the corner of his eye. It was her tattoo. The ink was glowing. “What the hell?” He blinked several times but wasn’t hallucinating. “Get that needle out of her arm.” He was going on pure instinct, but his gut told him it was the only hope.

  Cole hesitated, but Nicholas yanked the line out.

  Aaron wrapped his hands around her tattoos. Heat poured from them. His skin began to tingle. The air around them snapped with power.

  “What the hell?” his father exclaimed.

  “It’s magic. Everyone stand back.”

  “I’m almost done,” Gator snapped. Head so low, his nose practically touched her, he made one final stitch. “Got it.” He leaned back and raised his bloody hands in the air.

  Beneath his palms, the symbols began to move, trying to push him away. Fuck that! He wasn’t going anywhere. His own will was as strong as or stronger than any witch’s when it came to Jesse’s safety. This was uncharted territory.

  My life for hers.

  He said the words in his head, directing his wolf toward his mate. If losing his wolf would keep her alive, he’d live without it. On board with his decision, his wolf surged along the mental and emotional link shoving against the tattoos.

  Sweat beaded on his brow and rolled down his back. He sensed his father moving closer. “Stay back.” The magic would kill them. He knew it in his soul. This was his fight.

  Gritting his teeth against the pain, he shoved harder, unwilling to back down. He’d always been stronger than other wolves, and now he knew why. This was his purpose.

  I won’t give her up. I won’t let her die.

  The tattoos glowed around his hand. His skin burned, his palms and fingers blistering.

  “What the fuck?”

  He had no idea who spoke. A whirlwind whipped around inside him, buffeting him. Digging his claws in, he hung on, moving steadily toward his mate.

  Heal her.

  You’ll die. The voice was old, the magic older.

  “So be it.” He spoke the words aloud and internally.

  Jesse’s entire body began to tremble, starting from her toes and working all the way up to her head, which tossed to and fro.

  “We’re losing her.” Gator’s voice was distant.

  Aaron was here but somehow removed. The chaos, the pain, the fear—it all faded. All that remained was the love.

  A cooling balm washed through him. A golden light exploded, spreading through his hands and up his arms, not stopping until he was filled with it. It sizzled and popped in his veins. Even with his eyes closed, the glow was almost blinding. A silent wind whipped through the air, pushing his hair out of his eyes, raising the fine hairs on his body.

  This could be yours, the voice tempted.

  He’d be unbeatable. Hell, he could move the Earth out of its axis with this kind of energy. He could do anything. Have anything.

  There was only one thing he wanted.

  He gripped the power, wielding it like a weapon, and thrust it into Jesse. Heal her, he commanded. It tried to hang on to him, but he shoved it out, and his wolf helped. Working in tandem, the two of them directed, coerced, and forcefully ejected all but a tiny glimmer of the magic, which clung to his heart, refusing to leave.

  Heart pounding, exhausted to the very core of his being, he dropped his head back and sucked in a deep breath and then another. He was soaked with sweat and so were the sheets and bedding beneath him.

  Jesse!

  He cracked his eyes open and peered down at her. She was still and quiet. The tattoos on her arms were still there, but they’d changed. The design was no longer an unknown language, but two wolves facing each other, their noses touching.

  Her wound was gone. Not just healed, but gone. There wasn’t a scar, a sign of surgery. Nothing. Even the blood was gone.

  Still as death, she lay there. He managed to move his hand to her chest. There was nothing at first. A surge of adrenaline made him gasp and sit upright. Then he felt it, the light thump, thump, thump.

  “Holy shit!” White-faced and wide-eyed, his brother stared down at him. “What the fuck just happened?” He shoveled a hand through his hair. “You were glowing. I couldn’t even look at you. I thought we’d lost you.” His throat rippled. “I thought we’d lost you both.”

  “Tired.” Getting that one word out drained the last of his reserves.

  “Sleep. We’ve got you, son.” Knowing his dad and brother and the rest of his family were there was enough for him to let go. Jesse was alive. The rest would work itself out.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Awareness came slowly. Jesse was floating on a cloud, all warm and cozy. A familiar scent made her nose twitch. Aaron was beside her, his arms around her. Her pillow was his chest. She nuzzled his skin and started to drift back to sleep.

  Her eyes shot open. She bolted upright in bed.

  “What?” Aaron scrambled up, his gaze darting around the room before landing on her. “You’re awake.” She caught flashes of pure joy and love, along with desperation before he pulled her into his arms and buried his face against the curve of her neck.

  “What happened?” Searching her memories, she sought the last thing she remembered. “He’s dead.” It wasn’t a question, but a declaration. “Alain Rollins is dead.”

  “Yes.” He pulled back and cupped her face in his big hands. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

  Snippets of images ran through her mind, like clips from a movie. Claws and fangs flashing. Excruciating pain. The scent of blood. “I was hurt.” Shoving down the blanket, she stared in disbelief at unblemished skin. “There’s no marks.” She rubbed her leg, almost feeling the phantom pain. “I was hurt,” she slowly repeated. “Bleeding.”

  He eased them both back down so they were lying facing each other. His eyes were as solemn as she’d ever seen them. What the hell had happened after she’d passed out?

  “He struck deep. Did a lot of damage. So much blood.” His jaw tightened. “You would have healed, given enough time, but he nicked an artery. You were bleeding out too damn fast.”

  She licked her dry lips, wishing she had some water. Her recollection was so fuzzy. “My uncle was there, right? And your father?”

  He stroked the hair off her forehead. “Yes. Gator did surgery to repair the artery, but the blood loss was too much. We tried a transfusion, but that wasn’t fast enough.”

  Her uncle had done surgery? She didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified. Probably just as well she didn’t remember. That was enough to give her nightmares, and she already had enough of those.

  “What happened?” Because there was no logical explanation for her being alive with her leg looking perfectly normal. Hell, there wasn’t even a scar or a thin silvery line. Nothing. And she would have expected some sign, given the severity of the injury. Unless— “Have I been in a coma or something?”

  “No, sweetheart. It all happened yesterday. At least, I think it was yesterday. We’ve both been out of it for a while.”

  “Were you hurt?” She shoved back the covers and pushed him onto his back, her own concerns forgotten.

  “I’m fine.”

  Not sure he’d admit otherwise, she rose up on her knees and examined him. His pecs were firm, and his abs rippled with muscles. She followed his torso down to his groin. His cock was thick and hard, the roped veins prominent.

  Heat blasted to her core. Nothing wrong there. He was as perfect as ever. “I don’t understand.” None of this made any sense.

  “Look at your tattoos.” The softness of his request, the compassion reflected in his eyes, made her want to refuse. “It’s okay,” he assured her.

  Jesse lowered her gaze, fearing the ink might have disappeared, somehow wiped away by the trauma she’d endured. “What the hell?” She blinked several times. Was she seeing this right? Black ink still circled her arm, but the image had totally changed. She stared at the unfamiliar shapes, unable to speak for several minutes. “What … what happened to them?”

  He traced his index finger over one stylized wolf and then the other.

  Was the other one changed? She swiveled her head to check. It was a perfect match. This should be impossible. “A tattoo doesn’t just change. It’s permanent. Lottie inked them several times.” They were as familiar to her as her own face. Or they had been. Like everything else in her life, they’d changed.

  “There was magic in them. Maybe in the ink. Possibly in the images themselves. Maybe both.” Aaron scooted up so he was leaning against the headboard. Then he lifted her, easing her on top of him so she was facing him. “Lottie loved you. The words she inked were some kind of protection spell.” He hesitated and shook his head.

  “Tell me everything.” Resting his hands on her thighs, he did. He held nothing back, sharing his fear after the battle had ended, his determination that she live.

  “The ink burned you?” She grabbed his hands, checking them both for damage. There was no redness. No sign of sores or swelling. The skin was perfectly smooth. Her brow furrowed. Where were his calluses?

  “Blistered and burned. The magic was testing me, to see if I was worthy of you.” He speared his fingers through her hair and brushed his lips against hers. The scruff of his beard rubbed against her jaw. “It was worth it. Anything to save you.”

  Her chest clutched. “What if the magic had deemed you undeserving?” That fear would haunt her for the rest of her life. He could have died. She might have killed him and never known. And why? All in a bid to save her.

  If Lottie were here now, she’d give her a piece of her mind … and a hug. The old woman had always done things her own way.

  “But it did. I wasn’t going to let it happen any other way.” His determination was stronger than forged steel. “The light.” He huffed out a breath. “So much power. It was incredible, Jesse.” He held his hands between them. They looked totally ordinary, yet they’d held and wielded magic. “It’s indescribable.”

  “I wish I could remember.” Didn’t seem fair, but that was life. The magic had been inside her all along. Yet she was the only one in the room who hadn’t seen it.

  He settled his hands on her hips and slid them down to her thighs and back up again. Her core clenched and her nipples puckered.

  “When it faded, the tattoos had changed. I think it was Lottie’s way of letting you know the magic was gone and you’re all wolf now.” He shot her a sexy grin. “You’ll note there are two wolves in the tattoos, not one. We have Lottie’s blessing for our mating.”

  She liked that idea. The images were stunning, totally black but for their eyes, which were both shades of blue that matched her and Aaron’s eyes.

  They’d survived, but others hadn’t. Her hands clenched into fists. “The bodies?”

  His broad shoulders raised and lowered in a shrug. “Don’t know. Don’t care. I’ve been here with you the entire time. I’m sure someone has cleaned them up.”

  That didn’t sit well. She’d brought this mess here. She should have been the one to deal with them. A horrifying thought occurred to her, eclipsing that worry. “If you passed out, how did we get cleaned up and in bed?”

  His eyes twinkled. “Don’t know for sure, but I can smell both my parents. Since we were at Gator’s place and are now in my bed, someone carried us home and they cleaned us up before putting us to bed.”

  Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. No one had seen her naked and washed her since she was child. She didn’t count Aaron in the shower. That was totally different.

  “How can you be so blasé about it? I’ll never be able to look at either of your parents again. Being treated for a life-threatening injury is one thing. Being bathed like a baby—” She shuddered, unable to finish the thought.

  “Guess I’ll have to take your mind off it.” His hands coasted up her torso and cupped her breasts. He lightly pinched her taut nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.

  She slapped at his hands, biting back a moan. “This is not the time. We need to find out what’s happened.” That was the adult thing to do.

  “Hmmm.” Leaving one hand where it was, he trailed the other down between her legs, stroking her clit. “Now is definitely the time.” He eased his finger through her slick folds, coating them in her juices. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  His primal pain spoke to her. It went beyond the physical and even emotional and all the way to the soul level. They were mates, their lives forever linked.

  Her wolf, which had been dormant until now, stirred and stretched. Jesse arched her back, pushing her breast deeper into his palm. He put his mouth over the mating mark on the curve of her neck and growled. The vibration speared downward.

  “Oh, God.” She gasped, her entire body trembling. He was right. Now was definitely the time. “Aaron.” His name spilled from her lips, a prayer, a promise. She gripped his shaft in her hand and pumped. He growled, his teeth nipping harder but not breaking the skin.

  They’d mated but almost lost it all before they’d had a chance to really live. Raising herself up on her knees, she angled the head of his shaft toward her opening, dragging it over her slick folds.

  “Yes.” He threw his head back, the cords of his neck taut. “Take me.”

  “You’re mine.” A whisper of magic brushed over her skin as she sat down hard, taking him deep. On instinct, she pressed a kiss over his heart. Her fangs dropped and she nipped, not overly hard but enough to break the skin. She lapped up the drop of blood, the small hurt already healed.

  “Jesse!” He roared her name, his hips pumping. His lips were pulled back, as though he was in agony. Blue eyes burned with a heat that pushed her over the edge. He shoved his hand between her legs and rubbed her clit. She shot off like a rocket.

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Energized, she rode him, squeezing out every last drop of delight. Laughing, she rubbed her nose against his.

  He growled and rolled, taking them down to the bed so she was beneath him. “I take it you’re feeling fine.”

  “Better than fine.” She ran her feet over the backs of his legs. “You’re feeling pretty damn good yourself.”

  “We didn’t use a condom,” he reminded her.

  “Next time.” She cupped his fine ass and squeezed. His dick flexed. Her inner muscles clamped down on it, sending a delicious aftershock through her.

  “You’re not worried about a child?” He levered himself up on his forearms, looking sexy and satisfied.

  “I’d rather wait, but I’m not worried.” The truth was a revelation. “I wouldn’t mind having a child with you, if you want one.” Although werewolf births weren’t as common as humans, she had hope.

  “One. Two. A dozen. Whatever you want.” She laughed and ran her nails over his back. He groaned and thrust against her. “Witch.”

  “Werewolf. No magic in me. Not any longer.”

  His jaw tightened. “I’m not so sure.”

  She wrapped her legs around him. Her man was still hard, and she wasn’t ready to let him go just yet. She wanted to celebrate being alive. “What do you mean?”

  He angled up and touched the area over his heart where she’d nicked him. “I think a spark of the magic stayed with me. That’s where I felt it.”

  “Why you and not me?” There was no reason to be disappointed. The magic had been spent in saving her life.

  “That’s just it. I think you have a spark right here.” He touched the same place over her heart.

  Closing her eyes, she went inside herself. Her wolf was rolling around, happy to be with her mate. Jesse felt stronger than she ever had. Whole. Right where he was touching her, something shimmered. It was small but bright.

  A spark of magic.

  Lottie hadn’t left her. Not fully. And now she could feel it inside her.

  When she opened her eyes, she was smiling. “You’re right.”

  He grinned. “I should get that in writing.”

  When she laughed, he pushed deeper inside, reminding her he was far from finished. “It’s a case-by-case basis.”

  “Good enough, but I’m right about this. Your home is here with me. My pack is yours. Say you’ll build a life here with me.”

  Her heart threatened to burst with happiness. “Yes.” One dark cloud remained. “What about the Louisiana Pack?”