A Long Walk Home Ch. 18

Her heart pounding loudly in her chest, she urged him on to move faster, to take her harder as she spiralled up towards the peak of her pleasure. "I love you." The words ripped from her as she crested the peak and cried out her pleasure. She was falling, lost in a world of bright colours and endless sensations as he thrust hard into her and joined her in his own release.

He filled her with his seed, stroking into her to prolong her pleasure. As she slowly began to come down, her heart hammered loudly; heat rushing through her body in a short hard blast. She shuddered again at the unexpected sensation, her eyes flying open to see Gard's glowing lavender eyes staring intently into hers as his chest heaved raggedly. He appeared as startled as she was.

"What was that? Did you use your magic?"

He shook his head and swallowed hard to regain his breath. "Not deliberately," he finally answered rolling to his side and taking her with him. "I've never experienced anything like that before. It felt almost magical but it wasn't anything I did."

They lay staring at each other for a long moment, neither of them knowing just what had happened. Rayne didn't think it was anything bad because the sensation had been pure ecstasy. She couldn't believe that anything that felt that good could be evil in design.

Smiling she leaned forward and kissed her vampire, licking at his lips slowly to ease the concerned expression on his face. "Loving you certainly is interesting," she laughed softly before she reluctantly extracted herself from his arms and slid off the bed.

"I need a bath."

Gard let the tension ease from his body, admiring his woman as she headed towards the bathroom. He crawled from the bed after her, knowing she would be looking for him to supply the hot water. He was concerned about what had just happened but decided he would speak to his sister about it before he started getting too worried. Anakatrine's magic was the strongest. Maybe she would be able to shed some light on the strange occurrence.

They had just finished a rather extended bath time when the first feelings of unease started to sink into Gard and his eyes flickered towards the cave opening. "Something's wrong." He was pulling on jeans and a T-shirt even as he spoke, pushing his feet into his boots as Rayne watched him carefully.

She dressed just as quickly, his unease transmitting down their mate bond. "What?"

"Vampires. Fuck! They passed through a while back. It must have been while we were otherwise engaged. They were heading towards the pack." Gard was instantly furious with himself. He was supposed to be protecting the wolves and he'd dropped the ball.

"Gard." Rayne's tone was quite sharp though she was worried too. She stepped up to him and caught his gaze with hers. "I don't like to see a look of regret on your face when it comes to our mating. If vampires passed through here then so be it. The pack is capable of taking care of themselves. They have four bloody Ancients in their number as well as the wolves own skills. You may have been The Guardian a long time ago but the world has moved on since then. You can't be expected to protect everyone."

He growled angrily, his eyes beginning to glow softly. "They're her family, Sarayne. If anything happens to them she'll be hurt."

She didn't need to ask who he meant. His connection with Rhianna was as strong as it was with her now they'd mated. It was going to be a challenge to deal with that closeness and not become resentful of it and she suddenly understood exactly how Freya must feel towards her. She turned and headed out the cave with her vampire close behind.

"I'm sure Annie doesn't expect you to save the world either, Gard," she remarked quietly, her tone still firm. "I swear if you even try to lessen our mating because of this you're going to have one pissed off mate to deal with for the rest of your life. Get it in perspective."

She shifted to her panther and streaked into the forest scenting the air as she did and smelling blood. She headed in that direction feeling a silent Gard coming to run beside her. She wouldn't allow him to beat himself up about what may or may not have happened. He was entitled to have his own life and claim his mate. If she had to hold him down until he saw sense then she would.

They came across the wolves and other vampires just as Andrei and Alexei were melting into the trees leaving Rafe standing alone in the clearing. The big Alpha shifted to wolf form and then turned in their direction. He waited until they had almost reached him before he shifted back, his expression interested as Rayne shifted in front of him.

"That would be handy," he remarked dryly as he noted her clothed body. "Don't suppose you could share the secret?"

Rayne shook her head, her eyes on the bloodied rock at their side, the scent of the dead vampires filling the area. "Think you need to be a hybrid to be able to do it," she answered in a distracted tone. "Whose?" Her head nodded at the stone.

Rafe's lips tightened slightly as he looked away from Gard and met her gaze. "Freya's. Before you overreact, Dayton's fine as is she. They're back at the compound. From what we can tell three or more vampires with guns attacked. Freya took the brunt of it but managed to get a distress call out to Nors and protected Dayton until we arrived. Unfortunately we have no idea why they attacked because the vampires were dead by the time we got here."

Gard remained silent through it all, his anger ratcheting up that some of his people had attacked the pack and he'd done nothing to stop it. The fact everyone was okay didn't matter to him. He should have been there to protect the pack not...

His thoughts trailed off as he looked down at Rayne. How could he possibly finish that thought? Not mating with her was unacceptable in his eyes and she'd already made it more than clear she wouldn't tolerate him thinking it. He couldn't regret it even if the timing had been off. She was watching him with a shrewd expression on her face and he sighed deeply and turned back to the Alpha.

"So the situation was contained."

Rafe eyed them both carefully and then nodded. "We're not completely defenceless," he remarked drolly. He knew the vampire was annoyed that he hadn't been there just as he knew his newest pack member had mated with Gard and he now had an additional member to his pack. He wanted to sigh too. It was only a matter of time before Freya joined as well. He silently asked himself what he'd done to deserve all these volatile personalities in his pack.

"The pack is running sweeps," Rafe continued, looking off into the trees before looking back at them. "I see you two have mated." His eyes met Gard's and he stared at him pensively for a moment.

"Just so you know. This is my pack. I don't care how old you are; how shit hot you think you are. There's only one Alpha here and that's me. Vampires and hybrids don't get the option to challenge for succession, only Weres."

Gard considered that. He didn't want to run the pack but he knew he would struggle to take orders from someone as young as Rafe. Mating with Rayne had put him in the unenviable position of now being considered pack. His sister would probably find that highly amusing.

The Were right of succession was a smart move. The vampires and hybrids could overpower the wolves in an instant, therefore not lending to a 'fair' fight if they wanted to challenge to become Alpha of the pack. Not that they would probably want to but it made sense having rules in place just in case.

So, he was now pack, answerable to the man who had shared his sister life when he'd had no knowledge she was alive again. He'd hated Rafe for that, still felt some ambivalence because of it. But to keep Anakatrine happy he'd tempered his annoyance and made the effort to accept the big man. Rayne's tenseness at his side told him she was waiting to see how he would react to her Alpha's words.

For her, he'd walk through fire and do it again, as many times as she needed it of him.

"I don't bark when ordered," he finally said dryly, "but I do know how to follow the chain of command when it's required. Just don't try your command shit on me and we'll be fine, Rafe. I wouldn't want to upset Annie by kicking the living daylights out of you." It was the best he could do. Now it was up to the other man to see if he was willing to accept it.

Rafe rolled his eyes but his lips twitched in a small smile. "Just as well I don't like the sound of barking then. All I ask of anyone in my pack is they protect it, Gard. From what I understand you've been doing that the last five years anyway. That shouldn't pose any problems for you."

There was a brief silence as the two men worked on coming to terms with their new relationship and then Rafe turned away and looked at the dead vampires. "Suppose we should clean up this mess and then head back to the compound. Need to debrief Freya and Dayton and try and work out what the fuck this is about." He waved his hand at the dead vampires as he spoke.

"You want me to call Annie?" Gard asked. It wasn't a secret he could communicate instantly with his sister no matter where she was.

"She's a bit busy at the moment," a deep, male voice said from the tree line. "She sent me along to find out what was happening." A tall dark haired vampire strode nonchalantly out of the trees, deep green eyes twinkling at the groan that issued from Rafe.

"How the hell did she know?" the Alpha asked trying hard not to groan again as he watched the other man approach. Someone seriously was having a lot of fun at his expense at the moment.

"Mara does sit on The Council, Rafe. You think Andrei and Alexei could just take off out of a meeting and not give away that something was wrong with the pack?"

Demetri Bozic stopped in front of him and raised a perfect eyebrow as he quickly took in the scene. His amused expressed hardened instantly, his eyes going cold.

"Unacceptable." The menace in his voice was chilling. Even though Demetri continually professed that he had no time for the pack, everyone knew that he'd be one of the first to rip apart anyone who tried to hurt them. He claimed kinship with Annie and therefore Rafe. The hybrid children were his to protect as if they were his own.

Rafe nodded in agreement. "We need to find out who and why. Stupid question but I don't suppose Mara's heard anything?"

Demetri's gaze turned back to the Alpha and his expression quickly answered that question. If there was even the tiniest hint that there was some kind of move against the pack, not only would the twins have been aware but so would Mara. And that meant they all would be aware.

"This wasn't coordinated centrally," he answered. "Vampires have long memories and most of them are too smart to go up against Caleb or The Ancient Council. This is some kind of splinter group, a test of some kind."

Rafe nodded again. He'd been thinking along similar lines but had to ask. A full out war was something he didn't want to have to go through again. Terrorist action by a splinter group would be dangerous too but easier to defend against now that they were forewarned.

Demetri checked out the scene again, his expression thoughtful. "We need to get together, discuss options. The pack is pretty well protected." His gaze slipped to Gard's, his agile mind leaping and making connections both Annie and Caleb had neglected to clue him in on. He would have to have a word with them about that later.

"I thought you were dead," he remarked coolly. "You've been off the radar for a long time."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Gard answered with a small smile teasing his lips. He hadn't seen Demetri in a long time, over a thousand years. He liked the other vampire, respected him even. They'd need to find some time to catch up when the current issue was taken care of.

Demetri laughed softly clasping Gard's upper arm in greeting as his friend returned the gesture. "Disappointed wasn't the emotion that came to mind, though Annie and Caleb neglected to enlighten me on the identity of The Guardian. I should have figured it out with your colouring," he smiled.

He turned to look back at Rafe feeling a slight undercurrent of tension between the two men who claimed Rhianna as their sister. "The pack's security is increased immeasurably with Gard to enhance its protection."

Rafe nodded in his direction. Despite his constant teasing of the vampire, he trusted Demetri's judgement as much as he trusted Caleb and Annie's. If he vouched for the big red haired vampire then he would work on the last remaining issues between himself and Gard until they were both fully at ease in each other's company.

Demetri admired Gard's new mate for a second, acknowledging how stunning she was, trying to scent her hybrid nature which she was masking well. She looked a right handful, just what his old friend needed. His thoughts quickly conjured up a pair of deep brown eyes, long thick brown hair, and he smiled softly. Yeah, Rayne was stunning to look at but no one could compare to his Mara.

"I'll report back to Caleb and Annie," he finally said. "You've got this in hand so there's no need for us to be here right now. Let us know if you want a full Were/Council meeting or if we're keeping it in the family." He turned away and headed back into the trees.

"So that was Demetri Bozic?" Rayne asked in a bemused tone. She was quite taken aback by the vampire, more so than she'd been with any other she'd met before. His reputation preceded him and his general aura didn't disappoint. He was stunningly gorgeous, powerful and decidedly lethal. Just being around him sent a shiver up her spine even if she could appreciate the pretty package he came in. She seriously hoped never to get on his bad side.

Gard frowned slightly and wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck to draw her gaze back to his. "I like Demetri," he said softly. "Do I have to kick the shit out of him?" The possessiveness in his voice brought a bubble of laughter from his mate.

"Oh he's pretty," she laughed softly. "But he couldn't hold a candle to you, Gard. And you know it." She stroked his chest lightly as he bent his head and captured her mouth in a possessive, branding kiss.

Rafe rolled his eyes and looked away but a smile tugged his lips. It was plain to see how deeply in love they were. His pack was all the more stronger having them as part of it. A deep tug inside him had a groan ripping from his throat.

"What?" Rayne asked.

"Let's get these bodies burnt," Rafe sighed shaking his head as he examined the Alpha bond that had just stretched between him and Freya Eriksson. He'd known it was coming but still he'd hoped for a little more time to figure out how to deal with the vampire when she joined his pack. There wasn't anything he could do about it at the moment so he put it out of his mind as they set about their task.

*****

The first thing Rayne did when she got back to the compound was to detach herself from Gard's arms and throw herself into Dayton's. They had walked into the library, finding it empty apart from the other couple. She was aware of the flare of jealously that ripped not only from her own mate but also Freya. She ignored them.

"You're hurt," she breathed softly, tracing the light coloured bruises on his bare forearms.

"I'm fine," Dayton smiled giving her a tight hug, relieved that she was home safe and well, that she hadn't run from the pack. He could sense Gard's annoyance, knew instantly she'd mated with her vampire. He was happy for his friend. "You've mated." He couldn't keep the joy out of his voice.

Rayne laughed in delight and also a touch of awe. She couldn't help stroking his jaw tenderly as she was so used to doing. "So have you, my friend. And your mate is being remarkably restrained."

She eased out of Dayton's arms to smile at Freya. It was plain to see she was struggling with her mate's intimacy with another woman but she was working hard at dealing with it. "Thank you, Freya," she said quietly.

The words brought a surprised expression to Freya's face. Of all the things she'd expected to come out of the wildcat's mouth, heartfelt thanks wasn't one of them. "For what?"

"For loving him enough to bend for him; for giving him back a reason to live. You will forever have my eternal gratitude. Anything you need, all you have to do is ask." Rayne swallowed hard to choke back the rush of emotion she felt for the other woman. One day she hoped that her best friend's mate would be able to accept her completely, that they could be friends too.

Freya eyed Rayne carefully for a long time, shocked at her words and the sincerity behind them. She felt some of the antipathy within her die down. The cat was mated now to the Ancient. She had chosen her male and it wasn't Dayton. More of her reserve crumbled as she met the other woman's gaze.

"He is lucky to have you for a friend," she finally said reaching out to slide her arm around Dayton's waist as he automatically gathered her close to his side. "I should thank you for keeping him alive long enough for me to find him."

Dayton kissed the top of her head, joy surging through him at the first tentative steps towards friendship he was witnessing. He met Gard's slightly hostile gaze and damped down a sigh. Would it be any easier for him and the Ancient? Mates were terribly possessive, not just the females. Newly mated males could be a nightmare to contend with.

Gard wasn't pleased with the way his mate casually touched the wolf. Hell, she'd even looked at Demetri with appreciation in her eyes. But then he remembered those stunning eyes looking at him. There was no escaping the love deep within them or the way her body automatically curled into his at every opportunity. His cat belonged to him body and soul and he knew it.

"Keep the touching down to a minimum, at least for the next decade or so," he growled softly. He watched Dayton relax, a smile crossing his face as he nodded his agreement.

"Possessive much?" Rayne laughed lightly wrapping her arms around her vampire and pulling him down for a kiss. It was long and slow, full of her love and her pleasure that he was willing to play nice with her friend.

Gard knew in that instant that he'd give her anything she wanted, just so she would kiss him as she was now doing. Her body practically hummed with approval, their mate bond full of a glowing happiness that made his heart skip a beat. His cat was happy with him and that meant everything to him.

Rafe entering the library broke them apart. Behind him came the other vampires and their mates. Aaron brought up the rear, closing the door firmly behind him and leaning against it.

As everyone settled, the Alpha's second in command made his report. "The area is secure within a twenty mile radius. Soldiers are patrolling in groups of threes and there's no hint of any vampires. Jared's sent over Brody and Connor and some of his soldiers for additional backup. I asked Connor to take command of both packs while we're tied up here."

Rafe nodded, pleased with Aaron's decision. Connor was Jared's number two now that he and Aaron had their own pack. He was a good choice and well respected by everyone. "We can't be endlessly patrolling, not with this number of people. It leaves the pack too vulnerable if anyone slips through." He hadn't rescinded the evacuation protocol yet. Not until he felt totally at ease bringing Lacey and all the children back up from the tunnels.

"How technically oriented are vampires?" Rayne asked, an idea coming to mind, something she had seen on her many travels.

"We're not dummies but we don't rely on it," Alexei answered. "We don't need to, not with our enhanced sight and hearing."

"So, if you were out for a recon mission in a forest you wouldn't be looking for little gadgets tracking your movements?" Rayne continued, watching understanding slowly start to dawn on everyone's face.