The house didn’t matter anymore. She could live without her father’s old golf clubs or her mother’s hand-crocheted afghans. She could even live without the family photo albums. She couldn’t live without her mate.
Recalling how easily her wolfy senses had come forward when she’d relaxed a little, Lucy focused on calming her mind. As much as she wanted to, she still couldn’t shift into wolf form, but the beast was lurking just under the surface, giving her strength and courage she’d never before felt.
Snatching up the hoe, Lucy strode straight up to the fighting pair of wolves, despite the silent warnings from the guards. They could stand around like pussies if they wanted, but she wasn’t about to let some antiquated form of machoism keep her from protecting her mate. Mason would do the same for her, and if he didn’t like it, too freaking bad.
Hefting the hoe like a baseball bat, Lucy waited for a clear shot at the mad wolf’s head. Her hands twitched with a need to bash his head in. With each passing second and every brutal swipe of his claws, her rage grew. It grew until it burned hotter than her house. Hotter than the sun.
Almost like clouds opening up to reveal a ray of sunlight, the many moving body parts stilled for the briefest moment. Just long enough for her to have a perfect view of the wolf’s head. Lucy didn’t hesitate. Leading with her hips—just as her father had taught her so many years earlier—she poured every ounce of energy and pain and love and hate into that swing.
CRACK!
The blunt end of the hoe bounced off the wolf’s skull, sending the beast flying backward. Mason whipped his head around, seeking out the source of the mysterious attack on his foe. He tried to reach her mind, but she shut down the connection and advanced on the dazed stranger.
But not a stranger. Not really. He was there. He could have stopped it.
Lifting the hoe over her head, she brought the blunt end down on his head again with a satisfying THWAP.
“How dare you do nothing to save my parents!”
THWAP!
“How dare you set fire to my home!”
THWAP!
“How dare you attack my mate!”
The creature had stilled, but she could still feel it’s cold, black heart beating weakly. Not for long. Spinning the hoe in her hands, Lucy took a deep breath and mustered every ounce of strength her own wolf could give her.
“HOW MOTHER FUCKING DARE YOU!”
The blade of the hoe buried itself deeply into the temple of the wolf, and the thing finally lay perfectly still. She struggled to yank the hoe free, wanting to continue pummeling the beast, desperate to keep hurting him until she was free from the pain deep inside her. Then strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her back. She struggled against them, but Mason’s voice calmed her instantly.
“Shh, Lucy. It’s over now.”
Her entire body started shaking uncontrollably as she stared down at the mess she’d made. She wasn’t happy to have taken a life, but she didn’t regret it. Whoever this was, he’d deserved to die. It was still a shock to her system.
“He was there,” she whispered, turning to bury her face in Mason’s chest. “He was there! He watched as that wolf killed my parents and then tried to kill me!”
She was babbling and she knew it. She barely understood her own words, so most likely Mason couldn’t, but somehow he knew. The connection between them was strong, so he knew. Still, she had to speak the words.
“He knew.”
“Shh, he can’t hurt you anymore, Lucy.”
Pulling her face from the comfort of his bare chest, Lucy sought out his gaze. “I feel like I’m losing my mind, Mason. I feel… lost.”
His lips twitched upward into a gentle smile. “Never, my love. You’ll never be lost. I will always find you.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lucy refused to leave her family home until it was reduced to a pile of soggy, smoking rubble. One of Mason’s sentries had retrieved two sets of baggy sweatsuits to cover their human forms before the first fire engine arrived, and the sentries had dragged the dead wolf deep into the woods, where it would rot into the earth in a matter of months.
Justice.
As they’d watched red and white lights dance in the dark trees, Mason held Lucy in his arms, doing his best to give her the comfort she needed. He’d tried talking her into returning to the pack house, but she’d simply shaken her head and stared as the roof had caved in. So he stood with her and would continue until she finally said goodbye to her past.
By the time the sky began to lighten with shades of lavender and apricot, the firefighters were packing up their engines and Lucy leaned all of her weight against him. She was still standing, but just barely. Bending low, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the Cherokee. This time she didn’t protest, just snuggled into his chest and passed out. She didn’t even twitch when he settled her into the passenger’s seat, or when he carried her into the pack house, or when he laid her in their bed and tucked her in.
Mason had pointedly ignored the National Circle, who’d all been waiting in the living room of the pack house when he’d returned, and he ignored their pointedly loud conversation just outside his door. He needed to rest as much as Lucy—much more than they needed an explanation of the night’s events. Hopefully by the time he woke, the wounds he’d suffered in the fight would have healed a little, and he’d have the energy to give them the answers they needed. Pulling her body into his, Mason drifted off, only to have Lucy wake him thirty seconds later.
“Good morning,” she murmured, resting her chin on his chest.
He yawned and stretched. “Hey, what time is it?”
“Ten.”
“Ten?” Mason jerked upright in surprise.
Three hours had slipped by. He didn’t care so much about the NC, but Lucy needed answers and he wanted to be there when she was ready.
“He was there,” she said quietly, her eyes pleading with Mason to help her make sense of it all.
“I know.” He pulled her down with him and held her tightly.
“How? How could you know?”
“I didn’t until last night, once you said so. Then it all made sense.”
He stared at the swirls in the ceiling, trying to figure out the best way to tell her the whole story. She waited patiently, her fingers splayed across his chest.
“His name is—was—Frank Riverson. He was the alpha of the Riverson pack. They were our neighbors on the other side of the mountain. We coexisted peacefully for many generations. In fact, my brother Gavin and Frank’s son, Brian, were best friends growing up.”
Mason recalled the two pups wrestling like maniacs every time the Blackwoods met up with the Riversons. Jacob, the Blackwood alpha and Mason’s father, would sit with Frank and watch the boys play while they discussed the politics of leading a wolf pack. But Frank’s mate, Kathy… she’d always seemed a little off to Mason. As it turned out, for good reason.
“We didn’t discover this until it was too late, but apparently it was an open secret within the Riverson pack that Kathy had been skirting the edge of becoming feral for some time. Everyone knew it, but because she was the alpha mate, they said nothing. Some claimed it wasn’t their place—Frank should have been the one to eliminate the threat. But he didn’t. Instead, he kept a close eye on her, so she didn’t do anything crazy. Then one day she disappeared.”
Lucy’s skin pebbled under his hands. She knew what was coming, but she remained silent. Listening. Waiting.
“The pack searched for her, but Frank found her. By then, it was too late for your parents and Frank doesn’t deserve any credit for your survival. Once my father discovered what had happened, he did his duty and dispatched the feral wolf so she couldn’t hurt anyone else. Of course, not without a fight from Frank, Brian, and a handful of other Riverson wolves.”