J. Tyler: Cole’s Redemption

And then a miracle. Thanks to his mate having a very special gift of her own, he was pulled back into his body.

Opening his eyes was too hard, so he contented himself with listening to the sounds of his mate and his Pack brothers’ joy that he’d been brought back from beyond. That eventually, he’d be all right. He relished his mate’s warm hand holding his as he was lifted and placed on a gurney, the nearness of her sweet scent.

He basked in her repeated declarations of love, given freely where she’d once been wary and unsure. Her feelings bathed him like the warm waters of a whirlpool, all of the sadness and struggle being cleansed and washed away.

The gurney bumped and rolled along, but there was no pain with the movements. Just a bone-deep exhaustion that threatened to drag him to the depths. He sensed he wouldn’t die now, but neither did he want to let go and sleep. He wanted to spend every second soaking up his mate’s love.

The cool air of the outdoors caressed his skin, and in seconds, the gurney was being loaded into a vehicle. An ambulance, most likely. Selene had to let go of his hand temporarily, but soon clasped him again as she climbed in and they shut the doors.

When the vehicle started rolling, she began humming a song to him. No words, just a soft tune, something low and pretty. Romantic.

I didn’t know you could sing.

Hardly singing. He heard the laughter in her voice in his head. I can’t really carry a tune. More like expressing my happiness.

Keep doing it. I like hearing you.

Okay, but you have to promise to sleep so you can recover. Deal?

Deal.

And so, his mate’s unnamed song lulling him, he finally gave in to healing slumber.

When Zan awoke to find his mate at his bedside, he blinked to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. “Selene?”

Her head snapped up, the magazine on her lap falling to the floor, forgotten. “There you are! It’s about time, too. How are you feeling?”

He considered that. “Good, I think.”

“Nothing hurts?” Bruised shadows colored the skin under her tired eyes. She looked worn-out. Anxious.

“Nothing,” he assured her. “Have you been getting any sleep, baby?”

She gestured to the other side of the bed. “Tarron had a twin bed brought in for me.”

“But it doesn’t look like you’ve been using it much.”

She smiled ruefully. “Guilty. But I couldn’t sleep until I knew for sure you were coming back to me.”

“Sweetheart, you had to know I would,” he said, taking her hand. “You brought me back. No way was I leaving again.”

“I know. But the past few days, worrying about you, especially after what happened . . .” She swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears.

Reaching up, he brushed away a stray drop from her cheek. “Hey, now, none of that. I’m fine, and I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Sniffling, she composed herself. “You’ve been asleep for four days. Melina said after you wake up, you could be out the next day, or the day after. As long as you continue to take it easy and lay off the healing for a while.”

“For how long?”

“At least six more months.”

“Shit. I don’t know if I can promise . . .” But one look at the worry on her beautiful face and he knew he could do it. For them. “All right, yes. Six months. I promise.”

Her relief was palpable. “Thank you.”

“For us? Anything,” he said with a smile. “I won’t risk ruining my health or at worst, killing myself. Again.”

She cleared her throat, looking uneasy. “Well, that’s the thing. I’m not exactly sure you could kill yourself now, at least not by overtaxing your body.”

He studied her curiously. “Hey, that’s great. But I have to ask, why not?”

“You remember that as a born wolf, I’m immortal, right?”

“Yeah. You told me that you and Nick both are, as is most of your clan.”

“Right.” She looked uneasy. “The point is, I have a gift. I’m a Spirit Catcher. That’s how I was able to pull your spirit back into your body so you could be healed.”

He nodded. “Even when I was dead, I gleaned that much. That’s a wonderful gift to have.”

“I think so, too, though I’m not sure it would work on anyone but you. I’d rather not find out.”

“I get the feeling there’s more?”

“Yes. When I was successful in bringing your spirit back, it was necessary for both Tarron and me to feed you some of our blood. For healing. Only it has a side effect—you’re now immortal, just like me.”

His mouth fell open, and he gaped at her. “No way.”

“Way.”

“I’m frigging immortal?” he blurted.

“Are you upset?” Her teeth worried at her bottom lip, and some of her anxiety began to return.

“Sweetheart, no,” he rushed to assure her, squeezing her hand. “That means I get to spend an eternity with you, right? Now I won’t die and leave you alone in a few decades.”

Once again, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “That’s right, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. You might have been immortal anyway, because of our initial mating. Or you might have enjoyed a longer-than-normal human life span because of being a turned shifter. But now it’s certain you’ll be like me.”

“So, will I be able to deflect silver bullets off my chest and shit like that?” he teased.

She snorted. “You’re not Superman, buddy. You can still get your ass killed in any number of ways, so be careful.”

“Hmm. I’d rather have the red cape.”

“Sorry—no can do.”

“Guess I’ll have to be content, then.”

Leaning over, she gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. He wanted to deepen the kiss and show his mate just how much he missed being in her arms.

A knock on the door interrupted their tender moment, and Selene sat back. “Come in.”

When it opened, Nick walked in, followed by most of the Pack and Prince Tarron. They were all wearing smiles, but was it his imagination or did the commander’s seem forced? Was that sadness lurking behind his eyes? God, he hoped Nick was getting over what Darrow had done to him. It wasn’t his fault. Surely he knew that.

“Damn, it’s good to see you guys,” Zan said, grinning at them.

Each of his brothers came forward to shake his hand, and some even gave him careful hugs. When it was Jax’s turn, his best friend held on a bit tighter than the others.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, jackass,” he said hoarsely.

They both laughed to lighten the moment, and Jax let go to stand with the others. Zan looked to Nick. “So, what’s going on? Any news about Owen Matthews? How are we going to bring that bastard down?”

“We won’t have to. It’s already done.”

“Jeez, somebody works fast. How’d that happen so quickly?”

“I placed a call to Grant, seeing as how he’s the only one we can trust,” Nick began. “He contacted a couple of high-up government officials he can trust, and they handled the situation. Seems as though an ‘anonymous tipster’ sent videos of Secretary of State Matthews, a CIA agent, and a White House staffer soliciting one Carter Darrow to commit the mass murders of innocent American citizens.”

Zan whistled through his teeth. “How the hell did they pull off faking a video like that one?”

“Easy. It wasn’t fake.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Seems like creating super-soldiers and rogue vampires just wasn’t enough to keep our little terrorists busy. They were ready to graduate to homeland and eventually global genocide, targeting citizens they felt were undesirable or unmalleable to their rule. Matthews and his followers, including Darrow, had a plan to bring down our government from the inside.”