I knew a curse when I heard one, and yet again, I reacted before I could think. The vines burst back to life, shooting forward and around the witch before shoving their way into her mouth. It was an awful sight as more and more of them continued to push down. And down. And down. Katarina letout an awful, muffled scream before her face went gray and she stilled completely.
Had we done it? Had we really done it? Or was she playing dead?
Our answer came when her skin began to crack. It was like a fine spiderweb that spread out all across her face and neck until she crumbled into dust. The moment she did, magic surged out from where she had been, and although I didn’t know what changed, I could feel that something had.
“Vanessa!”
Suddenly, I was swept up in a crushing embrace, but I didn’t panic as my nose was filled with Leo’s familiar scent. He hugged me tightly before kissing me for all he was worth.
We were both breathless and filthy, but I didn’t give a damn. Finally, finally, we would have true peace.
Katarina’s entire bloodline was gone.
We were free.
“I thought you were dead,” Leo whispered before kissing me again. I melted into it, craving the affection I thought I’d never have again. “How did you even find me?”
I reached into what remained of his tattered pants and removed a thick seed I’d slid into it after Katarina’s offer, when I’d gotten a sense that he was going to play the noble hero. “Thousand-year squash seeds. I got them from a native preservation group. They’re unique enough that I was sure I’d be able to track it even through her magic. When I got lost, I asked the trees for directions.”
“Since when could you do that?”
I shrugged. Explaining how my powers worked was a bit like explaining breathing. “Since I decided I could.”
Leo shook his head, then laughed and kissed me again. God, I loved kissing him. Once we parted, I shoved his chest.
“You are never going to do anything like this again, do you understand me?”
He was clearly surprised at first, but then he grinned. “You got it.”
“Damn right, I do.”
Then we were kissing again. Cheers erupted from all around us as our friends and allies shifted into their human forms.
It was time to go home. We were going to throw one hell of a party.
And this time, there would be no witch to interrupt it.
46
LEO
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Ricky asked, grinning like a loon as he finished setting up the bonfire.
I would have been fine doing it myself, but my second-in-command had insisted on taking care of the setup so I could concentrate on what was important.
And what was important was officially having Vanessa join our pack.
In all the rush to defeat the brothers and our surprise run-in with their mother, I had assumed Ven was a part of our pack as a matter of course. That night, after we’d defeated Katarina, as we held each other and marveled at the fact that we were all alive, Ven had asked if she could swear fealty like Jason and Miranda had. My inner wolf had rumbled with satisfaction, and my heart had swelled with joy.
Of course, Vanessa was pack, shifter or no shifter. She was mymate,after all, but the fact that she had seen Jason and Miranda become pack and wanted to go through the same process meant the world to me. It meant the world to the rest of my pack as well. Andromeda and several others had built a newcat tunnel with a full on catio so the three felines could join in the celebration. Could that effort have gone into rebuilding the house? Potentially, but it was habitable after nearly every shifter in the tri-state area had come to help out. Apparently, when you wiped out a malevolent bloodline that was responsible for the death, imprisonment, and cursing of untold shifters and magical folks, word got around.
It felt strange to have so many strangers we didn’t know roll up and ask if we were the ones who had killed the Morgana line and whether they could help out. Strange but amazing. As hard as it was to keep on top of everything, I made sure either me or Ricky got their contact information. Maybe I was being overly ambitious in the wake of our success, but I wanted all shifters and magical folk in general to be less separated. Not only because so much loss of life in stupid territory and ego battles was a waste, but also because I never wanted another evil force to take advantage of us again.
Granted, I didn’t have any idea what my long-term steps were to accomplish that goal, but being able to get in contact with different people would make a huge difference. After all, it had only taken Ven teaming up with America to start a connection that had saved my hide multiple times over.
“Are you ready?”
I looked up from the paper, where I’d jotted down a little speech. Over the past week, it had become well-worn from my reading it so much. Although the words of the pack ritual were pretty set in stone, there was more I wanted to say. This wasn’t awedding,per se, but it was a union in more ways than one, and I wanted to honor that. Even if I had no idea what I was doing.
