Instead, she sank her fangs into the crook of his uninjured shoulder, just above his collarbone. Cade cried out her name, his body tensing as his cock jerked within her depths. His reaction, coupled with the knowledge that he was truly and irrevocably hers, sent her spinning into freefall.
Extracting her canines, she jerked upright and threw her head back, chanting his name as her orgasm slammed into her. Cade cursed, locked his arms around her, and buried his face against her neck as he followed her over the edge.
“Okay,” he panted a minute later, his warm breath fanning over her skin, “you win. We can stay until morning.”
Chapter Fifteen
“What are we going to tell everyone?”
Cade glanced at his mate from the passenger seat of the SUV and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“About…about me?”
For days, they’d avoided talking about her immunity and the possible consequences. On one hand, he was thankful that she didn’t have to suffer once a month like her fellow werewolves. On the other hand, the fact that she could shift put an enormous target on her back.
“I don’t want to be another science experiment.” She bit her lip and shook her head, making her hair bounce around her face. “I won’t do that.”
If the Coalition discovered her secret, she wouldn’t have a choice. They’d have her locked away in a cage before anyone even knew she was missing. The Revenant would also want to use her immunity to help find a cure, but he didn’t believe they would resort to such extreme measures. His instinct, however, was always to protect her.
“I think that’s a decision you have to make for yourself.” She could help a lot of people, but she’d also be putting herself at risk. “I think it comes down to if you trust the Revenant.”
“Our friends,” she mused.
Cade nodded. He’d been so resistant to the word, but now, it didn’t even feel adequate. The people who waited for them back at the safe house weren’t just friends. They were family.
“Whatever you decide, I’ll have your back, but honestly, I don’t know how long you can keep a secret like that.”
The full moon was less than a week away. She could probably hide in the mountains and take refuge there until the morning. With their big takedown of the Hunters planned for that night, he doubted anyone would realize she’d disappeared, but what happened the following month? Or the full moon after that?
“I guess it would be kind of suspicious if I keep disappearing every full moon,” she mused, giving voice to his concerns.
“If that’s what you want, we’ll find a way.” Even if they had to separate from the group and head out on their own. Which brought him to something else he’d been wondering about since he’d seen her shift. “What about when you were with the Hunters? How did you hide it from them?”
Her eyebrows drew together, and she shook her head. “I didn’t.” She swallowed audibly, straining the muscles in her neck. “I’m the reason they started the Wild Hunt. They wanted to find a way to track and fight a fully transitioned wolf.”
“Baby, I watched you take out an entire pack of Ravagers. Why didn’t you just eat them?”
“Because they’re skinny, and they taste bad.”
Caught off guard by her dry humor, Cade fell back in his seat as he let out a bark of laughter. “Fair enough.”
Mackenna sighed. “At first, they drugged me to keep me docile. Once they realized that made it too easy to follow me through the woods, they started using a tracking chip and a shock collar to keep me from running.” Glancing over at him, she smirked, but the expression held no trace of humor. “Bullets are a pretty effective deterrent well.”
“But you survived.”
He could offer platitudes and apologize for something he hadn’t done and couldn’t change, but it wouldn’t mean anything. He couldn’t erase the things that had happened to her, but he could make damn sure that she never had to endure anything like that again.
“I did, didn’t I?” A little of the confidence she’d regained filtered back into her voice. “They tried to break me, but they didn’t succeed. I’m still here. I’m still fighting.”
Every survivor had a story, some terrible tragedy they had fought through to become the people they were now. He didn’t think he’d met anyone who had overcome as much as his mate.
“Hell yeah, you are.” She was beyond amazing, and he was so damn proud of her. “They’re going to pay, Mack. I promise you.”
She grinned, a genuine smile this time. “Hell yeah, they are.”
Three electronic beeps sounded from her watch, interrupting the moment. “Oh, you need to take your antibiotic.”
“You set an alarm?”
“What? I wanted to make sure we remembered while we were on the road.”
Christ, she was adorable. “Okay, where are they?”
“You have to take them with food.”
Cade rolled his eyes. “It’ll be fine. Where are they?”
“No, the doctor said to take them with food.”
“Okay.” He couldn’t help but laugh. Did she really think he was that fragile? “I’ll just take it when we get back to the hospital.”
“We’re at least an hour away.”
“And?”
“You’re supposed to take two pills every day at the same times.”
Yep, she definitely thought he was that fragile. “Baby, I really don’t think another hour or two is going to make a difference.”
“The doctor said—”
“Yeah, okay, I get it.” Her obsessiveness should have annoyed him, but he knew it came from a place of love and concern. “There’s a town just up here. We can stop and see if they have a convenience store or something.”
“You really should eat something nutritious.”
