The Wolf & The Witch (The Wolves Of Winter Valley Book 2)

Chapter 5 - Reunited

Drake POV

Crouching down, I took off my shoes and socks and cuffed the ankles of my jeans, then stepped onto the sand. It felt cool beneath my feet and it made me realize how much I missed spending time on the beach. My parents, brothers, and I used to take trips to the gulf coast during the summers when I was growing up. We’d spend a week in a rented beach house, building sandcastles and diving into the waves as they rolled toward the shore. Carter was always trying to race everyone to prove he was the fastest and strongest swimmer. Rory and I both fell for it, but since he was faster and stronger, and we could never come close to beating him, we eventually grew bored of the game.

The ring’s glow started to pulse the closer I got to the water. I scanned the water’s surface. No Isabella. I turned and walked east toward the cliffs, scanning the faces as I went. The ring continued to pulse, and my heart began to beat wildly. She was so close I could almost feel her. I wanted to call out, draw her attention wherever she might be concealing herself, but that would also draw the attention of others and there was no way to know if her abductor was in the area. Natasha hadn’t said. She’d definitely been running from someone. I’d seen her running in my dreams. I’d felt her fear. Whether that running took place here or elsewhere, I couldn’t be sure.

I started to go around a cliff face that jutted all the way out to the edge of the sand when I received another blast of my mate’s vanilla scent. Again, Gideon became excited.

Mate! Mate! Mate!

Gideon, calm down. We can’t deal with that right now.

We need our mate, you jackass. Find mate, then find Isabella.

I’m rejecting our mate.

No!

Yes! What is so hard for you to understand? I am in love with Isabella. I want to build a future with her. I can’t do that if I accept our mate.

I slapped the block up before he could throw another tantrum, then turned away from the cliff and started back the other way. Halfway down the beach, I dropped down in the sand and pulled out my phone. My mind was torn between my mate and Isabella. It wasn’t unheard of for a wolf to reject their mate, but it didn’t happen often, and it wasn’t easy to do. The mate pull was incredibly strong. When a wolf found his mate, he was instantly drawn to her. His body immediately reacted to her and he became overwhelmed with the urge to claim her through s*x and to mark her. I was struggling with those very feelings. I could still smell that sweet vanilla scent and my body throbbed with the need to mate. Needing someone to help me refocus, I called Nattie.

“Did you find her?” she said without saying hello first.

I frowned. The hope and anticipation in her voice made me hate that I had to tell her no. “Not yet, Nattie. I’m kind of having a little problem and I was hoping you could help me clear my head and get me back on track.”

“What’s wrong?” Now, she sounded concerned.

“I’ve found my mate… Or rather, I’m within the same vicinity as my mate and her scent is distracting me from my search,” I told her, running a hand through my hair.

“You found your mate? In Venezuela? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would the Goddess mate you with someone you were never going to meet?” she asked, clearly confused. “I mean if Isabella hadn’t been… Oh, my Goddess…”

“What?” I asked, pushing to my feet, alarmed.

“It’s her! I can’t believe it’s really her!” Natasha shouted excitedly. In the background, I heard Seth and Harmony both firing questions at her at the same time.

“Nattie, what’s her? What are you talking about?” 

“Follow the scent, Drake. It’s Isabella, it has to be. The Goddess would never mate you with someone so far removed from your life. They would be near where you live or work. They would be in a place where your paths are likely to cross. It’s her, I’m telling you. Go and call me later,” she demanded and disconnected the call.

I grabbed my shoes from the sand and ran back toward the cliff, scenting the air and keeping an eye on the ring. The ring’s light pulsed brighter as the vanilla scent grew stronger. Excitement propelled me over the rocks that blocked that narrow stretch of beach. I was moving so quickly that I nearly missed the fissure in the cliff face. It was concealed behind a sheer rock partition that made the cliff look unmarred. Nerves replaced the excitement as I picked my way around jagged rocks to the entrance of the cave. Isabella’s ring was pulsing with the power and frequency of a strobe light and that glorious vanilla scent swirled all around me as I stepped inside. 

It was dark, but thankfully there was enough sunlight filtering in through the cave entrance that I could actually see once my eyes adjusted to the reduction in light. I saw movement at the back of the cave and trained my eyes on the spot. There she was, pressing herself as far as she could into another fissure in the rock wall, trying to make herself invisible. I could smell her fear and it infuriated me.

“Isabella?” I asked, keeping my voice calm and quiet. “Izzy, it’s Drake.”

I heard her gasp, then she whispered. “Drake?”

“Yes, darlin’. I’ve come to take you home,” I said and watched as she slowly extricated herself from the fissure and came into the light. 

The shirt she had on was too big and threadbare, the shorts were too small. She was covered in dirt and cuts and bruises, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her usually warm caramel complexion was pale from fear, making that adorable little beauty mark under her left eye stand out even more than usual, and dark smudges of fatigue shadowed those deep, dark brown eyes. 

When she finally got close enough that she could make out my features, her shoulders slumped, and she covered her face with her hands as she began to cry. Rushing forward, I lifted her into my arms, expecting her to fight me, but there was no fight left in her. She banded her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist and sobbed. Heavy, chest-heaving sobs. The kind that ripped out a piece of your soul if you witnessed them. Those sobs were so much more devastating coming from her because Isabella rarely showed any emotion other than anger. It crushed me and it empowered me seeing her so vulnerable. At that moment, she needed me as she’d never needed me before. My heart swelled. 

I held her tight against me and murmured to her. “It’s okay, baby. You’re okay, now.”

While she sobbed into my shoulder, I carried her out of the cave. 

Progress was long, slow, and at times treacherous, but I wasn’t ready to let her go. I carried her from that narrow cave in the cliff face, down the beach, and all the way back to my rental car. 

To my surprise, she didn’t brush me off when I insisted on holding her hand the whole way back to Naiguata. She also didn’t fight me when I picked her up and carried her into the hotel, choosing, instead, to snuggle in as close as she could get. Several of the staff stared, but I ignored them. Pausing by the front desk, I requested a first aid kit be sent up to the room, then I continued to the elevators. 

Her stomach growled loudly as we entered the room.

“When was the last time you ate, Izzy?” I asked, setting her down on the bed.

She stared at the floor. “Last night,” she said quietly. 

I handed her the room service menu. “Here, baby. Pick out what you want, and I’ll order it while you take a shower.”

“Thank you.”

Kneeling in front of her, I brushed my fingertips over her cheek. “You don’t have to thank me, Izzy. I want to take care of you. I need to.”

Isabella POV

Though I drifted into consciousness, my eyelids were far too heavy to open, so I lay there relishing the softness of the bed beneath me and the warmth of the blankets draped over me, and I listened to the thick southern drawl of the man I loved as he spoke to someone in hushed tones.

“I know you do, Nattie, but she’s exhausted,” he said, attempting to soothe my sister who was undoubtedly pissed that he wouldn’t put me on the phone. “I promise that I will have her call you as soon as she’s awake and fed… No, she passed out before I could order her something from room service. She barely had enough energy to take a shower… Hang on…” There was a soft click followed by a light tapping sound, then he continued. “There I just risked my own life to send you a picture, so you can see for yourself that she is safe and being looked after… Yes, she is… I love you too…Yep, bye.”

“No risk to your life, Drake,” I said as I forced my eyes to open. 

I expected him to come sit on the edge of the bed, but he hurried around and crawled in behind me. I rolled to my back so I could look into that beautiful, rugged, and tan face. It was both painful and a relief to be that close to him, to be able to touch him, and be held by him. I’d dreamed of nothing else for months. Silently, I cursed the Moon Goddess as I had every day since he’d come back into my life. I loved this man, I loved him with every ounce of my being, but he could never be mine.

“You’re not upset that I took a picture of you when I thought you were sleeping?” he asked, taking my hand in his.

“No. Was for Nattie, to ease her heart. I can’t be mad.”

Drake let go of my hand and hooked his arm around my waist, drawing me against him. His eyes scanned my face, then he lowered his brow to mine. “I’ve never been more scared in my life,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. He lifted his head, emotions churned in his soft green eyes. His fingers traced my cheekbone, then my jaw. “I don’t know what I would have done if…” 

The words died on his lips as if his mouth refused to form them, but I knew what he meant to say and that’s all that mattered. I lay my hand against his cheek. My heart nearly burst when he leaned into it and closed his eyes.

“I’m okay,” I murmured. “You save me.”

His eyes opened and locked on mine, then he dipped his head and brushed his lips over my temple, my cheek, and my jaw, then lay them softly over mine, sending little shocks through my body and awakening the desires I’d deliberately buried. My first instinct was to pull away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t, and damn the Goddess, I wouldn’t. After everything I’d been through those last few days, I deserved a little bit of happiness. A few hours of absolute bliss were worth the pain that would follow. When he started to ease away, I reached up, cupped the back of his neck, and attacked his mouth.

His lips went from soft and gentle to firm and possessive. His tongue invaded my mouth and warred with mine for dominance. I lifted up without breaking contact, wrapped my arms around him, and dragged him down on top of me. I couldn’t get close enough. I needed his weight, I wanted to feel as if his body was being imprinted on mine. My fingertips dug into his back as he gently rubbed his erection against my thigh. I felt that light warm, gush of fluid between my legs and smiled when he growled. He could smell his effect on my body, and I could feel him fighting to stay in control. It was a powerful feeling, knowing that you could push someone that close to the edge of sanity. Drake shifted suddenly, positioning himself between my legs until his d**k throbbed against that damp, pulsating heat. I moaned as I ravaged his mouth, my hands sliding up to fist in his hair.

“I want you, Izzy. Goddess, save me, I want you so bad,” he panted in my ear after ripping his lips from mine. He rubbed himself against me again, proving the truth of his statement, then pressed hot open-mouthed kisses over my jaw and throat.

I closed my eyes and arched back, thrusting my breasts up in invitation. He wanted me. Of course, I’d known this. It had never been a secret nor had the fact that I wanted him just as badly. Those simple facts had been the cause of every moment of strife between us the last time we were together. He’d been willing to suffer for the pleasure of a few passionate kisses and innocent touches. I hadn’t been. I wanted all or nothing and still, I’d suffered. Every moment in his company broke my heart and I blamed him for making me love him. Our circumstances hadn’t changed. We still didn’t have a future, but I would not live on dreams alone. Not anymore. My body would know this man’s touch and I would have a memory to cling to instead of a dream. 

I gasped when his teeth closed lightly over a n****e through the thin cotton of my tank top. My body trembled as his hand slid under that fabric barrier and closed over my other breast. He brought his lips back to my throat.

“My sweet, sweet, Isabella,” he whispered as he nibbled my earlobe. “Let me have you.”

Si!

My mind screamed the word, but my lips wouldn’t say it. While my body throbbed with wanting, my heart shattered. As much as I wanted Drake to make love to me, as much as I felt like I deserved that one precious moment, I couldn’t let him. It wouldn’t be fair to him. 

Gently, I pressed a hand to his shoulder. “Drake.” It was all I had to say. 

At the sound of his name, he lifted his head and looked me in the eye. “What’s wrong?”

“We should talk.”

He eased himself off me and sat up. “I know what you’re going to say,” he said as I joined him on the edge of the bed. “You’re going to say that we can’t be together because I have a destined mate.”

“Si…” I started, but he grabbed my hand and plowed ahead.

“Yes, I have a destined mate and I did find her.”

I spun around to face him, furious. This man was going to make love to me when he had a mate back home? The nerve! “You…were… You…” I managed to stammer before he covered my mouth lightly with his hand.

“Let me finish before you say something you’ll regret, darlin’,” he said and smiled. The pig! “I found my mate this morning.”

My eyes narrowed. “You were here this morning. She’s Venezuelan?” I was seething and his value to me was dropping further by the second.

“Originally. She’s American now.” I started to stand, but he dragged me back down next to him.

“I don’t want to hear any more!” I spat and tried again to stand. 

Drake kept a firm grip on my waist and kissed me soundly, then grinned as I continued to struggle against his hold. “Too bad, my little spitfire because you need to hear it. My mate is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I have wanted her for years. I love her more than I ever imagined possible, even though she has a terrible temper and could turn me into all manners of nasty little creatures on a whim.”

I froze. My mouth dropped open as his words began to sink in. That love he spoke of shone in his eyes as he pinched my chin and pressed a kiss to my stunned mouth. 

“Yes, Izzy. It’s you. You are my mate.”