Mated Girl (Wolf Girl Series Book 4)

With a final kiss goodbye, Sawyer and I left Creek with Walsh and Sage, and then we went to stand just at the edge of the meadow where it touched the trees. Sawyer reached out and took my hand into his and squeezed. We were preparing to take down the queen of the freaking vampires.

“I miss your Instagram posts,” Sawyer mused, “your pictures, your silly custom shirts. We have to do this so that things can go back to normal.” He gave me a side look and all I saw in it was adoration. “What do you miss?”

I smirked. “First of all, my custom shirts are not silly. And secondly, I’ll tell you something I don’t miss … I don’t miss your bare skin. These tattoos are hot.” I gave him a sexy wink.

He grinned and opened his mouth to speak, when the trees rustled, and then Luka was suddenly standing before us.

He looked only slightly winded as he gazed at mine and Sawyer’s intertwined fingers. “Auntie’s coming and she’s pissed and powerful.” He inhaled the air. “Damn, you both smell good.”

My eyes widened at his comment.

Sawyer looked perplexed and Luka shook himself. “Sorry, your powers I meant. It’s strong. I can smell it from here.”

Sawyer relaxed. “I siphoned some. We’ll take down the queen together.”

Luka nodded. “Good. Because I can’t lay a finger on her without the council saying I tried to help assassinate her.”

The leaves on the trees rustled, and then she was standing before us, her dark hair down to her shoulders and windblown. Her sharp cheekbones looked like glass in this early morning light. Five vampire minions fanned out behind her and she grinned, looking feral.

“I can, however, help with the entourage,” Luka commented, eyeing the five vampire dudes.

“My, my, you’ve been a pain in my ass.” The queen looked right at me, ignoring Luka and Sawyer. “Your wolf though…” She ran her tongue along her sharp teeth. “She’s been so helpful.”

“You bitch,” I snarled, ready to lunge at her, when Sawyer burst forward. He was vampire-fast, just like me, and the queen was a blur as she advanced to meet him halfway. The second she left the spot where she had been standing, a tree fell behind her, smashing the ground where she’d just been. The land was agitated with all of these people who didn’t belong, but now was my chance to help Sawyer take her down.

They collided, Sawyer wasting no time in wrapping his fingers around her throat. I burst forward, meeting her head on, just in time to see her chuck Sawyer out of the way. He slid across the ground and slammed into Luka, who’d bolted forward to take care of the five lackeys.

It was chaos.

Neither of us had guns or even knives, only a few stakes. This was a full-on fistfight. I slammed into the queen, and reaching up I cracked her chin with my palm, making her teeth crunch together with a satisfying clank. One second I was reaching for her hair and the next I went flying. She’d lashed out with my power, sending a force field of some sort right at my chest.

Bitch.

“Demi!” Sawyer yelled just as I collided with the ground. My back hit first, knocking the breath out of me, and then a deep pain radiated up my spine.

I reoriented myself quickly, standing just in time to see Sawyer crash into the queen, grappling her to the ground. Sage had given Sawyer and I two metal stakes each; they were hidden behind my back in the belt of my pants, which is probably why that fall hurt so much.

Reaching behind me, I pulled one out, just as Sawyer landed a blow to the queen’s face. Seeing him hit a woman shook me for a moment, but I had to remind myself this was the woman who kept trying to kill me, and had harvested my essence through my wolf.

I zipped forward, stake in hand, and readied myself to come down on her chest with the tip, when I saw a tree move.

“Sawyer look ou—” The words were barely out of my mouth when the tree pounded Sawyer on the back like a nail being driven into wood. One second he was upright, strangling the queen, and the next he was keeled forward over her, knocked out cold.

The trauma of seeing him lifeless made everything feel like it was moving in slow motion. It was so similar to what had happened with Sage, I faltered, nearly tripping over my own feet. After getting my bearings, I rushed forward, just as the queen slipped out from under him and backed away. I let her go, focusing all my attention on my mate.

I could move small things with my mind. I mean, I’d done it with the stake and the queen before, and I needed to get that tree off Sawyer. Reaching out with my power, I wrapped it around the trunk, nearly crying in relief as it lifted, hovering a few inches off of his body. It was wild seeing something suspended in mid-air, and being able to feel yourself doing it.

“Get her!” the queen hissed.

My attention was divided as two of the vampires came for me, one from each side. My gaze flicked around the forest to take in the scene. Luka was fighting two others, and one was dead.

These were not good odds. I needed to focus and use all of my strengths. Now was the time to be a badass and really concentrate on everything that made me special.

Taking a deep breath, I fully yanked the tree off of Sawyer, and then hurled it at the two advancing vampires. It slammed into them as they neared me, knocking them over like bowling pins. Sawyer was still unconscious on the ground, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. The queen had a psychotic look in her eye, and I didn’t know why until it was too late. When Sawyer had fallen, his metal stake had rolled out of his belt strap. The queen had used her newfound power to pick it up with her mind and launch it across the clearing, and I only realized when it lodged in my upper thigh.

A bloodcurdling scream ripped from my throat as the searing pain sliced into the meat of my leg and radiated up into my pelvis. The fucking thing was jammed into my thigh at least three inches, and felt like the only thing that had stopped it was my femur bone. Dizziness washed over me at the sight of it and I swayed.

“I’m going to pass out,” I mumbled to myself, and then the queen was a blur as she darted for me. One second I was swaying between two trees, and the next I was in Luka’s arms as he ran through the forest, his hands under my knees and behind my back to cradle me to his chest.

“Pass out later, darling. Right now, you need to kill Psycho Auntie while I help Sawyer.” He looked down at me and his nostrils flared as the scent of my blood hit his nose.

He was right. I needed to push through the pain, because he wasn’t allowed to kill her or assist in her killing. Clearly, he could still help me, which was good, because I think he’d just saved my life.

He pulled to a stop and I pushed his arm away, forcing myself to stand.

“I got this,” I said, deciding to leave the stake in my thigh and not pull it out in case it was plugging a major artery.

“Good luck.” He bowed, and then he raced back to where I could see Sawyer still lying motionless on the ground. The one vampire that was still alive was gunning for my man.

Where in the hell was the qu—?

A tree rustled to my right and I spun, ready for her. She tried to reach out and grab me, but I caught her arm and snapped it backward with lethal force.

Her inhuman cry brought me great pleasure as her arm went limp inside of its socket.

“You bitch!” she shrieked, grabbing at her dangling arm.

I hissed like a psychotic cat, right in her face. “I’ll tear you limb from limb if I have to.”

She reached behind her back with her good arm and pulled something out. The glint of metal caught my eye. I thought it was another stake until I saw that it was two half circles, connected on one side.

It was a fucking collar. Electric no doubt.

Oh hell no.

I felt my power rise up inside of me, like a live wire just under my skin, and I latched on to it in that moment, wrapping it around myself, and then around the queen. It was hard to explain, but I felt these invisible threads reach out and clasp on to her like glue. Her eyes went wide, so I knew she felt it too. An invisible burst of energy blasted from her as she tried to protect herself. It slammed into me, but I held on to her with my magic threads. The wind knocked from my chest, leaving me gasping, but I stayed standing, pulling her slowly toward me.

She flailed, a genuine look of panic on her face as her toes scraped across the dirt, dragging bits of leaves and moss with her as I lured her into my web like a spider. Holding one of the stakes Sage had given me, I raised it, grinning as she was brought to me.

“No!” she shouted, pushing another shockwave of energy into me. It slammed into my solar plexus and I could no longer stay upright. I tumbled backward, my sticky energy web of power bringing her down with me. We landed awkwardly, with her falling onto the lower half of my good leg as we tumbled, grappling with each other.

I grabbed anything I could, a fistful of hair and her left ear, yanking her face toward me so that she didn’t slither away. She opened her mouth, hissing, and then jerked out of my grasp, sinking her teeth into the meat of my uninjured thigh.

A chunk of her hair was left in my hand and I recoiled at the pleasureful sensation of her bite.

Bitch was refueling.

Nope. Not today.

Reaching out, I punched her in the side of the head, dislodging her teeth from my skin before she could drink from me. She rolled to the side and then scrambled onto her knees, trying to get on top of me. I tried to right myself, but my injured thigh and the pain it was causing me was slowing me down. Before I knew it, she knocked me back down and hovered over me with a feral, bloody grin. “My lead scientist thinks that if I just drain you fully, your powers will transfer to me permanently. I say we try that now. I’m not sure you’re worth the trouble of keeping alive.”

I planted my booted foot right on her chest. “I say we don’t!” With as much strength I could muster, I kicked, chucking her off of me, and she went flying. Her scream of frustration cut deep into the woods as she landed with a loud thud in the trees.

I stood shakily, readying myself for her to come at me again. This was harder than I thought, but I was determined to end this now and not retreat, nor let her withdraw.

I pressed on, limping forward, stalking through the trees. Trying to inject some vampire speed into my run, I leapt over a fallen log, wincing when the pain shot up my leg and I had to slow down.

Where was she?

I didn’t kick her this far. Did she leave? Was she going to come back with an army? I trusted Sage and Walsh to protect Creek, but something told me she was still here, watching me and waiting.

“Come on, you coward!” I screamed, feeling the full-blown rage of every pain she’d cause me come to the surface.

A tree rustled and I spun, eyeing the queen, who stood just behind a tree in an effort to camouflage herself. But I also saw something else, something she didn’t see. The giant bear that had been such a pain in my ass stood just behind her, sniffing the air.

She must have smelled him, or felt him, because she turned, her eyes widening just as he opened his mouth, showcasing his massive teeth and let loose a terrifying roar. The queen charged forward, toward me and away from the bear, but I wasn’t going to let her get away. With what little strength I had left, I burst forward, ignoring the pain in my thigh, and grasped her shoulders. Kicking off the ground, I pushed her backward into the bear.

This fall wouldn’t hurt me, this bear wouldn’t hurt me—we were one, family, on the same side. I knew this. The bear reared up on his hindlegs, making himself terrifyingly tall, and the queen slammed right into his chest.

“Attack!” I threw compulsion into my command.

Without even a second’s delay, he reached for her with his paws and trapped her against his chest, tearing into her abdomen like it was Play-Doh. Her wails of agony ripped from her throat and I backed up, wincing at the gore before me. Throwing her to the ground, he pounced on her chest, and the sound of cracking bones filled the forest.

Oh God.

When he bit into her shoulder, I pulled the stake from behind my back. Dragging my bum leg across the forest floor, I bent down before her, the bear keeping her pinned to the spot as she grabbed at him weakly, trying to throw him off. He must weigh over a thousand pounds and she was too injured to fight him. This was the end for her.

“This is for everyone you tortured in your pursuit of power. Say hi to Vicon in hell for me.” Then I slammed the tip of the stake right into her heart.

A final gurgled scream left her throat and then cut off mid yell. Black veins crawled up her neck as her body decomposed into ash, first turning into a crusted shell of skin and then becoming powder.

The bear backed up, looked at me and then took off. Either he was freaked out by her decomposing or he figured his work here was done. He’d rid the sacred forest of her threat.

I stared at the pile of ashes, numb to the realization that I’d actually done it.

I killed her. It’s over.

Reaching out, I brushed my fingers against the black ash, rubbing some between my fingers as if I couldn’t believe this was real.

The queen of the vampires, the mother of my rapist, the woman who tortured Seam’s daughter, stole my wolf, tried to kill my husband, and brought war to our people … was dead.

My throat constricted with emotion as the tightness in my chest finally released and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in so, so, long.

“I’m here!” Sawyer called out, and I spun to see him holding two stakes, one in each fist, blood and bruises covering his shoulders and the side of his neck.

I shook my head, indicating the pile of ashes on the ground as the tears spilled over and I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand.

“I took care of it,” I told him, my voice vacant. I still felt empty, unfinished, and I didn’t realize why until I remembered that I didn’t have my wolf. This wasn’t over until I got my wolf back. Where the hell was she?

“While you were napping, your girl killed the most powerful queen the vampires have ever seen.” Luka strolled up and patted Sawyer on the back. “How does that feel?”

Sawyer flipped him off and I shook my head at Luka before looking down at my thigh and wincing at the horrible sight.

“They hurt, huh?” Luka stared at the stake protruding out of my thigh. Then he lifted his shirt to showcase over fifty puckered scars all around his chest and abdomen. I hadn’t noticed them before…

My mouth dropped open. “You’ve been staked that many times?”

He grinned, and holy hell he was super good-looking. If Sage and Walsh didn’t figure their shit out, I might just be okay with her hooking up with a vamp. Or I’d have to set up Raven with him.

He nodded. “It will leave a scar, but you’ll heal.”

Sawyer dropped his stakes to the ground and pushed forward, yanking me into his arms. He tucked me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me, and I took in a deep breath. “Let’s get you back to medical. Dr. Pearson can work on this,” Sawyer mumbled against the top of my head as he held me.

I nodded, reaching up to stroke his beard as I pulled back from him a little so that I could look him in the eyes. “Sawyer … my wolf. I can’t feel her. I … need her back.”

He frowned, nodding. “I’ll figure it out.”

With that, we headed back to the cabin, where I found Creek safe with his auntie, and hopefully uncle by the way Walsh was looking at Sage. Luka had to dodge a few falling trees, but we all made it out, the trail still leading us to the Paladin lands, just as it had when I’d opened the cave and proved myself. Sawyer insisted on carrying me, and I looked over his shoulder the entire way, watching the cabin get smaller and eventually fade into the distance.

I would miss this place. As fucked up as that sounded, it was true.

Once back in Paladin Village, Luka said goodbye and left for Spokane to hide out as the month of mourning for the queen would begin. Because the queen had been the one to lead the war against the wolves and essentially forced the other races into it, now that she was dead, none of them had come forward to continue the war. We’d won.

Sawyer left me with Dr. Pearson and then went to publicly declare the war was over and officially take our land back. The trolls’ magic had worked beautifully, and we’d pushed their forces all the way back to the eastern wall. Luka said the vampires would feel their queen die and he was right. Once they did, their army had surrendered and went into mourning, back in their city.

Dr. Pearson gave me some really good drugs. I was in and out as the one-inch hole in my leg healed with a little help from skin glue and stitches. Astra was asleep in the bed next to me.

Sawyer stopped by when I was lucid and told me that our people came up out of the bunker and now the planning would begin. We’d have defector trolls, witches, and two types of wolves living in Wolf City, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. This was how it should have always been.

I felt the heaviness of sleep pull on me just as Sawyer was telling me about his plan to repair and rebuild Wolf City. Right before I closed my eyes, I felt her. My wolf. She was alive, injured but okay, and someone had just removed a magical collar from her.

‘Where are you!?’ I screamed, trying to jump to her sight so that I could see where she was, but the drugs were too heavy.

‘With the Magical Creature Council. They’re coming, and they want both you and Sawyer in prison. You need to run.’

Oh shit. It was the last thought I had before I slipped into a drugged oblivion.