Stefan’s POV
When Levi came to me with news that he had found a healer who can help with my little intruder problem, I thought my troubles were over. Of course, that was before I realised that my body had more ideas on how to screw me over.
I had it all figured out. Once Mr Nosy Werewolf Prince from Goddess knows when disappeared into the recesses of my mind, nothing could come between me and Gwen. But as things turned out, I don’t need an unwelcome guest in my body to screw up my mate bond. My body is doing that all on its own.
Memories of that night in the nightclub flash through my mind, and I cringe internally. Standing there, super aware of Mari next to me. The roaring need that coursed through my veins. The visions that crowded my mind. Visions that should have been my mate. Instead, all I could think of was mating Mari. Marking her with my scent. Making her mine.
It was exactly like I had heard in stories of werewolves finding their mates. The body-crushing need to be with them, become one with them, make them yours. How hard it was to fight that attraction. How painful it was if you couldn’t go through with the mating.
But what makes me cringe even more is not the uncontrollable reaction to Mari. It’s what I did after.
I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I was with Gwen, my body would get with the programme. Remember that I was spoken for–mated, and bonded with a woman I wanted to be with, with every fibre of my being.
So I all but hauled her out of the club, brought her to the car and fucked her in the backseat, hoping the insane roar in my body would quiet down. Hoping the smell of her, being inside her, would wake my brain the hell up.
And it had–for all of twenty seconds before I started feeling like the lowest scum on earth. So I ran–literally. Ran until the physical exhaustion made it impossible for my body to get up to any funny business.
And to ensure that I keep that up–at least until I figure what the hell is wrong with me–I’ve been keeping busy. And at least fifty miles away from Mari. Which is kind of how this entire renovation project got started.
“You’ll need to eat at some point,” Levi’s voice sounds over the sound of the hammer as I drive a nail into the drywall.
“Almost done here,” I say, reaching for a new nail and moving along the wall. The panel I’m nailing is the last in this room. “How is the living room coming along?”
“Done with the wiring. Should be done with everything tomorrow.”
“That was fast,” I mumble. When we came to check the place a week ago, it didn’t look like it could be salvaged. But then again, it had been vandalised, almost burnt to the ground, and abandoned for five years. What used to be a magnificent pack house turned into a rotting relic in the middle of the jungle.
I had never planned on coming back here, to restore the home where most of the worst memories of my childhood were buried. I was happy enough to move on with my life without looking back. Without ever setting foot in what used to be the main residence of my old pack.
But many families had called this place home before the invasion five years ago. The same invasion that made it possible to escape from my prison. The invasion that ended with my father’s death and the wiping out of almost every other member of the pack.
It’s for those families that were uprooted that I’m doing my best to restore the place to its old glory. Hopefully, those who were scattered into the world of humans can come back and live a less restricted life among their own kind.
“Still got a lot to do outside,” Levi says. He has gotten comfortable against the doorjamb. “Hanna tore the entire fence down, you know. Said it wasn’t worth saving.”
“I agree.” The old wooden fence has been in place for decades, plus half of it was ruined during the raid. We could as well erect a new one.
“So, how is it going?”
“What?” I ask, already knowing whatever he’s about to get into is probably something I don’t want to talk about.
“Your buddy show up lately?”
I shake my head. Not as bad as I was fearing. “No. Your healer seems to know what he’s doing.”
“She.”
I turn my neck to look at him. “Uh?”
“The healer who made the talisman is a woman.”
“Oh.” Done with the last nail, I walk over to him. “Interesting.”
He arches his brow.
“You said she didn’t want any payment.”
He nods, his gaze shifting to some place behind my shoulder.
“You paying her some other way?”
“She owed me a favour,” he says, still avoiding my gaze.
Right. Levi is really good at prying into other people’s business but is the absolute worst at maintaining a poker face when trying to hide something.
“And all this time I thought my saviour was some ninety-year-old seasoned healer with a few medical inventions under his belt. How old is she?”
“The talisman works, doesn’t it?” His tone is defensive. As if he doesn’t like the idea of me questioning his healer’s skills on account of her age.
“I’m just curious.”
“I know where you are going with this, Stefan. She is mated with two kids.”
“Oh.”
He nods, swallows, and then turns on his heels. “You can starve for all I care,” he grumbles as he walks away.
It’s hard not to be amused. I would like to meet this healer of his who’s mated with two kids.
A few minutes later, I leave the house and head towards the shed where we have been having our meals. But before I can get there, I’m distracted by the sound of a vehicle coming up the gravel road leading to the compound. When it appears in my sight, I recognise it instantly. It’s my car.
A frown forms on my face and deepens when I spy who is sitting in the driver’s seat. Gwen. Gwen? What is she doing here? The car comes to a stop a few yards away and the driver’s door flies open. Gwen appears, her eyes on me.
“We made it!”
We?
The passenger’s side door opens and that’s when I notice she is not alone. I’m half-aware of Gwen rushing towards me while my eyes stare at Mari as she shuts the door behind her. Then Gwen is in my arms, kissing me.
I focus on her, grasping her hips as her legs go around my waist. “What are you doing here?” I ask when she pulls away.
“I missed you! If I had known you would be away for three nights, I would have tagged along from the beginning.”
“I…there’s a lot of work to be done here,” I tell her. Right, as if that would normally keep me from crawling to her side every night. The real reason is a few yards away, slowly making her way over. Instinctively, I steel my body.
“And that’s why we are here to help,” Gwen says.
I arch my eyebrow at her. “I thought you were busy with your new job at the club.”
After she insisted that she wanted to work, we agreed that she could manage one of our nightclubs. She was thrilled at the idea, and she has been familiarising herself with the business over the past few days.
“I’m starting officially next week,” she says.
“You are?”
She nods. “But if you could come home with me tonight, I could start tomorrow.”
“You missed me that much?”
“Very much,” she says, relaxing her hold around my neck. I release her and she lands on her feet.
“You should have brought me along,” Mari says, eyes appraising the building behind me. “I’ve worked a few construction jobs.”
“Have you?”
She nods, her eyes coming back to me. “I’m quite the interior designer. Can I call dibs?”
“Why not?”
“Thanks,” she says, patting my shoulder as she walks past. “Let me see what I have to work with.”
I only release the breath I’ve been holding when she walks through the front door and it closes behind her.
“So, this is where you grew up?” Gwen asks from my side.
“Partly, yeah. We had another home in the city.”
She nods, casting a look around. “Looks serene.”
“It was,” I mutter. “I’ll give you a tour later. I was on my way to lunch, join me?”
She looks up at me with a smile and nods. For a moment, I’m lost in her eyes. They are a light brown shade, so beautiful. And right now, they are looking at me with so much happiness and warmth and innocence. It creates an ache in my chest–shit, I missed her.
But that ache is followed by something else. Something darker.
A fear I’ve had since that night we went clubbing. That I might end up hurting her, no matter how much I try not to.