The Last Shewolf Ch. 84 - End

It was fun seeing the couples together, sharing the kind of love I had with Adam that seemed to have appeared instantly. Humans weren't like us; the bond with Adam had been instant, a hard pull turning into an all-consuming kind of love. I laughed at the old me, hoping I wouldn't find my mate, that I wouldn't get hauled off somewhere to live with him and his Pack. I'd follow Adam anywhere, I loved him that much.

"You guys look cozy," I said as I sat at a table with Steven, Meghan, Michael, Natalie, Gabriel and an uncomfortable Mackenzie.

"I'm with my new friends and my man," Natalie said. "I feel like I'm at home here, like we belong together forever." Michael pulled her into his lap, kissing her deeply as Zee looked away.

"My God, Lee, you've known him less than a week! Even for you, that's a little fast." She shifted away from Gabriel, who looked a little hurt at the space. It didn't last, it was like there were magnets that kept pulling them together, and he was touching her leg again.

"It's different for werewolves, I'm sure they explained that," I said. "If they choose you, they choose for life. There's no reason to delay the inevitable. We don't date, we don't have long engagements, we find and claim."

Zee looked at Gabriel. "You haven't even kissed me yet."

"It's not because I want to, Mackenzie. I do, with every fiber of my being I want your kiss and more." He reached his hand up and cupped her cheek. "You aren't ready for me yet. Something has hurt you, made you not trust your heart. My wolf is in pain at the thought, but he is cunning. He will stalk you, learn your patterns, and wait for the right opportunity to make you his, willingly and completely."

He dropped his hand and went back to eating his food, smirking a little bit as she reached her hand for her cheek. Her mind may not want him, but she was already falling for him, and missed the contact. Lee noticed and smirked. "All you're doing is denying yourself amazingly deep love and hot sex," she said. She turned to Michael. "Are you ever going to ask me to marry you, or are you waiting for an engraved invitation?"

We all cracked up at that, and Michael was blushing. "I can make you mine as soon as soon as you wish, but it does involve some of that hot sex," he said. "I need to explain the process so you aren't scared of it."

"You fuck, he bites your neck, you bite his neck, BOOM! Mated for life," I laughed. "At least as much as a werewolf and a human can be. It's not going to be the same as my bond, but Meghan?"

"There's something there, Natalie. He can sense my emotions, I can feel him in the back of my mind, like when you know someone is with you without seeing them, you just feel his presence." She kissed him and snuggled down into his lap. "And she's not lying about the hot sex, either."

"I'm not rushing into a marriage with a guy I barely know," Zee said. Gabriel was holding back his anger, he got up and walked off to get another beer. She watched him leave. "I hurt him, didn't I." She looked down at her hands. "I'm not ready to make babies with him."

"But you're not taking off screaming, even after you watched a man change into a huge wolf and back," Michael said. "Has Gabriel told you the story of his mate?"

"No, he said she died a long time ago."

"She did," I told her. "He loved her like all mates do, it was all-consuming, and when she died he and his wolf kind of lost it. It happens sometimes, they can't handle the loss of the bond, they wander into the wilderness and never come back." She looked at me, wide-eyed. "Gabriel might have gone that way if he hadn't been given a vision, a vision of Luna telling him I was coming, and how important it was that I survive. For two dozen years, that man has not dated, not kissed a woman, he hasn't even considered letting someone back into his broken heart. When his vow ended, something shifted, and Luna has granted him a chance at love. Love with you, Mackenzie. Don't toss away the greatest gift you'll ever get." I got up and walked off, leaving her to her thoughts.

Adam felt my emotions and waved me over to where he was standing with Alan and Alice. "What's going on?"

"It's weird, Lee has accepted Michael and they'll be mated soon, but Gabriel is having a tough time cracking her shell." He pulled me into his side. "I want them to be happy, like we are, like you two are."

"It's not quite the same, Eve. I don't have a wolf, I gave him up long before whatever it is that Luna is doing now. We have a human love, it's strong, but not the same."

I moved over and gave my brother-in-law a hug. Taking his head in my hands, I looked up at him with a tear in my eye. "I wish you hadn't made that choice to give up your wolf, Alan. I want you to have your wolf again, running with us over your old Pack grounds, like it was meant to be." All of the sudden, my hands started to get hot. I tried to pull them off his head, but I couldn't move them. "Something's wrong," I said.

Alan closed his eyes, his mouth opening in a silent scream. Blood started to drip from his ears and nose. His hands went up to mine, but he couldn't pull them off. I started to feel the heat, it was burning my hands, moving up my arms. "Adam oh Luna aaaaah..."

I was about to scream when it suddenly stopped, my hands flew away from his head and I fell backwards. Adam leaped behind me to keep me from hitting the ground. The pain was gone, I looked at my hands, turning them over, expecting them to be charred or red but there was nothing wrong. "What happened?"

I looked up at Adam, he was staring open-mouthed at something. Nobody was moving or making a sound, then I heard bones crunching followed by a loud howl.

Alan had shifted into a striking grey wolf.

He sat back, howling in joy as Alice ran over to him. He licked her face, rubbing his fur onto her as she hugged him in joy. "You're beautiful," she said as she ran her hands over his fur. "You make me all tingly." She let him go, and he ran over to Adam, dropping his front feed down before darting around him.

"I'm fine, you go with your brother," I told him.

He pulled off his clothes and shifted. "What did you do?"

"I don't know, I told him I wanted him to have his werewolf back and something took over. My hands got really hot and I couldn't move them from his head."

"He says thank you. We have a family bond, he's over the moon with happiness."

I didn't know if the mate bond would overlap with his family bond, so I tried. "Alan, can you hear me? It's Eve."

"THANK YOU! Care for a run?"

I looked around, others would need an explanation. "They need to go run, could some of you go with them? Just in case." A few of the guys stood up, stripped and shifted, and the small group of wolves ran off into the woods.

I stood up, brushing myself off, and was surrounded by the other werewolves. "What the hell was that," Gabriel asked.

"I don't know. I wished for it to happen, my hands got hot and I couldn't move them, then it was like something popped and it was over. Next thing I know he has his wolf back."

No one said anything for a while, until Steven finally moved next to me. "No one, I mean NO ONE not here today is to know about this. If she was in danger before, just imagine if they find out that she can get them their wolves back." I had to agree, I was still in shock at what just happened.

"That's not all," I said. "Adam and Alan had their sibling bond immediately, but that didn't shock me. Adam and I have our mate bond, he told me what he was saying. I decided to try something," I said as I looked around. "I thought maybe since I was his brother's mate, maybe I had a link too. It turns out I do."

"Wow," Michael said. "I miss the link, I wish I was part of YOUR family."

I pulled him into a hug. "You're family to me, Michael." A shock passed between us, and he stepped back with his eyes open. "What the hell was that?"

"I can hear you, Michael. It's a BOND! We just formed a family bond!" I was smiling and laughing as everyone looked at us like we were crazy. "I just adopted Michael into my family, now we have a family bond," I said to their shock and amazement.

"How in Luna's name did you do that," Gabriel asked.

I walked over to him and gave him a hug. "You're family to ME, Gabriel." The shock passed again, and soon they were all lining up. In five minutes, all of my new brothers were able to talk not only with me, but each other. "Boys, you better run back here, something big is happening," Steven sent.

"Steven? What? How can I hear you?" I laughed at Adam's confusion.

"Just get back here, guys, I need to adopt a few more brothers." I didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes later, it was like we had a Pack again, but different. "What do you think this means, guys?"

"Packs are gone forever," Gabriel said, "and good riddance. The structure led us to our doom, and Luna took it away. This is new, never before have we been able to form family bonds without sharing blood. I think Luna is changing our society, and for the better."

"And she's doing it with family, specifically the mother, at the center. I tried adopting Dumah, just as an experiment, before he got to you. Nothing happened. You, Eve, are the only one who can form this bond, the only one who can turn this group into a true family."

I leaned back into Adam's arms. "I love all of you guys like brothers, well, actually you were more like uncles because you're so damn old," I said as they laughed. "I'm just so happy."

"That's all we want for you, Eve. For you and everyone here, to be together and happy." Gabriel raised his glass to me. "Charge your glasses, it's time for a toast."

"It better not be to me," I whispered as we walked back to our picnic table to grab our drinks.

Gabriel raised his beer. "A lot of things have changed since we put the Knights together all those years ago, but some things have not. Alpha or not, Pack bond or not, you have all been my family and I love every single one of you. Now Luna has granted our family a bond, and through Eve we are all brothers. To Luna!"

"TO LUNA!" We raised our glasses and I chugged mine down. I looked around and smiled, I liked this. I liked it a lot.

Ch. 88

Meghan's POV

The party really got going after all the good news. I was sitting on Steven's lap, we were talking to Gabriel and Mackenzie when Eve came up to us. I had a question for her. "This bond that just formed between you and the males, it is a two-way bond?"

"I've never had one," Eve said. She looked at Steven for help.

"It feels like what I had with my parents," he said. "I like it." I must have shown on my face how left out I felt; I was Steven's, but his link with Eve was stronger than anything I had. Eve hugged me and sat next to Steven.

"I'm so sorry Meghan, I wish you could be a part of the link."

I looked up in shock, looking around, the voice seemed to come from INSIDE my head. "What?"

"What what," Steven asked me.

"Who said that?" I looked at Eve. "Did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"I heard a voice in my head... a woman said she was sorry and wished I could be a part of the link."

Now it was Eve's turn to look shocked. "You heard that? I didn't say it out loud."

"Try something again."

"Don't you just want to drag him inside and bang the shit out of him until you can't walk straight?"

"OH MY GOD YOU SHAMELESS LITTLE..." I jumped at her, almost knocking her off the picnic table. "I heard you, in here!"

Steven pulled my back into his chest. "What did she say?"

"I can't tell you, but the answer is 'hell yes.'" It was Eve's turn to get embarrassed. "So, can I talk to you?"

"I don't know, I shouldn't be able to talk to you, the link is strictly between werewolves," she said.

"Give it a try, honey. Just think of her and say something in your head, not out loud." I tried saying something to her, I tried sending to Steven, Gabriel, I even tried sending to them all but nothing happened. We did find out that I could hear any of them now.

"How is this happening," Eve asked.

"I have an idea," I said. "Try sending to Mackenzie." I tried her, then Natalie and Mia, but nothing worked. "OK, how about Alice."

Eve closed her eyes, the next thing we heard was a plate breaking, then a loud thud. "MEGHAN!" Alan yelled from inside, clearly panicked. I ran inside, a broken plate was on the floor and Alan was holding an unconscious Alice in his arms.

"Put her down on the couch," I said. I ran back out and got my bag, by the time I got in, she was just coming to. "What happened, Alice? Did you hit your head?"

"I heard a voice in my head," she said, all confused. "It sounded like Eve." Her eyes bugged out. "It WAS you... how..."

"Alan, you try it. Imagine she's got the family link." This time, both their eyes got wide. "She heard you, didn't she?"

"I did, but she can't answer," he said. "Still, we've never had this. What's happened?"

"Tell the leaders to come in here, and anyone with a human mate. Have them bring Snake, Mia, Viper and Kelly with them." It only took a few minutes before their large living room was full, and after a quick recap of what was going on, I gave my theory. "Eve gave you all a family bond, but for those of you who have human wives, you bit them, right?" I unconsciously reached up to the bite wound on my neck, barely covered by the thin T-shirt. "The women who can hear Eve, can hear their mates, probably hear any wolf in this Bond, all were bitten. My theory is that they can't turn into wolves, our DNA is too different, but the bite is still causing a change in us. It is enough to give us some characteristics, including the ability to hear the bond."

"Will we be able to talk back?" Alice looked at Alan. "Will I feel the mate bond? Get sharper vision or better hearing? Develop a taste for steak so rare a good veterinarian could still save it?"

"I don't know, this is all new, but I won't say anything is impossible." I leaned back into Steven's arms, enjoying the tingles as he ran his hands down my arms. "I really like these tingles," I said.

"I know, it's so nice, and it gets me all..." She stopped talking and turned red. "I mean, it's so calming."

"What now," Viper asked.

"Well, I'd like to figure out if there are any changes I can find after the bite. I have my own blood back at the clinic, and I'd like to get a sample of Natalie and Mackenzie before you get bitten."

"I'm not getting bitten," Mackenzie said.

"Not unless you ask me to," Gabriel said. "I would never force you to do anything. It is against my honor, and you'd probably try to kick my ass if I went too far."

"I would kick your ass, ball licker," she said, but there was no hostility in her voice. Her attitude had noticeably softened since they first met, and she was finding it difficult not to be touching him all the time.

"I'm asking Michael to bite me as soon as we get back to the hotel," Natalie said. "The do not disturb sign will be on the door for good reason." She straddled Michael's lap, pulling him into a deep kiss.

"I guess I'll take your blood now," I said with a chuckle. I pulled out some sample tubes and took a vial of blood from each, packing it in a cooler. Steven was excused, and practically ran Natalie out to his motorcycle before they tore out of the driveway. I smiled as I walked back inside. Something was happening and I would figure it out. I loved a good mystery.

Gabriel's POV

Hearing the others discovering a bond that I didn't think was possible made me feel even worse about my situation with Mackenzie. I and my wolf were sure she was ours, but she was resisting. I had to find a way to get her to give us a chance. When we all left the house, I led her aside. "Mackenzie, do you trust me enough to go somewhere with me alone?"

She looked at me. "I don't fully trust you, but I don't fear you or mistrust you, Gabriel. I can't be ignorant of what you have done with this group, of the kind of man you are." She laughed a little. "Meghan and Eve are both pushing me to give you a chance."

"I'd like to take you to a place I like, where we can talk alone and get to know each other," I said. "Will you come with me?"

She nodded. "Are we riding?"

"Yes, but not the way you might think. Can we get your backpack?"

"Sure. Anything else I need?"

"Swimsuit if you have it. I'll get us some food and water." A few minutes later, I put the water bottles in the pockets on the side of her backpack and started to take my clothes off.

"WAIT. What are you doing?"

"The place we are going is too far away to walk to and get home before dark. I'm going to shift and you can ride on top of me, kind of like a horse." I was down to my boxers, packing my clothes and sandals neatly in her pack. I pulled off my boxers and put them in, secretly pleased that she pretended to be embarrassed but was totally checking me out. I focused, shifting into my huge, jet black colored wolf. I stood there for a moment, waiting for her to react. It took a minute, but she came up and started running her fingers through the fur on my neck. I licked her hand, then laid down so she could get on me without pulling on my fur too much. When she was in place, I got back on my feet and started to move towards the treeline.

"Have fun Mackenzie," Eve said. "Just hold on around his forechest and hook your feet above his tail, use your thighs to hold yourself in place. He knows where he is going, so just enjoy the ride."

"This is weird, and I've done a lot of weird in my life," she said.

"He thanks you for trusting him and asks you to hold on," she said as we started to pick up speed. When she put her head down low and asked me to run fast, I went into a full sprint. Dodging trees, leaping downed ones, and running up and down hills was fun for me, and her reaction was the same. Pretty soon she was yelling in my ear how much she loved this.

I couldn't keep up that pace forever, not with a rider. I slowed to a fast lope as we got closer to the hidden place Adam had told me about. She heard the noise. "A waterfall?"

I chuffed and moved to find the scent trail that marked the hidden entrance to the narrow crevasse. She ducked her head down as I moved through the overgrown bushes until we popped out on the other side. I took her to the big flat rock, warmed in the sun, with a small grass area next to it. She hopped off and set the pack down, looking at the ten-foot waterfall that dumped into a still pool. "It's beautiful," she said.

I shifted back, standing naked behind her. "It's a little cold, but it will feel good after the run. Care to join me?"

"You first," she said. I walked in front of her, walking into the water until it was up to my chest. I turned around to see she was taking off her shirt and shorts. "I didn't bring a suit," she said. I was pleased she didn't ask me to turn around as she pulled her bra off, then pushed her panties down before putting them by her backpack.

She was incredible. Her body was not soft, it was coiled power under tanned skin, skin that had too many scars in it for my liking. I pushed my wolf back, she was a warrior like I was, she was deadly and her body was a weapon. She took a few steps and dove into the water, surfacing right in front of me. I reached for her, and she took my hands in hers. "You aren't bothered by nudity?"

"It's part of what you are, I see that, it's not sexual. I've been posted overseas in places nude or topless bathing was the norm. I kind of like it, especially when the scenery is this good." She moved closer, letting my hands go and running her hands over the broad planes of my chest. "You have been a warrior a long time," she said as she traced some scars.