Chapter 521: Zagan’s Torch
"He’s gone," Sage said quietly from where he was still in Nedra’s arms.
August let out a heavy sigh. It was a done. This one last thing. Now they could move on.
Seth sniffed Selah’s wolf, checking her for any injuries, but she was fine. His daughter had assisted in defeating the vampire. It was surreal.
Graeme locked his jaw on the vampire’s neck once again, testing it for any movement. Sage may say that Daegel was gone, but Graeme wanted to be safe. There was no pulse and no heartbeat, but that didn’t mean anything when it came to the creature Daegel had been before he was given life.
The flesh was still soft though, still allowing the puncture of Graeme’s canines unlike the stone he recalled trying to bite into when he fought Zagan. He let go and looked back at August, willing her to hear what he had in mind.
"Close your eyes, Sage," she said gently, glancing from her mate to the pup who was still clinging to his mother. Sage may be incredible in so many ways—wise in abilities and knowledge that they couldn’t understand—but that didn’t mean he needed to get used to seeing blood and gore.
Sage turned into Nedra’s chest and buried his head into her warmth. Having her arms around him, protecting him for the first time, was the best thing he could ever imagine. Selah was a great big sister, but both of them were forced to be independent and alone from such a young age. Selah was his defender, his protector, but she wasn’t his mother. Not like this... not in this way that felt foundational.
There was a comfort Sage felt from Nedra that he had been missing. It was like their bodies remembered each other even though it had been so long since they parted. He fit into her perfectly... like a pup with its mother. And his attention turned from something he should be avoiding looking at to simply that comfort and security. He never wanted to lose it again.
Penelope grimaced when she realized what was about to happen. Graeme was going to rip this vampire to pieces.
"Nedra, would you and Sage want to come with me to the castle? We can find some clothes for Seth and Selah," she suggested.
"And Graeme?" August asked with a small smile, a hint of pink coloring her cheeks.
"Of course," Penelope chuckled. The formerly human Luna didn’t want anyone else seeing her mate.
Once those three were nearly out of eyesight, Graeme returned to the neck of the vampire and ripped the head from its shoulders. August wasn’t watching, but it made a sickening crunching and tearing sound that had her suddenly feeling ill. She found a tree to lean against as she heard more crunching and tearing at other extremities of the body.
Seth and Selah were helping to remove the limbs. Apparently this was not anything that was new to them, but it made August’s stomach turn and she had to crouch down to get sick in the grass.
Graeme trotted over to her, a slight groan accompanying every other step with his broken ribs. His furry face was covered in blood.
"I’m okay," she reassured him when he bent low next to her. "It’s just... morning sickness or something. You need a fire for the next part?"
"I can help with that," Zagan said, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere with a torch in his hand. His vampire speed was not altered with his beating heart.
Graeme growled at the sudden appearance, and then he realized who it was. The one who he had fought before. The one who August had left with. The one who was responsible for all of this.
Zagan stuffed his remaining hand in his pocket in such a human way, it was almost comical. He was nervous.
August knew he didn’t believe he deserved a second chance after he realized the full truth of what he had done. She knew the guilt that he felt, because she had felt it too when she was trying to heal him and he was resisting.
But Zagan had promised himself to Penelope—that he would live for her. His death would mean hers as well, or at least a very painful existence without him. But could he really defend himself against the Alpha of the Hallowell pack? After everything he had put that pack through? Didn’t he deserve to suffer for it?
Graeme didn’t appear ready to attack, though. He could sense his mate’s feelings about the male—that he was different, that he felt guilt and sympathy and all of the things he was not capable of feeling before. And she had said that Zagan saved her from the creature they had just killed and torn apart—at the risk of his newly beating heart. August could have been injured or worse.
Graeme snorted a breath from his nose and returned to the dismembered body where Selah and Seth stood, keeping watch to ensure that the corpse would not suddenly reanimate itself.
"Can I get you anything?" Zagan asked gently, turning to where August was still hunched against the ground like she might get sick again.
A soft growl came from Graeme a short distance away, and August smiled at the protective sound of it. Her jealous mate.
"I will be okay. Thank you," she smiled.
Zagan nodded in response and walked to where the wolves stood over Daegel’s body.
"If you all want to get cleaned up, you are welcome to the castle," he told the wolves.
Goddess, August hoped that Graeme would take him up on that to get all the blood off of himself. She wasn’t sure she could stand it. But he probably wouldn’t. Why would he accept the hospitality of someone he was trying so hard not to kill?
Seth and Selah looked to Graeme, deferring to his decision. And suddenly the significance of this bloomed to life in August’s chest. They were both acting as if he were their Alpha. Seth had previously been under Zagan, but now he was acting like Graeme was his leader.
Graeme glared hard at Zagan, and then his eyes flickered to August and the hopeful smile on her face. He turned toward Seth and Selah in silent communication, and they scampered toward the castle like someone had waved a racing flag in front of them.
Seth was a part of their pack. August didn’t understand all the dynamics of pack and wolf communication, but she understood that much.
Graeme nudged all the parts of Daegel’s body into a pile, and then Zagan lowered his torch, allowing the material of the vampire’s clothes to catch fire. The flame started slow before it finally grew larger, burning bright in the ruined bent forest.
