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  “I’m ready,” I replied.

  We walked down the porch steps and out into the clearing. Every eye in the field was focused on me, but I didn’t notice. The only thing I could see was Lachlan. Once again, Ricki had failed in her attempts to get the male shifters to dress up and he stood beneath the tree in nothing but a faded pair of jeans and a tank top. Most of the male wolves were dressed in a similar fashion. Their attitude was that the fewer clothes to remove before a shift, the better.

  Ricki moved to her chair as I walked down the aisle created between the seats. Someone, meaning Ricki again, had sprinkled flowers along the path. Rose petals and stemless daisies were scattered beneath my feet as I moved toward Lachlan.

  His eyes never left mine as I drew closer, gleaming in the candlelight. He took my hands as we faced each other in front of Calder. As the alpha of the MacIntire pack, he would preside over the mating ceremony as a gesture of his approval of the match.

  “Let us begin,” Calder stated, his voice carrying through the night air. “Before your pack, you will make your eternal promises to each other. Do you both come willingly into this mating?”

  “We do,” Lach and I said together.

  “What is your vow to Chloe MacArthur?” Calder asked Lach.

  I stared up into Lachlan’s eyes as he spoke the words to the ancient rite. “I, Ian Lachlan, swear that my life belongs to you, Chloe MacArthur, until we are separated by death. You will live in my blood, nourish my bones, and become a part of my soul.”

  His hands held mine tightly as he vowed his life to me. I smiled up at him, feeling his sincerity through the connection between us, the bond of true mates.

  “What is your vow to Ian Lachlan?” Calder asked me.

  “I, Chloe MacArthur, swear that my life belongs to you, Ian Lachlan, until we are separated by death. You will live in my blood, nourish my bones, and become a part of my soul.”

  “Do you accept these vows from your mate?” he asked us both.

  “We do.” Once again, Lach and I answered in unison.

  To the wolves behind us, Calder lifted his voice. “Bear witness to two true mates!”

  Howls and claps broke out among the pack, the noise growing deafening.

  Once again, Ricki’s influence entered the ceremony as the cacophony died down.

  “Kiss your mate, Lachlan, so we can cut that damn cake!” he whooped.

  I laughed as Ricki’s low growl reached my ears, knowing that Calder’s words weren’t what she instructed him to say. Then Lachlan took me in his arms and pressed his mouth to mine. The kiss grew heated and wild, eliciting more howls and yelling from the pack.

  When he released me, my knees were weak. Lachlan rested his forehead against mine as he held me close. “You are in my blood and bones, Chloe MacArthur. Without you, I would be an empty shell.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly. “I love you, Ian.”

  His mouth brushed my ear as he asked, “Do you really want cake?”

  I shook my head.

  “Then let’s go for a run.”

  While the rest of the pack was distracted with cake and champagne, Lach and I slipped away. We left our clothes on the back porch of his house, shifted into wolf form, and loped into the trees surrounding the compound. When we burst out of the woods close to the lake on the property, I shifted back to human form and held my hand out to him.

  “Make love to me, mate, in the light of the full moon.”

  Lachlan shifted and took my hand. Together, we sank down in the grass. He kissed me then, our tongues tangling in the lush kiss. There was no urgency in his touch as his hands moved over my skin, his fingertips trailing from my shoulders to my breasts. As his thumbs swept over my nipples, drawing them into tight peaks, I curved one hand around the back of his neck and smoothed the other over his hip before moving it between us to stroke him lightly.

  Lachlan nipped my bottom lip before moving his mouth lower. He pressed a kiss to the mark he’d left on my shoulder, a bite he repeated often to keep the imprint of his teeth fresh in my skin. He wanted everyone who saw me to know that we belonged together.

  Then he moved lower, stopping to flick my nipple with his tongue. I gasped but he continued on his journey until he reached the small scar on my ribs. He kissed that as well, noting the wound that had nearly taken me from him before we mated.

  I threaded my fingers in his hair, enjoying the fact that the strands were growing quickly. Though I loved being able to see his face when his hair was short, I’d always liked his hair long. I knew that he was growing it out for me.

  His mouth returned to my breasts and he ran the tip of his tongue along the bottom curve of each, making me shiver at the light contact. When his mouth finally captured my nipple, I sucked in a sharp breath.

  My hands roved his body, running over the corded muscles of his biceps and chest. When I reached between us again, curling my fingers around his cock and stroking him firmly, he growled. His hands captured my wrists, pinning them above my head.

  Unwilling to submit, I twisted suddenly, rolling us both until he lay beneath me. He grinned when I straddled his hips and released my hands. I lifted up, guiding him inside my body and we both groaned as I sank down until he filled me completely.

  His fingers gripped my hips as I began to move, preventing me from picking up my pace.

  “Ian,” I whispered. His name was a plea. I was desperate to move faster, my body no longer content with the indolent motion of my hips.

  Without releasing me, he pulled me down as his body bucked, driving himself deeper inside of me. He repeated the act again and my body tightened in response. Only then did one hand move from my hips to the center of my body. His thumb pressed against my clit, rolling firmly, and I cried out, my head falling back.

  Our bodies crashed together over and over until I was begging for release. Lachlan put his other hand between my shoulder blades, urging me to lean down, and his mouth closed around my nipple, sucking hard.

  At the contact, my climax rushed over me. My muscles trembled from wave after wave of bliss and I collapsed on his chest. His mouth closed around the mark on my neck and I felt his teeth break the skin once again. I mirrored the gesture, sinking my teeth into his flesh as my orgasm renewed.

  His body jerked beneath mine with a growl and I knew he was coming. As we both came down from the pinnacle, Lachlan’s arms drew me tighter against him and he remained deep inside me.

  We lay there together, our hearts beating in unison, and I was awed by the love that emanated from him. When I recognized him as my mate, I never thought that he might one day return my feelings. Now that we were together, I promised myself that I would never forget how blessed I was that he was able to love me in return.

  As the moon rose in the sky, my mate and I made love over and over, celebrating our love with the gift of each other.

  It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I found out that I was pregnant, that I realized we conceived our child.

  Epilogue

  Rhys

  I knew as soon as I opened my mailbox that the brown package inside was from her. Somehow she always found me.

  Sure enough, when I looked at the return address, Kerry Gayle’s name stared up at me.

  “How in the hell do you find me?” I mused to myself. I could almost picture her secretive smile, knowing that would be the only response I would get to my question if I asked her in person.

  I carried the envelope into the house. It was the only piece of mail I received that day, which wasn’t uncommon. Since I moved to this little rental home in Austin a couple of months ago, I rarely found anything in my mailbox. Unless it was from her.

  The first envelope she sent came to the seedy motel I’d stayed in right after I’d left Dallas and contained an amulet on a long, thick chain. Confused, I’d opened the note enclosed with it, wondering why in the hell she would be sending me jewelry.

  Rhys,

  This should help you out with
those pesky electrical problems. I had a dream about you riding a bike everywhere. Since you’ll never be able to pick up chicks that way, I thought you might be able to use this.

  Love,

  Kerry

  The words were ridiculous, since I wouldn’t need a strange invention with two wheels to reach a desired destination. I had the power of teleportation. If I wanted to go somewhere, I picked a place and made myself appear.

  I’d almost thrown the amulet away, thinking that it was a cruel joke, but the promise of being able to use the phone or a computer, maybe even watch television, had been too much of a temptation. When my hand closed around the pendant dangling from the chain, I felt the pulse of power within the stone.

  Instead of chucking it into the trash, I slipped the chain over my neck.

  Since I had issues with electrical equipment, I never used the lights, phone, or television in my hotel room. Instead, I lit candles and read books. Unsure what to expect, I lifted the remote control and pressed the power button. Immediately, the television came on. Slowly, I approached it, expecting the usual sparks and flashes that accompanied my proximity to any device that used electricity. Nothing happened.

  When I reached out and touched the screen, the television kept working, not even a flicker of disturbance due to my presence.

  I stared in disbelief, shocked that the witch had taken the time and effort to make an amulet that would allow me to interact with the outside world. She knew nothing about me except the fact that I had helped her kill my brother. When Cornelius died, I’d left, thinking that I would never see or hear from the witch and her friends again.

  It seemed I was wrong.

  From the time she sent me the amulet to now, at least once per month, a little gift would arrive. Most of the time it was a DVD or a CD, but occasionally Kerry sent pictures. No matter how much I moved around or where I went, she always seemed to know exactly where I was.

  It should have worried me, but somehow it was comforting. I’d been lonely for so long in this world, always hiding what I was and evading my brother. I’d never had a friend, and when I touched the gifts she sent me, somehow I knew that Kerry Gayle considered herself my friend.

  The package she sent me today was larger and heavier than the others.

  Curious, I tore it open, staring in surprise at the box that fell out. It was a cell phone. I hadn’t bothered to buy one since I had no one to call. I lifted the lid and removed the little device. It felt odd in the palm of my hand. There was a note attached to the top with an arrow and the words Press here to turn the phone on.

  I followed the directions, watching as the screen lit up and the shape of an apple popped up. A few seconds later, I stared in wonder at the tiny screen, full of icons.

  Before I could even touch it, the phone began to emit a ringing noise and I saw Kerry’s name flash on the screen.

  I tapped the green button and lifted it to my ear.

  “I see you got my present,” she said.

  “I did.”

  She paused and when I didn’t say anything else, she chuckled. “You’re supposed to say thank you when someone gives you a gift.”

  I smiled. The witch wasn’t scared of me in the least. “Then thank you for my gifts,” I replied.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “But I do wonder why you insist on sending them,” I said.

  She didn’t reply right away, the silence stretching between us. “I have a feeling that we will see each other again, Rhys. And when you need me, all you have to do is call.”

  “I doubt I would need a phone to reach you should I really need you,” I quipped, my tone dry.

  She laughed, the heaviness of the moment dissipating. “No, you wouldn’t, but you might want to call someone else sometime soon.”

  Unsure how to take her cryptic response, I didn’t say anything.

  “I’m always here if you need me, Rhys,” she stated quietly. “Whether you like it or not, I’m your friend. And I like to keep in touch with my friends.”

  I heard the slight click as she disconnected and took the phone from my ear. Despite her attempts at lightness, I sensed the undercurrent of fear beneath her words.

  As I stared down at the tiny device, I wondered what the witch had foreseen that worried her.

  Whatever it was, it was obvious that she didn’t intend to let me face it alone.

  ~The End~

  The Blood & Bone series will continue with Rhys and Savannah’s story. Souls Unchained (Blood & Bone, #2) will release July 18, 2017.

  Author’s Note

  When I was writing the Bitten series, I originally planned for five books. Just five books.

  You know what they say about planning, right?

  Anyway, as I finished up Love Bites, the fourth book, I realized that I loved Chloe MacArthur. She is such a great character, strong enough to stand on her own, but soft in many unexpected ways. I knew that would nurse Lachlan back to health after Belinda died, even before she realized he was her mate. Not exactly something you would expect from a pack enforcer and resident badass.

  I wanted her to find her happily ever after.

  Then I wrote Bite the Bullet and Rhys appeared. Would he be good or bad? In the end, he helped the women. As I worked on his backstory, I realized that Rhys had a lot of unhappiness in his long life. I hated that. I wanted him to finally be free and to find love as well.

  Then I thought about several other characters that I wanted to explore and stories I wanted to tell. But I still wanted to finish the Bitten series. To me, the chapter for those five ladies was closed. I wanted them to move on. It was then I decided to write the spin-off series called Blood & Bone. I don’t have a definite number of books in mind for this series, but I’ve already planned the first three with a possibility for two more.

  But you know what they say about plans…

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  About C.C.

  Born and raised in Texas, C.C. Wood writes saucy paranormal and contemporary romances featuring strong, sassy women and the men that love them. If you ever meet C.C. in person, keep in mind that many of her characters are based on people she knows, so anything you say or do is likely to end up in a book one day.

  A self-professed hermit, C.C. loves to stay home, where she reads, writes, cooks, and watches TV. She can usually be found drinking coffee or wine as she spends time with her hubby, daughter, and two beagles.

  Titles by C.C. Wood

  Contemporary Romance

  Novellas:

  Girl Next Door Series:

  Friends with Benefits

  Frenemies

  Drive Me Crazy

  Girl Next Door-The Complete Series

  Kiss Series:

  A Kiss for Christmas

  Kiss Me

  Novels:

  Seasons of Sorrow

  NSFW Series:

  In Love With Lucy

  Earning Yancy

  Tempting Tanya

  Westfall Brothers Series:

  Texas with a Twist

  Wicked Games Series:

  All or Nothing

  Paranormal Romance:

  Bitten Series:

  Bite Me

  Once Bitten, Twice Shy
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  Bewitched, Bothered, and Bitten

  One Little Bite

  Love Bites

  Bite the Bullet

  Bitten Origins:

  Destined by Blood

  Blood & Bone Series (Bitten spin-off)

  Blood & Bone

  Cozy Paranormal:

  The Wraith Files:

  Don’t Wake the Dead

  The Dead Come Calling