Waiting For August

Part 69 ~ A candlelight dinner

I hated to wake him. August was sleeping so peacefully, curled up on his side in my bed. Our bed. Dusk had already settled. I had slipped out earlier around dinner time to help, however once again, there hadn't been much to do. Gillian had taken control of the kitchen, while her mate had taken control of the evening run.

Earlier that morning a plan had been put in place. Our visitors from last night, had been allowed to stay. We had insisted upon it. Locked them up in the root cellar while we decided what to do with them. We had questions. They hopefully had answers. They had run with the pack that had belonged to the lunatic after all. They'd had to have seen something, knew something, and August was convinced that the man Henry had taken down was nothing but a patsy. A decoy. That the true evil was still lying in wait. Hiding.

I hoped; prayed, that he was incorrect. I just wanted it to all be over. For this to be behind us so that I could begin my life with August with nothing to hold us back.

Miranda Tremblay had provided us with a potion. A truth potion, which she had brought with her when she arrived later that afternoon. That had been Naomi's idea. It seemed that she and Stella had become quite close of late. Maybe merging our two families wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe. I would have to think on it.

Miranda had divided the potion amongst the juice that had been served to our prisoners, along with the sandwiches that had been fixed for their lunch. After they had eaten, Zeke and Miranda had interrogated them.

Zeke had volunteered. It had been decided that an Alpha should be present, and I was happy to let him step up. The truth of the matter was that I didn't want August anywhere near it. He'd already been through way too much. Myself, I was too close to it. The chance that I might lose my temper wasn't a long shot. People could get hurt. Not only those being questioned, but those who might have to hold me back.

I suspected August would be furious that we had done this without him, so I had Zeke record everything. I'd listened to the recordings as soon as I had been turned away from helping in the kitchen. It had been a waste of time. They didn't know who the true master of the blade was anymore than we did. They had wholeheartedly been convinced that the man who had been dispatched by Henry had been it. He had been leading their pack. Their now leaderless pack. We released them shortly after. They weren't bad people. They had been pawns in this as much as we had and were just as relieved that it was now over.

"Hey babe," I nudged him. He looked so peaceful, with his dark hair fanned across his forehead. He was naked, the covers pulled up around his neck. When we had earlier climbed into bed, August had stripped off his clothes. He said we should lie together naked. I had grinned knowingly and told him that was fine by me. He had smacked me on the head in response.

"To heal, dumbass. Skin on skin contact."

A healing bond? And between two Alphas too. It wasn't a bad idea. It made me wonder however, where my little mate had learnt of such a thing. It hadn't been the time to ask however, as a naked and willing to snuggle August lay before me. I quickly stripped off my clothes and wrapped my arms around him as he buried his face into my chest. We fell asleep that way. Our limbs entangled, the heat of our bodies warming us. Our wolf scent mingling together to fill the room with our own unique smell. It was comforting.

I pulled the blankets away from his neck to check on him. The bruising was gone. Only pale smooth flesh remained. Further down, the mark I had given him stood out dark against his skin, refusing to heal. That bruise had been blessed by the Goddess. It was a sign that she had approved.

"Augustus," I bent down and kissed him, his lips slack. He was really out of it. I deepened the kiss, allowing my lips to linger as I called him again. "Hey, sweetie. Time to rise. You're gonna miss the moon." I kept placing gentle kisses against his lips until he reciprocated. His arms slipped up around my neck as his lips worked against mine, with tender kisses that met my own.