A Shifter Among Wolves

Epilogue

---Jacob's POV---

I took deep, calming breaths of Paige's scent while I held her against my chest. For a moment, all I could think about was the joy of having her in my arms, to have her back at my side. My wolf, which had been on edge since she was kidnapped, finally relaxed and purred to show his happiness.

Right now, it didn't matter that we were still in Kale's stronghold or that I was standing next to the ripped remains of a vampire. All of my attention, all of my senses, everything was focused on my mate. Sadly, that meant that I could see every bruise on her skin, the dark rim under her eyes and the dried blood on her neck. I suppressed the growl that wanted to come out, lecturing myself that I would wake Paige up.

Looking up from Paige's content, sleeping face, I looked at the vampire twins in front of me, who still held their arms up in the air. "You can relax." I said softly, making sure that I didn't wake Paige up; she had experienced enough during the past days. Now she just needed to rest.

The twins slowly lowered their hands while their eyes kept searching over the wolves and witches, assessing any possible threats. Nick walked closer to me and looked over my arm at his sister. "I'll take her Jacob, you can talk to-" I interrupted him with a low growl, staring at his arms while Paige pressed herself closer to me. The physical contact calmed me down instantly, preventing myself from possibly attacking Nick.

"Mine." I growled in a threatening way, pleased to see that Nick was smart enough to pull his arms back and lower his head in submission. As soon as he backed off, I shook my head slightly before I apologized. "Just... don't try to take her from me Nick. Although you're her brother, I've just got her back. I need her to stay sane."

Nick nodded again, smirking slightly. " I know, it was a stupid thing to do but I thought you wanted to know the intentions of the vampires?" he spoke, ending his sentence in a question. Looking over at the vampire twins, who now were talking with Sean, I took a step in their direction, which gained their attention.

"Well?" I questioned, slightly raising a brow. Sean stepped forwards and said, "I can only speak for myself, but I never wanted to join Lucius' coven. I had to leave mine because of some...personal issues. Family problems, if you want to know. When Lucius went after someone's Beloved, that went too far for me."

I nodded, indicating that he could step back before I turned my gaze at the twins. Nick frowned and looked between us, muttering "Beloved?" One of the twins looked at him and replied "Our partners, soul mates. I belief you call them mates?" Nick smiled when he understood and nodded, gaining an amused chuckle from the twins before they looked at me.

"I'm Cian," the first one replied while the other finished "And I'm Cary." Cary looked at his brother, who rolled his eyes before he explained, "We hooked off as soon as we heard they were targeting someone's Beloved. Lucius never gave us details about the hit, only the fact that we needed to kidnap her and bring her to the hunter." Cary nodded while they both looked at Paige, who was soundly asleep.

A possessive growl escaped my throat while I pulled Paige closer to my chest, glaring at the three vampires who showed interest in my mate. The twins chuckled before Cary replied "Don't worry, we would never steal someone's Beloved." His face turned painfully serious "we've witnessed the pain it causes."

I sighed, not sure how to get out of this mess without stepping on someone's toes. Shrugging slightly, I started walking towards the doors while I glanced back at the vampires. "Follow us, don't provoke the pack. As for my pack, don't harm the vampires. Got it?"

The wolves yipped in agreement while the three vampires smiled slightly and followed me outside, where I immediately darted towards home, so I could get Paige in a soft bed.