When Worlds Collide Ch. 14

He nodded again, smiling gently at her, relieved that he wouldn't be forced to make the decision to end her life. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if it had come to that. He would be eternally grateful to the hulking vampire who he barely knew but was entrusting one of his pack to. "Then go with my blessing, Ashleigh, but always remember your pack loves you and will always be here for you. Come home when you are ready to. You will always be welcome here. Both of you." He fixed his gaze with the big vampire, acknowledging him as a friend of the pack.

The big man nodded once, looking down at the she wolf in his arms. She was now his, under his protection with all the worry and responsibility that brought. His life had changed in ways he hadn't even begun to imagine. He lowered her to the ground. "Go, retrieve what you need," he said gruffly pushing her gently towards the heart of the compound. He could buy her anything she needed but he was certain she had personal keepsakes she would want to bring with her.

"Will you join with us a while, Nors?" Jared asked, sitting back down and offering him a place beside them.

"For a moment, until she returns," he answered taking a seat on the ground and turning to engage Caleb in quiet conversation. It was obvious that despite his warm welcome he was not comfortable within the pack.

Jared sighed softly, smiling down at Millie as she beamed her approval up at him. "You are so amazing," she said softly, stroking his cheek lovingly. "If I didn't already love you to distraction I think I would have fallen in love with you instantly just now."

Jared laughed, shaking his head and kissing her lovingly before he raised his head and turned to the pack. "Where's the music?" he called loudly.

Ashleigh returned with a small bag draped over her shoulder, sitting down beside Nors and resting against his side. He continued to talk with Caleb, allowing her to seek comfort from him but not making a big deal out of it. He listened carefully as Caleb's youngling said something to her and smiled slowly when his little wolf haltingly answered her. Maybe staying for a little while wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Music rang into the night as the pack relaxed and bottles of wine and beer appeared in the centre of the compound, along with a table full of food. The sombre feel slowly eased as the time for mourning passed and the pack came together as one to celebrate the lives of their loved ones.

Across the compound, Aaron and Connor tussled together, laughing as they lost their footing and ended up in a pile on the dusty ground.

"Boys," Jen laughed, rolling her eyes at Cedar before she suddenly launched herself on top of them, piling in to tickle them both mercilessly.

"No fair!" Connor growled. "You've got your mate helping you!"

Aaron laughed trying to wriggle away from Jen. "She's attacking me too," he grumbled good naturedly, wrapping his arms around his mate to try and halt her assault on him. She really was the most amazing woman ever. She still had her odd moments when she became stuffy and pompous but overall, she was as carefree and loving as the rest of them, thriving in the warm embrace of the Alexander family.

Aaron rolled until he had her trapped beneath him, lowering his head to capture her lips in a long, slow drugging kiss until she was breathless. He smiled down at his mate, kissing her again before he jumped up and pulled her to his feet. Any more kissing and he was going to be testing her tolerance for exhibitionism and he somehow doubted she would be happy with that. "Love you, honey," he breathed softly, running his hands through her tangled hair which was now covered in dust which she didn't seem to mind.

"Love you too," she sighed giving him a tight squeeze as they once more settled down among his family.

Lacey snuggled into Rafe's warm embrace, smiling as she watched Jen diving onto the Alexander brothers, her laughter echoing across the compound. Her friend's happiness was effervescent, shining like a bright beacon in the night sky. She knew how Jen felt because she felt the same. She couldn't believe how much her life had changed, how making that one fateful decision to try and get into an exclusive nightclub had turned her life so upside down.

It had brought her Rafe, her amazing, strong, handsome wolf who loved her more than his own life. The past month had been the best of her life as she had slowly learned pack ways, indulged her passion of being around children and spent her nights sharing the most amazing, heart stopping, sensual lovemaking with her mate.

"I know what I want to do, Rafe," she sighed contentedly. "I want to train to be a teacher. I want to help shape young, enquiring minds, give them the tools so they can take on the world and win when they grow up."

Rafe smiled, looking down at his mate, feeling the same contentment he heard in her voice. "That's a wonderful idea, sweetheart," he rumbled softly. "You'll make an excellent teacher. You're so good with the children here. They totally adore you, almost as much as I do." He kissed her gently, still amazed that he had such a wonderful woman in his life, that he was so blessed.

"It means we won't get to spend as much time together," she frowned. "I won't be able to spend as much time at the club with you."

"Which will make our alone time so much more fun," he laughed softly, rubbing his hands down her sides, feeling his body start to react predictably and stifling down a deep groan. "Damn, I need to think about something else," he said ruefully when she laughed quietly and rubbed against his growing hardness.

"Save it for later, love," she laughed huskily. "I'll take care of you then."

Rafe groaned aloud, kissing the side of her neck and wrapping his arms tightly around her as he mentally started to run the club's drinks order through his mind. That would surely take his mind off of other things for the moment.

The celebration lasted well into the night until slowly it began to break up. Friends, old and new alike rose and said their goodbyes. Ashleigh spared a moment with her Alphas and then gave Lacey a quick hug before she vanished into the trees with Nors, walking away from the pack to a new life which hopefully would be less painful than her last one.

Demetri and Mara left next, informing the group that they would be out of touch for a while. Demetri planned on taking his wife away for a bit, somewhere private where they could just be alone. He was still trying to comes to turns with almost losing his woman. It would be a while before he completely got over the events of the month just past.

Caleb waited patiently as his woman decided she had to say goodnight to just about the entire pack. He rolled his eyes, a loving smile on his lips as he watched her stop to chat with Loretta and Cedar. They began making their way over to them as Jared turned his gaze to his friend.

"What happened to those brothers?" he suddenly asked. "I half expected them to show up tonight."

Caleb started in surprise, frowning slightly. "Last I heard Alexei was out of the country and would be for possibly a year. Council business. Andrei...Lord knows what he's up to but it can only be something devious and underhand. Whatever it is, it's keeping him occupied and that's all that matters. The Romanovs are not vampires I'm comfortable having around any pack members." His tone hardened slightly as his amber gaze flickered to first Cedar and then Loretta who both met his gaze levelly, their faces calmly serene.

He could see they wouldn't heed his subtle warning but he had to give it to them anyway. He considered telling Jared of the possible, impending issue which could arise for the pack in the future and then sighed softly. A year was long time. The Romanovs would most probably have forgotten that they were ever tempted to play with a couple of tempting little she wolves. They were fickle that way as was most of his kind. He decided to hold off, wait and see if anything happened. He would deal with any possible fallout later if it was needed.

"Time to go, love," he sighed softly turning to his woman with a gentle smile on his lips. He said goodbye to Jared and Millie as Rhianna hugged Lacey and Rafe tightly, sharing a few words with them before she hugged the Alphas and slipped into his arms. It had been a good night, a healing night and now he wanted to get his woman home so he could end it the way he ended all of his nights, lost within the beauty of her body and her warm, loving touch.

"Do you want us to clear up, boss?" Loretta asked as the vampires departed.

"No, get some rest," Jared smiled. "We can clear up in the morning." He turned and pulled Millie up, caressing her stomach lightly. "Let get our babies into bed, woman," he murmured softly, as they disappeared into the house.

Rafe followed with Lacey, pulling her towards his little cabin. He really would need to think about building something a little bigger if they were going to spend so much time at the compound, though maybe it wouldn't be needed if his mate was going to go back to school. Maybe staying in the city would be better. They could discuss it later.

They called goodnight to Aaron and Jen as they headed into their house, laughing when their friends' goodnights were said very hastily indeed as Aaron all but pushed his mate inside. They didn't need to ask why they were in such a hurry.

"I didn't think perfection existed, Rafe, " Lacey sighed softly, her voice full of wonder as she wrapped her arms around her mate, luxuriating in the feeling of joy inside her at her new life and all it entailed.

Rafe Hanlon stared raptly into his mate's beautiful face, his hands threading in her silvery blonde hair as he tilted her head back gently. "Oh, it does," he breathed softly, his head bending down to capture her lips in a gentle loving kiss, letting her know that she would always be perfection to him, in every possible way imaginable.

The End

I hope you all enjoyed this last chapter of Worlds. You guys have been totally amazing throughout all three stories, your feedback has been invaluable and really spurred me on to try and make each new chapter better, more exciting and more emotional.

Thanks to everyone, from all the Anonymous to named people, to my challengers who asked me hard questions about certain plot points (you know who you are, boys!) Yes, the boys tend to ask more leading questions and don't get so caught up in the romance of things LOL! To the Guild, your support and encouragement have been amazing.

As always, WorldHistoryBuff I can't thank you enough for giving up your time to edit for me.