Jacks, Marcy - Mason Returns to His Mate [DeWitt's Pack 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Man by Marcy Jacks (free novel reading sites .TXT) 📗

Mason reached back to feel the damage. He needed to shave his head again. His hair was really starting to grow out, but he could still feel all the little indents and imperfections left behind from the shotgun.

“Good thing my healing kicked in,” he said. Then he noticed the watch on his wrist.

Derek glared at him. “That had nothing to do with it. It was the pond. Maggie made you drink that water for days, and they even dunked you into it before bringing you back into this room. What’s wrong? Oh, the watch.”

Mason’s face heated, and he knew he was blushing. “You found it, huh?”

Derek smiled at him. “In your jacket pocket when I was putting

away your things. I can’t believe you kept it all this time.”

“I almost didn’t.” Then Mason frowned, thinking about what  Derek had said about the water and hardly knowing what the hell  Derek was talking about. He asked him about it.

“Right, I forgot,” Derek said. “James told me you didn’t know.  Said they only just found out about it recently.”

“Found out about what?” Mason demanded.

“Apparently that pond that you took me to, it has some sort of  healing power. You drink the water and bathe in it, and for the most  part, you’re good as new.”

Mason figured the scars on the back of his head, and likely his  back and legs as well, were the mostly part.

It was the look on Derek’s face that had him concerned. “What’s

wrong?”

Mason Returns to His Mate                    123

Derek hesitated and then lifted his hands. It took a second before

Mason noticed what his mate was showing him, and sharp pain lanced

into his heart.

He reached out and took hold of one of Derek’s hands and kissed

his knuckles. Derek inhaled a shaky breath when he did that, and  Mason had tears in his eyes for real when he looked up at him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop that from happening to you.”

Derek fell out of his chair and put his arms around Mason’s  shoulders. Mason squeezed him back just as tightly, and they both  spent minutes just holding each other and saying that nothing was  their fault, that everything had been out of their hands.

“I can’t leave,” Derek said.

“What?” Mason looked at him. Derek’s voice had been so small

he almost hadn’t heard the other man.

Derek’s look was a guilty one. “I–I was mad when I thought that I would have to stay here because of the hunters, and that wasn’t your fault, but even a few days ago, when you were still lying right there, I was still thinking of going back to my old life. It just seemed too dangerous here, and we haven’t been together for that long.”

Derek shook his  head. “I can’t leave. I’m sorry if what I’ve said was just the wrong thing to say, but that was what I’ve been thinking, but with you awake and now that you’re going to be fine, I can’t go. I need to be here with you.”

Derek stopped speaking, and after a minute, Mason realized that the other man was waiting for him to make his decision, as though  Mason could ever condemn Derek for thinking such things.

If he were a better mate and more of an alpha, he would encourage the other man to go back, if all the hunters were dealt with.  From the way Derek was speaking, he was assuming that they were.

“Should I go get your brother? Tell him you’re awake?” Derek asked when Mason didn’t say anything.

Mason reached his hand out and gently gripped Derek’s arm―gentle was all he could manage, considering his sapped

124                          Marcy Jacks

strength―and he pulled his mate into bed with him.

“It’s not for that,” he said when Derek protested. “I just want you  to lie with me for a bit before we tell the others. I need you beside  me.”

Derek smiled at him, clearly relieved, and he happily got in bed with Mason, staying above the covers, the two of them wrapping their arms around each other.

Mason had just come back home a couple of days ago. Weak or

not, he couldn’t let Derek get away from  him either.

THE END

MARCYJACKS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario, Canada, where she is fervently pursuing the writer’s life while writing about lots of gorgeous guys. She loves hearing from readers, and you can reach her at authormarcyjacks@gmail.com.

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