Chocolate Temptation by a.c. Mason Page B

arms of the two Gestapo dragging her, took a cleansing breath and forced the healing energy into them. They convulsed as though they were being jolted by electrical shock. Jerking back and forth, they dropped to their knees. So she thrust even more of the energy out of her to pass through their bodies. Red oozed from their eyes as they collapsed.
    The man with the pistol pointed the firearm at her. “I don’t mind shooting you in the leg. You cost the life of my brother.”
    She had? “Who are you?”
    “Your worst nightmare.” He chuckled. “Wilhelm Deifies, head of the bio warfare division of the Gestapo. You’ve proven hard to track, Miss Pane.”
    No. She was Mrs. VanLoup.
    Varor, in wolf-spirit form, charged from the side and bit into the man’s arm. The Gestapo cried out and dropped the weapon. The betas swarmed the officers. Once the men were on the ground, the Shunus ended their lives swiftly. The betas turned toward her and stopped at the sight of Cathen’s motionless body.
    She ran toward Cathen, but Franko intercepted her. “ We must go now. More will come. ”
    “No, you have to let me try to save him.” She knelt beside Cathen’s naked human form. A hole pierced his heart where the bullet had entered.
    “ We haven’t the time, and most o f us are too weak to fight them again, ” Franko said.
    Varor pulled up next her. “ If she wants to try, we must support her .”
    She placed her hands on Cathen’s chest. His skin grew cold. He didn’t stir at her touch. Already her own energy felt weak. She wasn’t even sure she could save him. Had he been gone too long? She laid her hands on the bullet wound.
    “ I won’t lose you .” She hoped he heard her through their link. “ Cathen, come back to me .” She closed her eyes and took in the energy around her. Her mate wasn’t dead. She refused to accept it. Warmth radiated from beneath her fingers. “Restore what another has destroyed. Guide my hands to heal him,” she prayed.
    She moved within herself to draw on more of her inner wolf-spirit. Everything around her vanished.
    “ Alexia, ” VanWolf called to her.
    Why now, at this moment, when she was losing Cathen?
    “ Alexia, my witch, you must see your feelings for Cathen as a testament to the strength of love and hope. They are the only things worth fighting and risking for. They will perhaps take those we love, but they can never take our ability to risk the pain. I learned that too late. I wasted time I could have been adoring you, afraid to love again. ”
    “You left me.” Tears trailed down her cheeks. “I wasn’t ready to let you go.”
    “ I’m never far and I’ll always be part of you. But I want you to love again. Don’t make my death break your spirit. Cathen will bring you renewed joy and be a doting parent to your young .”
    She knew he was right, and though she’d tried to guard her heart, Cathen had worked his way in.
    “ You both deserve joy. ” VanWolf wiped her cheek.
    “I do love him.” She feared he would hate her for it.
    “ How could I be anything but amazed by your strength, witch? You are stronger than I ever was. ”He kissed her forehead . “ Go to your mate and know you have my blessing. He needs you as much as you do him .”
    Bright light blinded her, and then she knew nothing more.
     

 
    Chapter 18
     
    Cathen opened his eyes. Alexia lay unconscious against his now human form. Were they all dead? That wasn’t possible. Somehow, as he’d hoped, she’d brought him back to life, resurrected him from the dead with her healing gift.
    The betas stared at him, wide-eyed.
    “ We must go before more arrive ,” Varor said, gesturing with his snout toward the location of the pack. “ Hurry up! ”
    Yeah, the betas standing naked in the middle of the street with an unconscious woman draped over them would go unnoticed, wouldn’t they? He picked up the dead officer in front of him, removed his uniform jacket and pants and dressed. A naked man