Chapter 9

Peter's teeth gently sank into her neck and Phoebe gasped, gripping his strong shoulders tightly. He pulled back once the bite took, and held her tenderly on his lap as he laved the newly marked skin.
"Now you bite me, sweetheart," he said. "That fully seals the Bond."
Phoebe nodded, still breathless, as she leaned forward to mark Peter's neck. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, then she gently kissed the spot where she would bite him. A small tremor coursed through Peter at the action, and she smiled before sinking her teeth into his skin. She couldn't leave a mark in the same way a werewolf could, so she just bit the skin until she broke it, and then pulsed her magic into it. Peter's hands tightened on her waist as her teeth marked his skin, and she leaned closer to him, both overcome by the sensation of being fully bonded as pack.
Peter's grip on her waist eased, and she leaned back to see his face.

"Hi," he said, smiling at her.

"Hi," she replied, grinning.

"We did it, sweetheart," he said.

She nodded. "Yes we did."

"Do you feel okay," he asked, brows furrowed as he searched her face for any sign of discomfort or unease.

"I feel wonderful," she replied, almost giddy.

His grin turned feral. "Yes you do."
She laughed at his teasing, and then shifted as her leg cramped. She froze and gasped as she felt his arousal beneath her.
Peter's hands immediately moved her to sit next to him on the couch. "Okay?"
"Is that...because we..." she trailed off, eyes lowering to her lap.
"Of course it is," he said.
She gaped at him, and Peter smiled almost gently. He'd forgotten for a moment that she'd never experienced a man's desire, that she'd never had the opportunity, having been so singularly focused on her goal of becoming the Hale Pack's witch again.
"Would you like to feel it again," he asked, teasingly.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and her breath hitched in her throat. "Peter," she chided.
"If you don't want to, that's fine. I'm just suggesting that you might want to brush your hand over my jeans," he said more seriously.
She stared at him for a long moment, and Peter had to resist the urge to take the words back. He could feel her surprise through the bond, and also her discomfort, but there was curiosity and pleasure too, so he waited.

"Not right now," she finally said.

Peter nodded, draping an arm around her and drawing her to lean against his chest. The pack bond was strong, and Peter smiled. He had a pack again, and even though he didn't yet have any betas, he had one very powerful witch, and it was a good beginning.

As Peter drew her into his arms, Phoebe sighed contentedly and draped an arm around him and snuggled in. She could feel the pack bond pulsing through her, and with it, Peter's strength lay alongside her own magic, each strengthening the other. This was more than she could ever have hoped for when she returned to Beacon Hills.

. . .

On the way back to Beacon Hills, Peter and Phoebe stopped at a gas station, and she went in to get some drinks and snacks while Peter filled up the car before joining her. Once inside, he scented fear, and when a quick glance around did not show anything unusual, Peter moved to Phoebe's side.

"Hey," she greeted him. "Do you want Sun Chips or something else? I think I want the Sun Chips."

"It's up to you," he said casually, before leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I smell fear coming from the back where the bathrooms are. I'm going to check it out."

"Be careful," Phoebe said quietly. "And don't forget the cameras."

Peter nodded before striding to the bathrooms. Phoebe continued looking through the snacks, absently picking up packages of chips, cookies, and donuts before replacing them, as her mind focused solely on the pack bond.

In the small hallway where the bathrooms were, Peter found the bathroom door slightly ajar, the lock broken. Frowning, he crept toward it, careful of his movements. Inside, he found a grisly sight.

A young woman was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. A man, if he could still be called that, leaned over her, blood dripping from his mouth as he feasted on her, unaware of his surroundings.

Peter stepped back into the small hall, taking a moment to assess the situation. The woman's attire and the hard scent of drugs and alcohol suggested she was a prostitute, and from the scent that permeated the air, they'd been in the middle of a transaction when the werewolf had lost control.

Taking a deep breath, Peter moved back to the door. Deliberately scuffling his foot, he opened the door. The feral werewolf glanced up at Peter with hazy red eyes. The new moon must have had some sort of adverse effect on him. He growled, readying himself to defend his kill.

Peter grinned, unaffected by the sight. What better way to become an alpha than to kill one no one could possibly challenge him over? Who could condemn him for this?

Stepping forward, he met the alpha's attack head-on, a powerful punch to the jaw sending the man sprawling. He quickly regained his feet, and rushed toward Peter, but in his feral state, his thoughts centered on defending his kill, and he was unable to plan his attacks accordingly.

It was really too easy, Peter thought, as he knocked the alpha to the ground one last time, reaching his clawed hand down to rip out the man's throat. As life left the man's eyes, the alpha spark flowed into Peter. Barely containing a roar of triumph, Peter let his red eyes flash. He'd done it. He was alpha again.

He quickly washed up in the sink and moved to the door. Phoebe's presence there startled him.

"I masked this area," she said. "No one knows we're back here, and no one would be able to think of using the bathroom here either."

She glanced into the room and winced. Peter gently moved her away from the door.

"He was eating her. No idea what happened, but he'd gone feral."

Phoebe nodded, accepting his explanation. She had seen the amount of blood and flesh on the man's clothes.

"How long was I in there," Peter asked.

"About half an hour," she replied. "When you were gone for ten minutes, I came back here and masked the area. No one noticed us, and no one will come back here until I unmask it."

Peter nodded, glancing back at the bathroom. "We need to clean up the mess, I guess," he said.

She grimaced, agreeing. "I wish we'd been able to do this back in Beacon Hills or at least in a forest somewhere. How are we going to get the bodies out?"

Peter tilted his head, considering. "Why don't you go back out there and let me deal with them?"

"I can't control technology," Phoebe said. "I can mask the area so no one wants to come here, but I can't disable the cameras."

Peter smiled gently, despite the situation. "The cameras are fake," he said.

"Really?" Phoebe's head whipped around to where she could see the back of a camera facing the store. "How can you tell?"

"It's a skill I picked up," he said.

She eyed him knowingly. "I wouldn't have thought you'd necessarily care about being caught."

Peter shrugged. "I didn't always, but the information was still useful, especially in Eichen House."

Phoebe frowned at the name. "Well, I'll go back out and keep the area masked until you're done. When you finish, go out the back exit. I'll pay for our stuff and meet you in the car."

Peter nodded, handing her some cash from his wallet to pay for the snacks and gas.

Once back in the car, only twenty minutes later, Peter got behind the wheel and smiled at her, letting his eyes flash for a moment.

Phoebe gaped at him. "He was an alpha?"

"Yes. My luck has definitely changed since I met you again."

Phoebe leaned across the seats to hug him tightly. "Mine too," she said when she'd sat back in her own seat.