“Love him,” Aylia said softly. “I know.”
Loved him? Did Sarah love him? Did Kole dare hope that was true? His gaze went to Sarah, searching for confirmation, but Aylia held her hand over his wound and heat blasted through his body, a sensation of melting without pain. A bright light blinded him.
When the heat vanished, so did the pain, and he immediately shifted back to human. Sarah flung her arms around him.
“I thought you were dead when the building exploded. Oh God, Kole, I thought you were dead just like my family and-”
He kissed her, swallowing her words, tasting her pain, her tears, and vowing to never let her feel these things again. He framed her face with his hands and stared down at her, seeing nothing but her. He didn’t care who was still nearby, or that he was naked in the middle of an explosion. Sirens sounded, closing in on them, reminding them of the past, of her disappearance.
“I’m not letting you go again, Sarah. I can’t. I won’t. We live together, we die together.”
Her hands went to his wrists. “No,” she said, stabbing him in the heart with the rejection. “No. You have to lead the Guard. You have to face the King and you can’t do that with a fugitive.”
Nico knelt beside them. “It’s time to get out of here.” A second later, Kole and Sarah were in the middle of a living room with a high vaulted ceiling and leather furniture. It was a familiar Vegas location that the Guard sometimes used for field operations, and they were alone, with Nico nowhere insight.
“Where are we?” Sarah asked, going stiff in his arms, as she tried to take in their surroundings. “Oh God. I know the smell. We’re in Vegas.”
“Alone and safe,” he said, molding her close. “Alone, Sarah. Derek’s dead.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Finally. I...I thought I’d feel happy.”
“But you don’t?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “No. No I just feel...lost.”
He thumbed away tears. “Why, sweetheart? Why lost?”
“I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know...”
“We come next, Sarah. You and me.”
“I heard, Kole,” she said, trying to push out of his arms. “I heard you talking to Nico and Shi. You’re supposed to take over the Guard. You can’t be with me. I’m still a fugitive.”
“I wasn’t hiding this from you, Sarah. I would have told you. Just like I would have told you that the only thing that’s going to keep me away from you, is you.”
“You didn’t tell me but you were ready to die to avoid mating with me.”
“For you,” he said. “Because I wouldn’t force myself on you when you still blamed me for Derek.”
“I didn’t blame you.”
“You were angry at me. That’s not the way to mate.”
“I’m angry with you now.”
He wrapped her in his arms, and cupped the side of her face. “Because you think I chose to be leader of the pack over you? Well, I don’t. I never would have. Sarah, the King isn’t a fool. He knows no male is all he can be with a mate he’s denied, and he knows I’m the most capable of taking over the pack. I’ll have to fight him, but what will he say if I return mated?”
“He could throw us both in jail.”
He smiled. “We’ll escape. I do know a certain wolf who can pop in and out of a room without detection. Nico is in this now. He has our backs. If we have to, we’ll go roam the world, fighting the rebels on our own.”
She pulled back. “Fighting the rebels?”
“Yes, mate,” he said. “Fighting the rebels.”
“You intend to let me fight?”
“Are you saying you’d listen if I told you not to?”
Her lips curved. “Well no, but you’re-”
He kissed her, the taste of her setting his blood to boil, before he finished her words. “I know. I’m Royal Guard which makes me some evil form of alpha wolf. If you’re going to fight, I told you, I’ll have your back.”
“Fight by my side, then,” she murmured and nipped his lip. “And I never thought you were evil.” Her arms slid around his neck. “But wicked is another story. You are most definitely wicked.”
His cock thickened, and he pressed it between her thighs, lifting her. “I’ll show you wicked.”
“I’m counting on it,” she teased, making his blood pump even hotter and harder than it already was.
Kole carried her up the stairs to a master bedroom where he drew on his willpower, taking his time to lick, and kiss, and tease, every inch of her, he was a wolf about to claim his mate There was no desperation in either of them, just satisfaction and certainty that this was inevitable, it was right.
Long minutes later, Kole leaned against the headboard with Sarah straddling him, their bodies joined. Kole slid his fingers around the back of her neck and kissed her before vowing, “This will be our secret until you’re ready to go back to the Society. Until I know you know I love you enough for us to get through whatever the King throws at us.”
She sucked in a breath. “Love? You love me?”
“Yes, I love you. More than you can know but you will. One day soon, you will. And if I’m lucky, you’ll love me, too.” His teeth extended of their own accord, a reaction to the mating heat, and he leaned down and sunk his teeth into her shoulder, the sweet taste of her blood filling his mouth, the hormones rushing through his body, into hers. She gasped and trembled, and he felt her body clench around his a moment before she sank her teeth into his shoulder.
Time stood still, pleasure consuming them until they seemed to move together, their mouths joining in a kiss, and the wounds on their shoulders healed instantly. In that kiss there was the taste of blood on their lips,and their bond was sealed.
Sarah lifted her wrist and stared at the crescent-shaped moon on her palm, the mating mark, and then cupped his cheek. “I already love you.”
Hours later, Kole stared at the ceiling with Sarah curled to his side, and silently vowed be the man, the wolf, she deserved, for the rest of their lives.
Three weeks later...
Chapter Eleven
Sarah woke to the spicy scent of Kole and coffee. Coffee? She sat up and stretched, realizing Kole was already awake. She smiled. And he was making breakfast. Her alpha wolf cooked. She loved it. He’d made chocolate chip cookies the day before and made her promise to never tell anyone, especially not their pack. Their pack. He’d said their pack. If she hadn’t already been in love with him, she would be now. Which was why it was time to go back to the Society, to let Kole have his future, their future. He’d already asked for a meeting with the King, and she felt how the King’s silence was worrying him more than he vocalized.
She tugged on a robe and headed to the living room, knowing today was the day they’d return to her old life, feeling it in her bones. They had to return, she knew that, but still felt uneasy about it. She had to do this for Kole, put him out of the misery of wondering what came next. Still, she would forever be grateful for these few weeks he’d given her to prepare.
The instant she entered the hallway leading to the kitchen, Sarah felt the power of another presence, intense consuming power. So powerful she could barely breathe, but yet she felt no danger.
She forced a deep inhalation and let it out before continuing into the kitchen, then stopped dead in her tracks at the doorway. To her shock and awe, there sat the King himself at the table, next to Kole. His hair was a pale blue, his eyes a deep glowing amber as they fell on Sarah. He was the very essence of power, a male who looked no more than thirty-five, but was thousands of years old.
She knelt down and bowed. “King.”
He shocked her by standing and coming to her, lifting her to her feet. “I am not your King,” he said. “I am your father.” He went to his knee in front of her. “Forgive me, daughter, for I have wronged you.”
A million thoughts charged through her mind, and her heart felt like it was going to explode from her chest. Anger, pain, confusion collided ins
ide her. Her gaze went to Kole’s, the connection, the only thing that calmed her and slowed her heart and somehow she managed to speak, “I don’t understand,” was all she could say. ”I just...don’t understand how this is possible.”
“How would you?” the King asked. “I have left you in the dark for far too long. Your mother and I had tried to have children, and bore one son, who was killed in battle. When we were finally blessed with another pregnancy, you were born. You became the only girl in our bloodline for centuries, and as such, you were destined, or rather cursed, to be a She-wolf, a rare warrior amongst our kind. It is a destiny of blood and battle, of hunting and being hunted. Your mother was very ill from the birth and we knew she wasn’t going to live. She...” His voice cracked. “Made me promise to hide you, to declare you dead, to protect you. She wanted you to have a kinder life. We both wanted to spare you the blood of battle. We should have known that you would always find your way to the battlefield. It is as much your destiny as your mate.”
Still stunned, Sarah could barely comprehend what he was saying. “You ordered my arrest.”
“I needed to get you back here where I could tell you the truth, to help you develop the skills that will protect you in war.”
This wasn’t happening. It couldn't be true. But it was. He spoke the truth. She felt it, saw it in his strange but incredibly beautiful eyes.
Sarah started to shake and her knees were suddenly weak. Kole was somehow there, holding her up and carrying her to the living room. She sat on the couch and cried, unable to stop the tears, feeling the loss of her family all over again. For someone who was a warrior, she was doing a lot of crying. And then she sat with the King and they talked for hours. Kole was by her side the entire time, mostly silent, a rock who made her stronger.
“My parents-”
“Were the Duncans,” he said. “I know. They earned that place in your life. I can only hope that one day you will allow me to be a second father.”
“Did they know?” she asked, remembering a few jokes about how different she looked from her blonde sister and mother. Remembering how awkward those jokes made her family. They’d known and she rephrased her question. “Did they know I was yours?”
“Yes.”
Questions flew from Sarah, one after another. Hours passed until the King finally pushed to his feet. “I must go, but Sarah, my child, I hope that you will allow me to claim you as heir to the throne.” His gaze shifted to Kole. “And mate to the leader of the Royal Guard Pack.” He bowed his head and then he was just gone.
Kole whistled. “I didn’t know he could do that, but then, it seems everyone is popping in and out of rooms these days. We should inquire about the magic potion for that. There must be one since everyone is doing it but us. We need to find some for us. It would sure make the late night pizza runs easier.”
Suddenly Sarah was smiling, all the uncomfortable emotions fading away, or at least taking a fifteen minute intermission. Something about Kole and how he responded to things, always made mountains seem more like hills. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, Kole.”
He wrapped her in his strong arms. “It was the chocolate chip cookies that won you over, wasn’t it?”
“No.” She laughed. “Okay maybe. I loved the cookies but its not just the cookies.” Her chest tightened, and her smile softened. “It’s how you are here for me. How even when we aren’t fighting, you really do have my back.”
He stroked hair from her face, his expression turning tender. “I will always have your back.” He wiggled an eyebrow. “One wicked day at a time.” He slid her robe from her shoulders and spent the next few hours making sure she knew just how wicked he could be.
Later that night, the two of them curled together in bed, talking about her family, about the king, and their future together. It mattered to her that he’d known that she wasn’t ready to talk right when the king had left, that he’d listened, truly listened, when she’d shared her thoughts and fears. He’d given her a choice to wait until she was ready to share those things with him. And right now and forever, she chose him.
The end of this story but not the series!
The Werewolf Society – more stories to come!
Wicked Werewolf Passion - Shi’s Story - Late 2012
Wicked Werewolf Desire - Jackson’s story - Late 2012
www.lisareneejones.com
Also look for a new Vampire Wardens Trilogy starting in July 2012
The covers are already live at www.lisareneejones.com
Twitter @lisareneejones
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Lisa Renee Jones, Wicked Werewolf Secret
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