It hurts, but I’m not shocked Daddy didn’t come. I’d always been a disappointment, and sending his subordinates to do his dirty work when it comes to me isn’t new.
The Enforcers and I had always been friendly, but there’s no compassion, only resigned purpose in their stares. I’m not surprised Sy brought Aaron. After the Beta, Aaron is the most powerful wolf the Pack has. If I were meeting the enemy with limited numbers, he’s someone I’d have chosen to fight with too. The others are known to me as admirable fighters, but slow on the uptake. They’re ideal Pack wolves. They follow orders and don’t think. Controllable. For the Beta of the South Western Lycanthrope Pack power and control over other wolves is vital.
The wolves fix their senses on me. It’s like being under a hot, bright spotlight when a wolf centres their attention on you. Not the most comfortable thing in the world when six lock on at once.
Again, I feel stirrings of unease. I’ve never felt apprehensive about anyone from my Pack before. Not even the Enforcers who are known to be domineering. My birthright gave me protection, and I’ve always been able to control them.
Daniel gives me a solemn nod. ‘Go ahead.’
Still, I hesitate. ‘Once he fails you’ll come and get me. You’ll still want me?’
‘Go.’
Straightening, I cock my hip. ‘I’m not moving unless you say you’ll want me after he’s touched me.’
Lycans are extremely territorial and known to go feral when they smell another male on their female. The way a Vampire handles his Bride is different, but I want to be sure I won’t end up soiled in Daniel’s eyes.
‘Wanting you is the problem.’
‘We’re back here again? Is now the time to bring up your issues?’
‘My issues?’
‘Yeah. I’m dealing with everything one step at a time. You’re the one still fighting it. I thought after the time we spent talking last night that you.... I want us to be together. I thought you wanted the same thing.’
Daniel studies me before focusing on the gloomy tree line. ‘His touch means nothing as long as he does not hurt you.’
We’re going to bicker and pick at each other’s nerves unless I get on with this. Ugh. I want this nasty business over with.
Daniel may not be looking at me, but I know he’s aware. I shoot him a contemptuous look, one that says we will be discussing this in depth back at Castle.
Bare toes curling in the grass, I rub my sweaty palm on the knee length shorts I cut from a pair of jeans. The shorts are baggy in the hip and butt area since Lee packs some serious curves. The baggy shirt swamping my frame is one of Daniel’s. I tug restlessly on the hem.
Shaking my hair back, I square my shoulders and strut over the boundary line.
Sy shifts into his Human form.
Stocky limbs smoothly transition into firm muscled flesh, dark fur into tanned skin.
Unashamed of his nakedness he looks like Michelangelo’s statue of David. Brown shaggy hair is ruffled by the wind and blown into amber eyes that always look animal.
A week ago I viewed the graceful masculinity of Daniel and Ben as effeminate. Now I see Sy’s features as fat and clumsy compared to the striking refinement of my Vampire mate’s.
This sudden change in how I perceive the male of my species is disconcerting.
Sy’s isn’t unattractive. He’s one of the better-looking people in this world – gorgeous to most women. But now I’ve seen a different kind of beauty, a magnificence that comes from inside to manifest physically. Perhaps the veil of preference has been removed from my eyes about this Beta. Deep in his possessive stare glints a hunger for power. His smile is a celebration of his conquest rather than genuine joy of seeing me safe and returned home.
The wolves behind him ease back.
One turns Human alongside Aaron who scans the area. His nostrils flare as he searches for foreign scents signalling plans for betrayal.
The delicate sweetness of the boundary line revealing the presence of Vampires becomes a peppery musk.
My steps falter.
Clenching my hands into fists, I leave Vampire territory and enter the hunting grounds. I stop. Rock back on my heels and tremble.
Every cell in my body screams I’ve made a mistake.
Sy bounds forward and wraps me in his arms. He twirls me around. “Welcome back.” He sets me down with a triumphant smirk. “Are you alright?”
I smile crookedly. “I’m confused why Daddy agreed to this meeting and didn’t come himself. This is a joyous occasion I’d hoped to share with him. Otherwise, I’ve never been better.” I gather my hair, twist the end and pull it over a shoulder so the nape and side of my neck are bare. I show them my mating mark in such a way that does not declare submission, but the authority of a mated female. “I found my true mate.”
The wolves lock onto the half-healed fang marks on my neck.
“Mate?” Sy’s nose twitches. “The bloodsucker said you were his Bride or some shit.” He swipes a finger over the marks.
The wolves behind him gasp and shift restlessly.
I slap a hand over my neck. “You’d dare disrespect me.”
“We don’t recognise their mating rituals.”
“It’s not about them.” I shake with rage. “It’s about me. You violated me. Your touch is an insult.”
Sy eyes me like prey. “I can’t violate what’s mine.”
“We may not accept the word of a Vampire he’s found his Bride in our Pack, but a wolf claiming their true mate is sacred,” Aaron reminds. “As is the mark the she-wolf allows as warning to others of submission to her stronger mate. Lycans have mated to creatures outside the Pack before. Rare, but it happens.”
This is the first I’ve heard of Lycans mating outside our own kind.
I face the men who were once my brothers and allies. “My wolf has chosen him. We’re mated.” I hook a thumb over my shoulder to point at Daniel. “He carries my mark too.”
Aaron can’t hide his surprise. “He let you mark him?”
I beam proudly.
Lycan males rarely submit long enough for a female to mark them. It’s proof of a strong bond.
Respect flickers over Aaron’s expression before he wipes it clean with indifference.
Sy’s pissed. I know him well enough to see he’s deeply offended by the proof of the physical relationship between Daniel and I. The thought of Vampires used to cause the same shudder of disgust I can see moving down his body.
The same as other Lycans, I carried knowledge ingrained in me from birth; Vampire equals enemy. Since my wolf decided Daniel is my mate, what I’ve been taught means nothing. I’ve seen with my own eyes how kind they can be. They’re not perfect but are hardly soulless monsters. What I’ve learnt about the Vampire bloodline gives me the strength to shake off years of nurture, and to trust that nature hasn’t made a mistake in creating an attraction between Daniel and I.
Confident as I am in my mating, my Lycan brothers looking down on me for admitting an attraction to my true mate is distressing.
How could I make them see that this was not a betrayal of everything I was, but rather an embrace of the wolf spirit inside me?
“I understand the last few days have been difficult.” Sy’s enormous hands land on my shoulders. His thumbs rub my collarbones. “Hell, your father’s been riding your ass hard these last few months. I get why you’ve had a small breakdown, but honey, listen to yourself.” He dips to look me in the eyes, and his speech is measured, as if I’m slow, or a simpleton who needs help understanding English. “You’re saying you’ve bonded yourself to a Vampire.”
“Take your hands off me.” It was not rude, and I can be so rude at times. It was authoritative and tinged with the power of my wolf.
He brushes off the command.
Stunned, I blink and splutter stupidly. I used to be able to control the Enforcers. It’s my right as daughter to the Alpha, a princess of my kind.
Sy batted my power away as if it
’s nothing more than a pesky fly.
I’m an outcast? He’s claiming authority over me as a mate? Or maybe it’s because I mated Daniel I’m no longer considered part of the Pack, giving me no inherit power here. Or is it a mixture of all these things?
Sy’s touch remains as gentle as he can manage, which is rough in comparison to how Daniel holds me. The Beta’s skin feels like sandpaper. “This is wrong on so many levels. You’re two natured. Wolf. He’s an abomination of nature.”
I wriggle in his hold, but don’t manage to shake him off. Mentally I reach to Daniel to tell him how uncomfortable I am.
My thoughts rebound off a barrier he’s built around his consciousness.
What the hell?
Sy leans down until our noses touch. Anger simmers in his yellow eyes. “Sweetheart, Vampires and Lycans don’t mix.”
Struggling to stay calm, I pull myself from his grip. “I’m not your sweetheart, or your honey, or anything else. I never was, and I never planned to be. Speak for yourself, not me. I’m mixing with them fine.”
Teeth showing, he growls.
My wolf trembles and I hide this reaction by blanking him. I’ll prove to everyone I won’t submit to any dominant display from anyone but my true mate. As a pup, I pined for Sy. He chose to roll around with my sister until she dropped him. He sniffed around me next, but I rejected him. My girlhood crush was fleeting, and died when he turned his sights on my sister. Nothing I felt for him can compare to what I feel for Daniel.
“You’re mine,” Sy says. “Our Alpha has given his blessing.”
I hold up a hand, disgusted. “No. Just no.”
“Because of the Vampire? You’re kidding, right? You can’t seriously believe he feels anything real. Biologically–”
“Daniel and I have no problems when it comes to compatibility.” My heart races as I remember his hands on me. “Trust me. Vampires and Lycans are more compatible than you know.”
His nostrils flare and he growls again, deeper, and more than threatening, a promise of violence.
Claws sting as they scrape along my upper arms.
Sy’s eyes shift to become wolf, and his mouth lengthens into a snout. “I’ll kill him.” Coarse hair sprouts across the tense planes of his face and neck. “I’ll mount you while he watches then I’ll kill him.”
“Hold to the Alpha’s agreement,” grumbles the Enforcer.
The others rumble their agreement as wolves.
Aaron steps forward. “Do what we came to. We want to go home.”
Sy growls. “Not here.”
They start to back away, and Sy keeps his hold on me as he walks backwards.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Completely freaking, I dig in my heels. “Wait. You can’t take me.”
Sy thrusts his face forward. “You’re mine.”
“Are you deaf? I found my true mate.”
“You won’t accept this? Fine. We’ll do the test right here to prove you’re mine.”
“I didn’t come here to nod, smile, and let you invoke that right. It’s barbaric.” I shove at his chest. “I came to explain what happened and give proof that Daniel’s claim on me as his Bride isn’t a lie.”
“The test is a valid law. I hoped you’d come easy, not make a big deal about meeting your responsibilities to your Pack. As always we have to suffer your drama. Why are you never happy to do your part? Always got to go against the grain. It’s so selfish.” He glares at me. “This was agreed beforehand with your father. I was given permission to invoke the test if you proved difficult.”
“So you’re not allowed to take me if I don’t submit?”
“We both know that’s not going to happen, sweetheart.”
I narrow my eyes. “Humour me.”
He grinned broadly. “It doesn’t matter. Win or lose you’re coming with me.”
“We’re here to bring you home,” Aaron says quietly. “Sy was allowed to use the test if you were reluctant to come with us. That’s what was agreed between both parties.”
My heart sinks, but anger has me shooting daggers over my shoulder. I do a double take. Daniel has turned away from me, and stares at the ground. Clenched fists are held rigidly at his sides.
My heart pounds as I again try to communicate mind to mind.
He shuts me out and the message is clear; I’m on my own.
I twist back around to face Sy. “You need to let go of me. Now.”
“You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” He grins cruelly. “Your Vampire sold you back to us, princess.”
Fear has my strength increasing. My wolf bristles at her true mate’s betrayal.
Sensing my anger, Sy lifts me from the grass.
I thrash in mid-air. “Let go.” My yell echoes with power. Infuriated by the injustice of it all, I draw deeper on the strength of my wolf spirit. “Let me go.”
Compelled, Sy jerkily puts me down. His grip loosens, and he stumbles when I yank back.
His expression turns furious when he realises another command to release me will break his wolf. “Hold her. She can’t influence all of us at once.”
Two Enforcers in wolf form surge forward. They catch my legs in their jaws to drag me back. The others hover close by; ready to swap if needed. I cry out when a maw chomps too hard on my calf.
Daniel flinches, but shakes his head. Without looking at me, he takes halting steps towards the road. “This is for the best.” Louder over his shoulder he says, “You should be with your own kind.”
“Lee,” I sob, twisting as best I can to see her. “Please. I helped you.”
Ben’s face is ashen, his eyes pitying me across the distance.
Lee opens her mouth, but Ben whispers in her ear. They have a silent argument until Lee slumps and nods glumly. When she looks at me her face is devastated. Her wide eyes plead for forgiveness.
I stare her down until she looks away.
“They’ve abandoned you.” Sy’s body heat is oppressive. Suffocating. “Get over it and come home.”
I wriggle my arms and shift my legs. The wolves adjust their holds, the friction of skin on skin giving them a solid grip.
“It’s okay Lee.” I blink back tears. Crying in front of male wolves is a big mistake. “I understand you can’t do anything. I know you have to protect your family.” I meet Sy’s eyes, something few wolves can so. “Daniel’s doing what he thinks is best. That one has a serious superiority complex. I’m going to take a large, painful bite out of his ass for scaring me like this. Do you hear me, Vampire?”
Daniel stops walking. He twists slowly to glower at me disbelievingly.
We stare at each other until I feel the walls around his mind crack. He’s valiantly trying to do what he thinks is right, but deep down he must know he’ll never find peace.
Neither will I if he leaves like this.
Grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger, Sy forces me to look at him. “Liam and the Vampire agreed if he gave you up the past would be forgotten, and the truce upheld. You’d ask him to start a war for you?” Brow furrowed, Sy searches my face. “You’d start one for him?”
“Without hesitation or doubt. He’s my mate. I’d die for him and expect my friends to do the same.”
My eyes shift enough to witness Daniel turning back towards me fully, his eyes stormy.
“That’s the whole point,” I continue. “To give everything to someone because of all the people in the world that person is the one you should do anything for.”
The backhand to my cheek sends the world black.
Sy holds my face so there’s no follow through, and my head absorbs all the energy from the impact. The blow renders me speechless.
Blood flows in my mouth, and my vision blurs out of focus. I slump, but am quickly yanked straight by the Beta.
The Enforcers flatten their ears, whine, but make no move to defend or release me.
Gasping, I scrunch my eyes closed and focus on stopping the ringing in my ears. “Hit me all you want, it
won’t change a thing. This proves you aren’t a wolf with enough honour to be my mate you mongrel.”
“Shut it.” Sy struggles to breathe through his fury. “That’s enough of your mouth. It’s bad enough my future mate let a Vampire fuck her, bite her....” Through my daze, I realise the biting is worse than the fucking to him. “….but you won’t embarrass me or your Pack anymore.”
My head throbs, but I shake it wildly.
I’m an embarrassment because I dare to love something different?
“Love knows not colour, race, or creed.” I pause. “Or some other poetic bullshit like that. If you loved me what I’ve done, and who I’ve done it with wouldn’t matter. You’d be relieved to have me back despite my mistakes. Well, your twisted perception of what constitutes a mistake. Maybe it’s time your position in the Pack was challenged if you can’t take me on fairly, mutt. The last I checked, I refused to submit. I was leaving until you ordered the Enforcers like a band of thugs to restrain me.”
The wolves grumble, acknowledging the truth and shame of my statement.
Sy raises a fist. His lips pull back in an ugly snarl, and the tenuous control of his wolf snaps.
Seeing the blow coming, this time I shrink back.
Disturbed air from the swing blows across my face as I’m yanked to safety. A warning growl rumbles from Aaron’s warm chest. I’m pulled into the cradle of his body. His arms cross over my torso to shield me from further harm.
Responding to the threat to his leadership, the Beta’s attention switches to Aaron.
Sy’s body bulges grotesquely. Body parts shift wolf then revert Human as he fights to remain in control. His face elongates, grows furry, before shifting back into Human shape.
If the Beta and Enforcer clash like this both wolves will fight until only one remains breathing.
The epitome of calm, Daniel strides back into the boundary line. He ignores the wolves snarled warnings to go no further. “Hit her again and it will be the last thing you do.” He says it without bitterness or malice. He could have said the sky is blue or rain is wet for how matter-of-fact his tone is. “The agreement was that she be safe and unharmed. That she will remain unbroken.”