by R. A. Boyd
Riley walked over to Willow and bumped her shoulder with her own. “Do you even know how awesome you are?”
Willow preened and buffed her nails on her shirt. “I do. I really do. This is fun.”
Cass’s fury drew a gasp from Audra as she walked by. She went and stood next to Jax, but stooped down so she was eye to eye with Micah. “Do you know of a man who says he killed the Alpha and Omega’s mate?” Cass asked him.
Micah must have sensed the dominance and anger roiling off of her. He tried to back away. Instead, he almost knocked his chair over while he was taped to it just to put some distance between them.
He bared his neck to her in a show of submission. “Yeah. He goes between the base in Harfordsville and the one in Baltimore near the loading docks. He moves around. Keeps boasting that he’s the reason the Ghost shifters won’t find their mates, but we all know it’s not true. We already know the Triad has been formed and that one other found his mate.”
“Two others,” Cass said, inching closer to him. “My sister found her mate,” she said, pointing over her shoulder, eyes still glued to the helpless man in the chair. “And you want to kill us. Because we’re happy.”
Micah was silent as he tried not to make eye contact with Cass. Every time she got a little closer to him, the sound of his sneakers pressing against the floor as the heavy metal chair screeched backward on the cement floor echoed through the room. He was doing everything he could to back away from her.
Cass’s dominance and wrath diffused through the room like a potent incense that made them all uncomfortable. Especially Audra. She knew that feeling, had felt it take her over more times than she was comfortable admitting to.
“Answer me!” Cass yelled. Her animal was deep in her voice now. If they didn’t get her out of here soon she may kill the man before they had answers to all their questions.
Willow started to speak but Cass interrupted her. “I know I didn’t ask a question, but this son of a bitch is going to give me answers because he doesn’t want me to show him what his intestines look like. What. Is. His. Name,” she punched out.
Audra’s insides started to squeeze together like she wanted to throw up. Cass’s face was only a few inches from Micah’s, and a horrible vision swam through her mind. Cass could shift partially if she wanted to. Audra had seen her do it. Make her teeth grow longer when baring them at Simon. Turning her hand into a furry paw with thick, sharp claws. Dear God, please don’t let Cass eat this man’s head. She’d threatened to do that to Simon more than once, but as the visual permanently implanted itself in Audra’s mind it was far from funny.
“Louis. Louis Erin. He’s from Baltimore, but like I said. He travels.”
Cass swallowed so hard it was audible in the room, and her breath trembled as she inhaled. She straightened up and stood to her full height, which really wasn’t that tall. All traces of ire and power dissipated from the room. She turned toward the stairs and started walking.
“Fuck,” Jax said, getting up from his chair. “Cass. Baby, just wait.” There was something in her alpha’s voice that Audra hadn’t heard before. He was afraid. He ran his hands through is hair, grabbing two fistfuls of the dark blond strands, and pulled so hard it made Audra flinch.
Audra had been so wrapped up in what was going on with her that she hadn’t seen the misery in Cass’s eyes. Everyone knew she didn’t like talking about what happened. They thought she’d mostly forgotten the details. Samael said she would. But it was apparent that she hadn’t.
Damon walked behind Cass as Jax followed them with his gaze. Worry snaked through Audra as she watched her family, her Alpha Triad, experience something they weren’t ready for.
The plan had always been for Cass to find and kill the man who murdered her, but never for one second did Audra think Cass had it in her. Now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was clear as glass. Cass did have it in her and if they didn’t handle this the right way she was going to spiral. That fact was written on her face, stamped in her voice, and threaded through her body. But Audra couldn’t let her fall.
Cass was good right down to her bones, and if she took a man’s life she would never be the same.
“Willow,” Jax said quietly as they all listened to Damon and Cass walk across the floor above them. When the sounds of their footsteps left the building, he said, “I think we’re going to need you to make more of that potion to keep a shifter from shifting.”
Simon, who had been told to keep his mouth closed, finally spoke up. “What the fuck, Jax?” he said, walking to stand in front of his alpha. “She deserves this! She deserves vengeance. The only way she’s going to stop shredding out of her human skin when she even thinks of that fucker is if he’s dead. Don’t you dare take that away from her.”
Jax clicked his teeth and cracked a bone in his neck. “You don’t understand. Cass, the Cass we know and love, wouldn’t make it through murdering someone.”
“You don’t know that.” There was a desperation in Simon’s voice that Audra thought had long abandoned him. “I know I give her shit but I— I care for that woman. She’s like a sister to me. She’s my alpha, and God damn you for trying to rob her of this. She needs this. She won’t heal without seeing him dead.”
“I’ll kill him,” Jax roared.
“She needs to do this. By her own hands! She will never have peace, Jax. And that sweet, innocent, kind woman you love will slowly disappear, and she will hate you. She won’t mean to, but she will.” Jax started to interrupt him but Simon kept going. “You know what? I agree she should hold off. She’s too angry right now and she might get herself hurt, but you can’t save her from this. Give her the option of taking that potion and I guarantee you she’ll take it. Let her know she still gets her kill, but that she has to be smart about it. Damn-it, Jax. You do this for me. I don’t ask you for shit. But I’m asking this for her. For my… my friend.”
“Do you see what you’re doing to us?” Audra asked Micah. “We don’t want to take over. We’ve been waiting for our mates for fucking ever, and now that they’re coming to us this is what we have to deal with. What makes you think we want to rule over all shifters? What makes you think we can?” Never, even before she went bonkers, did Audra ever think she’d be the voice of reason in this clan. “Do you have a mate?”
Micah’s lip trembled as he fought to keep his mouth shut. “I don’t have a mate. I’ve been waiting,” he punched out. “We know that you’ve been waiting to take over. You’ve been plotting this shit for centuries. You are fallen angels! Never has there ever been a time that a fallen angel wanted anything more than to rule. Than to ruin.”
Simon grunted and crossed his arms. “I don’t know where you’re getting your dumb ass ideas from, but you are wrong. Where did you even get this shit?”
Whipping his head back and forth, Micah let out a human growl that made Audra laugh. That was funny.
Without warning Micah pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and bit down. He was fighting through the potion.
Audra took a few steps forward and slapped him across the face. The crack rang through the room as his neck pitched to the left. Her hand stung from the impact.
“Must be the jackpot question if he’s fighting this hard,” she said. “Where are you getting this from, Micah?”
Ohh, he was doing all he could not to talk. Blood trickled from his nose where Audra had hit him and from his lip where he’d tried to take the damn thing off with his teeth.
“Our sect has been around for decades,” he said. He squeezed his eyes tight and tried to bite his lip again, but Audra reached forward and pinched his nose until his mouth popped open and he yelled. “Since that shifter killed all those people. It was decided then that you couldn’t come into your full powers. This plan has been in the making for years.”
“No,” Audra whispered.
Micah spat on the floor as his eyes bore into her. “The witch who saw all the dead bodies started this. She knew she had to stop you.”
The smile on his face was cruel, and Audra wanted to hit him again. “And we can. It’s because of her that we have our weapons to hold you. She figured out how to harness Heaven’s Flame so we could use it. And it fucking works. We won’t let all of you get your beasts back. A few of you can shift into those prehistoric beasts. More like monsters. So fucking what.” Looking around to each of them he said, “Ask me whatever you want. I won’t lie. Don’t need to anymore. We’ll win. You’ll lose.”
Damn-it all to hell. It always came back to that night in Cork. Always. She should have been able to control Ronan, or at least slow him down. The whole reason she went with Ronan and Gabe was because she could have stopped him. She was strong enough and he listened to her.
“Audra.” Zeke walked up behind her and grabbed the belt loops on her pants, pulling her closer to him. “Let’s go.”
“You’re wrong, Micah.” Audra could hear the venom in her voice. She’d been emptied of all the rage her beast was feeding to her, but this was new. Even if she couldn’t shift, if the rogue pack wanted a war she was willing to invite the hatred back into her life if it meant protecting her family. “We’re not monsters. You’re the monsters. You are coming for a group of people who want exactly what you want. To live in peace and to find their mates. No,” she said, her voice sorrowful as she shook her head back and forth. “We’re not the monsters.”
Zeke rotated his wrist and snapped it backward, and Micah’s head mimicked the motion as Zeke broke his neck with his magic. “But we can be.”
Chapter 12
Audra lay on the bed like a starfish, legs and arms stretched wide, as she listened to Zeke talk to Damon on the phone. Cass had agreed to take the potion. No one wanted her to shift and go searching for the rogue’s basecamps. She may have been pissed but she knew that her clan depended on her. And so did her human family. The local authorities accepted the Ghost shifters, but if Cass went on a walkabout in her saber-tooth form things would not have gone well.
“Thanks for letting us know. Audra was worried. Yeah. She’s fine.” Zeke hung up the phone and sat down on the bed. “I know you heard everything so you know she’s fine.”
Audra nodded and turned over, arms and legs still spread. “You went from being the outcast of your coven to being completely involved in our awesome shit show. Still happy?”
She was being cynical, but she knew he was loving every minute of it.
“I’m with you. That makes me happy.” He leaned down and kissed her temple.
Audra loved to watch him move. The way his clothes moved with him as if they couldn’t get enough of his body. She knew the feeling. His dark blue jeans were loose but still showed off his thick thighs. The black tee-shirt was molded over the sloping curves of his defined arm and chest muscles. She would never grow tired of watching him.
Zeke stood up from the bed and walked to the window. He was quiet for a few moments and then he nodded.
“Want to walk with me and Willow after dinner?” he asked, turning to look at her as she watched him. “We need to collect some supplies if we’re going to make enough of the potion to last Cass for a few days.”
Audra sat up, grabbed a pillow from the top of the bed, and curled it up on her lap. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on it. “Sure. There’s a farmer’s market in town that sells some herbal stuff. Their supplies might be a little low now.” Since it was winter the local farmer’s market sold mostly pastries and dried herbs.
Leaning against Audra’s chest of drawers, he took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his stomach. “No. There’s an Alder tree not far from here. We need the leaves. And I saw a patch of Angelica and Chervil. They were dried but we can dig up the roots to get what we need.”
Audra got up and moved toward him, and when she got close enough he reached out his hand and took hers. Warmth danced up her skin from his touch. He pulled her until she was settled between his legs.
“I’ll go with you. It’s nice out there at night. There are no street lamps and the stars shine so bright.” She rubbed her cheek against his and smiled at the feel of his stubble. “This scruff on you is nice. You’ll have a full and manly beard soon.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and the sound vibrated in his chest. She loved seeing him laugh. And now she got a two-for. She was close enough that the tremor from his chest tickled against her nipples.
“Full and manly beard?”
“Yup.”
“Mmm. Want me to let it grow or shave it off?”
Decisions, decisions. “I don’t know. I want to be able to see your face, but man oh man I love the way that scruff feels between my legs. On my cheek. Think we can find a happy medium?”
“I think we can.” He bent down and pressed his soft lips against hers.
He tasted and sipped at her lips as his arms wrapped around her waist. His tongue skimmed against hers until she pressed herself into him and slid her arms around his neck.
His Adam’s apple dipped beneath his shirt. She kissed him there and then buried her face into the bend of his neck to inhale his natural scent.
Moaning into her mouth he ran the tips of his fingers up and down her bare arms, leaving a trail of goose flesh. “Take your clothes off,” he said pushing her away from him and dragging his gaze up her body. His hungry gaze let her know what he wanted. He pulled his shirt over his head as if initiating a strip tease.
She’d never given one of those. Well, there was that one time in Egypt in the 1800’s, but that was only because she got stuck trying to put on a bedlah before she learned to belly dance. If she was going to learn she had to wear the proper attire. That was fun.
Damn-it, Zeke was talking and she hadn’t heard a word. His rolling muscles gliding beneath his perfect skin had demanded her attention.
“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking herself from her thoughts. “What did you say?”
Confusion was cute on him. His raised his eyebrows and pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth.
“I said if you don’t want to—”
Audra ripped her shirt over her head and shrugged out of her bra. She threw them in the general direction of her laundry basket but missed. “Of course I do. I was just thinking, but this is better.” She pushed her pants and panties down her thighs and kicked them, and her socks, to the corner where her shirt was. “You’re turn,” she sang, shimmying and laughing as Zeke watched her breasts move from side to side.
Grinning, he reached forward and cupped the rounded globe of her breast and drew a gasp from her parted lips. He lifted his gaze as he knelt down on the floor in front of her, taking one of her already pebbled nipples into his mouth as his hand toyed with the other.
“I love your mouth,” she said, looking down to watch him suckle her. It was as if his mouth on her breast made a direct call to her core and ordering up an orgasm. She felt herself grow wet from his touch. From his mouth.
Zeke ran his hand up the back of her thigh and then around the curve of her ass. Finding the bottom of her long braid, he pulled on it until the sting in her scalp and the warmth of his mouth dragged a low groan from her. He bit down and tiny shocks of electricity shot through her body.
Audra cupped the back of his head to urge him on. She felt she could orgasm from the heat of his talented mouth and the bite from him pulling her hair alone. His lips moved to her other breast and gave it just as much attention as the first.
He kissed a path of fire down her body until his mouth lingered in front of her pussy. The breath from his mouth made her push her hips toward him. She couldn’t wait for him to taste her, to feel the tickle of his beard on her thighs.
Looking up at her he grabbed one of her feet and placed it on his thigh, opening her up for his kiss. A sigh escaped her lips as he slid a finger into her. She rolled her hips toward him and he sucked her sensitive nub into his mouth. To steady herself before her legs gave out, she placed her hands on his shoulders and watched as he ate her. He licked at her and then suckled her
. Over and over he played this rhythm until Audra quivered all over and could feel the orgasm threatening to roll through her.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, Zeke made a breathy trilling noise with his mouth and his lips tickled against her clit. With a cry her head dropped back as fire rushed through her body. She came hard and her entire body delighted as he drew the orgasm from her.
When she came down from the high that was Zeke, she realized she had the soft strands of hair in a death grip between her fingers. He didn’t complain. He kissed the inside of her thighs as she shuddered.
“Turn around,” he said, helping her stay upright.
He angled her toward the chest of drawers and placed her hands flat on the smooth, cool surface of the dark wood. Zeke cupped her sex and she panted as the heel of his hand pressed against her already responsive clit. The sound of his zipper shot tingles through her as she waited for him to take her.
He kissed up her shoulder until his lips were touching her ear. “I’m not ready to be a shifter, and I’m sorry. But I’m yours, Audra. And you are mine. Will you bare my mark?” he murmured in her ear.
She went weak with the thought of him taking his teeth to her, and a tremble worked its way through her body. She could feel his lips smile against her skin.
“Is that a yes?”
Audra couldn’t speak. Words failed her. Of course she would wear his mark. They belonged to each other. Pressure from his hand on her clit made her grind herself against him. She nodded and felt heat gather behind her eyes. He was her mate in all ways that mattered, but the thought of having his mark made her so happy.
She pushed her hips back onto him at the feel of his cock pressed on her lower back. Feather-light kisses ran from her ear to her cheek and she turned her face to feel his lips against hers. His cock rubbed against her and she arched her back to open herself to him, inviting him in to her body.
He gripped her hip and pulled her back until she leaned against the cold surface of the chest of drawers, and it added to the already cresting high she felt. His fingers were magic, conjuring goosebumps in their wake from her neck to her tailbone. Even more wetness pooled between her legs as he leaned in and kissed her shoulder.
