by Kimber White
“They’ll agree,” Denall said. My blood started to heat.
“Then she’s mine,” I said.
“If,” Denall said. “You answer my question. No more lies. No more avoiding the truth. No more obfuscation. You’ve dangled the carrot of the Vadim pack long enough. Time to put up or shut up. How many are left of Pavel’s pack? I want a number. And I want to know where they are. You don’t get the girl unless you have a little more skin in the game, Viktor.”
“Thirty,” I said. I felt ash in my mouth. The truth. I’d finally given it. A betrayal.
Denall smiled. “So many. All of them kin?”
“About eighty percent are kin,” I answered. “Most of them are still in and around Moscow in Neutral Zones.”
“Not protected,” he said, clasping his hands together. “We suspected as much.”
“There are about a dozen...here,” I said. God. If Luka and the others were close enough to hear me, I hoped to God they still trusted that I knew what I was doing.
I hoped I knew what I was doing.
“You bring them all to us,” Denall said. “You have two weeks. Then the girl is yours. You can do with her as you like. Share her with all thirty if you want. I don’t care. As long as you know any offspring she bears belong to us too.”
My fangs dropped. I could do it. I could kill him. His blood would taste like metal in my mouth.
“Fine,” I said.
“Two weeks,” Denall said. Then, my ears popped again as Denall disappeared.
A moment later, howls filled the air as Luka and the others started to come out of hiding.
Chapter 9
Viktor
I raced down the cellar steps and threw open the door. Mia straightened her back the instant she saw me. She squinted as a sudden light bathed her, jarring her senses.
“Are you all right?” I asked her, taking a tentative step toward her. I produced a key and started unlocking all the Dragonsteel from around her shoulders. She sagged with relief.
“They’re gone,” I said. “They won’t be coming back anytime soon.”
Mia rubbed her wrists from the shackles I unlocked. She rose to her feet. I took a step back to give her room. She took one toward me. Then, with lightning quickness, she delivered a formidable smack to the side of my face.
“You should have warned me,” she said. “I knew you were in league with the Ring. But you do fae’s bidding too? You’re despicable. An affront to your kind. Do they know what you are? Out there?”
Luka and the others weren’t being at all careful about the noise they made anymore.
“You aren’t really in a position to judge how I survive,” I said to her, snarling. I got in close, instinct fueling me.
Her anger stoked mine. Beneath it, passion rose. I wanted her. I needed her. I was starving for her.
Her breasts pebbled beneath her shirt. Her breath came in quick little pants. If I’d had the fae charm on me, I might have used it on her right then. Not yet, though. Not here. There was far too much Dragonsteel around and I couldn’t trust that it wouldn’t counteract the spell. No. I needed her in the woods under an open sky.
No, I thought. I needed her beneath me.
“You can stay down here if you like,” I said, turning my back on her. “Though I assumed you preferred your accommodations upstairs. If you’re hungry, there’s venison being prepared. Today’s kill. Or...are you going to tell me you’re a vegetarian on top of everything else?”
She went so still. Her skin flushed. No sooner had I said it when the smell of a fresh roast wafted down. I heard her stomach growl. Was she in there? Her wolf?
I licked my lips and advanced on her.
“What are you planning to do with me, Viktor?” she asked. There was something seductive in the way she said it.
“I’m planning to feed you,” I said, matching her tone.
Her breath kissed my cheek. If I kissed her, would she bite? I hoped so.
She took a step back. My heart twisted when I saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye. I wanted to take her. To hold her. To promise her I’d never let anyone hurt her.
Only I knew I might be the one to cause her the most pain. I pushed those thoughts aside. It was worth it. It had to be worth it.
Mia turned her back on me and walked up the stairs. I hung back for a moment, enjoying the view of her backside. She put a hand on the door. Pausing, I think she wondered whether I told her the truth. Was she free to leave the cellar?
She turned the knob and walked out. She followed the scent of cooking meat straight into the kitchen. The closer she got to the others, the more my wolf raged inside of me. These were my men. Loyal to me. They would not make a move on Mia without my permission. But just the idea of any other wolf laying eyes on her drove me half mad.
I was at her side. Luka, Nico, Gregor and the others had filed into the kitchen. Laughing, drinking, setting out plates. The fae had gone. They thought tonight was the night for celebrations. Promises kept. The end of a journey.
As they turned and caught sight of Mia, I tried to find a smile they would believe. That she would believe. For I had just paid off my debt to a demon by promising the devil something more.
Chapter 10
Mia
I had barely a moment alone to myself over the next few days. Viktor stayed close. If he wasn’t there, one of the other shifters stood guard outside my room. He seemed to trust Luka and Nico the most.
They were likeable men. Or would have been had they not been tasked with holding me captive. But they had an easy, self-deprecating humor with each other that reminded me so much of my mother’s brother and cousins.
I missed them. I ached from it. When I was little, we spent most of our time in and around the Great Lakes with their mates and families. It was one of the few times I’d felt free to fully be myself. My Uncle Milo had taken me on my first hunt. I’d gotten quickly lost in the wilderness and came face to face with a full-grown mountain lion. I’d been terrified and exhilarated all at once.
I earned a few scrapes and bruises that day but came out on top. I learned later Milo and my Uncle Leo had been nearby the whole time.
When I was with my dragon uncles, everything was about cloaking and fire. With my wolf uncles, it was instinct, blood, the hunt, my primal animal. I felt more myself with them than anywhere else. The woods became part of me. I knew where I belonged. And then...I had to leave it behind. Choke it down to the darkest corners of myself so no one else could ever guess what I was.
Here, I felt a little of that old pull. Viktor’s wolves brought it out of me. If I let myself, I could forget what brought me here. But...I never could.
My days settled into a bearable routine, at least. I’d take a tray of breakfast in my room while one of Viktor’s men stood guard behind the door. A couple of hours later, I was free to roam the house, heavily watched, of course. For dinner, I joined Viktor and the others, feasting on whatever they’d hunted that day. About four days in, I realized Viktor had been serving me the best cuts of meat. The others accepted it. He was their natural leader. They wanted him to be their Alpha. Which meant it burned through Viktor, too. It seemed I wasn’t the only one forced to suppress what I was.
It was becoming easy. Safe, almost. And I knew that was exactly why I had to find a way out, and quickly. Now, I finally knew where I was. The portrait in the main floor sitting room made that clear. This was the Clairmont House. I recognized the scent of the Shawnee Forest just a few miles west of us. The Clairmonts had been a small but influential pack in the Midwest. Their Alpha was dead now. Killed in the aftermath of the attacks. Those pack members who survived had been subjugated into stronger packs under the control of the Ring. This house was owned by the Ring. Once again, it struck me how foolish Viktor was to trust whatever Danell promised him.
One night near the end of my third week with Viktor a full moon peaked above the trees. I’d felt the itch of all the wolves leading up to it. Even my own skin pri
ckled with the need to shift. It had now been nearly a month since I had.
“Come,” Viktor said. He seemed, as always, to appear out of nowhere. He held his hand out as I stood in front of the second-floor window watching the stars come out one by one.
“Where?” I asked.
“Nowhere,” he said. “Everywhere.”
I followed. My pulse quickened. Viktor’s wolf was so close to the surface. His eyes glowed. As an Alpha, the moon affected him most of all.
This could be my chance. With the other wolves giving in to the frenzy of their hunt...if I could keep Viktor distracted long enough…
We walked outside. The house’s great cupolas cast long shadows across the yard. Viktor said nothing, but kept walking toward the tree line. With each step, my pulse quickened. I heard Luka’s distant howl, and the hair raised on the back of my neck.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Deeper and deeper he led me into the woods. With each breath, I felt drunk from the scents all around me. Rabbit. Deer. A fox bedded down just a few yards from me. I quickly covered my mouth as a sharp fang popped out.
Not now. I had to keep it together just a little while longer.
The other wolves were far to the west of us. I could sense all of them chasing prey in different directions. The woods stretched for miles.
This place. This land. God. It could be a sanctuary.
No sooner had I thought about it, my heart dropped.
“This is what I’m worth?” I asked, stopping. We’d just passed over a wide stream. Uphill of it, Viktor walked into a clearing.
“Mia…”
“Tell me who it is,” I said.
“What?”
“Whose prize am I, Viktor?”
His eyes darkened. He worked a muscle in his jaw as he stepped toward me.
“Fae,” I said. “How could you let yourself owe them anything? How can you let them be vulnerable to fae?” I gestured in the direction of the other wolves. My pulse raced. Doing that much was careless. Viktor’s eyes narrowed.
Damn. So careless.
“You shouldn’t assume too much about me, Mia,” he said.
“You shouldn’t trust someone like Denall,” I said. “Whatever he’s promised you, it’s a lie. You have to know that. The more you do for them, the more they’ll ask. No debt is ever paid with the Ring.”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” he said. “There’s no one coming for you. If it hadn’t been me who found you, it would have been someone else. Even your family knew that. As valuable as you are, you have to know even they can’t risk exposing themselves to get you back. You’re on your own. But you don’t have to be.”
I snapped. I clawed at Viktor. But it was only a human girl’s nails that dug into his chest. I was in control. He caught my wrists.
“Let go of me,” I said.
“No,” he said, his voice dropping. “It’s time for you to let go of you.”
He dropped my wrists. I took a startled step back.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You’re as free here as you’ll ever be,” he said. “Don’t pretend you don’t love it out here. This land. Even those wolves. I’m offering you a chance at something.”
“What?” I asked.
Howls rose as one of the others caught their prey.
Hunger roiled through me. Lust. God. The moon was affecting me too. This was a mistake. I never should have followed Viktor out here. It was almost as if he knew.
No. He couldn’t know. No one on this earth knew what I really was except for my family. “Mia,” he said, his voice a husky whisper. “I can protect you. You don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Protect me?” I reared back. “So who’s going to protect me from you?”
I smelled blood in the air. So good. So strong. I curled my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms. I had to center myself. I had to let my magic in. Cloak. Hide. Retreat.
It was too dangerous for me out here. Too much temptation. Viktor was more cunning than I’d given him credit for. A worthy adversary.
Viktor reached for me. His strong, warm hands caressed my shoulders.
“I haven’t hurt you,” he said. “I’ve barely laid a hand on you. When Denall was ready to do his worst, I was there for you.”
“So you’re the good cop?” I said. “Give me a break, Viktor. I don’t know what your game is. Yours or Denall’s. Just do it already. Or are you keeping me here to fatten me up for whatever sick Tyrannous Alpha they’ve got lined up to force his mark on me?”
Viktor’s fangs dropped. There it was. His weakness was me. With the other wolves far enough away, this might be the best chance I’d ever have. Twin desires pulled at me. I wanted him. I wanted to tear him apart.
“Will you watch?” I asked, taunting him. “Or will you join in? Is that the promise you were made? You’ll subjugate into this other Alpha’s pack, but only if you get your turn with me like the others?”
Viktor snapped his fangs. His eyes glowed.
“Maybe it’s like they say,” I said. “Maybe after a while I won’t even mind so much.” I licked my lips. “They will make you watch. If I can figure out what pulls at you, what you want most, they will too. They’ll use me to torture you. To keep you in line.”
Bringing my hands up, I slid them across Viktor’s bare chest. So hot. So strong. Blood roared in my ears, then pulsed lower down.
This was a dangerous game. I meant to stoke Viktor’s lust and get him to let his guard down. Now, my own lust threatened to drag me down right along with him.
“I won’t let that happen,” he said. “That’s the deal I made with Denall. No one will touch you, Mia.”
“Let me guess,” I whispered. “No one but you.”
I leaned in, letting my lips graze his cheek. His arms came around me, circling my waist. I pressed my body against his. My nipples formed hard peaks. I felt every contour of his chiseled abs. I felt him harden against me.
I moaned. God help me. Desire poured through me, leaving me panting. Viktor threaded his fingers through my hair and crushed his lips against me harder.
Teeth. Tongue. Strength.
Before I knew what was happening, I found myself grinding against him. I needed him. I was a fool. I thought I was in control. I thought this was just my need to shift and hunt. It wasn’t. It was something far more potent. Ancient. Instinctual. Undeniable.
I wanted to tear my clothes off and spread my legs for him. His erection pulsed against me. Before I could stop myself, I closed my fingers around it, slipping my hand inside of his waistband.
Viktor reared his head back and let out a howl of warning to the others. I read it loud and clear.
Stay back. Don’t come any closer. He wanted me all to himself.
“Yes,” I gasped. I wanted it. I needed it. My body betrayed me. How could I want him this fast? This badly? Right and wrong twisted inside my heart. I had to have him. Had to.
Viktor was mine. I wanted to be his.
This was wrong. All wrong.
We tumbled to the ground in a tangle of limbs. My magic tingled through me. I could barely hold on. Never in all my life had I felt this burning need. Not like this. Everything I’d been taught flew right out of my head.
It didn’t matter if Viktor knew who I was. What I was. It only mattered that he was in me.
He held himself above me, leaning on the palms of his hands. “Mia,” he whispered.
Yes. I wanted to hear my name on his lips. I wanted to taste his blood in my mouth. I wanted to feel the burn of his mark at the base of my neck.
I stroked him. He kept his hand planted on either side of me, digging his fingers into the soft earth. His eyes glittered as he struggled between man and beast.
“Tell me,” I whispered. “Say it.”
“You’re mine,” he growled. “All of you. I’ll never let anyone touch you but me.”
“Swear it!”
He lifted
his head and howled. “Mine! Do you understand? No one touches you but me. Not ever again.”
“Promise me!”
“I swear it,” he said. “On my life. On the life of those men out there. On the honor of the pack I was born to lead.”
Viktor lifted one hand and bit his palm. His blood flowed freely. He took my hand and gripped it hard. I felt the warm, sticky blood sealing me to him.
A blood oath.
A bond that should never be broken.
“Show me,” he whispered.
I arched my back. I thrust against him. I wanted him to rip my clothes from me. I wanted to crawl to my hands and knees and offer myself to him.
My hand smeared with his blood, I touched Viktor’s face.
Mine. The word thundered through me with the strength of each pulse. There was something more. I knew it deep down. I knew if I let my magic dissolve away, I’d feel Viktor’s pulse beating alongside my own.
No. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t let it. Not him. Not this. And yet, my body ached with the answer I think I’d known from the moment he first touched me.
He wanted me to be his. But he was already mine.
“Show me,” he said, his voice rising. “Show me your truth, Mia.”
Lie. Run. Hide.
My father and uncles’ lessons burned through me almost as strong as the desire I felt.
Viktor erupted. Clutching himself, he rolled to the side and spent himself beside me. I don’t know how he held back for as long as he had.
I wanted him. New fear burned through me at how badly I wanted his seed. I wanted it to take root. I wanted to be his.
Viktor collected himself. His moves were tender now. He caressed my cheek and tried to fold me against him in an embrace.
I would have let him. Except his words finally registered.
“Mia,” he said. “Please. Show me what you really are. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
