by Kimber White
“You’re mine,” he hissed. “You feel it. I know you do. Even now, I can feel the same hunger inside you. It’s not magic, Mia. Not some trick. Believe me, it was as much of a shock to me as it was you. I wanted to hate you.”
“I do hate you!” I yelled. “I hate everything about you. How many women have you done this to? Huh? How many have you stolen from their families and offered up to Denall and the Ring?”
“None!” he shouted. “Not a single one. That’s not what I do. You were…”
“Your first? Christ. Do you think I’m some little idiot? Am I supposed to be flattered?”
“I’ve done things I’m not proud of,” he shouted back. “I’ll admit that. But I’m no procurer.”
“Liar! I know what you are. Men like you don’t deserve to live.”
I let my wild side take over. Anger. Rage. Fear. Lust. It uncoiled inside of me, becoming one thing.
I lunged at Viktor, drawing blood across his cheek. He took it. His eyes flashed gold. I struck again. He stood still as granite. I barreled into him, knocking him backward off his feet. We landed with a hard, bone-crunching thud with me on top.
Rain pelted down even harder, falling in sheets. The sky raged along with my heart. Lightning cracked to the west of us, setting the top of one of the trees on fire.
Fire. God. Yes. Fire. Whatever part of me came from my father ignited. My blood came to a boil. I let out a primal howl. Dangerous. Reckless. Free.
Anger. Rage. Lust. It was everything I was.
I felt Viktor’s pulse quicken. His body warmed beneath mine. My lust triggered his, making it grow even more.
We fit. We belong. No!
Then, my lips were on him. It was too much. It was everything. Viktor’s hard cock pressed against my leg and I opened for him. He brought his hands up, threading them through my hair, but this was all me.
I wanted. I would take.
I devoured him. Kissing him. Biting him. Tasting him. He groaned against me. His hand cupped my ass, pulling me even closer.
“I want you,” he whispered, voice ragged with desire. “You’re mine.”
One word escaped my lips and changed the world forever.
“Yes!”
Viktor hooked his hands around my thighs and spread me open. I arched my back and let out a moan as he pulled me down, sheathing himself into me.
So deep. So hard. So perfect.
“Yes!” I cried over and over. I dug my fingers into his shoulders, bracing myself as Viktor thrust upward, impaling me on him. He filled me. Stretched me. Claimed me.
I wanted him. I hated him. I needed him.
I became something more than who I had been before. Wild. Untamed.
I became...me.
“Mia,” he said. I wanted to hear it. Over and over again.
He was everything I’d run from my entire life. The beast. The killer. My kidnapper. And yet, with each powerful thrust, I only wanted more of him. I wanted to give myself over to him. Become his.
Submit. Submit. Submit.
It was ancient. Undeniable. A tidal wave of desire washed over me. No matter how hard Viktor thrust, I wanted more. I wanted it harder.
I threw my head back as Viktor reached up, grasping my aching nipples between his fingers. I arched my back, bending myself into him even more.
He claimed me. Oh, God. We fucked. We rutted. With one quick, powerful movement, Viktor flipped me to my back. In that brief moment, he slipped out of me. I felt so empty.
“Please!” I gasped. I begged. I became someone else. But even as that thought entered my mind, I knew exactly what I’d become. Me. I’d become me. Maybe for the first time in my life.
Viktor was up on his knees, stroking himself, licking his lips as his eyes glowed wild.
“Show me,” he whispered.
I did.
Digging my fingers into the dirt, I thrust my hips upward, spreading my knees almost flat to the ground so he could see. I was his. I wanted to be his. Needed it.
I was so wet. I was gone.
“Please,” I begged again.
Viktor took my ankles in his hands and pulled my legs up and out, spreading my thighs into a wide vee. I held them there as he took one hand and slipped it between my legs. He found me slick and ready. My sex pulsed beneath his skilled thumb as he circled it around my clit.
“God! Oh, God!”
“Say it!” His teeth snapped near my ear.
“Yours!” I gasped. “Yes. Do it.”
He moved so quick. Darting down between my legs, he tasted me. He let out an animal grunt as he came back up and poised himself between my legs.
“Say it again,” he said.
“Please,” I said. “I want it. I want you.”
“No one else,” he said. “Never again.”
“Only you,” I answered, shocking myself. But it felt natural. It felt good. It felt right. I wanted him. Wanted to believe. Wanted to take.
He thrust himself back inside of me. I swore, he’d grown inches, both wide and long. I felt the tip of him lengthen and widen. But he held back. He didn’t have to. I’d heard stories about the pairings of Alpha male and female shifters. Sometimes it took days of mating on end to sate their desires.
Yes. It would be that way with him. And God help me, I would relish it. I would beg for him. I would crawl for him. I would take him in my mouth, on my back, bent over the table. Anywhere. Anytime. A look from him. A crook of his finger and I would go to my knees for him.
And he would do the same for me.
This wasn’t magic. No trick. It was my nature and Viktor’s breaking free from centuries of shackles and distance.
I gripped his hard ass and pulled him even further into me. I felt Viktor’s desire rise.
“Let go,” he commanded. The skin at the base of my neck burned. He could mark me there. Then we would be bound forever as mates. I had the power to mark him too. Soulbound. His heart would beat as my heart and mine as his.
Unbreakable. Unstoppable. Undeniable.
Viktor exploded inside of me, triggering a new wave of desire in me. I wrapped my legs around him, taking in every drop of him.
He filled me. He didn’t stop. On and on his orgasm ripped through him. Minutes. Hours. I don’t know.
My eyes rolled back in my head as my own pleasure spilled out of me. Viktor knew just how to coax it out. As soon as I thought I was about to crest down. Viktor stroked me harder, bringing me right back up with him.
He owned me. We owned each other.
The sun rose high then began to set as we explored each other. We let only a few moments pass before one of us reached for the other and started the rhythm anew.
I lost count of how many times Viktor took me that day. In the grass. Against a tree. Out at the lake beneath the waves. Then, we found our way back to the sand. We stopped only once to hunt together.
Working as a team, we felled a huge buck and feasted. It sated us both just long enough to restore our energy, then, our desire built, and we were all over each other again until the moon rose and the stars came out.
Finally, we settled. I lay on my back in the soft grass beneath a huge maple tree. Viktor laid on his side, watching me.
I don’t think we’d spoken a word to each other in hours, though a question hung between us. Would I go further? Would I take that final step and let him mark me as he was born to do?
There would be no going back. My body told me one thing, but my head another. I could never forget who he was. And yet, as we lay under the stars and Viktor traced lazy circles around my naked breasts, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“I want you to be mine,” he finally said. “But you have to want it too.”
Tears sprang to my eyes when I looked at him. Could I truly trust him? Or was this really part of some fairy spell? Was I wrong about it all?
“Viktor…” I started. But I never got a chance to finish. The lightning came down all around us. Viktor’s wolf sprang for
th.
A blast of light blinded me. At the center of it, hell and danger appeared.
The Ring was here.
Chapter 13
Viktor
There were three of them. Denall and his two closest lieutenants, Riall and Jonall. I put my wolf in between Denall and Mia. I gave her one quick snap of my jaw and prayed my meaning was clear.
Whatever you do, don’t shift.
Mia scrambled backward, covering her breasts with her hands. She was naked. Exposed. I’d been a fool.
“Down, dog,” Denall said. “Stand up and show yourself. Let’s have a civilized conversation.”
There was nothing civil in his tone. Denall sensed my magic had changed. I could feel it. But so had Mia’s.
She was right beside me. I still tasted her juices on my lips. My seed was still inside of her. And yet, I sensed no trace of the wolf I knew she was. Whatever magic she possessed, it was damn strong. Thank God.
It took every ounce of self-control I had to reign my wolf in. I rose on two legs and pulled Mia behind me.
I should have marked her. If I had, she’d be able to hear my thoughts. I would have told her to run. I could have commanded her.
“Sampling the merchandise already?” Denall asked. “That wasn’t our agreement.”
“I’ve honored our agreement,” I said. “You’re the one not honoring yours. You don’t get to show up unannounced, Denall.”
He snarled. “You forget yourself, Viktor. I don’t. I still remember the day I found you. Do you need a reminder?”
He didn’t wait. Instead, Denall hit me with a blast of light that sent me sprawling. Mia stumbled backward with me.
“Hold it together,” she whispered through gritted teeth. She was right. If Denall hit her with his light, he might be able to bring the wolf out of her and I wouldn’t be able to stop it.
“Oh, come on,” Denall said. “I’m just having a little fun. We’re old friends, aren’t we? Or have you completely lost your sense of humor? You were nothing when I found you, Viktor. A scrawny, starving dog living off scraps in the gutter. Have you forgotten how hungry you were? You know what they say about biting the hand that feeds you.”
“What do you want today, Denall?” I asked.
He smiled, showing a row of long teeth. “You sure it’s wise to talk in front of your bitch?”
He looked her up and down. “Bitch in heat, I should say.”
Rage thundered through me. Did he already know what she was? Could he sense it? No. I couldn’t even as her scent still coated me. I tasted blood in my mouth. Only Mia’s hard grip on my arm kept me in control.
“Come on, dog,” Denall said. “Let’s talk.”
I turned to Mia and mouthed two words. “Stay here.”
I made my way back up the beach, tearing myself away from Mia. Denall began to follow, we got to the other side of the hill, out of earshot. I turned, but Riall and Jonall hadn’t followed. They were still down there with her.
“Denall,” I started.
“Relax,” he said. “They won’t touch her. They’re doing you a favor. The pheromones that girl is giving off ought to draw every other shifter out of hiding. They’ll want to take their turn with her. She is a shifter’s mate. Lucky, that. I knew I was right about her. Oh, she’s going to fetch one hell of a bed price. I’ve already got another Alpha in mind once you’ve had your turn.”
I growled.
“No one touches her but me,” I said.
Denall raised a brow? “Really? You might want to think about that long and hard, Viktor. I expect you to keep your pack in line. Even I know the most surefire way to do that. The Ring expects that girl to stay well bred. Besides, by the looks of her, she’s going to enjoy it.”
I snapped. I rounded on Denall and drove my fist into what would have been his jaw. He vanished to a point of light just before I made contact. Then, he reappeared a few yards away from me, laughing.
“What did you think?” Denall said. “That my boss would simply let you have a mate all to yourself? Doesn’t work that way. You’ve asked for the moon, my friend. You’re going to have to give a lot in return.”
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“We need a show of good faith,” he said.
“What kind?” I said through pursed lips.
“You owe us loyal wolves,” he said. “You’ve got your mate. You’ve got your land. Time to make your first installment payment. I’ll take ten beta wolves today.”
“Denall…”
“No. No more excuses. You subjugate ten wolves for me. Today. Now. I’m taking them with me. Don’t stand there and tell me you haven’t collected them yet.”
“That’s not the deal we made,” I shouted. “I never said I’d let you take any of my pack with you. We’ll be here. We’ll work with you as you need it. But I’m not running some factory for you where you can show up and demand I fulfill orders.”
“The hell I can’t,” he said. “Everything you have, you have because of me, Viktor. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“You don’t know shit about wolf shifters,” I said. “That’s your problem. You’ve never bothered to learn. Any wolves I sent you would be no good to you unless I came with them. They need time to be trained properly. We need to gel as a pack. Otherwise all you’ll get is half-crazed robots. They won’t be any good to you. You’ve seen it before. Your little experiment in Kentucky thirty years ago failed because you let the quality of the betas degrade. There are things you can’t force. Do you want this done right or fast?”
Denall flinched. He knew I was right. I pushed down my rage and underlying panic. I just needed a little more time.
I smiled. “That’s what I thought. The Ring made far too many mistakes trying to use betas who couldn’t think for themselves. Too easy to kill when separated from their Alpha. If you’d done this all the right way from the beginning, there wouldn’t have been a need for treaties...or even attacks. You’d have been able to take control.”
His eyes flashed. I knew I skated very close to a truth even Denall couldn’t admit. The Ring gained strength by pitting shifters against each other as we fought for tiny strips of land to hunt...to exist.
“Don’t push me too far, Viktor,” he said. “It won’t end well for you.”
“You need me more than I need you,” I said. “You always have.”
“You will give me a show of faith today,” he said.
“What do you want?” I asked. I got in his face.
“I think you’re lying,” he said. “I think it’s just you. You don’t have the kind of control over the Vadim pack as you claim.”
I reared back. Of all the things Denall might have said, I hadn’t expected that one.
“I think I’m curious what would happen if I tried my luck with someone else,” he said.
“There is no one else,” I said. “There were hundreds of us. The Ring used up my kin by the dozen.”
Denall smiled. “Well, they were certainly far more effective during the shifter attacks then even I thought they would be.”
My heart lurched. He was bluffing.
Denall smiled. “You didn’t know?” he said. “Does she know?” He pointed down the hill where Mia waited for me. I felt her fear, but she stayed calm. I couldn’t sense either Riall or Jonall. I moved to the edge of the hill so I could lay eyes on her. She sat on the ground, her knees up under her chin, shielding her nakedness behind a tree. The fae were close, but kept a respectable distance and their backs to her. At least some of them had manners, anyway.
“Come on, Viktor,” Denall said. “You can’t be that naïve. Vadim wolves are legendary killers. They made perfect assassins. They were an integral part of the first wave. Good soldiers. Heroes. Martyrs. Why do you think I sought you out in the first place?”
I couldn’t breathe. I could barely see. No. I’d heard rumors, of course, that cousins of mine might have been used in the first attacks fifteen years ago. But I never knew their n
ames. My heart sank as I realized I never bothered to find out.
“I’m not like those shifters,” I said.
“Show me!” he said. “Because I think you’ve been bluffing and stalling this whole time. Enough, Viktor. It’s time for you to put up or shut up.”
The next blast of light came from his eyes. His damn eyes! I took it straight in the heart.
My blood boiled. I flew backward, instantly paralyzed.
Mia screamed, sensing my pain. I tried to tell her to stay back. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. And I would have done the same for her.
Howls filled the air. God. I’d been a fool. Denall had me right where he wanted me. My arms and legs started working again, and I doubled over, puking all over the grass.
Mia was at my side. She slid her arm around my waist, trying to help me to my feet.
“I’m fine,” I said. I pulled her back behind me.
Denall smiled. Then, to my right, Gregor and Luka emerged from the thicket.
“Get back!” I yelled.
Denall clasped his hands together. “Marvelous! They’re perfect!”
“You don’t touch them,” I said. “I told you I need…”
Denall let loose another blast of light. This one hit Gregor in the chest.
“No!” I yelled. The bolt had paralyzed me. Gregor was a young beta. It could kill him. Luka threw himself on his younger brother.
“Stop it!” I shouted. “Dammit, Denall, what good will any of this do?” I charged him. I still felt a little nauseous from the fae magic, but I was coming into myself.
“You want to damage the merchandise?” I said. “That can’t be part of your orders.”
Mia’s eyes widened. I gestured downward. Stay behind me. Stay quiet. Trust me.
“How many more?” Denall asked. His eyes glistened with greed. “The truth. How many more wolves have you brought to Clairmont?”
“Twelve!” Luka shouted. “There are twelve of us now. And we are all loyal to Viktor. He’s done exactly what he told you he would. Word’s gotten out. There will be more by the end of the week.”
“Luka!” I warned. I knew he thought he was helping. Buying time.
