by A Lonergan
Claim Me
A. Lonergan
Copyright © 2021 by A. Lonergan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Also by A. Lonergan
About the Author
This book is dedicated to my pawpaw, Ken. He taught me how to fight, as well as many other things. Right now, he is fighting for his life and I can’t think of anyone more deserving to this dedication. I finished half of this book in the week he went into the hospital with COVID19. Writing books has gotten me through the hardest times in my life. Keep fighting pawpaw, keep fighting like you taught me to.
Since writing this dedication my pawpaw lost his fight and my heart is completely shattered. I never imagined that I would have to write that. Hold your loved ones close and tell them everything you need to while they are here. You never know when you won’t have the time to do so again.
Prologue
Damian
“I love you,” my mother whispered as we ran through the woods from another coven. I didn’t know why this time. We never stayed for long. I had a feeling it was because of all the men my mother would try to stay with. But they always ended up violent, eventually. Sometimes it had to do with my own father and who he was. Other times it was because my mother made them angry. This time, the entire coven was after us. We were getting close to another. I could feel the magic thrumming through my blood. We were so close.
She gripped the side of the tree as she whipped her head around. Her black hair arced around her face as her eyes searched wildly through the thick brush. “I have always loved you. I will always love you, but sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to do.” She gripped my hands in hers. Pain shot through my fingers as she squeezed them together. “You will be powerful and the only way to ensure your safety is for you to get to that next coven. Do whatever you must to survive. Never mention my name and never mention your last name, do you understand?”
I nodded my head in fear. I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t want to continue on without her. She planned to leave me behind or she was going to fight the coven coming after us. In the distance, I could hear their shouting and barely make out the fiery torches. They wouldn’t let us live through the night. I was young but I knew that much. My hand was clammy inside of my mother’s as she brushed my hair from my forehead with her other hand. “Make me proud.”
She pulled away from me abruptly as the shouts grew closer. The knife she had strapped to her leg came free and before I could stop her, she was pulling it across her throat. Her body toppled to my feet and her eyes stared at nothing in the sky. She died with a smile on her face and took the goodness that was inside of me.
I awoke with a start. I clicked the lamp on beside the bed and threw the blankets from my legs. It had been a long time since I had dreamt of the night my mother took her life to save mine. On that night, I had inherited her magic and had to leave her behind, bleeding in the snow. I would never forget the red against white. I came to hate the snow and as it fell from the sky outside my window my lips turned up in a sneer. The winter was my least favorite. Everything died in the cold. I sighed as I tied a robe around my naked body.
“You should come back to bed,” Silvia said from beneath the thin sheets. I ignored her as I pressed my palm to the cold glass. I could see her reflection as she crawled across the bed toward me. Her blonde hair was tangled around her shoulders and her pale skin was still marked from our rough night working out our frustrations on each other. Her lips were still swollen and her eyes looked tired. Her perky breasts begged to be touched.
She didn’t tempt me like she had the night before. She had passed me in the hallway and there was something about the way she dressed that reminded me of someone else. I cursed myself internally for being so weak. I should have stayed away from her. The last thing I wanted to do was sire a child. A baby would do nothing but complicate things. Especially in the middle of a war I was going to win.
Silvia rolled from her knees onto her back and spread herself out for me seductively. “You know you still need it,” I was considering it but she kept speaking. “I could help wipe that nasty nightmare from your thoughts.”
“Get out,” My voice was soft but filled with power. It cracked though the room.
She jerked upright. Her hair fell over her shoulders and covered the breasts I had enjoyed so much just a few hours previous. “You would do better to have some respect for me. I control all the witches here.”
She yanked a shirt over her head and I turned back to her slowly. “I have given you everything you could ever want. You would do better to listen to my commands instead of staying around when I’m in a sour mood.”
“If you want the witches and their covens to follow you, you will stop being rude to me.” She slammed the door on the way out.
I doubted I would miss her. The only thing I would miss was her resemblance to the person I actually wanted. The one person I couldn’t have… yet.
Chapter 1
Jade
What happened when little children gained their parent’s powers? They would receive a massive surge of power. The entire Crimson Pack got to experience at least fifteen children gain their parent’s power. They doubled over and then their heads were thrown back with the force of it all. Their mouths stretched wide in horror as bright light shot out of them. Granny was right behind us. She held back the wolves that tried to go to them. The other children that weren’t affected didn’t move a muscle. They knew the magic would obliterate them if they got too close. The amount of power flooding through the small space was enough to keep me back even though my humanity was screaming in my head that they needed me.
When the light faded from the children we all rushed forward in a massive wave. I grabbed the first child that had collapsed and carried her back to the manor. Her heart stopped beating before I made it to the second step. I laid her on the porch to immediately start chest compressions and CPR. It didn’t matter. The magi
c had taken her soul. She was gone. My breath hitched and my chest ached as I leaned against the beam on the porch. My eyes sought out Rafe but he had two kids in his arms running toward Granny. Their chests rose and fell slowly. Relief coursed through me as the other children all seemed to be breathing too. Granny leaned over two little boys and based on her expression… I knew they hadn’t made it either. My eyes filled and my lips squeezed closed.
Three of the children didn’t survive the transferring of magic. Granny said it was bound to happen. Their bodies weren’t strong enough to house the power so it went right back to the coven, to power all of the people as a whole. Somehow it recycled. My heart hurt. How much more death would we have to experience? How much more heartache? I didn’t know if I could handle it. I didn’t know if I could survive it.
Mav brought ice cream to my home a few hours later. Cookies and Cream was my favorite. I didn’t know how he knew but I was grateful for it. He sat on the broken couch while I sat on a barstool beside him.
Numb.
We both took turns scooping out the dessert. No words were spoken and I was thankful for that as well. I didn’t know if I could handle small talk. I didn’t know if I could handle any kind of conversation but his presence was enough. When half the carton was empty we both stared at each other.
“Are you okay?”
I didn’t know how to answer it. Was I okay? I had been through enough in the last few months that most wouldn’t survive. But okay didn’t seem like an appropriate description.
He leaned back against the arm of the couch. “It’s okay if you aren’t. When we first went to our training, I thought it was going to be easy. We had been training with Rafe most of our lives. I thought we would be golden.” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Then we got there and it was nothing like we had ever experienced before. We made our first kills that first day. I’ll never forget his face. I don’t know who he was, but that wasn’t a part of the mission. The mission was about obedience and if we could go the distance. I did what I had to but I will never forget it.”
His words made me regret eating so much ice cream. I stared down at my lap as he continued.
“We all went the distance. We all killed when they told us to and by the time Tracey picked us up at the airport, I had a body count of one hundred and fifty people. Mindless killing. Killing for sport. Killing to protect someone. Killing just to obey. It didn’t matter. Killing was what we did. We did it so often that I didn’t even care anymore. I didn’t have an identity there. All that mattered was the next shot. I killed humans, werewolves, vampires, witches, hell some of the supernatural races I had never seen before. All I knew when I woke up in the morning was that I was going to continue to kill. It makes it easier now to kill, its second nature in my muscle memory but not in my head. I don’t know how we even manage to continue to go on with a sense of humor.”
Knox interrupting my kiss with Rafe in the woods came to my mind. “It must be like a defense mechanism now.”
Mav shrugged. “All I know is that it doesn’t get easier. But if you ever need someone to talk to, all of my brothers will be here for you.”
I scoffed. “Because I’m the Alpha’s mate.”
“No, because you’re in our pack. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you rank. All that matters is that you are pack. But we also really like you too. You defied your Alpha and your mate more times than any of us can count. Anndddd,” he sang. “You freaking punched him in the nose. I wish we had been there to see that.”
A smile tugged at my lips. I couldn’t stay upset around these boys, even if I wanted to. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
Mav nodded his head. “Yeah, just don’t go around telling people that. I like my sexual body count and I don’t want that to decrease out of fear.”
A laugh burst from my lips. The pillow on the edge of the couch was silky between my fingers and a perfect weapon. I picked it up and whopped him on the head with it. He stared at me stunned before he picked up the other pillow and did the same. I squealed as I slid off of the stool and he came after me again. His attacks were relentless and by the end of it, I couldn’t stop laughing even with my head aching.
“All right, that’s enough. I need her precious brain intact,” Lucas said from the doorway. I grinned at him before I threw a pillow his way. He dodged it easily and it sailed through the open doorway. A snort escaped me. Tracey was going to have our heads for this.
Mav held his hands up in surrender. “The last thing I want is Tracey coming after me for ruining something else in this prized home.”
Lucas snickered. “She will hurt you in ways you never thought possible.”
Mav nodded his head before he wrapped his massive arms around me in a bear hug. “Get some rest. Those purple circles under your eyes don’t look good.”
Chapter 2
Jade
Home.
That term had always been associated with my parents but as time had gone on with the Crimson Pack, I realized that home was wherever my entire family was. So my parents were home but so were Tracey, Lucas, the Guardians, and possibly Rafe. I didn’t know if I could admit that just yet.
Since finding out that Rafe was my mate, it had been hard for me to accept that another bout of control was taken from me. But Rafe reassured me that I still had a choice. Even though he had joked about claiming me that night against the tree, he hadn’t done so. No claiming mark had happened and no ceremony had been organized. Even though those things shot a pang of uncertainty through me, they also sounded… great. I had never imagined myself married but this felt different. It felt better than a piece of paper. It felt deeper, more important. It was terrifying but beautiful.
I finished putting the last dish in my dishwasher and sighed with contentment. Tonight was a special night. My parents would finally be coming to visit my home. Not just the pack, but the cottage that Tracey had renovated for me. I wiped off the counter one last time and checked dinner on the stove. I could actually stomach vegan food again, even if the thought of it made me a little sick. I could season it enough to get it down my throat. That was all that mattered. I had to do it for my parent’s sake. Rafe leaned back on the couch and patted the seat beside him. It had been a week since the children had died. A week since the others had gotten massive surges of power. Walking through the pack was rather dangerous as they practiced their magic and what they needed to do to control it. Rafe and I hadn’t talked much but when we had, it had always been reassurances to the situation we were in. Tonight, everyone was going to be on their best behavior for my parent’s sake.
“Come sit down for a minute.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Maybe I want to meet your parents,” He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively. “We are mates, after all.”
“We aren’t married,” I grabbed his hand and yanked him off of the couch. “We aren’t even dating. We occasionally kiss. That doesn’t amount to much commitment or the need to meet parents.”
Rafe pouted. “You have met my mom.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s different, your mom is my boss.”
“Sounds scandalous.”
He pulled me in for a kiss and this time, I allowed it. His hand went up to cup my neck while his other hand snaked around to cup my hip. It was farthest he had gone, even though I had wanted things to go further. I wasn’t innocent, he knew that but he also wanted to give me time to choose. If things continued at a fast pace, we could do things we regretted in the heat of the moment. Translation- I would do something I regretted because he had already explicitly told me that he wouldn’t regret anything that happened with me.
I sighed into his mouth as he deepened the kiss.
“Oh,” I tore away from Rafe’s mouth at the sound of my mother’s voice. “We didn’t mean to interrupt! Your car was the only one here, we didn’t realize. The door was unlocked.”
&nb
sp; Rafe gave me a smug look. He had used me being distracted against me. He knew they had been here and used it to his advantage.
My father cleared his throat while my face flamed red. “We didn’t realize you were seeing someone.”
I exhaled hard. “I wouldn’t consider it that, I like kissing him. He was just leaving.” I shoved Rafe by the shoulder around my parents and to the front door.
He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “As long as I get to kiss you later.”
“Don’t count on it,” I muttered as I closed the door in his face.
“I have to say, I think he’s the cutest one yet.” My mother sat her dish on the counter. She had brought a salad, which I was grateful for. It could go great with the burrito bowls I had prepared. I tried to avoid what she had said but she simply sat down on my broken couch with a look of expectancy on her face.
I scratched the back of my neck. “Yes, I think he is too.”
My dad wore his traditional dad shirt that had numbers and letters all over it like it came from an I-spy book. He had worn it so much that my mom had to sew patches over the elbows. His jeans were a dark wash and he had on loafers. He would be such a great grandpa someday. My mom wore jeans too with a light blue blouse and a gray sweater over it. They looked entirely too underdressed for the snow still coming down outside.
