by Leia King
“Draw Ryan out. Do that and she will follow. She is his mate. It is in her nature to stand by his side. You saw that for yourself a few nights ago.”
“I will take her first, Michael.”
Michael released an exasperated sigh. “Luca, let it go.”
“Let it go? I will make Ryan pay for his father’s actions. It’s because of his father’s treason that I am burdened with a brother that is wolf. Wolf! I am a laughing stock because of it. Banished to this human realm, as a result, so my father doesn’t have to be tainted by the same shame as I. I will take her, Michael.”
“Fine. Just make it quick. I need to drain her power, before she gets much stronger and it becomes impossible. If I fail, we both lose. If I can’t draw her power into myself, then we won’t have the means to attack the Dark Realm and unseat your father. Don’t you want to be king?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then hurry the hell up and take the whore already! Soon, Luca!”
20
“We need to find a supernatural version of the Pill, so we don’t need to use these,” Ryan said, rolling a condom down over his throbbing cock, as he straddled his waiting and wanton wife.
“I agree,” she said, gazing up at him, her eyes hooded with desire.
Ryan adjusted his weight and lined his cock up with her sweet pussy. “Now, where were we?”
“Round four, I believe.”
He grinned at her and was just about to bury himself inside her tight heat when a sudden knock at the bedroom door stopped him.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” he hissed, looking down at her with disbelief. “What?” he called out towards the door.
“It’s Josh. We have a situation.”
“Right now?”
“Code Red, Ry!”
Ryan released a heavy sigh, ripped the condom off and tossed it away angrily. He climbed under the bedcovers and leaned over Cora, pulling her side of the duvet up to shield her naked tits.
“Come in!” he yelled.
Josh opened the door and strode into the room. He smirked when he caught sight of the two of them in bed.
“Something amusing, J?” Ryan snapped.
Josh quickly wiped the smirk off his face and shook his head. “No. Sorry.”
Damn straight.
“What’s wrong?” Cora asked softly.
Ryan shook his head at her with disapproval. He didn’t like her way-too-gentle tone with Josh. It was how she was with all the boys. It aggravated him. They needed discipline, not coddling.
She rolled her eyes at his silent disapproval and looked away.
“Well?” Ryan pressed Josh.
He reported, “We’ve got two Alphas at the gates demanding to speak with you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Like I said, Code Red.”
“Looking for a fight, huh?” Ryan said. The only reason that another Alpha would ever come knocking at another’s door was to challenge him. To kill him and take his pack.
“They both swear that’s not the reason.”
“Both? Who is it?”
“Alyssa and Troy.”
“Alyssa?” Ryan asked, taken aback.
“Who’s Alyssa?” Cora asked.
Ryan sighed with agitation and climbed out of bed. “My ex.”
“His extremely vengeful and batshit-crazy ex,” Josh added.
Ryan flashed him a look, as he snapped up his jeans from the floor and hurriedly pulled them on.
“Vengeful and crazy, huh?” Cora said.
“It’s a long story. But if she’s come here asking to see me, she wants my help, which means she won’t be pulling any more of that shit. Besides, I’m pretty sure she got the message last time I saw her.”
Josh tossed him his shirt. Ryan nodded his thanks and pulled it on quickly. He glanced around the room, looking for his jacket, when it suddenly came at him. He caught it and stumbled back from the power of the throw. He eyed the culprit. Cora. She glared hard at him. Oh, fuck. She’s pissed.
“Come with me, if you’re worried, darlin’,” he offered, as he slipped on his jacket. “But you should know by now that you are, and always will be, the only one.”
“Smooth talker,” Josh chuckled.
Ryan smiled innocently at Cora. “I’m serious. Come. But… get dressed first. I don’t want you giving the boys an eyeful. That’s just for me.”
Ryan approached the gates with Josh on one side of him and Cora on his other, along with two of his boys at his back. He glared hard at the two unwelcome visitors standing on the other side of the impenetrable metal bars.
Troy looked a lot older than the last time he’d seen him. But that had been more than twenty years ago. They’d run into each other at an Alpha meeting. Every now and then all the Alphas met to discuss business and territorial issues. Troy had been pleasant enough when he’d met him. But that didn’t mean he trusted him. As a rule, he didn’t trust anyone outside of his own pack. Troy’s gray, crew cut hair matched his macho military appearance. He wore black tactical pants and a navy cargo jacket. Deep age lines were etched into his face and his eyes were tired. Ryan knew he’d been Alpha of his pack for the last forty years. And Troy wasn’t immortal like Ryan was. No other wolf was. They all aged, apart from him.
Alyssa was as trashy as he remembered. He couldn’t remember why the fuck he’d ever hooked up with her in the first place. It had been ten years since he’d seen her, and he was still disgusted by the sight of her. His anger at what she’d tried to pull still hadn’t ebbed. Faking a pregnancy wasn’t something he could ever forgive. His eyes narrowed at the memory, as he took her in. Her striking red hair flowed in waves all the way to her waist. The leopard-print dress she was wearing clung to her body and left nothing to the imagination. It barely covered her ass and it was so low cut that her big tits were practically spilling out of it. Gold chains adorned her neck, matching her stiletto heels. The only sense of modesty about her outfit was the crimson jacket that hung off her shoulders.
“Troy,” Ryan said, greeting him politely as he came to a stop at the gates.
Troy nodded back respectfully.
Ryan turned his gaze on Alyssa. “Calling yourself an Alpha now, are you?”
“What else am I supposed to call myself, Ry?” she asked in that fake, sickly-sweet way of hers. “I lead my own pack. Why not call myself Alpha?”
“Because you don’t have one of these,” he said, gripping his cock through his jeans.
“Yes, but I remember well how that felt thrusting into me.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and turned to Cora. “Sorry. She likes running her mouth off.”
“It’s fine,” Cora said, shrugging.
Ryan draped his arm across her shoulders in a gesture of possessiveness. And a warning to Alyssa.
“Girlfriend?” Alyssa asked.
“Wife,” Ryan snapped back.
She scrutinized Cora for a moment, before eyeing him and exclaiming, “She’s not wolf.”
“And you’re a poor excuse for one,” Cora responded, before Ryan could get a word out.
He and Josh exchanged a look. Nice one.
Alyssa growled at the insult, but she did herself a favor and decided to hold off on taking a shot back at Cora.
“Great, now that we’re done with the pleasantries, why are you here?” Ryan asked the two of them.
“We need your help,” Troy answered. “Not just us. There are more. We’re just the messengers.”
“More what? Wolves?”
“Alphas. Entire packs. We’re in trouble,” Troy told him. He gestured behind him.
Ryan squinted through the bars, employing his long-range wolf vision. And that was when he saw them. Camouflaged in the night, standing a good hundred feet back at the edge of the woods, were the wolves Troy had referenced. Hundreds upon hundreds of them. They were in human form, but Ryan knew what they were without them needing to be in animal form. He could feel it.
“Fuck m
e,” Josh breathed.
“Is this—?”
“All of us,” Troy cut in. “Every wolf, other than those in the Dark Realm.”
“Where are the other Alphas?”
“Keeping their distance,” Alyssa responded. “It’s no secret that you and I had a connection, so they figured you wouldn’t kill me. And you always liked Troy. So, they sent us.”
“What?” Ryan asked, confused. “Why are they afraid?”
“Because of the rumors,” Alyssa said.
“Rumors?”
She gazed at him in wonderment. “That you’re pureblood. The Wolf King.”
Ryan looked at Cora and the same shock blanketed her face.
How do they know?
21
Ryan stood with his arms folded across his chest, at the edge of the forest.
He had his wife beside him, while Josh had remained on base, per his orders, in case the whole thing was some sort of trap. As Alpha, and a renowned one at that, he could never be too careful. He had a lot of enemies. Living as long as he had, it was bound to happen.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of wolves in human form surrounded him and Cora. Each Alpha stood at the front of their packs, staring at him. Looking to him.
Jesus Christ Almighty.
“I have been told that the Vampire Prince has paid some of you a visit with Michael’s wolves at his back? Is this true?” he called out.
Silence.
“Speak. Don’t be afraid.” He gestured to Cora, “I have my wife with me, my calming influence. I’m not gonna fight. Well, unless I’m provoked, of course.” Better throw that in, just in case any of the Alphas get any ideas. He figured the pureblood thing would be enough of a deterrent. Best to be safe, though.
“It is true!” someone called out.
And then the floodgates opened.
“Five wolf strongholds so far!”
“They killed members of our pack!”
“The bloodsucker torched our homes!”
The flood of reports continued on for several minutes. When it seemed like they weren’t going to come to an end naturally, Ryan held up his hand in a signal of silence. Things quieted gradually. “Okay. I hear you. Was Luca the one who told you I was a pureblood wolf?”
“He said he’d only stop once the Wolf King—the pureblood—took his rightful place in the Dark Realm! Ryan Winters!” someone answered.
“He is lying,” Ryan responded. “I know the Vampire Prince. He won’t stop. Appeasing him will do nothing.” He drew in a sharp breath and braced himself for what he was about to say, for the significance of what he was about to do.
The day had finally come.
He couldn’t run any longer.
He had to claim his birthright.
“We must fight back!” he thundered.
Silence descended again and all he could smell was fear. Shit. Too long spent in the human realm, living civilized lives had weakened them.
“I am the Wolf King!” he bellowed. “Nathanial murdered my father and took the Dark Realm two centuries ago. And now his son is trying to take this realm from all of us. We are wolves, my brothers, my sisters. Are you willing to accept vampire dominance? Are we that weak now, that civilized, that fear is the only thing I can smell from you all? Is this how great our species has become? Are we weaker than bloodsuckers? Are we?”
When he was answered with yet more silence, Ryan thundered, “Answer me!”
“No,” Troy piped up.
But no more replies followed.
Ryan looked at Cora and said, “Step back, my love.”
Her brow furrowed, clearly not sure what he was about to do.
He explained, “I need to show them my strength. Hope trumps fear.”
She nodded her understanding and stepped back a good few feet.
Ryan called the wolf to the surface and let it take him.
Every single being in the crowd took a step forward to get closer to the powerful presence of the white wolf. The only white wolf in existence.
Ryan howled up at the moon. The tremor of his roar blew through the trees and echoed hauntingly through the dark night.
In seconds, other howls followed. Slowly, but surely. Until every wolf was responding to his call. The ground rumbled beneath him from the force of the collective howls.
“Holy shit,” he heard Josh gasp. He was suddenly beside Cora with a spare pair of jeans tossed over his arm. Cora must’ve called him. “They’re all with him. They’re telling him that they will stand with him. All of them, Cora.”
He heard Cora say, “He is the Wolf King.”
“Yes,” Josh said. “And, finally, he’s acknowledged it, too. The pack will be happy about this.”
“You all know?”
“Everyone knows the white wolf is the Wolf King. But the members of his pack were the only ones who knew the white wolf was him. Well, except for Luca. You’re the first person he’s ever shifted in front of, outside of the pack. When he told me, I knew you were his mate. He wouldn’t risk it for anyone less.”
There was a brief silence and then Cora said the very words Ryan was thinking, “War is coming.”
22
Following the situation outside in the woods, Ryan had acquired a pledge of allegiance from all of the Alphas. In return, he’d granted them sanctuary inside the military compound. There were thousands of wolves to put up, but the compound spanned several acres, so there was plenty of room. He’d briefed his pack and they all knew the score. No wolf pack liked to invite outsiders into their home, but Ryan had explained that the situation was bigger than all of that.
As King, it was his job to protect them all.
He’d spoken with every male pack and settled them into the compound. Now, it was time to deal with the women. He wasn’t relishing the prospect. They were far more difficult than male wolves. Whilst the male wolves accepted his orders without question, the women liked to test the waters and question every damned thing. Also, the revelation about him being Wolf King wouldn’t help matters. He knew exactly what he’d be walking into as soon as he slid aside the heavy titanium door that separated them from the rest of the compound housing the male wolves. It would be a sexual frenzy. But he had no choice. He needed to lay down the law immediately to ensure that they could all coexist together without any major issues.
He heaved aside the heavy door with ease and took a calming breath as he stepped inside.
As soon as he was through, all eyes turned to him. Hundreds of wolf women looked his way, their attention riveted on him. Their eyes were hooded with desire as their gazes raked over every inch of his body. He heard several low growls fill the room.
Oh, fuck!
They lunged at him.
The force of them all coming at him at once drove his back against the wall.
They were wild, ravenous, in a sexual frenzy.
“Ladies!” he thundered, quickly following it up with a warning feral growl. He held up his hands. “Release me! Immediately!”
“Enjoying yourself?” a voice came from the doorway.
His gaze snapped to the door, as he fought against hands roving all over his body and the women crowded around, all trying to get a piece of him.
His wife stood there.
To his surprise, she didn’t seem mad, or jealous. Instead, she was grinning at him with amusement.
“Just getting things under control here, my love,” he said, pushing away a woman licking his neck.
He watched Cora stride into the room. She forced her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of him.
He gripped her hips and held her tightly against him as she stood between him and the women. Yes, thank fuck. He was startled when she started speaking to him with her thoughts.
I’m surprised you’re not hard from all of that.
Only you get me hard these days, darlin’.
Scared, were you?
Maybe a little. You saw what was going on in here when you walk
ed in.
She chuckled to herself.
Then, she thrust out both her palms.
The room echoed with a collective gasp and the crowd immediately stepped back a good few feet.
She held her magic tightly to her and Ryan knew that meant she wasn’t intending to strike anyone. It was just a much-needed deterrent. She seemed to understand that it wasn’t their fault. Their reaction to him was instinctual, a primal reaction to him and the revelation of his true power.
“Pull back the wolf for a moment and think,” Cora said. “He is already mated.”
Ryan watched as the women responded to her words. Whispers and glances of realization filled the room for a good few moments.
“She is my wife,” Ryan added.
He watched the women hesitate. He saw the disbelief in their eyes. He knew why. Cora wasn’t wolf. They didn’t believe that the King of the Wolves could be mated to a non-wolf.
This isn’t working. Time for a demonstration. Maybe I’ll fuck you right here in front of them.
He felt her tense against him. He had no intention of taking things so far. He just needed to do enough to bring out the glow. The sure-fire confirmation to them all that Cora was, indeed, his mate.
Before she could stop him, he slipped his hand inside her leather pants. She gasped as his fingers brushed her clit. She was already soaking wet. Mmm. Always so ready for me. He teased her with all of his fingers, spreading her wetness, while his thumb gently flicked her clit.
Ah, yes. Yes. Take me now. Fuck me, baby.
Be careful of your thoughts, my love. I just might do it.
He laughed aloud and then pulled his hand out. A whimper of protest escaped her.
“You see?” he called out to the room.
He drew Cora’s gaze to his and he saw what he knew he would. Her eyes were glowing silver. He could feel his were afire with gold, too.
The crowd gasped as they witnessed the proof of their bond.
“Okay, my love. I’ve got this now. Get some rest,” he said, kissing her chastely on the top of her head.
