by Leia King
“She’s with child.”
“Oh my God!” Cora exclaimed. “You’re serious? And she’s in this hell hole?”
Without another word, she breached the lock.
Josh pushed the door open and they both started when they were there to rescue.
“Marella!” Cora shrieked, breaking from him and staggering towards her.
Marella gazed at her weakly. “Cora?”
Her dress was shredded, her hair matted. Her face was bloodied and bruised and it looked like a couple of her fingers were broken. Lacerations covered her body and blood oozed from them. And as Josh’s gaze moved lower, he saw the swell of her pregnant belly.
“Shit. What happened? Why are you here? You’re pregnant?” Cora asked in a panicked rush.
“Go. Now. It’s… too dangerous,” Marella urged her.
“No, I’m not leaving you here!” She laid her hand gently on her belly and then told her, “The child is well.”
Marella smiled gratefully and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you. I didn’t know. He bound my… magic.” She gestured to the collar around her neck.
“Josh?” Cora said. “Can you break that?”
“No!” Marella gasped. “He’ll know… you’re here.”
“Who’s the father of your child?” Cora asked.
“Nathanial.”
“Oh my God.”
“You have to… stop him. Don’t let him… come for me. Will… bring… war.”
“He won’t need to come here. We’re getting you out of here.” She called over her shoulder, “Now break that damned collar, Josh.”
“I strongly advise against that,” Vazra’s voice boomed from the door suddenly.
Cora froze, but yelled behind her at her father, “I won’t let you do this to her.”
“She has committed treason!”
Josh eyed Marella and he saw the defeat in her eyes. She knew that it was too late now. They couldn’t get her out now that Vazra had arrived. Cora had already used too much power to heal David. There was no way she could challenge her father. He would wipe the floor with her. And, judging by what he’d witnessed in the dungeon in the last few minutes, that could be literal.
“You’re a monster,” Cora called behind her.
As Josh racked his brain, trying to determine a plan to get all three of them out of there alive, he was vaguely aware of Vazra launching into a speech about treason.
As he continued on and on, Josh watched Cora discreetly press her hand to Marella’s belly. He saw a telltale flash of silver light, just a split-second thing. Marella’s eyes widened in surprise and she smiled gratefully at Cora.
Something started to pull at him. He heard Cora gasp.
In the next second, the two of them were dragged towards Vazra by and invisible force.
“What are you doing?” Cora demanded, her fierce gaze boring into her father’s.
“You have disobeyed me. You have committed treason by freeing one prisoner. Now, you are attempting to free another. You are banished!” he thundered.
“Vazra! No!” Marella cried. “Leave them be!”
But it was too late.
He brought his hands together.
Everything around them disappeared.
11
“Fuck!” Ryan roared, slamming his hands into the invisible barrier at the White Realm gates.
He’d been at it for the last ten minutes, but the damn thing wouldn’t give way.
“He is refusing you entry. Or, Cora. It is her blood that normally allows you access,” Nathanial said from behind him, as he stood cradling Orion in his arms.
“Shit!” Ryan breathed.
He turned from the barrier and walked back to them. He took Orion back from Nathanial and winced as he watched him scrub his hand over his face in distress.
“We’ll find another way.”
Nathanial’s gaze snapped to his. “I already know of another way.”
The look in his eyes unnerved Ryan. “Wait! What other way, Nathanial?”
“I can break the wards he has protecting the entire realm.”
Ryan pressed his hand to his chest, holding him back. “No.”
“If I do not, he will torture and kill Marella and our child, Ryan. What would you do?”
“Something stupid. You know me well enough now. When it comes to Cora, I never think straight. But what you’re suggesting is another level of stupidity altogether. It’ll bring war down on all of us. I can’t let you do this, Nathanial.”
A sudden, thunderous explosion behind them interrupted their conversation. They both spun around to see Cora and Josh tumbling from a flash of bright, white light.
“That son of a bitch! He banished us?” Cora griped.
Sprawled out on top of Cora, his hand inadvertently on her left tit, Josh quickly rolled off her. And as he did, he caught sight of Ryan and Nathanial. “Uh. Hey, Ry,” he said, getting to his feet and holding his hand out to Cora.
“Ryan?” Cora exclaimed, taking Josh’s hand and following his gaze as she got to her feet. Her eyes lit up and she bounded over to him. “I’ve missed you both so much!” she cried, wrapping him and Orion in a suffocating hug.
With his free hand that wasn’t holding Orion, Ryan pulled her against him. He thought he felt her tremble as he touched her. What was that all about? He shook it off. It wasn’t the time. “I’ve missed you.”
When she pulled back, she took in Orion. “He is in wolf form. He’s so cute!” she said, fondling his tiny ears and making him purr. “Aww, he purrs just like you when I stroke you in wolf form.”
Immediately, Ryan felt Josh and Nathanial’s judging eyes on him. He shook his head at Cora. “Some things are between us, my love. Would you like me to blab about our sex life to the guys?”
She pulled back and smiled sheepishly. “Oops, sorry.” Her expression became serious as she looked between him and Nathanial. “It was Vazra. He banished us.”
“He banished you?” Nathanial asked, stepping closer to her. “That is why Ryan cannot gain access into the White Realm.”
“You’re going in to rescue Marella.”
“How do you know that?”
“Josh and I were down in the dungeons. Marella is there. I tried to free her, but my father found us and cast us out.”
“I do not understand. Your power is greater than his,” Nathanial said, confusion blanketing his face.
“I’d expended too much power just before we realized she was there.”
“How?” Ryan asked, not liking the guilty look he was seeing in her eyes. She was ill at ease about something. Something that she didn’t want to tell him about. Her hesitancy was obvious. He pressed her, “Cora!”
“I… uh… I didn’t even know there was a dungeon until I heard a call from one of the prisoners in my head. He led us there to help him.”
“David,” Nathanial said.
And there it was. He couldn’t believe it. “You saved that fucker? After he basically raped you?”
“Ry! Fuck, man!” Josh growled at his brash comment, throwing him a warning look to back off. Ryan understood it immediately. They’d known each other too long for him not to.
“You didn’t see what Vazra had done to him,” Cora said.
It wasn’t lost on Ryan that she’d just referred to her father as “Vazra,” just as she had before she’d been reunited with him. Wow, their relationship was beyond fractured then.
“I healed David and it drained my power, so I couldn’t stop Vazra when he confronted us. I swear, if I’d known she was there before, I would’ve gone to her first, Nathanial. I only found out thanks to Josh’s keen wolf senses. He smelled—”
“Our child,” Nathanial cut in. “He smelled our child,” he murmured sadly.
As he turned away to hide his agony, Cora took his hand. Clearly startled by her sudden heartfelt gesture, he turned back around. “It is not your fault. It is mine. I should never have allowed her to leave the Dark Realm.”
Cora squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “Your child is fine. I felt her. And your magic. You enveloped the baby in some sort of protective cocoon.”
Nathanial nodded. “Yes. How was Marella? What did he do to her?”
“It was… tame. Nothing compared to what he did to David.”
“I know exactly what he did to him,” Nathanial revealed. “How tame?” he asked worriedly.
Ryan saw her hesitate, unwittingly signifying to all of them just how bad it really was. Fuck. Josh saved her from having to answer, telling Nathanial, “A few bruises on her face and shallow cuts across her torso.”
Nathanial’s eyes flashed with red fire. His fists clenched. His entire body visibly shook with rage.
Cora quickly added, “He won’t be able to harm her again. Before he banished us, I protected her.”
“A protection spell?”
“A powerful one. Vazra won’t be able to break it. He isn’t strong enough to breach my magic.”
In a gesture that shocked everyone, Nathanial pulled Cora against him, hugging the life out of her. “Thank you. Thank you,” he breathed into her hair.
“What’s wrong with her?” Ryan whispered to Josh, as he watched Cora’s entire body tense up from Nathanial’s hug.
“You and I need to talk. But not here. In private.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
But, before Josh could answer, Nathanial released Cora and she turned back to them. She noticed Ryan staring at her and cocked an eyebrow.
Josh elbowed him and Ryan blurted out, “Uh… how did you learn to do that? The protection spell and the healing?”
“Ryan, I have learned to do a few other things with my power, aside from that thing I did to your dick.”
“Really? Again?” he said, gesturing to the look on both Josh and Nathanial’s faces.
“Oops. Sorry,” she said, blushing furiously.
“What thing?” Josh asked.
“Never mind. Private shit, guys. Come on.”
Cora rolled her eyes, then approached the White Realm gates. She reached out hesitantly and touched the invisible barrier.
After a few moments, she sighed and pulled back.
“You cannot breach it?” Nathanial asked.
She jumped at his sudden presence. “Shit.”
“Sorry. I can breach it, Cora.”
Cora shook her head. “No, you can’t. The wards are different now. I don’t know when he did it, but he’s changed them recently.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, reaching for the barrier.
“No! Don’t touch it!”
But it was too late.
He hissed and pulled back quickly. The tips of his fingers were burned. “It is fused with sunlight,” he realized. “She helped him to do this.”
“Oriana?” Ryan asked, approaching them with Josh at his side.
Nathanial nodded.
“There’s a hint of black magic as well,” Cora informed them.
Nathanial frowned at her, clearly having picked up the same anxiety in her tone that Ryan had. “You fear black magic.”
“My power... when I use a lot of it… unleashes something… dark.”
“What? Why didn’t you say anything?” Ryan demanded.
“I was going to, once you came back from the Dark Realm.”
“I know what you are referring to. I have battled it myself,” Nathanial revealed.
“I can help you.”
“I don’t know.”
“There is no one else who can breach the gates, Cora.”
“Nathanial! If she doesn’t feel comfortable, then we will find another way.”
“There is no other way, Ryan!”
“Relax. I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Nathanial said. “We will begin once your strength has returned.”
“Until then, let’s head back to the wolf compound,” Ryan said.
Josh cleared his throat noisily. “Uh… Ry?” he said, gesturing to Nathanial. “I get that you guys have moved past the whole wanting-to-kill-one-another thing. But. think about this. Vampire King. Wolf compound.”
“They’ll just have to get over themselves and accept it,” Ryan snapped.
Nathanial watched with concern as Ryan stalked off, leading the way to the wolf compound.
“What the hell was that?” Josh breathed.
“Nathanial?” Cora asked. “Did something happen in the Dark Realm?”
Nathanial registered their expectant stares.
What could he possibly say to that? Too much had happened. All of it had clearly finally caught up with Ryan, too.
“He just needs rest,” he responded, before gracefully excusing himself and following Ryan’s path.
12
Ryan stopped short when the wolf compound came into view. What the fuck?
Not only were the gates open, but everyone was out in human form swarming the fields and seemingly enjoying the summer evening without a care in the world.
“Ryan?” Nathanial questioned from beside him.
Ryan spun around to Josh. He was walking with Cora, laughing and joking around with her, as she held a sleeping Orion close to her chest.
“What the fuck, J?”
Josh tensed at his tone and confusion blanketed his face. “What’s wrong?”
He gestured to the wolves in the distance. “That. What the fuck is that? Why are they outside the compound?”
“Luca and Michael are jailed in the Dark Realm. There’s no more threat.”
“Determined by who?”
“A little thing called logic, Ry.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. He felt his blood boiling, both at the situation, and at Josh’s smartass response. “You gave the order? Allowed them to screw around outside?”
“Yeah. They’ve been cooped up inside for weeks, Ry. Now, the threat’s gone, I figured they should have some fun. Morale, you know?”
Ryan fisted his hand in Josh’s jacket and jerked him towards him. “Only I have the authority to give an order like that!”
“You weren’t around. You haven’t been for a while.”
“Whether I’m here, or not, I am the commander-in-chief. Their Alpha. Their fucking King! The buck always stops at me. Every decision is mine! Not yours! You should’ve run this by me! Never supersede my authority again, or there will be consequences! Do I make myself clear?”
“Ryan,” Cora cautioned.
Without taking his eyes off Josh, he told her, “This is business. Wolf business.”
“I’m your wife,” she argued.
“This is different. Don’t interfere. Go on ahead to the compound.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that an order?”
Ryan heaved a sigh. “A suggestion, but I can make it an order if you want.”
She muttered something under her breath and then brushed past him, making a point of pushing into him as she did.
“Are. We. Clear?” Ryan demanded again, his eyes boring into Josh’s.
“Yeah. I’m sorry. We’re clear, Ry.”
Ryan released him roughly. “Good. Now get them all back inside and gather them in the courtyard. I need to speak with everyone about Nathanial crashing at the compound.”
As Josh hurried off the carry out his orders, Ryan saw Nathanial eyeing him.
“You feel the burden now.”
“Burden?”
“Of Wolf King.”
“Of everything.” He turned around and threw his hands in the air with exasperation. “They’re all looking to me to lead and protect them. Not just them either. The Dark Realm wolves, too. My son is the fucking bridge, burdened with a destiny bigger than all of us. To me, he’s just my son. But I don’t even get to enjoy that. Instead, I have to groom him to fulfill what he’s fated to do. My own mother tried to kill me and threatened my son. We have no idea what her real agenda is, so I’m just twiddling my damned thumbs, waiting. And my wife? She’s no longer the innocent, naïve girl I fell in lo
ve with. Her power is growing stronger. Too strong. And then, I find out today that it’s bringing out a dark part of her that she’s struggling to control. It’s… everything is… this is not what I wanted! I never wanted to be king!”
Nathanial gripped his arms tightly, forcing him to look at him. “You are young. Three hundred is nothing. You were never groomed to become king, because of your banishment from the Dark Realm. It is no surprise that you are finding yourself overwhelmed. Your reaction is normal, Ryan. But, taking your place as Wolf King is a destiny you cannot escape, so you must make your peace with that. Your self-doubt, while also natural because you are so new to this, is unfounded. Try to remember that every decision you have made up until this point has been the correct one. And you had no guidance. You are a natural leader, Ryan. You have succeeded in protecting your wolves from a formidable enemy. You have their respect. The Dark Realm wolves have ceded to your command and that is not an easy accomplishment. Furthermore, I have watched you with your son and you are a good father. You will prepare him for what lies ahead. And, you forget that you are not alone in this. I am here. We rule together.”
Ryan took Nathanial’s words in. As soon as he’d freaked out, he’d regretted it. It wasn’t like him. He could handle anything. He always had. But, clearly, everything that’d happened lately had pushed him over the edge. He realized that no one else could understand what he was going through like the Vampire King could.
“I hear you.”
Nathanial released him. “Good.” A grin crept over his face. “Fortunately for you, I have a lot of experience that can benefit you.”
Ryan smiled. “Arrogant, aren’t you?”
“And you are not?”
Ryan chuckled. “I’m not sure if our arrogance is related to the king thing, or just because we’re assholes.”
“Both,” Nathanial said, laughing.
Ryan looked past him at the wolf compound. He saw Josh ushering everyone into the courtyard like he’d ordered. “Showtime. You ready for this?”
“I am not worried,” Nathanial responded, fearless as usual.
