There was a knock at the door, and Cord growled in frustration. “You had better be coming to tell me you’ve marked my daughter, Jase,” he called out.
“I’m leaving,” Jase told him through the door. “If I mark Vexx, it will be when I’m ready.” There was a short pause before Jase added, “Make that when we’re both ready.”
“He is making a huge mistake,” Cord grumbled.
“Give them time to come to terms with this on their own,” Winn told him. “Their situation is nothing like ours.”
Cord shook his head. “I’m going to see Max, and we will make sure this mating takes place immediately.”
“Don’t you dare,” Winn warned. “I will never forgive you if you do this to Vexx. She’s not ready, and she may never forgive you if you force this. Jase sounds like he’s finally over being mad at her.”
Cord considered her words before responding. “Fine. I’ll give them a month to work through their problems. After that, the choice is out of their hands.”
“You’re impossible,” Winn complained. “How can you set this kind of time limit on them?”
“They are lucky I’m not insisting he get her pregnant while she’s in heat,” Cord ground out. “That is what I think is right.” When she started to speak, he continued, “The only reason I’m compromising is to make you happy. As the leader of this clan, I decide what’s best, even for my daughter.”
“I need to be away from you,” she told him. “I’m not in the mood to argue anymore.”
“Then let’s not talk about this,” he suggested.
“I’m not done being mad at you,” she pointed out.
“I compromised,” he argued.
“Stupid male,” she grumbled as she walked out of his cabin.
Cord let out a frustrated sigh. It was great having his mate no longer hiding her emotions, except when she was angry with him.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Richard’s plan to secure Kish’s loyalty was moving along nicely, and only one obstacle remained in his path—the sister. He’d started to like Kish and felt almost guilty about what he was about to do. Liking Kish wouldn’t change his plan, but he might feel the need to make it up to Kish in some way later.
“I’m concerned about your demon kitty,” he told Rafe as he neared the jaguar’s sleeping pallet. Rafe had a female jaguar lying naked across his lap as he fondled her ass, but he seemed almost bored with the situation.
“Why are you worried about Kish?” Rafe asked.
“Are you sure she’s completely loyal to you?” Richard asked. “It would be a shame if your demon kitty ruined your chances to get your mate by not doing her part.”
“Kish is loyal,” Rafe said confidently. “She has no choice.”
“She possesses a great magic,” Richard remarked thoughtfully. “I worry she’ll realize she doesn’t have to take orders and start to rebel. I’ve noticed she seems less obedient than she did when you first arrived. Do you suppose she believes she could escape you and start a new life here?”
Rafe glared at him. “I’ve already told you, Kish knows I’ll kill her family if she doesn’t follow orders. She won’t betray me because she can’t stand the thought of me harming them. It’s actually pretty funny since none of them would lift a finger to help her.”
“Have you killed any of them to prove you’ll do it?” Richard asked.
Rafe smacked the female’s ass hard enough to make her screech before shoving her off. “Give us privacy,” he commanded, and the female stalked off with an annoyed huff. “I haven’t killed any of her family. The threat has always been enough since she knows what I’m capable of. Perhaps I should kill one of them, just to keep her in line. I simply have to decide on a less important family member, so I don’t risk pushing her over the edge. Half-breeds can be unpredictable. We don’t normally allow them to live. Her brothers are all strong fighters, so I’d prefer not losing one of them.”
“Killing her mother would be a bad idea,” Richard added. “A girl is always closest to her mother. A sister might be a good choice. Does she have any sisters?”
“She only has one sister,” Rafe replied. “I’m not sure about killing her.”
“Why?” Richard asked, trying to sound bored. “Is she not close to Kish? I suppose, if there’s some animosity between them, Kish might not be affected by her death.”
Rafe shrugged. “I have no clue if they’re close or not. Her sister is fine breeding stock, and I’ve considered breeding her with a demon to make another weapon, but I suppose I’ll just have to be satisfied with breeding Kish.”
“Are you sure you won’t part with the demon kitty?” Richard asked one last time. If Rafe said yes, he could probably still stop Rafe from killing Kish’s sister. His strange guilt over hurting Kish confused him.
Rafe shook his head. “I’d never give up a treasure like Kish. She and my mate will help me destroy the other jaguar clans and rule the entire rainforest. You’ll have to be satisfied with playing with her while we’re still here.”
Richard shrugged. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“No, I certainly don’t blame you for wanting to possess a treasure like Kish, but I’ll never let her go,” Rafe told him. “I do appreciate your help with this matter, and for warning me of the change in Kish’s attitude. Naturally, I’d already noticed her change in behavior, so I didn’t need you to warn me.”
Richard smiled at the arrogant prick. “I suspected I was merely bringing up a point already obvious to you, but I’d hoped to help you come up with a solution.”
“You did that, my friend,” Rafe agreed with a nod, and Richard didn’t miss the condescension in the jaguar’s voice. “I’ll kill her sister as soon as we return. It will be fun to have Kish watch so she knows how serious I am.”
“Having her watch might cause her to hate you more than fear you,” Richard told him. “Why not just tell her you had her sister killed before she left and then do it as soon as you return? That will ensure she is completely under your control while she’s here. She’ll be terrified you’re going to kill her mother if she betrays you.”
Rafe laughed. “Good thinking. If the female wasn’t so stupid, she’d realize her mother didn’t deserve her loyalty. Kish’s mother only cares about the extra power she gains from her mutt daughter. Her entire family is that way. Poor Kish is so worried about being alone that she can’t see their betrayal. She’ll do anything to protect a family who doesn’t even do a very good job of pretending to love her. It’s Kish’s only true weakness.”
“What about her father’s family?” Richard asked. He’d never met a demon, or even believed in their existence before now, and he was curious about how Kish’s father fit into all this.
Rafe shrugged. “To the best of my knowledge, her father doesn’t even know she exists, and it’s unlikely he’ll ever find out.”
“How can you be sure he won’t come back?” Richard pushed. “If she’s this powerful, it seems her demon father could be a real threat.”
“His kind aren’t that interested in family ties,” Rafe replied. “At least, that’s what I’ve been told. He’s the only demon I’ve ever met. He found Kish’s whore of a mother attractive, and I encouraged her to let him fuck her during her heat cycle. After fucking her, his interest in her ended, and he left without a word. I had no clue what Kish’s powers would be, but it seemed like an interesting experiment at the time. As you can see, it worked out very well for me.”
“Thank you for indulging my questions,” Richard told him, trying to sound like he genuinely appreciated the patience Rafe had shown, when in truth, he wanted nothing more than to slit the arrogant bastard’s throat.
Soon, he reminded himself. He just had to let Rafe live a little longer. He had to keep his attention focused on the bigger picture—taking over Connor’s territory. Once Richard had the mage, he’d make sure Kish killed Rafe, and then he’d have the power to destroy his enemies.
Chapter Fif
ty-Three
Vexx was exactly where Winn had expected to find her, by the creek. She hadn’t gone straight to Vexx. First, she’d needed some time alone to think about her argument with Cord. She’d grown up around shifters and had heard the stories of others finding their true mates. It was all-consuming, much like what she had with Cord. The first time she’d met him, it hadn’t been quite as strong, likely due to her efforts to bury her shifter tendencies over the years. The fact that Cord had let her walk away then was impressive, and she could see why he’d said he wouldn’t have let her go this time, even if the way he said it made her angry.
Logic told her she shouldn’t be this mad at Cord. He was the leader of the clan, and his word was law. Having grown up with shapeshifters, she knew that’s how things worked. Anyone who questioned her father’s orders had seriously regretted it. She was certain her father wouldn’t have compromised to make his mate happy. Cord was being reasonable for a shapeshifter. Life had been simpler when she’d been suppressing her emotions. Now, they were almost too much to deal with at times.
“You look like your day is going even worse than mine,” Vexx remarked when Winn sat beside her on the grass.
“I’ve had better days,” she admitted.
“Wanna talk about it?” Vexx asked.
“I argued with your father about you and Jase,” she admitted. “Then he had the nerve to tell me he would have eventually marked me without my permission. He even talked like I was his property.”
“Sorry my situation with Jase created problems for you today,” Vexx said, leaning into her side.
Winn slipped an arm around Vexx, comforted by her friend’s proximity.
“It’s really not your fault,” Winn assured her. “I’m not sure our argument was really about you and Jase so much as shapeshifter politics.”
Vexx let out a weak laugh. “Let me guess, Jase told my father he wasn’t going to mark me, and my father didn’t take that news very well.”
“That’s an understatement,” Winn muttered. “He started ranting about going over and talking to Max to make Jase mark you now and get you pregnant. Naturally, I was annoyed because I think you should have some say in all this.”
This time, Vexx laughed out loud. “I love how you fight the system.”
“The system is wrong,” Winn insisted. “I’m used to having a lot more control over my world. Even when I was being called to an area to heal the land, I still had more control. Every time your father plays his dominant leader of the clan role, part of me wants to smack him.”
“The other part likes it,” Vexx finished with a grin.
“Yes, and that’s somewhat annoying,” Winn admitted. “I guess I’ll have to get used to my jaguar and mage sides coexisting.”
“Not to change the subject, but I’ve been wondering how all this will impact your mage responsibilities,” Vexx mused. “You’re part of our clan now, but you’re still a mage.”
Winn shrugged. “I can stay in this area and deal with problems that come up here. There are more mages in this part of the world than we really need at this point, so I have little to do as a mage.”
“Why don’t the mages go to other parts of the world if they aren’t needed here?” Vexx asked.
“When the borders were closed, we became trapped here along with everyone else. I suppose, I could cross the border in jaguar form now, but the others would all be stopped. Since we try to keep our existence hidden from humans, we can’t use our powers to fight our way across the border. Can you imagine how badly humans would react if they thought vampires with strange powers were crossing the border?”
“I can see how that would be a problem,” Vexx agreed. “What else is bothering you?”
“What do you mean?” Winn asked. “It was the fight with your father.”
“There’s more,” Vexx pushed. “You seem a little too upset about what my father said. You did asked him to mark you, and neither of us knows if he would have followed through with his threat to take the choice away from you, so why get so worked up about it?”
Winn blew out a frustrated breath. “I hate the fact that I had no choice but to leave my family behind, and then I believed I had no choice but to leave your father behind. I’ve regretted that decision every time I allowed my emotions to get involved, so I can understand why your father would feel like he needed to mark me no matter what I said.”
“But you’re still annoyed. When he said that, he became just one more person who wants to take away your free will,” Vexx finished for her.
Winn shook her head. “I’m annoyed that he’s projecting his own feelings about me onto you and Jase.”
Vexx’s brow knit with confusion. “I’m not following you.”
“He thinks if he doesn’t force Jase to mark you, things will go wrong and you’ll miss your opportunity,” Winn explained.
Vexx’s green eyes dilated and glowed even brighter.
“Are you okay?” Winn asked, but Vexx didn’t answer. Her lips were moving quickly, but no words were coming out.
“No!” Vexx screamed, her body trembling before she began mouthing words again. Eventually, she looked over at Winn, clearly shaken by whatever she’d just experienced.
“What just happened?” Winn asked.
“It was a vision,” Vexx admitted.
“Not a good one, obviously,” Winn deduced.
Vexx shook her head. “It was a jumbled mess. I’m not sure what to make of it.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Winn asked.
“In the vision, I died,” Vexx admitted. “At least, it seemed like I died. I immediately flashed to another vision—one I’m sure is supposed to take place years after the one about me dying. In that vision, you and I are standing with a man I don’t know. We’re staring into a portal and our powers are all merged.”
“How often do your premonitions come true?” Winn asked, concerned about Vexx having a vision of her own death.
“They always come true, but I often misread them,” Vexx admitted. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I died in this vision.” Vexx let out a frustrated breath. “I hate my visions. They always leave me with more questions than answers.”
“Should we do something?” Winn asked.
Vexx shook her head. “I have these crazy visions enough to know I should avoid obsessing over them. It never does any good.”
“But you saw yourself die,” Winn argued. “Maybe we should discuss the details to see if we can find a way to stop it from happening.”
“I already told you, I don’t think I’m going to die,” Vexx insisted.
“I still think we need to talk about this,” Winn pushed.
“No!” Vexx snapped. “I hate talking about my visions. Please, drop it—at least for now.”
Winn hesitated, still worried. She’d met seers and knew most had a harder time reading visions regarding themselves. It was possible that was the case with Vexx.
“What did my father decide about Jase?” Vexx asked to change the subject. “Is he going to talk to Max and force Jase to mark me?”
“Not yet,” Winn replied. “He agreed to give you some time to get to know each other.”
“How long?” Vexx asked.
“A month,” Winn replied.
“At least, I’ll be done with my heat cycle by then,” Vexx stated.
“Yes, but I still don’t think he has any right to force you to accept Jase as your mate,” Winn argued.
“He compromised for you,” Vexx pointed out.
“Much like Jase did by agreeing not to mark you,” Winn added.
Vexx nodded. “They’re both really trying to be considerate, and they’re going against their nature to do it. I’ve heard of males marking their true mate within minutes of laying eyes on her, and that’s considered acceptable among shifters. Jase offered to spend time getting to know me, and my father tried to wait to mark you for fear you’d be upset with him. He even agreed to give me time to get to k
now Jase better for you.”
“You’re right,” Winn agreed.
“But you aren’t a full-shifter, and you need me to respect your boundaries as a mage, as well,” Cord said from a few feet behind her.
She’d heard his approach, sensed him with every part of her body, but she hadn’t been sure she was ready to face him until he spoke.
“Why do you have to be so insightful and understanding when I want to be angry with you?” Winn grumbled.
Cord chuckled and sat on her other side. “You want to be mad at me?”
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Why would you want to be mad at me?” Cord asked.
It was Vexx who answered. “Winn’s buried her emotions for so long, she forgot what it’s like to feel things. All emotions trigger a response—anger, sadness, joy. It really doesn’t matter what the emotion is; she’s enjoying having them.”
“That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Cord muttered, leaning into Winn so she was sandwiched between him and Vexx.
“You’re right,” Winn agreed. “It is crazy, and I didn’t realize how true it was until Vexx pointed it out to you just now.”
“I’m sure I’ll give you plenty of other reasons to be mad at me later,” Cord assured her. “For now, I owe you both an apology. Not for how I feel. I won’t apologize for thinking you’re both safer marked. I’m just going to apologize for the way I said it.”
Vexx looked over at her with a grin. “That’s the best you can hope for when dealing with my father. He’s not very good at apologizing.”
“It was a great apology,” Cord argued. “Not once did I point out that I’m right about you both needing a good spanking.”
“I still can’t believe you said that to Jase,” Vexx grumbled.
Untamed Winter Page 25
