by Tay T
“Alright, but if you need the help, don’t hesitate to ask me.”
After a prolonged pause—long enough the Alpha didn’t think she would reply—the dark sorceress said, “I will.”
Her response earned a wide grin from the Alpha.
He leaned down closer to her, nose skimming the surface of her cheek, and planted a light kiss on the corner of her mouth. Before she could respond, he quickly straightened back up and appreciated the view of her heaving bosoms from where he stood. “You’re welcome to do this in my study. There’s a big library there I think will benefit you.”
Maya jolted, the pen falling from her fingers because of his unsuspected assault.
“Don’t think you can start being so affectionate with me just because we slept together last night,” she exclaimed, a hot flush traveling the expanse of her neck and ears.
Xavier couldn’t tell if the blush was because of anger or embarrassment, but Maya looked beyond delectable. “We slept together the night before that, too. And probably tonight, tomorrow night—actually, all the nights after this.”
Maya turned her body to him. Her emerald-colored eyes were narrowed into an angry glare as she tried to dismiss the initial feelings of embarrassment. “You—”
“You don’t like it when I kiss you?” he inquired. His lustrous golden eyes stared right back at her, smoldering with unbearable heat.
Maya slowly averted her gaze, unable to stop the hot flush from overtaking the majority of her face. “I…”
She would be lying if she said she hated it. In fact, she liked it just a little, itty, bitty, teeny, tiny, minuscule bit. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.
The Alpha’s exceedingly sexy smirk widened. By the way her eyes fluttered back and forth, he could tell she was trying to find excuses to brush him off.
Xavier leaned down to her level again. His long fingers gripped her chin and tipped her head up until she was unable to avoid his adamant gaze.
His heated eyes bore into hers.
“If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have kissed me back, wouldn’t have gotten so wet even before I entered your tight little body, wouldn’t have arched your back into me as I fucked you long and hard. Don’t lie to yourself, little sorceress,” he murmured in an agonizingly slow fashion, voice deep and velvety.
With a downward dip, his lips softly, tentatively brushed against the bow of her lips, and when she didn’t protest, he deepened the kiss and sealed their mouths together. His slick tongue lazily lapped at the seam of her sweet lips.
Maya sat frozen in her spot, letting the onslaught of pleasurable sparks caress her skin the same way his lips did. Her cheeks blushed red as she became embarrassed by the truth in his words.
But before she could drown in his passionate kiss, Maya jerked back and tried to gather her previous thoughts.
“That doesn’t mean anything, though. For all you know, I might just hate your guts,” she bit out, thinking she could deceive him and herself.
“You’re wrong, Maya. You tolerate my behavior. You indulge it. If I were any other man, I doubt you would let me take you, dominate you the way I have. It’s not love yet, but it sure as hell isn’t hate.”
Maya scowled. Her vermillion-red lips pursed to cover her true feelings.
“I won’t push you, but I want you to be honest with me and yourself,” he said, leaning forward.
When his lips brushed hers again, her heartbeats skyrocketed.
Xavier smiled, licking his lips in an extremely sensual manner. “I can hear your heart racing.”
Maya’s fingers tightly squeezed the pen.
“I can hear yours, too,” she replied, stubbornly tilting her chin.
The Cardinal Alpha chuckled.
CHAPTER 24
Maya cursed under her breath, walking her way through the house in search of the old books she’d smelled. Ever since the Alpha told her about his library, she’d become curious, thinking he’d probably have some books relevant to her interest: necromancy and dark spells.
She walked down the long stairs and through the carpeted hallway, reaching the Alpha’s study. The room was on the first floor, clear on the other side of the house where Maya had never ventured before.
Glancing at the double doors, Maya gripped the brass handle and let herself in.
Upon entry, she immediately noticed the large Palladian windows adjacent to a long cherry wood table with over a dozen chairs placed around it. Across from the table was an array of shelves, stuffed full by books and scrolls, with a rolling ladder attached to it. To the side of the shelves sat a large work desk, clean and neatly organized.
Maya knew it belonged to the Alpha’s because his scent lingered heavily there.
As her eyes roamed the room, an open book on top of a medium-sized desk caught her attention.
The desk and a cushioned chair sat against the wall. Both items were new because she could only smell the scent of dried staining solution on the surface.
Maya walked over to the desk and glanced at the contents of the open book.
As the familiar words and symbols met her gaze, she realized it was a journal of dark spells left behind by a renowned necromancer. She’d been looking for this journal for years, and it just so happened to be right here inside of Xavier’s library.
What are the odds?
Maya fingered the pages and glanced at the stack of books sitting on the side of the table.
From the colored sticky notes peeking out of the pages, she could tell the Alpha had been looking through them and marking the book as he went.
But why was he doing that?
She knew he wasn’t doing all this for himself, or else he wouldn’t have gotten a new desk and set up a spot for her in his office.
But what benefit did he have from treating her so…nicely?
The strange fluttering in her chest came back, and Maya couldn’t ignore it like she had before.
The frustrating male had been right.
She didn’t hate him.
For some reason, it was hard to. Maybe because he hadn’t hurt her, hadn’t done anything to make her believe he was just like the unreasonable wolves who had brutally wounded her.
Although he had been the one to lead her into his trap, she had been the one to instigate their meeting and his capture. So she couldn’t really hate him for that.
But did she really like him?
No…no, she tried to deny.
He was too sly and manipulative, and his smirk was as annoying as his blatantly cocky attitude.
But even so, when he’d come close, when he’d offered to eradicate the Coven for her, her heart had fluttered, hammering a tattoo of uncontrollable rhythm in her chest.
No one had ever done that.
No one had ever cared the way he had.
Perhaps, she liked him more than she dared to admit.
Maya shook her head.
No. I don’t like him. It’s his power that I like.
Xavier stood by the door, watching the little sorceress tousle her long hair and argue with herself. “Is it really that hard to admit, Maya?”
Realizing she had overlooked the Alpha’s presence again, the dark sorceress frowned and checked to see if the mental barrier around her thoughts was still there.
It was.
This only meant the Alpha had managed to guess what she was thinking, without reading her thoughts.
Great.
“There are too many things I don’t like about you,” she said slowly, turning her body to face him.
The Alpha seemed amused at her assessment and didn’t intervene. “Oh?”
“The cons outweigh the pros,” Maya continued.
With a little upward curl of his lips, the Alpha asked, “Is that so?”
“You don’t even like me,” she stated, pausing for a second to glance at him, as if to confirm the truth in her words.
His brows furrowed, seemingly agitated now. “I do like you. I wouldn’t hav
e touched you if I didn’t, Maya.”
Xavier Thaeos was a man with priorities. Sleeping with a woman whom he didn’t love was not one of them.
Maya chewed on her bottom lip and didn’t know what to say. His admission had left her quite speechless.
“Just give me a chance, Maya. I promise I won’t disappoint you,” he said earnestly.
Maya swallowed the lump in her throat, finding it extremely hard to look away from his mesmerizing golden orbs.
After a moment of silence, she croaked, “Okay.”
And then, she instantly regretted giving in to him.
_______________________
Everette jumped off the branch of a yellowing crabapple tree and landed on the ground in her human body. Though she wanted to remain in bird form, since it would make being discovered a lot harder, she didn’t think it was practical.
The white witches would hear her wings flapping and catch her before she could do much eavesdropping, and her little bird feet weren’t going to get her very far, very fast. By the time she got to where the witches were, they would have already finished the conversation, eaten an elaborate meal, and left.
Everette’s eyes darted from side to side, glancing around for anyone approaching with utmost vigilance.
In front of her stood several cottages with white smoke billowing from the chimneys and oddly-shaped windows draped with leafy vines. Around the perimeter of the houses stood large, trunked trees that felt as if they had some sort of living aura to them.
Everette knew if she were to come into close proximity with the trees, she would immediately be strangled by the long roots sticking up from the ground.
Whatever magic was infused into the trees’ tissue made them alive, capable of more than just movement and thought.
Everette shivered as the fall wind beat against her porcelain cheeks in freezing intervals.
With steady footsteps, she curled up against the cold wall of an old, tawny brick cottage, and laid her pointed ears against the cold surface.
Her red eyes glanced through the window next to her shoulder as she tried to hear for any movement or noise worthy of her time.
Inside the brightly lit room sat three females in front of a bubbling black cauldron that exhaled puffs of green smoke.
The witch with light brown hair was stirring the cauldron, while the witch with straight black hair and the witch with curly ringlets of blonde sat across from her.
The blue-eyed, blonde-haired female was Avalyn White, Maya’s half-sister.
Everette would recognize the angelic-looking female from a mile away, and probably would have turned and run for the hills. But she didn’t this time.
She needed to know what they were plotting so she could report it to Maya, before it was too late to counterplan.
“Do you really think this plan will work? That sorceress has gotten away so many times,” the brown-haired female asked, mixing something inside the black cauldron.
The unsavory scent coming from the vile mixture made Everette’s stomach turn.
Rotten eyeballs, rat’s liver, pig’s feet, lavender, and a bunch of other herbs.
Yuck.
“She won’t be so lucky this time, Ella,” replied Avalyn, propping her pointy chin on the palm of her right hand. The air of confidence in her sickly-sweet voice made Everette want to gag.
Avalyn was just so fake; it was disappointing to know she was Maya’s sister.
“She’s a lot stronger now with that Cardinal Alpha as her mate. What if he comes to her rescue before we can kill her?” commented the dark-haired female named Gina, worried.
“It’s all about timing. If we can lure her to us while he’s busy, he won’t be able to save her. And if we’re lucky, he might just die in that war with the Hunters,” Avalyn giggled, light and airy, like it was extremely funny to her.
Everette didn’t find it funny, at all.
Definitely demented, the white dove thought to herself, pushing down the urge to shake her head.
It was too bad the crazy white witch didn’t know how powerful the Southern Cardinal Alpha was and how powerful Maya had become now that she had his powers.
Avalyn was in for a rude awakening, and Everette really wanted to see it backfire in her face.
“After all, we have two hostages on our hands,” Avalyn drawled, a wide smile spreading across her glossy pink lips.
Everette’s thin brows knitted together. Her mind whirled with the possibilities of what Avalyn’s words could possibly mean.
Two hostages?
“Two?” Ella inquired, non-existent brows knitting together until a deep wrinkle settled between them. “When did we get two?”
“Her whore of a mother and that worthless little pet bird of hers.” Avalyn’s azure orbs flitted to the window, catching the single strand of white fluttering across the surface of the glass. “If she’s stupid enough to come for them, then—without a doubt—she’ll die.”
Immediately, Everette’s red eyes widened, shimmering brightly in the darkness of the night.
Shit!
The dove-shifter made a move to run as she forced her body to shift as quickly as possible.
Her white wings sprouted from her black blouse, tearing through the thin fabric, and spanned twice her size. But it was too late.
Avalyn’s spell draped over her blossoming wings like maple syrup over stacks of fluffy pancakes, and Everette found herself frozen in her spot, mid-shift.
Panic welled up inside of the dove as her heart jammed itself in her throat and pounded ferociously. She broke out into a cold sweat.
“I was waiting for you to come back and spy on us, little bird,” Avalyn said, opening the front door and coming out to stand before Everette. “And look at that, you stupidly did.”
The other two witches stood by Avalyn’s side, staring at Everette in her half-shifted phase with mighty and superior looks on their faces.
Everette wanted to scratch their eyes out with her bird claws, but she couldn’t move even an inch. So instead, she glared fiercely at the white witches with her blood-red eyes sharp and angry.
“I’ve never had dove stew before,” Gina exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear at the delicious thought.
What is up with everyone trying to eat me?! Everette thought.
“We still need her, Gina. I’ll let you do whatever you want after I kill Maya.” Avalyn glanced at the blonde before returning her gaze to the snow-white wings adorning the dove’s back. A sudden thought formed in her mind. “Ella, get me the ceramic dagger in the cupboard.”
The brown-haired female nodded her head and went back into the house.
Several seconds later, she came back with a white dagger in the palm of her hand.
The witch handed the dagger to Avalyn and waited to see what she had in mind.
With thin fingers wrapped around the dagger, Avalyn smiled. She then dug it into Everette’s left shoulder blade, where her wings connected to her skin.
The sharp blade slid easily through delicate tissue and supple cartilage, carving through bones and black blood.
A pained, gargled protest gushed up Everette’s throat, and tears welled on the corners of her open eyes. Her back felt as if it were on fire, burning hotter than a corpse through an incinerator for three hours.
My wings! Everette cried in her head as tears trickled down from her white lashes.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Avalyn murmured, wiping the back of the blade on Everette’s shirt before she continued to dismantle the dove-shifter’s beautiful wing. “My dagger is made from the blood of hell hounds and the bones of vengeful fae. That is probably why it burns like the fires of hell.”
After a few minutes, Avalyn tossed the wing on the ground and started cutting out the next one.
When she was done, she said, “Wrap it up prettily, Ella. This is the first time I’ve ever given my younger ‘sister’ a present. I want it to look as presentable as possible.”
“Of course. I’ll
have it all fixed up for you.” Ella giggled and picked up the set of bloody wings, frowning as the black liquid stained her hand.
“I have a feeling she’s going to love it,” Avalyn exclaimed sweetly, but her eyes were hard and cold wells of sky blue, leaking with hatred and disgust.
Avalyn had always been taught to hate evil, to hate Maya and her disgrace of a mother.
Over the long years of misery, the hatred had become skin-deep, bone-deep, even.
No matter how she wanted to continue living without the constant reminder of the blemish in her blood, she couldn’t. Because she had grown up knowing her dark family history, knowing half her heritage had come from an evil-loving whore.
Everyone in the Coven knew this and ridiculed her behind her back. So Avalyn needed to redeem herself in their eyes, needed to remove Maya and her mother from the face of the earth.
Only then would she be able to replace Aldrich as the leader of the Coven of Light.
CHAPTER 25
When the bond finally settled this morning, Maya’s soul had clicked into place like a missing puzzle piece, bringing forth the feeling of completion and peace. She’d never felt this refreshed and ecstatic before.
Though she wanted to head out and find her mother, Maya had decided to wait for Everette’s signal.
“Can’t I come along?” Maya asked, gazing up at the Alpha who was busy gathering his pack members into a uniform line.
A couple of minutes ago, someone had informed the Cardinal Alpha about the fire in the Central Land, the land under the control of Alpha Eros. It was spreading faster because of the strong wind and needed to be contained before it could damage any packs or wildlife.
“They’ve spotted some Hunters on the land. It’ll be too dangerous for you to go,” he said, watching her pouting face and feeling his resolve soften like a stick of fatty butter in a heated pan.
Maya continued to stare up at him with glistening emerald orbs he could not refuse.
“But if you want to come, you can.” Xavier gave in to her, again.
It felt like giving in to her had become a common occurrence for him.
“It’s better than sticking here all day,” she responded, trying to hide the little grin sneaking up on the corner of her plump lips. But after a moment of basking in the victory, Maya realized something.
