by Liza Street
Astor reared back and smiled. “You’re so weak, I don’t even need to control your mind. I shall break you like this stick you hold. You would have made a good pet for my Ana.”
Hudson lunged forward. Astor dodged Hudson’s strike, then whirled behind him. A sharp pain assailed Hudson’s shoulder. Astor had torn his skin with his fangs. Hudson spun around, but he was too slow, and Astor grabbed Hudson’s bad arm and twisted.
The pain was burning, blinding, excruciating. Hudson screamed.
His stake was gone—Astor had taken it during Hudson’s distraction and tossed it behind them. Hudson swung his fist, but Astor easily caught it and held it in his cold, cruel hand before letting it go and laughing.
Hudson was about to die. He looked to Viviana. She was stirring. If nothing else, maybe Hudson’s presence here had given her a chance.
He’d keep on swinging until he could fight no more.
Twenty-Seven
Viviana woke, dazed. Her bindings were still a bit loose on her wrists. The only explanation she could figure was that she’d loosened them somewhat by struggling, and then her dehydration had helped. They didn’t allow a lot of give, but enough that she could slide her arms back and forth.
She heard sounds of fighting. Right, Hudson was here! She tried to straighten up, but then she realized that as soon as she was able to stand, Astor would be there, ready to control her again. What if he pitted her against Hudson? She shuddered at the thought of not being in control of her body. She wouldn’t take the chance.
The shift into lion was painful—she was too ill for it to come comfortably or naturally. Her joints and muscles changed shape, and her skin stretched with her new mass, and she sprouted fur. Some of her clothes hung on her in tatters, but most importantly, the rope binding her wrists had torn during her shift. She was free. Weak, but free.
Astor and Hudson were locked in a battle on the steps. Hudson’s beautiful face was bloodied, fatigued. His shirt was torn and bloody over his left shoulder.
It was lighter outside now, and the rays coming through the ceiling were brighter. She thought she heard voices, but there wasn’t time to investigate. She had to save Hudson. Protect her mate.
If Hudson had noticed Viviana in her lion form, he gave no hint of it. He was completely focused on Astor.
To Viviana’s benefit, Astor was completely focused on Hudson.
She was weak. She wouldn’t be able to fight—not even as well as Hudson had been fighting. She felt slow and lethargic. Dehydrated. She wanted water, and a nap.
But her mate was hurting, and she wouldn’t stand for that.
With one anguished leap, Viviana tackled Astor from behind. He fell, face first, into the stairs. She locked into his body with her claws, preventing his escape. No time for thought. She clamped her jaws on his neck and bit down with all the power she had left.
Astor’s shadowy form dissolved into dust. Viviana stood, shocked, over his dusty remains. She’d killed a creature of evil and saved Hudson. She was surprised, yes, but she had no regrets.
Hudson fell down to sit next to her and gripped her shoulder. She nudged her nose against his chest, and he smiled.
“My beautiful, fierce mate,” he whispered.
Just then, the entire basement area was flooded with light, and several shifters in both human and animal form stood above them, looking down.
Twenty-Eight
Three months later…
The sun had set, bringing a refreshing intimacy to the evening. Viviana was tempted to stay inside the mansion and cuddle with her mate, but everyone waited outdoors, and the scent of barbecued ribs teased her nostrils. Food first. Cuddles later.
“You ready?” Viviana asked.
Hudson balanced a platter on his good arm. He didn’t heal as fast as shifters, which made him cranky, but his mood improved drastically every time Viviana offered to get naked with him. Which was often.
“Just about ready,” he said.
She watched as he set the platter down to rearrange one of the sprigs of parsley. Her mate was adorable. He wanted everything to be perfect for this barbecue—the first one his mother would attend at the Corona Estate.
Last week, Ellie Hudson had been given the green light from Dr. Powers, and she’d gone home to her little house in the Evergreen territory. Today, she’d traveled down to meet Viviana’s pride.
Ellie’s depression might always be a problem, or maybe it wouldn’t surface again. But from now on, both the Evergreen Pack and the Corona Pride would be supporting her wellness.
Hudson picked up the platter again, and Viviana followed him out through the great room and into the back yard, where long tables had been set up to hold dishes of food.
Marlana, standing near the pond with Viviana’s dad, waved Viviana over.
Viviana allowed herself to smile. Her mother was just as controlling as ever, but they’d at least reached an amicable understanding—Viviana had moved out and was renting a mountain cabin with Hudson, under the agreement that she would continue to visit Marlana regularly and put serious effort into the project of becoming alpha.
And also, Mendy would be coming to visit in a few months—with twin babies in tow.
Viviana hugged her parents. “Have you had a chance to meet Ellie yet?”
“Yes, and she’s wonderful,” Marlana said. “It takes a strong human to mate with a shifter.”
“I know,” Viviana said, watching Hudson block a fake punch from Fraze.
Marlana followed her gaze. “You know that I’m really happy for you, don’t you? He’s a good man.”
Viviana’s dad smiled. “I’m happy for you, too.”
Her father rarely said much, but when he did, Viviana knew it counted most of all.
“That’s good,” Viviana said, “because we have something we want to tell you.”
She waved at Hudson, who grabbed his mother. The Hudsons made their way to the pond.
“Mom, we have an announcement,” Hudson said, taking Viviana’s hand in one of his, and his mother’s hand in the other.
Viviana held her father’s hand, who held her mother’s, who held Ellie’s free hand. Together, they were all joined. The stars above, the pride surrounding them. Viviana felt warmth wash over her. This was the best thing in the world.
“Viviana and I are engaged to be married,” Hudson said.
Marlana gave a gasp and burst into laughter. “I thought so! I knew it!”
Viviana grinned. Next time she told the story, Marlana would probably spin it that she’d known from the very beginning and sending Hudson away had been part of her grand plan to somehow strengthen their bond.
Ellie’s eyes filled with tears, and she pulled everyone in for a giant hug. “I am…so happy,” she whispered.
Viviana smiled, embraced by everyone, but then she slowly pulled away as the parents started chattering about wedding plans and dates. Hudson noticed and followed her a few yards away to the drinks table.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Better than okay.” She picked up his hand and rubbed it over her chin and cheek, reveling in his warmth.
“You’re going to leave our mothers alone to talk about our wedding? You know they’re going to take over, right?”
“Well,” Viviana said, “if they’re doing that, then they won’t notice that you and I are sneaking away to practice making babies.”
His dark brown eyebrows raised in shock. “You want kids already? I mean, it’s okay, but you said you wanted to wait—”
She laughed. “Oh, your face. Priceless. No, I don’t want to actually make any babies. I just want to practice. We’ll be back downstairs before anyone knows it.”
Hudson leaned forward and gently bit the edge of her ear. Viviana shivered and held tight to the edge of the table.
“Whether you want to practice making babies, or really make babies—whatever you want. You’re the boss.” His voice was deep and low, a promise of lust. “But when we’re in that gu
est bedroom upstairs and I have you bent over that bed, Viviana, I’m the boss.”
She wanted to grab his face in her hands and bring his mouth to hers, but he stepped away.
“We should probably take it easy,” he said, “or people will definitely guess what we’re up to when we disappear.”
Viviana pouted, but he was right. Instead of kissing her right there like she wanted, he took her hand and started leading her to the house.
Splat. Something cold and wet connected with Viviana’s chest, soaking through her tank top.
Hudson spun around, immediately on the defensive, his injured arm tucked close to his side.
They came from around the corner of the house—Laura, Dristan, Rafe, Brigitte, Nina and Jameson who were visiting from Idaho, Fraze, Gracie, Mateo, and Justine. Each of them was armed with water balloons, their faces lit with moonlight and glee.
“Ambush!” Mateo and Rafe shouted in unison.
Another balloon came sailing toward her, and Viviana ducked.
Hudson took it square in the face.
Viviana couldn’t help it—she cracked up laughing. She pulled Hudson around the edge of a trellis.
He scowled. “That’s the biggest group of cockblockers I ever saw.”
“Retreat?” she asked, still laughing. “Or stand and fight?”
“Stand and fight,” he said, using the bottom of his t-shirt to mop of the water on his face.
“Excellent. Because look.” She pointed to the wall, where the hose was coiled up.
He grinned. “If they’ve only got three or four balloons each, it means they have more hidden somewhere.” He picked up the hose and squeezed the nozzle experimentally. “I’ll cover you while you find their stash.”
Viviana kissed him on the lips and dashed around the side of the trellis. The hose came on behind her, water shooting out and causing their opponents to duck for cover. Rafe hovered protectively around Brigitte, his pregnant human mate, and Viviana laughed at the image of Fraze and Dristan holding Gracie and Laura in front of them like human shields.
She ran around the corner and found an ice chest full of water balloons. Too heavy to carry, and already Mateo and Justine were advancing on her, gleams in their eyes while they held their balloons aloft.
Rapid-fire, Viviana threw balloon after balloon, as hard as she could, until the ice chest was empty. By then, her opponents were cowering behind trees.
Sounds of the rest of the Corona Pride—the sane portion—reached her ears, people talking, laughing, and eating barbecue. Viviana was breathless and hungry.
“You want more?” she called. “Hudson can find you with the hose!” She raised the empty ice chest.
Rafe took off his white t-shirt and waved it in the air. “We give up!” he shouted. “Cease fire!”
They all gathered on the lawn, laughing and recounting favorite moments from the water balloon fight, while the other pride members looked on. Viviana noticed that Ben and Doug Channing hadn’t joined in, but they at least looked amused. Maybe, someday, they could all be friends and not just pride mates.
Hudson’s arm was warm around her waist when he leaned in and said, “Your pride is completely nuts.”
Viviana laughed. “You sure you want to marry into this craziness?
He looked at her seriously. “I’m in this for good. You’re mine, and I’m yours. Forever, Viviana.”
She heard the truth in his words. And she knew, without a doubt, that she would never be lonely again.
*
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Preview of The Rose King
The Rose King is being released a section at a time as a serial novella to my newsletter subscribers.
Prologue
The Portland high school only felt like it made sense when Rex had Gemma at his side. He had so much to say, so much to share, but he’d never really fit in. The only person he felt he could talk to was Gemma.
Meaning, it was going to be excruciating when Rex finally told her that he was leaving town after graduation.
The bell rang, signaling the end of third period, and Rex rushed out of trig and in the direction of Gemma’s AP English class over in Hanson Wing. The crush of students around him was hell on his wolf shifter senses, but he’d managed public school for this long—he could handle it for another two months.
As soon as Gemma’s head of dark hair came into view, Rex’s heartbeat picked up. It was a privilege to see her, a guilty pleasure, a—there was no other word for it—joy. Gemma made him joyful.
“Gems!” he called.
She looked up, and her serious brown eyes met his. Her smile made his heart feel full and empty at the same time. He was going to say goodbye to her? On purpose? Every fiber of his being fought the idea.
Do what’s best for her, not what you think is best for you, his parents had said. Make the smart choice.
The ten-minute break after third period was when all the students rushed the vending machines, hoping for sugar or carbs to get themselves through until lunch.
Gemma nudged his shoulder in greeting as they walked to the nearest machine. He breathed in her faint, natural scent that was something like strawberries. It was overlaced with the rose-scented shampoo she used. Somehow, she made the combination work. Or maybe he just liked it because it was her.
“How was English?” he asked her.
“More Shakespeare. Stupid idiot Hamlet, messing with Ophelia like that. If he’d just talked to her…” She trailed off and got a concerned look on her face, the perfect arches of her eyebrows wrinkling. “Mrs. Fife’s going to post our grades at the end of the day.”
Rex touched her shoulder before quickly moving his hand away. “I bet you get an A. Fife loves you.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Gemma said. “Winner gets control of your stereo on the way home.”
He laughed. “Guess you’ll be listening to Led Zeppelin, then.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nah, you’ll be enjoying Feist. And singing along.”
They reached the front of the line and Gemma reached into her pocket. “Oh no. I had a dollar, but I must have dropped it.”
Rex looked around, but couldn’t see anything in the crush of people.
“It could be anywhere,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. Give me a few of your Fritos, okay?”
He fed his own dollar into the vending machine, but instead of selecting his usual bag of chips, he got a Milky Way instead—Gemma’s favorite. He passed it to her.
“Wait, no,’” she said, laughing. “Totally sweet of you, Rex, but I know how hungry you get. There is no way I’m taking your food.”
It was more important that she was happy and felt good. He wanted her to be comfortable—it was in his instincts.
“I had a huge breakfast,” he said. It was a slight lie—yes, he’d had a huge breakfast, but it was the same giant breakfast he had every day to try to keep up with his rapid shifter metabolism. But Gemma didn’t need to know any of the details. She just needed to be happy and comfortable.
“Fine,” she said. “But I’m buying your snack tomorrow.”
“If you insist.” He nudged her shoulder, and she nudged him back as they escaped the press of students.
They didn’t have any other friends. Just the two of them, in their own little world, ignoring the rumors that they were a couple—they weren’t. Despite wanting her so bad he thought he’d break his dick with all that jerking off, he hadn’t touched her. Ever since his first shift into a wolf, he’d known that Gemma was special to him. But he came from a life of violence. He’d heard tales of pack wars, pride wars, clan wars, all between groups of shifters who couldn’t agree on how to share territory. And there were deaths, so many deaths, all adding up from those wars.
Too much fighting. No way he’d bring a beautiful, fragile human into the mix.
So he content
ed himself with friendship, keeping her close, taking care of her as much as he could.
As they walked, he saw Spencer Grey. Worse, he saw Spencer Grey see Gemma. Spencer’s gaze lingered on her curves, and he sauntered over to him and Gemma.
Shit, Spencer had never actually gotten up the nerves to approach them when they were together, although Rex had seen through a classroom window one time that Spencer and Gemma were partners on a project. He knew she talked to other students. So did he…but only when he had to.
Spencer swaggered instead of walked. He stopped in front of Gemma, forcing her and Rex to stop, too.
“Hey, Gemma,” Spencer said. His letterman’s jacket was slung over his shoulder like he was some kind of preppie in an L. L. Bean catalog.
Rex resisted the urge to sneer.
“Hey, Spence,” Gemma said.
Rex noticed that her eyes didn’t light up for Spencer like they had for Rex. The thought soothed the beast within him.
“You got any plans for prom?” Spencer asked.
Gemma looked at Rex, and her expression said everything—she wanted Rex to ask her.
It was too close to taking a step into couplehood, something Rex couldn’t risk. Now, as Spencer looked at Gemma and Gemma looked at Rex, Rex realized that he should have made some kind of alternate plan with Gemma for prom night. Like going to the planetarium in Portland, or doing…anything. Anything else. Of course, though, he’d just assumed that they’d hang out in her tree house or in his basement, listening to music and playing board games or just watching movies together.
Because he hadn’t thought things through, now she didn’t have plans. This was Rex’s own fucking fault.
“None,” she finally said, turning back to Spencer. It wasn’t Rex’s imagination that her voice sounded disappointed.
“I was wondering if you’d go with me, then,” Spencer said, adjusting a fold on his jacket.
Like he was trying to make the moment picture-perfect. Barf.
Gemma looked back at Rex again.
Rex looked back, hoping his face was a mask of indifference. Maybe this was better. Maybe she should go. Last night, his parents had told him about another pride war in southern Oregon where an entire family was wiped out. Violence was in the nature of shapeshifters.
