by Jane Godman
Emil, their only source of information, had told them that Roko’s followers were causing problems on a small group of outlying islands known as the Kurjak. These sparsely inhabited isles were strategic because of their location. No one could leave the main islands without passing through the waters of the Kurjak. If Roko could take control of them, he would trap Nevan on Urlati. The Wolf Leader would be rendered powerless, imprisoned on his home island.
Nevan, having fought for so long to take power from Anwyl, now faced the prospect of seeing it slide out of his grasp as Roko—a younger, wilier opponent with a large following—used unexpected tactics against him. Nevan wanted a face-to-face fight, but Roko wasn’t prepared to give him what he wanted. The rebel leader employed guerrilla techniques, haranguing Nevan’s pack, then backing off before the Wolf Leader could organize reprisals. With so much to occupy his mind and his time, Nevan gave the impression of barely noticing Violet and Nate.
Emil, having realized that he could trust Nate and Violet not to inform against him, had overcome some of his nervousness around them. After they had finished dinner that evening, Nate asked Emil to join them in the library. The young werewolf looked slightly wary, but obeyed the summons without question.
“We want to go to the refugee camp.” Nate got straight to the point. “But we don’t know where it is.”
“It is on the island of Vukod. It is the northernmost of the isles of the Wolf Nation. When Anwyl’s followers were displaced, they left their homes in droves. Nevan tried to drive them away from the Wolf Nation altogether, but there was nowhere for them to go. The Alliance intervened and Merlin Caledonius declared it a crisis. They forbade Nevan from forcing them out to sea. The next lands are the Vampire Archipelago, and there would be unimaginable bloodshed if werewolves attempted to land there. Having no other choice, the refugees settled on Vukod.”
Violet looked horrified. “But they had no food, shelter or clothing...nothing to meet their basic needs.”
Emil’s eyes were warm as he looked at her. “Not until you stepped in to help, my lady.”
“Can you take us to Vukod?” Nate asked.
Emil appeared to be fighting an internal battle. “It would mean risking the wrath of the Wolf Leader.”
“Leave him to me.” Nate’s voice was grim. “If he finds out, I’ll tell him I forced you to take us. He can direct his wrath at me.”
He didn’t add that he would welcome a confrontation with Nevan. Everything the Wolf Leader did demonstrated his unsuitability for the role of leader of all wolves. Nate would enjoy telling him so.
“Very well.” Emil nodded decisively. “It will mean leaving early in the morning and returning late.”
“We’ll be ready,” Nate assured him.
When Emil had gone, Violet sank into one of the wing-backed chairs that flanked the huge fireplace. “How did I do these things? I know I would have wanted to reach out to those poor refugees who were stranded on Vukod. But you’ve seen what my father is like. I couldn’t have gone behind his back and organized a relief effort on my own. I must have had help.”
Before Nate could answer her, his attention was drawn to a slight tapping noise on the window. When he looked up, Emil was standing outside looking in. Nate made a move toward the window, but Emil held up a hand, jerking his head in a gesture that clearly meant he wanted them to join him outside. When they didn’t move quickly enough, he impatiently repeated the action.
“He was only here a minute ago. What the hell is he playing at?” Nate muttered. He was feeling the same level of frustration as Violet and was certainly in no mood for riddles. “Let’s go and find out what’s going on.”
They exited the house through the front door and made their way around to the side of the building where the library window overlooked a pretty rose garden. There was no sign of Emil, and Nate was about to exclaim in annoyance when a soft whistle from a clump of trees attracted his attention.
“Is this Emil’s idea of a joke?” he muttered, starting toward the noise.
“Emil doesn’t strike me as the sort of person to play games with us,” Violet said.
She was right, of course. Nate decided he was allowing his annoyance at the lack of progress with Nevan to color his judgment of Emil. So far, the young werewolf had proved loyal and trustworthy. He had no reason to suspect his behavior on this occasion was frivolous. When they reached the thicket, Emil was waiting for them. His usual air of nervousness had increased to the point where he was dancing from foot to foot with restless energy.
“Do you still wish to meet with the rebel leader?” Emil asked Violet.
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Then I am to take you to him.”
* * *
Emil led them to a disused hamlet about half a mile from the Voda Kuca. When they arrived, a group of young werewolves were guarding the entrance to the ruined settlement. Violet recognized some of them from the party at the house in Vermont.
She and Nate were led inside a run-down cottage, where Roko was waiting for them.
“Do you need me to stay?” The werewolf who had escorted them hovered at the entrance.
“Wait outside, Teo.” She remembered Roko had used that name when speaking to one of the werewolves at the party.
Roko gestured for them to be seated on the wooden bench that ran along one wall. He rested his hip on the rickety remains of a table.
“Thank you for seeing us. I know it is dangerous for you to be here.” They had discussed in advance the best approach to take to this meeting. Nate’s opinion had been that Violet should do the talking. Her tone? Keep it conciliatory. She kept Nate’s words in mind now. No matter how angry she was at Roko for the messages he had given to Anwyl’s supporters, it wouldn’t do to alienate him before she had gotten the answers she required.
“The message I received made it sound like you needed to speak to me urgently.” She wasn’t sure from the look on Roko’s face whether he was prepared to act without hostility in return. “In fact, it sounded a lot like a summons.”
Violet suppressed the spark of annoyance his tone ignited. “I’ve been hearing about the refugees on Vukod. I know I was involved in helping them before I left to go to the mortal realm. Since my memory hasn’t fully returned, I was hoping you might be able to tell me the reason—the real reason—why I was in the mortal realm with you.”
Roko regarded her for a moment or two, his expression speculative. Then, giving a curt nod, he seemed to reach a decision. “Your father had threatened to banish you if you didn’t stop providing help to the camp on Vukod. You refused, and I offered my help. I have friends in the mortal realm who were fund-raising for the relief effort. You came with me so that we could meet with them and gather even more support. That never happened, mainly because we had your father’s beta werewolves on our tail from the moment we stepped through the portal.”
Violet wrinkled her brow in an effort to remember. “How do you and I know each other?”
“We were both involved in the effort to help the refugees. But—” Roko cast a dark look in Nate’s direction “—while I may have exaggerated when I said we were in love, I like to think that was the way things were headed between us eventually.”
Violet, conscious of the coiled tension in Nate’s body, decided to change the subject. “What is happening now to help the people on Vukod?”
“The resistance does as much as we can. Once Nevan is defeated, it will be a different matter. Then they can return to their homes, and the rebuilding work will begin.”
“You really think you can defeat my father?” Violet asked.
“I don’t think it, I know it.” Roko’s lips drew back in a snarl. “And if you knew what I had seen when I was imprisoned in the cellars beneath the Voda Kuca, you would be cheering the resistance on to victory.”
“You spoke of that once before. You
said what you saw in the cellars gave you an opinion about my family. What was it?”
Roko shook his head. “I made a promise never to speak of it, even though, should it be known, it might shake the foundations of Nevan’s power. If you want to know more, you must ask Nevan. Although I doubt he will be willing to tell you. He has kept his secret for all your life, Violet. He will not be ready to share it now.”
The words sent a chill sweeping through Violet’s body. They could have been bluster, designed to intimidate the daughter of his enemy. But she knew that wasn’t the case. She knew Roko was telling the truth. Nevan was a man with a secret so dark it was emblazoned on his soul. That secret had something to do with Violet, and the answer lay in the cellars beneath the Voda Kuca. Had she spent her whole life living a lie? Living, sleeping, eating, laughing, all the time blissfully unaware that her childhood home was balanced on top of a powder keg?
Roko rose. “I must go. Urlati is too dangerous for me to linger here.”
“Is there any way this fighting can end?” Nate spoke for the first time since they had entered the cottage. “Any way the people of the Wolf Nation can live in peace?”
Roko paused. “Yes, there is a way. Nevan was the one who began this feud with Anwyl. Before that, the werewolves were a peaceful dynasty. When he dies, that peace will return. Until then, the blood will continue to flow.”
* * *
“We have to find out what is in the cellars.”
Violet shivered so violently the tremors ran through Nate’s body, as well. “I’m scared to go down there.” Her voice was an agonized whisper.
“Until we do, you will always be plagued by doubts. We’ll never know if what he said was just bravado on Roko’s part, just an attempt to scare you into believing your father is worse than he is, or whether there really is some dark family secret he is keeping hidden from the world.”
“From me. You heard what Roko said. He has kept this secret all my life. My father may be hiding it from the world, but whatever this is, it is about me.”
Nate gripped her upper arms, holding her slightly away from him so that he could look down at her. There were dark shadows in the glorious blue depths of her eyes, and her face was pale. He was starting to worry that bringing her home to the Wolf Nation might have been the wrong decision. Although she was physically stronger, her emotions were in turmoil. One thing was clear. She needed him now more than ever.
He drew her close, trying to impart some of his own strength to her. Gradually, as he held her in his arms, her trembling ceased and she lifted her head to kiss him, tangling her tongue with his. Nate swept over her mouth demandingly, kissing her with an instant heat and hunger that had her moaning and arching into his body.
“Make it go away.” Violet whispered the words into his mouth. “At least for now, make me forget it all.”
Knowing that the bed in his little attic room was small and hard, Nate carried her to the only other item of furniture, a large velvet chair close to the window. Kneeling before her, he removed her clothing, placing each item aside and kissing her exposed flesh until Violet was squirming with pleasure. His hands cupped her breasts, and his gaze fixed on hers as his tongue slowly flicked over one nipple and then the other. Violet’s head tipped against the chair back as she buried her hands in his hair. He drew one nipple fully into his mouth, rasping the little bud with his teeth and tickling it with his tongue.
He lifted his head and gazed at her face. “Does that feel good?”
“So good.” Her reply came on a gasp.
Nate lifted her legs, spreading them wide, pulling her to the edge of the chair and feasting on her with his eyes as she lay back, exposed to his gaze. His hand smoothed up the inside of her thigh until he stroked inside her narrow slit, coating his finger with her juices.
“Touch your breasts.” His voice was hoarse as he released his straining erection from his jeans.
“I...” Violet blushed, her expression dazed and embarrassed.
“I want to see you play with yourself when I’m inside you.” Nate pressed the tip of his cock to her swollen folds. “Let me see that, Violet. Please.”
She raised her hands from his hair to cup the full mounds, grazing her nipples with her thumbs and gripping her lower lip with her teeth. Her gaze lowered, her eyes widening as she watched him press into her. He drew his steel-hard flesh out of her, and she cried out in protest before he eased back, stretching her as he sank deeper. Velvet heat gripped him. A strangled moan escaped Nate’s lips as he watched her stretch around him. It was the most erotic thing he had ever seen, watching his cock enter her as she caressed her breasts and lifted her hips to meet him. Inch by inch he impaled her, pumping his engorged flesh as growls of need rumbled deep in his chest. It was a pleasure so intense it was close to madness.
He took one of her hands, placing her middle finger on her clitoris. “Touch yourself here, as well. Play with your nipples with one hand while you rub yourself with the other.”
Violet made a soft whimpering sound. Using her finger to stroke the tiny bud, she kept her mesmerized gaze on the point where his cock was embedded inside her. Nate drew back, spearing into her, watching her face as she pushed herself higher and higher. Electricity chased up his spine, tingling all the way up and into his scalp. His erection was burning, throbbing. He could feel the deep, coiling sensation beginning to build inside him. His whole body tightened as he picked up the pace.
Violet writhed wildly against him, thrusting in time with his masterful strokes. He felt her give way, her cries becoming screams as the final strands of her control snapped and she succumbed to a hot, hungry climax.
It drove Nate over the edge. Too much tightness, too much heat, too much throbbing, clenching need around him. His own cry mingled with her screams, his scalding release jerking high inside her as he thrust one final time before collapsing forward, resting his head against her shoulder.
When Nate’s strength returned, he lifted Violet in his arms and carried her to the narrow bed, reflecting that, since their arrival in Otherworld, uncomfortable beds had become a regular feature. He was surprised Nevan hadn’t interfered in their sleeping arrangements, but once they had arrived at the Voda Kuca, the Wolf Leader had immersed himself so deeply in his own affairs he appeared not to notice what was going on. Either that, or Cal’s warning went deeper than Nate had originally thought.
Pulling the bedclothes over Violet, he removed his clothes before joining her.
Her chuckle was sleepy. “That’s the sort of memory loss I like. So I forget everything except you.”
He held her close. “Get some sleep. We have an early start tomorrow.”
Chapter 20
The desolate encampment on Vukod had an eerie feel to it in the early morning light. A faint mist rose above the settlement, and a chill breeze swept off the ocean as Emil pulled their dinghy up onto the beach and led them along a winding path.
As they approached the first of a cluster of wooden huts, they encountered a group of children jumping in and out of the puddles left by a recent thunderstorm. Their feet were bare, but they wore warm sweaters and rolled-up sweatpants, and they appeared well nourished. They paused in their game to watch the visitors as they passed. One of them, a girl who was bolder than the others, darted forward and clasped Violet’s hand, walking alongside her.
“My lady.” The child’s eyes were bright as she smiled up at Violet.
The gesture and the look in the girl’s eyes jolted something in Violet’s chest. It was as if something broke loose inside her with a lurch.
“Oh, I remember this.” She stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Nate. “I remember what it was like before we built the huts. And you—” she stooped to catch hold of the child’s other hand “—I remember you. You are Mila.”
The little girl laughed delightedly and dashed on ahead, calli
ng out as she ran. “My lady is here! She has come back.”
There was a bustle of activity among the meager huts as Mila scampered between them. People came outside to see what the commotion was about and remained in front of their stark dwellings when they saw Violet. As she walked among them, catching glimpses of faces she knew, it felt like walls inside her head were tumbling down. She recalled the heartbreaking horror of this place when these people first arrived.
“Roko was useful,” she explained to Nate as they proceeded along the narrow track that led them into the center of the camp. As she progressed, people called out to Violet, and she responded to many of them by name. “I asked him for help, and he mobilized his supporters to build these huts. We traveled around the other islands together, appealing for donations of food and clothing. Wolves are pack animals. Even my father’s supporters could not bear to hear of other werewolves suffering in this way. Although they gave secretly, they were generous in their donations.”
When they reached the center of the camp, Emil left them to go and see his mother while Violet made her way toward one of the huts. An elderly man was seated on a stool beside the door, and his eyes crinkled into a smile when he saw her.
“So you came back?”
“I never meant to stay away.” She bent to hug him. When she straightened, she held out her hand to Nate, drawing him forward. “This is my friend Marko. There is nothing he doesn’t know about werewolf healing. We are very lucky to have him here in the camp.”
Nate looked around him at the sparse living conditions. “Do you feel lucky to be here?”
“I am lucky to be alive,” Marko said. “If it was up to Nevan, I would have died on a boat, adrift in the middle of the ocean.” His calm tone took any drama out of the words, yet made the reality of them starker. “Or the instant I set my foot on vampire soil.”
Violet sat on the scrubby grass next to Marko’s stool, and Nate joined her. “How are things here?” Violet waved a hand to indicate their surroundings.
