When Aquilo’s hand slipped trembling into mine, I clasped it, needing as much comfort as he did because Lux was aiming for full Blair Witch scare.
Huddled in the dark of the attic, knowing that the House of Blood might not only be killers but aimed to use the Wolf Tamer as weapons in the war against all wolves, I was trapped.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
My three Charms and Aquilo knelt in the middle of Cosmos tower with their blond heads bowed. It reminded me of my first day back in Oxford, when I’d walked down the rank of kneeling Omegas in the Training Center. I’d been turned on and excited then, seeing no more than sinfully hot guys that I could choose to control as my own. Pinned now against the stained glass window of Mars and pooled in its blood-red light by bronze shadows that trapped my own ones, however, I’d learned my lesson about the danger of controlling anyone.
Only perfect Omegas, the sign had read. Yet by choosing the REJECT, I’d picked the prince.
I squirmed, cracking back against the glass, whilst my shoulders ached. When I couldn’t break the shadows’ hold, I growled in frustration.
Wolves might’ve murdered my parents, but witches were about to spark a war that’d wipe out the wolves.
Honestly, that made the witches the assholes.
I peeked at Lux, who leaned against the stone wall behind my kneeling guys. She twirled a curved silver knife like a circus trick or as if she was seriously into knife play. When she caught my eye, she smirked, resting the tip of the blade on the back of Aquilo’s neck. He stiffened but didn’t move.
I became ashen, before dropping my gaze.
Lux laughed, trailing the knife lower down her brother’s back.
Bang — the door to the tower slammed open.
Ivy stalked in, scowling. I’d never seen her look so furious and boy, was it chilling. Her gaze flicked to Lux. “For the love of…stop playing with your brother.”
Lux lifted the knife away from Aquilo but not before pressing just hard enough to leave a crimson trail with an expression of childish innocence.
I snorted. “You’re one screwed-up family if you call that playing.”
Ivy swept closer to me, cupping my cheek, and I wrinkled my nose at the coppery tang that washed from her in waves. “I forget how little you know of true witch heritage or family. You poor thing, raised amongst the non-magical.” She petted me, sympathetically.
I wished that I could bite her fingers. Instead, I contented myself with thrashing against the shadows again. “I take it that they like to tie up their guests, right?”
Ivy’s thumb swept across my chin. “Only the Wolf Charmers who discover our secrets.” I bit my lip to hold back the gasp, whilst my heart thundered. Did Lux have that knife because she was in execution mode again…? “Don’t look so scared. Of course, I should have anticipated that a Wolf Charmer would’ve worked out the truth, especially after Stella was indiscreet enough to use the Wolf Tamer on your Omega. It only proves what a bright spark you are.”
I winced because Ivy could never imagine that it’d actually been her own son who’d figured it out. It was agonizing not to be able to tell her the truth; I couldn’t risk drawing punishment onto Aquilo.
“Sometimes, I even remember to wear my pants.” I smirked. “Although, sometimes they are inside out, but I don’t pretend to be a genius.”
Ivy’s gaze darkened. I shook, as her pupils flooded with red like blood.
“You’ve never seen a wolf shifter in battle, have you?” Her breath was hot against my cheek, whilst she pressed against me, overwhelming and oppressive. “Oh my, don’t tell me that you imagine the massacre at the House of Silver was the worst attack that’s occurred? Since the peace, yes indeed, because it was an assassination. But that was nothing compared to the horror a wild shifter can wreak when transformed for battle. Tell me, how sweet do your Charms look in their collars and kneeling, but how scared would you be if they shifted right now?”
I shivered at the ferocity of her words, yet I remembered Moon’s majesty as a white wolf on the lawns of the House of Silver. He’d been even more sinfully beautiful as a wolf than as a man.
Nope, terrified was definitely not the word.
But I had to keep acting the worthy Wolf Charmer to save Aquilo and my Charms, so I simply nodded, unable to look at my kneeling Charms in case they quivered with hurt and hoping that they understood I was still playing a game with the Bloods.
Ivy gave a smug smile. “That’s why we train a Wolf Charmer and her Charms, starting now.”
I shuddered. Training didn’t sound good… “Honestly, the Scooby Doo thing was my fault. I know that I uncovered your secret, but can’t the training at least wait until the morning? You know, my wrists are hurting here…”
Ivy sighed. At a wave of her hand, the bronze shadows retracted and my crimson spilled out of me in waves in relief at being freed. I dropped to the floor, rubbing at my wrists.
“Did you ever wonder what would happen if a Wolf Charmer didn’t fulfill their remarkable potential?” Ivy arched her brow. I forced myself to meet her wine-red eyes. “Because I dared to. The Wolf Tamer doesn’t simply force a wolf out of its shift on a full moon. It also forces the wolf side far back, when they’re in human or partial shift form, which makes even an Alpha compliant and docile. I believe it’s called being a visionary.”
Or a war criminal…
I gritted my teeth. “But you have me now: the daughter-in-law who’ll become the greatest Wolf Charmer ever. You don’t need to drug the wolves.”
“Well, doesn’t that rather depend on how well you break the beasts?”
Suddenly, the howling, panting synthpop of Shakira’s “She Wolf” burst from the phone in my pocket. I tried to smother my laughter behind my hand.
Okami was forgiven for all his pranks, almost.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed, before she shoved me against the wall and wrestled out my phone.
I tried to grab it back. “Hey…”
Ivy read the message, before her lips thinned, and she shoved the phone in my face.
Did u smash the ring?! *sigh* Naughty, naughty… :( Ste X
“How shocking. I believe that the obvious question is: Did you?” Ivy pursed her lips.
I shrugged. “Hey, accidents happen.”
The chorus of “She Wolf” howled from my phone again, and Ivy hissed.
Where r u? Have u forgotten sexy wolves aren’t perfect? :( Ste X
Ivy grimaced, grasping the phone so tightly that the screen cracked. When “She Wolf” sang out for yet another time and my Charms didn’t even attempt to hide their snickers, Ivy hurled the phone to the floor and stamped on it.
Crunch — I cringed at the phone’s destruction.
Yet also…halleluiah because now Stella couldn’t send me her magical texts.
“Who’s smashing things now?” I raised my eyebrow.
“I believe that I shall enjoy smashing your things.” Well, I’d walked into that one. When Ivy stalked towards my kneeling guys, I shadowed her through the sizzling and ringed planets of the solar system that hovered in the tower. Lux pushed herself away from the wall, prowling around to the front of my pack, flipping the knife. They were ranked besides the dusty red Mars and cast in its light. Ivy glanced over her shoulder at me. “I freed you, sweet daughter-in-law, but the shadows will hold you again if you interfere. This is how Wolf Charmers and their Charms have trained for centuries.”
I nodded, and my hands clenched, as Lux wrenched back Aquilo’s head and rested the blade against the delicate skin of his neck.
Huh, these dick witches didn’t go for subtle in their threats.
I smiled gently at Aquilo. When his gaze met mine, it sparked with an ice that could burn. How had I missed how brave he was?
At a sudden slithering hiss, I looked around to watch in horror as silver glided out of the inside of the planets to coat their skins until they shone like gilded boulders. It’d be agonizing for any wolf to touch them. When I turned
back to my Charms, I noticed that they’d clasped each other’s hands. It surprised me but filled me with warmth that Moon even clutched Aquilo’s hand.
I didn’t want Aquilo to feel the misfit of the pack, either better than my princes because he was a mage or my witch official husband, or worse because he wasn’t part of a wolf kingdom. They were different but they’d all be equal.
“The first part of training is to force a transformation.” Ivy smiled at me encouragingly.
For the first time, I smiled back. “Yay to me, I’ve already done that. So, I pass?”
Ivy blinked. “I’m delighted. So, the second part of the training is to force a transformation and then train amongst the planets.” Of course there was a second part. There was always a catch. “Oh, and let’s see if your wolves are as advanced on the curriculum as you.”
She rapped Amadeus on the head. “What are wolves?”
When Amadeus sank lower on his knees, hunching his shoulders, my shadows whipped around the tower in rage. I remembered this game from the Clocktower, when Moon had been humiliated. How many times in their lives had the shifters been made to say this mantra?
Had it broken them?
“B-be…” Amadeus whispered.
“Louder, wolf, so that we can all hear,” Ivy demanded.
Amadeus glanced up, whilst his ruby eyes glittered. He met my eye, before he drew his hand down his chest teasingly, palming his dick over his tights and tipping his head back as if wanking. He licked his lower lip, panting. My breath hitched, as warmth unfurled inside at his performance…and that’s what it was: A performance. “Sexy,” he moaned, before removing his hand from his now hard dick and settling back on his heels with a look of satisfaction.
When Ivy raised her hand to strike him, I caught her wrist.
“You get to train, but they’re mine to discipline, remember?” I demanded. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a long hard discipline session with him tonight with spanking and everything.”
Amadeus only just hid his smirk in time.
Ivy nodded, although a muscle in her cheek twitched. She gripped Moon’s chin. “You know the answer, beast. What are wolves?”
Moon growled. “By my fangs, isn’t the true question, as I once asked before: What are witches?”
“We’re not savages like you.” Ivy spun to Emperor, who knelt with his shoulders straight and a challenging stare. “Last chance. What are wolves?”
Emperor glanced at me. “Protectors.”
Ivy snarled, grabbing Emperor by the back of his robes. “Killers.” When I blocked her, she shook her head. “My goodness, have you forgotten already? No interference.”
Reluctantly, I stood to the side, as she hurled Emperor towards the planets. He threw out his hands to catch himself as he fell, and hissed in pain as they caught the gilded Mars.
“The queen of the Alphas and her children waltz into our world beyond Wolf Kingdom like they still have a right to it. Like they’re not beasts, savages, and killers. I would indeed love to see the Prince of the snooty Alphas forced to transform and train.” Ivy’s wide smile was spiteful.
When Emperor’s jaw clenched, and he wrapped his arms around himself as if to hide his tremors, I understood: he’d never shifted in public before and if he did, then his secret would be revealed. Everybody would discover that he was an Alpha rather than an Omega, and either the witches or his own family would kill him.
When Emperor’s pleading gaze met mine, I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach because he’d called me Chief Alpha and yet I didn’t know how to protect him.
Had I been judging Omegas all along just like the other witches did? My power was bonded to Moon’s, so why shouldn’t I trust that he was strong enough to help out an Alpha?
I sneaked a glance back at Moon. His brows were furrowed in confusion, and he was biting his lip as he watched Emperor’s attempt to mask his fear. Moon didn’t know Emperor’s secret…? Was I the only one who did, outside the royal family of the Alphas?
When Moon met my gaze, my shadows wrapped around him in a sensual caress. His magic wove out, tangling around mine, until I shuddered. My red pointed at the planets, and Moon took a deep breath, before he nodded.
“If you single skins are keen to see a true savage wolf,” Moon dived towards the planets, shoving Emperor against the wall and safe, “then you’ll be wanting the rebel Prince of the Wilds.”
When Moon winked at me, it was the permission, for which I was waiting. My crimson pressed deep into Moon’s collar, caressing him in long strokes that made him shudder like I was touching him somewhere much more wicked and giving him as much of a hard-on as Amadeus still had from his earlier performance. If I had to wrench Moon into his shifter form, then I could at least make it pleasurable.
Moon’s smile was steeled by bravery but also softened by his desire. My heart stuttered because Stella had said that I wasn’t choosing a wolf to love, but I’d Claimed Moon and even Wolf Bitten him. I’d never felt closer to anyone, and I’d do anything to protect him, yet I’d allow him to protect me because that was respecting his strength and his choice.
Was that love…?
Moon arched and howled. In a spray of silver, he transformed into a white wolf. Instantly, he bared his fangs, whilst his tail and ears stiffened. Then he raised himself up onto two legs, towering above Ivy.
Ivy became pale, as she backed away to the wall, dragging Amadeus with her. “See?” She announced shrilly. “Surely you’re scared now? They wear two skins, and the human one is false. Here’s the savagery beneath.”
Lux snatched Aquilo by the hair, yanking him away to the wall as well, almost like she was protecting him, even though she kept the knife to his throat.
Yet I wasn’t scared. Moon was even more majestic like this than he’d been on his best behavior in the garden and still uncertain of how I’d treat him. He was gorgeous, wild, and free.
Why the holy hell did the witches think that they had the right to control when he shifted?
When the planets started to spin, Moon landed back on all fours and nudged me with his nose, until I stepped back. I’d been his enemy and Wolf Charmer, but now I’d been the one transformed to pack, and he’d suffer to save me and all of the wolves.
Who was the reject Omega prince now?
The planets began to orbit around the flaring sun. Moon leapt and ducked, slinking between them with a powerful beauty. Then the planets’ orbit narrowed, as they picked up pace. Moon yelped, as the silver caught him on one side and then the other.
Think, Crimson, come on…
When Moon howled, seared down his shoulder, whilst narrowly missing burning his muzzle, I burst out my crimson, which melded with his silver. Moon jerked, before I tugged him between the planets like it truly was a game and Moon was a piece on the board.
When Ivy chuckled, my hands clenched convulsively. “Star pupil! Every Wolf Charmer can make her beasts stronger, faster, more agile when she controls them.”
My eyes narrowed. Was I controlling Moon, or was the hidden truth that we were working together?
Moon crouched beneath one spinning planet and dived over another, snarling in victory, until suddenly the planets broke orbit and instead, revolved in unpredictable courses.
“What kind of magical chaos…?” I gasped.
My red tried to drag Moon beneath the wild swing of Saturn, but it caught his rump, sizzling a blistering line, before knocking him sprawling into the path of Mars.
“Stop this,” Aquilo hissed. “How could any Wolf Charmer on their first try complete the Advanced Setting…?”
“I believe that the rebel Prince of the Wilds should be able to survive a little training.” Ivy examined her nails. “If he survives, let’s see if he’s able to remember what a wolf is more clearly. If not, we’ll simply try again.”
I battled to swing Moon out of the way of one planet, only for another to careen towards him. Sweat dripped down my forehead, stinging my eyes. I shook with the effort
of directing my red into Moon, so that he’d have the strength to leap high enough to escape the silver, yet the sensitive soles of his paws still caught and burned.
When Earth unexpectedly changed trajectory and thundered towards him, he could only cringe as he limped away.
It was going to hit him…
“Enough!” Aquilo snapped the chain holding the blood pendant around his neck.
A whirlwind sprang up around Moon like a living entity, gently lifting and carrying him to my feet.
I crouched, wrapping my arms around Moon’s neck and resting my chin on the soft fur of his head, whilst he whimpered. At the same time, a furious blast blew the planets like they were no more than bubbles back against the far wall with an echoing crack. The silver melted back inside the planets.
Aquilo hung his head, breathing hard. Lux dropped the knife away from his neck in shock.
Ivy stared at her son. “You fool.” She slapped Aquilo, hard enough to rock his head to the side and paint his cheek scarlet, but I was surprised that her eyelashes were matted with tears. “How do you believe that I can save you now, and all over a savage who would murder you if he could?” She raised his wrist, where his blood bracelet was throbbing violently. When she traced around it with maternal concern like she was putting a Band-Aid on a grazed knee, my stomach churned. She didn’t raise her gaze to me. “Well, I quite understand that you must be disappointed in us. I apologize for hiding this shameful secret but I’m certain that you must… Will you grant me a moment with my son, before you break the bond? After that, training may resume.”
I blinked at her. Then I blanched. Holy hell, she expected me to kill her son in front of her because I’d discovered that he was a mage. I was certain that this supernatural world was making me a dick as well, but for the first time, I had the advantage and I knew enough from my uncle’s business to know when to twist the knife in takeovers.
“Of course.” I gave a sickly smile.
Then it was Aquilo’s turn to both blanch and blink, and I flinched at the way that Moon’s fangs were not so gently biting into my arm in warning.
Only Perfect Omegas: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Series (Rebel Werewolves Book 1) Page 27
