Sought by the Alphas Complete Boxed Set: A Paranormal Romance Serial

by Carina Wilder

  Then there was Rauth, and an entirely different sort of battle. Why was it that love and hate were divided by such a fine line? The man brought out every passion in her and she seemed to flip back and forth between the two extremes as though they were merely neighbours, rather than mortal enemies.

  “What am I going to do about you?” she muttered, a hand on her chest as she tried to breathe deeply.

  “Talk, I hope.”

  The voice from the doorway was Rauth’s. He stood, looking at her, as though he’d been watching for hours.

  Normally in these circumstances Lachlan came to her first, consoling, protecting. For Rauth to do so was almost unheard of.

  “You’re back,” said Gwynne, leaning up on her elbows. “Is Lachlan with you?”

  “He wanted to see the children…”

  “One last time,” said Gwynne, predicting the conclusion of his thought.

  “Now, Gwynne…”

  “No, Rauth. That is what you were going to say, isn’t it?”

  “Nothing is so simple as you think. Even Lachlan knows that our arrangement isn’t sustainable.”

  “God, I wish you wouldn’t refer to our relationship as an ‘arrangement.’ It’s offensive.”

  Rauth sat on the foot of her bed and looked at her. “Our love, then, Gwynne. The love that we all share. It can’t last forever.”

  “It can when children are involved. None of us will ever love them less.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “What do you propose happen to Lachlan? To us?”

  Rauth found himself looking at his feet, unable to come up with a satisfactory answer. “There is time yet to sort that out. For now we need to deal with Drake. He will be seeking revenge, and this time I doubt if it’ll come in the form of child-stealing.”

  “Kidnapping.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A modern term. It doesn’t matter. Listen, Rauth—you infuriate me. And I’m still angry with you—you’re always trying to lead, even when leading isn’t necessary. But I need you to think. To consider all of this. To remember who I am. I grew up far from my current life, and love was valuable to me, above wars and thick stone walls. Much as I want peace, I also want my family. And that’s you and Lachlan as much as Roh and Lily. You are everything.”

  “In your world, though, women do not have the luxury of keeping two men around for their own pleasure,” said Rauth. The reminder stung. “And in this one, our arrangement no longer makes sense in the face of duty. Lachlan and I cannot both remain at the head of the pack. It isn’t how wolves function.”

  “But you two brought me here and tangled me up in your web. And now I’m stuck. And the sad truth is that I never want to come unstuck. I love it here. There is a chance at the sort of happiness that people write about in books, and I feel like it comes close to being within my grasp and then it’s torn away. Over and over again. All I ask is for a chance. I ask you to give us that chance, to find a way to try and get over your wolf telling you what’s the right thing to do. For once, listen to the man inside.”

  Rauth stood then and walked to the door.

  “I’m not a monster, Gwynne,” he said as he reached for the handle. “Much as you see your father in me, I am not him.”

  With that he shut the door, closing himself into the room, and approached her again. With his left hand he ran along the silk that covered her breasts.

  “I may deny the depth of my feelings, but they do exist. I am aware of their significance,” he said. “I am also aware of this.”

  With that, he moved his hand down and thrust his fingers between her thighs and upwards, pushing the fabric towards the flesh that was growing moist and hot for his touch.

  “I still take in your scent. I know your desires,” he said, leaning towards her. His blue eyes seemed to produce icy flames which drew her in further.

  “As I know yours,” Gwynne replied. Her left hand reached under his tunic and found his hardness pressed against his thigh, seeming to try and stretch all the way down to his knee. “I know what you like.”

  “You know better than anyone,” he said. “And I miss you when I’m torn away.”

  He lifted his tunic so that his abdominal muscles taunted her and pulled the garment away. Every inch of his hard frame was taut with desire and perspiration coated his torso, defining each beautiful curve.

  “Take off your dress,” he growled. “Now.”

  For a moment Gwynne considered denying him the pleasure. But to do so would have meant denying herself as well, and that simply seemed foolish. They might not have another chance to be together in this way

  She took the hem of her dress delicately in her fingers and raised it an inch at a time, revealing the white of her calves and then her soft thighs. Rauth let out a palpable sigh as he stood back to watch. When the pink flesh between her legs revealed itself to him, it was as though he were taking it in for the first time.

  “I hope,” he said, “That if ever you grow to truly despise me, you nevertheless let me feast on your beautiful pussy.”

  Before she could remove her dress entirely, his tongue was lashing her, punishing her gently for their disputes.

  Home, for this moment, was where Rauth was.

  * * *

  Dragon Queen 18

  “We need to move fast.” It was Rauth who had spoken the words, though he knew that everyone in the room was aware of the truth: Drake wouldn’t sit idle for long.

  Lachlan, Rauth, Cynric, Freya and Gwynne were gathered in the war room. Word had been sent for Cynric to join them so that he could assemble his full army, though he hadn’t yet been told the plan of action.

  They had to go to Drake; if they waited for him to attack Dundurn the wolves could fight him off, but not before he’d done a lot of damage to the castle and possibly its inhabitants.

  “What do you propose?” asked Cynric, eager to put plans into motion.

  “Our wolves will head to the base of Carrfyr’s mount. There is little else that we can do,” said Lachlan, speaking before Rauth had a chance. “That’s why we’re relying heavily on flyers.”

  “The plan,” said Rauth, glaring at his cousin for taking charge, “is to pull Drake out of the castle. To lure him in some way. Unfortunately that will be up to Gwynne, who will have to risk her life.”

  “It’s fine,” said Gwynne. “I’ll happily risk it to protect the children and our home.”

  “We need to get Drake within firing distance. This will mean that his own fortifications have to be weakened enough so that he has little or no choice but to leave them behind.”

  “That’s where my men will come in,” said Cynric. “And my women.” Gwynne glanced at him. There had seldom been talk of female fighters.

  “So some of your army is female?” she asked. “How progressive of you.”

  “We do have some very nimble women on our side. Flyers aren’t like wolves; many females are able to shift.”

  “Well, the more the merrier,” said Lachlan. Rauth remained silent. He still didn’t like the idea of sending women into battle, but given that his mate was to be their greatest weapon, he stopped himself from protesting.

  “Much as we might like to figure every step out,” he said, “We won’t know until Drake moves what our options are. Our archers will attack him from below, so Gwynne, you need to move quickly out of firing range. But there is a chance that arrows won’t do much against his scales.”

  “I can tell you now that they won’t,” said Gwynne, who knew that ultimately it would be up to her to bring the dragon down.

  “Well, we must try,” said Rauth. “It’s one thing to let you lure the drake away from his home, but I won’t have you put yourself in harm’s way any more than necessary.”

  “Right, because you need me here at home to raise the children and wash the dishes,” growled Gwynne, tired of the constant roller coaster of emotion to which her relationship with her mates subjected her. Perhaps she should simply take th
e reins and tell them both that their time as alphas was through. She could see herself quite happy, moving to a convent with the children and far from muscle-bound testosterone machines.

  But then again, she did love them.

  “Gwynne.” Freya stood in the doorway, beckoning to her daughter, who gladly left the men behind talking amongst themselves in heated tones as they disagreed on strategy.

  “Pull him south of the castle.” Her mother spoke quietly, seemingly in secret, to her daughter. “Towards the stones.”

  “The stones?”

  “There is a circle of standing stones a few miles south of Carrfyr. Drake has always feared them for their magical properties. Much as he’s able to turn into a dragon he’s alway been put off by the notion of druids and incantations. But I’m rather fond of the whole thing. It’s one reason I’ve gained a reputation as a witch.”

  “Will you teach me?” asked Gwynne. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “I will show you a trick or two. The important thing is to keep him from flying once you’ve lured him overhead. We stand a chance against him if we can ground him.”

  “Good. We’ll discuss this later.”

  The two moved towards the table to listen once again to the men.

  “We move out at dawn,” Rauth was saying. “The children stay here, as do some guards and flyers. The rest of us will congregate at the encampment near Carrfyr and the following morning we attack.”

  “Very good, my Lord,” said Cynric. Rauth still didn’t entirely trust this new ally, but he was sensible enough not to question an offer of help.

  “Get some rest, everyone,” said Lachlan. “It will be a brief but bloody war.”

  * * *

  Dragon Queen 19

  In the morning the shifters set out on the hike to Carrfyr. The flyers scattered throughout the sky, intending to come at the castle from every direction in order to surround it in case their help was required. The army of dire wolves prowled throughout the woods, their plan to remain concealed under the thick treetops until Drake’s whereabouts had been established.

  Gwynne walked alone in silence, Lachlan behind her and Rauth ahead, discussing plans with Hallam in their human forms.

  She would not reveal her dragon until it was absolutely necessary, as much as it strained to release itself, to seek proper vengeance. Her patience was finally at an end; now that her children were safe a sort of blood lust had set in. Gwynne recognized it as her déor’s instinct rather than any part of her humanity. But just this once, she agreed with her dragon: Lord Drake’s time had come to an end. He was her father in blood only, and the world would be a better place without him.

  It was noon when they came to Carrfyr’s outskirts. The castle looked the same as always; a dark towering structure atop the craggy outcropping which always looked as though it might crumble if touched, too precarious to climb and yet strong enough to support its owner’s home.

  Gwynne recalled what Freya had mentioned as they advanced: the circle of standing stones to the south. She hadn’t expressed to her mates the plan to lure her father there; they would never have agreed to it. But she knew it to be the only viable solution to conquering Drake once and for all. If not, she would die trying.

  Her mother had taught her an incantation which she repeated to herself under her breath, meant to use the magic of the stones to bring the drake to earth without harming her own ability to fly. She could only hope that she was gifted enough to employ the spell successfully.

  The shifters stopped at the edge of the woods, with Rauth staring up at the castle when Gwynne found herself standing at his side.

  “He’s in there,” she said quietly. “I can feel it. I can smell him in the air.”

  Her mate turned to her. “And are you ready to take on the task ahead of you?” he said.

  Gwynne smiled in spite of the gravity of the current situation. “Why Rauth,” she said, “I’m pleased that you’re asking instead of issuing me an order.”

  “Well, you’re one of the few among us who can make it up there. And the only one who’s fought Drake,” he said, his tone serious. “I must defer to your judgment.”

  “I propose that I lure him out, which probably means giving him no choice but to leave.”

  “What do you mean by that?” This time it was Lachlan’s voice that sounded, coming from behind her. Gwynne could hear fear in it—the idea that she would risk her life had never sat well with him.

  “If you want to get ants running in circles,” said Gwynne, turning his way. “You take out the anthill.”

  * * *

  Cynric gave the orders to a party of flyers who were assembled on the ground: they were to attack Carrfyr as they had previously done to Dundurn, dropping large stones, damaging the building’s structure. And Gwynne would accompany them.

  This time it was to the alphas to wait, to sit and watch their mate in action, as Gwynne had so often awaited their return from various battlefronts. Neither man was happy about it, but both had to admit that they were powerless in this one situation.

  “She’s committing suicide,” Lachlan growled as he stood next to Rauth. “We shouldn’t send her out into the depths like this.”

  “You know as well as I do that we have no choice in the matter. She’s always been our best chance. Our weapon.”

  “Our weapon! Our mate. Our lover. The mother of our children.”

  “Gwynne’s primary role, Lachlan, the reason we brought her here all those months ago, was her power. This is her fate.”

  “And you would stand here and watch her die.”

  “If it means victory, then yes I would.” Rauth’s tone was flat, as though feeling was simply not an option. Lachlan turned away in disgust, unable to bring himself to say the words he so wanted to. Perhaps Rauth was the better leader; a man with no heart couldn’t be injured, after all.

  What he couldn’t see was an agony deep inside his cousin. Rauth felt that he was losing her, just as he’d nearly lost her during the twins’ birth. And without her he had no idea anymore how to live.

  * * *

  As he stood at the edge of the woods, Lachlan watched the flyers begin their assault on Carrfyr’s high towers, carrying large chunks of stone from the nearby cliff edges to send them hurtling down, giant projectiles intended to take out the fortifications. Some of the larger birds even pulled the blackened rock away from the strange mountain-like structure on which the castle stood, initiating rock slides which seemed to eat away at the black mountain itself.

  Gwynne watched their progress unfold as she soared higher than any of them, looking down on her father’s domain and on her new allies as they worked. She would wait until the castle had been compromised and then make her move.

  The already-weakened stone walls of the castle seemed to fall away easily at first, crumbling under the onslaught. But Drake was holding firm inside, apparently biding his time while he pondered his next move.

  The wolves paced impatiently in the woods, aching for a fight, unaccustomed to having to wait for their hunt to begin. Everything in them wanted blood and until Drake left his self-imposed prison they would have none.

  At last a stone, unleashed by Cynric, made a fatal blow to one of the castle’s outer walls, created a gaping hole in its side. Gwynne flew around to survey the damage. It was then that she spied the greenish dragon inside, preparing for his reluctant escape.

  She was some distance away yet, but her eyes locked on his, which in turn focused on her in a way that reminded her of a painting—dead, inanimate. Inhuman. There seemed to be nothing left in the man but this creature, hoarding the last of his possessions in this prison that he’d built for himself, his own solitary confinement.

  But he turned instead of flying towards her, slipping through a large doorway, deeper into the castle’s halls, where he seemed intent on remaining until the entire structure crumbled around him.

  So, he’s going down with his ship, thought Gwynne. It was clear that h
e wanted to lure her in with him, to take her down with his crumbling home. For a moment she considered flying into the castle and following, but then another plan struck her.

  She soared downwards, towards the stony slopes that led up to Carrfyr, and as she approached the first steep ridge she flipped her body and struck the stones with her strong tail, causing an enormous avalanche to the north of the castle, towards the sea.

  The rocks went tumbling down, as did portions of Carrfyr’s wall, which were now unsupported. Gwynne watched as they tumbled over the cliff, landing with great splashes in the ocean below.

  She circled around and came at the mount again, this time from the east, and struck it in the same way. Her tail seemed itself to be made of stone, able to take down tons of the stuff in one strike. Again, a portion of the wall came with it.

  It was when she’d struck for the fifth time that Drake finally gave in, silently admitting defeat.

  He came at her quickly, as though he’d been shot out of a cannon. She hovered in wait only for a brief moment before turning to the south.

  The plan, it seemed, was working.

  * * *

  Dragon Queen 20

  The circle of stones revealed itself after a minute or two, their ancient pattern laid out atop green, lush grass. Gwynne swooped down towards the structures, which jutted out from deep within the earth. She wasted no time looking over her shoulder; she knew that Lord Drake was close behind, exactly where she wanted him.

  Her déor landed with a thud at the circle’s center, claws digging into the hard earth as her golden scales glistened under the sun like a great beacon. But now it was time to speak the words that Freya had taught her, and the one thing her déor could not do was talk.