by Jaymin Eve
Jerak stood then and gave us all a brief nod. “I’ll send across a selection of demi-fey to assist in this matter. I know we keep ourselves slightly separate from the problems of the other races, but Kristoff is a blight on the world. You have our support to destroy him.”
All of us returned his nod; he turned and strode from the room, an ogre and pixie trailing after him. Chatter filled the space as everyone got their shit together and started to leave. These supes were all leaders in Stratford. Each of them would go back to their race members and find those who wanted to volunteer their services. I had no doubt they’d have more than enough volunteers. Supes were brave by nature, and on instinct would abhor the demon-touched sorcerer who had chosen this path.
Soon it was just Louis and my brothers left in the room.
“I’m going to find these last ingredients,” Louis said, shoving back his hair. “My gut is telling me that it’s going to take something extra strong to take this particular demon down. I want to have six backup plans in place.”
I nodded. “Keep us updated. Hopefully it’ll remain quiet here until you return.”
He left then, striding out of the prison and taking the entrance to the land above. He would open his step-through up there.
Despite the fact that I needed to see Mischa, I forced myself to remain in Vanguard. “I think we need to speak with the bears,” I said. “Find out how far this extends and how hard we’re going to have to come down on their pack.”
My brothers nodded, each of them joining me as we left the meeting room and crossed into the outer zone of the prison. We wore magical marks across our chests now, almost like a brand or tattoo, which allowed us free access to every area of Stratford and Vanguard. The magic in the mark circumvented all securities and allowed us to touch and manipulate the energy running within the prison. As we walked, the four of us talked more about what Mischa had told me, how our souls touched all four races, and how we should be able to tap into each one.
Jacob looked thoughtful, his green eyes staring off into nothing. “That’s why I don’t fully fit with my fey brethren. I don’t have all of their traits, and for the most part am grateful for that.”
I nodded. “Mischa’s my true mate, and this could mean yours could be from any of the four races.”
Tyson gave a low whistle. “Still can’t believe she’s your true mate. I feel like absolute shit for the hell I gave her when she acted so weird in the Sanctuary. In hindsight, her actions were far above what I’d have expected from a true mate who had to watch her guy all bedded up with a nasty little vampiress.” Another punch to my gut. “Not to mention that she was pregnant. And new to our world. She must have been in so much pain.”
Tyson should have just stabbed me in the chest. Would have been less painful than his words. My chest was clenched so tight it took me more than a few moments to be able to breathe freely again.
“You speak only truth,” I said to him. “This is a shame I’ll carry for a long time. Even before the fake-mate spell from Kristoff, I was pulling away from her. Don’t get me wrong, I always felt a draw to her, but a brief relationship wasn’t worth causing possible unrest in our pack, especially since Mischa didn’t know our ways. She wouldn’t have understood. She was already attached and she was Jess’s sister … I couldn’t see how it could work.”
A hand landed on my shoulder; dark blue eyes shot into me. “You have to stop blaming yourself, just do better by her now. Shit was outside of our control. There was no way for you to know that she would be your true mate.”
Braxton was right, but that didn’t change my pain. Speaking of…
“I’m going to ask Jess if she can get in touch with Josephina,” I said to the dragon shifter. “I still feel tendrils of that fake-mate spell and I want to know how to purge it completely. Mischa and I have the physical connection, but our mental bond has not clicked in yet, and I’m worried it’s partly to do with Cardia. The dragon queen knows much. Maybe she can help us understand.”
“Good plan. I know she’s been dying to see her dragon again. It’s been too long,” he said.
Our conversation ended as we’d reached the holding cells. A few guards were scattered around; they gave us nods but didn’t approach. We were the ultimate authority here, which is why it had been so easy for Kristoff to manipulate all of these supes when he was in charge. No one would have ever questioned him, and he’d done everything in his power to keep this prison hidden from us. That way we’d never see the shit he was pulling.
The holding cages were outside of the main prison, in the same row as the offices for the wardens and such. There were four bear shifters being held there at the moment, each in their own cage. I recognized all of them by sight. Stratford was not a huge city, and for the most part didn’t have members join or leave regularly.
The bears were all big bastards, as was standard, but I was bigger than all but one – Donnie, the alpha of the Tressa pack. He was also the uncle of Melly, the douchebag male who had it out bad for Jessa. She wanted to be the one to take Melly down ever since he’d punched her while her back was turned. Jessa definitely liked to fight her own battles, but I knew Braxton was dying to rip that particular bear limb from limb. He was working on his patience too.
I focused on the alpha douche. Near seven feet high, he had the general hairy ruffled look one would expect from a bear who’d been hibernating for six-months. His beard was almost to mid-chest, and the dark coarse hairs went everywhere as he started roaring at us. I strode right up to his cage, and before he could say anything more, reached through the bars, clutched his shirt in my fist, and yanked him forward, slamming his head into the bars.
His roars choked off as I repeated the action twice more. Damn, that was satisfying. I’d had pent up rage and fear living inside of me for too long. It was nice to let the vampire free and enjoy some good old fashioned bear bashing.
“Shut the fuck up,” I growled, noticing the daze leave his eyes and his mouth open again. “If I hear one more goddamn noise from you, none of you will make it to trial. I’ll see to it personally.”
He spluttered, but something in my gaze must have clued him in on how serious I was, because he knocked my hand away and took a few rapid steps back.
“You can’t do that,” the one to his left whined. “You’re council leaders. Bound by rules.”
Tyson snorted then. “We have lots of friends. None of them are council leaders. Most of them don’t like rules. Won’t be a problem.”
Jacob started flicking his fire around again. That was usually the prequel to him using his flames to keep a supe extra toasty warm.
The general power we exuded was working its magic now. All four bears looked like they were about to piss themselves in fear, and that was exactly where I wanted them. No one talked louder than those trying to outrun our wrath.
Jacob took the first line of questioning, his fireball casting shadows across his refined features. “Why are you trying to push your people onto a council seat? You know it doesn’t work that way, so what’s your endgame?”
No one spoke for a moment and the ball of heat grew larger, encompassing both of the fey’s hands. That seemed to be enough to kick one of them into gear.
“Kristoff teamed up with—”
“Shut up,” Donnie roared at him. “Do not speak one more goddamn word. We have pandered to these weaker races for too long. Now it’s our time.” He turned to us again. “You’ll get nothing from us. We know Kristoff’s plan will come to fruition and our rewards will be great. My father, and then myself, should have been the council leaders. This has been a long time coming.”
I could tell by his set features that he would not break. Not easily anyway. But he had let quite a bit of information slip in that last little spiel. This was why there was so much animosity between Melly and Jessa. Her father had been council leader in place of his uncle, and there would have been much hatred in him about that. He influenced his entire pack, gave them grounds to
fight against the traditions, gave them the heart to rebel.
We were going to end that now.
“You’ll face trial in a week. Think during this time what you hope to achieve with this rebellion,” Tyson warned them. “You’re dividing our community, and for what? Even if you managed to usurp us as leaders, they’d never follow you. You lost all their respect when you spat in the face of our traditions. In the face of the previous council, and all the elders. The Book of Guidance will never accept you. Not to mention you’re now allied with a demon-touched sorcerer who’s wanted in multiple countries for crimes against supes.”
With the truth of those words ringing through the cells, each of the bears paled. We turned and walked away. There was scuffling behind, and no doubt one of the bears wanted to talk, but for now they heeded their alpha’s command.
It took us no time to leave the underground and stride through the forests that were our home. The weather was still cool, but I could sense the turn of nature in this wilderness, the new buds of flowers just waiting for enough heat to burst into life, the first flickers of foliage pushing through the black of winter-dead trees. Spring in Stratford was the best time of year, the birth of life, the time of rejuvenation. This spring I would have a child born to this world. I still couldn’t really believe it.
“I’m going to find Mischa,” I said to my brothers when we were close to home. “I have some convincing and begging to do. I don’t want her at Jonathon’s any longer. She needs to be here with us, in the safety of our pack.”
They all nodded, and I felt through our bond that each of them loved Mischa too. That she was accepted and trusted as a precious member of the pack. Braxton halted me, his hand on my arm, his eyes staring off into the distance. I recognized the mind-speak thing. Jessa was in his head.
“Mischa is inside with Jess,” he said, turning back to face me. “They’ve been preparing dinner for us.”
The four of us kind of froze, the same wide-eyed expression across our faces. Jessa wasn’t exactly the domestic kind of female, she was more into eating food and kicking ass when she felt like it.
“Is this some kind of weird pregnancy thing?” Jacob was pretty much whispering, his eyes darting left and right like we were about to be attacked. “I feel like we should be on guard. Something is off here.”
I sent my consciousness along the bond toward Mischa, but other than feeling that she was happy and not in any pain, I couldn’t sense any more. She’d never shown me any signs of being someone who loved to cook, but then again, I’d worked really hard to not pay attention to her after our night together. I never even knew she painted, and that was clearly something she not only loved to do but was damn good at. I was going to find out everything about the enigma which was my human-raised, wolf-shifting mate. Everything.
Tyson was wringing his hands together. “We can do this, guys. We’ve weathered Jessa’s crap before. Whatever she is about to throw at us … we can handle it.” He was all jittery; his reassurance meant nothing in the face of his nerves.
Braxton was practically pissing himself with laughter now. “I’ve seen you face down ancient ravenous beasts with more calm than you’re currently displaying. I’ll handle Jess.” He was all confident as he strolled up to the front door.
I shook my head. “Poor, dumb bastard.”
Tyson snorted. “And that’s the last we ever saw of him.”
Braxton flipped us off. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Not one to let my brother take the lead, I strode quickly to his side, Tyson and Jacob right behind us. The house was quiet; even with complete focus I could hear nothing. There weren’t even any heartbeats or breathing noises. “Are you sure they’re here?” I murmured. “Can’t hear signs of life…”
We were creeping down the hallway, all of us on high alert. “She’s definitely here,” Braxton said, his voice deep and low. “I can feel the bond, even if she has me blocked out of her thoughts.”
Well, great. Not only was Jessa up to one of her schemes, but she now had an accomplice to help out. Mischa. Two gorgeous brunettes with too many brains and plenty of payback to dish out. Not a great combo.
Actually, I was really looking forward to … whatever was going to happen. I loved to see glimpses of the fire which burned deep inside of Mischa. I had no problem handling the heat.
The hallway had never seemed so long, but eventually we stepped one by one into the large circular living area. Jacob murmured something and fire shot from his hands to land in the huge hearth. Flames and warmth burst from the fireplace, filling the room with flickering shadows and light. Just as I was about to step across and hit the light switch, shadows moved and all four of us fell into fighting stance.
It was an ambush.
My fangs descended and I was about to charge when the room lit up. The brightness was blinding for a split second, and then the shouts started:
“Surprise!”
“Happy birthday!”
“Three cheers for our new council leaders.”
It took me a minute to get myself under control again and tuck my overly starving and angry vampire back inside where he would wait for the next moment to rip supes to pieces. The room was filled with at least fifty of our friends and family. Our parents were across at a long table loaded down with food, talking with Jonathon and Lienda. Nash was stuffing his face full of chocolate. Our adopted brother was keeping Jo and Jack on their toes, but I knew they wouldn’t have it any other way. Mom had only ever been able to conceive us; she’d have probably had twenty kids if she could have.
Mischa and Jessa were standing front and center, both of them radiant. The pregnancy glow was no myth.
Braxton moved quickly. He had his mate up in his arms in seconds. Jessa’s laughter carried across the house and I could hear her clearly.
“Of course you four idiots would think this was an attack. First instinct is always violence.”
Tyson and Jacob were at their side, already waiting for their turn to hug her. “You’ve never thrown us a … a surprise party. I mean, what the hell is it even supposed to mean?”
Jessa tilted her head to the side, her eyes resting on her twin. “Mischa said it’s something humans do a lot of. They surprise those they love with parties like these to celebrate their birthdays. We thought it was a great opportunity to celebrate all the good things.”
I was moving then, unable to stop myself from crossing to Mischa. She remained frozen in place, no doubt my determined gaze making her nervous. And yet she didn’t look nervous. Her cheeks were flushed, pretty and pink. She wore a deep purple dress which brought out the highlights in her blue-black hair. The outfit draped nicely over her rounded belly, and it was hard to believe she was almost ready to give birth. She was still so tiny.
My plan, as I crossed to her, was to simply wrap my arms around her and hug her close, show her how much I appreciated her beautiful, giving nature. She always wanted to make others happy. This surprise party was something special she’d done for me and my brothers, and I would never forget that.
Yep, my plan was just a hug. But the second I scooped her up and pulled her tightly into me, the hunger inside me roared to life. There was no stopping my lips from slamming against hers. I wasn’t sure what reaction to expect, but she didn’t resist me at all. She wrapped her arms around my back and opened herself completely to me. As she returned my fire with equal amounts of her own, it just about dropped me to my knees. The room faded away and there was nothing in my world except Mischa. Her weight was barely noticeable. I could have held her like this for days, kissed her for hours, but I knew she was probably growing uncomfortable with such a long, public display.
Humans weren’t as blasé about this sort of thing. Supes wouldn’t even look twice at a kiss like ours. I fought for the strength to pull my lips from hers, when all I really wanted to do was carry her to my room, strip her bare, and bury myself inside of her. The thought of her naked beneath me … it was enough to destroy the
small amount of self-control I’d been working on. Shit. I could do this for Mischa. When I finally managed to pull back, she protested with these cute little growly wolf noises and snuggled herself closer again.
Joy so pure it was actually painful exploded within me.
I felt her choose.
Choose me.
Choose us.
She did not pull away; she did not care about those who stared. This was Mischa loving me and I didn’t deserve it, but I was going to take it and hoard it like the greedy asshole I was.
She was mine now, and I would never let her go again.
Mischa Lebron
That kiss. It was like … holy sweet gods above. I had been kissed before – twice by classmates, human males, who immediately ignored me afterwards and pretended it never happened – and there had been one other time, a guy who didn’t understand the meaning of the word no – he’d eventually understood my fist in his throat, but that was another story…
The majority of kisses in my life had been from this vampire. The moment his lips touched mine it was like losing my mind completely and not even caring. I never wanted to separate from him. Didn’t care that dozens of eyes were locked on us right now. I needed him.
My mom was a damn hero. Now I really understood how much she had sacrificed to keep me and Jessa safe. It might have been cruel for me in some ways, lonely, but because of her I was alive to have this moment. To have Maximus. She had left part of her heart and soul behind to do that for me.
