“None of what you’re saying makes any sense,” Riana said.
“You’re my niece, Riana. Not my daughter.” He said it as if it left a foul taste in his mouth, and he couldn’t wait to get it out.
Hanna tried to wrap her head around what he was saying. She and Riana stared at each other, both lost in the confusion.
“Your mother thought it would hurt me to sleep with my brother,” Albert said. He pointed to Riana. “That right there is their spawn.”
Hanna allowed the shock to wash over her. So much made sense as he spoke. How much her mother hated her and loved her sister. The reasoning for her mother banning magic from their house. If Albert was the experience she had with witches and magic, then Hanna understood her dislike. It still didn’t give her mother cause to be cruel, but it made her get it.
She couldn’t breathe, but she knew one thing. Riana was still all that mattered, and she was getting her out of this.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll come with you. Just let her go. I won’t put up a fight.”
“You say that, but we both know better. As soon as you get the chance, you will come back here and check on her. I just can’t have that. No emotional attachments at all. That’s best for all witches.”
“Fuck you!” She spat at the ground near her father’s feet. “Riana isn’t someone you can harm because you think it’s best for me. She’ll always be my sister. No matter what our blood says, and she’s still your niece.”
His eyes went cold and sent a creepy shiver through her spine as if his hands had touched her. “I killed my brother for betraying me. How much do you think I care about his bastard offspring?” He stared at her as his hand filled with a gray cloud of power. “You need to learn early that love has no place in powerful witches. Maybe I need to be the one to sever your ties to prove how right I am.” His eyes never left her as he shot the rolling cloud at her sister like it was an arrow of smoke.
“No!” Hanna screamed as the cloud pierced through her sister’s body, and Riana fell to the ground.
“Constance, Abigail, restrain her,” Albert said.
Hanna tried to move, but two people gripped her shoulders until she was immobile. She looked up to see the woman who kissed Derek on one side of her and a woman who looked like her sister on her other side.
Both women dug their fingers into Hanna’s shoulders. Sharp points ripped into her flesh until Hanna could smell her blood. She couldn’t move as claws dug into her arms, restraining her.
Hanna pushed through the pain in her shoulders and stared up at Albert. “When you die,” Hanna said between gritted teeth, “I’m going to be the one to kill you and send you to the deepest layer of hell you can slither into.”
“Now, that sounds like a true daughter of mine,” Albert said, a twisted smile of pride filled his angular features. “We should get a move on. I’m sure those two mutts you’ve acquired are sniffing their noses straight towards us.”
“I will never be your daughter,” Hanna said, fighting through the pain. “I’ll never be a part of you. I’m a part of Riana. I’m a part of my mates. I’m part of everyone who loves me beyond what I am, and I’m strong because I love them back in return.” Saying that out loud felt freeing as if something had held her back and then broke free.
Then the gripping pain shot through her and brought her to her knees. This was deeper than the surface pain in her arms, which paled in comparison. Constance and Abigail’s claws in her arms had nothing on the searing pain that shot through her limbs. This was true pain that tore through her body and nipped at her soul.
“What did you do to her?” Albert’s voice was too far away.
“Nothing,” Constance said. “She just buckled over. We’re only holding her arms down.”
“Then release her!” Albert demanded.
Hanna fell all the way over as the claws retracted from her shoulders. She couldn’t take air into her lungs as she thrashed on the ground. Something was tearing her from the inside out.
Free me, something said at the edge of her mind, something deep within her. Let go and accept me.
She didn’t understand anything beyond the pain. It rippled through her body until it was all she could think about.
“It’s your wolf, Hanna,” Derek’s voice drifted through, but he didn’t sound close. “You have to free it.”
“Derek? It hurts. Please!” Her body felt like it was ripping itself apart piece by piece.
“We’re coming, baby,” Kyro’s voice was there, too. “But you’ve got to let your wolf out, or it’s going to hurt more.”
“Don’t. Know. How.” She couldn’t think straight, no matter how hard she tried to hang on to her mates’ words.
“Trust your wolf,” Derek said. “Focus on it and let it guide you to it.”
She’d do anything as long as the pain stopped. Whatever spoke to her didn’t seem hostile, so she tried to follow its words. She opened herself up to whatever the voice was. It was like releasing a death grip on a balloon and allowing it to fly heavenward. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and she was free.
“Shit!” Constance yelled. “She’s a wolf.”
The world shifted and seemed different. Where Hanna’s hands had rested on the floor stood front paws, brown fur with black and white spots covering the tops of them.
Wolf? They meant her. She was a wolf.
The world seemed sharper somehow, more vivid with life. All her surroundings were clearer than before as if she’d been walking in a haze all her life until then.
Hanna didn’t take long to find her sister’s immobile body. She turned her eyes to the man who would never be her father. He’d killed her sister, and she had a promise to keep.
Before she could realize the primal instinct filling her, she charged for the man just before he could send the same ball of gray energy to end her. He didn’t want to kill her? Right.
She jumped high into the air and knocked him on his back with a hard thud. No time was wasted as she sunk her teeth into his neck. Blood filled her mouth as he screamed. The metallic but fresh taste edged her on, making her clamp tighter on her grip.
He tried punching her sides and tossing her off, but she was too strong. She could feel the power of her wolf filling her up, unlike any magic she’d ever known.
“Get off me, beast,” he said, his voice strained in the gurgling of blood.
One deep clamp of her teeth was all it took to finally make him go silent and lifeless. This was just. What he’d done to her sister couldn’t stand, and there was no telling what he would have done to her.
Growls filled her ears as she released her hold on him. Abigail and Constance had shifted into their wolves.
It looked like more sadistic asses were getting a taste of her new wolf tonight. Two against one didn’t matter. Hanna was ready for them. She’d go down fighting, no matter what.
“Not so fast, baby,” a familiar voice said. “We’re here for you.” Derek. He was there. He stood next to her, but she didn’t take her eyes off the wolves before her.
“Sorry we took so long,” Kyro said. She recognized his wolf as he took up the other side of her.
Derek and Kyro. Her mates.
“Damn straight, and we’re not going anywhere,” Kyro confirmed.
The wolves of Abigail and Constance glanced over at Hanna’s mates, and a deep growl filled her throat.
Mine, she threw back at them. Clawing some eyes out sounded like a good plan to her wolf. These two had tried to take what was hers. Never again.
Before she could show them how serious she was, more wolves and men entered the warehouse. The new arrivals surrounded all of them.
Hanna’s wolf stood on alert.
“They’re with us,” Derek said. “We brought some reinforcements.”
The two women shifted then, seeing that they were outnumbered.
“We didn’t do anything to her,” Abigail said, holding her hands up. “Look at her. Not a scratch on her.”
> Constance shook her head. “You are such a suck-up, Abigail.”
“Didn’t hurt me?” Hanna asked. “You mean before or after you two dug holes in my shoulders?” She snarled at them.
Kyro rumbled out a groan. “You dare lay a hand on our mate?”
“She wouldn’t be your mate if she was dead,” Constance said.
A man stepped forward and glared at the women. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “You can’t be this stupid.”
“We deserve Alpha mates, Jaston,” Constance said. “Father said so.”
“He’s in on this, too?” Jaston shook his head. “I should have known. You’re just as deluded as he is. I’m ashamed to call you my family.”
Hanna didn’t have time for this. She needed to be beside Riana. She padded over to her, her muzzle nudging her sister.
Shifting back was simple, and she didn’t waste time reverting back to human. It was easier than when the wolf took over before.
She kneeled over sister and didn’t know she was crying until the hot tears poured over her cheeks. Once they started she couldn’t stop.
A blanket went around her followed by an arm.
“I’m so sorry, love,” Derek said.
“I came back here for her.” Hanna choked the words out. “To save her. I failed.”
“No,” Kyro said. He’d shifted back and placed a comforting hand on her. “Don’t say that.”
Hanna sniffled and shook. “It’s true. She was all I had.”
“Never,” Derek said. “Not anymore.”
Kyro nodded. “You have us.”
A small comfort warmed her insides, but as much as she loved that they were there. It couldn’t fill the hole that widened with her sister gone. How was she going to go on without Riana?
A small sound of breathing reached her heightened hearing. It was faint as if the person struggled for it. If Hanna had been just her previous witch self, she wouldn’t have caught it, but the sound was there like a tiny echo. Her wolf picked out slight my movement in the corner of her eye.
A man kneeled on the other side of Riana. It took a moment for her to recognize Linc Keller. He didn’t look the same in jeans and a t-shirt as he had in his medical clothes.
“Do you hear that?” Linc asked. He leaned over Riana. “She’s still breathing. Barely but she’s alive.”
“Riana?” Hanna rushed closer to her sister. “Can you hear me?”
Was it possible? Could her sister be alive?
“We have to do something,” Linc said.
“You’re a doctor,” Hanna said. “Can’t you do anything to help her?”
“She won’t make it to the hospital. It has to be you?”
“Me? I don’t know how to help her.”
“Yes, you do,” he said. The doctor held a confidence that Hanna didn’t feel herself. “I watched you help your sister in the hospital. Use your magic to heal her.”
“That wasn’t the same. She wasn’t near death. What if I kill her this time?”
“This isn’t any different,” Linc said. “You have to be the one to save her.”
“You can do it, Hanna.” Derek rubbed circles on her back, encouraging her on.
Kyro’s hand joined his. “We have faith in you.”
She felt strong with their support as the words came to her:
Goddess of all love, life, and spirit that binds,
Return breath complete body, soul, and mind.
Give blessings to one where innocence stems
Return back full vigor where the living helms.
Use all magic and power that pours out of me
And restore one pure of heart to where life may be.
Hanna waited for what felt like an eternity. Then her sister breathed in deep before evening out her breath.
“Mari Bug?” Hanna stroked her sister’s hair.
“Hanna?” Riana’s eyes searched around until she found Hanna.
“You’re okay.” Relief filled Hanna’s soul, and she finally felt like the world was right again.
“I’m okay,” Riana said. “Just sleepy.”
Hanna smiled. “Sleepy is good. Don’t do too much of it. Not sure how many times I can bring you back from near death before it wears on me.”
“Can you do me a favor?” Riana asked, holding Hanna’s hand.
“Anything.”
“Stop calling me Mari Bug.”
Laughter poured out of Hanna, which felt like a weight lifted. “I’m not making any promises on that one, but we’ll argue about it later.”
Sleep actually sounded good. “I think I may need to lie down for a bit,” Hanna said.
“Hanna?” Derek. “Are you okay?”
“Tired,” she said. That was the last thing she remembered before passing out.
Chapter 12
Hanna was in her favorite place when she opened her eyes: in bed between Derek and Kyro Keller. Given she’d only been there once before, but it was steadily becoming her favorite place to be.
She’d woken up briefly to talk to Riana on the phone, and her sister sounded in better health than she was. Hanna didn’t know if that was the magic talking or Riana finally deciding to move out of their mother’s house.
Of course, their mother had a fit and blamed it on Hanna. Riana put her foot down and told their mother that she couldn’t live in a place where Hanna wasn’t welcomed.
Hanna was surprised by the spunk her sister was growing into. At least she didn’t have to worry. Apparently, Riana was getting frequent visits by Linc Keller, since the guy owned the apartment homes she rented her new place in. Hanna held back her teasing, but she reminded herself to do it when she felt better.
Hanna wasn’t as exhausted as before, but she still felt a little weak. Good thing she liked staying in bed.
“Morning, gorgeous,” Kyro said. “You’ve been sleeping for hours.”
“I feel like it,” she said, snuggling into them.
“How about we run you a bath and fix you breakfast?” Derek asked.
“A bath sounds good, but only if you two join me.”
Derek chuckled. “Maybe you should rest more without our bad influence.”
She pouted. “But I want your bad influence. Please!”
“You may be able to turn that down,” Kyro said, “but I’m a weak wolf when it comes to our mate.”
“I think we both are since we’re about to give her what she wants.”
Hanna grinned with her little victory. They had let her rest for a couple of days. That meant no sex, which was torture when she had to wake up and go to sleep with them.
Kyro lifted her out of the bed, while Derek went ahead to run the bath. They made it just the way she liked it with lots of bubbles and her two mates surrounding her. She loved that word now. Mated. Her mates.
One took care of her front while the other catered to her back. “That feels nice.”
She took hold of Kyro’s cock and gripped it firmly. The way he shuddered made her wolf feel full of power. “We don’t have to do this yet, Hanna,” he said. He kept his eyes closed, since he was having problems concentrating as she went up and down his length.
She reached for Derek next, and he gasped from her touched. “He’s right. We can wait. We’d do anything for you.”
“I know, which is why I want you to fuck me right here,” she said.
Growls erupted from her men.
“Thank goodness,” Derek said. “We both want you so bad.”
“We weren’t sure how much longer we could sleep next to you without sinking into your sweet depths,” Kyro said.
“Then let me make it up to you,” Hanna said. “I want to taste you, both of you.”
“You sure you feel up to that?” Derek asked.
“Can’t your mate get what she really wants?”
“Don’t have to ask us twice, sweetness,” Kyro said.
The both sat back on the edge of the big Jacuzzi tub, while she grabbed them both. She brought h
er mouth to Kyro’s tip and licked the head. Hanna ran her hand up and down Derek’s hardness, while she tasted Kyro.
She enjoyed the way he guided her head with perfect control, using her for what he needed.
“Do you know how fucking hot you look sucking me off, Hanna?” Kyro asked. “It’s one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She moaned against him, sending vibration against his cock.
“Just like that,” he said, roaming his fingers through her hair.
“Is it my turn yet?” Derek asked.
She released Kyro with a pop and one final lick from base to tip before making her way to Derek. They were both long and wide, but their tastes were unique to them. She could tell them apart blindfolded.
One a little saltier and the other a little sweeter. They were her own tasty morsels to play with whenever she liked.
Hanna kept her hand stroking Kyro as she sucked Derek. She licked his balls before going down on him.
“Shit,” Derek said. “He’s right. You’re so beautiful when you do that.”
She hadn’t had nearly enough when they stopped her.
“If we don’t take you now, there won’t be time to sink into you,” Derek said.
“How do you want us, beautiful?” Kyro asked.
She wanted to see what they felt like switched. “I want you in my pussy and Derek in ass.”
“It gets me off just hearing you talk like that,” Derek said.
Kyro got into the tub and guided her over his cock. “Take me when you’re ready, Hanna.”
Hanna eased down, letting the tip of him deep inside of her. She eased down inch by inch until he filled her up. She clenched down on him, and he hissed.
Kyro slapped her ass. “If you don’t want me coming early, best not to do that again.”
“Lean forward on Kyro, baby,” Derek said. “Show me that tempting ass of yours.”
Hanna obeyed and leaned forward. She could feel the lube on his fingers as he readied her for his cock.
“You’re so tight for us, aren’t you?” Derek asked as he slipped a finger in.
“Yes. Always.” She sighed when he pushed another inside and next to the first, stretching her out.
“Ready to take both of us?” Kyro asked.
Sassy Ever After: Magical Sass for Three (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Vella Cove Shifters Book 1) Page 7
