by Cara Carnes
Conversation hummed in the area, but the staccato drag of Xandra’s breaths in and out, a strained seesaw hinting at the underlying tension cording her ample curves, riveted me. I wanted her hot breath and sweet scent on my skin. More importantly, I wanted my ache to flow beyond her hardened defenses and vibrate until the shields she’d constructed shattered. Maybe then I’d fully see the woman underneath, rather than mere glimpses when she thought no one watched.
“You done staring, or should I turn?”
“No worries, I’ll have plenty of time to memorize and taste every inch of you later, Xan.”
Her eyes flared with the indignation I poked. If I didn’t purge the curiosity and arousal I scented between us, the fight wouldn’t happen.
“You’re an ass.”
“I’ve been told I have a nice one, but you can judge for yourself tonight.”
I chuckled when she snarled and lunged toward me. I grabbed her easily, sliding my arm about her waist and drawing her close until her pert ass snuggled against me. I pulled her hair and inhaled her scent, my face near her ear. “Responding to taunts is beneath you, Xan.”
She punched and kicked the air, shoving and writhing in my embrace. “What? No retort about how I’ll be beneath you later?”
I stilled. “Careful what you say. I’m hanging by a thread.”
“You started it.” She struck my solar plexus hard. I wheezed in shock, the world tumbling end over end until I was splayed on my back with a throbbing ass, an aching head, and no clue what the hell happened. Xandra straddled me, leaning into my field of vision. “Now I’m finishing it.”
I grabbed her ankle, tugging hard until she yelped in surprise. I maneuvered my lower body to catch her fall with my legs. The sissy move resulted in howls from my pack, but I didn’t care. She’d been slammed onto concrete by Vira for hours earlier. Any bruises she nursed tomorrow wouldn’t come from me.
She vaulted to her feet before I sat up fully. Springing to standing, I chuckled. “This Xandra is a lot hotter than the one I’ve been seeing. Where have you been hiding her?”
The lithe, graceful movements were all female, entirely arousing. Blood surged southward. I’d let the seductive mating dance go for a little while because the excuse to touch her, feel her pinned beneath me was too tempting. As if sensing my decision, she lunged forward, aiming for a leg sweep.
I jumped backward and watched her tumble face forward into the soft grass, noting the fact she caught herself easily. Too easily. Suspicion roused my wolf’s curiosity when I turned her and pinned her beneath me.
I settled my weight until the evidence of my reaction to her pressed against lower abdomen. She groaned and shifted slightly, her legs circling my waist as she squirmed and adjusted.
I growled and nipped her throat. “Enough.”
“Get. Off. Me.”
“Not until we get a few things straight.” Strawberries and cream. Every breath I drew near her smelled like a succulent treat, something I could spend a leisurely morning lapping yet never tire of tasting it on my tongue. “Christ, I could spend forever with you wrapped around me.”
She harrumphed and pushed. I rolled my hips until she gasped. “I bet you say that to all the women you pin on a practice field.”
“I rarely have to say much to get women beneath me.”
A feral snarl rumbled from her. The sound calmed my wolf.
“Easy there, tiger. Just because they come easily doesn’t mean they get to. You’re the only female I want under me, the only one I want to watch come undone.” Pleasure surged in me, a visceral reaction to the feisty female. I’d forced the first real flicker of emotion from her. “You feel the bond, don’t you, Xan?”
“Get. Off. Me.”
I feathered kisses along her cheek, enjoying the shift of her body as she attempted to circumvent the lockdown I’d put her in. “I’ll let you up if you either tell me why you won’t train Riles or admit you feel what’s between us.”
“Sometimes saying nothing is the necessary course of action. The safest words are those unspoken,” she whispered alongside my throat, too soft for the wind to pick up. She trembled with the utterance.
Her fear disturbed me. The strong, proud warrior crumbled into a clinging bundle of feminine desperation. The short, labored breaths drew my protective instincts. I remained still, a physical barrier for however long she’d allow.
I wasn’t stupid enough to believe I had anything to do with the crack in her armor. Fuck knows I wanted to be the battering ram to knock the shit down so I could get to the woman it hid, but I didn’t make a female defenseless. Ever.
The guys fanned out, providing cover for the awkward situation. We were warriors, men who wiped blood on our shirts and skirmished again and again until we honed every maneuver like a finely sharpened blade. Give us gore in impossible circumstances and we’d kick. We played hard and fucked harder. Nothing in us did soft.
Xan needed soft. Sweet. Everything I wasn’t.
“Let me in and I swear I’ll make whatever’s terrifying you go away.”
“We can’t always do what we want. Sometimes things are beyond our control and we’re forced into impossible situations—ones where lives hang in the balance. Life isn’t all hearts and roses, Lane. My life isn’t a movie where you can swoop in and play the action hero who saves the day. Not everyone can be saved.”
“You can.”
“No. The fact you think so proves you aren’t ready for the answers you want. One day maybe you’ll understand, but I hope not because that means I failed again.”
“Failed what?”
“Everyone. Everything.” Sadness engulfed her broken voice. Her hands trembled. Whoever created the terror in her would die. “Let me up.”
“I’m not letting you go, Xan. Not with things hanging between us.”
“Tonight.” She pushed against my shoulders. “All there is between us is the fact you won’t accept I’m not interested in whatever you’re offering. Let me up.”
***
Xandra
I shifted in the plush, oversize chair and inspected the massive bedroom Riles shared with her mate. The room was a hodgepodge of offerings from various packs—the furniture by Lane’s, draperies and bedding from Macen’s, and various knickknacks from an assortment of packs on massive shelving installed by Logan’s. Every inch of the room screamed support for one of the resident Alphas.
Most served as mating gifts to Riles, how wolves apparently offered fealty. My sister had landed on both feet. The smile on her face highlighted the euphoric glimmer in her eyes and the glow on her cheeks.
I sat in shock a few moments. I hadn’t seen her in a week. The small expanse of time shifted the entire war I’d been battling into a new level of danger without my awareness.
My heart palpitated. I needed to get the unease locked down before any unseen minion suspected something. They were phoenixes, lacking the ability to sense what I did—a new life force inhabiting my sister’s womb.
The repercussions of her new mama status were huge. My head couldn’t wrap around the situation’s severity. Uncle Lucian could argue the dangers of having a phoenix-angel-wolf hybrid outside the Realm. Then he’d have justification for hunting Riles down, and nothing I did would stop him from annihilating a new generation of threat to his precious throne.
Tears pricked my eyes. From happiness or terror, I couldn’t tell. Everything hinged on Lane picking up the miniscule clue I’d fed him. What if he didn’t get the admission I’d made that things were at play?
I couldn’t do what Uncle Lucian wanted—be responsible for an entire realm’s slaughter—even if it saved Riles. My sister wouldn’t want their blood on her hands any more than I did.
“Macen isn’t very happy about tomorrow night. He thinks it’s a real bad idea to hold Van’s birthday party at Sanctuary, but she has her heart set on it.” Riles smiled. “I think she’s into Logan.”
“Sanctuary is a bad idea. As for Van and Logan,�
�� I chuckled, “yeah, I noticed. You working on them?”
“Of course. He needs a good woman like her.”
I hadn’t gotten to know him very well. Few of the warriors hung with me. Between Macen’s threats to leave his mate’s sister alone and Lane’s vow to unman anyone seen near me, my social calendar for all things male wolf wasn’t exactly filling up.
Riles sat beside me, covering my hand with hers. Joy reflected in her gaze. “I’m so happy you’re here. I know we haven’t spent much time together, but things with Macen’s familial pack are finally starting to settle, so we’ll be here more often. I was really, really hoping I’d gotten him on board with you coming along the next time we go up there, but he doesn’t think they’re ready to handle another one of us right now.”
“Understandable.” I squeezed her hand. “Losing an Alpha must’ve been hard on them all, especially since the death was so unexpected. They’ll acclimate soon. Give them time.”
She looked down and fiddled with a string on her blouse. “I’m not a good Alpha female. I don’t know the first thing about getting their respect and commanding loyalty. I barely know what the hell I am. How am I supposed to lead a humongous pack? Did you know his pack is the second largest one in the area? Lane’s is the biggest—one of the largest in the country.”
I gulped. The information shouldn’t surprise me. The two men were so…normal. Sure, they broke the intensity scale. And the fuckability scale. And every other scale. But they were thoughtful, caring, attentive. I’d seen them both with the wolves in their charge. Hell, the fact two dominants from a couple of the largest packs in the area could somehow jointly lead the university’s wolves spoke to their commanding prowess.
“Macen’s a good man, an even better leader. With him at your side, you can do anything you set your mind to, Riles. You are a strong, fierce woman. Take a deep breath and channel the inner strength you’ve buried all these years. You’re safe.”
“Are you?” The question startled me. “Safe, I mean? I…I know we haven’t really talked much about what you said the day I first met you, about the man you were supposed to mate over there. W-was he a bad man?”
“Many would say so if given the right to. He sits at the right hand of Uncle Lucian, commands a vast amount of respect. Families of ancient descents handle matings differently. To our kind, on both sides, love is never in the equation. Unions are the formation of alliances, the strengthening of established relationships, rewards for service rendered, and promises of things to come. Females are raised from an early age to view their duty as an honor.”
Sadness filled her eyes as she nodded and squeezed my hand. “Then you’ll stay here. We’ll get ROAR on the paperwork. They did a great job with mine. We’ll adopt you into Macen’s pack, unless of course there’s a better, more permanent offer.”
“I’ll be here as long as I can, long enough to make sure things are squared and you’re settled in with the pack. I doubt Macen would want me around for long.” I stroked her belly in a silent acknowledgment of what I’d sensed. “You have a bright future ahead of you, little sis. I’m proud of you.”
“I-I haven’t told him yet. No one knows.” Tears trekked down her cheeks, and I had little doubt Macen would kick my ass for making her sad. Hell, I wanted to kick my ass. “I-I’m so scared. M-Macen tells me not to talk about my fears with you, it’ll make things awkward, but I need you. I-I need to be strong, know how to control what’s in me. You say you aren’t a warrior, but strength resonates in everything you do. The spine. I need your brand of confidence, Xandra. Please. Help me before—”
“Trust me, sis.” The air between us stilled with the sternness projected in my voice. “I will always, always have your back. You are the only one who matters to me.”
A shy smirk erupted on her face. “A certain vampire demon told me a certain Alpha wolf spends a lot of time watching you.”
Damn meddling vamp.
“She thinks you’ve been checking him out yourself.”
Ugh.
The great thing about growing up in a sea of warriors in training was I bypassed the gossipy girl night over sharing situations common in every single realm in existence. Too many TMI sessions occurred over the past few weeks with Vanessa. Adding my sister to the mix warranted the purchase of vats of bleach, acid, and anything else capable of melting the information I learned before it settled in as a permanent itch for the normalcy I’d never be allowed to have. BFFs, hearts and roses weren’t in my future.
I’d been forged in the fires of Heaven’s nemesis and sharpened by humanity’s executioners. Between Uncle Lucian’s covert phoenix assassins and my cousin’s angel avengers, my heart pumped justice and my body bled revenge. The cruel morsels of normalcy Riles offered in the whimsical, yet tempting, notion of me with Lane made both beasts in me flex.
Christ, I could spend forever with you wrapped around me.
Lane’s words from earlier rushed through my blood like an errant adrenaline shot. My skin tingled, my mind blanked. Tonight, I’d be alone with him, free to unleash the tether I’d held onto my inner beasts and unburden myself from some of the stress knotting my muscles. Though exhaustion plagued me, the promise of what would come in a few hours kept me alert, hopeful.
It wouldn’t be the sensuous exploration and wanton sating of lust Lane hinted at, but it’d be a temporary truce—one where I’d shed my inhibitions long enough to shift into beast form and take the sky. There I’d be free to think, contemplate whether I could share more of the burden weighing me down with the one man I wanted no matter what.
Aware my sister watched, waiting for an answer I couldn’t give, I reclined in the supple leather seating and sighed. “Lane’s a good man.”
“You should give him a chance.”
“I have. Believe me, I have.”
Chapter Four
“Caution comes too late when we are in the midst of evils.”
—Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy
Xandra
What did one wear for a pseudo-interlude with the wolf of her dreams? I wasn’t certain, but I assumed nothing in my closet, so I procured a pair of shorts and a red top from Vanessa’s swollen wardrobe since she owned more shades of the color than the local paint store. I didn’t want to come across as an aloof badass, yet I didn’t want to skank up. A fine line between the two existed, one I hoped I traversed rather than tumbled over.
Shorts weren’t in my repertoire. They showed more skin than they hid, yet they covered the girlie bits and pieces I’d been worried about rubbing up against Lane. Those said bits had yet to cool after their last meandering across the prominent bulge they’d writhed against a few hours ago. Until they did, they needed to remain firmly locked down in denim—the newest chastity belt as far as I was concerned.
Tonight wasn’t about getting horizontal with Lane. I repeated the statement a million times as I wandered across campus at a slow, meandering pace my racing pulse refused to keep time with. Subterfuge was a skill I excelled at. I’d cut my teeth on spying and ground them down on stealth observation, thanks to my royal angel blood.
Cousin Severin would be ashamed of me if I couldn’t pull tonight off. Then again, he was the epitome of covert. It was what the angel avengers did. Only royal-blooded angels could unobtrusively observe which was what made the entire situation I was in so confusing. Uncle Lucian commanded the phoenixes because he was one. Angels didn’t have any reason to help him.
I had a hundred questions Severin or one from his division could answer, yet no means to contact him if one of Lucian’s assassins was really watching. I’d spent the better part of ten years working with both groups simultaneously. Then I’d spent six rigorous—downright torturous—ones with the phoenix assassins under the guise of training. During those years, I became the bloody guillotine of my uncle’s vengeance thanks to the royal angel blood in my veins—the very thing he cursed and punished me for daily.
How were the phoenix assassins able to be here?
Had Uncle Lucian stockpiled vats of my blood? Ewww. The thought made me nauseous, but I needed to figure out how they were watching me in order to combat them. Aware of the true severity of Riles’s situation, I wasn’t about to let her down.
The air bristled. The infusion of fiery heat gusting with the cool breeze of the evening struck my face in a burst of steam meant to shock and awe. I fisted my hands at my sides and bit down on my tongue until the coppery infusion in my throat drew my focus away from the rage burning my blood.
I should’ve known the bane of my existence was behind the surveillance. While my supposedly future mate, Aldo, was a thorn in my side, my eldest cousin on my mother’s side—aka Uncle Lucian’s son—Baldar—was an evil piece of shit who needed to die a slow, gruesome death so horrid I’d yet to fully envision it. I’d spent many a pained night the past decade thinking of all the ways I’d end him. None of them did him justice.
I cast a field of angel fire around me, enough to singe his evil ass into showing himself. He sneered a couple feet in front of me, his coal-black eyes slithering over me like a snake’s venomous tongue. My skin crawled under the slow, visual assault, but I forced my angel to remain still, guarded.
“What the hell do you want?”
He chuckled. “Sweet little Xandra, is that any way to talk to the man who grasps the lives of everyone you hold dear in his hands?”
“Funny, here I thought Uncle Lucian was king. I bet he’d find your statement very interesting.”
“You’ve always been so headstrong, downright foolish in your refusal to cooperate.”
“We all have our faults. At least mine doesn’t annihilate entire villages.”
He closed in on me until his foul breath sandpapered my skin. Stepping backward wasn’t an option. I’d rather die than give the bastard an inch of ground. “Oh, but thanks to you we destroyed entire continents, didn’t we? Tell me, how does it feel to know the angel in your blood is solely responsible for the deaths of thousands of your kind? Do you hear the little babies murdered because of you screaming in your nightmares?”
