OF WAR Anthology Novels 1-3

by Lisa Beth Darling

  On the bed, Alena suddenly sat up. “Ares? Ares?”

  He had been lost in thought and hadn’t realized she was waking. “I’m here, go back to sleep.”

  “Come?”

  With amazement, he watched as she held her arms out to him wanting an embrace. That disgusting feeling of shame wouldn’t let him go to her. “It’s late, Alena, you need to rest.”

  “I need you.”

  Her soft words washed away some of the shame, enough for him to stand and make his way over to the bed where he sat on the edge. Alena moved over, wanting him to crawl in next to her. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “Yes, please, I’ve missed you.”

  “How do you do it, Alena? After the things I’ve said and done to you, how do you look at me with so much open trust?” he asked, genuinely wanting to know. “I said awful things; I did terrible things to you. Despicable. Reprehensible.” Shaking his head he added in a mournful whisper, “Unforgivable. I am so…sorry.” That seemed pathetic at best, for all he’d done all he had to offer her was a few words, but he’d never felt them more deeply because he’d never known this level of regret and remorse. “I never want to hurt you or frighten you, I don’t ever want you to be afraid of me.”

  Those beautiful dark eyes of his were laden with tears. “I know.” Since he didn’t appear ready to come to her, Alena went to Ares. She rose up on her knees, letting the blankets fall away from her naked body and crawled up behind him. Wrapping her arms around his brawny torso, one under his shoulder and the other over, she pulled him backward until his head rested on her. Reveling in his warmth, she kissed his bearded cheek. “It wasn’t you. The curse was very powerful.”

  Ares let out a groan. “Don’t make excuses for me.”

  “I’m not making excuses I’m just—it wasn’t that bah—”

  “If you tell me it wasn’t that bad, I’m going to be very upset with you.” In her arms, he turned around. Taking the soft little hand away from his face and holding it tightly in his own, he looked her up and down, and let out a mournful moan as his heart tightened in his chest. “Look at you. Look at what I’ve done to you.”

  It was as though the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as a cold shiver went through her. “Ares, please.” She didn’t want to think about it anymore. “It’s behind us, it’s over.” Feeling vulnerable and ashamed, she reached down to pull the blanket between them and cover her bruises from his eyes.

  “You know who I am, don’t you?” The question brought more confusion to those sparkling eyes and she did not answer him right away. “Do you?”

  “I know who you are. Do you?”

  “Do I—”

  “Don’t let him do this to you, it’s what Cernunnos wants more than anything; for you to second guess yourself, to always look over your shoulder and drive a wedge between us. Don’t let him win, Ares. I love you. I’m not afraid of you.” Although she left it there, Ares clearly heard the last word of her sentence hanging in the air between them: anymore.

  She was afraid, he saw it in her eyes, in the way she clutched the blanket to her. After tonight, Ares never wanted to see it again. “I fear you look at me through rose-colored lenses. More than that, I fear that one day that coloring will fade and you will be forced—again—to see me for who and what I am. Then you will leave me.”

  “Then you’ll have to hunt me down and kill me. I know it’s not easy being the God of War.” She let her solemn tone hang in the air for a long moment before the corners of her mouth tilted upward in a precocious grin.

  “You’re making a joke? At my expense?” No one did that to his face.

  “It would appear so,” Alena returned in a chiding tone that matched the one he had spoken to her with a few moments ago. Turning his hand over so that the palm faced upward she looked down at it and then to him. “Oh, would you look at that? It’s not glowing. No fireball for my impetuousness?”

  “Disappointed?”

  “No.” Alena brought his hand up to her lips and laid a kiss in the middle of his palm. “You?”

  “With you? Never.” Alena was far more than he deserved. Yet, this Old Wolf finally found his Mate. The five thousand year wait had been worth it. This was his woman; she was in love with him and was carrying his child. Ares would defend them to the bitter end. While no matter what he did Ares would never be the White Knight upon the White Horse, when all of this was over, the battle won and behind them, Ares might be able to find true and everlasting peace in the simple life of a husband and father. Laying a soft kiss over her waiting lips, the thought that she was a True Gift from the Gods was reaffirmed when she kissed back. He wondered if miracles would never cease.

  It seemed they would not, at least not for the time being.

  “You don’t have to worry because I’ll never leave you. I love you.”

  Her reassurances were heartening but her use of humor was a defense. She often made a joke when he got too close. Distraction was always a good strategy, but he had more experience in battles than she did and he couldn’t let her get away with it. Shaking his head and running one hand through her hair and holding her hand to his heart with the other Ares went on in a very quiet voice. “And I love you so you must do something for me now. Tell me that I hurt you, that you’re angry with me. If you don’t want Cernunnos to win then don’t start building this wall. Don’t make excuses or ignore what happened. I can’t.” No, in fact he could still hear her whimpering, begging him to stop and for the life of their child. Still felt her trembling below him as she wept. And the smile on his face. If he lived for another five thousand years he’d never forget it or forgive himself for it.

  Alena didn’t like the way he was looking at her and she reached down to bring up the blanket. She’d never had the chance to say it before and she wasn’t sure what to do. Never did she tell Adrian he harmed her, she certainly didn’t tell Jaakim and his men. Why would they even care? “It was the curse and now it’s gone,” Alena stammered. It was clear in his eyes that Ares wasn’t happy with that answer. Her bottom lip began to quiver as she whispered, “Yuh-you…hurt me. You sc-scared me. Please…don’t do it again.”

  There, she said it and now he could say what he needed. “I am so sorry, Alena. I know how little solace that is for all I’ve done, but it would seem that even a God has nothing more to give than those small words. Please, please, forgive me. I am so completely utterly…sorry.”

  “I’ll always forgive you.” Alena let the blanket fall away as she wrapped her arms around him once more and pulled him down to the bed with her. “Come hold me, rest with me. Please, it’s been too long since I slept in your arms.”

  Although he didn’t want to be in this bed with her, in fact he’d like nothing more than to drag the damn thing to the beach and set it aflame, Ares gave in. How could he not? Sleep had not been kind to either of them these past nights, she was exhausted and so was he. Pulling the blanket around both of them, Alena settled into the crook of his arm and Ares felt whole again. Wanting to feel the velvety smoothness of her tender flesh below his hands and in some small way to soothe the areas he’d been so unkind to last night, Ares’ hands ran past the flat of her stomach, continued down, and then stopped only to go upward once more and rest on her lower belly.

  At first she was worried, by the look on his face she thought something was wrong, but then she watched his dark eyes turn big as saucers. “You feel the baby?” All at once she was elated and depressed. If he felt the baby then that meant it was healthy, but Alena had always been under the impression that the expectant mother should be the first one to feel the life within her begin to stir. She wished she could feel what he did.

  “I do. Soon you will, too.” Those wide eyes closed as Ares drank in the feeling, letting it fill him with hope and gratitude. “He’s strong, Alena. Very strong.”

  “He? You know it’s a boy? We will have a son?”

  The disappointment in her voice made his eyes open.
“A fine strong son,” Ares agreed. “You wanted a girl? A beautiful little girl who looks just like her mother?”

  Alena didn’t care about the sex of the baby; boy or girl, she would love it just the same. “I didn’t want to know; when the baby came I wanted to be surprised,” she said sadly.

  “Well then, the next child we have I’ll keep my mouth shut, hmmm?”

  Laying her head on that hairy brawny chest she loved so much, Alena let out a happy sigh as she drifted back to sleep. “Deal.”

  2

  It was nearly one-thirty in the afternoon when Alena awoke—sick as a dog. “I told you you’d feel him soon, didn’t I?” Ares said in a soothing voice as he ran his hand along her back and Alena dry-heaved helplessly into a bucket.

  “This is…not,” puke, “exactly,” heave, “what I had in mind,” puke. It seemed it would never stop; her stomach ached with each deep retch of the muscles. She hadn’t eaten anything since, well, she couldn’t remember, as such there was nothing to throw up. All that came up was only foamy phlegm and green foul bile that burned all the way from her gut, up her esophagus and lingered acid in the back of her throat.

  Ares smirked. “I know.”

  All of that retching made her head light when her stomach finally settled down. Feeling as though it were the right thing to do simply to stop as her abdominals felt like she had just done one hundred crunchies in under three minutes, Ares eased her back on the bed where she drifted off to a very deep sleep that only last a few moments before those lovely gray eyes rolled open once and color began returning to her face. “All right?”

  Clutching one hand to her sore stomach and laying the other on her forehead, Alena moaned. “I think I’ll live. Thirsty.” She began to roll over so that she could swing her legs over the side of the bed, but he didn’t move from where he was sitting.

  “You should rest more,” Ares advised.

  “I won’t break.” Still he did not move. “I can’t stay in bed all day.”

  “No? Then I suppose the next nine months are out of the questions?”

  Alena groaned and then smiled. “Yeah, sorry.” She shooed at him with her hands until Ares gave in and stood up, holding out his hand to help her. Standing made her feel dizzy at first but soon the swaying stopped and the world stood still.

  “Going to be sick again?”

  “No.” She didn’t think so. She could be wrong.

  “Maybe something to eat will help. Onya made your favorite croissants,” he invited.

  If he had said any other type of food then that might have made her sick but Alena loved Onya’s light fluffy croissants. In lieu of crackers, they sounded like just the ticket to ease her queasy stomach. “I don’t suppose there’s any butter?” Alena asked with a yearning sigh. Ares hated butter and as such there was none on the island. Then again, there wasn’t anything to keep butter cold here either so that was probably a good thing. She didn’t understand it, Ares was a GOD, he could have anything he wanted, but he lacked simple things like a refrigerator to hold butter, eggs, milk and cheese. He was wonderful at heating things up, especially in the bedroom, but in her time here she had yet to see him turn anything cold. How did he live like that? What she wouldn’t give for some vanilla ice cream, perhaps with a healthy drizzle of hot fudge and a dollop of whipped cream. Maybe even a cherry on the very top. An icy cold Coca-Cola. Such things didn’t exist in her old home of Ceres Agar, though they did manage to have a little butter and eggs as they were able to keep a few cows and chickens. Livestock was another thing that didn’t exist here. Ares loved to eat but he did so mainly on meat and the few—but delicious—wild varieties of fruits, vegetables, nuts and herbs that grew on his island.

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  Ares didn’t say anything else; he simply led her out of the bedroom and into the hall. On their way to the throne room they passed Onya, who smiled instantly when she saw Alena escorted by Ares. To her Alena looked tired but she had a little glow about her as well; Ares, however, had a big prideful glow about him. “Feeling better?” Onya asked, still grinning as she rushed toward them. Ares ever-worsening mood hadn’t escaped the attention of the other women who lived here, least of all Onya after last night. They all talked in whispers about what might be wrong with him but were at a loss to explain his sudden mental descent. Last night, gathered in Ares’ bedroom worrying about Alena, they heard the crackle of the bolt, it sounded as though lightning had gone off right inside the cave. They let out cries as they ducked in fear of the thick rock walls crumbling down around them. This morning when he opened the door, Ares looked so relaxed and peaceful. Whatever had been wrong, Alena made it right with that Staff of hers. They were all abuzz about it.

  “Much, thank you.”

  “Why don’t you bring Alena the things you have baked for her?” Ares asked and then added, “Bring some of the things I have bought for her as well.” He still remembered her accusing him of stealing the crepes and how put off she’d been by that idea, so when he left today he’d done it purposefully and with a fat wad of Euros in his pocket.

  “Bought? You bought something? Where did you go?” It was only now that she realized Ares was in common street clothes; faded blue jeans, his biker boots, and a black t-shirt instead of his usual black leather head to toe.

  Again he didn’t respond, he just sauntered on down the hall to the throne room. Onya on the other hand gave a big smile and a wink before she nearly skipped off down the hall in the opposite direction. Feeling left out of the loop, Alena trailed behind Ares into the room and noticed a few new additions to the room. Two huge potted palms sat on either side of the burning hearth, all of the plants that she had hung haphazardly were now higher and straighter. On the table was a beautiful bouquet of fresh wildflowers in a very stunning black crystal vase. “What have you done?”

  Ares sat at the table, cleared his throat, and said, “Nothing. Sit.”

  Cautiously, and a bit suspiciously, Alena took her seat at his table. “The flowers are beautiful.”

  “Nearly the last of the season.” Ares commented. “I hoped you’d like them.”

  Onya skittered into the room carrying her usual silver tray but when she cheerily set it down in front of Alena, there were many odds things upon it. The croissants were warm and smelled heavenly. Next to them was a stick of butter. Next to it was a jar, even though the label was written in Greek and she couldn’t read it, the picture clearly told her it was raspberry jam. The jar was starting to sweat as though it was cold. The aromas wafting up from the tray made Alena’s stomach grumble not with morning sickness but with ravenous hunger. Picking up a croissant and breaking it in half, she began to slather butter on it when the contents of the golden chalice caught her eye. It didn’t contain Nectar or water but “Milk?” It had been ages since she had had an ice-cold glass of milk but just before she picked it up, she looked at him again. “It is from a cow, isn’t it? It’s not, ya know, goat’s milk or deer’s milk or…anything…”

  Ares sighed and then snorted a little laugh. “It’s cow’s milk. The man said I should get you the one with the blue cap, he said it had something called ‘low fat’. But when I explained that you could use a few pounds on you he told me I should acquire the one with the red cap, so I did.”

  Pasteurized. Homogenized. Cow’s milk. Unbelievable.

  “The man? What man?” Alena asked as she wrapped her hand around the gold only to find it cold as snow, she couldn’t wait to take a big gulp so she didn’t. It was smooth and creamy as it went down her acid-etched throat.

  “At the grocery store.”

  Alena choked, gasped and sprayed a fine mist of milk onto the food in front of her. She had to hold tightly to the chalice so that she didn’t spill it. “The…what?” She looked behind her to Onya, who looked as though she was about to burst. “What’s going on here?”

  Behind Alena Onya was bouncing up and down, her face red as a beet. “Go on, Onya, tell her. I can
see that if you don’t you’re just going to explode,” Ares teased.

  “He bought a refrigerator! A really big one!” Onya squealed. “He stocked it! There’s milk, and eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruits, all kinds! Orange juice, apple juice, grape juice! Fresh cold cuts! Steaks! Real ones, from cows, and chicken, and pork chops.” They were all so sick of eating venison and rabbit along with the occasional snake, which Ares seemed to find some type of delicacy, but the women hated. “There’s even ice cream!”

  For years Onya had been after Ares to update his primitive kitchen. Ares always balked at the idea, believing he had no use for Modern Technology that didn’t produce great booms and mounds of destruction. Today he was glad he gave in, though he hadn’t done it for Onya and both women knew it. Ares bought the refrigerator to keep Alena well fed throughout her pregnancy, but that didn’t matter to Onya, who could not hold it in any longer—she dashed around where Alena sat, threw her arms around Ares neck and began covering his cheek with kisses.

  “He stocked the whole kitchen!” It was difficult to prepare delicious and new meals every day when Ares only kept such basic ingredients as meat, salt, pepper, olives, figs and the like around. “Hot fudge!” A big smooch on the cheek. “Peanut butter!”

  “Eh, stop it, woman,” Ares griped with a grin as he pulled Onya’s arms away from his neck and he smiled at both of them. “The next thing you know there’ll be television and that Internet thing here,” he said with good-natured complaint.

  “Can we?” Onya asked excitedly.

  “No,” Ares returned and then reached for Alena’s hand. “Not unless you want them. If you want them, I will fill this cave with televisions. I want you to have everything you want.”

  Although it would be nice to see what was going in the outside world from time to time, “All I ever want is you.” Alena brushed her lips across the back of his hand. Then again, there was no electricity here so what use was a TV or a refrigerator for that matter. “How are you running it?” Alena asked seriously.