by Franca Storm
Cora had been right—he did feel a lot better today. Strong. Powerful. Like the Wolf King that he was supposed to be.
And now he needed to go home to his son and to check on his wolves.
But first he needed to talk to Nathanial, both about their strategy with regard to Oriana’s threat, and about the thing with Jada. He hadn’t had a chance to tell him anything yet. He hadn’t seen him since that day in the dungeon.
It was odd. He would’ve thought that Nathanial would’ve come to check on him. It was in his best interests to make sure the Wolf King was recovering as quickly as possible. They had to do the coronation ritual soon so Ryan could officially take his place as joint King of the Dark Realm. It would seal the peace between wolves and vampires and, the quicker that happened in light of the threat they were facing, the better.
As soon as he left his room, a powerful scent hit him. Holy shit. Why hadn’t he smelled it before when he’d gone to the kitchen last night? I was really out of it. In fact, I hadn’t even smelled Cora at all. It’d been Luca who’d sensed her presence. He’d backed off me as soon as he’d sensed her and she’d walked into the kitchen just a few moments later.
He sniffed the air, drawing the scent to him so he could get a lock on it to follow it. It led him down the corridor, past the kitchen, and along a narrower corridor. He stopped outside a door secluded right at the end of the hall. He pushed it open and gasped at what he saw.
Jada?
He shut the door behind him and leaned against it as he tried to absorb his shock. “What are you doing here?”
She leapt off the bed and bounded towards him. “How did you open that door? I’ve tried repeatedly. Maybe it only opens from the outside?”
Before he could utter a response, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. “I can’t believe you’re here. It’s been killing me not to be near you.”
Being so close to her sent his cock into a frenzy. Fuck, it was her. It was her being here that’d been making me so fucking horny. He gripped her arms, unwrapping them from around his waist.
And then his lips crashed against hers. He slammed her against the opposite wall with such force that the walls reverberated from the impact. “Fuck, baby. I’ve missed you too,” he said before thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She responded just as ravenously. He could feel her own intense desire, her desperate need for him.
“I can’t wait, baby. I need to take you now.”
She nodded fervently. “Yes, Ryan. I need you inside me! Now!”
His fingers slid into the waistband of her tiny come-fuck-me shorts. But before he could tug them down her legs, powerful hands suddenly gripped his shoulders, ripping him away from her. He stumbled back and looked to see Nathanial blocking his path to Jada. Instinctively, he rushed him, needing to get to her. It was his only thought. He needed to have her now. Now!
* * * * *
Nathanial thrust his right hand out, pushing Ryan back. “No!” he thundered. “Back up!”
Ryan growled back at him ferociously. “She is mine!”
Nathanial saw the golden glow in his eyes and saw him flash his teeth. He was ravenous, completely out of control. The animal in him had breached the surface. It was driving him wholly. The wolf. He could feel the same intensity from Jada. The sexual tension in the room was such that Nathanial himself could barely breathe, could barely resist it. He had never felt anything quite as strong. It was beyond the pull of a mating bond. He knew what that felt like—he had it with Marella. But this was something else altogether.
He felt Jada pushing against him and he thrust his hand back and gripped her neck, slamming her against the wall and pinning her there with one hand.
He caught Ryan’s incensed reaction. He was going to rush him. He would attack.
He needed to get Jada out and separate them before things escalated.
“Luca!” he called out.
A sudden gust of ice-cold wind ripped through the room and Luca was beside him a second later. He took in the situation quickly. “What the fuck?”
“Get her out of here. Move her to the top room in the tower over on the other side of the castle. Spell it so that Ryan cannot pick up her scent, no matter how close he is,” Nathanial told him telepathically.
“What are you telling him?” Ryan thundered. “She is mine! Step aside.”
“Shit,” Luca said, eyeing Nathanial. “What’s happening here? This is the wolf that he fucked—that I smelled on him yesterday?”
“I’ll explain later. Just get her out of here,” Nathanial commanded. He watched Ryan lunge at him. “Now!” he bellowed to Luca.
Luca took her arm and teleported away with her. A split second later, Ryan’s full weight slammed into Nathanial, driving him into the wall.
While they were evenly matched with regards to their strength, Nathanial had far more experience in battle. He broke Ryan’s hold on him, spun him around, and wrapped his arm around his neck, forcing him into a powerful chokehold. He exerted pressure slowly until he felt Ryan’s body weaken against him.
His wild struggles ceased momentarily and he collapsed to his knees.
“Good. Relax, Ryan. Calm down.”
“Need…her….” he growled quietly.
“I know. I know,” Nathanial said soothingly. “We’ll find out what’s happening here.”
“Mine,” Ryan whimpered. “It…hurts…mine.”
“Shh. Clear your mind. Focus on my voice. Relax now. Relax.”
Nathanial felt a sudden presence behind him and craned his neck to see Luca standing in the doorway looking in on the scene before him with disbelief.
“Where is Cora?” he asked his son.
Luca hesitated.
“You’re really going to try to deny it to me? I know how you feel about her and I have no doubt that you are tracking her whereabouts as though she were your prey. As a result of you employing such vampiric abilities, you will know exactly where she is at any given time, Luca.”
“She has returned to the human realm. She is with her son in the wolf compound. She left a few hours ago, rather upset.”
Nathanial nodded. “She must have interacted with Ryan then, despite my insistence that she leave him alone to heal. I hadn’t wanted her to sense this…difference in him.”
“He told me last night that he believed the wolf girl to be his mate.”
“A natural conclusion given his strong pull to her.”
“You don’t think it is that? A lust spell, perhaps?”
Nathanial shook his head. “I fear it is worse than that. Love. But magically induced. Can’t you feel it? The magic emanating from him?”
Luca concentrated for a few moments. “Yes, now I can.”
“You need to practice your magic more. You should have been able to sense it immediately. It is extremely potent, Luca.”
Luca grunted at his condemnation and then asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I need to locate the source.”
“The girl?”
“No, she was as caught up in it as Ryan.” Nathanial cautiously released Ryan and climbed to his feet. Ryan remained on his knees, lightheaded from Nathanial’s powerful chokehold and out of sorts from his intense interaction with Jada. “Luca, summon Michael here. I will need his help to locate the source as quickly as possible. You do not say a thing to the princess. Are we clear?”
“I had my opportunity to do so last night when she found Ryan and me in the kitchen. It is not for me to tell her. He needs to.”
“I see. That is not like you.”
“I love her,” Luca murmured. “That is why.”
Nathanial’s gaze softened as he told him quietly, “I am sorry, Luca. Cora is his, not yours.”
“What if their bond isn’t real and this thing with the wolf girl is?”
“I highly doubt it. We both just felt a magical presence.”
“What we’re feeling could just be the bond taking hold, thoug
h. We can’t be sure.”
Nathanial couldn’t deny that. They didn’t know for sure. “We will know soon enough. Bring Michael to me.”
Luca nodded and left the room to seek out Michael. Nathanial turned back to Ryan. He was now climbing to his feet. “I am sorry I had to do that.”
Ryan smiled. “I’m sorry I tried to kick your ass.”
“I need you to return to the human realm. All the while you are here you will feel the pull. Being in another realm will weaken it substantially. Do not tell Cora. I can’t risk anything destabilizing her magic at the moment while Oriana is still out there. She will be unable to read your thoughts, so you do not need to worry about that. In the dungeon, I spelled you with a block.”
“What about the coronation ritual?”
“Your head must be clear when that occurs. Soon, Ryan. I will get to the bottom of this.”
“I’ll help. It’s my problem, Nathanial.”
“There is nothing you can do. You don’t possess any magical ability, so you will not be able to locate the source.”
“All right,” he agreed with a frustrated sigh.
“Leave now.”
Ryan crossed to the door. He stopped then and turned around. “Thank you.”
Nathanial smiled kindly. “You do not need to thank me. This situation affects all of us.”
After Ryan left, Nathanial had barely had a few minutes to himself to determine the best course of action when Luca returned with Michael and Haraz in tow, teleporting in front of him.
“That was fast,” he commented, surprised.
“We were already on our way to you when Luca found us,” Haraz said with a deep bow. Michael immediately followed suit, eager to please his King. Nathanial could feel his fear.
Nathanial cocked an eyebrow expectantly. “On your way to me?”
“Oriana has possessed the human realm vampires,” Haraz reported.
“How long ago?” Nathanial thundered, incensed that Oriana had taken control of his subjects yet again. The scathing insult of that didn’t go unnoticed.
“It has just happened. We would not have waited to report such a thing to you,” Haraz told him.
Nathanial looked them over, studying Haraz and Michael. Their coats were shredded. Their shirts were stained with blood. They’d clearly done everything in their power to contain the vampires.
Oriana had a great deal of power.
But she didn’t have more than him.
She was a mere sorceress—not even of royal blood. And he was King of the Dark Realm. He might not be able to kill her, but he could most definitely incapacitate her. The only issue with that was that he couldn’t risk leaving the Dark Realm again, not this soon following her attack. His subjects needed him to remain for reassurance. The last thing he needed was an uprising forming. He’d already spent far too much time away lately—more than he had ever done in all his centuries of rule. He needed to project stability to his subjects, not rumors of abandonment.
“Where are they?” he asked.
“We don’t know. It was strange, as though they had no scent,” Haraz said.
Michael cut in, “She’s spelled them to prevent us from tracking them with ease.”
“Haraz, you will bring Marella to me. I do not want her in the human realm while this is going on. She is not as strong as normal. Her magic is compromised by our child. Accompany her here. Protect her.”
Haraz bowed low and teleported away to do his bidding.
“Luca, go to Cora. Have her work on dropping the veil that Vazra and Oriana have formed over the White Realm. She has the power but she will need instruction from someone with extensive magical knowledge and training. Be careful. You must not touch the barrier as it is fused with sunlight.”
“You are preparing to unite the realms?” Luca realized.
“Yes. That cannot happen if I am blocked from reaching into the White Realm. Power has to connect from both sides.”
“You think this will stop Oriana in her tracks,” Michael realized.
“Yes. Aside from hurting me, her chief goal is to prevent unification. But once it has occurred, it cannot be retracted. If we unite, then we take her agenda from her. There will be nothing left to fight for.”
“Except she will come after you then. Or Marella,” Luca pointed out.
Nathanial snarled. “No one will harm Marella. As soon as she gets here she will be under my protection and Oriana cannot overpower me.”
“With the protection barrier you and Cora put over the realm, she can’t even set foot here,” Luca said.
Nathanial nodded. “Michael, Luca has briefed you on Ryan’s situation?”
Michael nodded.
“Good. You and I will begin our search for the source.”
CHAPTER 20
After spending a few hours with his wolves, Ryan was now heading to his room. He’d been dying to see his son for so long. He opened the door and was startled to see Cora sitting on the edge of the bed with Orion in her arms talking wolf. What the fuck?
Her eyes narrowed when she noticed him there. “You could’ve knocked.”
She was clearly still upset by their conversation in the Dark Realm. “It’s my bedroom.”
“It’s both of ours,” she countered.
He walked into the room. “It was until you left. Now it’s just mine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Ah, there’s that innocent side of her. Her immaturity. Despite all the power she has now, it’s still there after all. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that in her.
He shook off his sentimental thoughts. He couldn’t give a damn at the moment. He was too concerned with the fact that she was now somehow bonding with their son in wolf form. Orion being in wolf form had been the only thing preventing her from taking him away. Given how powerful she was, he doubted very much that he would be able to stop her if she decided to take him. Of course he’d never admit that to her.
“Who taught you?” he demanded.
She shrugged her shoulders.
She’s protecting someone. “Who, Cora? Which one of my wolves was it? Roy? Josh?”
“What does it matter? I’m bonding with my son in wolf form now. Is that really something you want to deny—our son’s connection to his own mother?”
Shit, I hadn’t thought of it like that—from Orion’s perspective. Only in a defensive way. “I—no,” he said awkwardly, stumbling over his words. He quickly recovered and added, “But he’s not leaving here.”
She placed their son down on the bedspread and he started to roll around excitedly.
“Do you really think you have any chance of stopping me now, if I chose to take him out of here?” she questioned, stepping into his personal space.
Ryan glowered down at her fiercely. “I would put you down before you even had the chance to summon your fucking magic.”
“Threatening your own wife? That has to be a new low for you.”
“Whatever it takes to protect my son.”
“He is my son too, Ryan!”
Ryan scoffed. “He is a wolf through and through.” He stepped back and spun around angrily. “Fuck. I should never have—I knew you weren’t wolf—and yet I just accepted it—because of that fated love bullshit.”
“Bullshit?”
“Yeah, bullshit. We never even checked it out. We just went along with it because your father told us to. And look how fucking trustworthy he turned out to be.”
“You hate me that much that you’re questioning the validity of our bond?” she said, her voice breaking.
“I don’t hate you.”
“Really? In the Dark Realm you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me. You wouldn’t tell me you loved me and now you’re actually threatening me.”
“It’s not—things are just complicated right now.”
Realization flashed in her eyes and she gasped, shrinking back and hugging herself defensively. “There’s someone else, isn’t t
here?”
“Cora,” Luca’s voice came from the door suddenly.
Ryan spun around and a look passed between him and Luca. Luca had unwittingly just saved him from this very dangerous conversation with his wife. He could see by the look on his face that he was pissed that he’d helped him out.
Cora wiped away tears from her eyes and asked, “Yes?”
“We have work to do. Nathanial sent me.” He moved to step into the room but Ryan growled in protest.
Luca got the message and pulled back, eyeing him heatedly before addressing Cora. “We need to breach the barrier over the White Realm.”
“Nathanial wants to unite the realms now?”
“As soon as possible.” He held out his hand for her and Ryan growled again.
Luca hissed at him. “You have more important things to worry about right now. Oriana has the human realm vampires under her control. You need to secure the compound and remain here as a deterrent just in case they come this way. We can’t track them because she’s blocking their scent, so we have no idea where they are.”
At the sound of his words, Ryan pulled out his cell from his jacket pocket and turned away as he dialed. “Josh. Gather the wolves. We have a situation. Ten minutes. Stop fucking Shaye and bring her to me immediately.”
“Ryan,” Cora murmured.
“We’ll talk later,” he said curtly.
“Come on, princess,” he heard Luca say in that sickly sweet voice of his that he reserved just for Cora. “We need to leave now.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Cora said in a voice so full of sadness that it cut right through him, despite his attempts to shut down all emotion when it came to her.
Fuck.
CHAPTER 21
“Nathanial, I do not appreciate being escorted like some meek, incapable woman,” Marella reprimanded him as she strode along the bridge towards the castle. Haraz struggled to keep up with her without employing his vampiric speed to do so.
