“We’re waiting for Koyzal.” The act of saying the name endued him with power. Once Sage was dead, and he ascended the world would be much different for him.
He glanced at her memories assaulting him from a time when they were happy. Her smile and those green eyes were epic he never tired of looking at them. He loved kissing and touching her, but she couldn’t offer him the one thing he craved, power. With a snarl, he pushed the memories away. She was only a tool when this was over, he would find the right woman, one who craved power as much as he did, to stand by his side.
The temperature in the room dropped as a black shadow hovered in front of the window before entering.
“I see you secured the sacrifice.”
Sage was a sacrifice and nothing else from the first day Koyzal laid eyes on her. In the beginning, Jim used to wonder if Sage was the reason he was chosen to ascend. That didn’t make much sense he assured himself. What good would her death do for him? Koyzal was here to make him powerful.
“Kill her.” The glee in his voice took Jim by surprise, and the minion sitting on the floor backed up.
Jim looked at him and then ignored him. He was a minion for a reason.
“Not yet she’s not awake.”
“Kill her. Why does she need to be awake?”
He was getting tired of this. “If you want the deed done, here’s the knife.”
Koyzal backed up. “That’s what I thought. We do this my way. We wait until she wakes up so I can explain why this has to happen. I want to make sure he is here.” The male that she ran to. He had spied on them the few times they left the compound. They held hands, the male kissed her replacing Jim in her heart and her life. He didn’t like that, not that Sage cared for him anymore.
“You’re making a mistake. The power you’re playing with is greater than any you have known.”
“If you say so.” He knelt by Sage content to wait until the time was right.
Why was the bed so hard? Maybe it was a way of punishing the inmates. It was working she swore she would be good for the rest of her life.
“Open your eyes, Sage.”
Was she dreaming? He was the last person she wanted to dream about.
“Come on open them sweetness.”
Her eyes popped open. It was Jim no effing way. She screamed.
“No one can hear you here.”
“Where am I? Let me go.” She tried to move, but she was firmly held to the floor even though she didn’t see anything restraining her. All she felt was a heat seeping upwards.
“What you feel is part of the power I will receive when I ascend. You can try, but you won’t be able to break free from it.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“You’re a doorway Sage. By killing you, I will be able to ascend to become the new god that will be the ruler over the earth.”
“Jim this is real, not a game. No one ascends, there are no doorways, and if there are, we won’t like what walks through them. You don’t have to do this.”
“I need you to know that I’m sorry. I tried the other girls but none of them were you, and it didn’t work. You’re the only one that can make me what I was born to be. I thought when you came into my life that we would spend our days together. Then I realized I was wrong you were here to change the world for me.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Don’t touch me, not ever again. Listen to me Jim, they’re lying to you. There is no doorway for you. There is no ascending. You will be as dead as I am if you do this.”
“As soon as your boyfriend gets here, you will die.”
“Were you looking for me?” Caden stepped out of the shadows. He looked calm, but he was stroking Sage’s mind to keep his control. He made himself stand still to hear what Jim had to say before he broadcast it to Declyn.
Xander and Ven were standing in the doorway, but he refused to let them come any further. Jim was his, he would kill him and anyone who he brought with him.
“You made it.” Jim smiled, death reflected in his eyes.
“You touched Sage, took her away from me. Now you will die knowing that she will spend her life with me.”
“Kill her now,” the shadow revealed itself.
“I think I will kill him first. Attend me.”
“You fool.” The shadow covered his body. “If you kill her first, we could merge, and you would be unstoppable.”
Jim wasn’t paying attention all he wanted was Caden’s blood flowing over his fingers. With a flick of his wrist, a knife that was lying in the corner lifted and hurled itself at him.
Caden hit the floor his form changing.
“You better not get hurt.”
He chuckled that was his little warrior. Too proud to show fear.
Shards of broken glass lifted and came for him. He ducked before standing up. He was a werewolf with the desire to protect his mate by tearing Jim apart.
“Kill him now,” the shadow ordered.
Another shape pulled itself away from the wall and jumped on the man sitting on the floor. He rose pulling out a gun aiming it at Caden.
Caden raised a shield, and the bullets fell harmlessly to the ground. He took a moment to gloat. As a twin, his power was increased. The male ran at him, and he took his head off.
“You killed him.” The shock in Jim’s voice made him stand still as he watched his minion's headless body. “You killed him; you're a sick, SOB.”
“The same way you killed those females.”
Jim lunged at him in his rage. Caden raised his deadly claws, a second set of claws grew tipped with black. He cut Jim on the side ripping through his shirt leaving a deep claw mark.
“That’s a poison that has never been seen on the Earth, the more I place in your body, the faster you will die. When they find you, they won’t know what happened to you. There will be no trace of the poison left behind.” Caden's voice was flat as if he were too busy planning his next move to put feeling into his words.
“Sage understands why I killed them. She knows I needed to kill them first to make sure I had to kill her.”
Jim pulled himself up from where he dropped and ran at Caden again.
“Now you die. Koyzal is protecting me. Soon we will be one.”
Caden side stepped him cutting him again. He picked him up and threw him against the wall.
“I’m going to take you apart piece by piece.” He walked towards him his eyes that were a combination of green and red turned completely red. Caden was gone, and the werewolf was in charge.
“I will start with your hands severing each finger.” His voice was deeper hurting the ears of the humans in the room.
“Sister stop him. We need Jim’s body whole as proof that you didn’t do the killing.”
Jim’s breathing was labored, and she didn’t think he was going to make it. What scared her was Caden, his eyes were fiery red like he was never coming back from wherever he was.
“Baby, I need you.”
He looked at her and then shook as if knocking her words away.
“Come to me baby, I’m so scared.”
He growled he wasn’t a baby. He turned his red eyes on her.
He took a step towards Sage, Xander, and Ven took a step towards him.
“Don’t come any closer this is between my baby and me.”
He turned to focus on her. His mouth opened showing her his fangs before he roared. His legs ate up the distance between them until he was standing over her.
“What big teeth you have.” She laughed at her own joke.
“The better to eat you with.”
That she wasn’t expecting.
“Sit by me, baby.” He snarled but sat down.
“This talk is long overdue. A baby is a term we use for the young of a population, any population. When Jade was born, she was baby Jade or a baby Kur’ik or just a baby. It is also an endearment a way to communicate love. When I call you baby, I am telling you that my heart belongs to you. It’s a way of sa
ying I will love you forever, or I’m never leaving you. I use it to say how much I love being your mate and how special you are to me. I say all that and more with one word, baby.”
She watched as thoughts ran through his head. His eyes bled back and forth between red and green.
“I need Caden the humanoid to come back. I love you werewolf but if the world saw you; they would take you away. You would end up in a special room you couldn’t get out of, and I would never see you again. Please don’t go away.”
His eyes bled to green as his form changed. He leaned over and broke whatever was holding her in place.
“We have decided,” he told her once he was holding her in his arms. “You can call us baby.”
She placed her head on his chest and laughed. The sound of the sirens made them move.
Chapter Twenty-five
“Ms. Stewart, why did you leave the scene of the crime.”
This was the fifth time she had been asked to come to the police station, and she was tired and upset with the routine. Caden was standing behind her holding his tongue because she had begged him to.
“Detective Baker I don’t know what you would have done, but I woke up from having been drugged. I was lying within a circle with strange symbols in it. When I could make my body sit up, I saw Jim, he looked like was dead or dying. I also saw a headless corpse. Maybe you would have stayed and taken notes, but since I was still being held for the murder of the other females, I made myself get up and leave. I did call the police after I called Caden.”
“There would have been less confusion if you had stayed.”
“Yes, because I wanted to be alone in a jail cell again where one of your officers abused me, knocked me out, and took me to a warehouse to kill me. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t agree with you.”
He had the good grace to blush and squirm in his chair.
“That should have never happened.”
“You're correct detective,” Caden replied.
“I know you were able to determine that Jim killed the other women are you trying to pin the death of the other man on me now?”
Jim had survived. He was in the hospital surrounded by guards. She worried that he would escape or somehow beat the murder wrap and come after her again. Just last night Caden assured her that would never happen.
“No, you’re not a suspect. There is no way you could have killed him.”
“Then why am I here?”
“I wanted to hear your side of the story again. I also wanted to inform you that your ex-boyfriend died last night.”
“What?”
“A nurse went into his room and found him dead. As far as we can tell it was natural causes that stopped his heart. Do you know anything about his death?”
She was shocked to hear he had died and he could see it on her face. Still, there was the thought that she was somehow involved.
“I know nothing about his death, but if you want me to be sorry he’s dead forget it. He killed those women because they looked like me. He wanted to kill me, he tried to do it. I’m not sorry he’s dead, but I’m sad it came to this.”
“Do remember anything else that happened in the warehouse?”
“Are you trying to find any inconsistencies in my statement? I’m done Detective Baker. Accuse me of a crime and process me or stop harassing me. It’s your fault that I was in that warehouse. Your fault that I almost died. Where were you when I needed you?”
“Ms. Stewart, please allow me to extend my sincerest apologies for this having happened on my watch.”
“Leave me alone, that will be an acceptable apology. If we're done?”
“We are.”
She got up and walked out with Caden by her side. “I bet he hopes he doesn’t see any of us again.” She told him in the car.
“Sage.”
“Stop, are you going to apologize again?”
“I am.”
“Caden you fought for me. You protected me when I couldn’t protect myself.”
“I was out of control.”
“So what, you had sexy red eyes. When I called to you, talked to you, you listened. I’ll always be there to bring you back from the edge of insanity, baby.”
He smiled loving every time she called him baby.
“Did you kill Jim?”
“He deserved to die.”
“But did you kill him?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.” Her world was different now, and Caden was right. Jim deserved to die. She slipped her hand into his and thought of a future where she didn’t have to scared.
They drove home silently. He stopped in front of The Wolves Den.
“Deja asked me to stop by for a minute, and you still haven’t seen it.”
“Where ever you’re going, I’m following.”
He got out and came around to open her door. He took her hand and helped her down then backed her up against the Jeep. His lips found hers. The kiss was long and hard as his body covered her. She could feel his need pressing against her.
“Damn I love the way you kiss.” She was breathless and happy.
They went up the steps once he was in control and opened the double doors. Surprise was yelled as the lights came on. The club was filled with balloons and streamers. Music started to play as everyone talked at the same time.
They walked over to the bar. “Welcome to the family,” Deja greeted her.
“I didn’t change like you did.”
“You don’t have to change to be part of this family,” Fire hugged her.
“I’m happy to have a sister.” Xander gave her a big hug.
“I guess we don’t get the next part of your explanation,” Sage said to Cait. After what she had seen, she wanted to know everything the female was keeping secret.
“I got a feeling you’ll be hearing it soon.”
Sage reached out and pulled Caden close basking in the warmth of his arms.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too, baby.” She smiled everything was right in her world.
Other books by the author
Love Me Harder Series
Aran Book 1
Niko Book 2
Sergey Book 3
Nicolas Book 4
Hale Book 5
Alexei Book 6
Ash Book 7
The A’rouk Brothers
Mick Book 1
Damon Book 2
Lucca Book 3
Alien Mates Series
Soul-Bonded to the Alien Book 1
Rylan’s Heart Book 2
Gabe’s Destiny Book 3
Colun’s Passion Book 4
Joaquin’s Saving Grace Book 5
Dragon Mates Series
Alexa’s Dragon Book 1
Nadia’s Dragon Book 2
Skye’s Dragon Book 3
Willow’s Dragon Book 4
Shifters on the Run
Tane’s Mate Book 1
Dev’s Mate Book 2
The Wolves Den
Lazzar Prequel
Enzo Book 1
Cole Book 2
Declyn Book 3
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Caden (The Wolves Den Book 4) Page 16
