by May Sage
Coveney stepped away, heading towards the kitchen, and came back with her drink. As her hands were taken, he also asked what she wanted to eat, and loaded her plate with bacon and pancakes from platters on the table.
“Let me take him, so you can eat,” Ace offered, holding her hands up to receive the kitten, but it had decided that playing with her hair was far too interesting, and, if she so much as shifted, his little claws grabbed her arm.
She sighed. The damn thing couldn’t have been more irresistible, but she was hungry, verging on hangry.
Coveney chuckled, before holding her fork up to allow her to eat some food.
By the time the kitten had fallen asleep, Coveney’d fed her the entire plate.
“Thank you. I was genuinely starving.”
“I’m always ravenous after healing, too.”
Oh. She then recalled he’d also been hit. More than her.
“Are you okay? You had a bunch of arrows in your flanks by the time I left.”
“Rain sorted me out.”
“Still, you must be hungry. Take your seat back.”
She got up, and went to give the child back to his mother.
Now Coveney was occupying his place, she looked around awkwardly; there were no other chairs around the table. She considered going to the dining room area and sitting on one of the sofas, but something - madness, perhaps - made her think better of it. Straightening her spine, and doing her best to ignore the glances, she went right back where she’d been intending to stand next to Coveney, just like he’d done when she’d been in his place. But he shifted in his seat to allow for some room, and pulled at her hand until she got the hint.
Oh.
She felt her cheeks flush as she dropped onto his lap.
The man carried on eating, occasionally feeding her from his plate, as her heart beat a thousand miles an hour and her mind raced.
She wasn’t used to felines. She wasn’t familiar with the Wyverns. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe they were just that tactile with everyone.
But she recalled him clearly saying I don’t touch people.
She was probably just being silly. But she couldn’t shut up the voice that whispered that it felt like he was claiming her in front of all his pridemates.
Chapter 11
The Intruder
Ava went back to bed after breakfast, and, reluctantly, he left her to it, this time. He just wanted to sit next to her until she was better, but he had another instinct, just as strong.
After everything she’d said, he needed to make sure she was safe.
Every member of the pride got paid a salary for their contribution. He used his for clothing, when he needed something new, and a phone, occasionally. That was about it. Over the years, a healthy amount had added up.
Still, he wasn’t sure how to contact the best private investigators out there, so he started researching it. He would have preferred to do it from his room, as Ava slept in his bed, but, as he didn’t own his own computer, he used the Enforcer office, across the hall from Rye’s.
Somehow, everyone had seen necessary to converge on that very room this morning. And they were looking at him. Or talking to him.
Nosy idiots.
“What the ever -fucking hell happened to you, man? It’s aliens, isn’t it? Just tell me. I can deal. If there’re body snatchers around, wink twice. I know you’re in there, mate.”
He just rolled his eyes, ignoring Daunte.
“I know I’m majorly pussy whipped, but it’s been less than twenty-four hours, and you’re practically wiping her ass for her. Come on, this is…”
“She’s probably my fated mate,” Coveney said conversationally, without bothering to lift his head from the computer he was working on.
He’d guessed as much the instant he’d seen her. Every second he spent in her presence made that theory seem more likely. Finally, feeling slightly annoyed at all the staring, he lifted his head.
It wasn’t just Daunte; Vivicia and Theo had also stopped pretending to look for something in his files, and were busy catching flies.
“What?”
“You know how rarely fated mates find each other? I mean, it’s not impossible, but two pairs in one pride would be insane.”
Insane or not, that was his reality. He wasn’t going to tell her until he was one hundred percent sure, but, right now, everything pointed to that theory. The way she felt so perfect against him. The way he wanted to bend his very soul to accommodate her. Every instant away from her seemed endless, and when she was near he wanted, needed, her closer.
Oh, and he wanted her. How he wanted her. He hadn’t so much as breathed a word about it, because if he voiced it, if he so much as flirted, or tried to act on it, he didn’t think he could hold himself back.
He needed to, though. That wound on her side was getting better, but she’d received it just a day ago. A human would have taken a month to recover; she’d be fine by tomorrow. Until then, he couldn’t, wouldn’t think about her luscious little body. Or her perfect tits.
He forced himself to remain seated.
“Maybe that’s because most shifters don’t meet anyone from other communities, or other countries. Still, the word fated suggests that life does set up a chance encounter. It’s just a matter of recognizing it for what it is.”
They seemed to digest that. Finally, Daunte nodded slowly. “Okay, I’ll buy that. Still. You know how long it took Rye to work out that Ace was his?”
Coveney shrugged. “He didn’t analyze the information in front of him right away, is all. I actually guessed she might be his, the second time I saw you together. I figured she and Rye would catch on in their own time.”
It had seemed obvious to him.
“You looked as surprised, when we found them…”
“Because they had weird, glowing marks, and their eyes were bright as neon signs. That part, I hadn’t anticipated.”
He returned to his work, hoping that was the last of the distractions.
“Exactly how smart are you?” Daunte asked, making him smile.
He may or may not have graduated with a Master’s online at nineteen. The initial members of the pride knew that. They’d just forgotten it, or forgotten what it meant. Back when he had been a different person, before his banishment, he used to love solving puzzles, winning chess games in a few moves. Just because he was now their muscle didn’t mean he didn’t still have the highest IQ in the pride, at 144. They’d tested him in middle school, because he’d been so bored they’d figured he could stand to jump a few classes.
He knew better than to tell that to Daunte, though. The man would never leave it alone if he knew. Coveney just shrugged.
“Ace made a few calls already. The Flavia Dale are pretty big in Europe. Like, royalty big, amongst the shifters. They get visits from government officials; Rye’s father, our goddamn king, said they’re huge. If she manages to prove her family was right, if this whole First story is true, she might get back to her place, you know.”
He didn’t actually. Recalling how she’d said she was done with Dale, he doubted it.
“What will you do, then? You’d leave us?”
Everything in him recoiled at that very idea. If anyone had asked him whether he’d planned to leave the Wyverns yesterday, even while they were about to get massacred, his answer would have been no, never. He wouldn’t even have hesitated.
Now, he frowned, and stayed silent, utterly torn.
“This is a pointless conversation. You’re asking about the end of a movie as soon as the opening credits have rolled.”
He was being vague as shit, because he honestly didn’t have an answer. Daunte might very well have called him out on it, but, thankfully, they were interrupted.
They all felt it to their bones when their front door opened. They rushed out of the Enforcer office at the same time as Rye and Ace came out of theirs; Christine popped her head out from the living room.
They all stared in silence at the
stranger who’d just pushed past their wards without activating them. He’d entered their home like it wasn’t locked under deadbolts, simply pushing the door open.
The man seemed to be in his twenties, older than Daunte, a little younger than Coveney, perhaps. He had blond hair on the longer side; it fell in front of his cold, piercing grey eyes without bothering him.
Anywhere, he would have stood out; not only because he looked like a goddamn movie star, but his presence seemed strange, eerie. He wore a fitted suit, and, more remarkable yet, there was a cane in his hand, although he walked easily, without a limp. He used it at each step, though. Each slow, predatory step.
Ace crossed the room, her hand extended, smiling at him.
“Knox.”
Chapter 12
Fight
He looked at the hand like he expected it to bite him, but, finally, placing his cane on the crook of his elbow, he shook it.
“Aisling. Still alive, I see.”
He inclined his head respectfully. She rolled her eyes. “So, you’ve heard about our little issue with the council.”
He smiled, and from the top of the stairs, Ava definitely saw a flash of his white teeth.
“Hearing things is what I do. I’m surprised you didn’t think to come to me for aid,” he challenged, lifting a brow.
Ace was absolutely non-apologetic. “There was a chance you might have wanted to join our enemies, and, quite frankly, I didn’t need you enough to risk that.”
The wolf chuckled low. “Clever woman. Now, I hear you have a little bird under your roof.”
His cold, piercing gaze rose slowly, until he was looking right at her.
Shit.
Ava gulped, walking down the stairs.
Here was the man the legends talked of. There was no doubt that what they said of him was accurate enough. He looked like a killer, the kind who did it not because they needed to, but because it was fun.
He also looked like after killing, he’d fuck his way through every woman in his path. Covered in blood. While laughing like a maniac.
She shook her head. Well, that vision was quite specific.
“Ava Flavia Dale.”
He said each of her names slowly, rolling it around his tongue.
She didn’t flinch.
“Your sister was taller. Prettier, too.”
Now, she was narrowing her eyes.
“They said she was stronger, yet you were the one who survived.”
She glanced at Ace, wondering if she’d told him about her siblings; but none of what she’d told the Alpha would have given him a clue about Aria’s height or her beauty.
He’d been observing them. Of course. Watching your enemies was smart.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She controlled her breathing, and forced her body to appear calm, although she wanted to tremble, and maybe hide behind Coveney, who was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
Finally, she’d reached the last step.
“I was lucky,” she replied.
The wolf tilted his head. “Luck. Yes. It’s certainly luck that allowed you to evade some of the most bloodthirsty hunters of the entire shifter kind for six months, I’m sure.”
She wasn’t surprised when he moved. Somehow, at the back of her mind, she’d always suspected it was inevitable.
The wolf seized the top of his cane and pulled it, unsheathing a long, thin sword, before he launched himself at her, still smiling broadly, like he was having a hell of a lot of fun.
The Wyverns didn’t have a chance in hell of stopping him. They might be felines, but in their human shells, there was no way they could have matched his speed. They probably wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing even if they’d shifted.
Coveney, who was closest to her, attempted to push her behind him, but she didn’t let him.
This wasn’t his fight. And she wasn’t going to let him get mauled to death for her.
So, she did what she had to do. Defense was pointless, pathetic against a predator such as him. She leaped on the nearest wall, and used her momentum to jump to his flanks. Her kick hit the mark. Holy fuck, she’d hit him! Thankfully, her body didn’t let her mind slow it down. On automatic pilot, she punched his sword hand, and flipped back when he appeared at her other side, claws extended this time, although the rest of him remained human.
He could partially shift. He wasn’t the only one.
She extended her wings and flew up just in time to avoid his bite, before folding them back, and grabbing the Malacca’s sheath. He’d carelessly dropped it on the floor. Not a smart move.
She’d learned early that any weapon was better than no weapon; it might not have an edge, but the thin wooden cane allowed her to keep his sword and teeth at a distance.
She was breathing hard, and maybe even sweating, but it hit her, suddenly, when the sword only missed her by a hair.
Her eyes bulged. She didn’t understand how or why, but she knew, without a doubt, that the wolf was just sparring.
All of a sudden, just as quickly as he’s started, he stopped moving, drawing his sword back.
She was pacing, holding her side, hurting everywhere, but the wolf didn’t have a hair out of place. He didn’t even seem winded, damn it.
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “You’re a Flavian, alright.”
The wolf extended his hand expectantly.
Slowly, reluctantly, she closed the distance she’d managed to create between them and shook it, still not quite sure what the hell was happening there.
“Nice try, birdie. But I just want my shaft back.”
“Oh.”
Feeling stupid, she handed him the damn sheath. He could obviously kill her even if she kept it, anyway. He hadn’t even tried.
“What was that all about? She’s fucking healing,” Coveney seethed, rushing to her side, and pulling her t-shirt high enough to check on her wound.
“I’m alright,” she replied, although she also would have loved to know what the hell it had been all about.
The First Wolf smiled again.
“I heard women were made of something more in Dale. I had to check.”
“Well, this one is taken,” Coveney stated simply, holding her against him.
And he must have been utterly suicidal, because he went as far as throwing his dominant vibes at the First fucking Wolf. The two-thousand- year-old ex-gladiator who’d just moved like a fucking ninja without breaking a sweat.
Knox, Fenrir, or whatever he went by, tilted his head, and raised a brow, like he found Coveney’s little display endearing.
“Is she now? Shame.” He turned his back on them, disinterested. “Now, I sincerely hope you have some tea for me, dearest,” he said, taking Aisling’s arm, and letting her guide him to the dining room.
What. The…
“Did you just get into a pissing contest over me with an ancient, murderous, and potentially insane werewolf?”
“Looks like it.”
Yeah, that’s what she’d figured.
She attempted to looking forbidding. “I’m not a thing a guy can just claim, you know.”
“I know,” Coveney replied, still not offering any sort of apology, or letting her go, for that matter.
“You should…”
“You can stop talking now. I’m about to kiss you.”
She had some sort of reply in mind, but the instant his lips found hers, she had no fucking clue what it might have been.
His lips were cool, yet everything in her burned when they touched her skin. She folded against him, wanting, needing more; her hands flew to his neck to ensure she could keep him there for the rest of time. But, just like that, he stopped, taking a step back.
“See? That’s why you’re taken,” he said, winking playfully, before walking in the living room.
Chapter 13
The Enemy
Ava made no damn fucking sense. Shy. Skittish. Flying around like a goddamn ninja, faster than anyone he’d ever seen unt
il today.
Which was hot. Very, very hot. And reassuring, too; he hadn’t quite known what to do with that precious girl who looked like she might break. Turns out, she might be the one breaking him. With her little finger. Wearing a blindfold.
And, by the gods, her lips. Her soft, soft lips. What he would have given for another taste just then. But he knew, without a doubt, that he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself if he’d given in, even just a little more, and they had issues to deal with right now. Like the weird-ass, Earl-Grey-tea- drinking wolf in their living room.
Knox sat in Rye’s armchair, like he’d instantly known that it was the Alpha’s place. He looked goddamn satisfied, as the females in the pride rushed around to serve him. Ace brought him his tea, and Clari offered him a cupcake.
He stared at the plate with some amusement before taking it.
“Why, thank you, Clarissa. I do have a sweet tooth, actually. Although it’s a secret I generally keep close to my chest.”
The perfectly happily mated Beta female blushed, making Daunte groan.
“Leave my poor pridemates alone, Knox,” Ace admonished him, rolling her eyes. “You have enough females half in love with you across the globe already.”
“Never,” he replied. Then his easy smile disappeared, and his eyes flashed with something that made Coveney stop walking towards him and glance at Ava, ensuring she was at his side. “Now, I’ve wondered what would have you summon me here after your little bird chirped about all my secrets. So I looked into it. The slaughter of Dale.”
His eyes burned holes at Ava.
“You need me to stop them hunting you,” he stated.
Coveney tensed, wishing he could do something other than stand there. But Rye and Ace, the most dominant people he knew, seemed to be just as powerless. Both had moved to help Ava earlier; neither had made it to her before the wolf. Or before she could save her own ass.
“You need me to talk about the First lines.”
“I don’t know if it’s true…”
