by Tabke, Karin
She slapped his hand away but the contact burned her palm. She hissed, jerking her hand back. “How can you speak of love when you are so toxic?”
“You call the kettle black, Falon.”
“My hatred for you knows no bounds, I agree, but it’s because of what you have done.”
“Are Vulkasin and Mondragon no less toxic?”
“They have been persecuted!”
“If they had the option to drop their swords today and walk away, they would not.”
“And I would not blame them! After what you did to their parents you deserve to die the same way.”
“What of your mother, Falon? She loves me. Has never stopped loving me. If you kill me, you would destroy her.”
“Then she can die! I have no respect for her. How could she?”
“I see the rage inside you has not subsided.”
Her head snapped back. “What do you know of it?”
“Your Slayer blood is rising, Falon. In a month it will control you.”
“No,” she breathed, terrified he told the truth. “It will not.”
He laughed, not quite demonic more like gentle amusement, as a father would for a foolish daughter. “Only if the alphas accept you, but for full acceptance, they must know your true parentage.” He moved closer and his voice lowered conspiratorially. “And we both know what will happen to you when they realize your father slew their mother and father.” His aura snapped red and black around her, betraying his mood. “Come with me now and spare yourself the heartache. You can raise your child as a Corbet. I will protect you both.”
Inadvertently, Falon’s hand slid down to her flat belly as hot tears welled in her eyes. “They will accept that I had no hand in my parentage.” She raised her blurry eyes to his. “They love me.”
He pressed his hand on hers. It was big and warm, and oddly comforting. “But they hate Corbet more.”
“No!” she cried, jerking away from him. “They will understand!”
He shook his head and stepped back. “If I could rewind time, I would change everything, Falon. I would not have allowed Layla to take you away from me even as I struggled with my destiny.”
He strode past her to the stone wall behind her and leaned against it. “I didn’t know if you were safe around me. I knew there was no way I could take your mother and you to my clan. I had no choice but to abandon you both at the time. It was the only way to save your lives.”
“I wish you had let me die,” she said harshly. “I wish my mother had resisted you. I wish—” She shook her head as hopelessness engulfed her. Everything, everyone she loved would be lost to her if her secret got out.
“You have the power of both bloods, Falon. If you swear fealty to Clan Corbet you will thrive amongst my kind. If you do not, you will die a Lycan.”
“I am Lycan! If that is how I die, then so be it!”
“Then you will. Fenrir becomes more powerful each day. Do you think even with the Cross of Caus you can get close enough to destroy him?”
Falon knew that with the power of three, they had a chance, but she wasn’t going to say it.
Thomas shook his head as if reading her thoughts. “The power of three will work only if your precious alphas accept your Corbet heritage. We both know that will never happen.” He pushed off the wall and strode toward her. “Don’t be so stubborn, daughter! You cannot beat Fenrir, and you cannot beat me.”
“Why does there even have to be a battle? You’ve proven that a Slayer and Lycan can love. I’m proof of that!”
“This has been coming for three hundred years, Falon. I cannot stop it any more than you can. It’s destiny. Only one survives.”
“Don’t show up!”
“Fenrir will show up and a thousand Slayers with him.”
“Will you slay my mother?”
Her question startled him. And he refused to answer, and by his nonanswer, Falon knew what he would do. As angry as she was at her mother, Falon’s heart broke a little for her. The man she loved could not see past his past to live a future that included the woman he loved. She inhaled sharply then exhaled. If they learned her truth, would Lucien and Rafe be able to look past their own pasts to share a future with her? Or would they be like Thomas, unable to love more then they hated? “Then you never really loved her did you?”
“I love her more than my life.”
“Then yours holds no value.”
Falon raised her nose to the morning breeze. Rafe and Lucien approached. Her stomach rose to her throat. They could not see her like this, with her father.
“Your lovers approach.”
“Leave now before we destroy you, but leave knowing this: if you reveal yourself as my sire, to anyone, I will kill you.”
“I’ll give you two weeks, daughter. Two weeks to tell them the truth. If they do as you say, love you enough to look past your Corbet blood, then we will meet again at the rising. But if they cast you from them, the only way you and your child can survive is by returning to your clan.”
“I will not tell them!” Dear God, how could she? It would destroy them. It would destroy her.
“Two weeks.” He leapt over her into the ruins and was gone.
Fourteen
FALON SHIFTED AND raced toward her alphas. How she loved them both, separately and as one. In full wolf, they galloped toward her—one dark, one light—both with eyes bright and focused solely on her. She swallowed hard, wishing with all her heart Corbet blood did not run through her veins. But it did, and as much as she loved the two Lycan rushing toward her, she feared they would never be able to look at her without disgust if they knew her truth.
But how could she keep her terrible secret?
She nearly skidded to a stop when the answer hit her: destroy Thomas Corbet. And with him, her secret would die. She was Lycan and he her mortal enemy. Killing him would be as natural as the rise of the full moon every month. But could she, in cold blood, kill him before the rising?
Rafa and Luca nearly collided with her. Their happy growls followed by reassuring licks and gentle head butts would have made her cry if she were in human form. She closed her eyes and rubbed against each of them while making small sounds of contentment.
Why couldn’t it be like this all of the time? No jealousy, just love and support.
We were worried sick about you! Lucien scolded.
We’ve been all over this damn countryside a dozen times! Rafa growled.
I’m sorry.
Why did you run away? Rafa asked roughly.
I— The darkness overcame me again, I didn’t want to hurt you. She licked his face. I’m so sorry.
He nuzzled her face. We’re all under an incredible amount of stress. You have nothing to apologize for.
They stopped in the middle of a wide-open heather field. Fully exposed to the warmth of the rising sun and crisp morning breeze. The clean scent of nature soothed. The physical toll of last night and this morning with no sleep and then the emotional drain of meeting her father face to face for the first time took its toll. Exhaustion overcame her and Falon collapsed on the soft underbrush.
Let me sleep, just for an hour . . .
* * *
SHE WOKE IN human form to warm fur in her face and soft snores in her ears. Blinking against the setting sun, Falon struggled to remember where she was.
Reality came back with terrible clarity. England. The witches. Her father. His ultimatum. Her answer to it. She closed her eyes, casting those unbearable thoughts from her brain. She had two weeks to tell the men she loved she was as much a Slayer as she was Lycan, and with that truth she’d lose them both. But without the truth the power of the three could not be set free. Was what they had now enough to see them past the rising?
In her mind, Falon had no choice. Unless she des
troyed the source of her problem, her secret was not safe.
What she had to do was clear. And once the Lycan nation triumphed on the rising it would be a moot point. Falon would be the only survivor with Slayer blood left on the planet, and no one but her mother would know. And Layla would not share what was also her secret.
Right now, however, Falon was going to take quiet moments like this and greedily hold on to them. Smiling she rubbed her back against the big black wolf snoring behind her. Then she snuggled her nose against the soft golden fur her head rested on.
Rafa’s rich earthy scent flirted with her nostrils. It was as unique to him as he was to the world. She smoothed the fur along his muzzle with her fingertips and smiled, remembering the first time she’d seen him like this. She had awakened beside him not knowing who he was or what he was. To say she had been terrified would be an understatement.
Two ocean green eyes opened and stared intently at her. Emotion for this Lycan swelled. She loved Rafa so much it hurt to breathe when he looked at her like this. Never had she wanted to hurt him. Never would she intentionally cause him pain. She was fiercely protective of his feelings. Yet—if he knew the truth about her, she would hurt him more deeply than she had when she accepted Lucien’s mark. More deeply than when he learned she was pregnant, most likely with Lucien’s child. She couldn’t hurt him. She wouldn’t. It galvanized what she must do.
She kissed his nose and whispered, “I love you.”
He nuzzled under her chin and closed his eyes. The gentle, trusting action set her already tumultuous emotions close to unraveling.
Lucien stretched behind her, his big body tightening against her back. Luxurious heat radiated from his soft fur. When he snuggled up closer to her, her mood shifted. As only Lucien would, he laved his tongue in a long swath from between her shoulder blades, up the back of her neck, along her chin to her ear.
Erotic shocks of energy sizzled through her. Her body loosened. Closing her eyes, Falon moaned when he sniffed down her back, and then licked the dimples above her buttocks.
“Lucien . . .” she moaned. Her breasts scraped across Rafa’s furry chest when she arched. Lucien growled again, but it was Rafa’s human lips that caught hers when she gasped and arched deeper against Lucien.
Fisting Rafa’s hair, Falon pulled him to her, wanting him to claim her as his. Like this, with his brother cradling her from behind. She needed him to mark her, to reestablish his claim on her. She needed him to show her by that action that he belonged to her, not Anja.
Oh, how she’d missed everything about him. His kiss, his touch, his scent. His love. Tears stung her eyes.
“No, no, Falon,” he shushed against her lips. Running his thumbs along her cheekbones he smeared the tears away. “No tears, my love. Not now.”
His lips slid across hers again. And like a child, she curled into him, knowing he would slay her dragons for her if she but asked. Honorable, golden Rafa. Her knight in shining armor.
Lucien’s body stiffened behind hers and moved away.
Stay, Luca! she cried, grabbing a fistfull of fur pulling him back to her. Please, for me, stay.
His body stilled but did not reengage with hers. For now, it was enough that he stayed.
Rafael’s fingertips traced the edges of her face, across her eyelids, down her nose, to her cheekbones along her chin to her neck. Reacquainting himself with every inch of her. Tears welled again. How he must have suffered when she was taken from him. How he must have mourned. How he must have cursed her when she accepted Lucien. She felt terrible for hurting him, but did not regret loving Luca.
How could she? Lucien and she, they had been lost, but in finding each other discovered their true selves. She could not have loved Lucien if she had not loved Rafael first.
She could no more fight her feelings for both men than she could keep the sun from rising each morning. They were equal parts to her whole. How could she make them see that?
See that despite their pride, they belonged together? The three of them as one.
Rafael’s lips broke free of her. His gaze caught and held hers.
I vowed never to hurt you, Falon. I ask the same vow of you.
“I would never hurt you, Rafa. Never.” She kissed him deeply. I give you my vow.
His hands dug deep into her hair, and the pressure of his lips intensified. His body swelled as he covered her. Falon closed her eyes and reveled in the power of his touch. Everything about Rafael Vulkasin reverberated with bright golden power. The golden son. The golden alpha. Her first love.
His scorching lips trailed down her neck, his big hands cupped her swollen breasts. Moaning she arched into him, her head pressing back against Lucien who had not moved. She sensed his anger but his arousal as well.
When Rafa caught a sensitive nipple between his teeth and nibbled, she cried out and opened her eyes. From behind her head, Lucien’s wolf stared down at her. Her flesh flared with new heat. As Rafael’s lips taunted and teased her nipple, Falon could not drag her gaze from Luca’s smoldering eyes.
“Falon,” Rafa whispered against a turgid nipple, “I have missed your body.”
She moaned as his lips trailed down her belly. Biting her bottom lip, Falon whimpered when Lucien licked her throat. It was so sexy, one man, one wolf, both wanting her so much they were willing to pleasure her together. She moaned again. And, dear God, it was Nirvana. Not just physically, but in her head. An emotional aphrodisiac unlike anything she had experienced.
“The hot silkiness of your skin” He licked the cradle of her hip. “It tastes like candy.”
She loved it when Rafa talked to her so low and sexy . . .
His lips swathed a trail from one hip to the other just above the rise of her mons. Her essence intensified, and when Rafa slid his tongue across and around her sensitive clitoris, she cried out. God, that feels so good.
She was so turned on, so on fire her thighs trembled. “Oh, baby, you are soaking wet for me,” he murmured dipping his tongue between her swollen folds. Falon exhaled a long rush of breath . . . Dear Lord, that was amazing.
Lucien shifted to human and as he did, he gently took her hands and pulled her arms over her head until she was stretched taut.
Oh. My. God.
Rafael nudged her folds apart with his thick tongue and swept her clit with slow deliberate back-and-forth swaths. The sensation was devastatingly wicked. She was going to die of pleasure.
Rafa, she gasped. Lucien’s lips covered hers.
Say my name, he growled low.
Lu-cah!
Rafa slid a thick finger into her. The sublimity of his touch took her breath away. Her hips rose a foot into the air. Rafa . . .
Falon’s beast had long since stirred. Now she was on the prowl and would not rest until she had both alphas satiating her hungry body.
Lucien’s tongue mimicked the same slow cadence as Rafa’s finger. Rafa’s lips clamped onto her hard clit and sucked as his tongue flickered feather soft across it. It was too much and not enough. Lucien’s hands cupped her breasts, and in a spiraling explosion, she came. With Rafael between her thighs, her back came off the ground. Lucien’s hands slid deep into her hair and cupped her head as his kiss deepened, catching her cries of passion in his kiss.
Her body jerked and trembled with emotion. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. Shaking her head, she sobbed in Lucien’s kiss. Then gently, he licked away her tears.
“Did you like that, baby?” Rafa asked, his voice so gravelly she hardly recognized it.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Thank you.”
“I’m not done.”
He spread her thighs and pulled her onto his thick erection. Her eyes flew open at the lush sensation of Rafa filling her. She gasped, and Lucien let go of her as her arms slid around Rafa’s neck and her lips rose to his.
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Rafa rolled with her away from Lucien and then pressed her back into the soft fragrant heather and slowly made love to her as if it were the first time. And in so many ways it was. They were two different people now. She was no longer innocent of who she was or where her destiny lay. She had come into her own and would settle for nothing less than everything.
Rafa had come into his own as well. He’d taken that final, momentous step facing the Blood Law, risking it all, and losing, but surviving. She had admired him when she’d fallen in love with him the first time, now she revered him. She would follow him to hell and back, as many times as he needed her to.
The powerful energy that thrummed through them with more voltage than a lightning strike, melded them. Tracing her fingertips across Rafa’s lips, his eyes, his cheeks, Falon could not break her gaze from his soul-seeing eyes if she wanted to. Their connection was stronger now. Their separation having galvanized their bond. It was heaven being in Rafa’s arms like this again.
Each time he moved deep inside of her, her muscles hugged him tightly, reluctant to let go. His cock was like a lightning rod infusing her with power. It was almost too much. Too much sensation. Too much love. Too much knowing Lucien watched, and too much knowing it hurt him. It was too much being loved and desired by these two powerful men, yet she could never settle for just one.
His stormy green eyes reverently held hers. They glittered with emotion and heat. “I love being inside you,” Rafa said softly. Falon arched, digging her nails into his shoulders, the slickness of their bodies causing her to lose her grip. Their sweat mixed with Rafa’s blood created a heady perfume.
Her beast raised its head, no longer content with slow. Falon rolled Rafa onto his back and in deep sensual waves she rode him. He pulled her hair around them like a shroud and raised his lips to her and worshipfully kissed her.
The tension in their bodies tightened. Their reverent treatment of the other shifted dramatically to primal mating. Their bodies slammed together, were torn apart only to slam together again. Their incessant need for the other accelerated, the long waves intensifying to churning whitecaps.
