by Mina Carter
Finally he slowed, coming to a stop on a rocky outcropping. His head hung low as he stared at the valley below. The dawn was just breaking and the scenery spectacular, something that at any other time Jayce would have sat and watched, absorbing it all and feeling content with his place in the world.
Not this morning. He huffed, the sound ending in the smallest whine as he lay down and rested his head on his paws. His anger had drained away, leaving just sorrow. And a deep well of pain and emptiness where his heart used to be as he closed down the link between himself and his brother to the merest strand. Perhaps if he ignored the bond which tied them together, the freaky unnatural bond, then it would go away and at last he'd be free. Free to go his own way and find his own mate.
If only it were that easy. There was only one woman he'd ever want to bond with, and she wanted his brother, not him. He closed his eyes, a single tear escaping from under his left eyelid.
In one night he'd lost everything that mattered to him. His mom was dead, his brother lost to him and the woman who had owned his heart for years had chosen someone else.
He surged to his feet, his throat welling with grief as he howled, the sound of his pain echoing over the silent mountains.
* * * *
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Cat's voice was soft, half muffled by Ryder's broad chest as she snuggled up against him. When Jayce had stormed off, Ryder had decided to stick around the clearing for a while. He knew his brother. Jayce was hot-headed at times, prone to dramatics and flaring up over the least little thing.
"Yeah, he does this." He reassured her, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "He'll be back." I hope…
Trouble was, Ryder wasn't sure this time he would be. He'd never seen his twin so mad or the sheer depth of rage over the link they shared before. A link which was all but gone, shut down from Jayce's side. Something he'd always been able to do but Ryder never had. Another sign of their freakishness … like the control they had over the change.
Again the thought came back to haunt Ryder that the whispers behind their backs were right. There was something not quite right about them. Twin wolfs … agents of the devil … unnatural, the old timers had always whispered. Should have been drowned at birth … evil.
"I hope so." The strain was evident in her voice. "You don't think that too, do you? That I … I'd…"
"Have sex with just anyone? No babe, I don't," Ryder said honestly and shifted her in his arms to get into a more comfortable position. He'd recovered a blanket from the truck Jayce had brought back and the pair were sitting wrapped in it, leaning against the trunk he'd taken her against not an hour ago.
"Oh good. Because I wouldn't…" There was a pause and, even with his eyes closed, Ryder knew she was nibbling her lower lip. "I think I love you, you know. I always have."
He smiled softly. Even after the scene with Jayce he was more relaxed than he'd been in years. A good fuck did that for him. No, not a fuck … what they'd done had been more than fucking but his brain shied away from the conclusion it came to.
"You just think? You don't know?"
Another silence, then finally she spoke. "Well… You and your brother are … I couldn't decide between you. I … no, you'll think I'm a freak."
At that Ryder did laugh. "Honey, you're talking to a guy who's been considered a freak of nature since the day he was born. And a twisted son of a bitch now. Believe me, there ain't nothin’ you could say that would shock me."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
"I want to sleep with you and Jayce."
"What?" Ryder went still at the words he’d never thought to hear from Caitlin's lips. Leaning away from her he looked down into her beautiful face. Tonight was taking on a very surreal quality. Not only had he finally gotten the women he'd fantasized about for years. Well, wrong. Technically he'd only fantasized about kissing her for years. Just kissing, nothing more, despite what Jayce thought of him and his sexual morals.
"You want to run that by me again?" He started in surprised, dropping his usual “sweetheart” from the end of the sentence in his shock. She couldn’t have said what he’d thought she’d said. Surely? "I thought you said you wanted to have sex with both of us."
She met his eyes levelly, a hint of color building in her cheeks. Then she lifted her hand and stroked gentle fingertips down his cheek. "I do."
"Awwww, isn't this cute?" A new voice said, shattering the silence and tranquil atmosphere. Ryder swore and shot to his feet, shoving Cat behind him. There in the clearing in front of them stood four were-cats. One he recognized from earlier. Or, at least, he recognized the black eye the cat was sporting courtesy of his own left hook. But the guy in front, the one who was speaking, he’d never seen before. Ryder's lips curled back from his teeth, a warning growl trickling between them.
"You lot just don't learn do you? Well … if it's another kicking you're looking for, you've come to the right place." He locked eyes with the guy in front who had spoken and seemed to be the one in charge. A silent promise that things were going to go from bad to shitty as soon as Ryder could arrange it.
Cat's hands rested on his back, just lightly and he was glad he'd insisted that they get dressed, jealousy hitting him broadside at the thought of another guy seeing her naked. Ever again.
"Yeah right. You and me dog." The were-cat with the black eye gave a “bring it on” motion with his fingers as he started to step around the guy in front. "Let's finish this now, then I'm screwing your bitch. She looks real sweet."
His friend…leader…owner—Ryder couldn’t quite work out the relationship between the cat and the man with them—stopped him with an upraised hand. "Oh no, I don't think you will be…" the stranger replied, a smirk on his lips as he glanced at Cat. Ryder moved to shield her more.
Ryder looked him up and down, assessing him as an opponent. Dark haired and dark eyed he was as tall as Ryder but slender. Ryder drew in a deep breath and rolled the air over his tongue. As he’d thought, not a were-cat but not human, although that went without saying. He was in the company of were-cats. If he had been human they'd have humored him for all of a minute, then used him in a fatal game of cat and mouse.
“…the only person touching her will be me. A hot fuck will make this whole tedious business bearable.” The non-cat, non-human’s smirk widened to a lustful leer, eliciting an answering snarl from Ryder. His body shivered but he held his control. All he wanted to do was leap across the clearing and tear this guy's throat out. In hot, bloody chunks of meat. He could already feel the heat of the blood on his tongue, taste it in the back of his throat. He didn't care what this guy was, he was going to take him apart if he so much as laid a finger on Cat.
“You want her? Then you have to go through me first,” Ryder declared, thumping his chest.
“Ry…” Cat's voice was soft and wary behind him, her hand tapping his back lightly to get his attention.
The speaker grinned. It wasn't a nice expression, a lecherous look in his eyes as he glanced past Ryder. “Not a problem. You may think you're the big bad … but I'm the real deal. You think the lady wants an animal when she can have a god?”
Ryder laughed. “Oh a god is it? Nice one… I thought I was arrogant but you mate, you take the cake. Don't worry babe,” he dropped his voice and murmured over his shoulder. “I'll sort this out. When I say the word, you run, as fast and as far as you can. Find Jayce.”
“No, Ryder—”
“Just do as you're told Cat,” he snapped, concern for her overriding everything else.
“Trouble in paradise?” The self-proclaimed god asked with a raised eyebrow. An expression which made Ryder frown. It was familiar, too familiar … like he'd seen it somewhere before.
“Ryder, look … look at his face,” Cat whispered urgently.
Ryder already was, studying his opponent's features. A broad forehead, wide intelligent eyes set over high cheekbones … lips which curved into a cruel smile but on another…
�
�Fucking hell…” It was like looking into a mirror, or at his twin. Except he and Jayce had light green eyes instead of dark , their mother's eyes. “Dad?”
“Never call me that. You think I want people to know I fucked an animal and sired you? My name is Ancelin and I am a god, you can call me 'my lord' or 'sire' … well, for the last few minutes you have left of your life that is.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got the god thing already. You really are full of yourself aren't you?” Ryder's brain was moving a mile a minute as he tried to figure a way out of this. He'd always known he and Jayce were different … the elders of the pack had known too but they'd gone for the downwards option rather than something more heavenly. Considering the look on his newly-found father’s face, somewhere between anticipation and lust, Ryder wasn't sure heavenly was the right word.
He reached up and latched a hand into the neck of his shirt, pulling down in a swift and brutal movement to tear it from his body. Ancelin's eyes flicked as Ryder's heavy, muscular torso was revealed. The blonde were-cat with the black eye grinned. Ryder was bigger and heavier than daddy-dear. He had to hope that would be enough to carry the fight.
The power building in the clearing shattered that hope as the air shifted around Ancelin, the god's eyes fixed onto Ryder's torso and the strange tattoo which had appeared last night.
“That bitch, that fucking bitch! She's helping you! She's helping all of you isn't she?” he raged, the swirls and eddies of the air around him in riot. “Where is she? I'll break her fucking neck … no, I'll strangle her. I want to watch the life drain out of her eyes just like I watched your mother die.”
Ryder’s world stopped as pain threatened to engulf him. It was bad enough knowing his mother was gone. Bad enough she’d been murdered and died in pain. But to find out his father was responsible? Rage boiled up within him, threatening to boil over as he looked at his father.
Ancelin shook his head. “Ohh, that hurts does it? Your mommy in pain?” The god sneered, stepping towards Ryder. “Enough, it won't make any difference who helps you or your brothers. Your brother Danyl won't help you, he made a deal to save his worthless mate's life. So you're going to die a slow and horrible death while your bitch watches. Then, when I'm done with her … I'll give her to the cats to play with.”
The four men around him grinned, the same sick look in their eyes as in Ancelin's. Ryder’s heart pounded in his chest as the tension in the clearing mounted. Blood and adrenalin surged through his veins, a potent mixture that galvanized his body.
“One, I have no idea who the fuck Danyl is and…” There was no way they were going to touch Cat, he’d make sure of that. Pausing, Ryder reached down within himself for the power of his wolf, his voice dropping deeper as he carried on speaking. “…like I said, you gotta come through me first. Cat?”
“Yeah?”
“Run.”
Chapter Six
“He'll kill them you know?”
Jayce had been lying on the outcrop as the paleness of the dawn brightened into day. Watching idly as the shadows shortened in the valley below. He hadn't moved for hours, just wallowing in pain and misery.
At the soft feminine voice, he yelped and leapt to his feet. Sitting on the boulder behind him was a woman. Slender and so beautiful it made his heart ache, her turquoise gaze held his.
Stepping back Jayce summoned the change, his human form bursting from the lupine within seconds until he was standing naked in front of her. There was no shame in his expression, just demand as he looked at her.
“Okay lady, three things. Who the hell are you, how did you find me and who's killing who?”
She rose to her feet, her fluid grace tipping him off that she wasn't human. The scent which surrounded him as she approached, of heat mixed with something delicate and floral, told him whatever she was, she didn't spend long in the mortal plains.
“I am the Phoenix.” Her words were simple as she came to a stop in front of him and extended a hand. Her fingertips trailed over his side and Jayce had to remember to breathe as he looked down. The new artwork on his ribcage pulsed red. It wasn't a bird, it was a Phoenix.
“What the…?”
“I am Nix, Ancelin’s mate and, unless you heed my warning, he will kill your brother and your woman.”
Pain surged within Jayce and he shook his head. “Sorry lady, I think you got the wrong guy. One, I don't know an Ancelin and two, I don't have a woman. She chose Ryder.”
Nix smiled and shook her head. “A woman's heart is a complex thing and choices are not always what they seem. Trust the woman you love … but first save her from your father. One of your brothers has already met him and that defeat angered him. He's tracking you all down now, determined to head off the prophecy.”
Jayce blinked, trying to take it all in. He didn't question her word, he'd always been able to pick out if people were lying and her voice had the ring of truth about it.
“Okay. This Ancelin is our father … and he's trying to kill Ryder? Err … you do know what we are right? We're wolves. The big bad. Ryder'll chew him up and spit him out in small pieces. I think it's your mate you need to be worried about.”
“Ancelin is a demi-god.”
“Shit.”
Fear for Cat and Ryder filling him, Jayce started to turn, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Two questions.”
Nix inclined her head. “If I can answer, I will.”
“Good. First, brothers? I'm guessing that's in the plural? Not just Ryder?”
“Correct. You have two brothers aside from your twin. Your father doesn't know there are two of you. He thinks your mother bore only one child.”
Jayce grinned. He could use that. “Okay, second. Why are you helping us? You're his mate.”
The Phoenix didn't answer for a long moment, her lovely eyes filled with sorrow. “Not by choice, by prophecy. I want…” She stopped and shook her head. “We don't have time. You need to save them. I cannot help you further, he already knows I've interfered. Go. Now.”
Without pausing to think Jayce turned on his heel and ran, changing on the run again and heading back to the brother he'd abandoned and the woman who'd rejected him. He didn't care whether they wanted him around or not, they were stuck with him. He just hoped he got there in time.
* * * *
The fight, such as it was, lasted moments but it seemed like hours. Cat looked on in horror, she would run but her legs had forgotten how to move. The were-cats surrounded the two of them, Ancelin with an evil grin on his face as he walked towards his son.
Ryder and Jayce's father. Cat shook her head and blinked as she looked at the self-proclaimed god. The brothers had celestial blood? In her mind things started to slot into place.
Divine parentage would explain the oddities about them. Their ability to control the change for one … an ability Ryder was displaying even now as he took on three of the were-cats at once.
Power rolled over his skin as he part-shifted, just his hands changing into a half-form. His fingers lengthened, nails turning to razor-sharp talons he used to swipe at the cats as they tried to surround him. It was an ability she'd only ever seen in alphas before and once again she wondered if, without a pack, the brothers had not gone feral as everyone expected but alpha instead.
"Hello beautiful, how about me and you have a party all our own?"
Cat backed up as Ancelin broke away from the main fight, the cats keeping Ryder busy. The big werewolf roared as he moved like lightening, swinging under a vicious punch and raking his claws along an unprotected abdomen. A feline shriek of pain and rage filled the clearing. Ryder didn't waste any time, picking the injured were-cat up bodily and throwing him at another. Cat’s eyes grew wide in surprise. She’d known Ryder was strong but just to pick up a man bodily like that was a whole different level.
"Cat, run!" he bellowed, sparing a second to cast a glance over his shoulder. His fear for her showed stark on his face but a heavy right hook drew his attention back to the figh
t.
"Touch me and I'll take your hand off at the wrist," she promised, backing away from Ancelin. She didn't like him. Her hackles rose as he got closer. He was handsome yes, but it was wrong seeing Jayce and Ryder's face on this hard-eyed stranger. Jayce please, she silently begged, we need you.
"Ohhh feisty little bitch aren't you?"
"You'd better believe it," Cat snapped back, a low growl of warning in her throat. For every step Ancelin took forwards, she took one backwards. She should escape while she could. But how could she leave Ryder? If she did, he was as good as dead.
Ancelin grinned, his eyes full of lust and excitement as he looked her over. Cat felt sick. “I know you want it. I can feel your heat rolling off you. Interesting what a female wolf will do at certain times of year isn't it?”
“I'd rather die,” Cat spat, disgusted. A shudder ran down her spine. Like earlier, with Ryder, she kept stepping around the tree but this time she didn't want to be caught. It wasn't suppressed excitement making her heart pound or her limbs quiver. It was fear.
“That can be arranged.” Ancelin's voice dropped flat, his eyes hard as he lost interest in the game. He sighed and as he waved a hand, the air around it shimmered. Cat tried to move back a step but she couldn't. Instinctively she reached for her wolf, only to find the connection to the lupine part of herself blocked off.
Shit. Panic surged through her body and into her heart as she hammered at the wall between them. She’d never been cut off from her wolf before and not being able to reach into that part of herself terrified her. Whimpering she pulled at her feet only to find they were rooted to the spot. “What the hell?”
As she struggled the paralysis got worse, spreading up her legs, freezing her knees and then her thighs. Pinned in place, she flinched as Ancelin stalked around her.
“Nowhere to run sweetheart… Hmm, perhaps I'll kill you while my son watches. He can see the life drain out of your eyes and know it's his fault. Or,” he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “How about we stake you out until you're mad with need … and he can watch you go feral?”
