by Lia Davis
“What the fuck does that mean?” I stepped closer to the male. He paused and raised a brow at me.
“Brooke isn’t my mate and I have no interest in finding her. Harrison seemed to be happy with just one of the sisters. But I’m sure he has others out searching for her.” Gunner jerked his head in the direction of the road about a quarter of a mile from the where we stood. The sound of a car starting rumbled through the air. Gunner met my gaze. “I want my mate back. I don’t care if I have to share her. But she doesn’t need us fighting like a couple of hormonal teens.”
He had a point. After a moment, he held out his hand. “Truce?”
I didn’t like the idea of sharing Cassia. However, I needed an ally who knew the inner workings of Harrison’s fucked-up plan. I took his hand and shook it. “For now.”
Gunner nodded once. “Fair enough. I have a hunch where they will take her before handing her over to Harrison. We’ll head them off. Fortunately for us they can’t teleport. But I can.”
I wasn’t so sure about being teleported, but I didn’t have much of a choice at the moment. “What’s your plan?”
“You’re not going to like it.” I growled and Gunner rolled his eyes and continued. “We talk the Hunters into joining our side. I know Dare and Von and they haven’t been turning hybrids over to Harrison recently. I bet they would want to stop the dickhead’s rein over the council as much as I do.”
I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe through the hurricane of emotions running wild inside me. I failed my mate twice because I let my dick do the talking. Being a jealous mate wasn’t doing us any good. “I want my mate back I don’t care who I have to kill.”
“Ditto.” Gunner held out his hand again.
I gripped his forearm, placing mine in his hand. Gunner’s eyes flashed crimson a split moment before the forest around us disappeared.
Cassia
I stood in the living room of a two-bedroom apartment in Carson City with my arms crossed. The two males stood in front of me, watching me as if they didn’t know what to do with me. Well, I didn’t know what to do with them.
“Why are we here?” I asked. My wolf paced under my skin. She wanted out. But she wanted to mate with them.
The one I bit in the forest—Von, I think the other one called him—had short black hair and hazel eyes. He wasn’t lean and wasn’t large either. Still his body was perfectly sculpted with hard abs and strong arms.
What the fuck was wrong with me? I realized way too late that biting him was an epic mistake. I could feel him growing inside me. This wasn’t happening.
My wolf was just as confused as I was. I wanted to hurt the two males in front of me, claw their eyes out or rip their hearts out. They kidnapped me after all. Okay maybe that was too violent. Besides I didn’t want them dead. I couldn’t hurt them either. They were my mates. That didn’t mean I could trust them. “Answer my question!”
Von rubbed his shoulder where I bit him. I tracked the movement and held back a shudder as if he touched me.
The other male, whose name I didn’t know, cleared his throat. His head was shaved and his eyes were gold. He was built like a house or a bulldozer. Standing about a head taller than Von, baldy was twice his size. “We’re not sure what to do with you.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” My magick stirred within and warmed. I had to ground myself soon before the power took over. It’d only happened to me one time. When my mom was killed in cold blood for birthing two half-breed daughters.
Brooke was seventeen and I was sixteen at the time. Our pain from losing our mom made the growing powers neither of us understood build into an explosive mass of energy. We killed the Hunters who murdered Momma. Dad gathered us up and dropped us off at the Carter Moon Pack for protection. Brooke left a year later.
“What Dare means is you…well, your scent calls—”
I held up a hand and sighed. “Calls to your animals, I know. I don’t see how this will work. I already have two mates. TWO!”
Von and Dare frowned and shared a look between them. Just then a knock sounded on the door. Dare stormed off to answer it. And damn if I couldn’t help but watch how his shoulders rolled and muscles flexed as he walked.
Frustration made me growl. “I’m stuck in a fucking nightmare. Hell, I’m going crazy.”
Eli’s thyme scent drifted into the room mixed with Gunner’s spice. When the door opened and my guys stepped inside, I flew at them. I jumped into Eli’s arms and reached out to Gunner, needing the connection with both of them. “Take me home.”
Eli’s arms tightened around me and Gunner placed a hand on my back. However, neither of them moved to leave. I glared at my vampire. “What’s going on?”
Suspicion crawled up my spine. I met Eli’s gaze and lifted my brows at him. He cupped my head and kissed me. I melted into him and deepened the kiss. When he broke the kiss, he said, “Gunner and I have a plan.”
Oh that couldn’t be good. I wiggled out of his arms and he lowered me to my feet. “You were beating the shit out of each other earlier. Now you’re making plans?”
Gunner shrugged. “We got it out of our system. We’re good now.”
A growl sounded from behind me. I whirled around and met Von’s stare. His upper lip was curled as he focused on Eli. The tart scent of jealousy rolled from Von. I glanced at Dare and noted he kept his emotions in check. Yet the way he stood with his arms crossed told me he wasn’t happy about the situation either. That made two of us.
Gunner step forward. “Dare. Von. I guess there is a reason why you didn’t take her directly to Harrison.”
With a frowned I glanced at Eli. Gunner was supposed to be on my side. He was my mate after all.
“Why didn’t you?” Dare challenged. “You had her and let her go.”
I lifted a hand. “I escaped.”
Dare’s lips twitched slightly but otherwise he ignored me. Gunner didn’t miss a beat in answering him. “I have my reasons. What are yours?”
I watched Dare, waiting for his answer. I sensed Von as a mate, but wasn’t sure how Dare fit into the equation. Other than the male looked at me like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to kill me or fuck me. A hot, erotic shudder went through me at the thought.
I was going mental. Why else would I want to mate with all four of them?
Eli nudged me and I waved him off.
Dare finally answered while holding my stare. “She is our mate.”
I frowned and watched them. “We should focus on protecting the hybrids and stopping Harrison.”
Gunner faced me, a crooked, sexy grin on his face. “Why not? There was a time where families or harems were formed. It wasn’t unusual.”
I fisted my hands. Did I not have a choice? “Besides Eli, I don’t know any of you.” I pointed at the three Hunters, one at a time. “You three are supposed to turn me over to Harrison.”
Von broke his silence. “Actually, Dare and I hadn’t decided if we were going to. We brought you here to find out what you knew about the hybrid project and what role your father played in it. When we caught your scent around the house the first time we were there, we knew you were our mate.”
“And you came back to steal me away? Isn’t that a little too caveman?” I let the teasing leak into my tone. But the mention of my Dad sent a spike of fear through me. “What about my dad? Why do you need to know?”
Dare dropped down on the sofa and leaned forward so his arms rested on top of his knees. “When Harrison gave us the order to find you, he said Lewis would watch his daughters die. I’ve never heard Harrison talk like that about Lewis. Plus Harrison is afraid of something. He’s pissed that none of the Hunters can get a solid lead on Brooke.”
Von moved closer to me and I stepped closer to Eli. I didn’t trust the Hunter. Von sighed and added, “Harrison is acting crazier than usual. When he sends Hunters out, it’s to kill the mark, not bring them back to the lab, alive.”
I knew all that. Plus it was the same thing
Gunner said. I didn’t know Hunters could go against a kill order. “I though Harrison had a magickal connection with the Hunters. Or at least bound to the order and couldn’t go against it.”
“This order is different.” Gunner took my hand and held it. “He wants you alive so there was no potion this time. He did say he would kill us if we failed.”
“Harrison is crazy.” I leaned into Gunner a little, liking the way he smelled and the feel of him close.
Eli placed a hand on my lower back. “The four of us need to work together to keep Cassia safe. Especially if you don’t show up in the next day or so. Harrison will send more Hunters out.”
Dare lifted his head. “How are we supposed to work together when it’s clear the four of us are possible mates for her?”
Gunner chuckled. “Two of us already are mated to her.”
“Make that three,” Von said.
I shook my head and pointed at him. “Oh, no. I didn’t bite you with the intent to mate. You kidnapped me and I was trying to get away.” Although I should be fighting the out of control attraction for the four of them, I couldn’t deny they were mine to claim.
Dare nodded. “I’m in. I go where Von goes.”
Hope bloomed from within. The feeling that I need them on my side was too strong for me to ignore. I’d always been the type to go with the flow, which in many cases was my intuition directing me to the path I needed to be on. I trusted my inner voice, my wolf, and my magick. “The first thing we need to do is establish some ground rules.”
“One, we need to go back to the safe house and make it safer while we come up with a plan. I need to contact my father. Maybe Reese also. Two, the master bedroom is mine. No one sleeps in there unless invited by me.” I glared at Eli. “That goes for you too.”
Eli smiled at me and I almost swooned. Almost. “Are those your only two rules?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. I’ll have more to add later. Right now, I’m tired.”
I really wanted to go home to Carter Moon Pack. Sleep in my own bed. And I wanted my dad.
Dare stood and moved toward the door, while pulling out his car keys. “We’ll take the sedan. The GPS has been removed. I told Harrison months ago it broke. The asshat told me to order another one. I’m betting he forgot about it. Lewis keeps him distracted.”
Good enough for me. I exited the first-floor apartment and led the guys to the car. That time I got into the back seat on my own. I owed Dare a punch in the arm, or face, for man-handling me earlier.
Four mates. Lucky me. Not.
7
Lewis
Trapped inside the council headquarters wasn’t as much of a punishment as Harrison thought. In fact, being in the mansion gave me more leverage. It also allowed me to get closer to the crazy SOB and distract him from finding all the pieces to the spell.
“Killing the hybrids isn’t the answer.” I rounded on Harrison as he entered the game room and advanced to me. He continued behind the bar and met my gaze.
Harrison snarled and his face colored with anger. “The hybrids are unstable and dangerous. The whole program was a mistake.”
Counting to three, I breathed in and exhaled slowly. The man was an idiot. “We’ve made progress. I was so close to finding the cure. Plus, we are all hybrids in a way. There are no pure-blooded paras anymore. We’ve all mixed with either humans or other paras.”
That was the problem with the mutations. The illnesses, like the one killing me slowly. There wasn’t a name for it because I was the second para with the condition. My mother being the first. However, I’d witnessed others with deformities and illnesses due to their mixed heritages.
The Hybrid Project was supposed to give us a chance to study para DNA further and find cures for the abnormalities.
“You can’t protect your daughters forever.” Harrison pour him a glass of bourbon, changing the subject. “I know you’re sick. Your clock is about out of time.”
I almost laughed out loud. Harrison didn’t know that I had already saved my girls. The tri-species, Beth, was the first witch/demon/vampire hybrid we created. She was the key to a cure. At least for my illness. She was immune to the cancerous cells killing me. I had infused her DNA with Brooke’s and Cassia’s to keep my girls from getting sick like I was. From their blood, I could create a vaccine to help others. Although Harrison didn’t know what I did. I never got a chance to do more studies of Beth’s DNA before Harrison killed her, claiming she went crazy and murdered his wife and daughter. I wasn’t so sure I believed him.
If only there was another tri-species. One that was born naturally. That would be a miracle from the gods, because there weren’t any that would have a pure enough family bloodline.
“Once I have the relics in my possession and the spell complete, I will be more powerful than the hybrids.” Harrison was rambling. More like bragging about how insane he’d become.
I frowned. He was crazier than I gave him credit for. The spell he sought was not an immortality spell nor would it make him more powerful. It was created by Carlyn, the goddess of witches and fae. She saw the fall of the paras in a vision. Knowing she couldn’t protect them all before she and her brothers died, she told her brothers to leave their blood behind. Hers was hidden in the Rose Lake Coven. The shifter’s blood was hidden with the Carter Moon Pack. The vampire’s blood was hidden somewhere in the council mansion. The relics used to create the spell were scattered and most had been misplaced over the centuries.
I wasn’t sure what the spell would do. The Original Three trusted one family to the secrets of the spell and the locations of the relics. Then trusted another to stay in power of the council.
My family had always been the leaders of the council. I failed the paras when I trusted Harrison and brought him into the council. That was a mistake I was going to correct before I died.
I grabbed the bottle of bourbon and refilled my glass. “Are you sure the spell is what you say it is? You know the gods are cryptic in their gifts.”
I used the term gift because that was what Harrison called the Sleeping Stone. The one Harrison gave to Salrus and then told everyone the demon stole it. I wasn’t sure why other than to kill Reese. That didn’t work out as Harrison planned. I lifted my gaze to Harrison and studied him. “What about Reese? She isn’t going to let you get away with the kill order.”
“Reese is dead.” Harrison snapped his gaze to mine. A light of power rippled in his eyes, telling me Reese scared the council leader. Was it because she was half demon? Or that her mother was a pure blood witch, the last one before Salrus killed her?
My heart ached. Maxine was my dear friend. She was there for me when I lost my Emma and had to put my girls in hiding. I downed my bourbon and slammed the glass on the bar.
Harrison believed Reese was dead. I brought up her name to see if he still believed it. My next statement was to add fuel to his fear of Reese. “She is a hedge witch/demon hybrid. Are you sure she’s dead?”
Reese would be pissed for calling her out and putting Harrison’s attention on her again. However, I needed the distraction to take control over the council once again. Plus, the mention of Reese threw Harrison off his game.
Harrison stared at me for several moments, let out a low growl, and then left the room.
When I stood and turned, I saw Colton, the tiger shifter council member, standing in the door way to the billiard room. I sat back down, knowing Colt was waiting for Harrison to get out of earshot.
After another minute, Colt sat on the barstool next to me. “What’s next?”
“The candle. I need to get a message to Cassia.” I pulled out a flash drive from my pants pocket and placed it on the bar counter in front of him.
Colt picked up the flash drive and stood. “Consider it done.” After throwing back a shot of bourbon, Colt left.
I just hoped Cassia could get the candle before Harrison’s Hunters did.
8
Cassia
As big as Eli’s lake house w
as, I felt crowded. There were four alpha males in the house. I could feel three of them inside me via the links that were formed upon meeting them. I wasn’t sure that was possible.
Eli made sense. He’d been my Sentry for the past couple of years. I was used to him being there in the shadows and in my personal space. My wolf had wanted him from the moment we met. I was annoyed by his bossy, alpha attitude.
Gunner and the other two were a surprise. They were also Hunters. I wasn’t sure I could trust them, mating bond or not. Dare was the only one my wolf hadn’t claimed. He could still turn on me.
The guys were downstairs most likely growling at each other. I didn’t care. I was tired and needed to be alone for a little while. I’d figure things out tomorrow.
I conjured a green floor length nightgown to replace the clothes I was wearing. Then I kicked off my tennis shoes and pulled my socks off before climbing on the massive king size bed.
I snuggled under the covers and sighed. The soft cotton smelled like Eli. I was tempted to conjure new sheets, but I didn’t. The Sentry was my security. His scent let me know he was there and had my back.
I drifted my eyes shut just as a knock sounded on the door. A growl escaped me. Really? “What?”
The door opened and Eli stepped into the room, closing it behind him. His black T-shirt and jeans seemed to be a little tighter than earlier. They weren’t, of course. My awareness of how defined and hard his body was had amped up since we had sex that morning.
When he didn’t move toward me, I arched a brow. “Are you going to stand there and watch me sleep?”
The corners of his lips lifted in a wicked smile. Damn, why did he have to look so hot? Ugh. Get a grip, Cassia. Eli pushed off the door and prowled toward me. His shoulders rolled in a seductive way, making my body heat up.
