As it became apparent that the wolves didn’t notice the robed woman, Raven knew she had to be using some kind of cloaking spell, just as she herself was. Humph! She didn’t like thinking of the Ilyium as smart, though after so many years of hunting the hated enemy, she knew first-hand how sly and manipulative they could be.
She needed to inform whoever was in charge of the wolves of the spell, so maybe they could counter it and no one else could sneak past them. On silent feet, she moved closer, hands on the hilts of knives, ready to bring the woman down, when she stopped. It might be a good idea to watch and see what the vile human creature was up to.
The woman crept ever closer to her brother’s massive home, and Raven followed, only to pull up sharply when a group of five wolves crossed her path. She might be cloaked, which helped with her scent as well, though if she got too close, that wouldn’t matter.
She had no doubts of her ability to take the wolves on, she had yet to meet anyone she couldn’t, but if they were protecting the place, she definitely didn’t want to hurt any of them.
Frustrated, she waited while the woman slipped into the house.
***
Zander was happy as he dozed, not needing to be put back into his magical coma as often anymore. He’d just finished eating lunch with everyone, though Chloe had to feed him again. That had embarrassed him at first, but he was starting to get used to it, and it was nice to dine with his family and friends. Made him feel less like an invalid.
As the door to his room slowly eased open, a sense of peace filled him. He knew it was Chloe, the human woman he was beginning to have feelings for. Then a hand trailed across his chest under the covers, slowly inching lower. With a sigh, he drew in a deep breath and let it out. He could get used to this.
Then his mind suddenly rebelled and his stomach clenched.
It wasn’t the sweet scent that he enjoyed, but rather a fiercely hated odor that filled him with loathing. This isn’t Chloe! His eyes flew open and he gaped at the chartreuse eyes staring down at him. He must be dreaming. As his body betrayed him, he knew he wasn’t.
Fear and horror consumed him. “W-what are you doing here?” he rasped, throat suddenly dry. Sweat beaded on his brow and he swallowed as his blood began to heat and his body tightened painfully.
An amused chuckle echoed in the room. “Did you miss me?”
“Never,” he hissed, even as an ungodly need for this evil red-haired woman overtook him. The one who’d kept him prisoner and put an unnatural spell on him. A spell that made him crave her and kept him from healing.
Heart already pounding, he gasped as her hand slid under the covers and reached for him. “No, go away,” he attempted to yell, then gritted his teeth as his body betrayed him even further and he thrust upward in her hand. “No,” he cried again, hating the nightmare that was happening all over again.
“I’m actually sorry,” she said as she slipped her robe off and let it fall to the floor.
“G-go away,” he hissed, choking as twisted, magical need made his cock hard.
“You’ve been difficult to find. I need you just for a little longer. I have no idea what is so different about you, but soon it will be over and I’ll be free,” she said.
He fought to understand her words as his body burned like it was on fire, while Red yanked her dress off.
Leaving her bra on, she’d just pushed her panties down and Zander knew he was lost. He hated her with every fiber of his being, yet due to the spell she’d put on him, he craved her with a need that had him panting in expectation. Still, he tried to fight it.
Then the door opened.
“Oh!” Chloe gasped and Red stilled.
“Go away, little human, he’s mine,” Red said, and waved Chloe off.
“No, Chloe, I’m—” Zander wanted to refute Red but couldn’t get the words out.
He hated for Chloe to see him like this and couldn’t blame her when she began to back out of the room. Besides, he didn’t know what Red might be capable of, what she might do to Chloe.
Then, to his utter surprise, Chloe frowned and slipped back in. “Get away from him!” she yelled. Zander could see the anger, bright in her eyes. Then she shocked them both when she grabbed Red by her hair and yanked her away from him.
Red landed on the floor with a shriek of rage and Chloe moved back against the wall, her hand to her mouth in horror of what she’d done and Zander was secretly proud of her. He’d seen into her mind and knew how sweet and passive she normally was.
Then he feared for Chloe as Red rose to her feet. She’d just grabbed the footboard of the bed when the door was viciously kicked open.
Zander gasped and blinked. Moisture pricked the backs of his eyes as he gaped in disbelief at someone he hadn’t seen in years. If he wasn’t in so much pain and burning need, he’d have thought he was imagining the female who grabbed Red by her long tresses and towered in vengeance over her. “There you are, you sneaky bitch,” his sister said.
He wasn’t imagining anything, and as painful need shot through him again, he drew a deep, steadying breath and met Raven’s eyes. “Kill her,” he rasped, glaring his hatred at Red.
“W-what?” Chloe gasped.
Raven’s grin was cold and deadly as she drew her sword from its sheath.
“Let me go!” Red screeched loudly as Raven dragged her back a couple of steps and shoved her to her knees.
“Hello, brother. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” Raven said and Zander nodded, emotions running wild. He was grateful his sister had shown up when she did.
Then, a large dark-haired male lumbered into the room next and stopped beside Chloe who was standing frozen up against the wall.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lick-A-Luscious
Soroyan, body tired and aching, had gone to his room to rest only to find himself unable to sleep. Now that he had made a plan, he didn’t want anyone or anything changing his mind, and waiting to heal was grating on his nerves.
This is useless, he thought and sat up. He’d just swung his feet over the side of the bed and started to stand when a shriek from Zander’s room set his adrenaline pumping. It wasn’t a fun, laughter-filled shriek like the ones he’d heard little Lilly, or some of the pack’s wolfling pups make. No, this was a woman’s shriek of outrage, fear.
With all the children and pregnant females in the place, Soroyan wasn’t taking any chances. Soroyan entered Zander’s room and stopped. Tierney stood with a sword at an almost naked, red-haired woman’s throat.
Then, as Tierney rushed into the room behind him, he did a double take. What the—?
“Dad, what’s going on?” Tierney asked, then caught sight of the woman with the sword. “Aunt Raven?” She gasped.
“Yes, it’s me, I’m a little late,” Raven said with a smirk as she took in her niece.
Soroyan had to shut his mouth as his gaze went from Raven to Tierney and back. Then he actually looked at Tierney’s aunt. Soroyan’s heart nearly stopped as glowing purple eyes, similar to Tierney’s, held him spellbound.
He sucked in a breath of air and a tremor ran through him at the wild tang, a deadly yet unrestrained flavor that stirred the senses. It was similar to the scent that clung to Zander. Yet, on Raven, there was an undertone of sweet honeysuckle that created a spicy, enticing aroma and set a slow fire igniting in his veins. His heart slammed hard in his chest with an awareness followed by a burning need he hadn’t felt in years, making what he’d felt for Tierney pitiful in comparison. She had just awoken him. This female, this Raven, she ignited the fire within him to a fevered pitch.
Raven was tall, and her hair, though thick and the same length and shade of black as Tierney’s, wasn’t as wavy. Plus, she had a crimson streak down the one side.
He blinked. She appeared as if she were in her late twenties, though he got the feeling that she was considerably older than that. There was also a sharp, lethal sense about her. Although that could have something to do with the gleam of
anticipation in her eyes at the prospect of spilling blood.
“What is going on?” Tierney asked, angry eyes shifting to the woman Raven held, snapping Soroyan back to reality.
Raven held him spellbound a moment longer before she tore her gaze away and looked at her niece.
“She was hurting Zandy,” Raven snarled and moved to draw her blade across Red’s throat, when the woman cried out.
“No, please, I’m pregnant!”
Raven hesitated, then shrugged. “One less Ilyium bastard.”
Zander sucked in a deep breath and his eyes grew impossibly wide. “Raven, don’t. Don’t kill her.” Tierney’s father said with horror in his voice.
The bitch stared right back at him, eyes wild. “It’s yours,” she said, drawing gasps from around the room.
“What the fuck is she talking about?” Raven growled, shaking Red.
Zander groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he shook his head at his sister. “Just, don’t hurt her.”
“She could be lying,” Jax said, having just entered.
Tierney waited for her dad to dispel that notion. “Dad?”
Zander wouldn’t or couldn’t look at her. Soroyan wasn’t sure which, but with what he had seen when they rescued the warrior, and what he was seeing now, it was obvious what kind of spell had been used on Tierney’s dad.
“Well, what should I do with her then? Can’t let her go, she’ll lead others here,” Raven said, thunder gleaming in her eyes.
Zander nodded wearily. He was in pain and Red was the cause.
“You need to get her out of here, and I need to question her,” Soroyan finally snapped, feeling for Tierney’s dad. Beside him, Chloe reached down, picked Red’s Ilyium robe up and her dress and tossed it at the woman.
Keeping a hold of Red, Raven reluctantly sheathed her sword.
“Ilyium!” Soroyan mumbled, the desire to shift, strong. Pushing it down, he took a deep breath and then another.
“Zander, I need you!” Red cried, an insane glint in her eyes that quickly swept the room before settling back on Zander.
Raven snarled and jerked Red’s head back. “I still think we should kill her,” she said, and though he didn’t know her, Soroyan understood she was only saying it to scare the woman.
Zander glared at Red who sighed deeply.
“Fine, just let me go, please. I didn’t want to come here, I-I had to. Please,” Red begged as she pulled her dress on and clutched the robe to herself.
“We can turn the empty storage room in the basement into a holding cell,” Jax offered and Tierney agreed.
“My warriors and I can help,” Kyrian said from right behind him, and Soroyan glanced back at his brother in surprise. Kyrian smirked at him before stepping out of the room. He knew that Soroyan hadn’t heard him come up behind him. Soroyan grimaced ruefully. He really was going soft without his wolf.
Then he moved aside as Caden, the young man Genna brought home with them when they rescued Jax and Zander from the mine, entered. “M-mother?”
Caden blanched at the sight of the half-dressed woman in Raven’s clutches.
“Traitor,” Red snapped at her son.
Raven shook her. “What the fuck is this?” Her eyes began to glow a deep violet as she stared at the young man who Soroyan had so far thought was just a human.
Caden ignored Raven, although Soroyan noticed the tremble that went through the guy. He also remembered where they’d found Caden. Chained up in the torture room. He had finally healed from the torture his loving mother had inflicted on him.
“Caden is part of our family,” Tierney said to Raven and Red gave a hysterical laugh.
“You have no idea who he is, or what he will do!” she said, eyes crazy as Genna burst into the room.
“What?” Caden asked as the petite, wild-looking Genesis Dracones’ gaze swept from Caden to his mother, and her brilliant-blue eyes, which were so similar to Jax’s, flared with fire.
“Hell’s frozen balls. What is the evil bitch-master doing here?” the girl growled, and a red glow filled her eyes. Then, before anyone could say a word, Genna smirked gleefully. “I’m gonna have me some wicked-fun!”
Suddenly, fire danced along her palms.
Without a word, Caden turned and left the room.
“Genna, help me, I command you!” Red said imperiously, in a last attempt to get free.
“Help you?” Genna frowned and the fire dissipated. Genna dropped her hands to her sides. “I’m not under your control no more!” she said angrily.
“I’ve taken your blood for years, you have to be. Help me, kill them all!” Red screeched at the girl.
Genna’s eyes glittered and she took a step forward. “Not no more. I’ve grown too powerful for you or anybody to control me anymore. Besides, these are my family-peoples. But …” Genna cocked her head thoughtfully and a shiver ran through Soroyan as her eyes lit up in delight. “I decided. I’m gonna help you.”
Amid various gasps, glee lit Red’s eyes until Genna’s next words. “I’ll help you die like you deserve and make you really crispy. Maybe I’ll even get marshmallows this time!” Genna grinned and fire once again began to dance in her palms, snapping and sizzling.
“Genna—Phoebos!” Zander called with such authority that Genna frowned at him. Before he could say anything more, she swung her gaze back to Red and let out an angry sigh.
“Everyone always spoils my fun!”
Genna grudgingly agreed. “Fine, Angel Daddy.” Then she looked toward Red.
Tierney grabbed her arm, stopping her from getting any closer to the woman.
“I promise I won’t hurt Angel Daddy’s baby,”’ Genna said and Tierney released her. Genna leaned close to Red. “You won’t always be preggers. I be waiting.”
Everyone listened to Genna with different degrees of shock, surprise, and exasperation.
Then Genna searched the room. “Where did he go?” she asked, talking about Caden.
Tierney laid a hand back on Genna’s shoulder. “He left and I think he might need you right now,” she said quietly. Genna turned and left the room.
Soroyan could see that Tierney’s dad was barely hanging on. “We need to let Zander rest. I can take her,” Soroyan offered, looking at Raven.
The woman who had just upended his world shook her head. “No offense, Mister Lick-a-luscious, but this one is mine.”
Soroyan blinked.
“Did she just call him lick-a-luscious?” Jax asked and Tierney chuckled.
Not sure how to take her strange words, Soroyan decided to ignore it and waited while everyone exited the room.
“Soroyan,” Zander said, clearly in agony. “You can interrogate her, just don’t hurt her,” he said.
Soroyan didn’t like it, but he understood. “Agreed.”
“Dad?” Tierney asked, worry bright in her eyes. “Do you want me to send Kyrian or Sasha in to put you back under?”
Zander nodded and Soroyan waited while she and Chloe left, before following them.
“This way,” Tierney said and she and Jax led Raven and their prisoner down the hall to the basement.
Soroyan had just closed the door behind them, leaving Zander in silence, when he saw Chloe glance nervously up at him from where she leaned against the wall. She started to say something, then stopped. Soroyan had never spoken two words to the woman, but he could sense how upset she was by the whole situation, and possibly hurt. He wondered about that.
“He didn’t ask for any of what was done to him,” Soroyan said, and motioned toward Zander’s room.
Chloe swallowed deeply. “That woman, she’s the one who did that to him, isn’t she?” she asked, though it was clear she already suspected but just needed confirmation along with a moment to gather her wits. Soroyan nodded, not sure if she meant his physical condition or the sex spell, not that it mattered.
Chloe bit her lip as if trying to gather her courage, then she opened the door and slipped ba
ck inside. Soroyan sighed. He had noticed that Zander seemed to like the woman. Hopefully, she could offer him some comfort.
Turning, Soroyan headed away from everyone, knowing he’d get his chance to question Red soon. First, he needed some fresh air. His senses and emotions were on overdrive and the pressure was building.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Attraction
Raven, trying not to reveal just how tense she was, watched Jax and some other hot males carry supplies in through the garage to the basement so they could turn the storage room into a few holding cells.
Finally, she tore her eyes from all the man candy. “You have grown up,” she remarked to Tierney, trying to take her mind off a certain male with haunting eyes.
She’d faltered when he rushed into her brother’s room, but quickly hid it.
At her words, Tierney blushed and then nodded. “And you look just like I remember.” She grinned and then suddenly sobered as the males worked. A moment later, Sami and three of Kyrian’s wolves carried in a single bed and chair.
Tierney sighed deeply. “I can’t believe that bitch is carrying my half-sister or brother.”
Raven let out a little growl. “What exactly happened to my brother?”
She listened while Tierney explained how the Ilyium had captured her dad. “They tortured him before we finally found him. I thought we knew everything that happened to him while they had him, but this, what that horrid woman did—” Tierney took a deep breath before continuing. “I had no idea just what exactly she … ah, what she did to my dad.”
Tierney stopped speaking and the anger melted out of her eyes as Jax looped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“You all right?” he asked and Tierney nodded, though it was clear she wasn’t. Jax hugged her again and it brought a lump to Raven’s throat to see how in love they were.
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