“Such as?”
“Well, where does the clan’s wealth come from? I mean, Clan Janus lives by a very different standard so I imagine there had to be some smart investments on someone’s part to help sustain the clan.”
One dark slash of an eyebrow rose incrementally. “You wish to talk finances? I assure you, Cassandra, we are well and securely funded. There is no need to worry where your next meal will come from.”
She frowned. “That’s not what I meant at all. Listen, in the normal world, people have to work for their money but as far as I can tell you, you don’t punch a clock so there must’ve been some wealth pocketed somewhere in order for you to sit on your Alpha chair all day.”
“I do not sit on a chair all day,” he said, affronted. “You imply laziness on my part.”
“No, not at all,” she said, rushing to clarify. “I’m just trying to understand and put things into place from the only perspective that I have.”
“Oh, I see,” he said, slightly mollified. He shifted in his chair and sighed. “To answer your question, yes, Clan Barrachius has always been smart with their investments. We’ve amassed a healthy sum of money over the centuries that is now handled by an investment firm. Clan Janus has been foolish in not taking a more active role in the health of their clan finances. However, according to Cristophe, Ulster has been amassing wealth through less than honorable means. He has far more than he shows.”
“I’ve seen the way they live. It’s shameful the way he treats his women. He tried to force the women to breed by getting a witch to cast some kind of spell.”
“Did it work?” Tieran asked, concerned.
“No. The women always miscarried. And then he beat them for failing.”
The disgust in Tieran’s expression warmed Cassandra’s heart. The fact that he felt anything aside from hatred for the Janus clan members spoke well of the Alpha. “An Alpha’s job is to protect his clan, not rule through tyranny.”
“Yeah, well, I guess Ulster wasn’t in class that day when they taught that lesson in Alpha school.”
At her quip, Tieran’s lips twitched in the subtle makings of a smile. “You are very witty,” he remarked, as if surprised by this revelation. “And intelligent.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Before I was kidnapped and all that, I was actually an honor student with a full ride to college. I like to learn.”
His eyes said he approved, though he said nothing.
“Were you always so serious?” she asked, trying to picture the austere man as a carefree boy. “I mean, what was your childhood like?”
“I am as serious as I need to be. I have been training to be the Alpha since I was a pup. There wasn’t much time for foolishness.” At her disappointment, he clarified gruffly, saying, “My brothers and I weren’t above getting into mischief now and then. We were, as my mother used to say, a handful.”
That’s more like it. She smiled at his sharing something that sounded somewhat normal and relaxed a bit. “What did you do for schooling? I’m guessing you were homeschooled?”
“Tutors mostly. Then university studies. Our father wanted us to be educated. He said the world was changing more rapidly than our species but we had to be able to keep up in order to protect the clan from outside forces. He said ignorance was never an excuse for failing in your duty.”
She wondered what it would be like to have grown up with duty and honor and tradition pounded into your head. “What do you do for fun around here?”
“Fun?” he repeated stiffly, retreating behind that damnable mask again.
“Yes, fun. You know, all work and no play makes Tieran a dull boy?” she teased lightly. “There has to be something you enjoy doing that’s not tied to your job as Alpha. Maybe chess or cards?”
“I do not have time for games.”
“No wonder you’re so grumpy all the time,” she grumbled, sighing when she felt they’d taken two steps backward for every tiny step forward.
“You believe I am grouchy?” he asked, mildly bothered by her observation.
“Well…yeah.” No sense in sugarcoating it. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile once.”
“I like to hunt,” he said, surprising her. “When the moon is full, I change and run with the night. It’s the only time I feel free.”
She remembered the feel of the ground beneath her paws and how exhilarating it’d felt to simply put miles between herself and everyone else. She could relate to his admission and smiled in understanding. A moment passed between them that resembled the beginnings of camaraderie and she savored the brief respite.
She grabbed an apple and bit into it, the juice dribbling down her chin before she could catch it. Tieran was on his feet in an instant, wiping the sweet juice away with his thumb. His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared when in such close proximity to her. Her heart rate kicked up and her temperature rose. She swallowed the bite of apple and he removed the fruit from her hand. She knew what would happen now. It was always this way between them. But it hurt to know that he didn’t want to be with her, that he was driven by some biological programming and not true desire. She forced herself to look away even as he pulled her into the rough shelter of his arms. “If you leave now, we don’t have to do this,” she whispered. “I know it’s not me you want.”
He didn’t try to deny her statement and his silence stabbed her in the heart. Closing her eyes, she gathered every bit of strength she had and pushed him hard in the chest. “I’m not second prize,” she said harshly as she backed away. “I know I am not Serra and I never will be. You’ve done your duty — I’m pregnant — so feel free to send someone else to bring my food that way neither of us has to suffer through each other’s company.”
She expected him to stalk from the room, angry at her rejection or perhaps secretly relieved at her letting him off the hook, but he shocked her when he simply stared, his eyes burning with even brighter sexual heat. He walked to her with slow, deliberate steps until he was towering above her. “You are my mate. We are bonded in flesh and blood. No one will bring you food but me and no one will be between those thighs but me. Am I clear?”
Cassandra’s lip trembled but she thrilled at his harsh words, still she pushed him further. “Why?” she taunted, meeting his stare with open defiance. “You don’t want me. You’ve made that abundantly clear. I could leave right now and disappear and never burden you again with my presence.”
She jumped when he snarled. “I would find you wherever you go. And if you threaten to leave again, I will tie you to this bed naked until you disavow such insanity. Do not play games with me, Cassandra. You will lose.”
Moisture sparked behind Cassandra’s eyes and she hated that he’d managed to make her cry. She ducked her head, not wanting him to see her tears. “You’ve made your point. Please go.”
“I cannot,” he said in a low, gruff tone. She risked a glance at him and gasped when she saw the lust had not cleared his gaze. Just knowing that he grew hard as his stare roamed her body was enough to slick her channel with readiness. She hated that she was primed for his cock at a second’s notice and yet, she eagerly anticipated the moment when he would push himself deep inside her. “I need you,” he admitted in a tone she’d never heard him use with her. God, she hoped he wasn’t speaking to Serra and using her as a poor substitute.
“Me?” she dared, almost hating herself for needing to know.
“Yes, Cassandra,” he groaned, ripping his shirt from his body and shedding his jeans. He palmed the long, thick length that seemed to pulse as it grew before her eyes and she quickly divested herself of her own clothing. She knew by heart the feel of his hard, hot shaft as it passed between her nether lips, knew his particular scent as if it’d been branded on her soul and she didn’t believe she’d ever tire of the feeling or the smell.
His stare centered on her rounding belly and he dropped to his knees before her. He pulled her closer and rested his head on the soft skin of her stomach. Nuzzling the flesh, he wh
ispered something in a language she didn’t recognize but it caused a flood of emotion to ripple through her and steal her breath. But as quickly as the sweet moment had come, it passed and soon, Tieran had pushed her down to her back and hooked her legs over his shoulders. She shuddered with delicious delight at the first strong swipe of his tongue across the sensitive, swollen nub of her clitoris. She arched and groaned, losing herself to the skill her Alpha wielded with his tongue as he swirled and plundered her most private place until she was gasping and groaning loud enough to alert the entire house to their activities.
“Tieran!” she cried as every muscle clenched in wonderful unison, creating a tidal wave of pleasure that washed over her in pink and amber waves of delight. She was still reeling from her orgasm when he pushed himself inside her, going deep enough to pop a satisfied groan from his lips as he seated himself to the hilt with her legs still thrown over his shoulders. He met her gaze and thrust against her, his hips flexing with masculine strength against her feminine core. She cried out as another wave of pleasure rocked her body, sensation crashing down around her, ramping up the crescendo that never failed to sweep her away. Tieran’s body swelled, growing larger and fiercer as he rode the razor’s edge of passion. A growl rumbled in his chest that thrilled her beyond measure and intensified her pleasure. An answering growl sounded in her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut, losing herself to the blinding carnal sweetness of their joining. The mattress soundlessly absorbed every savage thrust but the frame shuddered as it knocked the wall, creating a tell-tale rhythm that told the entire compound what they were doing to each other. On the heels of that dark, sinful knowledge, Cassandra tumbled over the ledge and hurtled into muscle-clenching pleasure as her orgasm rattled through her body, erasing all rational thought and sending her drifting through a pleasure-induced haze.
Tieran shouted his release seconds later and flooded her channel with his thick cream, bathing her womb with the essence that further bonded them with each spurt. Rolling from her body with a groan, Tieran collapsed beside her, his breathing as harsh as her own as rivulets of sweat dripped from his temple. He smelled of man and sex — a heady combination. She could smell their joining in the air and the scent was sweeter than the most sought-after essential oil. She wanted to bury her nose in his groin and inhale the scent that was quickly becoming the scent that she craved as much as she craved a steak, dripping red with blood.
Tieran…her Alpha. She felt the invisible bond between them tighten and she gave into the realization that she was helpless to stop what was happening between them. And a small part of her that was growing larger by each day, didn’t care. If only Tieran felt the same.
As the haze lifted and their sexual hunger abated, Cassandra expected Tieran to split as quickly as possible but he surprised her by staying, although he seemed agitated, as if he didn’t know why he wasn’t leaving. “I was wrong to blame you for what has happened,” he admitted, breaking the silence. He climbed to his feet and pulled his jeans on. His dark hair was beautifully mussed and his abdomen muscles stood out in hard relief against the landscape of his bronze skin. To look at him was to think of, and desperately want sex and the fact that Cassandra had laid claim to him was a secret thrill even if she wasn’t ready to admit that fact.
“Which part?” she asked.
“All of it,” he said. “I realize you didn’t ask for any of this either. But you’re right about us needing to work together to be good parents. The future of the world rests in your belly. We have a responsibility to work together as a team.”
Her hopes fell and she couldn’t help the bitterness that followed. Work together as a team? Okay, coach. Did he talk to his beloved Serra like that? Or did he wrap his arms around her tenderly when he made love to her? Thus far, Tieran had simply fucked her like a maddened beast (which she loved) but she could tell he was reserving the sweetest part of himself for someone else and it killed her.
“That’s not enough,” Cassandra said bluntly, surprised that the words popped from her mouth.
“What do you mean?”
Cassandra sent him a hard look but beneath the anger bled a weeping wound of hurt and rejection. “I want more from you. If I’m being asked to sacrifice everything I’ve ever known for a new world that I don’t understand in the least, you’re going to have to stop fighting what you feel for me. I can sense it. You’re holding back, refusing to give into the feelings that are binding us together.”
“What I feel isn’t of my own choice. I am biologically primed to want you because you are my mate now that we’re bonded but my heart belonged to another before you came.”
She winced, hating his bald statement for its stark honesty. She supposed she ought to be appreciative of the fact that he wasn’t going to lie to her just to save her feelings. Cassandra had always preferred brutal honesty to gentle falsehoods. Well, she had until that moment. Now, she was rethinking that philosophy because the slap of that fucking statement had stung like a bitch. Tieran quieted, regret in his gaze for hurting her. “Cassandra…I do not wish to hurt you. I will always protect, respect, and care for you but do not hope that I will ever love you. That part of myself left the day Serra was forced from her home to make room for the woman I was supposedly destined for — you.”
Tears sprung to Cassandra’s eyes and she didn’t try to hide them. Well, wasn’t that a bowl of rotten cherries? He may as well as said, Hey, I like you enough to bang boots but you’re not good enough to meet the fam. Sorry, babe. That’s just the way it is. How was she supposed to take that kind of admission? Was she supposed to thank him for being so honest? Or maybe start sobbing like a pinched baby because she’d inadvertently been given the First Place Loser award for being second best? Screw. That. Cassandra jumped from the bed and stalked past him, going to the door.
His gaze narrowed at her action. “What are you doing? You’re naked. You can’t go out like that.”
“Says who?” she demanded, her hand on the doorknob. “I release you from your commitment, Tieran. I told you I wanted more. Being second best has never been my style. I will find someone else who will be over-the-moon-happy that I am their Number One girl. I am no one’s consolation prize. Got it?”
“If you take one step outside that door—”
“Don’t threaten me,” she cut in with a mean growl.
He advanced, his scowl deepening. “Cassandra.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me. No one is. I’m the Prophesied One, not you. I choose my mate, not the other way around. Got it?”
“That’s absurd.”
“Yeah?” Cassandra raised one brow, taunting. “Watch me. I’m tired of everyone telling me what I can and can’t do. So far as I can tell…the Mother Goddess broke the mold when she made me.” Cassandra flung the door open and started to cross the threshold but Tieran’s grip was on her arm before she could take another step. His eyes flashed dangerously but a vicious growl ripped from Cassandra’s throat that startled him. Her skin prickled with scratchy heat and her heartrate kicked up as her body prepared to change. She recognized the signs this time and she welcomed the split of bone and skin as she transformed into the white, blue-eyed werewolf. With a howl, she bounded past the shocked people in the house and ran full-tilt out the door.
Her padded feet ate up the ground, putting distance between her heartache and pain and she wasn’t surprised when she heard Tieran’s enraged howl but she didn’t care. He could beg Serra to come back to him for all Cassandra cared. The exhilarating rush of freedom soothed her ragged heart and she ran for miles. Her pregnant belly didn’t slow her down and she much preferred this form at the moment than her human body. When she was a beast, she reveled in the freedom to simply act naturally without overthinking. It seemed when she was in her human form, all she did was fret and worry about everything. Being the Prophesied One was a heavy gig. One she hadn’t asked for, by the way, but the time for crying in her beer was over. She had two pups growing i
nside her and they were going to need her to protect them.
If Tieran was too much of an ass to realize she was the real deal, then, screw him. She broke into a clearing and her senses picked up the scent of something gamey and delicious. She swung around and spied a deer picking its way delicately through the dense overgrowth. Cassandra’s muscles coiled beneath her fur and she launched herself straight at the deer’s throat. Within seconds warm arterial blood gushed in her mouth as the deer flailed in one last ditch effort to live and then went limp. In her human form she would’ve been sad at the loss of life; in her beastly form, she simply accepted the fact that she was at the top of the food chain in the forest. She sated herself with the deer, leaving behind precious little for the scavengers and then plunged herself into the icy waters of the deep, fast-moving creek winding itself along the thick forest floor. She emerged from the water, invigorated by the bitter cold and her full meal. For the first time in weeks, she felt sated.
However, her senses went on full alert as her ears pricked at a foreign sound. Another beast emerged from the shadows. She didn’t need to wonder or guess.
She growled, her upper lip curling in warning. She was still pissed…and hurt.
Tieran circled, giving her a wide berth, his gaze never leaving hers. She’d known he would follow but she wasn’t ready to go back. Certainly not after he basically told her that she was spinning her wheels in the love department when it came to him. Her tail quivered and she caught the subtle scent of pheromone on the air. He lifted his big, black snout and caught the scent she was giving off without realizing it. His growl plucked at her biological strings, causing her to whine and shy away though her channel was already slicking with ready moisture.
No! She forced herself to focus and snarled. She didn’t care what form she was in, he’d had his last taste of what she had to offer. She didn’t care if she had to run away and chain herself to a wall — she was not being with Tieran again. Ever.
The Pursued (The Breeding Prophecy) Page 2
