Ace moved their joined hands to her leg as he raised his hips ever so slightly to push his erection into the underside of her thigh. Andra pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. As if she didn’t already know it was there or how big and hard it was. The man was teasing her.
“Okay,” Ace said, “since Clay thinks we need to take precaution here, and I think we need to search for the girl, nine of you volunteer to watch the outside of the house, and nine more can volunteer to go look for her. The rest of you need to get some rest. If she isn’t found in eight hours, the first crew needs to return and rest so the next eighteen can take their places.”
As the people in the room began strategizing a plan of who was going to do what and when, Ace let go of Andra’s hand to place his arm around her shoulders, then he put his other arm under her knees and stood up, with her cradled in his arms.
She let out a small gasp and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He chuckled as he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. “I’ve got you, baby,” he said, and then turned his attention to the room. “Slade?”
“Yeah?” Slade looked over at Ace, but he didn’t look upset or even surprised that Ace was holding her like this.
“Stay here and take first watch of the house and let Kai lead the first crew out. Let me know if they find anything. Andra and I will take your place here with the second crew. We will be in my room until then… resting.” Ace’s lips curved up, and so did Slade’s.
“Yes, sir,” Slade said. “Have fun resting.”
Ace chuckled as he started walking. “Oh, I plan to. I plan to rest a lot.”
Chapter 34
Friday, February 6th 2015 5:39 a.m. CST
Montgomery, Alabama
Roel
“Are we certain that it’s not a real wolf?” Brad said.
Roel turned his head to give him an are-you-stupid look, and then shook his head. “Wolves aren’t that big, dumbass. He’s a shifter.”
Something was bothering him about what Mena wanted them to do, though. She hated the bond with Ace. Why would she want to put that sort of burden on two other shifters just so one of them could live? It wasn’t all happily-ever-after once two shifters bonded. Or was it? She’d seemed really happy there with Ace on the phone earlier. And Phoenix’s phone was in pieces now. What the hell happened?
“I’ll be back,” Roel said as he started for the holding room door. “If he shifts, someone come get me from Phoenix’s room.”
“What’s wrong?” Tracy said.
“Hopefully nothing,” Roel said as he left the room, and then broke into a run toward Phoenix’s chamber. He came to a skidding halt in front of Phoenix’s door, lifted his arm and commenced to pound on the steel with the side of his fist. “Phoenix!”
“It’s unlocked, pup,” came Phoenix’s reply.
Roel blinked, and then grabbed the knob, wondering why he hadn’t tried to open the door first, instead of beating a dent in it. He turned it and pushed his way into the room.
Phoenix was lying on his bed, his hands locked together behind his head and looking up at the ceiling. It didn’t appear to Roel that he’d just been woken up by the insistent pounding on his chamber door. It also didn’t look as though he would be sleeping in the immediate future. The vampire looked worried, tired and beat down with insomnia.
“You’re not going to Vegas alone,” Roel said.
Phoenix cut his eyes over to look at Roel, but didn’t move otherwise. “Don’t be ridiculous, pup. I know what you’re thinking. They aren’t going to kill me. Someone has to bring the potions back to the rest of you.”
A chair had been placed beside Phoenix’s bed at some point since the last time Roel had been in this room, so he walked around the bed and sat in it. Placing his elbows on his knees, he let his head fall into his hands. “What happened between you and Mena, Phoenix?”
There was a long pause, before Phoenix sadly replied with, “I let her go.”
“What?” Roel’s head shot up and he glared at Phoenix’s still form. It was clear he wasn’t lying. The guy looked as if he was ready and waiting for his world to end. He probably wouldn’t even fight back if Roel attacked him for saying something stupid, like what he’d just heard come out of his mouth. “Have you lost your damn mind?”
“She’s falling in love with him,” Phoenix said in a tortured whisper.
“No,” Roel said. “I don’t believe it. Something’s going on, but she isn’t falling in love with Ace, Phoenix. Mena loves you. She wouldn’t do—”
“You heard her on the phone earlier, Roel,” Phoenix deadpanned. “Believe it. She’s happy with—”
Roel shot to his feet, suddenly enraged. “Can’t you see it? You know her better than any of us, Phoenix. Something is wrong with her.”
Phoenix’s eyes shifted over to him. “You think the moonrising wolf still has some kind of power over her?”
“Well, that’s one option,” Roel said as he flung his hands up.
“You have more than one theory?”
Roel exhaled heavily. “She didn’t ask about you earlier on the phone, but I bet she knew you were in the room and listening to her. She only mentioned that you would bring the potions back to us.”
Phoenix focused on the ceiling again. “Thanks for clearing that up. I thought I was overreacting when my heart shattered in my chest.”
“So… What if it’s the bond forcing her to act and feel differently?”
“It could be what’s causing her change of heart, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“For Christ’s sake!” Roel yelled, and then kicked the chair over. His pack—his family—was falling apart. Phoenix was the key to holding it together, and the dumbass was letting it go! Phoenix didn’t even flinch at Roel’s outburst. “She loves you, Phoenix—I know she does—but the more time she spends with him…” He let out a groan in frustration as he ran a hand over his head. “Listen, the first few days of the bond, you were the only guy she wanted or thought about. It was obvious that she was in love with you. Hell, she told Ace in front of everyone in our pack and your clan that he needed to stop trying to break the two of you up, because she was never going to let you go. That was only a little over two days ago, Phoenix. People don’t fall out of love with one person and in love with someone else that fast for no reason. Tell me you could fall out of love with her, without something as strong as a bond like that forcing you to.”
Phoenix let out a long breath. “Even if it is the bond causing this, I’ve called every witch I know. It can’t be broken. I knew that before I spoke to her, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself, much less to her. She still had hope then. After hearing her over the call earlier, I realized that I was the only one who still had any hope left. She’s happy. That’s all I ever wanted for her.”
“Bullshit!” Roel shouted, and then launched himself on top of Phoenix, grabbing his arms and rolling until they were both on the floor on the other side of the bed. Each punch Roel delivered only caused stars to dance in his vision, but the adrenaline pumping wildly through his system made him immune to the pain of the blows. “Fight back, asshole!” Phoenix didn’t, so Roel slugged him again. He ignored the screams coming from out in the corridor as he hit him again and again and again.
“Roel!” Tracy shouted from the doorway, but he only continued to try and break Phoenix’s face, not caring that his own eyes were swelling shut, his jaw was throbbing and blood was running in a steady stream from his nose.
Before he could land the next punch, he was knocked off the master vampire and to his ass ten feet away. With his chest rapidly rising and falling, Roel glared up at Heather as she stood between him and Phoenix, with her hands in tight fists at her sides. He knew what she would say, and he had no interest in hearing it. Instead of saying anything to her, he looked around her legs to see that Phoenix had sat up.
“Do you love her?” Roel demanded.
“More than my own life,” Phoenix repli
ed, without hesitation.
“More than my life?” Roel barked again. “More than the lives of any of her pack or your clan?”
The muscles around Phoenix’s jaw flexed a few times. Finally, a reaction out of the bastard. “I love her more than anything, Roel. What’s your point?”
“My point is that hope only dies when people give up,” Roel said as he got to his feet. “If you love her, then fight for her to be yours. Mena would have never given up hope on her own. If you give up on her, you’re just as stupid as that damn bond. I don’t for one second believe that there is no way to reverse it. You have an eternity, Phoenix. Why in the hell would you give up on something that means everything to you just because it got a little harder to keep it?”
Alex, Brad and Heath ran through the door, letting Roel know exactly what he’d see in the mirror the next time he looked at his mug. Damn. He winced. “Sorry, guys.”
“What the hell is going on in here?” Heath yelled, his face bloodied and swollen, as it did a back and forth motion between Roel and Phoenix.
Phoenix groaned when Tracy helped him to his feet. As he straightened his robe, he cursed under his breath when he noticed the crimson stains on the blue satin. He ran the sleeve of the robe under his nose to clean up any blood still left on his face from Roel’s punches, but gave up and huffed after both sleeves were saturated and stained beyond repair. “I guess I needed my ass kicked,” Phoenix said.
“Damn right, you did,” Roel said, and then looked at the rest of the people in the room. “All of you are going with Phoenix to Las Vegas tomorrow night.”
“Wait,” Alex said, “you mean we’re flying?”
“Doubt Phoenix wants to ride in a trunk all the way there and back,” Roel said.
“Can’t I stay here and watch the moonrising wolf?”
“I’m watching him,” Roel replied. “I’ll have some of the pack switch shifts watching him with me.”
“But I have work—” Alex started.
“Don’t give me that shit, Peanut. I know you took time off when we left to go in search of the moonrising wolf.”
Alex swallowed as the blood drained from his face. “I am terrified of flying, Roel. Please—”
“Sending four is enough,” Phoenix said. “Let him stay here. Ace doesn’t like him anyway, after he tried to challenge him. Pulling a gun on a guy tends to cause trust issues.”
Roel shook his head. “No, he’s going, and Jaxon is going, too. Only five of us have to drink the potion to kill the Nexus spell. I don’t want to take a chance—”
“Jaxon can’t go,” Phoenix interrupted. “He’s taking James’ place as manager of Hellhound until he gets back from vacation.”
“Shut the damn place down, for all I care!” Roel bellowed. “I need all of you to go drink the damn potions. I can’t go because I have a pack to watch over!”
Phoenix casually took a step forward. Roel stood his ground. “We’ve waited this long, Roel. I will take Brad, Heather, Heath and Tracy with me. The three of us under the Nexus spell will drink the potions after we get there, and then I will return with a potion for you and Jaxon. It will only take five of us drinking them to kill the spell. I assure you, we will be fine.”
Roel huffed as his eyes shifted to Brad and Heath. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with Mena or what that damn Alpha lion is planning, but don’t leave Phoenix alone with him for even a second. That is a direct order.”
After the four of them nodded, Roel stormed out of the room.
Two seconds later, he returned, breathing heavily as he stared at the shocked faces in the room. “On second thought, pack your bags… you’re all leaving today.”
Roel glanced at Phoenix first, knowing the guy would have a good and valid excuse for why he couldn’t travel during the day. Roel smiled as one of Phoenix’s eyebrows popped up. “I promise it won’t have a werewolf in it.”
When realization hit Phoenix about what Roel intended to do, he sighed and let his head fall back on his shoulders. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Brad laughed. “This is classic!”
Phoenix shook his head, but Roel could tell he wasn’t going to put up a fight about it, not when he would get to see Mena over a day and a half earlier than planned. Behind that sullen mask, Roel could see something almost resembling happiness in the vampire’s eyes.
“I’ll be packed and ready in thirty,” Phoenix said. “Maybe I can get some rest in my new bed on the flight there.”
With a smile a mile wide, Roel took his cell from his back pocket and scrolled through the contacts until he found the number he needed. After hitting send, he put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Chuck. Sorry to wake you so early, but I need a huge favor.”
Chapter 35
Friday, February 6th 2015 4:00 a.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
I walked into my bedroom and shut the door with my foot. Andra laughed as I set her on her feet. “You’re getting great at this,” she said, and then a wave of lust swept through me as she wrapped her arms around my middle and pressed a chaste kiss to my chest, causing my cock to stiffen in my jeans. I groaned in anticipation for what was to come.
Vanilla and cinnamon filled the air, intoxicating me with her scent. My appetite would be forever wanting now. I could already tell. It would be a craving I’d never be able to quench. Was it my own personal heaven or hell? I didn’t know. At this point, I didn’t care which it was. As long as I could keep her close enough to taste, I’d be happy.
The sexual desire I felt seemed new and stronger, and I came to the conclusion that it was because her lust-filled emotions were added to mine. Why now? It hadn’t slipped by me that she had become more playful and loving toward me in the last few hours or that she hadn’t mentioned Phoenix today, other than to tell me that they’d called their monogamous relationship quits. Something was nagging at me that I should be worried, but how could I be? Andra finally wanted me.
Pushing all doubts of why this was really happening to the back of my mind, I focused on what was more important: that it was really happening. The corner of my mouth lifted in a playful smirk as my palms came up to frame her face. “I’m great at a lot of things, Andra. All it takes is a little practice.”
“Oh, really?” she said, and I could sense she was fighting not to laugh. “What are the top three things you’re great at? Being an arrogant pompous ass can’t be one of your answers. You perfected that one a long time ago. It can no longer be classified in the ‘great’ category.”
I chuckled. “Is that right?”
Her head nodded in my hands. “I’m fairly certain of it.”
With the silly grin still on my face, I rubbed over the smooth skin of her cheeks with the pads of my thumbs as I thought about her question. “Hmm… The top three things I’m great at… I’d have to say number three is being an Alpha. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve learned from them, and I’m stronger because of them.”
“I don’t know much about being an Alpha but, from what I’ve seen, I’d have to agree with you,” she said. “You are a pretty great Alpha. Number two?”
I frowned. “Pretty mouth, pretty great Alpha… I think what you really mean is awesome.”
She giggled. “Does it bother you that much?”
I exhaled through my nose as I shook my head. “You’re the only person alive I would let get away with it.”
“Aww… I’m special,” she said.
The girl had no idea just how special I thought she was, but I wasn’t going to make myself sound like a pussy. “No, I just think you have a great ass.”
She whacked my chest, and I laughed. “Number two, Ace.”
“Okay, number two…” I said, and dropped my hands to her shoulders then lightly caressed my way down until I reached the small of her back with my fingers. With only the slightest pressure from them, she came even closer to me, fitting her body against mine. I felt like I had been waiting an eternity
for this moment to happen. “I’d have to say number two is kissing.”
The one and only real kiss we’d shared played through my mind, nearly forcing me to claim her mouth with mine right then, but I held back somehow. Her response to this was important to me. I needed to hear the yearning in her voice, since I knew she was thinking about our first kiss, too. Well, I didn’t actually know that she was thinking about it—she’d closed her mind, as had I—but I figured she was thinking about that moment. I hoped she was, anyway.
Andra sighed dramatically. “That’s not saying very much about your greatness as an Alpha, Ace.” My eyes bugged wide, even though I couldn’t see her. Huh? “I mean,” she continued, “you’re an okay kisser, but putting that one in your top three—above being a leader over thirty-six shifter lions, no less—well, I’m just not sure—”
What the fuck? I quickly closed the distance between our mouths, instantly shutting her up. An ‘okay’ kisser? Oh, hell no. Andra’s moan of approval hummed against my lips as I brought my hands up to the back of her head, tilting it slightly to the side and back so that I could give her the full effect of my great kissing skills.
When she parted her lips, I slipped my tongue inside. A familiar heat burned in the center of my chest. I had only felt it two other times before: the moment we bonded and the first time we kissed. There was so much desire in this one simple act with her that it made any other girl I’d ever kissed fade in comparison to Andra’s bright white light. The more time that passed with our mouths fused together, the more relaxed and energized I felt. She was it. She was the only thing on the face of this earth that I needed and wanted in my life. Nothing or no one else mattered. Not anymore. I loved this girl.
Andra’s hands fisted in my shirt, and she pulled me closer, demanding with her actions that I give her more. This was one thing I would never deny her. In all my life, I had never felt anything better.
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