The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3

by Jessica Gleave

  He ground his hips against her ass, taking hold of her hips to steady himself. He kept his pace now at a more human speed so he could enjoy the feel of a woman’s wet pussy surrounding him.

  She groaned with each push. He pushed her head down, so her ass was up in the air, driving deeper into her. She whimpered as he slapped her left ass cheek, leaving a red welt behind.

  “Yes,” she cried as he slapped her again.

  “Take it, whore,” he spoke through gritted teeth. He could feel her becoming wetter with each slap. As he took her from behind, he thought to himself he would need to find a bed partner after tonight. He thought about asking Mariza as she seemed to like it rough, but one night with her to get what he needed was enough.

  He could make a mate. There were some pretty human girls around the town he had been longing to sink his fangs into. After all, he was recruiting humans for his clan now. He should allow himself to have a toy. Yes, it was decided. He would get Svetlana onto it right away.

  Mariza’s groaning grew headier, and he could feel she was close. He pulled out leaving the tip, stalling her climax.

  Mariza turned her head, her expression pinched, and her brown eyes narrowed at him. “Why did you fucking stop?”

  He smiled at her. He’d given her a preview of what he could give her back in the lift. But now he was deliberately holding back to gain what he needed.

  “Tell me the secret of Morgana’s weakness?” he demanded, inching himself back inside. “Tell me.”

  “I don’t know,” she moaned. “Give it to me, Ragnorok, I’m so close.”

  “Tell me.” He added another inch.

  “I’m telling you I don’t know,” she snapped, her hand moving toward her clit.

  He grabbed her hand, holding it still. “Not until you tell me.”

  “I think it’s silver,” she groaned.

  Letting go of her wrist, he asked, “Why do you think that?”

  “I’ve kept tabs on them throughout the years through my brothers. They tell me everything.”

  “Silver?” Ragnorok thought back to the night he met Morgana and the reaction she tried to hide when he had wiggled his fingers at her. He looked down at the silver ring once owned by his creator. He smiled to himself—it made sense.

  “Good girl.” He thrust into her, sheathing himself once again, increasing his speed, taking it up to more of a vampire pace.

  She screamed into the mattress as he felt the flow of juices all around him dripping over his balls. He shuddered, spilling himself inside her. When he had finished emptying himself into her, he rolled them onto their sides, their feet hanging over the edge.

  He stroked her hair. “Thank you, my dear.”

  “What for?”

  “For the good fuck, of course.” He lifted himself off the bed and began dressing.

  Mariza lifted her head from the pillow as he walked out of the room.

  “Oh good, saves me having to kick him out,” she muttered, letting her head fall back down.

  He chuckled to himself before closing the door.

  Chapter Twenty

  Even though she knew everyone would be pissed at her, Morgana went out during the night to scout through the woods.

  On her own.

  During her scouting mission, her stubbornness paid off when she spotted Ragnorok about half a mile off, creeping through the trees.

  Geez, even his presence gave her the willies.

  She cracked her neck. She was in the mood to bash something, and Ragnorok’s skull would do nicely.

  She kept downwind from him, so he couldn’t smell her. Her vampire side was masked by the wolfsbane, but he’d be able to smell her blood.

  Ragnorok was heading toward the outskirts of town.

  The local teenagers, despite the curfews and warnings placed on them, were still having their parties—mainly on the off streets away from prying adult eyes.

  Morgana could hear the rowdy noises of drunk teenagers and their loud, bass music as she followed Ragnorok.

  They were heading toward one of the larger, older-style homes, much like her parents’ and Gareth’s Victorian houses backing onto the edge of the woods.

  Morgana rolled her eyes. They may as well have a neon sign above them, ‘Vampire buffet here.’

  Over the past few days, Ragnorok and the other Forest Clan vampires had started taking young teenage girls. From the looks of things, he’d found himself some new prey.

  He stopped in the shadows, hidden from the outdoor lights.

  Morgana hung back also. She would make her move when Ragnorok had his victim—neither could risk going out in the open to get their target.

  ***

  They didn’t have to wait long. Two horny teenagers stumbled toward them, sucking on each other’s faces. Morgana’s lip curled up in disgust—seriously, teenagers needed to learn how to kiss better. The thought made her bring her hand up to her lips. The ghost of Gareth’s kisses still lingered on her skin.

  The girl’s giggle brought her back to the present. The boy was laying her down on the ground. Morgana shifted. It also hadn’t been long ago when she and Gareth had been caught up in their own lust and were kissing and dry humping on the ground before they had even become mates. But Morgana didn’t have time to reminisce. Ragnorok was on top of the teenagers now, tearing the boy off the girl. The young lad must have entered her briefly, his erect manhood glistening and the smell of sex in the air.

  “Quiet,” Ragnorok growled to the girl, his other hand covering her mouth as the boy struggled to free himself.

  Ragnorok’s fangs grew as he bit into the boy, the girl’s scream muffled by his large hand.

  Time to make her move.

  Morgana stepped out from her hiding spot.

  Ragnorok stiffened, pulling his lips away. The boy fell limp in his hand, the girl was still being held down by the other.

  “Morgana,” he growled, unable to wipe away the blood dripping down his chin.

  “Drop the kid, Ragnorok,” she demanded.

  “What, so you can save them?”

  “No. I’m no savior of humans.” She squatted down to talk to him at eye level and tapped the stake against her open palm. “You know the more humans you kill, the worse you’ll look with The Council.”

  Ragnorok narrowed his gray eyes. “Ah, but what if I want to look bad? Don’t they send the entire Council if the situation is beyond dire?”

  Morgana feigned indifference. “No, not really.”

  Ragnorok spat blood onto the ground. “Liar. I know everything there is to know about the damn Council.”

  Morgana stood to look down at him. “Then you know that seeing as I have caught you in the act of killing and recruiting humans, I can kill you today.”

  Ragnorok also stood, flinging the unconscious boy to the side.

  The girl whimpered and tried crawling away from them.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Ragnorok grasped her by the nape, drawing her to his chest. He held her tightly with his arm. He looked at Morgana over the girl’s shoulder.

  Crap.

  She would have to either go through the girl to stake him or run around to his back, which he could be anticipating.

  Her lips pressed together, and her jaw tightened. There had been a time when she relished working alone, but now she could have used a partner. Okay, so she could admit she was wrong to go out on her own. She tilted her head. Huh. She was admitting she was wrong. Good on her for emotionally growing and all that.

  Ragnorok was gazing at her, his gray eyes narrowed. “Well, Morgana, aren’t you going to make a move?”

  Morgana shook her head, trying to get her mind to focus. She weighed up her options. Tapping the stake in her hand looking like she was thinking, then she struck. She was in front of the girl within seconds, plunging the stake into Ragnorok’s neck, making him grunt. He looked at her with venom before he snapped the girl’s neck. Her body slumped to the ground.

  Morgana stepped
over the girl’s dead body, another stake in her hand, lunging for Ragnorok.

  He took a step back. “You really don’t care for the humans, do you?” There was a strange look in his eye. Morgana swore it looked like admiration.

  “No.” She dove for him, the stake’s pointed end facing toward him.

  He blocked her by grabbing her wrist with the hand wearing his silver ring.

  Fuck.

  The cold metal burned into her skin, but she gritted her teeth determined not to show him her pain.

  “But you’re half-human?”

  “Yeah, only half. I was raised by vampires.”

  “Even though your mother is human-turned?”

  “See, you’ve answered your own question there. She was turned from human to vampire.”

  “So, you see yourself as one?”

  “No. I know what I am.” She twisted her hand trying to free her arm, but the burn was intense. “I don’t really have any positive sentiments for humans.” Well, aside from Ava.

  “Ah, that’s what makes you such a formidable foe, Morgana Van Wilden.”

  The smell of burning flesh was now reaching her nostrils. She closed her eyes briefly. Great, now he was going to know.

  His eyes lit up with triumph, recognition flickering across his face. He dropped her arm.

  She lifted her stake, piercing his chest. The strength to push the weapon in further was leaving her.

  Damn weakness to silver.

  Ragnorok chuckled as he pulled the stake out.

  Then he was gone, his evil laugh echoing all around her.

  ***

  “You let him go?” Oscar asked her after she recounted the night’s events back at the house.

  Morgana held up her wrist to show her reason, the welt still visible.

  Oscar shook his head and rolled up his shirt sleeve. He bit into his wrist, allowing his blood to drop into one of the bourbon glasses he kept in the living room. Once enough liquid was in the glass, he handed it over to Morgana. His bite marks were already healing.

  “Thanks,” she said, giving him a genuine smile.

  “Think nothing of it.” Oscar sat in his armchair. “Do you think he knows now?”

  Morgana sipped her father’s blood, letting the liquid ooze down her throat. Pure vampire blood always had a metallic tang to it. The welt’s redness was already fading to pink.

  “I’m afraid to say I think he does now.”

  Oscar’s lips thinned. “We’ll have to tell the others about this. Ragnorok will likely have all of his clan members now walking around with silver.”

  Morgana twisted her lips. The thought of a gang of vampires armed with silver was not a pleasant one for her.

  “And you aren’t to go out on your own anymore.” He pointed his finger at her.

  Morgana shook her head. “Not going to happen with the way things are with Gareth and me.”

  “I don’t care about your squabbles. You can’t combat the effects of the silver on your own. They’ll kill you.”

  Morgana closed her eyes. Dammit, he was right. She nodded.

  “Good. Now either rekindle your relationship with Gareth or at least take Alastor or even your mother with you but don’t go out there on your own.” Spoken like a true Council Elder, his authority dripping with every word.

  “Very well.” Morgana wasn’t going to argue with him. She was going with this whole new attitude where she would admit she could be wrong sometimes, and she hadn’t been able to kill Ragnorok in her weakened state.

  He visibly relaxed. “Good. The last thing I need is to be worrying about my other daughter as well.” He rubbed his brow.

  “No need to worry about me. I can handle myself. Besides, I’m a grown woman.”

  Oscar shook his head. “You never stop worrying about your children, no matter how long you live and how old they get.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The next day, Morgana walked across the front porch when her phone rang. She looked down, frowning at the name on the screen requesting Facetime.

  She pressed accept. Her brother’s face appeared. Morgana often thought he looked like what Oscar would have when he was younger. The same dark brown, almost black hair, the deep brown eyes, and a darker shade of olive skin than her own.

  “Little sis,” Jonas answered.

  “Jonas,” she greeted.

  “This job does have some perks… I get to talk to my baby sis more often.”

  “You flatter me,” she said dryly. She searched the background behind him to get a clue. “Are you at Headquarters?” It had been a while since she’d been back there. She missed being in London.

  “Yeah, it’s the reason I’m calling, actually.” Jonas rubbed the back of his neck.

  “So, this call is more professional and not a catch-up with dear little sis?” She grinned to show she was joking.

  Jonas reciprocated. “Yeah, they filled me in on what happened. Look, not all of it was your fault. It seems Randalf had gone a little AWOL on his duties only concentrating on your mission and not any of the others.”

  Morgana grimaced. “All because of me.”

  “Don’t worry, the other agents knew what they were doing and kept their situations under control until they could reach The Council.”

  Morgana breathed a sigh of relief, but then she cringed. “You have our punishment, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I do. You guys got off lightly, thanks to dear old Dad showing the Elders the security footage. Your punishment should be arriving now.”

  Morgana looked up from the screen.

  Their punishment was arriving in the form of a logging truck pulling up outside the Van Wilden’s home. Strapped to the flatbed were various logs of different types—ash, pine, beechwood, and oak.

  Morgana groaned.

  Also walking toward her was Gareth. His presence drew her eyes like a moth to a beach bonfire. Morgana’s breath hitched.

  “Yeah, I see it.” She looked back down at him.

  Jonas grinned. “Like I said, a light punishment. Look, sis, I gotta get back to it. I promise to visit soon after I’ve settled in.”

  “It’s fine, we’ve actually got another family member visiting now, anyway.”

  “Oh, yeah, who? Hector is still out on a mission.”

  “Mariza.”

  Jonas let out a low whistle. “How are you and Vivienne taking it?”

  “As well as you can imagine.”

  Jonas chuckled. “Well, give the family my regards.”

  “Will do. Bye, Jonas.”

  “Bye, Morgana.”

  The video call ended.

  Gareth leaned up against the porch railing and crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps bulging. “Who was that?” A flare of jealousy through the bond.

  “My brother, Jonas. Remember they made him head of NADOC.”

  Gareth nodded. He kept his face impassive, but relief flooded the bond.

  Her lips twitched, trying not to laugh. “He was calling to tell me about our punishment.” She pointed to the truck parked in the driveway.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gareth whistled low. “What’s with all the wood?”

  Morgana slumped her shoulders—she knew what this meant. “We have to whittle stakes out of all those logs.”

  “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? I mean, I get why I’m being punished. I staked a vampire, but all you did was get information from the Council Elders because you were hurrying to save your parents.”

  “Well, that’s the way The Council works. Come on, we better get started.” She walked down the porch steps toward the large truck.

  Gareth followed her. “Why this punishment, though?” he asked her, waving his arm toward the logs.

  “It’s to re-stock the supply at Headquarters for all of the other agents. It’s not really all bad when you think about it. I did also have a hawthorn stake in my possession.”

  “Yeah, you told The Council it was to protect yourself again
st your sister.” He turned to look at her. “Which I get now.”

  Her face heated up as blood rushed to her cheeks. “We should move these logs to the backyard. Don’t want to freak out the neighbors. Can you imagine what they would say about the candidate for mayor’s daughter whittling weapons?” Her laughter sounded high-pitched, and she cut it short.

  Gareth stepped in front of her. She deliberately didn’t face him. He gently placed his hand under her chin, lifting her eyes toward his own. It always made her heart beat rapidly when she stared into those piercing, smoldering blue eyes of his. Morgana gulped.

  “You know if you want us to get back on track, you’re going to have to tell me what happened between you and your psychotic sister.”

  Morgana closed her eyes, trying to still her breathing. “Okay, but not here, out in the open,” she agreed, opening her eyes again. Gosh, his eyes were so blue.

  Gareth opened his mouth to speak, but the truck driver climbing out of the truck stopped him. “Hey, are you two going to stand there all day, or are you going to shift these here logs?”

  Morgana nodded. “Come on, we’d better get started.”

  ***

  Morgana thought back to the day Mariza attacked her as she sat on the back-porch steps whittling her way through another log, thinking about what she might say to Gareth. Everything had been so good between them until Mariza’s arrival. Part of it had been her fault. She should have told Gareth about Mariza the night of the fundraiser.

  As she sliced down a piece of wood with her knife, the swing of an ax chopping through wood made her look up, pulling her out of her thoughts.

  There should be a law against men chopping wood in a t-shirt. Her core was heating up as she watched him. There was nothing sexier to her than a man’s biceps when they were flexed. And when Gareth swung the ax down, did his biceps ever bulge. Liquid pooled between her legs. He turned away from her to cut the logs into smaller pieces, and she caught sight of his backside, his denim jeans hugging his ass.