“I didn’t say that,” he replied, his fingers slipping down to the next button as he loosened that too. “I desire your pain more than you could possibly understand.”
My heart beat harder at the words which should have terrified me but instead I felt myself growing calmer. Because despite what I might have liked to think about myself, I could understand that desire. I had so much pain in me that sometimes I craved a physical outlet for it. It wasn’t some sordid desire to hurt and maim people, it was a deep need in me to release a little of my own agony. And I knew that Ryder felt that too. He mirrored the darkest pieces of my soul and sometimes that terrified me but in that moment, I just wanted to drown in the darkness which bound us to each other.
I was struck with the desire to pull him closer, to press my skin against his until I found a way beneath his flesh and I could set myself free in his pain. But I held myself back. I still didn’t really know what to make of him. And I kept letting myself get too close to the men who might have hurt my brother. Until I knew the truth about what had happened that night I shouldn’t have been letting myself feel the things I was. But sometimes, in the quiet moments like this, it felt like even the stars just wanted me to open myself up to the possibilities presented by the Kings.
Ryder finished releasing my buttons and he moved to slide the shredded, bloodied material of my school shirt off of me. His rough fingertips danced along my skin in a touch so soft I found it hard to marry to the man standing before me. I made no move to stop him, my body frozen in place as he took control of me.
He was so hard and closed off from the world, living his life between the only two emotions he laid claim to. But I could see so much more than that in him.
My ruined shirt fell to the floor and Ryder’s gaze trailed over me like he was drinking in the sight of me standing before him, bloodied and bruised in my black bra and purple checked academy skirt. I felt like hell, but he looked at me like I was something precious.
He turned me slowly, brushing his fingers down my back as he removed the shards of broken mirror from my skin. The pain of each piece leaving was followed by the caress of his healing magic which sent shivers down my spine. The mixture of pain and pleasure mixing like an elixir of some forbidden potion I craved to taste.
I stood in silence while he worked, the thrum of violence slowly fading from my veins as he healed my battered body.
When he finally finished, he turned me back towards him again.
“Your eyes are brighter,” he said, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear. Every touch he made on my skin was innocent, within the rules he’d laid out with Dante and yet utterly charged with sin at the same time.
“Brighter?” I asked in confusion.
“Because you let yourself feed the part of your soul that needs this.”
“There aren’t many people who would think me getting into fights was a good thing,” I commented.
“There aren’t many people who know what it is to be like us,” he agreed. “But that shouldn’t stop you from embracing it.”
I reached out to catch his hand in mind, running my thumb over the word pain on his knuckles as he watched me.
“And you shouldn’t be afraid to be more than this too,” I replied, lifting my eyes to meet his.
Ryder’s gaze darkened but he didn’t instantly rebuke my suggestion.
“Thank you,” I added, lifting his knuckles to my mouth and placing a soft kiss against the p on his little finger.
“For what? Healing you or seeing you?” he asked, watching me as I kissed each letter in turn.
“Neither,” I replied. “Or maybe both.”
Before he came up with a response to that, I shot out of the bathroom, leaving him behind as I headed back to my dorm.
I was going to grab my wash stuff and have the world’s longest shower. Because no matter how good it might have felt to beat the shit out of that Black Card asshole, I would never choose to have a fight in a men’s restroom ever again. And I intended to scald myself in the shower for a good few hours before I would even begin to believe I might be clean.
I stepped onto the porch of my family home, the cream stone pillars stretching up either side of me. Mamma had used her earth magic to cover the walls in ivy and white flowers clung to the vines that wound up around the bay windows. The property was perched up on a hill overlooking the miles and miles of vineyards which were used to make our famous Alestrian wine.
The rest of the kingdom might have ignored our city’s existence, but they couldn’t ignore the fertile ground which surrounded it. And us Oscuras had laid claimed to most of it a long time ago. Our wine was sent to the capital in droves where they repackaged it and sold it as Celestial Arucso. We didn’t give a shit so long as our pockets stayed fat. And hey, it was still our name, they just flipped it backwards. It made me laugh to think of all those aristocrats sipping on the fine wine that had come directly from the ganglands.
I headed inside with my pack from the academy trailing behind me and was immediately rushed by a throng of Werewolves. My brothers, sisters and cousins howled excitedly, clinging onto me while I brushed my hands over their heads and received their wet kisses with a grin on my face. Tabitha accosted me in a hug and I complimented her pale grey dress before kissing her on the cheeks.
“Mossa! Mossa!” Mamma’s voice came from beyond them and she made the floor shift to knock everyone aside.
She stretched her arms wide, her eyes glimmering as she worked hard not to let the tears fall over her immaculate makeup. My Mamma was beautiful as always, her white tea dress covered by a blue polka dot apron and her dark hair pinned up in an elegant bun. “Dolce Drago, let me get a look at you.” She rushed forward, holding me at arm’s length while she inspected me before planting a kiss on each of my cheeks. “If you put on any more muscle we’ll have to widen the doorway.”
“Mamma,” I groaned as she pinched my face overly hard before wrapping me in her arms.
Mamma tip-toed up, holding me close and I crushed her against my chest, her familiar scent of rosemary and lavender sending a rush of homely memories over me. Someone was bouncing in my periphery and I reached out to scruff my brother Mika on the head. He was only ten, with bright, adoring eyes and the same dark hair as me. Tabitha gave me a teasing grin over her shoulder and I poked my tongue out at her.
Mamma released me and Mika hurried forward to take her place, licking my cheek. “It’s so good to see you, Alpha.”
“Dalle stelle, Mika! Call me Dante,” I corrected, knocking him back playfully while more of my siblings assaulted me.
“No no, none of that. You’re the Alpha,” Mamma said sternly. “We must remind everyone of that at all opportunities today.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a birthday party, not a Clan meeting, Mamma. Where is the birthday boy anyway?”
“Here!” a small voice called from amongst the crowd. A pointy red birthday hat marked my kid cousin moving through the group and everyone pushed him along, making way for him.
Fabrizio was half my height with short dark hair and deepest green eyes. I knelt down, resting a hand on his shoulder – I was still taller than him though. “Possa le stelle benedirti in questo giorno.”
His cheeks coloured and he nodded. “May the stars bless you too, Alpha.”
“Dante,” I whispered.
“Non oggi, Dolce Drago! Alpha, Alpha!” Mamma reprimanded and I gave Fabrizio a mischievous look, earning me one in return.
I knocked my knuckles against his cheek, standing and finding the crowd emptying out toward the kitchen. Mamma would have prepared a huge party for little Fabrizio; she boasted she threw the best parties this side of Solaria, and I hadn’t attended a better one yet.
“Oh mighty Alpha,” a soft female voice mocked and I turned toward my favourite cousin with a smirk as the last of the wolves filed out.
Rosalie curtsied teasingly on the staircase as she walked down them, obviously late to the party and wearing just a pa
ir of black shorts and a crop top. She paired the look with knuckle straps and a Lara Croft braid that fell down her spine. I folded my arms, giving her a mock disapproving look.
“If my mamma sees you dressed like that, she’ll make you scrub the floors until your hands bleed.”
She jumped off the last few steps, bounding toward me before wrapping her arms around me. At fourteen, Rosalie was the youngest of Felix’s children and the one he paid the least attention to. More fool him. Maybe it was because she was as strong willed as me, but I’d had a soft spot for her ever since I’d first held her in my arms.
If Felix ever paid attention, he might realise she was an Alpha in the making. Young didn’t mean weak. Felix was an idiot for thinking that. But I wasn’t about to point out my biggest rival to him. If he realised one of his own could match me one day, he might start paying her more attention. Of course, I was still a mother fucking Dragon. But she had other strengths. Like the fact she’d been training herself in all kinds of martial arts since she was fucking two. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But not much of one.
“Your mamma wants me to wear a sparkly pink thing with bows on it.” Rosalia folded her arms, stubbornness pouring from her.
“But you haven’t told her you won’t?” I guessed.
“Oh she’ll realise when she sees Lupo wearing it.”
“Rosa!” I gasped, grinning widely. “You didn’t?”
“I did.” she beamed, snatching my hand. “I’ll show you.” She towed me upstairs and I jogged to keep up as we hurried down the gleaming honeywood floors. She led me out onto the huge balcony which overlooked the eastern vineyard and Lupo barked loudly from where he was laying on an enormous red cushion. The black Great Dane leapt to his feet, Rosalie’s pink dress hugging his huge frame as he padded forward to greet me.
He leapt up, resting his huge paws on my shoulders and I laughed as I plucked at the sparkly atrocity he was wearing. “It suits him better.”
“Aunt Bianca will disagree,” Rosalie said, a wild glint in her eye telling me she was looking forward to the moment my mamma saw this.
Lupo barked again then raced off into the house, his paws thundering along the halls as he made his way toward the staircase. We fell quiet and two minutes later my mother shrieked, “ROSALIE OSCURA! Vieni qui in questo istante!”
Rosalie fell into hysterics and I locked my arm around her neck, pulling her close to roughly scrub my knuckles on her head. “Good luck, cugina. That woman will make you pay.”
The click of high heels carried from the hall and Rosalie wriggled out of my arms, darting to the edge of the balcony and climbing over it.
“She has to catch me first!” She howled to the sky then swung over the edge with the agility of a cat, disappearing beyond it.
I shook my head in amusement as my mamma appeared with a rolling pin in her hand, huffing and fuming as she hunted for Rosa.
“That girl! Where is she?”
I shrugged innocently and her eyes narrowed on me. “Dal sole! She’s as bad as you were at her age.”
“She’s still living here then?” I asked, a frown pulling at my brow.
Mamma scowled, but love flickered in her gaze. “You know your uncle’s got no interest in her. Felix should have picked a true mate a long time ago but instead he kept on spreading himself between all the women in his pack and putting pups in all of their bellies. The other children do okay with their mothers still alive, but Rosalie…” She sighed. “Well, you can see she needs extra attention. She’s acting out.”
“Maybe she’s just different,” I said and Mamma looked over me before smiling gently.
“Like my Dolce Drago,” she said with an emotional smile. She was always like this when I hadn’t been home for a while, on the verge of tears and completely overbearing. A small part of me loved it.
Her eyes widened suddenly. “Oh come, follow me. A letter came for you.” She headed into the hall and I glanced over my shoulder, spotting Rosalie racing through the vineyards like a wild animal. I smirked, hurrying after Mamma as she led me into father’s old office.
The place was exactly as it had been while he was alive. A golden globe sat under the beam of a spotlight and cast the walls in a glittering light. The mahogany desk was worn where his papers had once been piled and his chair was still dented where he’d sat.
His scent was present too, not as strong as it had once been, but enough to pull at my heart and make me long for the firm embrace of his arms.
On the walls were gold framed pictures of all the family, nearly a hundred of them, showing me and my siblings growing up, the parties Mamma had thrown every summer, the Christmases, the New Years, the Meteor Showers. I moved to look closer at the only one of just me and him. His hand rested on my shoulder as we stood under the dying sun out on the southern balcony.
He was pointing across the land, telling me something I couldn’t remember. But I remembered the pride he’d showered on me that day, the way he’d tried to guess my Order. Turned out, none of his guesses had been right. But then who would have expected a rare Storm Dragon to spring out of a family almost exclusively made up of Werewolves?
“Here.” Mamma nudged me and I jolted out of my memories, taking the large white envelope from her hand. Our address was written in golden calligraphy and in the centre of it were the words, to the Dragon of Household Oscura. In the top right corner was the Celestial seal and I frowned as I ripped it open.
Mamma seemed anxious as I took out the single piece of thick parchment inside, finding a fancy-ass letter written on it.
Dear Mr Dante Marcello Oscura,
Your presence is requested at the Court of Celestia to meet with and be initiated by your High Lord Councillor and Dragon Master, Lionel Acrux. All Dragons of Solaria are encouraged to attend an audience with said Master to take the vow of the Dragon Laws.
It is his highness’s pleasure and upmost honour to host you in his home thereafter the formal ceremony to present you with the noble crest of the Dragons.
His highness looks forward to welcoming you into the Dragon Conclave where you will be introduced to many of your kind and will be presented with abundant opportunities for your future.
We await your response with anticipation.
Secretary for High Lord Acrux,
Amelia Starfold
I released a low whistle and felt Mamma’s breath on my arm as she pressed close to me to read it. Her grip on me tightened and she prised the letter from my hand.
“The arrogance of these people,” she huffed, the parchment scrunching in her grip. “Dolce Drago, it is your choice of course, but I would not see my boy summoned by anyone. High Councillor or otherwise.” She raised her chin and a grin pulled at my mouth. My mother would take on the whole world if it offended her. I adored that about her.
I took the letter back, letting the electricity in my blood rise to the surface and crackle along my hand. The page caught fire and I tossed it into father’s wastepaper basket where it turned into a blackened pile of ash.
“No one summons an Oscura,” I agreed and Mamma smiled conspiratorially.
“Unless his highness wishes to come knocking right here at my door, he will have no words with my son,” she said with pride in her eyes.
“And Lionel Acrux would rather die than dirty his fine shoes in this corner of Solaria,” I said in a dark tone. I gestured toward the door as music started up downstairs. “Is it time to party?”
Mamma linked her arm through mine with a grin and we headed downstairs together and out onto the veranda. The spring day was only just giving way to summer so some of the fire Elementals had set large colourful balls of flames alight around the edge of the patio.
A band made up of a few cousins were playing an upbeat tune with violins and hand drums, the music infectious as everyone started dancing around me.
A huge buffet was set up on the table and I pulled my Mamma into a dance, talking into her ear to thank her for all the effort she
’d put in. She must have been baking for days to prepare this feast.
Wine was passed around and I was soon lightheaded on our own brew, pulled into dances again and again by my family.
I eventually fell into a chair beside my Great Aunt Catalina who leaned in to plant two wet kisses on my cheeks. “Bel ragazzo, how handsome you are. When will you bring a girl home to meet the family?”
I smiled at her as the gold rings on her fingers clashed against my own. For a moment I thought of mentioning Elise before realising that was crazy. We were the furthest thing from a couple you could get. Though I wished I could change that, it looked like sharing her with my friend was about the closest I would get – which would definitely not be a suitable conversation to have with old fashioned Great Aunts.
Fabrizio was being bounced on the shoulders of several of our family as they danced past us while he threw glittering confetti over them. Before it hit the floor, it whipped up into the air again, circling back to fall over the crowd on a magical breeze.
“Maybe one day, Catalina.” I patted the back of her wrinkled hand with my free one.
“Are there no pretty girls at that fancy academy you attend?” She raised a painted-on brow and I snorted a laugh.
“There’s one at least,” I admitted.
“Oh per favore, you must go on. An old woman’s heart needs a kickstart now and then.” She nudged me and the playful glint in her gaze combined with the alcohol buzzing in my blood made me give in.
“Well she’s bellissima,” I said earnestly and Aunt Catalina’s eyes sparkled with joy, looking desperate to hear more. I sighed, dipping my head. “But we can’t be together. Things are complicated.”
I thought of the deal I’d struck with Ryder and thorns wrapped around my heart. I’d made the right decision. Keeping her away from that pezzo di merda was my number one priority. Apart from anything else, she was too good for him. She may not have liked it if she found out, but I extended my protection to her like she was one of my own. It was how I treated those I cared for and she’d be no different. No matter what personal sacrifice I had to make for the sake of that.
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 18
