by Haley Weir
“You didn’t have to.”
“That’s it, then?” Giddeon questioned. “You’re holding a grudge against me because of things I had no knowledge of? You will risk the lives of our people out of selfishness and arrogance? I expected better from a warrior of your skill.”
Madeu pounded his fists against the forcefield of wards that kept him prisoner.
“I want what was always supposed to be mine! You’re nothing but a poor substitute. I am the true king! Samael coveted the purity of the bloodline, and yet it did not stop him from dying when death came to claim its prize. He would have willingly sacrificed you all if it meant living just a little longer.”
“And yet you’re not saying anything worth listening to!”
Caleb stared in awe of Giddeon.
“If you want the throne, then it can be yours if you prove yourself worthy of it! I wasn’t handed the throne—no matter what you choose to believe. It presented itself to me because I fought to be the king we needed when our father died. My mate is human, and I see no weakness in her. My son, Sam, is a half-human. There is nothing I would deny him if he proved himself capable of handling the responsibility,” Giddeon replied. “Anyone can wear a crown, Madeu. It is the gods who make us kings, not blood.”
He walked away from the cell and steered Caleb out of the dungeon. Guards were placed at the doors, and Caleb followed his brother into the throne room. He looked at the ornate seat with a new respect for Giddeon. Never in all his years had he thought of the burden it had placed upon his brother’s shoulders. “Would you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Give him the throne if he proved himself?” Caleb asked sincerely.
“I would. If the gods will it to be true, then I will respect their judgment. After all, they gave me a wife and child when I thought it would never happen for me.”
Caleb frowned as he thought of Rina. “Have the others returned yet?”
Giddeon shook his head. “No, I haven’t heard any news from the watchers in the tower. They would have—”
A bell chimed in the distance, and Caleb ran out into the courtyard. The gate opened. Balor carried Rina in his arms as the others helped the injured fighters into the infirmary. Caleb’s heart clenched painfully. He ran to Balor and took Rina from his arms. She opened her eyes with a smile, and he nearly fainted with relief. “What happened?” he snapped at his brother.
“She went after this and Octavius stabbed her.” Balor handed Giddeon a talisman that held very little meaning to Caleb. All he cared about was getting Rina healed. He rushed into the palace and called for the servants. Healers gathered in one of the guest rooms as he set her on the bed. Rina gasped as she pulled her hand away from her side.
Blood covered her hand. Caleb’s vision was swarmed by the color red. Anger filled his veins with fire, and Giddeon dragged him out of the room. “You’re no use to her in this state!”
“Let me go!”
“Control yourself, Caleb. Rina needs you.”
Chapter Nineteen
A bear snored loudly in the room, and Rina cracked a smile as she opened her eyes. The curtains were closed, so she wasn’t sure how long she had rested, but the slumbering giant leaning on the bed tugged at her heartstrings. She shifted a bit and hissed in pain. Caleb lifted his head from the mattress and all but climbed into the bed beside her. Rina shook her head and traced her finger along the stubble on his chin. “You’re growing a beard already? How long was I asleep?” she asked. Her side pained her, but not as much as it had when she had first been lifted from the boat.
“Eight days.”
The news shocked Rina. “Are the others all right?”
“If by ‘all right’ you mean out of their minds with worry over you, then yes,” he snickered. “You’ve captured quite a few hearts with your courage, Rina. They won’t stop talking about how you charged into battle with them and attacked the horrid monster. You saved lives...”
“I did what anyone would do in that situation.”
“We both know that isn’t true.” Caleb pulled the blanket aside and peeked beneath the bandage on her side. “I wish I could go there and kill them all for hurting you.”
“It’s my own fault, Caleb. I knew I could get hurt, but the way Octavius protected that talisman...I knew it was important. I don’t know how, but I think I’ve seen it before. Not Sarina, but me.” Rina removed the bandage and tossed it into the wastebasket. She looked at the partially healed wound and wondered if it would scar. Caleb was covered in scars. They marked him as a warrior who had fought in wars and survived. He bent forward and kissed the slightly raised flesh, causing her to shiver from the heat of his breath against her skin.
Rina bathed, and Caleb helped her into the study for the meeting. Giddeon smiled when he saw her approach and wandered over to help her. “Well, I believe thanks are in order.”
“Why?”
“Everyone in the palace has heard of your conquest,” Giddeon said. “You’re a celebrated name, Rina. The men want a banquet in your honor. Casey tried to tell them you would hate that, but she was turned down. So was I, for that matter.”
“They’re celebrating me?”
Balor looked up from the map on the desk. “In times of war, the people need a reason to look forward to brighter days. They think with you fighting beside Caleb, we have a chance at winning this. I’d have to agree. You were brilliant out there.”
“Thank you, but I think celebrating is a bit premature until we know what to do with Madeu.” She groaned as Caleb helped her into one of the chairs. “Octavius wasn’t interested in learning the palace’s weaknesses. He asked about a key.”
“A key?”
“He was under the assumption that I would know what it was for.”
Balor shot up from the chair behind the desk and paced in front of the fireplace. “Because you do know what it’s for. You said Atë was presented to you in a vision. There are few who ever see her, but those who do swear she wears a silver key on a golden chain around her neck.”
“I didn’t see a key.”
“But you may know who she gave it to before she presented herself to Sarina,” Balor explained. “The answers are locked away inside of your mind, Rina. You and Caleb need to bond in order for you to see them.”
Rina looked up at Caleb and nodded. “I wanted to wait until after Casey’s ball, but I can’t put it off any longer. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. All this time, I thought I was just running from my problems, but now I know I was searching for something. I was searching for you, Caleb. You’re the part of me that was missing before.”
Balor made a sound as if he was gagging. “Seriously? I expected better.”
“Wait until the bond happens to you,” Giddeon retorted dryly.
Caleb lifted Rina up and carried her over to the desk. She glanced down at the map and marked the spot where she had found the camp. “We still need to figure out what the talisman does.” Balor dropped it on the desk in front of her. Rina picked it up to look closer. She turned it from one side and then the other before tugging on the chain. The top half slipped free, revealing what appeared to be a flash drive. “I’m willing to bet Madeu doesn’t know about this...”
Giddeon grabbed a laptop from one of the drawers and plugged the drive in. The screen went black, and a command prompt popped up asking for a password. Rina glanced around the room as the brothers grumbled irritably. “What is it?”
“Seth is the best with computers. He’s ignoring all of our calls and he refuses to meet with us in town,” Balor replied. “I doubt he’d be interested in helping us.”
“What about Casey? She’s good with computers.”
“We can have her try.” Giddeon took the drive and the laptop out of the room. Balor left with the rest of the talisman, leaving Caleb and Rina alone once more. The heated look in his eyes told her they wouldn’t stay in the study for long.
~*~
They reached Cal
eb’s room in record time. He whispered a simple healing spell and took away the pain in her side. Rina climbed him like a tree and they fell onto the floor. He crawled backward on his hands until they reached the bed and pulled them up. Caleb kissed her fiercely with all of the passion and love he felt inside. Rina moaned and ripped his shirt down the middle. She gripped the hemline of her own shirt and pulled it over her head. Caleb flipped them around. He pushed his slacks down his legs and kicked them onto the floor.
Rina wiggled out of her panties before she reclined on the pillows. “Claim me, Caleb. Make me yours. I need to know what loving you feels like.”
“It feels like this.” He lifted her higher onto the bed and crawled over her body like the beast he was. Caleb nudged her legs open with his knees and slotted himself between her thighs. He settled the weight of his erection on her glistening folds, rocking his hips slightly just to give her a taste of what was to come.
Though they had been down that road before, the call of the bond was heavy in the air. Rina bucked beneath him, biting her lip in anticipation. He flicked his tongue and pulled away from her kiss, hearing a whimper of disappointment slide from her lips. His large hands cupped the round curve of her hips and Caleb pressed himself against her entrance. She shifted from the discomfort of his girth stretching the sensitive walls of her femininity, but the heat never left her gaze. There was so much yearning that he tasted it in the space between them.
Caleb pushed into Rina until he was completely seated inside of her depths. He reached between them and stroked her clit in time with his thrusts until she began to move against him. Rina’s movements became desperate with each brush of his calloused fingers. She arched off the bed and moaned so loud that it rang in his ears long after the sound died in the room. He licked his lips and pushed up onto his forearms. She gripped the sheets and held on as he deepened his thrusts. Sweet juices dampened his thighs and caused their skin to clap together like a beautiful symphony of pleasure. Rina raked her nails down his back as she exploded in ecstasy.
“Caleb!” she screamed.
“Give it up to me, baby.” He bit down on her shoulder, feeling her channel clench around him. Caleb deepened each pulse of his hips until he fell into an intense grind that caused her eyes to roll into the back of her head. He growled as her body tried to suck him in greedily. “You feel perfect,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve never felt anything better. You fit me perfectly, Rina. So fucking perfect.”
“Please..”
“Tell me what you need, baby.”
“You,” she replied softly. “I only need you.”
Caleb rolled once again. Rina slid down his length until she sat firmly in his lap. He lifted his knees and pulled her off of his shaft until only the crown of his member remained inside of her. When he let go, Rina’s legs gave under the momentum, and she impaled herself on his length. She cried out as she lifted up and began to ride him. Caleb met the roll of her hips with a punishing snap of his. They moved as one, taking and giving pleasure until their love blossomed into something far more than the mortal definition of the word.
He felt his eyes shift, and his claws dug into the plush flesh of her thighs. Rina tossed her head back, and her rhythm stuttered. At the last minute, Caleb thrust as deep as he could go and ruptured within her heat. Rina’s body quaked with the force of her release. She bathed him in the glory of her love, and he dipped his fingers into her slick just to taste it. Rina’s eyes flashed with lust, and he kissed her. She collapsed against his chest, but his softening member remained tucked inside of her warmth. It throbbed lightly with every beat of her heart.
“I can’t believe we waited so long to do that,” she rasped breathlessly.
“I think your denial and my stubbornness had something to do with it.”
“It might have,” Rina chuckled. “So, what now? What do we do?”
“Nothing has to happen unless you want it to. We don’t have to get married, Rina. No matter what anyone says, I’m perfectly happy just the way we are.”
“Well, according to your brother, I might be pregnant.”
“Yes, it’s been known to happen,” Caleb answered. “Mostly when we’re in our mating cycles. But none of us know what to expect with my brothers and me because there have never been fated mates in our bloodline.”
“I guess I should just be prepared for anything.” Rina rolled off to the side and reached for her phone. She flipped through a few messages before stopping on one in particular. “Damien sent me a message. He says there’s tension with the other shifters. Someone named...Lucian Greymane is calling for a conclave at…”
Caleb looked over her shoulder and groaned. “It’s Ancient Greek. It’s a temple that was once used to summon the gods and petition for their protection. If Greymane is getting involved, then whatever is brewing between the shifters has to be serious.”
“Who is Greymane?”
“Technically, he’s the king of the werewolves.”
“I thought Damien was king.”
“Damien is the leader of his pack, but he isn’t king. Greymane and Damien are kin.”
“So, what could cause the kind of tension he’s talking about?”
Caleb shrugged. “There hasn’t been a conclave since before Seth was born. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it could have something to do with word spreading that Madeu is the rightful heir. Many of the others will see it as a threat to their leadership, maybe even a direct insult from the gods themselves.”
Rina’s eyes widened. “Caleb, how many shifter kingdoms are there?”
“After the great wars? Six.”
“How many were there before?”
“Hundreds, maybe even thousands of clans.” Caleb himself had been responsible for the fall of many kingdoms when he was foolish enough to believe his father was a just king. “I’m not proud of the things I’ve done in the name of my father. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again, but I know I can’t...that kind of magic isn’t within my power.”
Chapter Twenty
Fog hovered above the ground as Sarina approached the tent. The gentle clang of her Spartan armor mingled with the sound of a crackling fire. She pushed back the opening and crawled into the tent. There he was...sleeping as if the blood of innocent people hadn’t been spilled. Sarina crept through the darkness until she leaned over his slumbering form. The King of Kings was just as the legends said.
She braced herself and held her dagger over his chest. With the next breath, Sarina plunged the blade into his black heart. His eyes opened in a flash. He grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the floor of his tent. Sarina gripped the handle of the blade and twisted. A sickening spray of blood covered her face. His mouth fell open in a silent scream just as a talisman slid free from the collar of his shirt.
The light of dawn filtered into the tent and broke up the shadows. Sarina stared up at the pale face of a once glorious ruler. But he was a monster—a killer that had slaughtered those weaker than him to secure a place of power in the new world. Sarina was dragged from beneath him. The king fell forward onto his hands. Calleus threw her out of the tent. “Run!”
She looked at him and felt her heart breaking into a million pieces. “Come with me.”
“Go! Now before the alarms are triggered!”
“Calleus—”
“Get out of here!”
Rina fell out of bed. She hit the ground with a grunt, and Caleb hurried to pull her back up. The dream had been different from her other visions. It had been clearer in many ways and more confusing in others. She pushed her hair out of her face and curled her knees up to her chest. “Sarina tried to kill your father,” Rina said aloud. “She almost succeeded, but you stopped her. Why? You know how he was.”
“I didn’t do it for him. I knew Sarina. She wouldn’t have been able to live with herself knowing she had taken his life.” Caleb scrubbed a hand down his face. “Despite what you might read in the news nowadays, f
ighting in a war is different than murder. In war, there’s a sense of duty shrouded by a false promise of glory.”
“Killing is killing.”
“You’re right, but things were different back then.”
Rina kissed his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be insensitive. I know you went through hell with your father.”
“I did, but it was nothing compared to what Madeu went through.”
“Are you going to talk to him again?” she asked.
“I feel like I have to, you know? There’s so much that’s gone unsaid for so long. Someone has to do it. Giddeon is still not convinced we can reach him. Seth won’t try, and Balor is busy with finding the answer to your key mystery.”
“I saw the talisman. It used to belong to your father, but that doesn’t explain why...”
“Rina?” Caleb turned to her and grabbed her hand. “What is it?”
“Your father. I’ve met him.”
“How did you meet my father?”
Rina unlocked her phone and pulled up a photograph of a party she had attended nearly seven years before she ever visited Alaska. She handed the phone to Caleb. “He was at a party one of my sponsors threw me when I signed on with my first modeling agency. I thought he was a talent scout or something, but he didn’t speak to anyone at the party.”
“I never knew he traveled. It must have been when I was playing pro ball.”
“What if...what if he knew Sarina had been reincarnated?”
“I don’t like the thought of him knowing who you were,” Caleb said.
“It’s the only thing I could think of. Maybe he sensed that I was your mate and couldn’t bring himself to do it?” Rina flopped back onto the bed and kicked her feet like a frustrated toddler. “I hate having all these questions rolling around in my mind.”
“I understand what that’s like. Trust me. This is my family we’re dealing with.”
“I’ve never been more grateful that I never knew my parents,” she muttered. “Honestly, the couple who raised me did well enough. Blood isn't everything.”
