Darkest Temptation

by Rachel Van Dyken

  Warmth spread through my chest as her eyes flashed green like the grass, blue like the sky, then brown like the earth surrounding us.

  The very dirt around us reflected in her eyes with wonder.

  A music so old, so beautiful filled the room, and she kissed me again.

  The pounding on the door didn’t stop us.

  The yells only encouraged me to keep claiming her.

  And when I could no longer stand the pulsing need clawing at me, ripping me from the inside out, I took her one more time and marked her as mine with one last bite to her neck.

  She cried out, while I felt my body surge with power.

  And then the dirt fell around us, creating more of a mess than I’d seen in years of being in my room.

  “What was that?” Her chest heaved as I dropped her back to her feet.

  “The earth approves,” I whispered, kissing her gruffly across the mouth again before stalking naked toward the door.

  I jerked it open and eyed my brother, ready to wipe the smirk right off his face.

  “So…” He bit down on his lip like he was having trouble not laughing out loud. “…you must be quite the lover if you create earthquakes with your giant co—”

  “Enough.” I cut him off, knowing exactly what he’d been about to say.

  He took a step back, “Dinner’s ready. I’m sure after that you’re… ravenous.”

  I growled.

  “Remember to wear pants, brother. Father is niver forgiving.”

  I rolled my eyes and slammed the door in his face then turned to see Serenity’s hair. She looked thoroughly loved.

  “Is dinner formal?”

  She started digging through her bags, her naked ass begging me to grab, to claim again and again until I needed rest, until my eyes closed on themselves as I pulsed inside her body.

  “Mason?”

  I gulped guiltily. “Yes?”

  “Stop staring at me and help!” she said frantically. “I don’t think I made the best first impression I want to look nice.”

  “You always look nice,” I said truthfully. “And wear the red.”

  “The red dress?”

  “He hates red.”

  “Then I should wear black.”

  “Nae…” I smiled. “…red is a symbol of power. Wolves aren’t allowed to wear it. We are to be humble even in our ruling of the earth itself. But you’re no wolf. You’re more, and it’s about time he recognized the power you have.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I’m still part vampire—”

  I swallowed her protest with a kiss. “That you are.” I nodded. “But your blood sings with the earth, I can feel it pulse beneath my fingertips, dancing, singing the song from the Earth to the Heavens. Give it some time, and maybe you’ll be singing to the moon as well.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “I would love that… my king.”

  Desire so intense attacked me. I pushed her back against the bed, spreading her legs wide. “We can be late.”

  “You just said—”

  “I’m an idiot.” I growled, devouring her next protest. “And I will be king if only so I can be late to my own damn table…” I lowered my head. “…and feast on my mate instead.”

  SERENITY

  I wore the red.

  My legs trembled with nerves as we made our way down a long pathway that at one point broke out so that there were stars overhead. The glass plane over our heads was thick enough that I assumed nobody could see through. The sky was beautiful though.

  We walked for what felt like miles.

  My feet started to ache.

  And then we were in another building. When I turned back and looked through the windows, the castle was in the distance. So, we really had walked a mile or so.

  The building appeared old on the outside. But on the inside, there were immaculate riches I could have never comprehended in my long life.

  Chandeliers hung down the middle of the room. A roaring fireplace was at the end of the long table for a king.

  And Mason’s father stood, wearing a black suit and tie as he eyed Mason with fury that even I could sense.

  More warriors stood watching, their eyes straight ahead, their shields in place, their armor shining with pride and the insignia of a wolf on their chests.

  I wondered if the wolf was Mason.

  Or his father.

  Or maybe it was someone else.

  A few beautiful women were lined up near more men who had different patches and awards on their jackets.

  It was this strange alternate reality that I assumed had its own government. It finally made sense why Mason was so important. Why we needed him.

  Why the Watchers wanted him too.

  He was desired by every world but his own.

  And it made me so sad that I couldn’t even think about it without my chest hurting, because I knew that pain. I knew it well.

  Feeling so out of place.

  The feeling of never quite belonging to the place where you were born To parents who never truly wanted you for you.

  And just like that, the loss of my own parents washed over me again.

  They had been my all.

  And they hadn’t even told me the truth in their deaths.

  I choked back the giant ball in my throat that demanded I burst into tears and kept walking.

  Mason held my hand tightly.

  There was a large crack like the sky had opened, and Cassius appeared, dressed in a tux with Stephanie by his side.

  Followed by Alex and Hope.

  And Ethan and Genesis, sans their twins.

  I exhaled a sigh of relief when I saw them — my friends — my new family, here at Mason’s side.

  His hold on my hand relaxed as Cassius walked up to us and very slowly eyed the room around him. Then with a small smile on his lips, fell to one knee and hung his head.

  The room erupted into gasps and wonder as Mason stilled next to me. “Cassius…”

  “Bless me,” Cassius said. “It is what the King of the Earth does to the King of the Immortals. Is it not?”

  I felt the rage of his father.

  The rage of others as well.

  This was not how things were done. I knew that and was sure the rest of the Immortal Council did as well as the men all very slowly — Alex included, even though he was smirking the whole time — fell down to one knee and waited.

  Mason held out his hand. “It has been a long time. The power has not been transferred…”

  “The power has never left,” Cassius whispered under his breath.

  Mason’s eyes widened as he held his hand over Cassius’ head, and very slowly, pieces of diamond-like dirt fell from his palm over Cassius like a small rain.

  And when Cassius lifted his head, the pieces of dirt melted against his skin and twinkled so brightly I almost had to look away.

  He stood.

  The council followed.

  And I attempted to close my mouth.

  “Now,” Cassius turned to everyone and leveled Mason’s father with a glare. “Since that’s done, I’d like to vote.”

  “Vote?” I hissed under my breath.

  Mason paled. “Cassius—”

  Cassius wouldn’t relent. “As King of the Immortals, the archangel to the humans and Heavens, keeper of secrets and rightful king of this world until it burns into the next, I demand a vote.”

  “Nae.” Tarik’s eyes glistened with barely restrained hatred as he looked from his father back to Mason. “I demand a fight.”

  The room erupted in outcries.

  Cassius nodded to Tarik.

  “Can he do that?” I looked up to Mason.

  He swallowed very slowly and looked down at me, tilting my chin to his face. “He can, and he did. A fight will be the only way to take my father from his rule. He would not have even suffered through a vote. I must battle him.”

  Warriors began talking amongst themselves while the wives a
t the table very slowly stood and moved to stand behind them, for protection, I assumed.

  Stephanie reached for my hand. I jerked away and shook my head. “My place is by his side.”

  Her eyes widened before she nodded and then grabbed Genesis and Hope and moved behind the warriors, not that she of all people needed protection.

  Ethan and Alex eyed Mason. It looked like they were having some sort of conversation because Alex kept laughing, and Ethan kept rolling his eyes before finally, all three of them shook hands.

  The men walked off behind the warriors, leaving me and Mason with Cassius.

  Cassius turned to us. “Force the truth out of him before you end his life. I have a feeling you know the exact way to make sure his soul is carried where it deserves to be carried, despite his actions here. Time makes us bitter, bitterness leads to a deep-rooted hatred, not put there by The Creator.”

  With those cryptic words, he moved to stand in front of the warriors.

  They all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Nobody seemed to want to have to protect an archangel.

  And fail.

  “So…” His father stood. “…is this how it’s going to be? I am forced to kill my son and his mate?” His grin was menacing. “Can’t say it’s the first time I’ve delighted in killing a mate.”

  Mason’s body shook with rage.

  I pressed a hand to his arm.

  He sighed, and his eyes searched mine before he hung his head. “Stand by Cassius.”

  “But…”

  I nodded and moved to take my place in front of the warriors. I didn’t know what power I had. But I wasn’t going to hide in back, when all I wanted to do was to stand in front and take the hit for him.

  I was not meant to be still when it came to my mate.

  I was not meant to watch him fight for us.

  I knew it in my blood; I was made to fight beside him, fight for him. I clenched my hands.

  “Patience,” Cassius whispered. “Your time will come, little one.”

  “I’m not little.”

  “You choose now to fixate on your lack of height?” His lips twitched. “Such a human thing to do.”

  “Weren’t you human for thirty days and—”

  He flashed me a “stop talking” look.

  I grinned in triumph and then looked back to Mason and nodded.

  “And the second time?” Mason finally said after a few seconds, his eyes flashed. “You’ve killed a mate before?”

  His father moved around his chair and very slowly pulled his suit jacket from his massive body, folded it and placed it neatly on his chair. Then he removed his cufflinks and rolled up the sleeves of his starched white shirt.

  Tarik moved toward Mason, his face indifferent until Mason’s father turned his glare to Tarik and sneered. “Isn’t that right, Tarik?”

  Tarik froze, his face crumbling right before my eyes. “Father, not here.”

  “Yes, here!” His father roared, and the room seemed to shake with his fury. “Your brother’s only job was to turn away the human mate and give her to you! And he played his part well. Didn’t you, Tarik? Until you couldn’t keep your eyes from her, until you couldn’t deny your feelings for her, for your brother’s wife!”

  “STOP!” Tarik roared, throwing his hands against the large table. Quickly, they shifted to claws as his nails dug in. “This will change nuthin!”

  “Oh?” His father laughed.

  Mason stilled.

  “I think it does. You see, Mason, your first mate wasn’t even yours, but you were so desperate for love after your mother’s death. I made a promise never to let you find your true mate. I made an oath in blood as did her parents. This was never meant to be. It was a world we could not control, one where the Watchers held too much power, the goddesses held too much power. It was the only way.” A flicker of sadness seemed to flash across his face before it was gone.

  “You killed her,” Mason said softly, without a hint of sadness — just, maybe regret. “You not only stole her from the rightful son and gave her to me, but you lied, and then when you saw both sons fall in love with her, you killed her.”

  “He didn’t have to,” Tarik whispered.

  All eyes fell to his brother.

  Tarik looked away, his expression tense. “Maither killed herself to free you, Mason. Blood must always be spilled, and she knew the only way to free you of never finding your true mate was to spill her own. When Father found out, he went on a rage. He was going to kill you once and for all. Your wine was drugged. You thought she had fallen asleep next to you, but she held a dagger over your head, your own mate. I walked in before the blade cut into your skin, before Father walked in. I called in a favor.” His eyes fell to Cassius.

  Mason lowered his head. “Sariel.”

  I knew Sariel was Cassius’ father, one of the original Watchers, the most powerful, an archangel of the fallen who’d spilled his own angelic blood and rejoined The Creator, but not without bestowing his wings and gifts upon his one and only son, Cassius.

  Just another memory I was sure Cassius now possessed.

  The room moaned and groaned with the secrets and hurt from the past.

  “ENOUGH!” His father bellowed. “This changes nuthin! I am king!”

  “You killed a human!” Mason roared. “That is against our laws! We protect the earth. We protect the humans!”

  “Kings make hard decisions, Mason. It’s what we do.” He chuckled. “Hell, the first hard decision you were faced with you ran!” The room was silent. “Think you’re so different now? With your goddess by your side?”

  I was ready to rain fury down on him when Mason roared toward the ceiling. In a flash, he was in wolf-form.

  Completely black. With red streaks down his back like his hair.

  He was massive.

  A wolf with muscles that shouldn’t exist.

  Every part of him was feral, angry.

  I didn’t want to be afraid.

  But I was.

  His father transformed just as fast.

  His wolf was pitch-black with eyes of coal.

  But although he was large, he wasn’t near the size of Mason.

  Mason was half the size of the dinner table.

  His claws were larger than my head.

  And he had four.

  The two faced off in the middle of the floor.

  Tarik didn’t transform.

  The room crackled with tension.

  And Mason raised his claw in the air and struck first blood.

  MASON

  I couldn’t see past the rage. He had killed an innocent. The woman had not even been meant for me. I hated the sense it made. Why she often complained of me being too big, of being a brute.

  A true mate would desire that.

  And she hadn’t craved me the way I craved her.

  She’d loved me the best way she could — with half her heart — while my brother claimed the other. I knew the type of man he was; he would never have acted on his instincts, and for that, I wanted to rage.

  We’d mated once.

  Never to mate again.

  That was the rule.

  I had been given a second chance, or so I thought. What about him?

  It was the first thing I would demand as king — after I killed my father. And once the thought was in my head…

  The killing…

  I could not help but let it fester until my body transformed into my wolf, until I felt the secrets of the Watcher inside me burst free.

  Secrets of the wolves.

  Where to strike. How to strike.

  It was as if Gadreel’s entire mind had been uploaded to mine, showing me how to defeat, how to become king.

  I thanked him in that moment, wondering if I would ever get the chance to see The Creator myself — and also the Watcher he’d taken back to Heaven who selfishly and then not so selfishly sacrificed his soul so that I would become what I was.

  What I was born to be, however wrong it had
started.

  The Creator had the final say.

  Power rolled through my veins. My blood soared as I struck my father’s head and knocked it against the table.

  The marble split in two before he stumbled forward and tried to grab my neck. I flipped him over my back and shoved him to the ground.

  Killing a wolf was nearly impossible.

  But I am not just a wolf. I smiled at that thought.

  “You would never kill your own father. You walked away. You’ll do it again.” His taunting wasn’t helping his case. “I sent them for her.”

  I pressed a claw to his throat, and his voice sounded in my head.

  “I sent them to attack her, to kill her. Did you know she’s searched for you every year since your mate’s death? Since the bond was broken? She would hunt for you. She would cry. It was pathetic how many times her own parents had to wipe her memories, how many times they cried over their broken-hearted daughter.”

  I slammed him against the ground, harder this time.

  The voice in my head, my father’s, kept taunting as his eyes glistened with fury. “She was supposed to die. She is an abomination.”

  I answered aloud. “You swore to protect her.”

  “I dinna know what I was promising. It was wrong, what they did to her, what they did to you. We will not mix with that blood!”

  I smirked inwardly and struck his neck with my fangs, drawing his bitter blood and spitting it out to the side.

  You were saying?

  “What are you?” He pushed at me with all his force.

  Wolf. Vampire. Fallen. I felt the loss of my wings so harshly I sucked in a breath. And now? I am King.

  I struck again and slid my claws on either side of his head, making it impossible for him to move, then grabbed a piece of marble and shoved it in his heart.

  He was not dead.

  Not yet.

  I fell to my knees and moved to my human form. Tarik tossed me a pair of jeans, and I quickly turned and put them on just in time for someone to run in the room screaming.

  “Movement in the forests!”

  But it was too late.

  “They’re here,” my father said cryptically. “You did this. This is on you.” He still wasn’t moving.

  Hooded figures slowly entered the room and walked toward us. Twelve of them, black hair peeking out from under the hoods.