Academy Obscura - The Scorched Summer: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

by Cassia Briar

  “And, if you get challenged?” I prompted.

  “Then I will have to fight.”

  “What’s my role in this?”

  Angel’s jaw worked. “You will sit beside me through it. If I am challenged, you will not interfere. The match is to submission or death.”

  I growled. “I can’t just sit there if someone is trying to kill you.”

  “You can and you will. Though I don’t plan on letting anyone kill me.” Angel glanced at Montrell. “Make sure she doesn’t interfere.”

  Montrell nodded. “We’ll get her out of there if necessary.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. I knew Angel would rather die than submit and give up his position. I hoped no one challenged him. They’d have to be crazy to go up against him anyway. Still, I felt unsettled.

  Jaxon took my hand. “Don’t worry, cupcake, Angel never loses.”

  17

  Caprice

  Angel strode beside me, my other three mates trailing behind, as we made our way through the cave’s tunnels. Angel’s mom and brothers had arrived from Washington, and we were on our way to see them. Or in my case, meet them. Nerves skittered inside me.

  Jaxon was an orphan, Montrell had only his father who he hated, and Liam’s horrible father I’d met, but not his mother. Angel, on the other hand, seemed close to his mother and brothers. I hoped they liked me.

  We encountered lots of wolves. They stood to the side and bowed their heads as we walked past, their faces illuminated by the electric wall sconces. We rounded a bend and came face-to-face with Destiny and her crew of werewolf mean girls. To my surprise they took to the walls, muttering, “Alpha. Council Queen.”

  Once we passed them by, Destiny turned toward us. “Hey Council Queen, if you want to get your ass kicked I’m always up for sparring.” She tossed her hair and continued walking in the opposite direction.

  We had done a bit of sparring back on campus. And she had kicked my ass—repeatedly. The dragon in me growled low. I owed Destiny a good beatdown.

  Angel glanced at me. “That’s some serious determination coming off you, beautiful. You going to take her up on that offer?”

  “You bet.” I smiled. It was going to be fun.

  We halted before a thick wooden door. Angel opened it and ushered us inside, where two women and three large men reclined casually in the living area. I swallowed nervously. Who was the younger woman? Angel didn’t have a sister, and he’d suddenly tensed up, his emotions uncertain, on edge.

  An awkward silence stretched between all of us.

  Angel’s mother had a kind face and compassionate eyes. I had a hard time seeing her as Diego Cortez’s wife, she seemed his complete opposite. Her boys—men—were all muscular, swarthy types. One was even larger than Angel, and that was impressive. The tall, beautiful woman rose to stand beside the hulk.

  Angel broke the tension. “Mother, this is Caprice, my mate.” He motioned toward her as she gained her feet. “Caprice, meet Maria Cortez.”

  I reached to shake her hand, but she dragged me into a warm hug.

  “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you, Caprice.” Her amber eyes sparkled as she leaned away. “I can see my son has chosen his mate well. Welcome to our family.”

  “Thank you.” No sooner was I released, then brawny arms crushed me against a solid chest.

  “Damian!” Angel roared.

  The chest, which I assumed belonged to Damien, rumbled with a chuckle. “Find a sense of humor, bro,” he said. He dropped his arms. “I’m Damian. Youngest and best looking of this bunch.”

  The guy standing beside him smacked Damian on the back of the head. “I’m Casparo,” he said. “Pay no attention to this fool.”

  “My name is Bruno.” The hulk said, reaching to shake my hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I turned my attention to the other woman.

  She shook my hand. “Selena Torres. I’m Bruno’s fiancé.” She took his arm and snuggled into his side.

  I gave her a smile while my mind reeled. Selena. Angel’s old flame. The one he was in love with when his wolf claimed me as his mate instead of her. The Trial Master had used her to torment me and make me envious. Now, seeing her, I realized I had every right to be jealous. She was tall, and absolutely fucking gorgeous.

  Too late, I realized my mates knew exactly how I was feeling. Angel swooped in and plastered me to his side while Jaxon and Liam exchanged manly hugs with his brothers and introduced Montrell.

  “Selena has moved on,” Angel whispered. “Bruno has been wild about her for years and they’re happy together. Stop worrying. You know how I feel about you.” To everyone else he said, “Let’s go to dinner.”

  Dinner really was the whole family affair. After several main courses, I nibbled on dessert, quietly watching everyone as I’d done through most of the meal. Bruno and Angel were like two peas in a pod—both serious, brooding, talking mostly about pack business. Angel’s shoulders seemed to relax when he was with his relatives. I took that as a good sign.

  Damian and Casparo were very different from their older brothers, and each other. They bickered constantly. Casparo had this aloof, almost snobbish attitude, while Damian cracked jokes and verbally poked at everyone—including me.

  “I like what you’ve done here,” the youngest brother said to me. “I might do the same. For the record, women love me. I could see myself with four mates.”

  I choked on cake crumbs.

  “Damian,” Maria said with a sigh and a head shake.

  “What, Ma? What if I don’t want to choose between all the beauties who’d settle down with me? My gorgeous new sister didn’t have to.” Damian grinned and winked. Shit disturber.

  I caught Selena gazing at me through her thick lashes. Did she see me as some kind of seductress? A man collector? I’d taken her boyfriend from her—sort of. Not that I could control the mate bond.

  “It wasn’t exactly a choice—” I started.

  “We don’t need to defend ourselves,” Angel said, glaring at Damian.

  Casparo snickered. Bruno glowered. Montrell quietly observed. And Jaxon exchanged a glance with Liam, then changed the topic.

  “Will the rest of the Pacific Pack be joining us here?” he asked, aiming the question at Maria.

  She nodded. “Most of them. Our beta—second in charge—Estevan is remaining behind with a few of our guards. One of the problems with evacuating our homes is leaving them wide open for looters. Though looting a werewolf’s house is an extremely dangerous idea.”

  Liam set down his fork. “I would imagine. Leave even a trace of scent behind and you’ll be hunted down. Literally.”

  Bruno bared his teeth, but it wasn’t a smile. The feral expression spoke to my dragon. There was something very different being around so many werewolves. My beast side related to them better in some ways than to the witches and fae. I wondered if Montrell felt it too, or if it was specific to beast shifters. Did shapeshifters feel that primal side when they took their various animal forms? Those spirits lived within them, so why not?

  As if knowing I was curious about him, Montrell’s hazel gaze searched my face. He licked his lips and his eyes heated with desire. Jaxon and Angel both visibly startled in their chairs. Liam loudly cleared his throat.

  Angel rose to his feet. “We have new quarters to settle into tonight.”

  Damian snorted, but we all ignored him. I raised a brow. New quarters? Why were we changing rooms?

  “We will see you tomorrow for the ceremony,” Angel continued. With that, dinner was over. We said our goodnights and parted ways. Angel took my hand in his, leading us through more winding tunnels.

  “Why are we changing rooms?” I asked, as we came to another nondescript wooden door in a narrower corridor. There were several of the same along both sides of the hall.

  “Because we’re mated now.” Angel shoved the door open and we stepped through to a dimly lit suite. “It’s traditional for mates to sleep together, an
d in our case…” He waved toward the Cadillac—no RV—of beds. The thing was huge and could easily fit…all five of us.

  “Oh. I see.” I continued to stare at the bed, all kinds of dirty thoughts running through my head.

  “For fuck’s sake, princess.” Angel groaned, adjusting himself. “What kind of weird dragon magic did you do on us?”

  “Yeah,” Jaxon said, “I could feel Montrell’s lust for you at the dinner table.”

  The shapeshifter folded his arms over his chest, face stern though a bit flushed.

  Liam chuckled. “Welcome to my world, guys. From what I can tell, it seems the five of us are now emotionally connected to each other.” His brow furrowed. “It took a couple of hours for me to realize the difference between sensing your emotions versus everyone else around here. Yours are more acute. Stronger. It’s intense.”

  “So, what? Now when one of us gets a hard on we’re all going to feel it?” Jaxon asked.

  Montrell rubbed his palm over his mouth, to hide a smile, I was pretty sure.

  I meandered over to Jaxon. “Let’s find out.” I skimmed my hand down his chest to his crotch and rubbed his dick. The room echoed with low groans and curses. “That would be a yes.”

  “You naughty girl.” Jaxon yanked my hand away.

  I grinned up at him, then yawned. “Is it just me, or has it been a long night?”

  “Let’s see,” he swept my hair behind my ear, “we were officially mated, you shifted to a full dragon and went flying for two hours, you called together a council meeting, sent a search party off to find us a Tromara pod, met and had dinner with Angel’s eccentric family, what else...? Maybe that’s all.”

  “Hmm. That does sound like a lot.”

  Montrell’s large hands grasped my shoulders. “You’re also probably still recovering from your recent wounds. Let’s get you to bed.”

  The suite had two attached bathrooms, a living room, and dining room. Not bad for a network of caves in a mountain. Wearing a tank top and underwear, I crawled into the middle of the bed. Angel and Montrell immediately jumped in on either side of me, smug expressions on their faces.

  “So, it’s going to be like that,” Jaxon grumbled, settling in on the other side of Angel.

  Liam crawled up the bed until he was on top of me. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” He kissed me deep and slow, then found a spot beside Montrell.

  I snuggled in between the warm bodies. Love, contentment, and happiness filled me up. I drifted to sleep knowing I was the luckiest girl in the world.

  18

  Angel

  Alone in my office, I let my thoughts and feelings have free rein. This emotion sensing and sharing side effect of becoming Caprice’s mate made me uneasy. It had been bad enough before, with the magical pact Jaxon had created, and how Liam would read me and shoot me those knowing looks. Now there was no hiding from any of them. There were certain parts of myself that I didn’t want aired before all of them. My feelings belonged to me alone.

  Today was the Supreme Alpha ceremony. I’d be taking my father’s position as the ultimate authority and leader of the collective Gran Lobo Pack. All the packs across the country had sent their alphas here to pledge fealty to me. Unfortunately, I was having second thoughts—doubts.

  I’d failed all of us when the Tromara ambushed me and stole back the Codex. That had been my one mission, my one responsibility, and I’d failed. Miserably. Wolves ran in packs for a reason. Had pride been my undoing? Or was it arrogance? Either way, if Montrell hadn’t found me I’d be dead. I owed the shapeshifter my life, and he knew it. Surprisingly, he didn’t rub it in, or hold it over my head, given our challenging history. Sometime in the past few weeks I’d come to respect Montrell—hell, I might even like him. Which was good, considering we were stuck with each other now.

  But no one wanted a leader who failed, who didn’t know their limits or when to accept help. Fuck. All this doubt was screwing with my head. I needed to lead the wolves into war. There was so much more at stake here than my insecurities. I shoved away my failings and tried to empty my mind. When I went out there to face the leaders of my people, I needed to be strong, confident, and unyielding. I had time to make better decisions in the future.

  I shrugged into the dark blue ceremonial robe. The coarse fabric scratched against my bare skin. I tied it securely at the waist.

  The door swung open. Bruno strode in followed by Selena. He wore a glum expression. “You wanted to see us?”

  I nodded, studying my brother. “I thought now would be a good time to have that talk I’d wanted to have last time we saw each other in Washington.”

  Thankfully, Bruno simply inclined his head and waited instead of denying my order couched in the terms of a request. I turned my attention on Selena. “First, I’d like to congratulate you on your engagement to my brother. I’m glad to see you both happy.”

  “Thanks, Angel.” She entwined her fingers with Bruno’s.

  “I’d also like to apologize. This might seem strange, but I need to get it off my chest,” I said. “I never meant to break your heart or cause you pain, Selena—”

  “Stop.” She lifted her free hand. “That’s ancient history at this point. We’ve both moved on. I’m fine. We’re all happy.” Selena glanced up at Bruno. “There was a week or so when I’d been crushed that your wolf hadn’t chosen me, it’s true. But, if you had, I’d never have realized my feelings for your brother. Our wolves have chosen each other.”

  Oh. Relief unclenched my gut. She really was happy with Bruno. They’d been fated all along and never known it until I stepped out of the way.

  “Thank you for telling me.” I moved to briefly embrace them both. “I wish you a long, happy life together.”

  “You, too,” Selena said with a small grin.

  Bruno clasped my upper arm. “Don’t get killed out there today.”

  “I’ll try not to.” My jaw clenched, reminded of the ceremony ahead.

  A light knock sounded at the door, and Caprice came in wearing a long blue dress. She glanced at my brother and his mate, who slipped past her out the door. Then rose a brow at me.

  “Just needed to put some things to rest,” I said, knowing she felt the whirlwind of emotions inside me. Relief from that talk with Selena and Bruno, the happiness I felt every time I saw my mate, and all my mixed feelings about taking the role of Supreme Alpha.

  “Okay. Well, your mother said everyone’s gathered,” she spoke softly, picking up on my distress. “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, let’s do this.” I took her hand in mine and interlaced our fingers. The thrum of joy that rose up in her made my head swim for a moment. I winked down at her, surprising both of us. When was the last time I’d winked at someone? She blushed and I was sure my smile appeared feral.

  We entered the cavernous meeting hall which was filled to bursting with alphas, betas, and honored pack members who’d been chosen to witness this ceremony. My mother, brothers, and Selena sat close to the front, along with Montrell, Jaxon, and Liam. We walked past them, through the open space, then climbed the dais. There, I lowered myself to sit, and Caprice did the same.

  In a booming voice, I said, “I, Angel Cortez, declare myself Supreme Alpha of the collective packs known as the Gran Lobo. Tonight, I call upon all alphas to give me their fealty. Unchallenged, my rule stands.” I waited. It was up to the alphas to approach and either swear loyalty, or challenge me.

  The first to step forward was Heller. As he lumbered toward us, his gaze slid to Caprice and my hackles rose. There was a time I worried he’d try to steal her from me—or at least make himself available to her.

  Caprice’s fingers brushed lightly over mine in a reassuring gesture. Heller offered her a head bob before focusing on me. He kneeled, head bowed in submission.

  “I, Heller Vargas, Alpha of the Rogue River Pack swear to follow and obey you, Supreme Alpha. I give to you my life, and the lives of those in my pack, from this day forth.”

  The w
ords were the standard oath for this ceremony. I wondered how many would have stood by those words if my father were alive today. Would they have protected him with their lives after his betrayal? We would never know.

  “I accept your oath,” I said, and Heller gained his feet. He rejoined the crowd as another alpha stepped forward, kneeled, and spoke the oath. The process went on for some a while. I did my best to ignore the threat of anxiety each time an alpha walked toward us. Would he be the one to challenge? Yet each time, they dropped to their knees.

  Among the last, was our own werewolf anomaly. Ximena Abril. She was alpha of a pack down in New Mexico—an all female pack. Several males had tried to claim dominance and take over her title and lands. They’d all failed. Partly because Ximena knew that a leader was only as strong as their pack, and her girls were loyal, vicious, and unforgiving of anyone who tried to dominate them.

  Caprice gazed down at her with open interest, as Ximena took to her knee. I muttered a curse of relief, of all the alphas I wanted her with me, not against me. Ximena spoke her vow. When she stood, her eyes darted to Caprice. They exchanged a brief smile before the alpha turned away. I gave my mate a questioning look, but she just shook her head.

  “Since none of you have the guts,” shouted a voice from the back of the room, “it looks like it’s up to me.” Don Lopez, Destiny’s father, strode through the crowd. “I will not follow an alpha who weds a slut. A true alpha would never share his woman. Especially not with the likes of them.” He jerked a thumb at Jaxon, Liam, and Montrell. “Angel Cortez, I challenge you.”

  My heart pounded, but not with fear. The blood rushed through my veins with the need to shift and tear this fucker’s throat out. No one insulted my mate and lived. Caprice wasn’t going to like this, but it had to be done.

  “Montrell,” I snapped. The shapeshifter appeared beside me. “Make sure she doesn’t interfere.”

  “Consider it done.”