TWISTED DESTINY: The Complete Saga

by Leia King

  “What?” Ryan snapped.

  “Your blood is dark. She does not need more of it tainting her. She is pure. The White Realm Princess.”

  “She is my wife!” Ryan growled.

  “And what great care you have taken of her.” He gestured to her limp, bloodied body, her unconscious state.

  Ryan hesitated as guilt pierced him. “I didn’t mean to. The water… did something to us.”

  “It’s enchanted. It brings out one’s deepest, innermost desires. It is not intended for Dark Realm creatures, because, as you can see, your deepest desires are very dark indeed. Hers was pleasure. Yours was pain.”

  “No,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “I would never hurt her.”

  “Deep down, you want to. The pool does not lie about these things.”

  Before Ryan could respond and rip the guy a new one, Cora’s eyes opened and she pushed against the guy’s hold on her. The blood that had dripped onto her robe had dried already. She’d healed. She looked up at the man holding her and drew back as though she’d just seen a ghost.

  She scrambled to her feet and stared at the guy with disbelief. “David?”

  “Yes, my princess,” he confirmed, getting to his feet.

  “David?” Ryan repeated. “Your murdered friend, David?”

  Cora nodded and then her gaze fell on Ryan.

  He stood up and reached for her.

  She drew back.

  “Cora?” he murmured, hurt by her reaction. “It was the water. It was spelled. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to. I swear it.”

  “I know. I felt the influence of it too.”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry, my love.”

  “I know you are. I just… I can’t right now,” she murmured.

  “Cora,” he pleaded.

  She turned away. So, she couldn’t even look at him now?

  He tried to grab her hand, to bring her back to him, but she jumped back, screaming. “No! Don’t, Ryan! Please, don’t!”

  Her awful reaction cut right through him. He didn’t know what to say, what to do.

  He just stood there staring at her in disbelief.

  A gut-wrenching pain ripped through him, knowing that he’d caused that reaction in her, that he’d actually hurt her. Intentionally, or not, it’d still happened. He felt sick with it.

  For the first time in his life, he didn’t have a plan of action.

  David stepped between them, telling him, “I will take her to her chambers. You should give her some time.”

  Ryan didn’t respond. He was frozen to the spot.

  All he could do was watch as another man led his wife away from him.

  His wife, who was now terrified of him.

  3

  Cora lounged on a loveseat situated beneath two stained-glass windows. She gazed up at them, the scene painted on them depicting unicorns running freely through the royal gardens. The gardens she’d just visited with Ryan.

  She shuddered at the awful memory of what’d gone down between them in that strange pool.

  David had pulled a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her. She clutched it to her protectively and sat with her knees drawn up to her chest

  She took in the unfamiliar surroundings of the bedchamber that her father’s servants had prepared for her and Ryan.

  A gorgeous four-poster bed carved out of white stone was the central feature of the room. Crimson, silk sheets and dozens of decorative pillows, deep-red and pearl-white, made it seem so welcoming and warm. Silver-colored drapes hung down from the bed frame and brushed the floor. Bowls of what appeared to be potpourri sat atop the bedside tables. A wall of white closets lined the opposite wall. Just beyond that was another door, which she assumed led to a bathroom. The walls were white with silver-colored adornments. She’d never been in the presence of such luxury before. Well, not that she was aware of, anyway. She must’ve been when she’d lived in the White Realm for the first hundred years of her life. But those were years that she didn’t remember, because of her father’s spell.

  “Here,” David said suddenly, cutting through her thoughts.

  She looked up to see him holding out a cup towards her. “What is it?”

  “Herbal tea. After you heal from profound injuries, it zaps your strength. This will help you to regain it a lot quicker.”

  She smiled and took it from him. She sipped at it and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. “Yum. Like strawberries.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah. Everything here tastes good. Wait until you try some of the food.”

  “How did you know about what was happening at the waterfall?

  He sat down beside her. “Your father sensed your distress.”

  “My father?”

  “You are both connected, especially when you are within the White Realm. You will learn to sense him too, once he teaches you how. He felt your agony. He’d sent you to the gardens and he realized his mistake when he felt your pain. He’d forgotten about the enchanted waters and what they’d bring forth in Ryan. He summoned me and asked me to go to you, to protect you. He figured you wouldn’t want your father walking in on that… scene between you and the wolf.”

  “Oh my God,” she breathed. “That’s… embarrassing.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” David said, kindly.

  “Thank you for helping me.”

  “Of course.”

  “He’s never been like that before.”

  “He’s a Dark Realm creature, Cora. Unfortunately, it’s in their nature.”

  She shook her head. “No. It was just the water.” Her brain knew that, but she just couldn’t get past it. She just needed a bit of time. It had been pretty brutal. She was probably just in shock.

  “He’s a creature of darkness,” David insisted. “Designed to commit terrible acts.”

  “He’s not like that. He’s lived in the human realm for most of his life anyway. I mean, he told me he’s done certain things, but that was all in the past when he lived in the Dark Realm.”

  “As a wolf, to survive there, he would’ve done a lot of those things he alluded to. For him, it would’ve been a lot darker, given that his father was the ruler of the whole lot of them. A lot would’ve been expected. I’ve heard tales.” He sat back and clasped his hands in his lap. “And you think he became a better person when he moved to the human realm?”

  “He did.”

  “You’re certain? He is Alpha of the downtown pack, yes? When you and I were Seekers, it was Blane. For Ryan to have commandeered that pack, he would have had to murder Blane.”

  “There are other ways to become Alpha. He could’ve just demonstrated his superior strength.”

  “Yes, by tearing Blane’s head from his body, Cora. No question, he murdered him. Brutally, I’m sure. That is the kind of man that he is. A beast.” He took her hand. “That water brings out our deepest desires. It cannot manufacture darkness. It only enhances what is really within us, what we truly want.”

  “You’re saying that Ryan wanted to hurt me like that?”

  “Deep down, yes.”

  She hastily moved away and got to her feet. “No. Stop it.”

  David rose with her. “I am just speaking the truth, princess.”

  “The truth? I watched you die, David! From a vampire attack five years ago! And you have the nerve to talk of truth to me?”

  David had been waiting for her reaction to seeing him alive and well.

  Now they were getting somewhere. Somewhere he’d wanted the conversation to go. Finally, the topic of the wolf was over and done with.

  “You were human, David. I would’ve felt it if you’d been supernatural. I can sense magical energy.”

  “I know, you can. It is one of your gifts as Princess of the White Realm. I was in human form when I came to you. A glamour spell, courtesy of your father.”

  “My father knew about this?”

  “Yes. I am a member of his Royal Court. He tasked me to watch over you when you took o
n your role as a Seeker. It was against his wishes, but your mother didn’t heed his warnings. He was concerned for your safety. He feared that you touching the supernatural world through your so-called duties pushed on you by your mother would lead Luca and Nathanial right to you.”

  “Did he tell you to play at being my best friend as well?” she snapped.

  He shook his head sadly. “No. I was meant to be there solely as a mentor. I had to gain your mother’s trust first as a superior Seeker before she’d let me anywhere near you. Your father was furious when it got back to him that we’d become close friends. He thought it would complicate things. And, so, he pulled me out of there. That manufactured vampire ambush and my falsified death were the results. I am sorry, my sweet.”

  “Don’t call me that!”

  He stepped closer. “I truly did care for you, Cora. So much so that it overruled my sense of duty to my king.”

  “Yet, you’re still a member of his court? He forgave you?”

  “After some time.”

  “Now we’re being honest, I want to know why you hate my husband so much?”

  “You belong in the light, Cora. It is blasphemy that you have mated with a creature of the dark.”

  “I told you that he isn’t like that.”

  “He was ripping you to shreds!”

  “It was the magic! Despite what you claim, I know what I felt.”

  “No. I saw the terror in your eyes. You are afraid of him, of his true nature, now that you have finally seen it up close and personal.”

  She looked away and put her mug down on the bedside table behind her. “I need to take a shower,” she announced, brushing past him.

  He shot out his hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him. Looking down at her, he whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, my sweet.”

  “Stop it, David! Let go!” She struggled against him, but he knew she was still too weak to succeed.

  “Just look at me,” he implored her, employing a hypnotic tone.

  He watched her eyes delve into his, her pupils dilate.

  In the next second, her struggles ceased. It’s working.

  “I just want to hold you in my arms, princess. Don’t you want that too?” he crooned in the same hypnotic voice.

  “Yes,” she responded, dazed eyes still on his.

  He wrapped his arms around her and she reciprocated, holding him tightly against her. He stroked her hair gently and they stood together for a long while in peaceful serenity.

  And then he pulled back. “Weren’t you going to take a shower?”

  “That’s right. I remember.”

  He held her gaze as he walked backwards, holding her hands and drawing her with him into the bathroom. He released her and turned them around so that her back was to the shower. He leaned against the bathroom door and smiled reassuringly at her.

  “You don’t need your robe, do you?”

  She shook her head. “No. It will get wet.”

  “Good girl. Undress then.”

  Excitement bloomed within him as the spell continued to work.

  She untied the belt of her robe. He swallowed hard when she opened it, revealing her beautiful naked body, a body that he’d coveted for years. A body that she’d always denied him, having relegated him to the friend-zone.

  He felt his cock harden at the sight of her perfect little breasts. As perky and flawless as he’d imagined them. His gaze swept over her when she pushed the robe off her shoulders and stood before him, allowing him to inspect every inch of her, just like he was willing her to. Her pussy was bare, aside from a tiny landing strip, something he suspected the wolf enjoyed seeing.

  His magic hadn’t been very strong when he’d been in her company in the human realm because of the crippling weight of the glamour that Vazra had forced upon him to make him appear human, even to someone as sensitive to supernatural creatures as her. But here, in the White Realm, his magic was at its strongest. The possibilities were endless now. He could finally take what he deserved.

  He stepped towards her and trailed his fingers down her stomach, stopping at the top of her little landing strip. “You’d like my fingers inside you, wouldn’t you, my sweet?”

  “Yes.”

  He smiled with amusement at her delicious submission and he couldn’t help himself from pushing it further. “Tell me what you want,” he breathed, holding her gaze more intensely, just in case pushing it further caused her to resist.

  “I want your fingers on my bare pussy, stroking me. I want them inside me, filling me.”

  “Your wish is my command, princess.”

  He made sure to hold her gaze as he brought his finger to his mouth, lubing it up with his saliva. He didn’t want to hurt her. Not like the wolf had.

  Just as he was about to take what he’d wanted for so long, he sensed an approach.

  Cursing, he pulled back.

  “You won’t remember any of this, Cora. I made you herbal tea and then I left. That is all.”

  She nodded. “Yes, David. You made me tea. That is all.”

  “Good girl. When I close this door, take your shower.”

  “I will,” she said, smiling sweetly at him.

  He adjusted his pants to conceal his throbbing erection. And then he stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door.

  Just as he heard the shower start, the door to the chambers opened and Ryan strode on in.

  “What are you doing in here?” the wolf snapped.

  “She was upset about what happened at the waterfall. I made her a tea and we talked.”

  “I’m here now. Leave.”

  David nodded and brushed past him.

  As he did, Ryan caught him off guard, lunging at him all of a sudden. He slammed him brutally hard into the wall. “Her scent is on you!”

  David gulped. He thought quickly. “You saw me carrying her when she was injured by you,” he choked out, as Ryan wrapped his fingers around his throat.

  “No. It’s stronger than that!” he roared. “A sexual scent!” He tightened his grip, choking the life out of him. “You’ve touched my wife!”

  “I… I picked her up… while you were… making love,” David managed to choke out.

  He watched Ryan hesitate. He knew the wolf couldn’t deny that had been the case. He’d been right there to witness it. Good. He’d managed to succeed in confusing him, making him question his instincts. David was shocked, though. He’d never come across a wolf with senses so incredibly attuned as Ryan’s. He hadn’t accounted for it.

  “You’re… emotional. It can impact a wolf’s senses,” he rasped.

  Ryan held his grip steady for a few moments more. And then he released him roughly and stepped back. “Let’s be clear about something. If you ever touch my wife, I will kill you.” His eyes flashed with fire. “In the most brutal way imaginable. You’ll beg for death by the time I’m through with you.”

  And there was the dark monster David had warned Cora about. The one she didn’t believe existed. If only she could’ve heard that. Curses!

  “Message received, wolf.”

  Ryan snarled. “Get the fuck out.”

  David grinned and made his way to the door, holding Ryan’s furious glare. He hauled it open and stepped out. The wolf was there before he could shut it.

  “Go,” he growled. “Don’t step foot in this room again.”

  Ryan slammed the door shut. “I hate that guy.”

  There was something really fucked up about him. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. What exactly was it? He made a mental note to find out. But his immediate focus was on his wife. He had to fix things between them and talk about what’d happened in the gardens. Letting it fester would just make things worse.

  He heard the shower running and headed over to the bathroom.

  He hesitated outside the door.

  Nah.

  Walking in on her when she was in a vulnerable position taking a shower wasn’t a good idea, given what’d happened earli
er. He’d let her shower in peace and get dressed first.

  The last time he’d touched her when she was wet and naked, he’d hurt her. It wouldn’t be a good idea to remind her of that. No, he’d wait until she was fully clothed. Besides, whenever they were near one another unclothed, they always ended up fucking.

  He eased himself onto the bed and rested his head on the mountains of pillows propped up against the headboard. He closed his eyes and breathed a tired sigh. It was then that he realized he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d actually slept. Between watching over the wolves under his protection at the compound and seeking out Shaye to help with the full moon and with Cora’s migraines, he’d been so busy. I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment.

  4

  Ryan shot up in bed.

  He glanced around anxiously at the unfamiliar surroundings.

  He hated waking up in someone else’s bed, someone else’s home. It was unnerving and majorly disorientating to his natural instincts. Being in another realm entirely really wasn’t helping matters either.

  “Ry, relax.”

  He jerked his head to the loveseat near the bed, surprised to find Shaye sitting there, eyeing him.

  “What’s going on? What are you doing here? Where’s Cora?” How long had he fallen asleep for?

  “Too many questions. You need to calm down.”

  “Shaye, I’m not in the mood,” he muttered, springing out of bed. He noticed that she was dressed in the same priest-like robes as Vazra had been. “What the hell are you wearing?”

  She brushed her hands down the length of the silky material. “What’s the matter? Not revealing enough for you?”

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure. That’s why I’m asking, woman.”

  “I’m just trying to lighten your mood,” she said, grinning. “One of the servants offered them to me. They are incredibly comfortable. You should get some for yourself.”

  “Not my style.”

  “Yes. You prefer the biker look, just like your wife,” she said, eyeing him in his well-worn jeans and leather jacket.

  “Where is she?”