by Leia King
Luca smiled warmly at Cora. “I can provide that.”
He reached for her hand, but Nathanial pushed him back before he could make contact. “Full concentration, Luca,” he snarled. “She needs to be ready. If she is not, your mother will strike her down. There is a great deal at stake here. Do not lose sight of that.”
His words clearly affected Luca, as he immediately straightened and offered, “What can I do? Anything, father.”
“With Michael’s help I have already taught her how to deflect black magic. However, she still needs to learn how to resist the pull of the darkness when she unleashes great power.”
“Yes, not uncommon.”
“It’s not?” Cora wondered.
Luca revealed, “I’ve dealt with it too.”
“Not very successfully,” Nathanial chastised him.
“That was by choice,” Luca protested. “I mastered the ability to control it centuries ago. I can whenever I want to. Just like you, father.”
“You have never spoken of this to me.”
“Is that pride in your eyes?”
“Perhaps.”
A look passed between them, a silent hope that they could in fact find common ground.
Low growls rumbled beneath their feet.
“The wolves!” Cora cried.
“They can sense me,” Luca said.
“You tortured their Alpha. Nathanial didn’t give me time to warn them before he called you here.”
“Time is of the essence,” Nathanial said.
Cora rolled her eyes. “Fine. It’ll be okay. Josh will calm them down. Let’s just get started.”
“Arm yourself,” Nathanial instructed her.
He watched her do as he had taught her, moving her feet shoulder-width apart, her palms upturned with the silver glow of her magic at the ready. “Good,” he praised her. Lifting his chin at Luca, he said, “You take right, I will take left.”
Luca positioned himself several feet away from Cora, to her right. Nathanial took position opposite him, with Cora between them.
“Cora, you will unleash the full force of your magic at both of us. In two directions. If you can control the darkness within, you will succeed. If you cannot, you will only be able to strike one of us. Remember, the key is to keep your mind clear, focusing only on the task at hand. You must transcend your emotions.”
She nodded his way. “Got it.”
“Luca. Prepare your defenses now.”
Nathanial watched him raise his palms in a defensive gesture. His red glow of magic streamed forth, creating a shimmering wall of protection. “Shields up.”
Nathanial followed suit, erecting his own wall of protection with a shimmering, black glow. “Now, Cora!”
She shifted her weight, then threw her palms outwards, aiming at both of them. Silver light burst forth, firing at their shields.
“Shit!” Luca hissed at him. “Her power is too much, father! I can’t hold it!”
Nathanial saw his hands shaking from the burden of Cora’s magic. He moved slowly towards him, forcing Cora to refocus her power as he approached Luca, struggling to hold his shield steady. He had never felt such power.
When he was close enough, he took Luca’s hand. “Join with me.”
Luca accepted and they both grunted as a surge of power ripped through both of them.
And then Nathanial yelled, “Now, Cora! Unleash all of it! As soon as I command you, you must stop immediately! Understood?”
“Yes!”
Nathanial and Luca stumbled back as she hit them with the full force of her magical strength. The rays of her silver light shook their magic to its breaking point, threatening to consume it.
“Stop her, father,” Luca gasped.
“Even combined, she is far stronger than us,” Nathanial exclaimed in shock. He couldn’t believe it.
It had only been a few seconds and already her silver fire was consuming their joined magic, devouring the shields they held before them.
“Cora! Pull back!” he called.
Nothing happened.
She failed to react.
“Cora! Now!”
Still, she did not pull back.
A shrill cry tore from her.
“She’s lost control. It’s engulfing her,” Luca said. “Can you hold it without me for a few seconds?”
“Yes. Go to her.”
In a flash of vampire speed, Luca stood directly in front of Cora, in between her rays of silver light. Nathanial’s eyes narrowed as he watched Luca cup her face in a far-too-intimate gesture. “I love you, princess. You mean the world to me.”
She retracted her power.
“Oh my God,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, guys!”
Nathanial reabsorbed his magic and approached the two of them, telling Cora, “You were only able to pull your power back then, because Luca anchored you. You need to concentrate on your own anchor. Luca will not always be there. What, or who, is your current anchor?”
“Ryan and my son,” she said. sadly.
“I see. Well, your relationship with Ryan is unstable at the moment. You must remove him from the equation and concentrate solely on your son.”
“Or, wherever else your love may lie,” Luca cut in.
Nathanial hissed, “Now is not the time.”
“Father, I was just—”
“Flirt with the princess on your own time. But know that I will not tolerate it around me.”
Luca scoffed. “Oh right, because your loyalty lies with the Wolf King and your duty to him, rather than your own son.”
“Cora is already mated, Luca! You need to accept that!”
“There is a way to break that bond and you know it!”
“Is that true?” Cora demanded, gripping Luca’s arm fervently. “Is it true?” she pressed when he hesitated on his answer and looked to Nathanial.
Nathanial released a heavy sigh and admitted, “Yes, there is a way.”
“Oh.”
“Is that what you want?” he asked. Much to his annoyance, he saw Luca waiting with bated breath for her answer. Clearly, breaking the betrothal bond had done little to cure his obsession with the White Realm Princess. Too long active, perhaps. The damage had already been done.
“I’m not sure,” Cora answered. “All I ever wanted was a choice.”
“You are the White Realm Princess, Cora. No one can control you, now that you have come into your full powers. You are free to make your choices as you see fit,” Luca said.
Nathanial cleared his throat, then told Cora, “We will take a ten-minute break. Afterward, we will not rest until you have mastered control. It must be tonight. Ryan cannot hold Oriana at bay for long.”
He watched her nod at him and head back into the compound. He knew she was going to visit with her son again. Not living with him was taking a toll on her.
When she was out of sight, he rounded on Luca. “What are you doing?”
Luca met his intense fiery glare. “I love her, father.”
“You are certain it is love?”
“I’m different now. I regret the reprehensible things I’ve done. I want to do what is right now. But, yes, I am sure. I love her.”
“Has she shown you any encouragement?”
“We’ve graduated from hatred to tolerance.”
“You must let her make the choice, Luca. Do not interfere. Do not wedge yourself between her and Ryan. You know I cannot support that. You must not go against the Wolf King over your love for her. This is very important. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I know. I want it to be her choice anyway. Anything less is… not enough for me.”
Nathanial laid his hand on his shoulder. “You have learned what I had hoped you would eventually. Keep it up and you may just see true pride in my eyes.”
10
Josh called out in greeting to Cora as he approached her at the rear of the mess hall. He frowned at the sight of her hunched over at a table with her head cradled in her hands, whil
e Orion bounded about.
“Hey,” she murmured.
He stroked Orion as he rounded the table, the wolf pup making him smile as he licked his hand.
Spinning a chair around, he pulled it up beside her. “You and Ryan will work things out, sweetheart. He’s just a stubborn ass at times. But he loves you.”
“He loved me when I was weak and new to all of this.”
“I saw him after you left. He was devastated. He’s willing to work on things.”
“He told you that? He said he was willing to work on it?”
Josh nodded.
She leaned back in her chair, her eyes straying to Orion running back and forth along the table top. “You know that he forced Orion to shift, so I couldn’t take him?”
“Ry can be a little extreme at times. Very possessive. He’s wanted a child for centuries, hence his insane reaction.”
“I get what you’re saying. I know how much he loves our son. That night, I hadn’t intended on taking him permanently. I’d just wanted to get the hell away from him to clear my head and I hadn’t wanted to leave Orion behind. I wanted him to come to me and tell me we could work things out, that he would compromise. But he never did. And now he’s far away in the Dark Realm. With everything that’s happened lately, we’re being pulled in two completely different directions. Me to the White Realm. Ryan to the Dark. I can’t even see the connection between us anymore. It’s all messed up. Maybe we’re just too far apart now to be able to come back from it.”
“No. You guys can work through this.”
“I’m not sure I even want to.”
“Is this about Luca?”
“What?”
“Are you two… close?”
Her eyes narrowed. “We haven’t done anything, if that’s what you’re getting at. It’s an alliance.”
Josh held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I had to ask. When we realized you’d saved Luca from being fried by the sun, Ryan thought—”
Cora shot to her feet. “Ryan thinks I slept with Luca? Oh, shit! Shit!”
“It’s okay. You can clear it up when he gets back. The main thing is that you didn’t. Fuck, if you had, I can’t even imagine what he would’ve done. He would’ve gone off the fucking deep end, that much is a given.”
“He already did.”
“What?” Josh pressed. “What did he do? Did he hurt you?”
“The night that Nathanial and I tricked Luca to stop him from taking my blood for Oriana, I had to make it convincing, if you know what I mean.”
Josh tensed.
“Well, after we left the mansion, Ryan had this insane need to reclaim me, or something.”
“Yup. Alpha wolf mentality right there.”
“Well, he didn’t give me any warning and he tasted Luca on me.” He watched her wince, her cheeks heat.
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah. I tried to explain and reason with him, but he went crazy. He used me… like a whore. He said awful things. I didn’t know he had that in him. It was horrifying.”
“You can’t reason with an Alpha wolf over something like that. His reaction was primal, there’s no stopping it. It was the wolf talking.”
Her eyes strayed to Orion again and she murmured, “I’m not wolf.”
“No, you’re not. But you definitely have the attitude. I knew it the moment you showed up at the compound that first time looking for Ry.”
“I can’t even take care of my son when he’s in wolf form,” she said, gazing at Orion sadly.
Josh considered his response carefully.
On the one hand, he knew Ryan wouldn’t be pleased with what he had in mind. But, on the other, he wasn’t pleased with the way Ryan had been handling the entire situation. The way he was treating his wife, keeping her from her son, was sickening. His reaction to that wolf girl in the Dark Realm wasn’t sitting well with him either. Not to mention, the fact that Ryan had just taken off to the Dark Realm immediately after the human realm wolves under his charge and his own pack had faced that agony from Oriana’s actions had pissed him the fuck off. Ryan had just left him to deal with the fallout. It was majorly messed up. So many of his actions were lately.
It seemed that Ryan was choosing his duties in the Dark Realm, all that kingly crap, over his true pack. His own pack hadn’t been at one with Ryan, their Alpha, for months. Had he even noticed? Something had changed in him. Cora was clearly reacting to the same change in him that he was. He understood exactly where she was coming from.
And that was why he found himself telling her a truth that Ryan had kept from her. “I can teach you.”
Her eyes widened. “You can? Ryan never said—”
“I can teach you,” he assured her.
“If that was possible, why didn’t Ryan tell me? Why hasn’t he tried to teach me?” As she asked the question, her eyes flashed with realization. “Right. To prevent me from ever taking Orion if something happened between us. To make me believe that I couldn’t take care of my son!”
“His actions were borne out of love for his son,” Josh said. He was pissed at himself for defending Ryan’s actions. But he couldn’t help it. Ryan was still his Alpha and they’d been best friends for years. That shit didn’t just go away.
“I’ll never be enough for him,” Cora whispered softly.
He pulled her to him, forcing her to meet his gaze, as her eyes filled with gut-wrenching emotion.
“I’ll never be wolf,” she choked out.
“Sweetheart, when Ryan was last in the Dark Realm, a wolf caught his eye.”
“Jada.”
Josh cocked an eyebrow. “So you did hear us talking then?”
“Yeah, I heard all about his desire for her.”
“You must’ve missed the end of our conversation. He said that, although he was drawn to her, he would never do anything about it. Because no one can satisfy him like you can.”
“Really?”
“You are his true mate, Cora. His one. Only you can give him what he needs. As for the wolf thing, I’m seeing Shaye right now and she satisfies me.” He winked. “Big time.”
A smile crept across her lips. “Shaye?”
“Yep.”
“Ryan’s ex?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Josh scoffed. “It’s not like we haven’t shared women before.”
“But he’s so possessive.”
“We’re brothers. It’s how it works in our pack. In fact, you’re probably the only one he hasn’t shared,” Josh said with a sly wink at her. “Not that I ever would with you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No, I’m sure it would be mind-blowing. I’ve heard enough of you guys going at it through the walls here. But you’re his mate. I could never even consider it, sweetheart.”
“Good to know,” she said. “You’re like a brother to me.”
“You’re like my sister.”
She frowned in thought. “Maybe you’re right about this wolf thing.” She reached gathered Orion into her arms.
Josh emitted a low growl and Orion’s eyes lit up.
“What did you say to him?”
“I told him that his mom loves him very much.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Tell him yourself,” he said, emitting a different growl. Softer and very brief. “That was ‘I love you.’”
She blushed and clutched Orion tighter to her chest. “I… can’t.”
“Try,” Josh pushed and repeated the growl. “It’s all in the subtlety of it. Draw on your natural instincts, the heart of the emotion that you want to communicate.”
She made an attempt. A cat-like purr escaped her lips.
“Come on, Cora. You’ve gotta put your wolf-like attitude into it,” he teased.
She tried again.
And again.
With each attempt, Josh coached her to make her next one better.
“Last chance,” he said.
She braced herself and then tried again. She looked t
o him for his approval and he gave her two thumbs-up. “Fucking perfect.”
She leaned into Orion and uttered the growl she’d just learned. He reacted immediately and licked her cheek, growling back at her. Her eyes snapped to Josh’s. “Oh my God! He said it back to me!”
“Damn, I’m a good teacher,” he said, smirking at her. “And you’re a good student.”
“This good student needs to resume training,” Nathanial’s voice boomed from the doorway.
Josh nodded and reached out for Orion. Cora hesitated, clearly wanting to stay with her son, especially now that she’d finally managed to communicate with him while he was in wolf form.
“I’ll take good care of him,” Josh assured her.
She growled I love you to Orion once more before reluctantly handing him over. “See you soon, my baby boy,” she cooed before turning on her heel and following Nathanial out of the mess hall.
11
“Oh, Christ, baby. I can’t stop fucking you,” Ryan gasped.
He forced himself to finally pull back from Jada, who stood naked against the shower wall.
They’d been fooling around all morning since she’d awoken him with her lips wrapped around his cock. Her mouth was fucking magical.
The shower water beat down on his back, its warmth just exacerbating the stifling heat in the room. All he could smell was sex and wolf.
The shower stall they were in wasn’t exactly private. It was just one of a dozen in the communal shower room for the entire camp. Several wolves had come and gone over the couple of hours that he and Jada had been fucking around in the corner stall. But he’d barely heard their growls at sensing the intense sexuality. Not to mention, hearing both of them. Jada was very vocal when it came to her pleasure and Ryan, never normally like that, had found himself being just as vocal with her. A couple of the wolves had even shouted some words of encouragement at them, which had had Jada in a fit of embarrassed giggles until Ryan had skillfully brought her attention back to him.
It’d been hours and he was still hard.
He wrapped her legs back around his waist and then gripped her arms tightly. He thrust into her and growled ferociously as her hot, wet pussy clenched around his cock.