by Quinn Loftis
Drake put his finger under her chin and lifted her face until she was looking at him. He wiped a tear from her face with his thumb and then pressed his lips to hers. It started out soft and gentle, but Bethany was starved for his attention. She felt his hands moving and the tugging of the sheet and realized he was undoing the safety pins. With each pin the sheet began to get looser and looser until final it pooled at her waist. She tugged the bottom of it up so she could move her legs and turned her body so she was straddling his lap then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself tightly against him. His hands gripped her hips and then ran up her back until one large hand was gripping the nape of her neck, and the other was tightly wrapped around her waist, crushing her to him.
Bethany ran her fingers through his hair, loving the silky feel of it, all the while their lips and tongues danced together. His taste was intoxicating, and before she realized it, Drake was standing up and carrying her to their room.
“If you have no plans to take this any further, you’d better stop now, Drake. I won’t be held responsible for clawing your eyes out if you take me to our bed and then stop.”
She felt his rumbled laughter in his chest pressed against her own.
“I have no intention of stopping this time, my love.”
He laid her down on the bed, tugged the sheet the rest of the way off of her and followed her body down, covering it with his own. He peppered her face, jaw, and neck with kisses and tender bites that had her gasping.
“Drake.” She moaned, wanting him to go faster.
He shook his head. “It’s been months, mate. I’m going to take my time with you.”
She growled at him, which only made him chuckle. Stupid man.
As Drake used his forearms to leverage himself over her, he stared reverently at her stomach and then kissed it several times before pressing his ear to her flesh. She watched as his face light up in wonder. “I can hear the heartbeat.” His voice was so full of awe that tears filled Bethany’s eyes.
“You can?”
Drake looked up at her and grinned. “Wolf hearing, baby.” Then his face became serious. “I’m so sorry, Bethy. I would have known sooner if I hadn’t been a fool. I would have heard the heartbeat not long after conception if I’d allowed us to be together.”
“Dumb man,” she whispered but softened the words with a smile.
“I am. Forgive me,” he asked.
“Always,” Bethany said and then helped him pull his shirt off. The rest of the night was a blur of soft whispers, and contented sighs.
“Never again,” Drake said into the dark of their room as he made love to her. And she knew he meant he would never again withhold his intimacy from her.
“I’ll bite you if you ever start that nonsense again,” she teased.
“Then maybe I should.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Bethany growled and then sank her teeth into his shoulder.
Chapter Thirteen
“This realm, as well as all the others, has always thrived on the reality of natural law. The strong survive, and the weak serve the strong or die. I’m not starting a new trend here. I am simply following the rules already put in place by nature. We, the supernatural races, are the strong, and the humans are the weak. They will kneel at our feet … or they will die.” ~Sincaro
* * *
Sincaro stepped out into the dark street. The only illumination came from the flickering bulb in the lamppost that stood on the corner of the two streets. The sound of humans screaming was a symphony to his ears. The humid breeze was refreshing, simply because feeling it meant he was no longer cooped up underground, withering away like a flower past its season.
“How many buildings do you want cleared?” One of Sincaro’s progenies stepped from the shadows. The young one’s face, shirt, and hands were covered in blood.
Sincaro frowned at the male. “You need to learn to eat without appearing as if you’ve been diving into a pool of entrails.”
“My apologies, master.”
“I only want one building cleared for now. I am still gathering my army. We can’t risk the humans acting too soon, or we will be massacred,” Sincaro explained. “Finish clearing this one, and then I will assign those who will take up residence here.”
“As you wish.” The vampire bowed and then swiftly headed off.
The ancient vampire considered which of the supernaturals he could trust to live among the humans. Some had already been living in the human realm for a while because the magic in their own realms was growing weak. Those were the ones he would house in the apartment complex his vampires were currently emptying. Others, those who had been living in hiding because they weren’t in control of their magic or because they couldn’t blend in, were far too resentful of the humans to be permitted to reside in close proximity with them.
Sincaro let out a sigh, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly walked toward the entrance to the large apartment building. It was going to be a long night. He wasn’t going to have his people hide the dead bodies, not anymore. But they would have to remove the corpses from the building, or they’d begin to stink. And he couldn’t just pile them up on the sidewalk. So, Sincaro was going to have to direct his minions to take the bodies and spread them out all over the city.
The vampire smiled to himself as he thought about the human authorities trying to figure out how so many people had been killed in one night and how they would squash the rumors of a serial killer living in Phoenix. His smile grew even wider when he thought about how Vasile, that damn Alpha, would respond to his precious human race being picked off like rats in an open field.
“God, it’s good to be back,” Sincaro said, sounding a little maniacal, even to himself.
Two days had passed since Skender and Stephanie had arrived and been placed in a cage. Vasile hadn’t heard from Costin on his decision regarding the traitor’s fate. The Alpha was actually surprised that the male hadn’t gone down there while everyone was asleep and killed Skender the night after he got the news. But, somehow, Costin had controlled himself. Vasile was impressed, but he knew Sally’s calming influence was probably the biggest reason. It also helped that Decebel was keeping the males busy with continuous training, executing drills in both their wolf and human forms. Vasile joined in the drills as much as possible, though he’d also been helping Alina in her training of the females. Many from the Serbia pack had no fighting experience at all. Apparently, the previous Alpha before Decebel had been a bit backward in his views concerning males and females and didn’t think the females of the pack would be effective fighters. Obviously, the prior Alpha had never sufficiently angered a dominant female.
Vasile let out a sigh as he stared at the early morning sun. The rays were just beginning to peak over the tops of the trees. It was quiet, as though all of nature was still slumbering, not quite ready for the day to begin. Vasile would love nothing more than to still be in his own bed, his mate wrapped in his arms. Instead, he was standing on the sparring field. Sleep had alluded him the past month. Recent events hadn’t helped matters. Now, he was concerned about the upcoming summit and whether he and his allies would be able to convince all the supernatural leaders that they were going to have to fight back against the Order. Vasile would have to show them they couldn’t just hope the coming battle wouldn’t affect them. It would affect them all.
Even when the Alpha did sleep, he gained no rest. His dreams were filled with bloodshed, darkness, and humans being shackled and driven like slaves. Alina had been so worried about him she’d asked Rachel to make some sort of herbal sleep concoction for him. It had tasted horrible, and a disgusting assault on his taste buds was the only effect it’d had on him. Decebel had asked Vasile if he thought they’d made a mistake in joining the two packs, but Vasile didn’t feel any sort of added burden because Decebel still took care of the Serbia pack. He just deferred any major decisions, of which there was really only one, to Vasile, and that was trying to determine w
hat their next move would be with respect to the Order. Decebel’s pack was set to meet with the rest of the supernatural community in five days. Between now and then, Vasile needed to contact the Alphas in America. He’d left the decision on how much to tell the wolves that were in Farie with the healers up to Peri. In his opinion, they didn’t need to be burdened with this when five of them had new mates and they were dealing with Volcan and his plan to take over the world by creating an army of witches.
Vasile reached into his back pocket, pulled out his phone, and checked to see if he had any missed calls. There was nothing. Tanya, Dillon’s mate and female Alpha of the Colorado pack, had left him a disturbing message the day before and had promised to call back. Vasile had attempted to reach her, but he kept getting voice mail. He tried Dillon and got the same.
According to Tanya, they’d seen troubling reports on the human news stations. She also mentioned getting in touch with Peri for damage control. Vasile had gotten online and searched the news websites to see if he could figure out what disturbing reports Tanya had been referring to. It hadn’t taken him long to pick up the pattern. Violence was increasing across North America. Vasile could only assume it was the work of the Order. But he didn’t want to make a hasty decision before speaking to the packs in America, the other supernaturals, and Peri in order to figure out the best course of action. And even then, once he knew what to do next, he wondered whom he would assign to the task.
Two of his most dominant males had new babies. The other had a mate who was still healing from a horrific ordeal, and they had a newly adopted son. Bethany and Drake were now expecting. Vasile needed to remember to go by and congratulate them. He shook his head, pushing that last thought away.
“You know that Thalion and Cypher will also help.” Alina’s voice came from just behind him.
He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t even felt or heard her approach him. “I know,” he agreed as he turned slightly so he could see her. “Did I wake you?” he asked.
Alina shook her head. “I’ve been having troubling dreams,” she admitted. “I keep thinking that Lilly is going to call at any moment and tell us the world is ending.”
Vasile chuckled. “It does feel that way.”
“More and more,” she added.
“I honestly wonder if it would be such a bad thing,” Vasile said.
Alina frowned. “The world ending?”
He tilted his head slightly toward her.
“Of course it would be a bad thing. We have a grandson, Thia, Titus, and now another baby on the way. For the first time in two decades, we have pups in our pack. I want to see them grow up.”
“But if the world ended now, just think of all the pain, loss, and horror they wouldn’t have to face. All the things we haven’t been able to protect Fane from, they wouldn’t have to endure.”
“Mate, our son is the man that he is because he has endured those things,” she said, taking a step closer to Vasile and grasping his hand. “If they didn’t have to endure hardship, how would they grow in character? If they faced no adversity, how would they learn to rise to a challenge? There is still much that can be salvaged in this world.”
“Is there?” Vasile asked, looking down into her eyes. “Because the news reports I watched don’t show me anything that is salvageable. They show me cruelty, hate, insolence, and the like. What in any of that is salvageable?”
“Where there is cruelty, there is also an opportunity to show undeserving kindness. Where there is hate, there is the chance to give unconditional love. Where there is insolence, there is an opportunity to bestow respect they have not earned. Tell me, my love, what isn’t salvageable in any of that?”
Vasile stared at his mate, the passion in her eyes burning like the hottest coals in a fire. The hope she held even through all the battles they’d experienced still left him breathless. The Great Luna knew he would need someone to remind him that life is worth fighting for, others’ lives were worth fighting for.
“You are right, of course,” he said. “I seem to be letting my demons get the best of me.”
“You can’t expect yourself to bear the burdens you do and not be affected by them. You might be part wolf, but you are still a man. You still feel the pain of everything we have faced. We just have to brush ourselves off and prepare as best we can for the next battle,” Alina said.
Vasile opened his mouth to respond but snapped it closed when a male fae appeared a few feet from them out of thin air. Seconds later, two more fae materialized, another male and a female. Vasile wrapped an arm around his mate and pulled her tightly to his side.
“Vasile, Romania pack Alpha.” The first male bowed slightly. “We have been sent by Perizada of the fae. My name is Riven. My comrades are Vale”—he pointed to the second male—“and Ona,” he said, pointing to the female. “We have much we need to discuss.”
“Is Perizada okay?” Alina asked Riven.
“She is well but otherwise occupied at the moment, or she would have come herself,” Riven answered. “She wanted me to tell you she will see you at the summit, but you shouldn’t expect to see her before.”
Vasile could only imagine what the high fae was having to deal with when it came to the new healers and Volcan. He wanted to involve her as little as possible, and hopefully the fae she’d sent to him would be able to help.
“Let’s go into my office. For now, I’d like to keep this conversation just between us,” Vasile said and motioned for them to follow him and his mate.
“Text Perizada and verify that she did seen these fae. I don’t want to mistakenly bring Alston’s spies into our trust,” Vasile said to his mate through their bond.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Alina said as she pulled out her phone from her back pocket and began to text Peri. Did you send R,V, and O to us?
The fae immediately responded.
Peri: If you are referring to Riven, Vale, and Ona, then yes. But if you’re talking about Regrets, Viciousness, and Obstacles, then no, I didn’t send those. They are completely of your own making. Not sure why you’re using code letters instead of their names.
Alina: Cute. To save time. They’re here with us, and we are about to talk to them. We wanted to make sure they weren’t Alston’s people.
Peri: Good call. Maybe we should give a code of some sort to verify ourselves in the future.
Alina: How about we tell the person we like a certain season, and if they’re our people they will respond with the opposite season. So I say I really love winter. You would say, Summer happens to be my favorite.
Peri: That should work. Most of the time people are more inclined to agree with you when they’re trying to make you trust them. The three fae are aware of the summit and will be joining us. We’re going to need the fae power to bring in the leaders from all over the globe.”
Alina: Sounds good. You doing okay?
Peri: As good as can be expected considering I have grumpy males who want to be close to their mates, and the mates are brand new to this world and don’t know how to deal with grumpy, male Canis lupus.
Alina: Be patient with them. It’s a lot to take in.
Peri: I will do my best, but I make no promises they will all remain in one piece.
Alina: Fair enough.
The Alpha put her phone back in her pocket and refocused her attention on the matter at hand.
“How bad is it?” Vasile asked the fae.
“Vampires are killing humans and leaving their bodies for human authorities to find. Several warlocks took out a main bridge in a city called Memphis, and many humans were killed. We are attempting to infiltrate the Order with someone that Alston will trust, but so far it’s been impossible to get close to the high fae.”
“So, basically chaos and mayhem are ruling in America?” Alina asked.
Riven nodded. “It won’t be long until humans start screaming about supernatural beings and the end of the world.”
“Scared humans are like corn
ered animals. Unpredictable and prone to attack viciously,” Alina pointed out.
“It could be the witch hunts all over again,” Vasile said.
“Only this time, it wouldn’t be just witches being burned,” Riven said, his voice filled with rage, the same rage Vasile was feeling.
Alina waited as her husband seemed to finally come to a conclusion and spoke up. “We must convince every supernatural leader that it is imperative they assist in this battle. The wolves cannot do this one alone.”
Dillon kept the phone to his ear, listening to it ring while watching the news report. It was breaking news on every channel as the body count in Phoenix rose. The police weren’t saying it but no doubt they were thinking they were dealing with a serial killer. Little did they know, they were dealing with dozens or even hundreds of serial killers. What else could you call a vampire? They drained their victims of blood until they died, maybe not all at one time, but eventually their victims would die at the hands of the monster.
During a commercial, Dillon focused back on the ringing of the phone number he’d called. Just when he was about to hang up, the line was answered.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end sounded irritated, which made Dillon grin.
“Tyler, don’t sound so happy to hear from me,” Dillon drawled.
“Has the killing moved to Denver?” Tyler asked, getting straight to the point. He wasn’t an idiot, and Dillon knew that the Missouri Alpha would know why he was calling.
“Not that I know of. I just saw the newest number of the body count in Phoenix,” Dillon explained. “Right now, they’ve found thirty bodies scattered across the city.”
“Do you think this is related to the Order?” Tyler asked.