Breaking Free

by Layla Nash

  He reared back and took her with him, until they were on their knees but her head fell back against his shoulder as she cried out and her arms tried to capture his head. Nick snarled against her throat and started rubbing her clit while his free hand teased her nipple, and Lacey shuddered and shook and then her mouth opened in a soundless cry as her body seized.

  He kept thrusting, wild and uncontrolled as the wolf took over, and slammed against the soft cushion of her ass over and over until he would never forget what she felt like. She was still spasming around his cock when the climax roared through him and he exploded, still moving against her ass, and he couldn’t breathe as his heart stopped and he thought maybe he died. He wheezed a long groan and thrust slowly through Lacey’s silken flesh, letting them both fall forward against the pillows, and his hands cupped her breast and her sex almost tenderly. The wolf felt possessive, but Nick just wanted to feel her. To touch her and know that she’d enjoyed that touch.

  He kissed the back of her neck and wrapped his arms around her, waiting for her to speak.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Lacey

  I thought I’d blacked out for a second. Too many things were happening – the heated iron of his cock fucking me, his fingers playing with my clit and my tits and his mouth on my shoulder… It was all too much. Ecstasy competed with the occasional spark of pleasure-pain and I lost control of my muscles, flopping around in his hands without any ability to actually fuck him back.

  Although I’d asked for him to take over, so he’d done a damn fine job of it.

  We lay in the rumpled sheets, breathing heavily, and his softening cock still rested inside me. I liked it. It wasn’t intrusive, like I’d expected, but… familiar. Almost comforting. It felt more complete, long-term. He wasn’t just a toy to pleasure myself with and then kick out, and he wasn’t going to jerk off and then immediately walk away. He wrapped himself around me and kissed my shoulders and wanted to stay. He wanted me to stay.

  Nick grumbled and sighed, his arms tightening around me. “You okay?”

  “More than okay,” I said, trying to keep my eyes open. “That was fantastic.”

  “Thanks,” he said, ready to clown. He patted my hip. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

  I smiled, even though I could have ripped his head off, and managed to roll my head enough to meet his gaze. “Thanks.”

  “I love the noises you make,” he said, leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose. I flushed, wondering at how loud we’d been and whether anyone in the gym overhead. Just what I needed – a whole den of bears marking my sex life with a lone wolf. But Nick dragged me back into the moment with a deeper kiss, his tongue dominating my mouth just like he’d dominated my body only a few moments before. When I opened to him and melted, relaxing and letting him take over, Nick broke the kiss off and feathered little touches across my cheek before he bit my earlobe. “But we’re all sweaty and I made a mess of the sheets. We’re going to shower and then finish napping.”

  I arched an eyebrow and started to stretch, though he squeezed me again as soon as I moved. “We are?”

  “Oh yes.” His eyes went all lazy and sexy as he rested his chin on my shoulder and studied me. “I want you again in the shower. Plastered against the tile, hot water and bubbles everywhere, everything slippery and wet…”

  I shivered at the mental image and his eyes flashed gold, and before I could do more than tense like I wanted to sit up, Nick bounced out of bed and threw me over his shoulder. He stalked to the attached bathroom and kicked the door shut, standing me up in the shower while I was still trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. The hyena stretched and watched his naked form as Nick turned on the hot water and picked up a loofah mitt.

  I braced myself against the cool tile wall as steam billowed up from the hot water and Nick stalked toward me, his eyes completely gold and very hungry, and my stomach squirmed in anticipation. My heart started to pound and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I watched him watch me, and I slid under the stream of hot water until it massaged some of the ache out of my shoulders. Part of me wanted to run, just so he could chase me and then catch me, but the rest of me wanted to know what he planned to do with that loofah. So I leaned against the tile and lifted my hands up to my hair to hold it out of the way and waited, arching an eyebrow in challenge when he held up the mitt and a washcloth and his attention went to my breasts, still a little pink and red from his earlier attention.

  I loved every minute of it.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Nick

  When they were back in bed, after he’d cleaned her up and changed the sheets and toweled Lacey off, Nick watched her sleep. He wanted to doze as well but the wolf wouldn’t let him, too worried about their mate. She was too thin and worried and despite his best efforts, tension returned to her face when she thought about the events to come. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like her worried.

  So he stayed up and tried to reason his way through the best way to protect her and get her the fuck out of the city and away from the hyenas. He kept her wrapped up and warm, and when she tensed and whimpered in her sleep, he smoothed the wrinkles from her forehead and kissed her softly until her expression eased and she sighed and relaxed again.

  He murmured promises to her as she slept and hoped he would have the time and opportunity to keep them.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Lacey

  Nick drove me to the large building where the Alphas Council met, waiting until the others had arrived before we got out of the truck. I still felt awkward around him, as if a highlights reel of our wild times played across my face, but Nick seemed oblivious. I led the way into the building through the back entrance, keeping an eye out for any of my former bodyguards. But Kaiser confirmed that Cassidy arrived as the hyena queen, so I knew she was inside. It was just a question of how and when I wanted to confront her.

  We waited in one of the side rooms, listening to the goings-on in the actual chamber from the cell phone Nick carried; Kaiser left his on the table, the call established well before the alpha bear went in to meet with his fellow alphas. I hated being on the other side of the meeting, although I’d hated the meetings themselves when I was queen. Too much talking, not enough action.

  Nick didn’t seem the least bit concerned, yawning as he stretched out in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the room. “Our meeting with the witches is at midnight, in the old cemetery. So regardless of what happens, we’ll meet there.”

  “I’m not going to lose,” I said, staring at the phone as if it would make the voices less muffled.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he said. When I looked up sharply, I found Nick watching me with a curiously blank expression. He rubbed the back of his neck. “What happens when you win, Lacey?”

  “I go back to being queen,” I said. “That’s the point.”

  “I meant between us. And for the djinn. How long will it take for you to consolidate your power again?” He didn’t look happy, and I felt all that pleasant afterglow wisp away like morning fog. Of course. We slept together and he got a taste of control, and it went straight to his head. “We have work to do, and a delay could be costly.”

  The unfortunately familiar bitch-mask of the hyena queen slipped back into place as I looked at him. “I set my own schedule.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Lacey, come on. Two hours ago you didn’t even know if you wanted to be queen again. If we want to crush BadCreek once and for all, we’ve got to get the witches to help free Ray and get rid of that genie. Spending a couple weeks crushing skulls in your pack is going to waste time we don’t have.”

  “My cackle comes first,” I said, and hardened my heart. “You can do what you want.”

  His eyes flashed gold but Nick just shook his head. Disappointment made him look grimmer still, and I shielded myself from any regret or guilt. It wouldn’t have worked anyway. I saved us both a lot of time and wasted emotional investment by severing the
ties sooner rather than later. It was all for the best.

  Nick turned his attention back to the phone, clicking the volume up louder still. “You won’t get rid of me so easily, Your Highness. But good effort.”

  Before I could reiterate that things were over, he pointed at the door. “I think your girl just claimed your throne for herself, so you might want to bust in there and make your point. If you still want to crush someone’s heart tonight.”

  I gritted my teeth but didn’t waste time arguing with him. Action spoke louder than words, and he’d get the hint eventually. I took a deep breath and shoved through the door and into the main chamber where the Council met. A circle of heavy tables allowed the various alphas to face each other, and kept anyone from seizing the head of a table and stealing rank from someone else. All men, except for the hyena queen and Ruby O’Shea, the co-alpha of BloodMoon pack.

  And there was Cassidy, standing behind my table and speaking for my pack.

  The door slammed behind me and all eyes landed on me. Only Kaiser didn’t look surprised, so maybe Benedict Chase kept his mouth shut for once and didn’t tell his brother, the lion alpha.

  Cass’s expression would have been comical if I’d been in a laughing mood. Nothing else moved in the room as I walked to the center of the circle to face her, ready for anything she might throw at me. “Hey Cass. Fancy seeing you here. Care to explain what happened?”

  The blood drained from her face as she stared at me. “You’re dead.”

  “No, just disappeared for a bit. I’m surprised you’re still with us, considering most of my people looked like they were fighting for their lives against BadCreek.” I folded my arms over my chest. “This seemed as good a place as any to make sure you step aside. I was a little surprised to hear you’d declared yourself queen only a day after I disappeared.”

  “You were dead,” she repeated, as if saying it again might make it so, or would at least convince me of the fact. “I didn’t want there to be a long, drawn-out challenge. It made sense.”

  “Then thanks for taking care of the cackle while I was gone.” I wondered if she’d been well-intentioned after all, and I’d misjudged her. It could have been an accident, and she did what she thought was right to protect the family. “But I’ll be taking my throne back.”

  She looked at all the waiting alphas, then straightened her shoulders and dropped the pretense of caring. “Tradition is tradition, Lacey. The next queen only rises when the old one falls. I’m not going to abdicate my throne. You’ll have to take it back.”

  “Oh, I will. Just answer one question first.”

  Cass arched an eyebrow, beginning to take off her watch and a necklace. “Anything for you, cuz.”

  “Did you set it up?” I pulled my hair back into a ponytail to get it out of the way, and handed my engagement ring to Ruby for her to hold. “Have BadCreek grab me so you could seize power?”

  She hopped over the table to stand in the center of the room with me, expression betraying nothing. “Does it really matter?”

  “To me? Yeah.” And I really meant it. Accidents could be forgiven. Plots, on the other hand... There was only one outcome for that.

  Cassidy cracked the vertebrae in her neck and rotated her arm. “Not at first, no. I knew they were ready for us because that creepy genie warned us to stay away, and I saw the opportunity to get rid of some of your enemies.”

  “So that was why you brought two teams with you.” I shook my head. “That’s fucked up. They could have ended up prisoners of BadCreek, tortured with some weird breeding experiments.”

  She shrugged, and I didn’t recognize her as my former security chief who dismissed the lives of her cousins and family as if they were strangers. “They plotted against you. And then you insisted on coming on the raid, like I couldn’t handle it on my own, so I thought... if it happens, great. I’ll be queen. If it doesn’t, then I’ll just bide my time and find another opportunity. Win-win.”

  Win-win. Right. I clenched my jaw, wishing I could just punch her already.

  Miles Evershaw, his feet up on the table and his hands laced behind his head, snorted. “That’s cold. Impressive, but cold.”

  “Shut up,” Cass and I said at the same time, both of us glaring at him. At least we still agreed on that—Miles Evershaw was a dick.

  I glanced behind her at a few of the bodyguards who appeared, and wondered if they would intervene. None of them cared for me when I was queen, and no doubt they’d fear being imprisoned if Cass lost, so it would be in their best interest to make sure she won. “Okay then. We fight. No one intervenes.”

  “Agreed,” she said, though her eyes narrowed as she looked at someone behind me. “Make sure your boyfriend knows the rules.”

  “My bo—?” I glanced back and found Nick prowling the perimeter of the room, looking a half-second away from killing her for me. “He’s not my boyfriend, and he won’t interfere.”

  Cass’s eyebrow quirked, an ugly look on her face as she surveyed me. “If he’s not your boyfriend, why do you smell like him?”

  I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as rage took over, and the hyena jostled for control. “Because I kicked his ass this afternoon. That’s it. Stop delaying and let’s get this over with. I hope you didn’t redecorate my room.”

  She opened her mouth to say something else, but Kaiser beat her to it with his irritated bear voice. “There are better ways to resolve this than fighting in the middle of the Council.”

  I straightened, furious that he’d try to intervene, and took my attention off Cass for a split second. “Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, bear.”

  She took the opportunity created by my stupid, rookie mistake, and charged. She hit me at full speed and with full force, and we both flew into the lion’s table with a snarl.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Nick

  The wolf wanted to intervene the moment the other hyena tackled Lacey, but Nick didn’t have a problem holding back. He didn’t know what the hell was going on in her head. It sounded like she wanted to be queen again, and what happened between them didn’t matter. The wolf knew differently. It mattered. It changed both of their lives. She would see that, eventually.

  If she survived the fight, that was.

  Not that there was much doubt who would come out on top. Despite the sneak attack and the threat of lurking bodyguards, Lacey recovered control of the situation pretty quickly. Her security chief made a few sloppy mistakes, even though she got some good punches in, and in a matter of minutes, Lacey had her pinned to the ground. Nick stayed along the wall, wondering what she would do—let the traitor live or consolidate her rule with an execution.

  Lacey, breathing hard, stood over her opponent. Her eyes flashed gold and Nick saw the hyena in control. After a long moment, as all the alphas waited for her to kill the other woman, Lacey straightened. She released her and stepped back. Rage still seethed under the surface, though she looked at Logan Chase, the lion alpha, before she spoke. “Normally I don’t ask others to clean up my messes, but would your security chief take her somewhere far away and drop her off? I don’t want her dead, just... gone.”

  “Weak,” Cassidy said, teeth bared. “This is why you should never have been made queen. You’re weak.”

  “Merciful,” Lacey said, and kicked her hard in the side. “The word you’re looking for is ‘merciful.’”

  Logan nodded and glanced at his security chief, Edgar. “We’ll take care of it, Lacey. And welcome back.”

  A growl echoed from the back of the chamber, and Nick got ready to launch as one of the bodyguards ran forward. Lacey made an aggravated noise, as if only mildly irritated with the prospect of another fight. But before anyone else could move, the bodyguard froze in mid-air, turned to stone, and crashed to the floor. The statue shattered into large pieces. Nick’s stomach turned as he considered the broken statue, wondering what it would look like if the stone turned back to flesh, and Lacey’s best friend,
the gorgon, slid into the room.

  Her silver eyes still blazed out of control, at least until Benedict, her mate, whispered something about sunglasses. Lacey straightened from her defensive crouch and nodded to her friend. “Thanks, El.”

  “Any time, you crazy bitch.” Eloise’s voice wobbled, on the verge of tears, but she pointed an accusatory finger at Lacey as if no one else were around. “And if you ever let me think you’re dead again, I will freeze you and put you in my garden. Do you hear me?”

  “I won’t,” Lacey said, and almost smiled.

  The other hyena growled and tried to get up, but by then Edgar Chase and his brothers hauled her up and marched her off, destined for a lonely future in a cornfield, halfway across the state. Nick waited for the meeting to adjourn, but instead Lacey took her seat behind the table and folded her hands neatly in front of her. The other alphas traded looks, and Kaiser finally said, “If you need to handle some business at home, Szdoka, we can reschedule the meeting.”

  “It’ll keep. I have business to address to the Council.”

  Even Miles Evershaw looked impressed. Nick hated him most of all. Nick checked his watch, ready to meet with the witches and be done with it, but froze as Lacey went on. “This unfortunate incident was predicated on my disappearance, which was caused by the BadCreek djinn. He offered me a deal—he would release me back to this world if I agreed to free him.”

  “You spoke to the djinn?” Rafe O’Shea’s dark eyebrows almost reached his hairline.

  “Ray still has one wish; once that is used, then the djinn can be freed.” Lacey ignored the wolf alpha’s question, all business as she surveyed the alphas. “We have to free Ray, wherever he is, and get rid of him. Once the djinn is freed, we can finally destroy BadCreek. Then this will all be over, and we can go back to normal life.”