by L. C. Son
“A heartbreak you say?” The thought of anyone hurting her fills me with rage.
Braelyn tugs my arm, turning me back around toward her.
“Yes, a heartbreak. But I think that’s just an open invitation, don’t you?”
“Well, I guess it depends.”
“On what? I mean, look at you! You look like you’re about to sprint out the door all because of her smell and now you’re hesitant?”
“Well, sure she smells nice Braelyn, and I’m obviously intrigued—”
“Intrigued?”
“Yes, intrigued. But while she smells like the girl from Bessie’s it may not be her. And that’s the girl I need to find. She’s the one.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just know—okay.”
“Okay, if you say so. Then that’s even more reason why you should come meet her yourself. If she isn’t the one, you can try to find the girl again.”
Suddenly, Jerrica’s loud chuckle breaks through the forming silence as I ponder Braelyn’s request. She’s outside and I hear another voice with her. A woman.
I race to the balcony and look below to see Jerrica walking alongside the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen—but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen her. It is the woman from Bessie’s place!
Just then, my heart thumps like a caged lion in my chest and blue embers of electricity rivet through me. And it hits me, the woman I’ve been searching for has been under my nose this entire time! In my house! But I want her closer. I need her closer. In my arms. In my bed. All I know is I need her, and I need her now.
My mystery woman laughs as she and Jerrica walk back into the mansion from the garden. Even her laugh is beautiful. In fact, it’s the sweetest and harmonious sound I’ve ever heard. Seeing her smile makes my soul leap. Knowing she is happy warms me all over. Everything inside me wants to race down the stairs and bury her in my embrace, but I know I need to take my time and do this right.
And I have every intention of doing so.
Chapter 13
Jackson
“I didn’t think you wanted to see me,” Kyra says just above a whisper. I knew seeing her again would be rough but the sight of her curled up in Damina’s favorite spot—the very spot where I broke her heart—fuels a fiery rage within me.
“Move over,” I quickly command, motioning for her to slide over to the sectional adjacent to the chaise. Kyra moves quickly, wiping the freefalling tears from her face and sweeping her hair to the side. While faint and marred by her treachery, there was a time when her swept hair stirred the very core of me.
But not today. Today, I only see someone who ripped my one true love from me.
Taking a deep breath, I work hard to rein in my anger and remember that my brother is at the root of it all.
“Jackson, first I want to say—”
“No, Kyra. I don’t want your apology. There is no apology you can give to reconcile what I’ve lost—what you’ve taken from me. I hardly care to know the why behind it all. I’m more interested in the who—my brother. I want to know why you teamed up with my brother to betray me!”
“Look, Jackson, I take no pleasure in this, you must believe me!”
“Why should I? How could I?”
“That’s what I was going to say. I wanted to say, I know there’s nothing I can say to make you forgive me, but I wanted you to understand why I felt it was my only option.”
“Because you were eschewed? You want me to believe that since your pack abjured you from ranking that you had no other choice? Please! If you needed money, resources—you could’ve come to me, Kyra! I would’ve helped—”
“But I did come to you. I called you and you never had time for me. Once you got with your precious Damina you barely cared for the packs—much less leading them! You’ve been ghost in the last few years. Many have wondered if you even bother to look around—to see what’s happening to us all!”
“I can’t believe you! You’re so narcissistic! Even now, you’re finding a way to turn it around on me—make it my fault! Now I remember why we didn’t work! Thanks for the reminder!” I growl jumping up from my seat. Grabbing hold of the bar, I try hard to quench the raging wolf inside, pleading for his release.
“No, Jackson. We broke up because you didn’t care much for wolf business.”
I sigh and turn around to see her now standing with golden-hued eyes glowing back at me. I’m not surprised her haughty wolf is rising too.
“And what does that supposed to mean, Kyra? How do I not care for wolf business as you put it? I’m an alpha for crying out loud! Aren’t I? Somehow I’ve managed to maintain ranking—so how pray tell could I have done so unless I cared for some part of wolf business.”
“Okay, sure you’re an alpha. A Prime Alpha, in fact. All that means is that no one other than another Prime can challenge your ranking. It doesn’t mean there isn’t dissension in the ranks. You barely come to den meetings and all you do is pass down your commands—but you’ve yet to be the alpha the packs need—the alpha they deserve.”
While some of what she says hits below the belt. I refuse to allow this to distract me from the fact she worked against me with my brother to break up me and Damina.
“Kyra be honest now. What does any of this have to do with us? With me and Damina?”
“It has everything to do with it!”
“Why? Is it because after you dumped me for being, what did you call me before, a shell of an alpha-not fitting to be lord, you saw me happy, very happy in fact, and moving on with my life? Not only was I moving on, but I was getting married to someone who wasn’t you!”
“How dare you?”
“How dare I? How dare you? You lay up in my house for days, and on the very chair where you brought me to ruin, no less, refusing to speak of your treachery and when you do—there’s only accusation from you! So tell me, Kyra didn’t it truly burn you to your core to see me moving on without you?”
“Well said, my Lord. Well said,” Kyra sneers with a callous clap to match. “And while you’re standing here intent on making me the villain of all your pain your brother Keiron has his mouth to the ear of every wolf and den looking for a leader.”
“They already have a leader, Kyra,” I reply with folded arms at my chest.
“Do they?” With a dark glare, Kyra’s spite shoots at me like an arrow; just as she intended.
“Tread carefully.” My brusque and sharp tone more than mirror Kyra’s sentiment; it’s deadly.
“Then let me speak plainly. If you’d bother to come up from the air that is Damina you’d see you’re losing your grip. Keiron has been working the circuit, playing the background—working against you. He has everyone convinced that you aren’t fit to lead.”
“Why? Why would anyone give my brother a second thought? Is it because I don’t go to den meetings, pack parties, or make myself more accessible? What reasons could they have to align with him? What need have they to outright defy me?”
“You say I’m jealous. Perhaps there is some truth in that sentiment. You turned from your own kind to wed an Altrinion—a pure line one at that! Some even say she is a Fated One! And we both know what that means!”
“That’s ridiculous! The myth of the Fated Ones is as old as time! Not since before the dark ages has the world come against such a force! Besides, if Damina were Fated I’d know it.”
“But what if she is? Are you prepared for what is to come? Can you honestly say that you are?”
“Enough of this, Kyra! You’re stalling and you know it!”
“You asked me why I aligned with Keiron, so allow me to tell you. What you do know is that yes, my pack eschewed me. They abjured me and my mother because we fell from ranking—never met our obligations by securing a future for the pack. Keiron promised if he was able to show the Altrinion Elders
that you weren’t holding to whatever vows you made to protect Damina that you would be pulled from ranking. Naturally, the ranking would fall to him and he would marry me, thus allowing me to reclaim my status among my pack.”
“Because you would be married to a Prime,” I reply with a gritty tone. The thought that Kyra would marry my brother isn’t lost on me. She knows the thought is revolting to me, but I refuse to give her the jealous response she obviously desires. Kyra gazes at me for a moment before walking to the mirror to finger through her hair.
“Exactly. But what you don’t know is that there are others like me and Tye who was are willing to see this plan through.”
“What do you mean others?” Once more, the chess pieces my brother alluded to come into play.
“Others who wanted more than to pull your ranking—they wanted to end Damina!”
“What do you mean, end Damina?” I shout pushing back the two barstools at my sides.
“Please, Jackson just hear me out,” Kyra counters, her voice trembling. “Now I wasn’t privy to all of the details. But as I’ve said before many believe her to be fated and as such would see her life forfeit.”
“What! Why would anyone wish her harm? If I have to choose between Damina’s life and my alpha status, I’d choose her life without hesitation,” I declare as I work hard to stifle my growing rage.
“And it is that, my lord, why the others came into play. Your love and need for this—for her, impairs your vision. Can you not see how your love for her endangers not only your status but her as well?”
“That’s ridiculous!” I chuckle, I can’t help laughing. My patience for Kyra is waning and she knows it. Kyra stance is guarded as she watches me as she walks back to the sectional and takes a seat on its edge.
“Look, I know I don’t have to recount your history to you about the Primes. It was the strength of the Primes who ended the curse of the last Fated Ones. The Primes were the ones who ended Nuhtlus and Anuel’s reign. Legend even states it was the Primes who ended the legend of Drac—”
“Enough, Kyra! You’re not telling me anything that I don’t already know!”
“Then if you know that—know this,” Kyra yells, rising back to her feet, “no one is convinced that should the time arise for you to stand against the Fated Ones, be it Damina or otherwise, that you would uphold your oath and do what is necessary.”
“Well if that were true and you were all so worried about Damina succumbing to this mythology, perhaps you should have left well enough alone, and not interfered in our wedding and maybe she would never have to endure such a fate.”
“And if you truly believed that to be so, my lord, you wouldn’t stand here as you do before me now—with fear in your eyes.”
Shivering pain shoots up my spine as Kyra’s lashing scores through me like a haunting tune.
Dalcour
“Razors!” I shout to Braelyn as I rush back into my suite from the terrace.
“Razors? Huh, I don’t understand,” Braelyn replies with hunched shoulders and a blank expression.
“Bring her to Razors!”
“Okay, now I’m confused. Just a minute ago you didn’t want to see her. Now after one whiff you’re hooked! I thought you were going to find the girl from Bessie’s place, D?”
“I think she’s the one.”
“Are you frigging serious? You mean like the one—the one?”
“Yes, I mean it exactly the way you said it. How was I supposed to know she was the one from the Tavern? But despite that ridiculous get-up she was wearing; I’d recognize her from miles away.”
“D, this is unreal. Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, Braelyn. Now please, find a way to get her to Razors!”
“Okay, well nothing like a little time of celebration. Besides Lady J has a conference with Sue tonight so—”
“So why are you still standing here? Go now!”
“Okay! Okay! But before I go, be sure you have your phone with you. I’ll text when we leave.”
“Sounds like a plan. No worries, I have my phone,” I answer quickly, holding the phone in one hand and shoving Braelyn out with the other.
“Oh, one more thing!” Braelyn says, tugging on my arm and digging her feet in the floor, preventing me from pushing her further.
“Now you’re stalling.”
“No, really I’m not. I mean I’m kinda geeked to see you all up in arms over a girl. But are you sure you want me to take her to Razors? What if some of our folks are there—or worse?”
Dread fills me as I think on Braelyn’s notion. She’s right. After my slaughter-fest days ago, it will be hard to keep Scourges from roaming about not to mention bloodthirsty Altrinion-vampires.
“You bring up a good point. I’ll reach out to Crawley and tell him to send our folks to the CC. Only humans and our VIPs will be allowed inside. We’ll make it glow-stick night or something—just be sure to get her there! Now go!”
“Aye-aye, Captain!” Braelyn responds with a lilting chuckle and takes her flight down the hall in a flash.
As she leaves, thoughts of having my mystery woman in my arms become more than a beautiful dream, but an attainable desire. And with that desire, the urge to protect her from the danger Trieu described, grows stronger.
Immediately, I call Crawley and inform him of my plans to go to the club and give instructions for it to be a mostly supernatural free zone, save the ones who will join Braelyn and those on our VIP list. I also reach out to Titan and ask him to beef up the presence of the Guardians near the area and request that he sends Lux to keep watch of any rogue Skull or other wolves nearby. The last thing I need is to put my mystery woman in any danger. Thankfully, neither Crawley nor Titan pry or question my requests, and I am confident they will carry my orders out in the manner they were given.
Not long after my calls end, I get a text from Braelyn that everything is a go. But when I hear the loud merriment and celebration of the team exiting the mansion, I know my plan is fully in motion. A broad smile covers my face from ear to ear as my excitement grows. Ripping off my tee and tossing it in the bin, I rummage through my closet searching for something to wear as I prepare to shower.
I can’t get there quick enough.
I am surprised to find Jerrica now in my doorway when I come out of my closet. Standing shirtless before her, awkwardness swarms over me. Sure, she’s seen me like this plenty of times, but knowing how she really feels makes me uncomfortable.
“Going somewhere?” Jerrica says in a soft tone, working hard to avert her eyes from my chest.
“Yup, just came back for a quick shower and change.” I say quickly, pulling a towel from the drawer and draping it over my neck. At least it will cover me just a tad.
“Ah! I see! Well, you’ve been such a disappearing act the past few days I thought you’d forgotten about us and about the revitalization project.”
“Of course not. No worries, Braelyn has kept me apprised.” I lie. I don’t want this discussion to go on much longer. I’m not sure if Braelyn told her of my plans, but I don’t want her to linger either.
“Did Ms. Dortches also inform you we’ve selected the finalists?” Jerrica questions, obviously hopeful.
“Yes she did,” I reply gently. This time my need to sound interested comes easier than before.
“I’m happy to hear. Do tell me you’ll be able to greet them tomorrow? Besides, I have someone I’d like for you to meet,” Jerrica’s overly excited tone betrays her. She wants to talk about my mystery woman.
“I’ll be more than happy to greet the team. Tomorrow. But now, my friend, I must tend to other matters.”
“Oh, but I didn’t get an opportunity to tell you who—”
“Madame Jeffers,” Ms. Zamora’s dark gritty tone reaches from behind Jerrica. Jerrica frowns, rolling her eyes over her shoulders. “
Your call with Ms. Burgin is set up in the office. She and the rest of the City panel are on the line.”
For once, I’m happy to see Zamora. Normally, her grim and sulking presence disgusts me. “Go, Jerrica. Take your call. I’ll see you tomorrow and I promise I’ll greet your team.”
“Splendid!” Jerrica’s eyes sparkle and dance. She turns quickly on her heel and goes down the hall with Zamora.
In no time I’m standing near DJ Mack on the platform watching the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen stride across the dance floor. The flash-of-lightning-like shower I took was well spent. I’m sure I put on my clothes while in flight to Razors. I made it just in time to make eye contact with Braelyn while they had fun on the karaoke stage.
Crawley told me he gave a discount to some of the group tour companies we work with which helped fill the club up rather fast. Yet despite the full, fun, and festive atmosphere of the glow-in-the-dark night at Razors, it’s only her scent pulling me into a trance. As Sia’s “Move Your Body” chimes through the speakers, I make my way down to the dance floor, pushing past any takers seeking to get too close to the prize I plan to claim for my own.
Although I can’t blame them. She is beautiful.
Within seconds, her hips have found their way to me and my manhood responds. I keep my hands firm at her waist letting her sway guide our movement in full. It takes everything within me not to kick everyone out of the club and take my delight in her right here on the dance floor. As my thoughts linger on the possibility of making love to her in this instant, she turns to face me, and I almost go numb.
I’m not sure if it’s the way her caramel-coated skin glows all its own or how the Altrinion embers of red shine through her being, but I am lost in her lure. Her eyes deepen into mine with shimmering flames like fire and I immediately know her truth. She is Altrinion. Slowly, she trails her petite fingers up my shirt and the strong essence of desire leaks from her pores. She wants me! Laced with her sweet and calming scent, her pheromones tell the truth of her lust as her luscious pink lips drip open with wanting.