by May Sage
They crouched and waited in silence. A wolf was walking their way. His direct trajectory would have taken him straight in front of them, but he purposefully avoided the area where they were hiding behind a car. When he’d passed, Daunte said, “Fucking brilliant. He doesn’t suspect that anything’s wrong because wolf shit is something he’s used to smelling. He just thinks someone took a dump and doesn’t want to deal with it.”
Daunte turned to Hunter. “Wait. How did you get cat shit to get on our land?”
“I didn’t,” Hunter replied. “You have foxes in the woods. Fox shit did the trick.”
“If anyone breathes a word of this, I’ll use their bones as toothpicks,” Jas swore.
“Why do you think it’s a secret technique? We don’t talk about it. Ever.”
They all nodded in agreement.
Slowly, only moving when their way was clear, Hunter led them to the side of his old house, the largest in the territory. And then they waited behind a generator, hidden from view, and masked by shit.
No one spoke or moved.
Jason must have flown, too, because he arrived within the hour. The drive would have taken a lot longer than that, and if he’d run he would have been exhausted.
“Father!” he yelled, before pacing in front of the house.
Arthur walked out a minute later, smiling. They had a clear view from their vantage point.
He hadn’t changed in a year; he was still shirtless and very well defined. His salt-and-pepper hair was elegantly combed back, and there was something powerful in the way he walked.
“Jason. Back already? I trust your mission was successful.”
Instead of replying, Jason opened his fly, pulled out his dick, and pissed on the Alpha’s feet.
Somehow, Christine managed not to laugh out loud. That was how wolves challenged each other? Because if so, why wasn’t there a television show covering wolf challenges? Someone would make a killing with that.
Arthur Force didn’t think it was funny.
“Think very carefully about what you’re doing, son.”
Jason spelled it out, “I challenge you.”
Each of his words held weight.
A small crowd had assembled already, hearing the commotion.
It was the early hours of the morning, so Christine guessed that not everyone was awake.
Arthur’s eyes took in the dozen wolves encircling them.
“Very well. You do know that each challenge for Alpha is a fight to the death, don’t you, son?” He snarled the last word.
“It will be my pleasure to sink my teeth into your throat, after hearing that you killed my sister.”
The Alpha said nothing to defend himself. He stared at his son for a long moment before pulling a gun out of his belt.
“Yeah, I killed your spiteful bitch of a sister, for fucking a goddamn jaguar. A jaguar, Jason. And, as if that wasn’t enough, she gave birth to a goddamn hybrid. Do you know what they are?”
“Powerful. That’s what they are. And that's what scares you. You kill what you’re afraid of before they’re old enough to fight against you. Isn’t that why you execute submissives? Because you’re scared of being controlled by an Omega?”
That made a lot of fucking sense.
More wolves came; the Alpha and the Beta weren’t exactly being quiet. People whispered to each other.
“I kill them because they’re a weak disease that infects our pure bloodline.”
“You’re afraid,” Jason repeated. “Just like you’re scared of me. Or you wouldn’t have a gun pointed at me. You’d take the challenge if you were a real alpha.”
Christine truly believed that no one was dumb enough to fall for that macho man crap, but the shifter lowered his weapon.
“Right. You want a challenge. A challenge, you shall get. And when I kill you, I’ll hunt down your brother, too. I guess the first try didn’t work out. I’ll get myself another set of heirs.”
That only made sense when you were a complete and utter piece of crap who needed to be put down.
Arthur walked towards his son. Once he was a couple of yards away, he turned to someone in the crowd. “Go get the Elders and my enforcers. They’ll be my witnesses.” Then he turned to Jason and smiled cruelly. “Good luck finding anyone here to support your claim.”
Jason didn’t let the fact that everyone was suddenly fascinated with their toes, and didn’t speak out in his defense, bother him.
Christine’s jaw dropped because she would have sworn that, a few seconds ago, the shifter had been right next to her, but a cat approached Jason.
An actual cat, just a little bigger than a house cat, with pretty markings and a familiar face.
The shifters stared at it, confused, until she shifted, much faster than any shifter was usually capable of. In its place, Aisling Wayland-Cross was standing there. All five-foot-nothing of her, entirely naked, her blazing blue mating marks bright. She smiled pleasantly.
“Ace Wayland-Cross,” she said, waving towards Arthur. “I believe you remember me. I’ll be your son’s witness this fine morning.”
While Arthur stared at her in shock, Rye left their hiding place, followed by Hunter, Daunte, Clari, Jas, and Christine.
The wolf looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill every last one of them, and he was within his rights to, given the fact that they were in his territory uninvited.
But there were three dozen pairs of eyes now, and killing those who’d declared themselves as witnesses to his son's challenge would have been seen as cowardice. A way to get rid of Jason’s supporters because he feared the outcome of the duel.
A confident Alpha would have let it run its course and killed them all once he won. He knew he had no choice.
Arthur spat on the ground angrily and growled.
“Rules.”
“No weapons. No tap out. This ends today.”
The Alpha laughed. “Yeah, it does.”
Then, without warning, he leaped forward and punched Jason in the teeth. The Beta didn’t even try to evade it, taking it without so much as a flinch. He grabbed his father’s outstretched arm and violently pulled him down on his knee. Christine heard the bone crack despite the distance. Arthur stumbled, and Jason’s leg hooked behind his neck, bringing it down to a level where he could kick the fuck out of him.
On the ground, Arthur started to shift. His hands went first, changing to claws, and then his mouth opened to allow fangs. While his body morphed, Jason remained in his human form.
That was stupid. Their animals were stronger and had some serious weapons at their disposal. Christine frowned, confused. Then Jason jumped on the half-beast, half-man’s back and snapped his neck.
Just like that. No flourish, no fanfare. This wasn’t about showing off. He’d waited for the second when the beast and man were both helpless, and he’d used it to execute him.
There was silence all around. Some eyes in the crowd were shocked, others, angry. Some were full of hatred. Christine could tell Rye had been right; there were those who looked at Jason like they wanted nothing more than to grab Arthur’s discarded gun and shoot him. It was a good thing they’d come. There were five enforcers who would have turned on him otherwise. But none made a move, staring beyond Jason, at them.
Poor guy was going to have a hard time running that pack now.
“That man,” said Jason, “my father has done nothing but lie to us - all of us. He’s lied about hunting that pack’s child. He’s lied about submissives. Our pack used to be respected; do you know what they say about us behind our backs now? That we’re degenerate fanatics. And they’re right.” Jason’s foot pushed the half-beastly corpse. “Under his rule, we were. If that was your thing, get out now. I’ll give you money and recommendations to join another pack. But get out of my sight, because I will not hesitate to kill you.”
A second passed. “Those of you with slaves, bring them to the main house. They’re free. Those of you who go on hunts on weekends, they
stop now. There will be no evaluations. There will be no rules about mating within the pack. There will be a new order.”
“Jason, you can’t expect us to—”
The man who’d started to talk didn’t finish that sentence because his Alpha’s hand was on his throat, squeezing it.
He let go before killing him but it was a close call.
“I wasn’t finished.”
There was a dead silence.
“I will be an Alpha to our people. My purpose is to take care of the pack. I shall. But this pack is poisoned, and if I must cut limbs to salvage the body, that’s exactly what I will do. Understood?”
Everyone understood that they might have seen a tyrant take the throne. Christine knew he didn’t have much of a choice. If he’d shown weakness, someone would have jumped him the moment she and the rest of the Wyvern went home. But it didn’t change the fact that the guy was fucking scary.
Which, of course, explained why Jas breathed out when he disappeared inside his house, and said, “Okay, I have to give him this. That was hot.”
Epilogue
It was strange to be back home, when he’d left a few days ago certain he wouldn’t ever return. And it was stranger yet to have the Wyvern there. People who’d been enemies to the Vergas a little while back. But above all, it was strange to have Christine inside his home.
Strange, because she fit. Somehow, the submissive feline shifter fit in his world.
He found her standing at the back of the house, watching the gardens. Gwen’s favorite place in the house, no doubt because it was the closest to an exit.
“I’m going to have to stay here and help my brother,” he told her. “But I’d love to see Lola, when things are settled.”
She smiled and nodded. “Sure. I guessed you would,” she replied. The smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Too bad. I never got to show you to the house.” This time, her eyes did twinkle a little, and he smiled back, before closing the distance between them, and taking her in his arms, squeezing hard. His lips kissed her forehead and he smelled her hair, committing the scent to memory. There was shit in the mix, but it was still the best smell in the world.
He’d miss it. How could he think about missing a female he didn’t even know? A woman he’d just met.
“Next time. And the time after that. Maybe the time after, too. I plan to visit Lola a lot.”
She laughed. “Well, I could bring her to you for a day here and there, you know.”
“Oh my god, I’m gonna pull my hair out. I can’t stand this. Are we that disgusting?” Ace asked.
“No way,” Rye said, just as everyone else, Jason included, replied, “Yes. You are.”
“Anyway, as you haven’t had the time to bond yet, and you’re both blind as fuck, let me spell it out for you. Chris, meet Hunter Force, he’s your mate. Hunter, here’s Christine Taylor. She’s your mate.” The world stopped spinning. His heart stopped and started again when his eyes took in the woman in his arms. Mate. He was fucking stupid. Of course she was.
Ace continued talking as if his world hadn’t just changed dramatically, now revolving around her. “So you guys living in different states is never going to work out. And, as we’re not giving up Chris, you’re going to have to join our pride. Sorry. Deal with it.”
Of course. Of course he must join the pride, for her.
“Sure, I mean, Jason—” can manage on his own. That’s what he had been about to say, when Christine said.
“No, no way. Look, I actually guessed we might be mates from the very start. That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. Your family needs you? Great. Stay here, help Jason run the place, watch his back for a while. Then, we can get to know each other and reassess when we do, ‘kay?”
She was fucking perfect. And adorable. And he needed to kiss her right now, so he did just that. Her mouth was delicious. So was her neck, so he kissed it, too, and then trailed kisses along it. He could have carried on until the end of time, but the woman reminded him, “Stop. We stink. How about you show me to your shower?”
That was a fucking fantastic idea. Hunter bent to hook his arm around her knees and put his other one behind her back, before running to his bedroom, carrying her to his en suite bathroom.
Jason’s money had been well-spent in the remodeling of this place; his shower could easily fit the two of them. As he put her down to let her get back to her feet, she peeled his clothes off his back. Hunter unhooked the button of her jeans and slid them down her sexy thighs as she removed her t-shirt and bra. She was so fucking perfect. His mouth went around her plump nipples and sucked as his fingers caressed her inner thighs, up to the apex of her legs. He pushed her panties aside and curved a finger inside her heat. She moaned in pleasure, once, and moved away, a teasing smile on her lips as she ran to the shower and kept the glass door closed, locking herself inside.
Chase. He and his wolf leaped, and practically growled, “Let me in.”
She tilted her head. “Isn’t that what wolves always say before they huff, puff, and blow the house down?”
“Let me in, and I’ll blow your mind by sucking your clit until you’re screaming my name, mate.”
That worked. She pushed the door open and hooked her arms around his neck, repeating. “Mate.”
Hunter got on his knees and parted her thighs before doing just what he’d promised.
He didn’t know how he could let her go, that day. So the moment she left, he wrote a text. She replied immediately to that one, and every other one he sent, to let her know he missed her, or to ask her what colors she liked.
When he and Jason interviewed new potential enforcers - people Jason could trust - he got bored and asked her about her progress with the cabin. She sent pictures. They’d finished the walls.
That weekend, she came to them, accompanied by Jas and Coveney. Jas loved to get under Jason’s skin, so that was always fun. The following weekend, he went to her, and they worked on another one of the cabins. Rye and Ace had decided to revamp all of them. Now that the Vergas weren’t a pressing concern, it made sense for those who wanted to, to be able to live outside of the pride house. They’d still converge there for communal meals and to chill with everyone, but shifters liked their privacy, especially the couples.
Before they knew it, a year had passed. Lola had started to call Hunter Daddy, which was what she called all Wyvern males. He couldn’t love that little girl any more. The other kids were also a lot of fun.
He knew he would be happy when it was time to join the pride, but he’d miss his brother. He’d feel like he was abandoning him, too; there was so much work to do with the Vergas pack.
One evening when they were all assembled at the main pride house, Ace appeared in front of them, holding a piece of paper.
“Tada! Present. It’s from all of us. But mostly me, because it was my idea. I’m awesome. You’re welcome.”
Christine opened it, as baffled as he was. Her pretty mouth fell open after she read it, and she passed it on to Hunter.
Fuck.
“Is that seriously—”
“Our pride and the pack are fraternal. It’s all official and stamped by the council. That means Rye and I and Jason, plus your Alpha female when you get one, are going to make all big decisions together, going forward. If they go to war, we pool our resources to help; if we’re at war, they come to help, too. That’s an alliance on crack.”
“And,” Clari said, “the added benefit is that we need people who go to and from the pack on an ongoing basis. That’s you guys. Chris is our ambassador, and you, Hunter, are the Vergas’.”
They hadn’t made him choose; he could have his family and his mate.
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Shoes,” Clari suggested. “Shoes are always the answer.”
Every female nodded gravely, like her reply was wisdom itself.
* * *
The End.
* * *
Ne
xt in the Age of Night series: Magic Pussy, book five. Jason’s book, Easy, Tiger, will be the first of The Vergas Pack Series.
Frostbound Throne Excerpt
Subject to change
This was how she died. She knew it, felt it to her bones. There was no other way, not here. Saving herself would mean condemning every breathing soul in the Unseelie Court. As little as she liked most of them, and however much they hated her in return, she couldn’t bring herself to destroy so many just to save herself.
She should give in now. Drop her bow, accept her fate. Yet, she shot one arrow after the next, desperately holding on to life.
Devi took down enemy after enemy, her mind processing each kill with a cold, analytic indifference. They were relevant because she knew there had been fifty-one arrows in her quiver. Each fae she killed represented one arrow lost. There was every chance she'd run out of weapons before she reached the gates.
She was at the very center of the city, in the large Square of Dawn, famous for the obelisk erupted at the end of the last war. The closest exit was a mile east, and there were three dozen enemies around her right now, and more coming at every passing moment. It was a credit to her skill with a bow that none of them had managed to get close to her yet.
A horse whined in the distance, and Devi’s head turned sharply, expecting enemy knights. She’d managed until now because she’d only had to deal with foot soldiers; fae knights were another matter altogether.
When they came into the square from the south avenue, there were only two riders. She stiffened in alert, until her eyes took in the colors of their habits and then their faces.
Devi had no issue recognizing those two males, although she’d never seen either dressed in anything other than their fine court attires. Now, they wore plain reinforced gear under dark unseelie coats.
Neither of them looked any less intimidating for it.
“Vale.”
The name fell on her lips in a tone she had never used to say it. With relief. Barely conscious of her decision, she adjusted her position to aim at the enemies following Vale and his guard, rather than foolishly carrying on attempting to clear a path out of this nightmare. He was more important. If he lived through the night, there would be hope for the Isle.