“Holy shit,” he heard Josh gasp. He was suddenly beside Cora with a spare pair of jeans tossed over his arm. Cora must’ve called him. “They’re all with him. They’re telling him that they will stand with him. All of them, Cora.”
He heard Cora say, “He is the Wolf King.”
“Yes,” Josh said. “And, finally, he’s acknowledged it, too. The pack will be happy about this.”
“You all know?”
“Everyone knows the white wolf is the Wolf King. But the members of his pack were the only ones who knew the white wolf was him. Well, except for Luca. You’re the first person he’s ever shifted in front of, outside of the pack. When he told me, I knew you were his mate. He wouldn’t risk it for anyone less.”
There was a brief silence and then Cora said the very words Ryan was thinking, “War is coming.”
CHAPTER 22
Following the situation outside in the woods, Ryan had acquired a pledge of allegiance from all of the Alphas. In return, he’d granted them sanctuary inside the military compound. There were thousands of wolves to put up, but the compound spanned several acres, so there was plenty of room. He’d briefed his pack and they all knew the score. No wolf pack liked to invite outsiders into their home, but Ryan had explained that the situation was bigger than all of that.
As King, it was his job to protect them all.
He’d spoken with every male pack and settled them into the compound. Now, it was time to deal with the women. He wasn’t relishing the prospect. They were far more difficult than male wolves. Whilst the male wolves accepted his orders without question, the women liked to test the waters and question every damned thing. Also, the revelation about him being Wolf King wouldn’t help matters. He knew exactly what he’d be walking into as soon as he slid aside the heavy titanium door that separated them from the rest of the compound housing the male wolves. It would be a sexual frenzy. But he had no choice. He needed to lay down the law immediately to ensure that they could all coexist together without any major issues.
He heaved aside the heavy door with ease and took a calming breath as he stepped inside.
As soon as he was through, all eyes turned to him. Hundreds of wolf women looked his way, their attention riveted on him. Their eyes were hooded with desire as their gazes raked over every inch of his body. He heard several low growls fill the room.
Oh, fuck!
They lunged at him.
The force of them all coming at him at once drove his back against the wall.
They were wild, ravenous, in a sexual frenzy.
“Ladies!” he thundered, quickly following it up with a warning feral growl. He held up his hands. “Release me! Immediately!”
“Enjoying yourself?” a voice came from the doorway.
His gaze snapped to the door, as he fought against hands roving all over his body and the women crowded around, all trying to get a piece of him.
His wife stood there.
To his surprise, she didn’t seem mad, or jealous. Instead, she was grinning at him with amusement.
“Just getting things under control here, my love,” he said, pushing away a woman licking his neck.
He watched Cora stride into the room. She forced her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of him.
He gripped her hips and held her tightly against him as she stood between him and the women. Yes, thank fuck. He was startled when she started speaking to him with her thoughts.
I’m surprised you’re not hard from all of that.
Only you get me hard these days, darlin’.
Scared, were you?
Maybe a little. You saw what was going on in here when you walked in.
She chuckled to herself.
Then, she thrust out both her palms.
The room echoed with a collective gasp and the crowd immediately stepped back a good few feet.
She held her magic tightly to her and Ryan knew that meant she wasn’t intending to strike anyone. It was just a much-needed deterrent. She seemed to understand that it wasn’t their fault. Their reaction to him was instinctual, a primal reaction to him and the revelation of his true power.
“Pull back the wolf for a moment and think,” Cora said. “He is already mated.”
Ryan watched as the women responded to her words. Whispers and glances of realization filled the room for a good few moments.
“She is my wife,” Ryan added.
He watched the women hesitate. He saw the disbelief in their eyes. He knew why. Cora wasn’t wolf. They didn’t believe that the King of the Wolves could be mated to a non-wolf.
This isn’t working. Time for a demonstration. Maybe I’ll fuck you right here in front of them.
He felt her tense against him. He had no intention of taking things so far. He just needed to do enough to bring out the glow. The sure-fire confirmation to them all that Cora was, indeed, his mate.
Before she could stop him, he slipped his hand inside her leather pants. She gasped as his fingers brushed her clit. She was already soaking wet. Mmm. Always so ready for me. He teased her with all of his fingers, spreading her wetness, while his thumb gently flicked her clit.
Ah, yes. Yes. Take me now. Fuck me, baby.
Be careful of your thoughts, my love. I just might do it.
He laughed aloud and then pulled his hand out. A whimper of protest escaped her.
“You see?” he called out to the room.
He drew Cora’s gaze to his and he saw what he knew he would. Her eyes were glowing silver. He could feel his were afire with gold, too.
The crowd gasped as they witnessed the proof of their bond.
“Okay, my love. I’ve got this now. Get some rest,” he said, kissing her chastely on the top of her head.
She broke from his hold and spun around. “No. I’ll help them get settled in.”
Ryan scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I do.”
He released a frustrated sigh and rubbed the rough stubble on his chin, before saying, “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
I will be fine.
Not happening.
I breached Dark Realm magic to escape Luca’s mansion, overpowered Roy, and saved your life with my blood. I think I’ve got this.
“Cora!” he thundered.
It took him a moment to realize that he’d said it out loud. Shit. He glanced around the room. All eyes were on him. Eyes of fear. Dammit. He didn’t want to keep his wolves in line with fear. That was the mark of a bad ruler. A failure of a ruler.
He drew in a breath and pulled Cora outside with him, kicking the door shut as they went.
Pressing her against the wall, he told her, as calmly as possible, “Look, I’m sorry I yelled. I just… this… what’s happening is a lot. Right now, I just need you safe. And then I can figure out how to deal with the rest. Just let me handle it.”
“You don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“I am your wife.” She spun him around, slamming him into the wall. Her hands fisted in his shirt, jerking him towards her. “We do this together. Starting right now. You can’t handle all of this on your own. You’re about to declare war on an entire species, Ryan! You need all the help you can get. And, lucky for you, I’m a pretty powerful ally. So, suck it up and stop being such a chauvinistic, stubborn asshole. Let me help you.”
Ryan took her words in and then he looked down at her hands gripping his t-shirt. He couldn’t help cracking a smile. “Nice moves, darlin’.” He gripped her hands gently and pried them off his shirt. “That almost hurt.”
He pulled her back into the women’s compound area.
“All right, ladies. My wife is gonna help you all get settled in,” he said pleasantly. “I have three rules. One. You stay in this area of the base. Do not go beyond the titanium door. There’s plenty of room. This area of the compound stretches for more than half an acre. There’s plenty of food and provisions. I’m used to catering living a
rrangements to guys, so if there is anything you need that’s not here, let Cora know and we’ll take care of it. Two. No fucking my boys. As for the other packs, you ask permission of that Alpha first. Three. You touch my wife and you die. Now, are we clear?”
“What if one of your boys is one of our mates?” a familiar voice came from the crowd.
He knew immediately that it was Alyssa. “You come to me first,” he responded, coldly.
He was expecting many of those cases to arise. All the wolves in the human realm were here now in his pack’s base. The likelihood was great. But he also knew that some of them—the female and male wolves alike—didn’t care about finding their mate. They just wanted to have fun and fuck. He had to make sure that didn’t happen, especially not with war on his doorstep.
He heard a low hum of acknowledgement. And then he leaned into Cora and whispered, “Be careful, my love.”
CHAPTER 23
Luca stood at the edge of the forest, staring at the military base two hundred feet ahead of him.
With the aid of his vampire eyesight he could see just fine. Every detail in the courtyard. The fearsome look in the eyes of each of the eight wolves guarding the gates. Eight? Ryan had stepped up security, four-fold. It was a smart move. What wasn’t smart was declaring war. In fact, it was an extremely stupid move. He was out of his league.
A gust of wind blew through the still night.
“Michael,” he said, sensing his arrival.
“How’s the wound? Healed yet?”
Luca spun around and nodded. “Yes. Two weeks. Unbelievable.”
Michael’s eyes fixed on the wolf compound in the distance. “Who knew the Alpha would step up to the plate? After so many years of denying his heritage and running from what he was.”
“I didn’t see it coming either,” Luca muttered, barely able to contain his fury at the recent turn of events. When he’d threatened the other wolf packs, he’d assumed that Ryan would come to him and make a deal over Cora. A deal that would meet both their needs. Mmm. That would have been interesting. He’d expected Ryan to appease him, like he always had.
“It’s because of the girl,” Michael said.
“What?”
“Cora?”
Luca scoffed. “We’re talking about Ryan here, Michael. He doesn’t allow anyone to affect him.”
“He spent two hundred years thinking he’d never see his mate, never get to be with the only person who he was destined to be with, because of the treaty. The fact that she was betrothed to you through forced magic. He’d accepted that he would walk the earth alone. And as a pureblood, he’s immortal, just like us, so that’s forever. A hell of a long time to carry such a loss. And then, lo and behold, she suddenly walks on in through his door? It changed everything.”
Luca shook his head in disbelief. “I still don’t understand how it happened, how she sought him out like that.”
“It’s a mystery to me, too.”
“I went to her in her dream earlier that night and—”
“And what? Fucked her?”
“Of course.”
“Did she let you bite her during your sex capades?”
“No. Why?”
Michael laughed. “Don’t you get it? It was just compulsion. If it had been anything more, if she’d really wanted you as her mate, then she would have allowed you to bite her. She didn’t. That means she knew instinctively that she was not meant for you. She forced herself awake. Talk about power, especially when under a vampire’s spell. And from the Vampire Prince, no less.”
“I can’t compel her, Michael. Believe me, I have tried. Several times.”
“It appears that is not entirely true.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I believe you can when her defenses are down.”
Luca took his words in. Interesting.
He recalled the first time he’d come to her in that alleyway. He’d definitely caught her off guard then. She’d been high on pain meds at the time and disturbed by his revelations. And, at that time, she had been receptive to him, when he’d had her up against that alleyway wall. Initially, anyway. The first time he’d visited her in her dream, she’d been even more receptive. She’d been caught off guard then too, scared, even. It was the first time someone had entered her dreams and she hadn’t known what to do about it. She’d been at a major loss and, with sex in play, something she hadn’t been comfortable with, it’d made it all the worse for her. That time, he’d actually managed to seduce her. Because she’d been so incredibly vulnerable and inexperienced in the ways of magic. It all tracked with Michael’s theory. It was bolstered even further by the fact that Luca had failed to influence her every time since. Because she’d come into her power and she’d been on guard around him.
“Of course,” he breathed. “You are right.”
“We might be able to use this. I think a little pain will work wonders to bring down her defenses. Don’t you?”
Luca shook his head. “How? We cannot breach the wolf compound where she is staying. Forget about vampire invitation rites. Even your wolves will fail to breach it. Ryan has it locked down.”
“Only until the next full moon. The wolves will tear that place apart, if he doesn’t let them run free that night. But we won’t have to wait that long. I have another idea.”
“All right. Know, however, that I cannot keep this from my father forever, Michael. He will feel the rise of the Wolf King soon enough. He will interfere. He will come here and realize what we are doing. He will discover our alliance and then we will both be marked for death.”
“I know. I will do my best to block his ability to view the human realm, for as long as I can.”
“Let’s hope your black magic will be strong enough.”
Michael laid his hand on his shoulder. “Relax. You will be king. Together, we will destroy the White Realm and all of its power.”
CHAPTER 24
Ryan trudged tiredly into his bedroom. It was the break of dawn and he’d been up for hours upon hours with so much that he’d had to get done. Housing so many wolves was a major undertaking. Not to mention, prepping for war. He was unbelievably beat.
Cora strolled from the bathroom with only a cotton towel covering her body.
Damn. Despite how tired he was, he felt his cock stir at the sight of her wet and barely clothed.
“Did you get a message to that ex-girlfriend of yours? The witch?” she asked, before he could get a word out.
Well, that was like ice-cold water raining down on his libido.
Closing the door behind him, he nodded. “Yeah. The message has been sent. Just waiting on her reply.”
“Do you think she will help us?”
“We parted on good terms.”
“Can she actually protect the wolves during the full moon, though? Is she strong enough?”
“From what I’ve seen of her power, I’m pretty sure. I won’t know for certain until I talk with her.”
“A lot of your exes have been popping up lately.”
“A lot? I counted only two.”
“Ryan.”
He held up his hands in surrender and then slid off his leather jacket and tossed it over a nearby armchair. He released a heavy sigh as he told her, “I’ve lived for three hundred years, Cora. And none of my relationships have lasted longer than a few days. Most didn’t even last that long.”
She nodded and held his gaze.
He snaked his arms around her waist and drew her close. “There have been… many,” he admitted.
“Ryan, it’s okay. I get it.”
“No, you don’t,” he said, tightly.
“I don’t?”
He slumped onto the edge of the bed, pulling her with him, so that she straddled his lap. “Unlike you, I’ve known what I am for my entire life, as well as all the shit that comes along with it. That means that, for three hundred years, I’d known that I would never get to be with my mate. There is only one, Cora. It meant
I would never be fortunate enough to have that connection, or even to have a child. I am the Wolf King. Only one woman can bear me a child. My true mate. I lived my life believing that it wasn’t a possibility for me, because of that accursed treaty and because you were lost to everyone. I’d believed all of that until that day when you walked into my bar.”
“So, all those girls were—?”
“Solace,” he answered, his intense gaze meeting hers.
“I don’t care about the girls, Ryan. It’s just, you never talk about you. I wanted to know more, that’s all. I really don’t care how many women you’ve slept with.”
“Really?” he asked surprised. “You don’t? Because—”
She pressed her finger to his lips quickly, before he could say another word. “Never tell me.”
He nodded his compliance and then he released a low chuckle. “You know, the only reason you’ve got me spilling my guts here, is because I’m fucking exhausted. So, while we’re doing this, there’s something I’ve wondered about you, too.”
“Shoot.”
“What’s the real reason for your hatred of vampires? I know you were a Seeker, but I’ve seen the extent of your loathing. Your mistrust. The day we walked into Luca’s mansion, I saw it. It runs deeper than the job. It’s personal. Why? What did they do to you?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Vampires killed my close friend.”
Ryan grimaced. “I’m sorry, Cora. What happened?”
“He was a Seeker. He trained me, actually. He was killed on the job, ambushed by a group of vampires. His body was never found either. It was like he’d never existed, in a way.”
“That’s brutal.”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “After that happened, I walked away from that life. I stopped being a Seeker and I kept far away from anything supernatural. Those wolves I took down before I came into your bar that night were my first kills in five years.”
Wow. “No wonder you’re gun-shy around vamps then.”
“It’s not so bad when it’s one-on-one. I’m okay handling that.”
A growl escaped him before he could stop it.
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