by Sydney Addae
“Just as we always have, we weed out the bad and encourage the good. Today you have seen the best of our people. A full-blood mated couple and a full-blood and human. Both strong, vibrant, and loyal to pack. We can survive with the humans, but we need the human half of our people to combat the way the world has changed. We need the breeders,” grandfather said, his voice strong in his commitment to seeing that happen.
The moment Chancellor’s feet connected to the ground, Angus left Silas and touched her gently on the arm, activating the bracelet.
Shershrine spoke in that language again.
“Stop this Chancellor,” Angus said, seeing the conflict the woman fed the Shershrine. “You blacken your position by poisoning the conversation. The decision of mates is not the same as what happened to you, don’t make this personal.” He rifled through a few more memories before he was pushed out.
“Humans and full-bloods shouldn’t mate,” Chancellor yelled and bent forward holding her stomach. “They are treacherous liars who cannot be trusted. They will destroy us all.”
“You did this? All of this for revenge?” Angus couldn’t contain his shock, which was replaced by anger as he thought of everything that had happened to his mate, his brother, and their pack. “Snatched my mate from her chamber, lied to Grandfather and the Goddess, activated Nicromja’s minions? All of this because some asshole tricked you? You engaged the Shershrine to what, punish us?”
“Chancellor,” Blackwolf said, moving closer to the woman, who backed up like a cornered animal. “You learned the sacred words, read the books?” He sounded confused.
“I forgave your fall, this is how you repay me? Through lies and deceit?” the Goddess asked. The room brightened to the point it was difficult to see anyone.
Angus stepped back searching for Shyla and took her hand. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Renee and Melange step into the room. They remained near the corner and he wondered why they hadn’t left. Renee ran to Silas, who remained on the floor, and hugged him. Melange followed, watching everyone, and stood near Silas and Renee.
“No, they are all evil,” Chancellor said. “They trick and use you.”
“Cease your tampering,” the Goddess snapped. “Now that you have brought the Shershrine, you will allow them to see clearly without your opinion.”
Chancellor whimpered but didn’t speak as she moved backward away from them all.
“You think she has done wrong?” Shershrine asked the Goddess.
“Yes, she had a love affair with a human and it ended badly,” the Goddess said in a softer tone.
“Badly?” Shershrine asked, looking at Chancellor. “I sensed none of this during our connection.”
“Because you gave them the ability to block us from reading their thoughts,” the Goddess answered, she glanced at Angus.
Chancellor covered her face with her palms and released deep gut-wrenching sobs.
“That is true,” Shershrine looked at Chancellor again. “Full-bloods are our only concern, are you willing to represent them?” Shershrine turned and asked Angus.
Surprise zipped through him. Shouldn’t Silas represent the pack? “What do you want me to do?” he asked Silas.
“Represent us. No one is better qualified to speak on our behalf,” Silas said.
Pride swelled in Angus’ chest. “I will always stand with you.”
“I know and I am a better wolf because of it,” Silas answered.
“Is Renee going to let you breathe?” Angus asked, smiling as the woman wiped the blood from Silas’ neck.
“My bitch may have something to do with this,” Silas said. “She says this is what family does.” Angus heard the resignation in his Alpha’s voice.
“Really? Well, in my defense, I missed that class,” Angus said.
Shershrine held up his hand. “Before you answer, understand that my decree will be final, no one and nothing can change it, not even the power of the pack, as impressive as it is. Will you and your mate stand proxy for the nation?”
“Yes, our loyalty is to La Patron and La Patroness, both rule the nation with love, wisdom, and honor. We will stand for them and the nation,” Angus said, squeezing Shyla’s hand as she agreed through their link.
“So be it.” Shershrine placed his fingertips on Angus and Shyla’s forehead.
Sizzling tingles shot through Angus’ mind. He sent warmth and comfort to Shyla. This time she squeezed his hand, standing silent while Shershrine searched their memories. Seconds later the tingling stopped.
Shershrine stepped back watching Angus. “You are full of surprises and wisdom.”
Angus wondered if he would say something about the bracelet or crystals. After Chancellor’s breach, Angus didn’t want her to know about either.
“We are satisfied,” Shershrine said into the silence. “Alphas earn the loyalty and respect of their pack, not through the strength of the challenge but through the manner in which they lead and take care of the people. When one Alpha kneels to the other, and both would die for the other, there is no greater praise. Despite the Goddess’ misinterpretation of the law, she had no authority to allow human breeding, all matings will stand. There will be no new breeders. Take care of the ones you now have. La Patroness was right, no one should come between mates, not even the gods.”
Turning, Shershrine waved Nicromja forward. “Do you understand our decree?”
“There is no way to regain my right to lead the wolves, is that what you mean?” Nicromja said. His tone sullen.
“That right was never yours. It was a symbolic gesture on the part of the Goddess to help you. That can never happen again, full-bloods pay a high price for your pride. Do not engage your priests in this kind of trickery again, as you see the results are damaging and long lasting.”
“So I get nothing?” Nicromja said.
“Have you earned anything?” Shershrine asked.
Nicromja disappeared.
No one spoke.
“Goddess, our trust in you remains. Blackwolf, your line is indeed impressive.”
Shershrine disappeared.
CHAPTER 25
Cancer looked at his brother and shook his head. “You have to leave now. Take this to father, see if someone can get the crystal to work for him.”
“No, we go together, it’s dangerous staying here. Nicromja will know we left the temple early and took security with us to search the caves, he may send someone after us,” Scorpio pulled off his robe and tossed it aside.
They’d just returned from a successful search of several caves, now it was time to add insurance for their father. Although Scorpio would never admit it, trekking through the woods and caves wore him out. Cancer wanted to make sure his brother got home safe, this next part of the trip was the deadliest and he needed to be able to focus without thinking about his brother.
“There’s one more thing we have to do or all of this was a waste of time,” Cancer said, noticing the stubborn tilt of his twin’s chin. “We don’t have time to argue, get these crystals back home safe. We promised and can’t fail in this, the stakes are too high.”
“What about…?”
Rage rushed through Cancer, he choked down the bitter words that threatened to pull him under. “Forget her, damn it. She was a job, and will kill you, us, if she ever sees or finds us again.” He loved and hated this about his brother, Scorpio got too emotional.
“Doesn’t it bother you what we did to her? Taking advantage of her like that, knowing she was lonely? That doesn’t bother you that we broke her heart?” Scorpio had walked closer, their gazes clashed.
“Not one bit. She was the key to finding the cure to save Dad. That’s it. My heart was never involved, she was a damn job, nothing more or less. Now snap the fuck out of it and get ready to get on the damn plane. I want to finish this and get back home. Fuck this heat.” He turned, pulled off his clothes, and stepped into the shower.
Going after the full-blood and his mate was dangerous. If there were other op
tion, he’d gladly take it and get the hell out of this damn country. But no one else knew about the crystals, they’d been seeking information for the past five years. If he didn’t do this just right, the full-blood would kill him and perhaps carry out his threat to destroy their family. Cancer snorted. His namesake, cancer, had already wiped out a large portion of his loved ones. If the crystal didn’t work, his father would certainly die. How did they unlock the power of the crystal? There were no instructions in that blasted book they’d copied from the Chancellor’s collection. The full-blood would know. Cancer and Scorpio agreed on that point.
They disagreed on how to gain the full-blood’s help after everything that happened so far. Cancer was certain he would be killed on the spot if he ever crossed the large man’s path. Scorpio thought they should use the darts and take the couple again, forgetting full-blood’s build resistance to chemicals and drugs relatively quickly, making that option a long shot. His chest still clenched in remembrance of how big the son-of-a-bitch grew when he was pissed. No, he wouldn’t ever seek out that wolf without leverage, and they’d never get the mate again.
Scorpio knocked on the door. “I’m heading out, be careful, okay. He’ll kill you without a thought.”
Cancer turned off the water, stepped out grabbing a towel, and dried off. “I know. I don’t plan to get close to him. As we speak I’ve got things in motion so that I can take him without being anywhere near him.” A sliver of unease ran through him. He shook it off and inhaled. They couldn’t second guess now, they were too close.
“Good, that makes me feel better. When will you take them?” Scorpio looked at his watch.
“In a few hours after they’ve fucked themselves tired. Once they entered the hotel, our people went into action, everything’s set.” He sounded more confident than he felt.
“In that case, I’ll head out.” Scorpio held up the satchel with the crystals and hugged him. “Bring that bastard to his knees.”
Cancer smiled. “You know it.” He kept the smile in place until his brother strode out the door.
CHAPTER 26
The tip of Shyla’s pert nipple pressed into Angus’ chest. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the sweet fragrance from their last round. Just thinking how good and tight her lush sweetness felt caused his cock to rise. Damn, this mating heat was fucking fantastic. Horny excitement raced through him, he counted to a hundred to keep from begging for more.
Her warm fingers wrapped around his hardness. Inhaling, he rode the shudder of lust that ripped through him and pulled her on top. Laughing, she leaned down and bit his lip before taking his mouth with a hunger that roared through him. She gripped his hair as she deepened the kiss. Their tongues battled, dueled for supremacy. Gasping for air, she ran her fingertip over his face while staring into his eyes.
“Mine,” she growled, pleasing his beast.
“Say it like I'm inside of you." He nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply. His cock twitched at the recognition of her smell.
She shuddered in his arms. “When I couldn’t feel you, the sun went dark,” she said in a soft tone. His seductress bitch switched gears, speaking of her feelings for the first time. “Actually it was dark. No light anywhere.” He picked up remnants of her nightmare clinging to her mind, haunting her through their link.
Pulling her down, he wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry. So very sorry.”
Her head moved against his chest. “No, you saved me. Just knowing you were near kept me hopeful it would all be over soon.” She paused. Her fingertips traced his La Patron tattoo. “I was scared,” she whispered.
Angus swallowed the knot forming in his throat, bringing a hand to her face.
“I thought I was brave. All that talk about giving our lives for the cause.” She wiped her tears on his chest.
“You are brave,” he whispered against her hair, rubbing her back.
“No.” She swallowed hard and pushed up.
He framed her face with his palms. “Yes. My brave bitch saved the day.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I didn’t think I could help and didn’t try. I keep thinking what would’ve happened if La Patroness hadn’t all but kicked my ass and made me dig for the answers.”
He kissed the salty fluid from her face. “You saved us.”
“That bitch Chancellor used me like a puppet and I didn’t see any of it.” She looked at him. “Did you know she orchestrated all of this?”
“No. But I thought she knew more than she let on. Listen, even the Goddess and grandfather didn’t realize who set all this into motion. Chancellor fed them bits and pieces of information.”
Shyla wiped her face. “How’d that happen? The Goddess shouldn’t have been fooled.”
“Chancellor’s thoughts can’t be breached by gods because of the information they handle. It’s some kind of checks and balance Shershrine put in place centuries ago.”
She tapped his chest. “Why hasn’t anyone ever heard of them? Scared me shitless when La Patron was on the floor. Who does that kind of stuff?”
Angus smiled at her sense of outrage and patted her ass. “Shershrine aren’t meant to be discussed or have a place in our history books.”
Her brow rose.
“Can we finish what you started before we have a serious discussion on pack history?” He didn’t think she’d go for it but thought he’d try.
“Librarian.” She pointed to her forehead. “I need to know.” She wrinkled her nose.
He placed a quick kiss on her lips.
“None of that now, talk.” She tried to roll over, but he placed his hand on her high, round globes and squeezed.
“Stay.”
She nodded.
“They gave life to full-bloods.”
“I knew it. Those words tasted funny.”
“Yeah, well, they really are sacred and not meant to be uttered. I can’t imagine how Chancellor understood what they meant.” He paused, thinking about Chancellor, talking about taking revenge too far. “From what the Goddess told Silas, the sacred texts have been removed from the Chancellor and sent to another unknown location.”
“Why doesn’t she keep them, seems they’d be safer.”
He thought how to explain it the way godfather had explained it to him. “Shershrine created full-bloods and left them for the Goddess to oversee. They are similar but different. Everything must remain on earth for the full-bloods.” He shrugged. “Kind of hard to make sense of how they think.”
She nodded. “It was really weird though. La Patroness was with me when Shershrine appeared. Having both in my head was different, but I’d choose her any time.” She shook her head. “When she dropped that statue, I thought I’d pass out. She was so angry that for the first time in my life I saw red and it wasn’t coming from me.”
“Jasmine is very protective of those she loves. She taught Silas about family, he taught her about pack, which makes the pack stronger. Believe me, she would’ve done much worse if Silas hadn’t calmed her down. She doesn’t have the best control of her powers, and when she pulled from the pack, it would’ve been bad.”
“He calmed her?”
“Yes. Although she almost lost it again when her sister’s mate wanted to leave Silas behind.” Angus smiled. “Melange wanted to get Renee as far away as possible, but they couldn’t find a way out. When Jasmine discovered they planned to leave us behind, let’s just say she found Melange and helped her see the error of her ways. My sister is not one to play with.”
Shyla snorted. “She scared me. I don’t ever want to be on her bad side.” She paused. “Do we need to live there? In the compound? I’m still Mengistia and my term isn’t over yet. The chambers where the scrolls and artifacts are in the house. It’s been in my family for generations.”
He frowned. “As Beta, I don’t know if I can be that far from Silas. Tomorrow when we get home we’ll discuss it with him, okay?”
She brushed her lips against his, refueli
ng his need for her. “Okay. You do know this position is passed down through the women in my family. I’ll need to train our daughter to take over one day.”
Hearing her speak of their den, his daughter and her place in the pack, filled him with pride. “After 300 years, I never thought I’d have a mate or a daughter. Now my life is full with light and promise of a wee one as beautiful and strong as her mam. The Goddess has indeed blessed me.” He kissed her forehead and held her close for a few seconds while he pulled his emotions together.
He moved between her legs. Feeling her wetness, he took a moment to grind his cock against her hot flesh.
Shyla wouldn’t release him and held fast around his neck. She stroked and squeezed, testing his limits. He couldn’t believe how great she tasted, smelled, and felt beneath him. Her scent held him captive. He craved more.
Reaching down, he kissed her as he stroked her long, toned thighs. She widened her legs to allow his questing hand. Leaning to the side, he looked at her beautiful body and inhaled their combined scents. Her pussy was almost bare except for the thinnest layer of soft curls resting over the small apex between her legs. Her folds were soft and damp and shiny with moisture. Forgetting to breathe, he began a slow downward trek toward her weeping sweet box. Reverently, his fingers touched her nether lips. Moaning encouragement, she allowed him to pay tribute. Drawn to her essence, he explored her with his tongue and reacquainted himself with her passion. He inserted two fingers in her tight, juicy canal. “Mine,” he growled.
She pulled his hair and pushed his face forward. “Take it,” she growled.
Grabbing her hips, he pulled her closer and fed his beast with her essence. “Home,” he breathed inside her as he licked, sucked, and brought her to completion. Lapping up her tasty juices, he listened to her whimpers as the tremors subsided. Hard as stone, he slid up beside her and smiled.
“I’m sorry they took you, made you afraid, and that you doubted yourself,” he said between plastering her face and lips with hot kisses. “You are the bravest, strongest, sexiest bitch on the planet and I promise to tell you that every day until you believe it.”