by Dana Archer
Kade settles his hand on my leg, but doesn’t repeat his question. Doing so wouldn’t be good for his image. I’m expected to obey. It doesn’t matter if I’m his true mate or his queen or the lover he allows in charge of his pleasure. He’s alpha.
I cover his hand and squeeze. “I remembered some things about my past. I’ll tell you when we’re alone. Okay?”
“I’m not sure when that’ll be. The full moon is only a few hours away.”
If the alpha meeting was still going on as planned, we’d be mingling with hors d’oeuvres, wine, and music while the catering staff worked on getting a six-course meal on the tables. Or maybe I’d be getting a lecture for bringing Molly to an adult party. I can imagine dozens of possibilities, but the reality we’re facing should never have been one of them. Yet, this is where we are.
“We’ll have to find time.” I rub my thumb over Kade’s knuckles. “We might not have another chance.”
“Zoe’s right. There’s a real possibility you’ll lose this challenge.” Jarah looks into the rearview mirror and catches Kade’s gaze. “I was wrong about Asa. He’s far more dangerous than I imagined, and if you think you’re going to face only a shifter in that circle tonight, you’re going to fail.”
“I’ll be facing a shaman.”
“A powerful shaman who’s been able to pull off all the little tricks he’s shown without the help of a demon.” Jarah’s voice hardens. “What we’ve seen is all him. He’s powerful, Kade. I don’t know how else to express that, and once you’re locked in the ceremonial circle with him, he’s not going to hold back. Everything he’s learned and every trick he’s honed and refined will be unleased on you. And not to mention the possibility he will summon a demon to help him. Remember, just because he hasn’t doesn’t mean he won’t.”
“And I know next to nothing of what I’m capable of doing. I’m a shaman without training.”
“Exactly.” Jarah flicks the turn signal with all the anger expressed in his voice but pulls into the darkened parking lot of Riley’s Sanctuary with all the care of someone who’s gotten one too many traffic tickets. “Asa’s going to work you over and walk away with the spirit of your pride without so much as breaking a sweat.”
Kade studies where my hand is covering his, gently rubbing his knuckles. “What do you recommend?”
Jarah slams the shifter into Park and grabs the top of the steering wheel. He hangs his head. “Your choices are certain death or disgrace. Which you choose isn’t up to me.”
“You’re discrediting my alpha, assassin.” Ezra, Kade’s blind cousin, speaks up from the back of the SUV. “Power comes in many forms. Shamanism is only one.”
“But it’s the one Kade’s going to be facing tonight.” Jarah twists in his seat, facing those behind him. “Alone.”
“All challenges are faced alone,” Zach interjects.
“Had I been feline or a pride mate, I might’ve been able to help him. Shared his mind while he faced Asa.”
“That’s against the rules.” Ezra shakes his head. “If anyone found out, he’d lose respect.”
“If he doesn’t get help—illegally or not—he’s going to lose his head.” Jarah opens the door, but before he climbs out, he leans over the seat and lowers his voice. “My goddess will welcome you and your mate into my clan. Remember that, Kade Alexander, and choose wisely.”
Without responding, Kade climbs out of the SUV and rounds the vehicle as I get out, then takes my hand and walks side by side with me to the front of the ordinary-looking veterinary hospital. Advertisements and a sign listing business hours cover the windows. Inside, the appearance of an ordinary vet clinic continues with rows of dog, cat, and other animal food. There’s a play area for children, benches and chairs for owners and their pets, and even a memorial area where an unlit candle sits under a sign asking for respect and silence when lit while a beloved pet is saying goodbye to its owner.
The single door at the back of the spacious building opens. Josh steps through, looking as stressed as I’d ever seen him with his hair on end and tension leaving his motions jerky. He runs his hand over his head, mussing the strands more, then looks our way. “Megan’s not going to make it.”
“What?” I rush forward, pulling Kade with me. “She’s a shifter. She—”
“She’s a child.” Josh takes my other hand. “She’s not immortal, and she’s just taken several gunshots to her chest and abdomen. We’re lucky she’s held on this long.”
My brother’s face blurs, and wetness hits my lips. I lick them, my tears a familiar salty taste, but don’t bother wiping my face. The tears won’t stop that easily. “Will a real hospital be able to help her?”
“Although Megan’s a child, she still a shifter, and her body is trying desperately to heal itself. A human child would not be hanging on like she is. The doctors and nurses will pick up on that. They’ll start to question why. It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care.” I turn away from my brother and glare at Kade. “If a real doctor can help Megan—”
“I am a real doctor.” The heavily pregnant woman I saw at Mira’s baby shower steps around Josh. Still in scrubs, the woman holds out a hand. “My name’s Riley Kagan, alpha female of the Kagan pack.”
I take her hand. “I’m sorry to offend you, but—”
“No offense taken, and if I thought there was a chance another doctor would be able to help one of my patients, I’d make it happen, risks be damned, but another doctor won’t help in Megan’s case. And quite honestly, I’m surprised she’s still alive. Not even taking in the internal damage she’s sustained, she’s lost so much blood, I can’t believe her heart didn’t stop beating. Yes, we’re giving her blood and fluids as quickly as we can, but…”
“You don’t believe it’ll be soon enough,” Kade finishes Riley’s sentence.
“Her organs are shutting down. We’re doing everything we can. I have my best nurses with her.”
“I want to see her.” Kade turns to the door, drawing me with him.
“Room one,” Riley calls out, but we’re already jogging down the stairs.
A hallway with sophisticated security on the rooms leading off it greets us. Kade rushes us to the end without looking at the room numbers. He knows where we’re going, and with each step, I do too. Hairs stand up on my arms, and a tingling shiver races down my spine, but it’s the awareness of my demon that quickens my heart. Death hovers close.
And my demon expects to break free of my hold tonight.
Rafe opens the door, and Kade releases my hand, gripping his twin’s shoulder as he walks past him, and I’m left standing here, unable to take another step, the weight of my mistake crushing me. My demon will feast on Megan’s soul. It’ll feast on any and every soul it can find, and each one will make it stronger. Because of me and the deal I made.
I don’t know how to fix this. I’m not strong enough.
Murmurs from inside the room spill into the hallway, and their talk of death urges me closer. I run the last few feet and hurry into the room, where a small blonde child with tubes in her arms, monitors surrounding her, and several large males kneeling on the floor around her bed is dying.
“It’s only a matter of time. I can’t stay much longer.”
The voice spoken inside my head isn’t mine. It’s not my demon’s either. It’s a man I’ve never heard before. I scan the room until I zero in on the ancient warrior standing as far from everyone else as possible, a male nobody else obviously sees.
With strips of animal skin covering his groin, fur pelt boots, braided leather crisscrossing his chest and tattooed runes and symbols decorating his body, he resembles a walking killer, especially with the array weapons hanging from his belt and slung over his shoulders.
“That’s because I am a killer. I was the male who”—he turns his head and focuses on me with black flames burning in his eyes—“made problems go away.”
“You’re the Ammon spirit.” I speak the words in my head wit
hout giving much thought as to why it seems right to converse this way.
He nods. “And soon I’ll be free.”
“And Megan will die.”
He glances at the small child covered to her upper chest with a thin white sheet. “She should already be dead.”
“Why isn’t she?”
With his arms crossed, the Ammon warrior drops his head to the wall. “Megan doesn’t like to be alone.”
“Heal her.”
“I can’t. She’s too weak. I’m too weak.” He turns his head, his temple resting against the wall. “Sheer will is the only thing keeping us both here.”
“You love her.”
He rolls his head so he’s facing the hospital bed. “I fathered many children, some I knew, most I didn’t. Never did I watch one grow up. With Megan, I’ve been forced to share her journey, from our most vulnerable moments to the ones that made me swell with pride. The girl’s a warrior in pigtails.” He chuckles as if amused by his imagery. “I’ll miss her.”
“Where will you go?”
He shrugs, then steps forward as Kade moves away from the bed. The Ammon warrior kneels where Kade had and lays his hand over Megan’s shoulder.
Kade snatches my hand and, without looking at me, leads me out, ushering me down another hallway in the labyrinth of an underground facility that’s bigger than the building above. We enter an office. The moment the door closes behind us, Kade’s mouth is on mine. He kisses me, eating at my mouth without restraint.
My scarf is tossed aside, and my shirt is tugged free. Cooler air teases my skin, then heat sears me as Kade slips his hand under the top, skimming his fingers over the old scars covering my stomach. Needs roll through me. Carnal desires I’ve come to crave. Kade will fulfill every one. Right here. Right now.
While our world shatters around us, and the people relying on us suffer.
On a groan of frustration, I turn my head while Kade’s open mouth skims over my cheek. “We don’t have time for this. I need to tell you—”
“We have to make time.” Kade nips along my throat to where my shoulder meets my neck. A firm yank stretches my shirt. Another jerking motion, and my tights tear, exposing my underwear, and then Kade’s warm breath bathes the bite marking me as his female, his chosen mate, his everything. “I won’t face tonight without you.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I shove against Kade’s shoulder. “Sex won’t solve our problems.”
“No, it won’t. But soul bonding will solve them.”
“What?” I grab Kade’s face and jerk his head to me. “You’re crazy. You know what will happen.”
“We’ll win.”
I shake my head. “You can’t guarantee that. My demon… I remembered everything—why I called her, what happened that night, the deal we made—and I’m screwed. No matter what I do, I’m going to lose, and she’s going to win.”
Kade puts a hairsbreadth of space between our bodies, spreads his legs, and plants his hands on the wall either side of my face. “None of that matters. Not anymore. My goddess anticipated this. You and your demon, me facing this moment, our pride in shambles. My goddess foresaw it all, and she’s prepared me to conquer everything.”
“Look, I’m not the answer to our problems. I’m not a weapon for you to use. I’m a ticking time bomb.” I press a hand to my chest. “My demon’s stronger than I am. She—”
“Trust me.” Kade leans in and presses his lips to mine, then maps a path to my ear, the soft brush of his lips caressing my cheek and making my eyes flutter.
“Just listen to me, please.”
“I’m listening.”
“I promised to release her, allowing her to walk among humans. She’ll be free, and she’ll grow stronger with every soul she claims.”
“In return for what?”
“For my baby’s life. For Josh’s. The demon…she was controlling Vince. He attacked me and my baby. Attacked Josh. Said the Conway bloodline needed to end with us. That was the demon’s motive. She wanted to stop the Golden Goddess from being able to walk among humans. Instead, my demon tricked me into releasing her.”
“Then you simply won’t ever release her. Or die.”
“So what? We soul bond, and you hand the Alexander spirit over to Asa without a fight? Allow Jarah to become our alpha while our family suffers under Asa. Is that what you want?”
“That’s not the only choice.” Kade skims his mouth over my cheek to my ear. “We fight. For us. For love. For the destiny my goddess planned for us.”
“But you heard Jarah. Asa is more powerful than you. He’s had millennia to hone his skills. And I’m a fumbling idiot. I can’t control my demon. I tried. Jarah helped me. Still, I couldn’t do it. She manipulated me and made it look easy. Twice, Kade. I tried twice and failed both times. If we do this, we’ll lose. Simple as that.”
“And you heard Ezra. Power comes in many forms. Mine so happens to include a gorgeous human shaman with a stubborn streak who doesn’t know her own strength and continues to put herself down.”
“I’m being realistic. I can’t control what I am. As soon as my demon gets the chance, she’s gone. She’s stronger than I am.”
“But she’s not stronger than the Alexander spirit. She’s not stronger than the combined wills of every Alexander, living or dead. And she’s not stronger than our love. Neither is Asa.”
Kade’s determination and confidence spark mine. It’s hard not to feel the hope when Kade’s soul shines bright within me.
With trembling fingers, I touch Kade’s bite, then his lips. “I’m scared.”
Kade sucks my middle finger into his mouth, swirling his tongue around its length. My body aches for him, the craving for Kade as real as it had been moments ago. He releases me and takes my hand, twining our fingers. “Then let me conquer your demon.”
Nothing I’ve said or could say counters the determination and commitment I see in Kade’s eyes. He’s alpha and will fight for me and for his family with everything he has. Giving up isn’t an option for Kade. That leaves me with only one choice—to stand by him.
I blow out a breath and nod. “And let me slay your enemy.”
Kade smiles. His grin lights up his face, my soul, our world. “Is it a deal, then?”
“It’s my vow.”
“As you have spoken, let it be remembered.”
The sensation of something binding me to Kade steals my breath. An invisible cord wraps around us, pulling us together. Kade’s lips touch mine. I open to him, parting my lips for his kiss and welcoming his possession. He takes me, and twines his tongue with mine.
A sharp tug slams us together. Real or imagined? I can’t tell, but the loop is gone. We’re one. Body, soul, heart—we’re one. And we’re stronger than I’d ever imagined.
My hands stroke over Kade’s back, memorizing every inch while pulling him deeper. The compulsion to hold him close, to never let him go, to bask in his light is overwhelming. I don’t fight the impulse. I reach for him. The flickering flame within me flares into a roaring fire that promises to chase away even the coldest of nights.
Our kiss turns frantic. More light shines through. More warmth fills me. More power builds. The cord binding us tugs a little more, and the sensation of sinking into Kade is real.
A sharp tug followed by agony steals my breath, but I don’t resist Kade or the theft of my soul. For Kade, I’ll give him anything and everything.
More pain seizes me, stopping my heart again, and again, and again. Each time, something soft and warm presses against me with an unspoken promise to never leave me. It’s Kade’s felines. They’re here with me…and my demon. They sense her, feeling her presence deep inside, but she can’t stop this or overpower Kade. The light he gives off is too bright and too damning for Hell. All she can do is hide and cower.
And now I have Kade with me forever. I never have to face her alone.
Kade kisses my throat, then settles his cheek against the bite on my shoulder as the last of the
pain and pleasure of our bonding fades. “You have me forever and always.”
“I like the sound of that.” I wrap my arms around my mate and hold him. “Forever and always.”
Thirty-Seven
Kade
The Kagan ceremonial circle stretches along the hilltop overlooking the Kagan alpha’s home. On the night of the full moon, it’s normally full of Kagans celebrating births and matings and the memories of those who’ve died. Tonight, however, alphas and guests from around the country stand among my pride mates and our allies for the event that’ll change the course of the shifter world.
The challenge of alphas.
I scan the open area. Nobody lingers inside the large circle, despite there being no physical indication of its boundaries. Shifters instinctively feel its borders, however. I do too. The Kagan pack’s decades of worship and gathering have strengthened this portal to the heavens, and the magic and power contained here simmers in the air, a warm breeze wafting from the heavens themselves.
While the Kagan spirit isn’t up for grabs tonight, its power shall be lent to the one strong enough to tap in to it. Had Nic Kagan been here tonight, that power would be his to call upon as alpha of the Kagan pack. My friend isn’t here, however. Nic and his mate Riley are fighting to save Megan’s life, a feat that’s growing more impossible by the minute. I know Josh’s adopted daughter and the little girl I’ve welcomed into my family is fading. I feel her slipping away, the thin bond connecting her to the Alexander spirit nearly gone.
Blocking out the scene around me, I focus on the invisible thread linking me to her and channel more of my own power to the courageous child who doesn’t want to leave her wolf alone. The Ammon spirit gets scared when he’s alone. Megan told me that once. She has to be brave for him. I must do the same for her and all my loved ones.
“You are valiant, my mate. Brave and noble and fearless. You’re a worthy leader and a loving man.”
Zoe’s confidence weaves through me, building me up. I glance at where my beautiful mate is standing beside me with the scarf tied firmly around her neck, hiding the depth of our bond. Her attention is on me, not the crowd or my opponent standing on the opposite side of the circle. Love shines in her eyes, and assurance radiates from her expression. She projects the image of an assured mate who’s meant to calm those around us who fear for my death.