What was right was using her gifts, her power, to protect.
And woe be unto any who crossed them.
She surrendered to the blood hunger, she allowed the rage inside of her to boil over, to bring her own magic crackling to her fingertips as her fangs descended.
Blood was in the air.
It had been all along, but she'd trained herself not to smell it. Not to hunt.
Her fingers had turned to claws and, as she looked down at her hands, she saw that her skin had blanched from sun-kissed and brown to a sickly pale color. She opened her mouth and roared.
It wasn't the roar of a werewolf. It was the roar of a full-blooded Asakku calling her murder to join the hunt.
The land around Aphelion would be stained with blood this day. Long after the walls of the place itself had crumbled dust, the stories of those who died here would be whispered of in the darkness.
Chapter 16
Parker found Tirigan in the bowels of Aphelion. His red eyes glowed in the dark like twin comets.
The effect was pretty fucking creepy.
Even for a werewolf who was used to such things.
"Damn, turn off your brights, man."
"Man?" Tirigan snorted. "I'm a god. Your overfamiliarity displeases me."
"At least I didn't call you Dad."
Tirigan coughed. "And I can't end you. My daughter would never speak to me again."
"Nope," Parker said cheerfully. "You're stuck with me."
"Was there something you wanted, puppy?"
He'd been called a puppy his whole life, so hearing it from this guy wasn't anything new. "Actually, there was."
"Oh, hell, it's not one of those bonding things, is it? I don't like feelings. I have a hard enough time dealing with those I have for my own child. They're uncomfortable. I don't want to like you."
"Yes, you do. Come on, it'll all be so much easier. Or, you know, you could get lucky. With Remus moving on Aphelion, I might die in the attack, and you'll be rid of me." He'd meant it to be cavalier, because that's how Parker dealt with things that were ugly and uncomfortable.
But Tirigan was on him in an instant and all predator. He slammed him against the wall, hard, his fangs descended.
"Don't say that. Don't even think it. I forbid it." His voice had taken on that quality of gargling glass again.
"I thought you didn't like me?" Parker sniffed.
"Bah. You know my daughter loves you, so I suppose I must love you, too."
"Good. Glad we got that settled."
Tirigan sniffed him.
"Quit that. It tickles." Parker pushed him off.
"You don't smell afraid. Are you really not afraid of me? I don't know how I feel about that. First David, now you. I'm losing it. It's time to go to ground. I can't even inspire fear and terror in the male chasing my daughter."
"Uh," Parker began. He wasn't sure how or if he should correct him, but barged ahead anyway, because that was just Parker. "I've already caught her, I'm afraid."
Tirigan growled and he sounded kind of like a werewolf.
"Listen, I guess I wouldn't like it either. But here's the thing. This is what I wanted to talk to about. I'm not just some rando chasing sniffing after your precious cargo. She is my mate. My one true, okay? My forever."
"That actually does make me feel a lot better. It explains why you did what you did in the alley, too. I don't want to eviscerate you… As much."
"Has my brother talked to you about what's coming for us?"
"Yes."
"You don't have to stay. This isn't your fight."
"Well, that's not what I expected you to say."
"Well, you should. You know why? Because I want her safe. I don't know what they have in their arsenal. When this started, I was convinced I could protect her, but now I'm not so sure."
"A wolf admitting he can't do something?"
"Hey, I don't have time for Alpha preening bullshit. Not that Blake ever really preens, but you know what I mean. The only thing I care about is her saf—" Parker sensed there was something wrong. "Fuck. It's started."
"What? How did you—?"
That's when they heard it. The sound of a roar that was unlike any other. An Asakku battle cry.
"There is no leaving now, Baby Woolven. There is only the battle to come. My daughter has chosen to her role."
For the first time, he understood the allure of taking that choice away. Of locking her up so nothing could touch her. He knew she was strong. He knew she was capable. But that didn't matter. He needed to know she was safe.
The panic must've shown on his face. "This is what you've fought for. This is what she's fought for. Now that I've given it, you doubt?"
"I don't doubt her. I just..."
"Then you do understand. Stop making me enjoy you, pup."
With a laugh he didn't feel, Parker said, "Well, you know it'll make her happy if we get along."
"Bah."
"I guess it is time for that father-in-law bonding time. Nothing will make us closer than spilling blood together."
"Indeed, puppy."
Parker swallowed hard, and he wasn't sure he was ready to face this. It wasn't whatever Remus had brought to their door that made him afraid. It was losing the people he loved. It was the idea that anything could hurt them.
He simply couldn't let that happen.
Parker called to his beast, and he answered his mate with a roar of his own that shook the foundations.
She'd let out her monster.
And they were at war.
Parker forgot about everything in that moment except joining the fight. He took the stairs two at a time and found that the world around him had exploded into a bloody battle.
Strange, pale things crawled out of the earth and clawed toward the light. Magic filled the air as an army of witches broke down Aphelion's defenses.
Wolves swarmed.
The scent of blood was in the air as all hell broke loose.
As he tore through the battle, he caught sight of Westwood.
They'd gotten some kind of collar around her throat that blocked her magic, but it didn't matter. The earth split open and the Goblin King himself came to fight for his queen.
Each place where one of the dead things crawled forth, a goblin followed with gnashing teeth and tearing claws.
Parker knew the next wolf that came for him.
They'd been friends in boarding school. The best of friends. Memories shot like a movie reel through his mind in quick succession.
He and Markus hiding in the secret passages from the headmaster, who probably knew they were there all along.
Sneaking out to run to the town to meet those pretty girls from the yacht club.
Staying up all night studying for that Latin test that saved both of their GPAs.
When his mother had been killed by a hunter.
How on the night before graduation, they'd taken blades to their palms and swore a bond of brotherhood and sealed it in blood.
But none of that mattered to him. It would scar a place in his heart, but when it was weighed against all he was fighting for, it was next to nothing.
When Markus jumped, Parker did not hesitate to drive his claws up into the other wolf and gut him from belly to sternum.
Something he shouldn’t have been able to do so easily.
It was the mating bond with Belle.
It had to be what had made him stronger.
Or maybe it was his own belief in himself?
His eyes tracked Belle, and she was fighting like the rest of them, but she was exquisite. She tore through the flesh and blood of all comers as if it was what she'd been made for, and perhaps she had. She was the perfect predator.
The perfect killer.
She did not need him.
That was when he was grateful for his non-Alpha status.
An Alpha couldn't live with a mate who didn't need him, but Parker? He had no problem with it. He kept thinking he had to be more, but he d
idn't. He was enough because she was more.
Her eyes met his through a red hazy mist. She'd changed, not just by acknowledging her beast, but physically. It was as if she'd grown larger, her teeth sharper, and there were more of them.
He found this incarnation of her beautiful, too.
He smiled at her even as the red began to cover her eyes. His smile seemed to make her fight harder, more fiercly.
Tirigan battled as well, ripping through the other vampires that had dared to come stand against him. He moved through them as if he were all blade, and they were nothing but soft butter.
He found Randi, Emmie, and Drew, they were each holding their own. Even Maribella fought, wielding the special weapons David had in his arsenal.
But that was when he saw Blake.
Grigori Remus had led the charge himself.
He had Blake surrounded by wolves, a makeshift fighting pit.
The dragons rained fire down from above in wave after calculated wave, crisping those strange zombie creatures to dust.
Warner transformed into his warrior form and launched himself inside the ring with Grigori and Blake.
Parker fought his way over to them. The slashes and bites, the claws and talons, he felt none of it. He was aware when his body took damage, but it all seemed secondary.
He had to get to his brother.
Grigori wouldn't fight fair and Parker wasn't going to let them go it alone.
Tirigan was suddenly in front of him. "What are you doing, boy?"
"Going to my brother."
"Remus will tear you limb from limb."
"It'll be three of us against him. Four when Drew makes his way over," he managed in a deep voice.
"He'll an ancient Alpha. A progenitor."
Parker knew what that meant, but he couldn't let that matter. "I know."
"Will you allow me to stand for Woolven?"
"That's not up to me."
"Do I have your permission to speak with your brother?"
"This isn't—"
"But it is my fight. My murder is on the way here as we speak. You are my daughter's chosen. And I owe you."
"You owe me nothing."
"Yes, that's how I'd like it."
Parker gutted another one of those strange zombie-like things the dragonfire hadn't obliterated. Tirigan did the same to a nearby witch.
Warner's howl was long, and loud and it rent the battle like nothing else. It wasn't the sound of a victory.
It was the harbinger of death.
His own.
Parker leaped into the middle of the makeshift ring, and saw that Grigori Remus had ripped out his uncle's throat.
He'd never minded blood.
It had never upset or bothered him.
He'd been too small to remember his parents' deaths.
But now, with Warner on his back and all that bright red spilling out into the earth, it turned his stomach. Twisted up his guts.
A cold hand squeezed his shoulder, and Tirigan stepped in front of him.
"Grigori. It has been too long."
"You have no horse in this heat, Tirigan. Go home."
"Oh, but I do. My daughter has married this Woolven pup. So, you see, I have the only horse that matters."
Blake didn't hesitate to let Tirigan speak. He didn't posture and demand deference. He was on his knees holding Warner's throat closed and calling for Westwood. The circle around them broke as Blake and Parker both retreated, dragging their uncle's cooling body.
"I'll let you take the whelp and your daughter. The rest are mine," Grigori said.
"I'm afraid that won't do."
One of the dragons overhead blew a stream of fire that should've incinerated Grigori, but he only laughed. "Witches are the very best weapons, aren't they?"
Suddenly, blue lightning crackled down from the sky and struck Grigori. The image of him split in two and melted away like an ice sculpture. A layer of the magic that had been protecting him.
Another bolt struck him.
Grigori's eyes shot to where Belle stood, and he bared his teeth.
"Your daywalking daughter finally found her magic, did she? How many times do you think she can peel away my protections? Do you think she can do it before my horde takes her down?"
All the wolves that had surrounded them ran hard for Belle.
She didn't move.
The lightning kept striking Grigori, and Tirigan made no move to aid his daughter.
He knew this was his moment of truth. His choice. He had to choose in that single instant if it would be Belle or Warner.
"Go," Blake said, giving him the absolution he needed.
Parker erupted in a fury and that's when Tirigan launched himself at Grigori.
Something in Parker changed then.
He needed to be more.
Not an Alpha, like he'd previously thought, but literally, more.
Multiples. He needed to be in a hundred places at once and, suddenly, he was.
The pain was surreal, more so than then even that silver grappling hook ripping out his heart. At least that had been quick.
Every iteration of himself was another blade into some tender part of his body. But he didn't care. It didn't matter.
All of the Parkers ripped and tore, chewed and clawed through the seemingly endless bags of flesh that tried to stand between him and those he loved.
A majority of the Parkers formed a protective circle around Belle while she flung her magic at Grigori Remus and gave Tirigan the opportunity to rip out the wolf's throat.
As soon as Remus was down, the battle came to a standstill, those of the Remus pack who were left surrendering.
All of the copies of himself roared, bellowing his pain and rage to the skies.
In that instant, a battered Westwood appeared. She was bleeding, she had a black burn mark around her neck where the collar had choked her.
“It’ll be okay. Someone help me get Warner inside.”
Parker howled again, emotion overwhelming him. The other versions of himself began to turn on each other, growling and snarling and they began to pair off, fighting.
Every wound to any Parker was a wound to him.
They were going to destroy him one piece at a time.
He looked up at Belle and her eyes had gone clear and warm again. No red, no blood.
“No, Parker.”
“I can’t stop.”
“Yes, you can.”
As one tore the heart out of the other and it fell, dissipating into ash and shadow, blood began to flow from Parker’s nose.
“Godsdamn it, you stop it. Don’t you fucking leave me, Parker Woolven. You promised.” She grabbed his face. “We didn’t go through all of this for it to end here.”
He stumbled toward her. “It won’t end here. You’ll go on.”
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him so tightly, he was sure he heard one of his bones break. Which one, he wasn’t sure. Everything hurt. It didn’t matter. He wanted to feel her touch.
“I won’t let you go. You’re mine.” She put her hands on his face and suddenly the cacophony of rage and pain was silent and still.
The whole world stopped when her hands were on his face.
“And you’re mine.”
“Yes. Always. Forever.” She pressed her forehead against his. “Say it back.” Her nails dug into his shoulders, drawing blood. “Say it.”
“Always. Forever.”
But he didn’t feel always and forever. He felt… immediate. Momentary. His replicants began to fade, some of them flitting to nothing and others ramming themselves back into his body.
Holy fucking shit, if he never had to do that again, he’d be happy.
“I’ll cram each one of these back inside you myself, if I have to.”
“Warner.”
“What?” she asked.
“My uncle. Give him one.”
“No. You need them all.”
“Belle. You put life back into me, on
ce. Please, take one of these somehow, and give it to him. I can spare it.”
She swallowed hard and he heard the break in her voice. “You don’t look like you can spare it.”
“Before it’s too late.”
“I love you, Parker. I don’t know how we’ll make it work, but I love you.”
Parker crashed to his knees. “Promise. Me.”
“I promise.”
The world went dark.
Chapter 17
The first thing she did when Parker opened his eyes was slap him hard. Relief and joy flooded her.
“What the hell was that for?”
“For trying to die. For not saying you loved me.”
“I kind of thought the whole dying for you thing was declaration enough,” he grumbled. “Put your hands on my face again.”
“No.”
“What is this?”
“You’re being punished.”
“For what?”
“Almost dying. Not. Cool. Twice in one week. That’s unacceptable, Parker. I won’t tolerate this in the rest of our long, long, long lives together.”
He took her hand, and she let him, turning his cheek into her palm. He nuzzled.
“I’m not scratching behind your ears.”
“Oh, woman. There’s so much you won’t do. What will you do?”
“Love you.”
He smiled. “I like that. Say it again.”
“No. You say it.”
“I did. A whole bunch. I got tired of getting my teeth kicked in every time you reminded me this was a fake marriage.”
“Fine. I love you, Parker.”
“Aha! I got my way.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“I had no plans.” He kissed her palm. “I love you, woman. More than my own breath.”
“I guess I did know that.”
“Tell me.”
“That I love you?”
“Yeah, I want to hear that all the time. But, Warner?”
“Is in the tender care of his mate. He survived. Because you gave him that piece of your life force. I didn’t know you could do…what you did.”
“Yeah, me either. I hope it was just a freak accident and never happens again.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Parker. I might like it if you wanted to double time me.” She straddled him.
The Mate Mistake (The Woolven Secret Book 3) Page 15