Dark Protector

by Katie Reus

  Emotions had been high during this investigation and the only reason things had originally sparked between them was because Aldric had gotten jealous of seeing Niko with her.

  If that hadn’t happened, she wasn’t even sure if, after the case was finished, he’d have come back to the ranch. Come back to her.

  And she needed to know that he would come for her. That she was a female worth pursuing. The not knowing would eat at her forever. She didn’t want to play games with him, and this wasn’t a game. But she had to know he’d come for her.

  Once she was packed she wrote a note, left it on his bed so he’d be sure to see it, then headed home. The last two sentences of her note made things crystal clear. It’s all or nothing with me. Make sure you know what you want. Now it was up to him.

  Chapter 20

  Aldric resisted the urge to leave Elian’s home, to go straight to Natalia. He had to finish this job. Once it was done, nothing was keeping him from her.

  It bothered him that she hadn’t returned his text, but she was dealing with a lot, had just killed someone. And he wanted to be there for her.

  He turned his phone to silent as he followed Elian to the holding cell below his mansion. The coven leader was allowing Aldric to talk to Ivonne first since he was working for the Brethren, but mainly since he’d been the one to capture her.

  It was the only reason this male would allow him to speak to the female. The rage rolling off Elian was contained, but barely.

  Elian punched in a code on the security panel when they reached the dungeon door. “We’ll be watching,” he murmured before pushing the door open.

  Aldric stepped inside, eyeing the captive female. Still in her ripped, bloodstained clothing, Ivonne’s wrists and ankles were restrained by silver manacles. The scent of her burning flesh was offensive to his senses, but he didn’t let it show as he shut the door behind him. He didn’t bother looking at the two-way mirror as he sat in the chair across from her.

  “You can talk to me or your coven leader.” He wouldn’t waste time with lies or cajoling her. “You know he’ll torture you and nothing I say will change that. Nothing I do will change that. You’ve betrayed your people.”

  “They betrayed me,” she spat, her amber eyes brightening, that hint of madness he’d seen before clear now.

  “If you didn’t want to be part of the treaty, you could have left your coven.” Nothing held her to her people. She wasn’t indentured to Elian, and a free vampire could move anywhere she chose. She had no excuse for what she’d done. Aldric didn’t think this was about the treaty, however. Not really.

  She didn’t respond to his statement and he didn’t expect her to. He wasn’t certain how hard she would be to break and he didn’t relish the idea of torturing anyone. The truth was, he’d leave that to Elian. He didn’t want any more blood on his hands.

  “If you answer my questions, you’ll receive your sentencing instead of being tortured by Elian.” A technical truth. She might be tortured after what would definitely be a death sentence, and likely by someone not Elian. No scent of a lie rolled off him.

  It was clear she understood his word games, however, when her lips curved into a sneer. “My sentencing will be torture before death. They’ll keep me alive for decades before they kill me.”

  Something told him she’d try to kill herself long before then. And that she might be successful. He could never do what the vampires did—stretch out punishments so long—but he understood why that kind of punishment needed to happen in the vampire world. “You’re probably right. But if you don’t answer my questions, everyone who has ever worked for you will die. Including their families, if they have them.” He let his words sink in, let the truth roll off him.

  He hated that it was true, that Elian would mete out a swift, brutal punishment on the chance that anyone who worked for her knew of her treachery. Vampires were such a brutal species, even more brutal than shifters. Families were off-limits to his kind, but vamps…they needed the fear inside them that if they betrayed their leaders, there was only a scorched earth policy in place.

  Aldric wasn’t certain he’d allow Elian to go that far, however. He didn’t think his brother would either. They’d intervene before that happened. But Ivonne didn’t know that. So he tried to play on whatever shred of conscience she might have.

  “You want all those deaths on your conscience? Think long and hard about all the pain and suffering you’ll cause. Is that your final legacy?”

  She didn’t respond, just watched him with an ice cold gaze.

  He gave it one more shot. “On the off chance there is an afterlife for you, do you think you’ll ever get to meet up with your first mate with all those deaths on your head?”

  Ivonne stared hard at him for a long moment, clenched and unclenched her jaw. “Ask your questions,” she rasped out.

  “You killed Leigh, your mate.”

  She nodded once.

  “Answer audibly.”

  “Yes, I killed Leigh. I never considered him my true mate though. My mate was killed by Craig Kinley,” she snarled, yanking against her chains.

  And there it was. The reason behind everything. Her admission only confirmed what he’d thought.

  The chains rattled as she strained but she would never get out of them. She had to be in incredible pain now but her rage seemed to be fueling her struggle against the bonds.

  “So Craig killed your mate? No one ever knew?” Because not even Elian had known who’d killed him. Ivonne’s mate had been a casualty of one of the pack-coven battles hundreds of years ago.

  Rage morphed to raw anguish on her face, she nodded. “Yes. I saw him murder my beloved Paulos. I held him in my arms for days.” Blood-tinged tears tracked down her face.

  Aldric felt the smallest amount of pity for the female, but didn’t allow it to show in his body language or scent.

  “That animal cut him down like a rag doll. Shredded his beautiful body. I…wanted to kill Kinley, would have if I hadn’t been wounded so badly.”

  “Why wait hundreds of years to go after him?”

  She made a scoffing sound. “He’s impossible to get to, too strong for me. I’m not stupid enough to think I could best him physically. And I didn’t want to kill him. Not right away anyway. I wanted him to suffer the way I did, to feel agony for centuries.” Her amber eyes brightened. “I was so fucking close.”

  “So what was the plan? Kill your mate and blame Constance? Why kidnap the others?”

  “Leigh was the only one who would have died…potentially. I planned to eventually let Arthur and Darius free. After Constance had been executed for killing Leigh and enough evidence pointed to her doing the same to Arthur and Darius, I would have freed them.”

  Her scent was muddied, as if she wasn’t sure what she’d have truly done with the other two males.

  “How did you keep them in those cages?” Once the doors were unlocked and opened they’d been able to walk out. But when the doors in that dungeon were closed, it was impossible for them to escape. Aldric figured it was a witch but he wanted to get every answer he could.

  “I ambushed both of them, which you must know. As for the cages, a witch spelled them for me.” She absently swiped at some of the drying tears.

  “Where’s the witch now?”

  Ivonne lifted an eyebrow. “Where do you think?”

  He didn’t respond, just watched her.

  The vampire let out a huff of annoyance. “She’s dead.”

  “How did you get Arthur to meet you?” Arthur had been certain he’d spoken on the phone to a male named Hamish, Kinley’s second-in-command.

  She lifted a shoulder, the chains rattling again. “Human technology.”

  “You recorded his voice?”

  “It’s more complicated than that, but yes. And it took a very, very long time to get all the words and right inflections from Hamish recorded. Luckily time wasn’t an issue for me.”

  Aldric was familiar with the type of
software she referred to and planned to have all her electronics ripped apart to see if she’d recorded anyone else’s voice. “How’d you get Constance’s scent all over the murder scene?”

  “When I kidnapped Darius, I took a bunch of Constance’s belongings from his house. The place stank of her.” Ivonne’s lips curved up in disgust. “All I had to do was leave her belongings on my bed and rub them against Leigh. His blood held the scent well.”

  “Did you do anything else to try to frame Constance?” He knew the answer, but needed it on record.

  “I took some of Arthur’s blood when he was unconscious, splattered it around the back of Constance’s SUV.” She said it so calmly.

  Jesus, maybe he didn’t feel sorry for her. This female was pathological. To be able to do that to her own mate and a coven member was beyond horrific. “I want all the names of everyone who knew of your treachery.”

  Turned out it was just Crystal, but he still went through every person who had ever worked for her or been to her house, and asked her specific questions to gauge if she was lying. Hours later, he was done. Elian would interrogate her himself, would have to personally talk to everyone in his coven, but that wasn’t Aldric’s concern. He had all the information he needed to officially close this case and get back to Natalia.

  He met Elian, Darius, Constance, Kinley, Arthur and Ursula in a sitting room on one of the upper levels. Most of them had witnessed his questioning via cameras in the room, but he was certain Elian and Kinley had watched from behind the two-way mirror. Their scents had been strong in the air.

  “The Brethren will want a full report from you regarding what you find out from the rest of your coven,” Aldric said, not bothering to make small talk. He wanted to be gone hours ago, wanted to get to Natalia.

  Elian nodded. “They will have it.” His voice was blade sharp.

  “What’s her sentencing?” It would be death, that much was certain, but he wanted to know what would happen to the female before then.

  Elian looked at Constance and her father. “I believe you two deserve the right to decide.”

  To Aldric’s surprise, the Alpha looked at his daughter. “She kidnapped your mate, wanted to frame you for murder and have you executed. The decision is yours.”

  Constance held Darius’s hand in hers, squeezed tight. “A quick, merciful death.” She didn’t pause in her declaration.

  The room fell silent and for the first time in ages, Aldric found himself truly surprised.

  The shifter princess lifted a shoulder. “She’s a psycho bitch, but…maybe she’ll be reunited with her first mate in the afterlife. To have that much rage and hate inside her for centuries… I think she’s suffered enough. And I don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s suffering. Not like that.”

  Darius pulled the tall female into his arms, brushed his lips over her cheek. “You’re too merciful.”

  “Maybe, but this treaty needs to go forward and I don’t want to think of her ever again.”

  Aldric moved back toward the door, opened it as the others began talking amongst themselves. These were pack-coven issues that had no bearing on him. He’d done what he’d come to do.

  Now it was time to find and claim the female he loved.

  Chapter 21

  Three days later

  Tension sharp in her shoulders, Natalia did her best to ignore it as she trekked from her Alpha’s house to hers. Her sister Gloria was in town working for a few hours, which meant she’d have the house all to herself. Sometimes that was a really good thing, and sometimes it wasn’t. Her wolf needed solitude on occasion, but right now she didn’t want to be alone.

  Three fucking days and she hadn’t heard a word from Aldric. She’d really thought—

  She froze at the sight of him sitting on her front steps. His long, muscular, jean-clad legs were stretched out in front of him and a long-sleeved T-shirt molded to all of his very delectable muscles. A duffel bag was behind him near the front door. His dark scent, the one that reminded her of a place deep in the woods that had never been touched by humans, teased her, caressed her senses.

  Annoyance and hunger for him battled inside her. Whenever she was near him she had to steel herself against the way he made her feel. She’d never experienced anything like it before.

  He immediately stood as she approached, watching her carefully as if he was afraid she might bolt.

  “When did you get in town?” she demanded.

  “Two and a half days ago.”

  She blinked and a knife slid right between her ribs. If he’d been here all this time then why the hell hadn’t he come to see her? She reached the bottom step, stood a couple feet from him. She shoved her hands in her pockets. “Kat said everything went well with the wrap-up of the investigation.” She wasn’t sure how she kept her voice civil. She didn’t want to talk about the fucking investigation. She wanted to ream him out.

  “It did. I don’t want to talk about that though.” The deep cadence of his voice was another caress over her senses as his eyes went wolf.

  Her heart rate increased being this close to him. Even thinking about him got her worked up, but being around him in person had all her senses on edge. She wanted to reach out and stroke him, touch him. And okay, she wanted to punch him a little bit too. It was a love-hate thing battling inside her. “Okay. Let’s talk.” Her voice was icy.

  Heat flared in his gaze, his hunger unmistakable. And if she’d somehow missed that, his scent intensified, letting her know how much he was affected by her.

  Her own body reacted in turn, her nipples hardening against her bra. Her wolf was going crazy, clawing her up, excited that he was finally here. Stupid biology. She cleared her throat.

  “Can we go inside?” he half-growled.

  Oh, she wanted to, but she didn’t trust herself. And she needed to know what he had to say first. There was no longer an investigation looming over them, no threat. It was just the two of them. “We can sit on the porch.” She strode up the few steps, conscious of his gaze on her and the way nerves danced in her belly at the thought of him watching, wanting. The swing creaked as she perched on the edge of it.

  “Thank you for the note.” Every line in his body tense, he didn’t sit next to her, but leaned against the front porch railing, watching her.

  “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”

  He shoved out a breath. “I’m not.”

  She hadn’t wanted to leave without telling him where she’d gone. It would have been wrong. Still, she couldn’t do just a sexual relationship or even a regular mating. She wanted everything. When she mated, it was going to be for life. “Before we were interrupted that last night, you said you’d been fighting your feelings for me since we met.”

  He nodded and she realized his claws had extended, were digging into the railing of the porch as he watched her. “I had been. I’m not anymore. I know I don’t deserve a chance with you, but I’m asking for one. I want your friendship, but I want a whole lot fucking more than just that. I can never be simply your friend. It’s impossible.”

  “What do you want?” Because yeah, she wanted—needed—it spelled out.

  His expression softened, melting her a teeny bit. “To give you everything you could ever want, to protect you, to love you.” His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, the action out of character for the huge male.

  Her heart squeezed. He was offering her everything she’d ever wanted from him. But she was afraid to really believe him. She pushed up from the swing. “How do I know you won’t freak out again and leave? How do I know I won’t come in second to your dead mate?” That was her real fear, the one she couldn’t seem to shake.

  “The first one, you won’t know. I can tell you I won’t, but showing you is the only thing I can do. And I’m not going anywhere.” He stepped forward, crowding her personal space until she had to step back to the wall. “I’m not letting you go, Natalia. You’re mine.”

  She flicked a glance to the
duffel bag, wondered about it, but didn’t comment before turning to him again. Her heart was racing out of control, a staccato beat in her chest she wished she could get under control.

  Reaching out, he cupped her jaw, the action impossibly tender. “As for coming in second? You could never come in second. To anything or anyone.”

  She wanted to lean into his touch, to rub up against him. But… “I’m not sweet and submissive!” The words were out before she could think about reining them in. And screw it—she didn’t want to hold anything back. Not with him and not about this. It was too important. She was terrified that she’d never live up to the female he’d been mated to. That later, once the lust burned out, he’d look at her and only feel regret.

  He blinked and she realized she’d surprised him. His hand slid around to cup the back of her head. “I’m…well aware that you’re not submissive. It’s one of the reasons I fell so hard for you.”

  Her shoulders eased. “Really?”

  His scent made her crazy. “I like your attitude and occasionally dirty mouth.” His gaze flicked to her lips, then moved back to her eyes, all hunger and need there. “I like that you say what’s on your mind. You don’t put up with shit from anyone, me included. But you’re wrong about one thing. You might not be submissive, but you have a very sweet, big heart.”

  Part of her wanted to shove him back, to keep a barrier between them. He was wreaking havoc on her heart and she wasn’t sure she could handle it. This male had the capability to destroy her and she was so afraid he would let her down again. But she didn’t want to be a coward, to run from something that could be amazing simply to protect herself. Because in the end, she’d lose him either way. “Why’d you wait to come see me?” She’d been in agony the last three days.

  “I…chased you here immediately, was ready to hunt you down. I didn’t trust myself around you. Didn’t trust my wolf not to simply take you away from here, to claim you in every single way without talking about it first. I wanted to fuck you until neither of us could walk, until I bound you to me with pure pleasure.”