by Sabrina Rue
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The scent of food made Harmony turn toward the door seconds before a soft knock echoed in the silence of her ultimatum.
Walking to it, she smiled at the pair of young women bearing massive trays piled high with food.
“You’re angels. Come in.” They placed the trays on the table and nodded as they quickly turned to leave. “Thank you.”
“Anything you need, Alpha. We’re honored.” As they walked into the hall, the first girl she’d spoken to said, “Will you, I mean, can I train with you, Alpha?”
“Why would you not?”
The girl shifted her weight between her feet. “I’m full human. The Pack took me in when I was little but…I know I’m not like you, not like the full-bloods.”
“What’s your name?” Harmony asked her.
“They named me Joanna, Alpha. The other girls call me Joey.”
“How old are you?”
She wrung her hands nervously. “Seventeen.”
“You don’t have to be a Were to soothe someone afraid. You don’t have to have advanced speed or hearing to hide with a child while danger passes.”
“I don’t…the other girls say I’m weak.”
“Let’s show them how wrong they are. We start training in three days. Let Lady Redbird know I requested your presence and I’ll assist in your duties so you have the time.”
“Thank you, Alpha. Thank you so much.” She backed from the room and the door clicked shut behind her.
Returning to the table, she sat on her knees in the chair, and quickly consumed a fresh roll with butter. She was shaking from hunger.
Jax frowned. “Are you alright?”
“Burning through calories. I’m about to be very unladylike and eat one of these entire trays. By myself. Hint, hint.”
The men chuckled and it broke the strange awkwardness that had fallen over the three of them.
“Harmony?” She turned to look at Jax. “That you think of such things, that you want to have me with you, it humbles me. To me, Ryker is a brother. I can’t imagine feeling jealous or resentful of what he has with you.”
She finished chewing a bite of noodles with beef and thick gravy. “Already, you feel outside what he has with me.”
Sighing, she told them, “I’ve seen it. I’ve lived the repercussions of it. You two work it out. I’m going to focus on eating and then I’m going to go for a run to clear my head.”
Ignoring them, that was exactly what she did.
When she’d eaten more food than three humans could have consumed, she stood, kissed them both, grabbed her shoes, and left the room without a word.
With a wave to Redbird who clearly had questions on the tip of her tongue, Harmony left through the back door, tied her sneakers, and ran hard for the tree line behind the house.
She wasn’t sure how far she ran or how long but she didn’t hold back. Full speed, no boundaries, she crossed a river, ran across a highway, and up into some low hills.
A rocky ledge looked out over the immediate area and she realized she’d covered a lot more ground than she thought.
Sometimes, she zoned out to channel resources to her legs. It was a byproduct of years spent crushing down fear and weakness to gain ground against her hunters.
Staring at the setting sun, she concentrated on her sister. With every fiber of her being, rested, fully recovered, she focused on the link of awareness she’d always shared with her twin.
In her mind, she glimpsed flashes of splattered blood, Hope screaming, and the sound of a baby crying.
On a mirror in an unknown room, her sister used a marker to write, “Vengeance.” Their eyes locked in the reflection and then the connection was broken.
Stumbling back a step, Harmony let rage fill her up.
Throwing back her arms, she released a howl that carried for miles. Eyes glowing, teeth ready to rip and tear, she embraced her Wolf’s thirst for blood.
Descending the ridge, she followed her own scent pattern back to her Pack. As she leapt the river, there was a flash of sparks and a swirl of smoke.
Skidding to a stop, she faced two members of Daemon kind. A male and female. Deceptively beautiful, as all those of the Greater Kingdoms were.
She knew they were members of the Purist faction from the blood red tattoos on the back of their hands.
“Abomination…” one murmured in disgust.
“She called us to slaughter her…” whispered the other.
“Two goblins, a nymph, and now a dirty dog…”
“A good day of hunting…”
Harmony laughed. Her Wolf laughed. The Daemons in front of her didn’t laugh.
“Are you two fucking serious?”
Securing her hair with the tie on her wrist, she shook her head. “You might be creepy but you sure as fuck aren’t scary.” The female tilted her head and Harmony laughed harder. “Who’s the dog now, bitch?”
Dropping her hands, she extended her claws and teeth. “I was looking for a fight and I can’t imagine any creatures I’d love to fuck up more than child-murdering Purists. Let’s go.”
When Harmony was seven years old, her father introduced her to an old friend of his. A Daemon male who’d helped during the Pack wars to bring about peace.
Unlike the two idiot Purists in front of her, most Daemon kind were intelligent, conscientious, and fascinated by the races created – however irresponsibly – from their blood.
Every race had their share of assholes.
Titus agreed to help train a very young Harmony in a specific skill. Able to transport in an instant, he handed her a stick and told her to listen to the displacement of air right before he appeared. For hours, he appeared and disappeared around her.
Each time he’d tug her ponytail and disappear again.
She learned how to make everything quiet. The sound of her breathing, the beat of her heart, the noises around her.
Closing her eyes, she heard the air change at her left ear and brought up the stick, tapping the Daemon on the wrist.
Skipping to her father, she’d looked up and said happily, “I want to play again. Can I play again?”
Slade bent to kiss her forehead. “You can play as much as you like until dinner. We can’t be late. Your mom is making lasagna. Titus will be with us for the next week. Let’s see how good you can get at the game before he leaves.”
“I’ll get really good, Dad.” And she had.
The Daemon Purists phased out in a swirl of smoke and sparks. Silencing all the noise, Harmony heard the slight change in air pressure in front of her to the left.
Before the Daemon could reappear, she flipped, dodging the fucking sword these fuckwits used in battle.
Dropping down and bringing up her hand as the broad blade whistled past her, she ripped out the Daemon male’s throat and threw it at the female as she appeared.
It took exactly two seconds for the Daemon to understand what she was seeing. Enough time for Harmony to catapult to her back and latch her teeth into the back of the female’s neck.
Severing her spinal cord, her body dropped. Not dead but sure as fuck not going anywhere. Swallowing a mouthful of her blood, Harmony let the power of it fill her up.
If more appeared, she could vent her rage on them with a temporary boost. There would be fewer Purists to attack women and children.
Grabbing both bodies by the backs of their clothes, she dragged them behind her through the woods toward home.
Occasionally, she paused to bend and growl in the Daemon female’s face. She couldn’t move but her eyes were terrified.
In the height of bloodlust, Harmony released another howl.
Dragging her prizes through the woods, she heard something coming her way. She dropped the Daemons and prepared to greet more attackers with a blood-soaked smile.
Ryker and Jax leapt several low trees and landed within feet of her. Six of their men were right behind them. Every one of them staggered to a stop and took in the scene.
“Harmony…?” Ryker said softly.
Growling, Harmony crouched over her prey.
Her Wolf wanted them for herself. She lunged at two males who got too close, snapping her teeth.
“Down!” Jax ordered. “Everyone down!”
Eight full-blooded Were males took a knee around their female Alpha as she cleaned Daemon Purist blood from her claws.
For several minutes, she remained in a crouch, occasionally growling at her prey. Finally, she released a huff.
Kneeling over the female, she snarled. “I will keep you, separating your spine every time you heal, and use you to train my Pack on how to kill Purists. Word will spread.”
Leaning closer, she licked spicy blood from the column of the Daemon’s neck. “I am Harmony Kassis. First-born of Alpha Slade Kassis. Mate to Alpha of Texas Pack and his Second.”
Snapping her teeth in her captive’s face, Harmony growled, “I will kill as many of you as it takes until your kind feel terror at the mention of my name as the children of our kind have trembled in terror at the mention of yours. This is my vow to you.”
She looked up and met the eyes of the male closest to her. “Give me your shirt.” To another, she added, “Yours as well.”
They stripped them over their heads and tossed them to her. Harmony tied them around the heads of the Purists.
“Get them back. Place them in iron cells and bind them with iron shackles.”
“Alpha, isn’t one dead…?”
“Such injuries don’t kill Daemon kind but they do slow them the fuck down. Only iron will snuff them out and dampen their powers.” She stood and frowned. “Move quickly! They heal as you hesitate.”
Taking several steps away from her prey, her Wolf whimpered.
Head back, she breathed through it and sent another howl into the night. The Weres joined her as they hefted the Daemons over their shoulders and started back to Texas Pack.
Her Mates circled her as the others left. She watched them warily.
“Harmony.” She moved her eyes to Ryker’s. “Come back.”
Growling, she shifted her foot into a defensive position in case he attacked.
“Alpha.” Jax drew her attention. “Your Wolf was victorious.” She clicked her teeth. “Our people are safer because of you.”
“Let us wash you, Mate. Let us feed you.”
Blinking, she looked down at her clothes and saw the entire front of her was coated in blood that didn’t belong to her.
“I need their weapons.” Her voice was barely human.
“The Daemons’?” Ryker asked. She nodded. “What sort of weapons, Mate?”
Huffing, she told him, “You’ll see.”
“Will you stay here? Will you wait for us?”
“No.” Then she took off running in the direction of the place she’d been attacked. By the time her Mates caught up to her, she held the Daemons’ swords as well as the bloody chunk of flesh that was the male’s throat. “Mine.”
“Yours,” Jax agreed. “Well done.”
“Yes.”
She drove the swords into the dirt and dropped the flesh. Walking to Ryker, she raked her claws down his back through his shirt.
She whispered, “You will reward me?”
“Anything you want, Mate.”
Turning to Jax, she raked her claws over his chest. “You will reward me?”
“Happily, Alpha.”
“Alright.”
Harmony’s Wolf released full control and she dropped as bloodlust snuffed her out like a light.
* * *
Jax caught her before she hit the ground. The friends stared at each other for a long moment.
“Ryker…”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Whatever she wants.”
“Jax, she brought down two Purists alone and unarmed.”
“Really glad I yielded.”
“Uh huh.”
“Your Mate is terrifying.”
Ryker grinned. “So is yours.”
“Also, fucking hot.”
“Agreed. Let’s get her back.”
“You’re hard for her.”
“Like you’re not.”
Jax grinned. “Just confirming I’m not the only one.”
“You really have always liked shit a little crazy.”
“Keeps things interesting.”
“No doubt.”
Ryker carried the swords and Jax carried their Mate through the woods and back to the Texas Pack compound.
She wanted a reward.
Gods knew she’d damn well earned one.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A Were in bloodlust exhibited symptoms like Heat.
Harmony was the most powerful female of her kind and while her Wolf allowed her Mates to get near, she wouldn’t be placated without everything she wanted.
In a mild stasis, Harmony growled low in her throat, panting rapidly as her body temperature climbed. Her eyes were narrow slits.
Jax’s mind was in chaos. He was both a little terrified of a female who could take down two full Daemons and ragingly turned on.
He carried her into the main clearing where two dozen members of their Pack greeted them excitedly.
Ryker held up his hand when they would have approached. “Stay back. You can talk to her when she comes out of it.”
Several males whispered, “Bloodlust…”
To Jax, he said, “Take her inside. I’ll check that the men confined the prisoners properly.”
He nodded and walked quickly through the house. Placing her gently on the sofa in the master bedroom, Jax ran her a tub.
When it was full, he stripped her and lowered her into the cool water. It was instantly stained with the blood of the Daemons.
He scrubbed her thoroughly and turned on the shower as the water drained. Stripping his clothes away, he held her close as he sat on the bench.
Turning her in his arms, Jax cradled Harmony’s head against his chest. Her low growls echoed off the tile.
The sound made his balls throb with need.
He washed her hair as well as he could and made another soapy pass over her skin in the running water.
Shutting off the tap, he grabbed a couple of towels and carried her into the seating area of the master suite. He held her over his lap as he worked to wring most of the water from her hair.
She turned, straddling him, her face on his chest. Her soft, warm skin was plastered against his from her head to her knees.
His body tightened with an immediate and unmistakable response to the feel of her, the scent of her.
His Mate.
He wanted to comfort her, not take her until she couldn’t walk. Maintaining his control was critical until Ryker returned.
Harmony’s hands stroked up his sides and she nuzzled her face against his shoulder with a sigh.
Snuggling was fine. He could handle snuggling.
The heightened warmth of her body soaked deep into his bones. Harmony represented something he’d ached for since Ryker told him about her when she was sixteen.
There had never been any doubt that Ryker would choose him as her Secondary Mate. He wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with the mother of his future children.
She was so much more than he could have imagined.
Hugging her tight, he stroked his palm over her hair and down her back. She pressed closer and he kissed the top of her head.
There was a breathless huff and then, “Jax?”
“Mm-hmm?” As hard as he was, he wasn’t very eloquent.
Her fingertips kneaded his chest, moving over his shoulders and into his hair. Little prickling sensations of pleasure/pain from her small claws shot straight to his groin.
He doubted he’d ever been harder in his life.
“You smell so good, Jax. Oranges and sunshine.” There was a little hum. “I love sunshine. I could just bask in it.”
Oh shit.
“I’m glad you like it. I love the way you s
mell.” His hands stroked her gently. Soothing, relaxing.
Don’t let things get out of hand.
The bloodlust arousal in her body was pumping pheromones into the air and he wasn’t immune to it.
Reaching to the table for his phone, he dialed Ryker’s cell.
The moment his friend answered, Jax said carefully, “When you get a moment, come on back.”
There was a long silence. “Understood. She okay?” Jax hummed an affirmative. “How are you doing?”
“We’re relaxing. Aren’t we, Harmony? We’re nice and relaxed now that you’re all clean.”
Lifting her head, she stared at him. Her eyes were dilated and her low growl expressed her need.
“Ryker…you might want to hustle.”
Harmony took the phone from his hand and tossed it over the back of the couch. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rocked her clit against his cock.
She whimpered, needing more. Jax gripped her hips roughly and she growled. His nostrils flared at the scent swirling around him like oranges with spicy honey. His blood heated, his Wolf reared up in response to her need.
Flesh to flesh, face to face, he growled at her. She dug her nails into his shoulders, lifted, and impaled herself on his cock.
He gripped her hips and reached between them to circle his thumb over her clit. She was wet, slick as she worked herself on him. Her skin was flushed with bloodlust.
“Please, Jax. I need.” Her hands gripped his hair, her eyes locked with his. “Please…”
Her desperation clawed at Were instincts to protect and give to a Mate. All the things hard-coded into his DNA.
Tugging her lower lip between her sharp white teeth, she nodded. “I see your Wolf, Jax. He wants to play with me.”
“Yes,” he admitted. He’d never heard the growling hoarseness in his voice. Holding her still, her fingers deeply massaged the muscles of his shoulders as he rocked into her body.
“Don’t stop, Jax.”
Her lips moved over his face, neck, and chest as he worked her up and down his shaft. It throbbed like an open wound, her inner muscles sucking at him, trying to pull him deeper.
Buried in her wet heat, she clenched around him like a fist and bit his nipple. He growled and drove forcefully into her willing body. She lifted her face and smiled, flashing her canines.