Show No Fear (Rising Goddess Book 1)

by Tamara White

  Alex gets the hint and leans up to clasp one in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue while his hand continues playing with the other one. He moves his free hand down between us, hovering over my stomach for a second before moving to my throbbing clit. He begins circling it gently with his thumb, taking his mouth off my nipple so he can watch me.

  My hips begin to jerk and I start to speed up my movements, slamming down on his cock as he continues to play with me, my climax so close. "Come for me, Katie. Cry out my name, just like you wanted to,” The heat in his voice sends me over the edge and I do just that. I cry out his name, my pussy trembling as he finds his own release within seconds of mine.

  I collapse forward, barely able to hold myself up. Alex rolls to the side so I can lay down. Then he pulls out of me and jumps from the bed, hurrying into the bathroom. I, on the other hand, just continue to lie here, too spent to move.

  Alex comes back a moment later with a warm washcloth and cleans me up gently. He's meticulous in his actions and when he's finished, he tosses the cloth into a hamper by his dresser.

  He presses a soft kiss to my navel before climbing back into bed. Laying down beside me, he pulls a blanket up to cover us both. Then he scoots closer, wrapping an arm around me to hold me close just as the bedroom door opens.

  "All good in here?" Kaden calls out from the doorway.

  I don't bother turning around, too exhausted to do much of anything. "Come in, Kaden. You're not in trouble anymore," I say loudly, but my voice is still slightly muffled against Alex.

  I half expected Kaden to go over to the other bed, but just a second or two after I invite him into the room, I feel the bed dip behind me and then there’s another naked body pressed against me. Kaden's arm goes around me and he buries his head in my hair, inhaling deeply. "I still can't believe you don't scent as if you’re pregnant. You hardly even smell mated," he mutters against my neck.

  I feel his cock growing hard against my ass, but try my best to ignore it. If I pretend it's not happening, then my body won't react, right?

  Instead, I offer up something I've been thinking about ever since I found out I was a reincarnated goddess. "I think the reason I don't smell different is because I have this new power within me. Genetically, I'm a wolf. But metaphysically, I'm both a goddess and a wolf. I think somehow that makes things different. It could also be why I can't shift. Why I smell different. Why I have the ability to command all wolves, not just those in my pack. At least, that’s my theory."

  Alex sighs softly. "I actually wondered about that myself. Female wolves emit a scent during pregnancy as a survival instinct. It tells the wolf's mate that he has to protect his progeny. But you're a little more unique. My guess is your children will be as well, so we probably won't scent them as anything other than human. Because for them to survive being part god or goddess, they have to be able to go unnoticed. Just like you have for most of your life."

  Huh, that actually makes a lot of sense and would explain why I register as human to most of them. It seems that only the strongest of Alphas are able to sense I am a wolf, or something more than human at least.

  "That's probably a good thing, though. If the babies are born more god than wolf, I would rather they have a more human scent to prevent them from being hunted. Then they could live their life as normal pack members, never having to fear what will happen when their true powers come forth. After all, they’ll have you to teach them and all of us to protect them," Kaden says from behind me and although I know he’s trying to reassure me, I note the worry in his tone.

  I squirm in Alex's embrace and roll onto my back, so I can easily view of both males. The worry on Kaden's face saddens me. He should be happy about the babies, not concerned about what their life will be like. "Please, don't worry about the babies. We’ll deal with whatever happens as it comes. But I need you both to know that you don't have to stay here just because I’m pregnant. If at anytime you want out, I will completely understand."

  Alex and Kaden both rise up on their elbows and look down at me intently. Kaden stares at me for a long moment, as if he can find whatever answers he's looking for by staring straight into my soul. "Katie, I don't know what’s going on in that head of yours but Alex and I are thrilled about the pregnancy. Yes, it’s not the best timing as we all still have to get through our classes, but we will be with you every step of the way."

  Alex is nodding before Kaden even finishes. "Exactly. You are our mate now, and those babies are ours, and the pack’s. We will all take care of you. We'll help you get through your classes and I'm sure that any one of those men downstairs would gladly volunteer to babysit if we're ever all busy."

  I look between the two of them, feeling a small amount of relief. But I know I still need to ask the one thing I’m most worried about. "And if I decided not to live here at the pack house? Would you be okay with moving to the house I’m to planning buy for the babies and me? Obviously, the rest of my mates may be coming with us too, as long as they’re willing, so it may take a while for me to find a house that will accommodate us all. But I just don't want our children growing up in a frat house. Especially not with all the fighting and parties that go on. Not that we have to worry about all that now, of course. We still have a few months to prepare." I ramble on, my fears and concerns getting the better of me. All I want is to know that my children will have a stable home. I just hope the guys will be willing to come too.

  Alex chuckles lightly and presses a kiss to my temple before snuggling back in beside me. "I will happily move to wherever you and the babies will be. We’ll bring it up with the pack tomorrow and we can discuss what everyone would like to do. I'm sure it would be easy enough to let most of the pack stay here, and we could just drop by from time to time to check in. On the nights of parties or any fights, we will have to have one or two of us here, but I think it could still work.

  “Now stop talking, Katie, and close your eyes. I don’t want Colby or Drew stealing you from us because we aren't letting you get to sleep."

  I roll back onto my side, snuggling into Kaden. His gray eyes soften and he presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. On my other side, Alex scoots closer, his hand moving to rest on my stomach, where he begins making lazy circles around my belly button.

  Kaden's hand comes to rest on my hip and I feel safe and protected between my two mates. Enough so that my heavy eyelids close and I drift off into a peaceful sleep.

  My eyes open to a dark room and I pant heavily from whatever nightmare I was just having. Before I can recall what it was, however, the need to pee crashes through me. Damn, I am not looking forward to these two becoming big enough to kick me in the bladder during the night. It's bad enough now without their little hands and feet poking my insides.

  I squirm free from Alex and Kaden, both of whom are still deeply asleep. I crawl over Alex, who doesn't wake, and Drew, who stirs slightly before drifting back to sleep.

  When I get up from the bed, I smile down at Drew. It wasn't long after we had gone to sleep that I was startled awake by him crawling into the bed behind Alex. When I had asked him why he was in the room with us, he just shrugged his shoulders, saying, 'I wanted to be close to you. I missed you.’

  Then he settled in and reached a hand across Alex until he too was touching me. Within moments, his breathing had evened out. I had stayed awake for a few moments longer before drifting off myself.

  Now as I stand here, looking down at my three mates all lying in one bed, I can't help but think how much I want to do this again. It felt really nice to be held by all of them. I wonder if once we’re mated, or even before then, if Colby and Bas would be willing to join us. If it feels good with just these three, then I can only imagine how great it would be with all of my mates.

  I give the bed and my mates one last lingering look before going into the bathroom. I take care of business quickly so I can climb back into bed. Once I've finished and washed my hands, I find myself staring at my reflection in the mirror. My face
looks gaunt, my normally bright blue eyes looking dull and lifeless. My skin is paler than it’s ever been and even my jet black hair looks lackluster.

  The longer I stare, the more I feel like there's something wrong. My head begins to throb and that's when I notice it, a shadow surrounds my body, the inky blackness growing somehow darker by the second.

  It reminds me of that moment in horror movies, the pure terror in the victim’s face as the monster that they never dreamed could be real rises up from the darkness to kill them.

  I open my mouth to cry for help as an excruciating pain fills my heart, but not a sound comes out. Then the shadow around my body seems to detach from me, taking the form of a man. His only distinguishing feature is his blood red eyes, which are looking at me like I am the tastiest treat he has ever encountered.

  I turn slowly to look at the specter rather than continue to stare at his reflection in the mirror, but I have to fight my body with each breath as my fear has paralyzed me to the spot.

  Panting from the effort, I lean back into the vanity, my hands gripping it tightly to keep me standing. Then, I hear a loud bang from out in the bedroom, followed by the sounds of growls.

  Yes! My mates will realize that I'm in here and come save me from whatever this thing is.

  A slight throbbing in my head is the only warning I get before a woman’s voice fills my mind.

  He is our enemy. He is death, destruction, pure evil. He is... Fear.

  How do I stop him? I ask silently, hoping she will give me answers.

  For a moment, there is only silence and I begin to lose hope. But then I hear her. You cannot stop him alone. My final act before I died was to ensure one worthy of my power would receive it. But if you want to defeat one of the old gods, you’ll need an old god of your own. Find Anger, and tell him it's time to repay his debt.

  How will I find him?

  A soft laugh sounds in my head. You don't. He will find you, dear one. Don't let him intimidate you, though. He is the fire that is anger, but at the heart of his soul, he is a good man. I hear a soft sigh in my mind and when she speaks again, her voice is filled with sorrow. This will be the last time we connect, dear one. My time in this world is over, and now it’s your time to battle the demons that plague the earth.

  Then the voice is gone, leaving me alone in my head once more, and I know that the goddess really has left me to face this monster alone.

  The sounds of fighting can still be heard out in the bedroom and while the specter doesn't do more than watch me, I know it probably won't stay that way for long. It clearly wants something, but what?

  I take a deep breath to center myself and focus on that spot where my ball of rage used to be. To my relief, I find my magic ready and waiting for me. Pulling it up with a great tug, the hold on me breaks, shattering outward at the specter like glass.

  His eyes flare bright red as it advances on me, gliding across the floor on its feet, or smoke I guess since I don’t actually see any feet.

  I straighten my spine, praying that I’m strong enough to get rid of this thing; I just need to figure out how the hell to do that. "I know who you are, and I am not afraid of you." To my relief, I actually sound confident, and just hope that the specter doesn’t see through my false bravado.

  A cruel smirk appears on its nondescript face and a shadowy hand extends from its body, reaching into my chest where my heart is.

  I scream as unimaginable pain consumes me. Frantically, I struggle to free myself from his grasp, but to no avail. It’s almost as if it the more I struggle, the stronger he becomes. My body weakens dramatically to the point I think I might just die.

  That’s when the bathroom door explodes into splinters and Colby steps into the doorway, holding a flaming sword while his body glows with a gold aura.

  Colby doesn't hesitate, moving into the room with such speed and grace that I would be in awe if I wasn’t too busy trying not to die. Then he slashes the massive sword through the specter’s form, flinging it away from me.

  The specter hisses and I drop to my knees from the overwhelming pain that consumes me as the hand is ripped from my chest.

  Colby comes to stand in front of me protectively, the sword in his hands burning even brighter. "You are not welcome here,” Colby growls out.

  The specter laughs ominously, the sound echoing off the bathroom walls. "You cannot defeat me, Guardian." Then his gaze drops to me on the floor, an evil gleam in his eyes. “And as for you, my dearest Love, well, I killed you once before. I very much look forward to doing it again." Then the specter fades into nothingness.

  Colby drops the flaming sword, but instead of hitting the ground, it too disappears into thin air. Then he turns and crouches down beside me, his eyes running over me in concern. "You okay, Katie? Did he hurt you? What about the babies?"

  I start to chuckle wildly, the reality of what just happened sinking in. "Oh, you mean are we alright after the God of Fear came to me as some kind of evil spirit and stuck his hand into my chest, intending to do God only knows what? Well, Colby, while I’m fine physically, mentally I think I may be slightly scarred. But I swear, when I am stronger, I'm going to shove my hand into Fear's heart just to see how he fucking likes it."

  Colby grins at me and then pulls me to my feet, keeping an arm around my waist as he leads me into the bedroom. I am so going to give my mates an earful for sleeping through that shit. Some protectors they are.

  At the sight of the three of my mates knocked out cold in various spots around the room and the bedroom door, which is just as destroyed as the bathroom one, I turn and glare at Colby. "Really? You knocked them out? It looks like a damn warzone in here."

  He shrugs, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. "I had no choice. I felt your need like a beacon and came as fast as I could. I knocked on the door, but they wouldn’t open it. They claimed I was just trying to steal you away for the night. It was like none of them could feel the fear and pain I was sensing from you. I warned them if they didn't let me in, I would be forced to hurt them in order to get you. They didn't believe me."

  I sigh in exasperation, not even sure how to respond to that. Without him, who knows what would have happened to me, but still, he had to beat the ever loving crap out of my mates in order to rescue me. That can’t be allowed to happen again. Drew, Kaden and Alex should have trusted Colby, or at the very least, checked on me when he told them I was in trouble.

  "I'm going to let it slide this time, Colbs, because you were right. I was hurt and needed help. Without you, something terrible could have happened to me, or to the babies. But the moment these three wake up, we're going to have a little chat about trusting each other. We won't survive Fear next time if we don't."

  Colby nods solemnly as I extract myself from his hold. I go to check on Kaden, who is closest to me, sprawled on the floor and sporting a massive black eye. As I check him over, I continuing talking to Colby. "So I'm guessing you must have some kind of magic as a Guardian in order to have a flaming sword that appears and disappears at will?"

  "Yeah, I guess I do. I don't quite know how to control it. I sense your need, and it’s like my body just summons the weapon I need in that moment. I visualize it in my head just before it appears in my hand. Hopefully with practice, I can call whatever I wish, not just whatever my magic decides on in the moment."

  "Yeah, well if you figure out how your powers work, make sure you fill me in because I have no clue how to use this goddess magic and I have a feeling I am going to need it."

  I check Kaden's heart rate to make sure it's steady before feeling for any broken ribs. Once I'm satisfied that Kaden will live, I go to Alex and repeat the process. His wounds thankfully seem to be pretty superficial, apart from the massive lump on the back of his head, though that should heal within the hour. My guess is Colby got to him first and knocked him out before any of them could react, then the other two attacked.

  I take a few steps towards Drew, but before I reach his side, he jumps to h
is feet, growling ferociously. Colby is there in an instant, scooping me into his arms and pulling me away from what he is perceiving as a threat.

  Drew's breath heaves as he glances around the room. When his gaze settles on Colby and me, he seems to relax, although there is still a fire burning in his eyes and I know he wants Colby to pay for what he did.

  Elsewhere in the room, Kaden and Alex are both starting to rouse, but Drew's glare is firmly focused on Colby. "What right do you think you have, coming in here and attacking two of your fellow pack members and your Alpha?"

  Colby meets his glare head on and sets me back on my feet, but doesn't let me go. Kaden and Alex slowly get to their feet, swaying slightly, but rather than go and help them like I want to, I stay by Colby's side showing where my support lies.

  "I was doing my damn job as Katie's Guardian! She was being attacked and might have fucking died if I hadn't broken into the bathroom when I did. As it was, that sick fuck had his hand buried in her chest, doing something to her heart. Who knows what could have happened to Katie or the babies if I hadn't knocked you pussies on your asses and gone to help her."

  I rub my chest absently, a little worried about what that shadow version of Fear might have done to my heart. Could he have poisoned me or something?

  Colby gazes down at me, his heart in his eyes. Then he looks back at Drew with a look of challenge. "Besides, you aren't my Alpha anymore, Andrew. Katie is."

  Drew narrows his eyes at that, and Kaden and Alex dart nervous glances between Colby and Drew, like they are waiting for a brawl to erupt. The tension in the room rises to the point that it’s suffocating and with it, my anger begins to build.

  "Alright, that's enough!" I turn to Colby, my eyes watering from the mix of emotions I am feeling right now. "I warned you, Colby. I will not have fighting among my mates. This pack has become my family in the time I’ve been here, but if you all keep arguing over stupid shit, none of this will ever work. If me being here is going to keep causing these fights, then I will leave. So please, for me, stop trying to antagonize them.”