by Dana Archer
“To make you a deal.”
“Yeah?” Killer studied the Royal but couldn’t discern anything from his neutral expression. “What’s that?”
“You promise to help me find someone, and I return you to your pack.”
His handlers wouldn’t let him go. If this male thought he could swing that deal, he was delusional. “Feral males aren’t allowed freedom.”
“Are you feral, Killer?”
The ancient male stepped closer. If Killer wanted, he could reach through the bars and rip his head off. He gripped the bars tighter and glared at the male. Being as old as he was, he’d smell a lie. Since Killer didn’t know the answer to the ancient’s question, silence was best.
The wolf Royal leaned close. His orange eyes filled Killer’s vision. “If you were, you would’ve tried to kill me by now.”
“You can find out where my little sister is…if she’s still alive.” Killer lowered his voice until the words were barely discernable. “I want her back.”
“You want to condemn her to this hellhole with you?” The ancient Royal fought a smile. “You’re crazy.”
“I promised her I’d protect her.”
“Then you need to get out of this compound. Give me your vow, and I will make it happen.”
This male offered him freedom? Killer’s heartbeat quickened. “How? That other shifter said it was time for me to die.”
“Yes or no, Killer. My time is short. It won’t take the other guards long to find your eviscerated handler.”
Killer reached inside himself, seeking his wolves’ insight. This other Royal had his own agenda, and it had nothing to do with helping him. Killer’s wolves growled. Their heads lowered, and the fur on their backs stood on end. They crouched backward, preparing to pounce and try to force a shift upon Killer. They wanted the other male’s blood.
With a hard shove, he pushed them back into the metaphysical field where they lived. They were no help. They wanted everyone’s blood. Only their pack mates deserved to be spared. If Killer was free, he could find them. Protect their women like he used to do. He focused on the male awaiting his answer. “You free me, and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Good.” The ancient Royal smiled. “Then walk out of the next match the victor, and I’ll make sure you’re freed from your living hell.”
Something about the male’s words struck him as wrong. Before Killer could question him on it, the ancient Royal turned his back on Killer and walked away. A door opened, bathing his basement prison in sunlight for a moment before closing.
Darkness descended. Silence stretched. And the screams and pleas of the males he’d killed over his years in slavery echoed in his head. They always did when he was alone. Always tormented him.
On a groan of frustration, Killer dropped his forehead to the bars. He wanted the comfort of his pack mates, if only through his memories. Without the drugs bringing them to the surface, they wouldn’t come easily.
Killer glanced at the doorway the ancient Royal had escaped through. The temptation to yell for the guards built as guilt ate at his soul. If he caused a scene, they’d be forced to restrain and drug him.
He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. He didn’t deserve the easy way out. His little sister likely hadn’t gotten one. If she was even still alive.
Chapter 23
The tension in the air grew with each step they took from Gwen. Vlad’s wolves watched Xander with increasing frustration. Every attempt Vlad had made to reopen the mental pathway between them since they were at the airport had been met with silence.
“Gwen is our true mate. You know it as well as I.”
Xander stopped walking at Vlad’s words and fisted his hands. “I know that Gwen is my true mate.”
“She’s also mine.”
Xander pivoted slowly and faced him. A calculated look slid over his features. “Then why did you ignore Gwen for years and go after her sister instead? You only decided Gwen was yours after I showed an interest in her. After I abandoned my pack to go look for her. After I held her in my arms and made her come all over my tongue. Why is that? Why wait until you know you’ve lost Gwen to decide she’s yours?”
Rage rolled off Xander. Had Vlad been another male, he likely would’ve cowered under the blast of his alpha’s anger. It only tore a low snarl from his wolves and spiked Vlad’s frustration. “I can stand here and give you excuse after excuse, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t act, and I’m thankful for that. Until a few months ago, we had no proof that a three-way mate bond was possible. Now we do. Now we can face the facts without trying to kill each other over them.”
Xander closed his eyes and breathed deeply and rhythmically, a blatant attempt to calm himself. Vlad remembered the tactic from their past.
“The Jager alpha is in a physical relationship with both of his mates.” Xander leveled a hard glare at Vlad. “Not once have I ever looked at you and experienced desire. You can’t compare their bond to ours.”
Xander wasn’t denying their connection. The shock over that floored Vlad. He set it aside and focused on the truth behind Xander’s words. Xander was confused, but he wouldn’t admit to it. Doing so would make him appear weak.
“We might not desire each other, but you can’t ignore the truth. Twice before, we’ve fought over the same woman. Now, we’re doing it all over again. There’s a reason for that.” Vlad paused, judging Xander’s reaction. Xander merely stared at him. “We’ve always shared the same true mate. Stubbornness on both our parts stopped us from reaching this conclusion before.”
Xander stepped forward, invading Vlad’s personal space, and lowered his voice to a threatening growl. “You planted ideas in Elizabeth’s head so she doubted my love for her, and you told Tabitha she was sleeping with a shifter. You hated that you lost them both to me and wanted to ruin my happiness.”
“I regret how I hurt Tabitha, but Elizabeth had a right to know why she couldn’t conceive. She was blaming herself because she couldn’t get pregnant. I refused to allow her to think there was something wrong with her. She was afraid you were going to replace her with a younger wife.”
“And because of you, they both ran from me, then died.”
“They would’ve died anyway. You had no intention of mating either of them. They were human and unbefitting of a Royal alpha.” Vlad stepped closer until they were nose to nose. “Or do you deny your own words?”
A pained look twisted Xander’s impassive features. He cursed and stormed away.
Vlad waited a moment, giving Xander the chance to get his emotions under control, then went after him. Escaping wasn’t the answer to their problems. “Don’t deny it. You never planned to mate either of them because they were human. You only wanted to enjoy the peace you found in their arms for as long as possible before they died. You wanted those years to hold you over until our true mate was rebirthed into a shifter’s body.”
Xander stopped walking a second time. “I’ve made mistakes. I don’t deny that, but I don’t plan on repeating them. In this lifetime, I will earn Gwen’s forgiveness, then soul-bond with her. Nothing is more important than ensuring I can spend eternity with my gift from the goddess.”
“What about ensuring Gwen’s happiness? Do you want that too?”
“That’s a ridiculous question. Of course I want Gwen happy.”
“Then will you do what’s necessary to complement her and bring out the strength we both know she holds, so that she feels confident leading the pack at your side?” Vlad asked the question that would set them on the crossroads. Which path they took depended on Xander. He was already mated to Gwen. If he wanted to cast Vlad out, he could. There wouldn’t be a thing Vlad could do to stop it.
“Yes.” The harshness to the single word dared Vlad to call Xander a liar. “Is this the point where you tell me exactly what she needs?”
Only if Vlad wanted Xander to shut down on him. Nobody told the alpha what to do, even the male their goddess deemed h
is equal.
Instead of responding, Vlad moved to the edge of the clearing and faced west, the customary position the chosen pack mate took when casting a new sacred circle. By tradition, the next in line to become alpha or the closest male relation held the honor, but it was fitting that they broke the ritual practice tonight. It would be the first of many, and here, in this circle they were about to cast, they’d claim their mate.
Vlad unleashed a claw and gouged a deep gash in his palm. Blood dripped onto the ground. Nothing magical happened. The wind didn’t pick up. The ground didn’t tremble. The air around them didn’t glow. Not surprising. He wasn’t alpha. Xander was, and he had to make the next move, not be told what he should do.
“Well, my alpha? Are we going to claim this land as belonging to our pack or not?”
Chapter 24
A hush settled over the area, silencing the night creatures. Xander could almost feel the anticipation of the world around him. His next move would set the path of the Winchester pack. There was only one he could take.
Xander joined Vlad at the edge of the circle and turned, facing east and pressing his back to Vlad’s, then dragged his sharpened nail across his palm. The first drip of his blood hitting the ground sent a tremor through the earth the entire pack would feel.
He reached back, holding out his hand for Vlad. “Let’s walk. I want to finish this before our pack shows up.”
Vlad grasped Xander’s hand, and energy flared between them, tying them together. Pack mate to alpha. The symbolic ritual represented the communal bond, a never-ending circle of life and the tie every member of the pack shared with the alpha and consequently to the goddess that had birthed the first Winchester.
Magic built, and the air around them hummed. Their heartbeats picked up the same rhythm. Their breaths synced.
“Why? Afraid of what they’ll think?” Vlad’s taunting question hung between them.
“Afraid, no. Regretful, yes. I should be walking this circle with Xane, not you.”
“You’ve already broken tradition by mating Gwen, but our pack will understand once they realize how much you love her. How much you respect her. That you’d do anything to make her happy. You do still want that, don’t you?”
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be here with Vlad or contemplating the reality of his pack mate’s claim to be Gwen’s true mate too. “Yes.”
“Good.” Vlad released Xander’s hand and took a step forward.
Xander did the same, following the edge of the clearing. The tugging on his chest as he cast the circle slowed his movements but strengthened his muscles, energizing him. Power rushed into him from the balls of his feet and flowed out with the blood running down his hand. The night brightened, a glow that emanated from him, from Vlad, from the blood of their pack being spilled.
The howls of his pack mates carried through the night, a chorus calling the pack home. With each haunting cry, Xander’s steps slowed more, a reaction he couldn’t stop. He craved the connection of his pack mates as much as they needed him. A warm mental caress slipped over him as they approached.
Tingles skipped across his skin. His body awakened, shaft twitching and the familiar ache settling in his balls.
He exhaled on a groan, overwhelmed by the rush of desire and the need to feel a woman’s soft, giving body convulsing around his shaft. The lust caught him off guard, but it shouldn’t have. This close to the full moon, a shifter’s primal instincts intensified. Avoiding the touch of his pack for the past few months exaggerated the needs assaulting him.
Had Gwen not been in his life, he would’ve welcomed the relief the females in his pack would offer, but his true mate awaited him. His promise they’d wait before giving in to sex dimmed the ecstasy the night ahead offered, but it didn’t kill it. He had much to teach Gwen before she became his. Or theirs, if that was indeed the will of their goddess. It was time to find out, once and for all.
The familiar scents of his pack mates drifted to him. Xane’s came first, followed by his cousins and their females, many of whom had graced his bed over his long life. There’d be shock, disbelief, and jealousy once he dismissed them in favor of Gwen. Hiding her mated status wouldn’t save her from the latter. Those shifter females who’d been vying for his favor and the chance to be his mate would hurt Gwen, emotionally if not physically.
Unless he made the consequences of upsetting Gwen perfectly clear.
The sight of Vlad approaching drew Xander’s thoughts to the ritual at hand. They had to finish the circle, sanctifying the ground and transforming it into the portal the Winchester spirit would use to connect with Xander during the next full moon.
For months, the Winchester spirit had remained dormant, unable to offer its guidance or glimpses of its lost pack mates. Xander craved those moments, if only to see his little brother Eli once more. One day, he’d get the clue they needed to rescue him.
Vlad stopped a few feet away. His blood ran freely, dripping from the ends of his fingers. It would until they clasped hands, completing the circle. Xander stopped too, mimicking him, and opened the mental pathway between them.
“I am not your enemy, Xander.”
“If I viewed you as such, you wouldn’t be here.”
Vlad inclined his head, never breaking their gaze. “Before Elizabeth, we were friends. Inseparable. We shared everything: battles, victories…women. You remember those times, don’t you? How we’d communicate just like this while we fought our enemies and pleasured our lovers? We were extensions of one another. Even our wolves accept the open pathway between us. Then and now. Do you deny it?”
“No, I do not deny it.” Xander had missed it. Craved it, even.
“Then for what we once shared, listen to me. Look into my soul. Walk through my memories. Whatever you need to do in order for you to accept the truth.”
More like confirm it. Either way, Xander would take Vlad’s offer. He wanted to understand why Vlad had ignored Gwen in this lifetime. Had he sensed the truth of their unusual bond and was reluctant to claim Gwen for himself? Or had he doubted Gwen was his?
The reasoning was as essential as the driver behind why Xander had refused to mate Elizabeth and Tabitha. Without knowing the extent of their sins against their true mate, they’d never be able to earn Gwen’s forgiveness.
With the power of the pack fueling him, Xander reached deeper into Vlad’s psyche. The wall enclosing Vlad’s soul faded, allowing Xander access. Memories assaulted him—all of Vlad on the outside, alone and bitter, as he watched first Elizabeth, then Tabitha, and finally Gwen in Xander’s arms. Finally, Vlad’s guilt over his attraction to Gwen swamped Xander. She was too young and innocent to dirty with his hungers. Hadn’t Xander thought the same thing?
Xander pulled back from the cold, dark emotions that accompanied those scenes and fought his own twisted feelings. Vlad had been right all along. They’d both fought over the same true mate.
He wanted to rage, to curse fate, to question why their pack’s spirit hadn’t clued him in to this before. None of those reactions would make up for the past.
“And what’s the truth?” Xander asked the question, even though he knew the answer. The glimpse into Vlad’s soul had spelled it out perfectly.
He wanted Vlad to ask for permission to love Gwen instead of being the one to offer up a spot in their bed to Vlad. Maybe that distinction was wrong, but his alpha nature demanded it.
Vlad moved to the spot opposite of where they’d started. “Gwen belongs to both of us.”
Xander closed the distance between them and stared at the male he’d once shared everything with. Soon they would again. The surge of anticipation unfurling within him couldn’t be squelched. Memories of past pleasurable encounters they’d shared mixed with the satisfaction he’d felt while Vlad had watched him and Gwen together.
He no longer wanted to question their bond. He wanted to explore it and experience the ecstasy such a connection could give.
It had to happen on his terms, howe
ver.
“Gwen is my mate, and as such, mating law guarantees me the right to determine who is allowed near her. That includes any shifter who claimed her as a beloved human.”
“Doing so will leave her miserable.”
Likely that was the truth, but Vlad wasn’t an expert on Gwen’s feelings any more than he was. “You don’t know what Gwen needs.”
“Neither do you. True mate or not, she’s a stranger.”
No truer words had been said, but the weight of Xane’s gaze boring into Xander reminded him of their audience and their limited time. The deal he and Vlad were hedging around had to be solidified. “You’ve allowed me into your soul, exposing yourself to me. You did not do so without a reason. Ask what you wish me to do with the knowledge you shared, or do not bring this topic up ever again.”
“Allow me to mate Gwen too.”
“And if Gwen doesn’t want that? You do remember what Lena said all those months ago, don’t you? Gwen saved her virginity for you, and you shunned her, choosing other women…choosing Lena to sleep with instead. That hurt Gwen. Deeply. I saw her pain, her confusion, her embarrassment when she spoke of you.”
“Which is why we need to work together to convince Gwen that she wants to spend eternity with both of us. With the depth of our sins against her, it’ll take a team effort to earn her forgiveness. We can do that.” Vlad grinned. “Work together to shatter her resistance. Prove to her she needs us. Make her crave what only we can give her.”
Xander snorted. He couldn’t disagree with Vlad’s statement. They could make Gwen yearn for their touch. “Yes, I know.”
Victory sparked in Vlad’s eyes. With a smile on his face, he held out his hand. “Is it a deal, then? You allow me to love her too, and together, we convince her to soul-bond with us.”
Xander glanced from Vlad’s open palm to his shit-eating grin and said the only thing he could.
“Yes. It’s a deal.” Xander grasped Vlad’s hand, sealing the circle and their deal with magic and the force of their pack.