Huntress Claimed

by Eva Brandt

  I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a close embrace. I couldn’t hide my arousal from her, so she tensed, but I decided to ignore it. Daimon hugged her from behind, and she was trapped between our naked bodies, unable to move a muscle. “Dark powers,” he whispered, “hear me now. Come to my aid. Bury this bond I see in fire and shadow. This, I demand.”

  “Powers of life and death, come forth,” I called out. “Let this connection wither. Let a new life spring from what was lost. This, I demand.”

  Demonic and vampiric magic were different from one another, but they did have certain things in common. Our species could both use the Lost Arts, with shadow magic being the most powerful of the tools we all had at our disposal. And so, I wasn’t surprised when, once again, our skills came together with ease. Shadow, fire, and death leapt to our aid. I felt the dark energies buzzing through me, more powerful and fierce than ever before. And I saw the exact moment when I needed to strike.

  Succumbing to my thirst, I buried my fangs in Ressa’s throat. My beautiful mate went rigid in my arms. At first, I tasted the pain in her bloodstream as my vampiric venom attacked her flesh. It only lasted for a few seconds, and then the pleasure came. After that, Daimon joined in, his demonic abilities invading her body and assaulting her mind. Ressa cried out and shook between us, confused by the sudden ecstasy she was experiencing. “Oh, God… Oh, God, please… Please, stop!”

  But we didn’t stop, because we knew we had to see this through. I could still feel her connection with the three werewolves, hidden deep within Ressa’s heart and mind. Ulysses Barnett’s anger echoed through me, vicious and fierce, poisoning the moment we were sharing. I refused to allow it. “We’ve all made our decisions, our choices, and our mistakes,” I told him. “We have to live with that now.”

  I didn’t wait for him to reply. Instead, I summoned the powers of death to my aid once again and used them to suppress the connection, just like we had promised. Ressa whimpered in pain, fear, and loss, but Daimon was there to keep her from pulling away. Her emotions were putty in his hands and his demonic abilities distracted her while we worked on her link with the shifters.

  Once I was done, I fed my satisfaction into the bite. Ressa let out another choked sob and came, her orgasm so powerful it made my heart beat faster. With the taste of her blood on my lips and the echoes of her pleasure flowing through my veins, I couldn’t control myself either. I let go, coming all over Ressa’s naked body.

  Daimon ended up jerking himself off and painting Ressa’s ass with his seed. Maybe it was out of possessiveness or maybe, like me, he just hadn’t been able to hold back any longer. In any case, the surge of his sexual energy flowed over Ressa and me, enveloping us in a cocoon of fire and lust. And at that moment, even if I’d barely touched her sexually, I felt like I was so deep inside her, buried as far into her welcoming body as I could go. She would be hot and tight inside, and her magic would make me feel so alive, suffocating the potent death energies of my birthright.

  Much too soon, it was over. I had to release my hold on Ressa’s throat and close the wound, since I couldn’t risk taking more blood than I already had. She was mentally and physically exhausted. I couldn’t push her further, not right now.

  But I would, eventually. Because as she slumped against my chest, I could feel her pulse echoing my own heartbeat. The powers of death no longer felt cold. In her, I could find true passion and freedom.

  “We’ve done it,” I told Daimon. “She’s ours.”

  “She is,” he replied. “And we’ll never let her go.”

  Maybe Ressa heard us, because a single tear flowed down her beautiful, pale cheek. I licked the crystalline drop away and picked her up in my arms. Together with Daimon, I left the ritual room and headed toward the bedchambers we’d already prepared for her.

  One day, she would leave all her mortal attachments behind. She would see that those werewolves didn’t deserve her tears. It was up to me and Daimon to make her understand that—and we would. After all, we were immortal. We had all the time in the world.

  There was just one real obstacle left in our path, one that needed to be eliminated as soon as possible. The huntress Imogen Julius would soon be banished. Once Ressa was mentally and physically prepared, we would cast Imogen beyond the Veil and resurrect my brother. And when that moment came, I’d be happy to give him back the title of Blood Count. Leading the coven was satisfying enough, but from now on, I wanted to dedicate my eternity to Ressa.

  Epilogue

  Xander

  When I woke up, the first thing I became aware of was the pain. Every muscle in my body hurt. I felt like I’d just fought a horde of demons and lost—badly. But I was alive, so that couldn’t have been it.

  I groaned and instinctively reached for my pounding head. What the fuck had happened? The last thing I remembered was going to the meeting with the other Alphas. After that, it was all a blur.

  I rubbed my chest and instinctively sought out my connection with my mates. That was when I realized what was really wrong.

  At one point while I’d been unconscious, my bond with Imogen had grown dark. The lair we’d so painstakingly built together was shrouded by thick, dark shadows, the toxic fumes making it impossible for me to reach her.

  The sight made a horrible memory flash through my mind. All of a sudden, I could see myself attacking Byron, almost killing him. I could see him lying there, bleeding out in front of me, and still trying to make me snap out of my insanity.

  Had I done this too? Had I harmed her somehow, while I’d been lost in the haze that had consumed my rational thoughts?

  I might have broken down completely, but Ulysses’s warmth was there to steady me and drag me back into myself. He reached out to me, his hand squeezing my shoulder so tightly it hurt. “Breathe. Calm down. Come on, breathe with me.”

  His words didn’t reassure me per se, but his presence was enough to anchor me. For the first time since I’d woken up, I managed to look around and focus on where I was.

  At one point after the disastrous meeting, I’d been brought to the healing chambers, back at the pack lair. Ulysses was seated by my side. He looked pale and wan, and his grim expression didn’t encourage me.

  “What happened, Ulysses? Where’s Genny? How’s Byron? Our bond… Our bond is in shambles.”

  Ulysses flinched and looked down, as if I’d physically struck him. “Byron is getting better. But our mate… I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect her.”

  As he spoke, I realized he had something in his hand. It was the necklace, the one we’d given Imogen as a sign that she belonged to us. “The demon?” I asked, feeling numb. “Did he… Did he come? How? How did he break through so easily?”

  “He didn’t. It was never just him.”

  The story Ulysses told me filled me with shock and horror. Our mate wasn’t Imogen Julius, after all. The huntress had been killed, a sacrifice meant to summon the soul of Daimon Rossi’s true mate. And for the most part, that spell had worked. We’d fallen in love and bonded with a demon, and she’d unknowingly been hurting us through our connection.

  She’d now left the pack and had willingly gone to Daimon Rossi and his new ally, Roman Popovic. They were the ones who had suppressed the bond, with her permission. And apparently, Ulysses had agreed.

  I’d never truly gotten angry with my Omega. I loved him too much, in a way only wolves ever could. But at that moment, when Ulysses made that confession, unbridled rage filled me. If he’d been anyone else and not my mate, I would have happily torn him apart.

  I threw off the blanket covering my body and shot out of the bed. “What the fuck?” I growled. “How could you just let them have her?”

  “You can blame me if you want, Xander,” he replied. “You can even hate me for it. But after she left, I knew what would happen.

  “She had to close her bond with you. The only other option was leaving you to die, to suffer the aftereffects of our connection. And that wasn’t something I
was willing to accept. She couldn’t have carried that burden either.”

  “And what if Mother Dora was lying, huh?” I snarled at him. “Did it ever occur to you to question her? Or was that too difficult for you?”

  “It occurred to me, yes,” Ulysses answered. “But I always knew something was off, and so did you. We told ourselves it was just the side-effect of the spell, but now I realize I was in denial.”

  “Denial? Ulysses, you can’t be serious. You have to see this doesn’t make any sense. She’s our soulmate. You know that as well as I do. We wouldn’t have been able to bond at all if we had been physically incompatible.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that too,” he said. “I agree that there must be a way for us to be together. But it just isn’t what we thought it would be. The werewolf claiming bond can’t sustain demonic energies. And I should have seen that.

  “I was stupid, Xander. I was stupid, and I failed you. I failed everyone here. I should have done something sooner. But I was always so afraid of this power—of the demon part of me—that when it came down to it, I chose that fear over her, over all of you.

  “But if there’s one decision I stand by, it’s telling her that none of this is her fault. I know what’s going to happen, and so do you. They’re going to use her and twist her mind and body against us. The last thing I want is for her to blame herself for it, when it’s all my fault.”

  The self-hatred in his voice snapped me out of my anger. “Ulysses, you can’t possibly think that. If anyone is to blame here, it’s that demon. He knew what was going on all along. He’s the one who cast the spell in the first place.”

  “I know,” Ulysses replied, “and I want to hate him for it. But after everything I’ve seen, everything I know now… Xander, do you realize that if he hadn’t done that, if Byron had arrived just a little sooner, our mate wouldn’t be here at all? We might have never met her.”

  The mere idea was so painful it stole the breath out of my lungs. We hadn’t been together long, but she was already so important to me. I couldn’t imagine going back to a life where she didn’t exist.

  But even so, that didn’t absolve Daimon Rossi of all his crimes. And as frustrated as I was about this, I couldn’t allow Ulysses to blame himself either. It had been stupid of me to get angry with him earlier. He would crumble under the weight of his guilt. That was unacceptable.

  “That might be true, but he still used this bond as a weapon against us, knowing full well what it would do to her. Everything is still his responsibility.”

  “I’d like to think that, but I know better, and I think that so do you.”

  I wanted to reassure him again, to give him the strength to surpass this moment. But in his own way, he had a point. It would be much too easy to blame Daimon for everything that had happened and ignore our own share of the blame.

  I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. Not all was lost. She was alive and the bond was still there. Byron was getting better. Right now, we had to focus on that.

  “We’ve made mistakes. But we’re going to move forward from this.”

  Ulysses opened his mouth, and I knew exactly what he was going to say. I knew what he was thinking, and what he wanted to do. But I couldn’t allow it, not yet, not like this. If he left now, he would never return. He would lose himself to the same madness that so often claimed other shifters who dabbled in the Lost Arts.

  “I need you to be here, with me, Ulysses,” I told him. “We need to make sure Byron is fine. And I need to know I’m not going to lose myself again and go on a rampage. We’re stronger together than apart, you know that.”

  Ulysses shook his head. “Not this time. I can’t be your Omega, Xander, not anymore. I have to leave. I promised G… Ressa that I’d find a way to free her. I won’t break my word.”

  “And I don’t want you to. But be honest. Do you think you’re really capable of venturing into learning new magic right now? It’d destroy you. We’re already on the verge of losing everything. We’ll come up with a plan together. But not like this.”

  Ulysses’s shoulders slumped. It was clear that he wasn’t happy, but he saw the sense in my words. I squeezed his shoulder, feeling utterly inadequate and missing our mate more than ever before. “Come on. Take me to Byron. I need to see him with my own eyes. I need to make sure I didn’t kill him.”

  Fortunately, Ulysses wanted to be with Byron just as much as I did. He took me to a nearby room, where we found my unconscious Beta sleeping, still in his third form.

  Seeing him like that, it was easier than ever to remember what I’d done to him and how badly I’d fucked up. Even in my madness, I should have never turned on him. I should have sensed that he was my mate. But I hadn’t, and that was something I’d have to live with for the rest of my life.

  “He’s going to be fine, Xander,” Ulysses whispered. “You stopped yourself just in time.”

  No, I hadn’t, but there was no point in starting a new argument over who was at fault in this bad situation. The only thing we could do was to move forward and fix this clusterfuck.

  We’d all made mistakes, and for that, we’d paid a dire price. But if Ulysses was right about one thing, it was the fact that our mate was still waiting for us.

  We’d find out the truth about this. We’d find out how this had been possible, and we would build our connection anew, no matter what we had to do.

  After all, Imogen might have left the necklace behind, but she’d kept the earrings.

  * * *

  Elian

  “It is done. The girl is with Daimon Rossi and Roman Popovic. Her bond with the werewolves is suppressed.”

  I acknowledged my subordinate’s report with a calm nod. “Then things are proceeding as we expected. Keep monitoring the situation, London, and let me know when there are new developments. Eventually, we’ll have to intervene.”

  “Yes, My Lord. May the High Born shine forever. ” He threw one discreet glance toward the other figure present in the room. “My Lady… With your permission, I shall take my leave.”

  “Of course, London,” Sophie replied, her lips twisting into a tiny, sad smile.

  London saluted and left my office. Once he was gone, I abandoned all pretense of composure and let out a deep sigh.

  “I’m sorry, Sophie. I realize you hate this, but it was always going to happen.”

  “I know,” she replied. “But it still hurts. I hate that in my selfishness, I’ve caused all this pain and suffering. If not for me, none of this would be happening.”

  I got up from my chair and made my way to her side. As I wrapped my arms around her, she sank into my embrace. “Maybe not,” I told her, “but the path of the world isn’t black and white. Maybe it is for the best.”

  “You’re a terrible liar, My Lord,” she said with a choked laugh, “but thank you for trying.”

  It was at times like these that I hated my nature. I was a High Born. It was my job to make sure the world endured, beyond the turmoil and tragedies caused by each individual life. I was supposed to be beyond personal weakness. But she’d changed that when she’d walked into my life. I wanted to be what she needed, and yet, I constantly found myself trapped between my duty and the woman I loved.

  I broke our embrace and stared deeply into her eyes. They were so green, like the eternal pastures of Tír na nÓg. She might have been born a human, but immortality suited her. She deserved better than comforting lies.

  “You’re right, Sophie. I am a terrible liar, at least when it comes to you. This is going to get worse before it gets better. But we always knew that. I can only promise you that I’ll do my best to protect the girl, when the time comes for her to face her destiny.”

  “Thank you, Elian. I suppose… At this point, that’s the best I can ask for. I just wonder… Was this what Zachary really wanted?”

  I didn’t want to think about Zachary Cantrell, because I was probably the one who understood him most. He had wanted to protect her, and he�
��d betrayed everything he’d ever known for her. Sophie had never recovered from their relationship, and the disastrous way it had ended. I knew she never would and I’d made my peace with the fact that I’d never be able to take his place in her heart. But I couldn’t tell her that, so instead, I said, “Sophie, don’t think about the past now. Think only about the future. Together, we can still fix this. It’ll cost us, but we’re headed in the right direction. I believe that.”

  She nodded, but I got the feeling she wasn’t convinced at all. I couldn’t blame her. How could I, when I’d knowingly turned her daughter into a weapon?

  THE END

  Thank you for reading Huntress Claimed. Subscribe to the newsletter to receive news of my future releases, prizes and giveaways. And if you liked the story, drop me a review on Amazon! It means the world to me.

  Check out my website for more details. And don’t forget to join my Facebook group for more fun stuff, cover reveals, teasers, prizes, and much more!

  FREE FOR DOWNLOAD! The Warden’s Wolf, available exclusively through my newsletter. A ruthless vampire princess and a hot as hell werewolf Alpha clash in this savage enemy-to-lovers prison romance.

  Coming Soon: Huntress Cursed

  A bond shadowed by a terrible secret. A doomed woman, fighting her own nature. Five men, enemies in the battle for her heart, allies in their struggle to protect her.

  Once, I fell in love with three werewolves. I thought we could be happy together. But it was not meant to be. The secret of my existence shattered me and separated me from my werewolf soulmates.