by Cecilia Lane
And the fae queen watched with a grin that matched any cat that ate the canary.
Rory shook her head to dispel the foul words. “No. No, that can’t be true.”
Her mother still refused to meet her gaze, but her father’s eyes glistened with wetness. “It was for the greater good, pumpkin.”
“The greater good?” she snapped. Blood pounded in her ears, rushing stronger with every remembered slight. “You cast me out when I was hours old. There was always a wall between you and me and you made that happen.”
Iona slunk down the steps and around her back. “They hurt you,” she hissed. “Betrayed you. What would their punishment be if someone else had done this thing?”
Death. Rory didn’t need to think before the answer came to her head. Harming another outside a challenge fight or in self-defense was against their laws. They had ripped her apart from her inner animal. She doubted she would ever forgive them.
But seeing them dead on her word? She couldn’t do that, especially with another voice whispering in her ear. Rory pulled back on the snarling wolf wanting to taste blood.
There were other matters to attend. Sparing her parents one last look, she locked away that pain and tried to focus on her brief happiness. Too much had already been taken from her that day. She wouldn’t lose her mate, too.
Rory half turned to meet Iona’s gaze. “Family squabbles are not important. Whatever deal you made is void. There was no murder. Let Adrien go and be on your way.”
Iona didn’t immediately answer. She made a disappointed noise then swept past Rory and back up the stairs to settle again in the Wolf King’s chair. “There was no murder… Yet.”
The fae queen snapped her fingers and Adrien rose to his feet.
Rory felt relief for a brief moment. Even her wolf quieted the snarls directed towards her parents and yipped her joy as their mate neared. Then she caught a look at Adrien’s eyes and ice swept through her veins. There was no life in them. No emotion. He acted on orders outside his control.
Rory scrambled back. He still advanced on her. The long skirts of her dress foiled her attempt to escape. Her feet caught in them and in the time it took her to untangle herself, the dragon captured her.
“Adrien, stop,” she pleaded.
His hands wrapped around her throat and tightened. Panic rose hot in her throat and coated her tongue with sourness. His dead eyes scared her almost as much is the pressure around her neck.
His hands tightened again. Rory tried to pry away his fingers with no success. She kicked at his shins and flailed when he lifted her from the floor. Her feet scuffed against the stone. Black edged into her vision.
No one moved to help her. No one could break free of Iona Moonfall’s magic.
Her wolf howled away with sorrow. They’d been apart for so long and had so few hours together. Their mate had healed them and now he would be the one to end them.
Rory would have cried if she could make noise. She was dying. And if Adrien broke free of the magic, it would kill him to know what he’d done to her.
There was so much promise in the mate bond. They had a life ahead of them. Happiness beyond description. But Iona had seen fit to destroy them.
One last touch. That was all she wanted. If she had to die, she wanted it to be as close to her mate as she could manage.
Rory reached forward and stuffed her fingers underneath Adrien’s collar. Her fingertips grazed over the scar tissue of the bite mark she left. Human teeth, as her wolf hadn’t seen fit to show herself in the real world. But the mark was hers, nonetheless.
Her palm settled over the mark and Adrien blinked.
Confusion entered his eyes first. He followed the lengths of his arms to his hands around her throat and then let go with a desperate suddenness. Panic filled his expression when she landed on the floor. She sucked in a cleansing breath and hesitantly touched her sore neck.
Disgust settled over his features as he looked from his hands to her and back again.
Triumph soared within Rory. Her mate was back!
“What are you doing?” Iona demanded. “Finish what you started!”
A low growl rose out of his throat. He reached forward and tugged Rory to her feet. Strong arms wrapped around her middle. “Never in my right mind would I harm my mate.”
His lips crashed over hers and he poured all the apology possible into the kiss. Rory accepted it freely. He had no blame. He didn’t try to hurt her. He only wanted to lift her up.
Power whirled around them. She was beginning to believe his every kiss was pure magic. Even her hair lifted with the swirl of it.
He brought her wolf out of hiding the first time their lips met and awoke her from a cursed sleep with another. He strung her out, again and again, the night of their mating. And now?
Neither of them broke the kiss, but she knew the power was spreading outward. Murmurs from the gathered crowd turned angry as the spell bewitching them all broke.
“No,” Iona screeched. “Kill them! Kill them all!”
“Enforcers, protect your princess! Protect your prince!” her father shouted.
Adrien pulled away with a growl. He shoved her behind him and lashed out with his fists at the fae guards that ran for them.
The audience chamber descended into battle. Magic filled the air, with sparks and flame unleashed as readily as sharp weapons. Conri pack members shifted from form to form and lashed out with fangs and claws. The stench of blood filled the air.
In the fray, she was torn from Adrien’s side. A hard fist wrapped in her hair and yanked her head back. “I will have what is mine,” Iona hissed.
Rory’s wolf surged forward. The need to protect herself and everyone around them became her only desire. The beast was so desperate that she didn’t allow Rory any hesitation. She simply shoved the human side out of the way and took control.
Deep red fur slid through Rory’s pores and sharp teeth filled her mouth. Her form shimmered and Iona lost her grip on the human and wasn’t fast enough to catch hold of the wolf.
She spun on four paws and leaped for the fae queen’s throat. Blood spilled over her tongue, hot and thick and surprisingly sweet. The taste in no way reflected the woman who wanted to destroy her pack and enclave and take her away from her mate. Death was the price she paid.
With a final snarl, Rory released Iona Moonfall and howled her victory to her pack. Cries rose up around her in answer and congratulations.
“Easy, wolf,” Adrien whispered in her ear. His hand stroked down the raised fur of her back. “Let the woman have her shape back. There will be time enough for you to run.”
Begrudgingly, the wolf stepped aside and Rory felt the ravages of a too-quick shift. Her joints and muscles ached like she’d run a thousand miles without stopping for a second. Adrien still stroked her hair when she lifted her eyes to meet his. Pride shined back at her.
“Hello, wolf,” he said with a slight hitch to his lips.
“Hello, mate,” she greeted back.
Chapter 12
Rory leaned against the railing and peered over the lake behind the manor. On the other shore and further outside of the enclave territory, she knew her parents were setting up their home in exile.
She still hadn’t processed everything that happened. Bits were making their way through her psyche and finding places of acceptance. It was a balancing act of letting her human side go through the emotions and giving her new wolf an opportunity to indulge in her instincts.
The beast wanted any who harmed them gone. Rory stung with the knowledge of her parents’ betrayal. While the wolf felt the sting, there wasn’t any desire to prod at the hurt. Pain was solved by getting rid of the thing that injured them.
She thought it no wonder that bitten shifters had a hard time dealing with their new primal side. The drives weren’t and were hers and she needed to figure out where one began, the other ended, and how to control her inner animal.
Rory cocked her head slightly and identifie
d the steps approaching even before her brother turned the corner. New thoughts weren’t the only benefits of her awakened animal.
“Hey, freak,” Finn said quietly and placed his forearms on the stone next to her.
“Hey, jerk,” she teased out of habit.
“Father and Mother are settled.”
Her wolf growled and her human side felt the prickle of tears she refused to shed. “Why would they do this?”
Finn frowned across the water. “Father told me a little while we escorted them into exile. Iona and her court used to live in the enclave. He thought they were gaining too much power and was working toward evicting them from the territory when you were born. Iona’s blessing was the final nail in the coffin.”
“So it was for power the entire time. They kicked her out to keep it, they cursed me to maintain it in the future.” She sighed. “I guess I’ve been holding out hope that they were tricked into cursing me.”
“No such luck. We just have extraordinarily terrible parents.” Tension tightened his shoulders. She wasn’t the only one who’d been hurt by them. Finn was handed a pack broken by deceit and given the hard job of fixing them.
Rory frowned. They’d danced around the subject a couple times since the confrontation in the audience chamber. Dealing with the fallout of their parents took priority. But with them gone, she thought it time to raise her concerns. “I was thinking about how our line is supposed to fall.”
“Don’t. It won’t happen. We stopped that bitch’s plan. No war with the dragons will burn us to ash and you’re still here to annoy the shit out of me.”
She elbowed him in the side. “It won’t be that easy. You’re going to have challengers.” Many would want to replace the head of the Conri pack. Burning out the infection, she’d heard whispered.
“I’d like to see them try.” Finn snorted. He was quiet for a moment before slashing his eyes to her. “I want you to stay.”
“Finn…”
“Rory,” he echoed. “You should be here at my side. I need someone I can trust. I need your help.”
“To rule? I never wanted power. That was never my destiny. I wasn’t raised to stay in the pack.” Pain prodded at her heart. Finn was given all the tools to lead and she’d been shunned because of the choice their parents made. She didn’t have a place in the enclave. She’d leave with Adrien as soon as she could slip away.
“Then how about my original offer? I meant what I said. I have changes I want to make. Wolfden keeps the books for a number of other enclaves. I want you to manage the money side of our business interests.”
She pressed her lips together.
Finn rushed to add, “It’d take something off my plate while I solidify my power within the pack. Or do you want me to die?”
She didn’t fall for the lopsided grin he gave her. She may have been pushed out of the enclave, but she knew how their people worked. Dangerous times were ahead for her brother. “Not fair.”
“But accurate. They’ll come for me eventually. You said so yourself. Probably nothing more than testing in the beginning. If it’s a challenge fight for pack alpha, it’ll likely be to the death.”
She chewed on her lower lip and considered what the offer meant.
Money. A pack. The remains of her family. A safe space to start her own family. It wasn’t high on her priorities at that exact moment, but it was something she wanted eventually. The world was changing at a quick pace. With humans learning the secrets that lived under their noses, a place to raise her future children away from potential harm was appealing.
If Finn survived his coming challenges and she wasn’t tossed out by a new Wolf King.
“I’ll talk it over with Adrien.” She held up a hand before Finn did more than break into a grin. “I’ll talk. No guarantees. And I want your promise that it’ll be nothing more than business. I don’t want to hold lives in the palm of my hand or have anyone nipping at my heels when they have a problem with you. I’m not playing pack games.”
“Most of that is reasonable. Maybe not the nipping. I’m definitely going to disrespect you at every opportunity.” He grabbed her hand before she could smack him in the chest. “You have my word, freak. Manage my money, make us richer than we already are, and I’ll play the pack games.”
“If Adrien agrees.”
“If your dragon agrees.” He cocked his head to the side. “You know, if I don’t have pups, yours might be in line to rule the Conris and the Bloodwings one day.”
“Nope. Not hearing it. You can stop your plotting right now, jerk.”
Teague approached and nodded to her once. His eyes didn’t quite meet hers and the smell of embarrassment lifted from him. He’d apologized for his attempt to nab her while under Iona’s spell, but hadn’t forgiven himself.
Finn bumped her shoulder and pushed away from the railing. “Duty calls. Talk it over with your dragon and let me know what you need to convince him. I want you here, Rory. I mean it. You’re part of my pack.”
Part of the pack. Rory mulled over the words as she stared at the canopy of the bed she shared with Adrien. She hadn’t brought up the subject of staying in Wolfden all afternoon and into the evening. He hadn’t pushed her after dinner, but the arched eyebrows and furrowed looks said he knew something ate at her mind.
She wanted some idea of what to say when she presented the idea of staying and so far, she didn’t know what to do.
Adrien’s hand fell over her stomach. His warm breath whispered against her neck. “Something is troubling you.” It was a statement, not a question.
Just like the first time she laid eyes on him and his words sang in her ears, her stomach flipped. He’d captivated her from the very start.
They owed each other their lives. It was another tangle to the web holding them together.
Quiet, she nodded and rolled into him to tuck her head against his chest and trail her fingers up his bare stomach.
“Is it about living here permanently?”
Rory blinked back her shock. “How did you know?”
“Your brother came to me because he was afraid you wouldn’t consider it. He also gave me a very heartfelt apology for nearly tricking me into an execution.” His deep chuckle danced over her skin. “There were also a handful of thinly-veiled threats about what would happen if I ever made you so much as cry.”
“What a jerk,” she admonished with a smile. Newly minted Wolf King or no, Finn was still her big brother.
“He wants what’s best for you.” Adrien tightened his hold on her and his voice dropped to a sexy rumble. “I’ll be the one to provide that.”
Rory’s breath caught in her throat and her fingers paused in her slow exploration of his chest. Heat circled in her center.
But he didn’t allow her the distraction. He smoothed her hair. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
So she laid out the list of pros and cons she’d been building since her conversation with Finn. Every hope and fear, no matter how small, were poured into the darkness while Adrien listened until she finished.
Her wolf ended the discussion for her with a sudden clawing at her insides. It took her a long moment to reach for the creature in her head. With the connection, the beautiful creature sent her a rush of images.
Her, in wolf form, running under the shadow of a winged creature along the shore of the lake on their lands. Her human side round with a child. Adrien’s dark locks falling over his eyes and a smile on his face. A whole host of wolves howling in celebration of the full moon rising over their lands while she and Adrien spun in a slow dance at their center.
Adrien’s hand wrapped around her wrist. The sharp scent of blood pierced the air. “Easy, wolf,” he said.
Feeling truly terrible, she spied where her claws poked through her nails and dug into his chest.
Control. That was a top concern. She was no better than a newly bitten wolf. Her wolf was hers since birth but they never had time to feel one another out and learn their limits. She
shouldn’t be trusted outside an enclave.
“Sorry,” Rory grumbled. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. Her hair shrouded around her to hide her worry. If he’d been human, how badly might she have hurt him?
The move didn’t stop her mate. His stomach flexed with his shift to upright and he brushed her hair to the side. He rubbed his knuckles over her cheek. “Your wolf is still new to you. If she would settle with more wolves around, I wouldn’t object.”
“What about your people?” He had a life outside Wolfden. He would never have stepped foot in the enclave if he hadn’t been ordered.
“They…” he paused and his mouth tightened in a hard line. “They will have their struggles. Gideon has much to sort out and I doubt my brother will make it easy for him. But you are my first and only concern, princess. I will see you have your every need attended to, regardless of where we live.”
“You mean that, don’t you?”
“You’re my mate,” he answered and it was all the answer she needed.
His kiss was hesitant at first. A warm brush of his lips against hers simmered desire in her veins. She didn’t pull away. She couldn’t force herself to put any distance between her and her mate.
Rory closed her eyes and kissed Adrien back with all the worry and anger that plagued her in the days following her cursed sleep. Changes were coming for Wolfden, more than the usual transference of power when a new alpha took control of the pack. Humans were coming, too. Danger lurked in every shadow.
But her dragon had the gift of fire. He’d burn away all the darkness and keep her safe. Not even magic or seeming death could keep them apart.
Her lips parted under his and his tongue swept into her mouth on the heels of his low growl. He tugged her, hard, spilling her over his lap and chest. Her hands roamed up his bare skin as she continued to memorize every inch of him. She wanted to know his body like her own. The long nights and stolen moments throughout the day were setting her up for success.