by C. R. Jane
Daxon growled like he'd had the same thought.
"I know there's something you could do, something to mask her scent. Please."
I shifted uncomfortably. The desperate tone in Wilder's voice made me stand up and take notice. I mean the whole being shot at thing had definitely made me understand this thing with my scent was serious. But the worry he was exhibiting now was frightening.
"I don't do things for free," Daria said, after an uncomfortably long pause where she stared at Wilder like she wanted to eat him.
"I'll trade a favor," Wilder immediately said.
I wasn't an expert in business by any stretch of the imagination, but it was obvious to even me that it was never good to be negotiating when it was so obvious to the other party you would do anything they asked to get what you wanted.
There was no way that I was going to let Wilder enter into a deal on my behalf.
"Wilder, we're leaving," I commanded sharply, taking a step towards him.
He turned his attention to me. "You don't know what they'll do when they catch you. You can't comprehend it. You'll be begging for death by the end. I can't let that happen to you."
"We'll figure something out. We're not making a deal with the devil over this."
"It's the only way," Wilder said determinedly.
I turned towards Daxon. "Help me! Tell him we need to leave."
Daxon eyed Wilder speculatively, a million thoughts whirling behind those hazel eyes of his. They looked even more golden than usual with our glass surroundings reflecting light all around us.
"You know what you're doing?" he finally asked Wilder.
"It's the only way."
Daxon nodded, but I'd had enough. I lunged at Wilder and grabbed his hand, trying to drag him towards where we'd come in. Every cell in my body was telling me that we needed to leave right now, that we would regret any deal with Daria for the rest of our lives.
"He's not giving you a favor," I told Daria fiercely, throwing her a look of disdain.
"I don't think that's your choice, little girl."
I gritted my teeth, a growl erupting from my own throat at the condescension in her tone.
"Although I have to agree with you, I don't think there's anything about you special enough to warrant saving."
"I'll do it," Wilder immediately said before I could respond, as if he wanted to prove just how special I really was. "But I won't have sex with you, and I won't kill anyone. And you won't do anything to Rune, but mask the new scent." Magic flickered in the air like his promise was already binding.
My stomach rolled at the thought of her even touching Wilder's spectacular body, and my wolf silently agreed.
"Trying to put stipulations on our deal when you're the one who's desperate?" she purred.
Wilder said nothing in response.
"Very well. I will agree to your terms."
She held out a delicate, smooth hand and Wilder hesitated before extending his. Power snapped in the air and a delicate, golden light surrounded their intertwined hands. After a second, the light disappeared and Wilder hastily pulled back his hand, looking a bit green as he did so.
"Let's get out of here," growled Daxon, the only way he'd communicated the entire time we'd been here.
"What's your favor?" Wilder quickly asked, and I stiffened, expecting the worst.
"Oh, I'll have to think about that," Daria said with a smile. "It's not every day you get a favor from an Alpha wolf." Her smile dropped. "Although you would think the girl was the Alpha of the two of you with how you're behaving."
The urge to lunge at her threatened to overwhelm me, but Daxon put a steadying hand on my hip, like he could read my mind.
"I'll let you know when I decide." The fairy queen gave me a wink, like we were somehow sharing some kind of inside joke.
"Mask her scent," ordered Daxon, his entire body vibrating as he eyed Daria like she was a poisonous snake that was going to pounce at any moment.
"Very well," she said with a sigh, lifting her hand and waving it sharply.
A table made of a gleaming marble material rose slowly from the floor. She smoothly got up from her throne and walked towards it like she was walking down a runway.
"Well, get on," she ordered exasperatedly as if it was a no brainer for me to jump on a random table in a fantasy realm that looked like it was used to perform sacrifices.
"Come on, little wolf. I won't bite...hard."
"That's it, I'm going to kill her," Daxon announced as Wilder moved next to us and put a restraining hand on his arm.
I hesitantly walked to the table and eyed it, my wolf snarling inside of me as if trying to warn me this wasn't a good idea.
Tell me about it.
I gave a questioning look to Daxon and Wilder, wondering if I should run for the hills.
Except...I trusted them.
The knowledge hit me solidly, burrowing in my heart and flowing through my veins. I'd trusted only a few people in my life. And all of them had betrayed me.
I just hoped that Daxon and Wilder wouldn't join those ranks.
Wilder grabbed my hands and pulled me away from the table, leaning close to my ear. "I would never have done this unless it was the only way. I...I couldn't take it if something happened to you. I wouldn't survive." I looked up into his shockingly green eyes, full of worry as he looked down at me.
"I'll do it," I murmured. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief and leaned his forehead against mine.
"Any time now," Daria barked, annoyance threaded throughout her voice. Wilder shot me a rueful grin and stepped away from me as I sighed and walked back to the table.
Daxon suddenly appeared right behind Daria, a glowing green knife pressed against her throat.
She gasped.
"Where did you get that?" Her voice was filled with horror, indignation...and fear.
"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that this beauty really likes the taste of fey blood. In fact, it was made specifically to spill it. And if you try anything while you're doing this little ritual, I will kill you."
His eyes were unhinged and wild as he held the knife to her throat. It pressed into her smooth skin, a silver drop of blood trailing down her throat as he dug it deeper. She looked desperately at Wilder, but he just watched her impassively, as if the little scene did nothing to him.
Something inside me fluttered at the sight. There was no denying I was a little fucked up...that a part of me wanted the knife to cut even deeper.
"Do you understand?" Daxon sneered.
Her lip curled up in fury, her whole body stiff as the knife continued to press even deeper. "I understand," she finally said, the words coming out halted and dangerous.
"Good," Daxon said easily as he abruptly dropped the knife and stepped away.
"Get on the table, little wolf," Daria ordered through gritted teeth.
Taking a deep breath, I tentatively jumped on the cool stone table, just wanting to get this over with before anything else happened.
I laid down and stared up at her as she leaned over me, examining me closely. "You do smell delicious," she purred, and she smiled sinisterly at me, her incisor teeth all of a sudden looking larger and sharper than before.
It was all I could do to suppress a shiver.
A corked bottle filled with what looked like glowing blue smoke appeared in front of her out of nowhere.
She popped the cork and began to shake the bottle so that the smoke trailed out in streams. It hovered above me menacingly before abruptly falling towards me and enveloping me completely.
I lifted my hand up, anxiety coursing through me as I stared at the sight of my hand and arm completely enveloped by the smoke.
Daria began to chant then, the words lilting and beautiful...and unfamiliar. The language must have been fey because I'd certainly never heard anything like it before.
My skin began to get hot, hotter and hotter until sweat beaded on my forehead and it felt like I was bei
ng boiled alive. I opened my mouth to groan in pain, but nothing came out. When I tried to move I realized my limbs were frozen in place.
Fear shot through me as I stared up at her in horror.
Her face was perfectly blank...but her eyes showed how much joy she was getting from my discomfort.
Just when I felt like my body was going to burn into ash, the heat abruptly disappeared, along with the blue smoke.
I tried to sit up, a breath of relief escaping when I was able to actually move.
I got off that table as fast as I could. She had better be done, because if not, we were going to have an incomplete ritual. I was not letting her do anything else to me.
"Is it done?" growled Daxon, grabbing me and pulling me into his arms. He buried his head into my neck and took a deep breath, the air tickling my skin.
"How do I smell?" I croaked, my insides still feeling a bit singed after whatever had just happened.
"Like you again," he groaned in delight, taking another deep inhale like I was a chocolate dessert just placed in front of him.
"The scent is still there, she just has a cloak encapsulating it around her body so that it can't be detected," Daria said sullenly.
"How long will it last?" Wilder asked, coming closer but stopping just out of reach as he looked at me yearningly.
"It would take someone with immense magical prowess to get past the spell...or even detect it in the first place," she said proudly.
"Can we get out of here?" I asked, the memory of feeling like I was being burned alive still very clear in my head.
"We'll be going now," announced Wilder, eyeing me closely to make sure I was alright.
"Aren't you going to say thank you?" she seethed, outrage seeping from her.
"You didn't do it for free," Wilder answered. It seemed a little dangerous to be that ungrateful around an all powerful fae queen, so I just hoped Wilder knew what he was doing.
"You know, Wilder. There was a time that you would have done anything for me," Daria stated throatily, a wild longing in her voice.
Wilder's cheek twitched like he was holding back what he really wanted to say and took a step closer to me, not bothering to answer her. He grabbed my hand and began to stalk away, Daxon following closely behind us.
I looked behind me as we rushed away, dread curling in my gut.
Daria was back lounging on the throne, no sign of the stone table...a look of victory all over her beautiful, perfect face like she'd gotten what she'd wanted all along.
She lifted up her hand and blew me a mocking kiss that burrowed into my skin.
It felt like a kiss of death.
The way back home was completely different from our initial journey. The land no longer held the beauty and majesty it had before. The land didn't sparkle, I took no notice of the incredible beasts flying through the air, the water wasn't crystalline.
We were all quiet and pensive, thinking over what had just occurred and the deal that had been made.
I wasn't sure of much anymore, but I was sure that we were going to regret the deal Wilder had made with Daria.
9
Wilder
I marched down the main street of town, eying the diner Rune insisted on working at for the morning shift to get her mind off everything.
How could I blame her? I needed a distraction too. A damn vacation with her away from all the danger sounded really good about now.
I paused at the door and peered in through the glass window to find her coming my way, swinging her bag over a shoulder. Fuck, just seeing her had my heart racing, my cock twitching.
Daxon was in today, watching over her. Sure, her scent might have been masked, but that didn’t mean we were free from the danger. It was nearly impossible to keep myself away, even knowing Daxon was there.
Rune emerged, the door chiming on her exit. She looked up at me with a beautiful smile when she saw me.
“Are you stalking me?” she joked, and it was refreshing to see her smile. My heart thumped faster just seeing it. It had been too long since I’d seen the joy in her eyes, the tempting smile on her lips.
“Hmm. Perhaps.”
She cut me a grin and pushed the bag higher up on her shoulder. I reached over and took it from her. “So, you admit to stalking me,” she murmured.
“If that means I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth to be with you and keep you safe, then yes, I’ll be your stalker.”
She laughed, and I reluctantly admitted to myself that it was good for her to have a few hours at work. It obviously had done her well. After our visit to the fey realm, she’d fallen quiet and barely spoke. I knew she worried about the deal I’d made with Daria. Fuck, I was worried too. Everything inside me told me I’d made a deal with a devil. But that was a problem I’d deal with personally when it happened. I refused to let that get in our way. We achieved the most important element first--masking her heat.
I leaned in and kissed her; it was hard not to when that was all I could think about all day. She tasted sweet, her scent flaring briefly as we touched. It wasn’t the usual, beautiful intoxicating smell that drove me insane though. Her usual scent was diluted, which I guess made sense seeing she had a mask on keeping her heat at bay. Didn’t change a thing about how much I fucking adored her.
She clutched my shirt, tugging me closer, the heady desire kindled with a single kiss.
She paused and looked up at me, breathless, her eyes dilated. “Let’s go back to my place.” My wolf reacted, demanding I claim her. To make her all mine...even though I knew exactly where that path would lead us. With her not accepting my bite once again.
And while I craved her more than anything else in the world, I had a different agenda for us today. “I have a better idea,” I suggested.
“Go on, I’m listening.” She fluttered her eyes, her wicked grin doing things to me. My insides clenched as I thought about how close I’d come to losing her. I would end up destroyed if I ever lost her for good.
I smirked and slid a hand down to hers, our fingers intertwined. “Come with me.” I guided her down the sidewalk along the main road, directly toward my place. Someday she’d be there with me all the time, but that I was something toward.
“I have an idea that will help us both,” I told her, and she studied me, an adorable little wrinkle on her nose as she tried to work out what I meant. I loved how curious she was.
Let’s be serious, I loved everything about her.
“Is this a guessing game?”
“Up to you. Or you can wait to find out.”
She nudged her shoulder into my side. “You’re always such a tease.” She growled and then kept herself glued to my side as we walked, like she might climb me any moment, but I noted she was working to fight the instinct.
“Babe, you have no idea.”
“Hmm.” She pondered, staring up at the sky as we strolled, and then looking at me every so often as though she'd find the answer on my face. “You’re going to have your way with me until morning?”
I burst out laughing. “That is always on my mind.” I couldn’t believe I was pushing back the offer of sex with this perfect woman.
We passed several women on the sidewalk who nodded their respect in my direction, but I didn’t miss the envious looks they offered Rune. My girl was too busy staring at me to notice though. It did something to me to see how she was so captivated in me that the rest of the world faded away. I wished everyone in the pack could see how amazingly incredible this woman was. But fear of the unknown makes the most well-intentioned person act irrationally.
If I was honest with myself though, maybe I didn’t mind that people kept away from her. I didn’t like to share her with anyone anyway.
Upon reaching my house, I took Rune inside where I set her bag down on the kitchen counter, and then grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge before leading her out into the backyard.
“Don’t tell me you want me to do yoga with you or something? I’m a runner... and that�
��s not really what I’m in the mood for.”
“I promise, what I have in mind is good for you.”
She pouted, and the look was fucking adorable.
Out in the backyard, thick branches dangled over the wooden fence from the woodlands my property backed against. The yard stretched outward, offering privacy from the neighbors. Sure, the grass was longer than it should be, but it would provide us with some cushioning. I set down the water on the verandah and turned to Rune.
She glanced up, staring at me strangely through thick lashes. My heart pounded faster. Everything about her made me soft, made me fall harder.
“I never said it before, but thank you for being my hero,” she said, holding herself still, like she was scared of the words as she said them.
Her words caught me off guard, and I swept her into my arms, our bodies crushed together, our faces inches away.
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling like a fucking pansy as I savored how good she felt in my arms. At the same time I tried to beat down the rush of guilt and desperation I felt every time I thought about her being captured. Pushing the hair out of her face, I said, “If I was your hero, you wouldn’t have been taken from me or endangered in the first place. But I can promise you that I’ll be as close to a hero as I can be for you from now on. I’ll catch you when you’re falling, I’ll kill everyone who wrongs you, and nothing is ever too much if it means fighting to keep you by my side.”
She blinked at me and a tear rolled down her cheek. Her emotions were a rollercoaster. One moment she wanted to mount me, then she cried. But I leaned in and kissed the tear away, needing to be there for her whatever she felt. Desire pulsed through me at the smallest touches, while my heart broke to see the hurt on her face at being told how much she meant to me.
I held her tight. Thoughts of taking her this very moment, stripping her, licking her all over flared through my thoughts. That wasn’t why I brought her here, and I cursed myself as I broke apart from her. But I needed to help her protect herself and that was a priority.