by KD Jones
She caressed his cheek tenderly. “I am so sorry. All that pain just for trying to find your mate.”
“It was worth it, every bit, because I finally found her.” He kissed her eyelids, tasting her tears. “You are mine, Lila, my mate.”
“I know, I’ve always known. Just took you a while. But things are dangerous now, with Vlad here.” She looked worried.
“I promise that we will deal with Vlad and then begin our lives, together.”
“I want that very much,” Lila told him as she snuggled into his arms. “But just so you know, I will exact revenge on you for hurting me and basically being a complete ass.”
Laws chuckled as he pulled her tighter against him. “I’m looking forward to my punishment.”
Chapter 21
Lila was dreaming again. She was on her sandy beach, waiting for the sun to rise. She could smell the salty air and feel the cool breeze against her skin. It was so peaceful here. Her own sanctuary.
“Lovely place. A bit too wet for my taste,” a man’s voice called out from behind her.
She turned, thinking it would be Laws, and felt fear deep and sharp. “Vlad, how did you get here?”
He chuckled. “You are not the only natural born with the talent of dream sharing.”
This was bad. If he could get to her in her dreams, there was nowhere that was safe. “What do you want?”
“What I have always wanted … you.”
She kept her distance. She didn’t want to let him near her. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Then I guess I will have to have some fun with your newest pet until you change your mind.”
Fear overwhelmed her to the point she couldn’t move. “What are you talking about?”
“Your new lover, the wolf, I smell him all over you. You’ve had your fun, now it is my turn. Unless you want to turn yourself over to me in exchange for his life.”
“I don’t have a new lover.” She tried to deny it.
Vlad laughed evilly. “My dear, you were always a horrible liar. I am sure we’ll be seeing you later.” Then he faded away.
Wake up! Wake up! she yelled in her mind. She sprang forward in bed and looked around the room. She was alone and she couldn’t scent anyone. “Laws!” He didn’t answer her. He was … gone.
***
His wolf found a trace of Vlad’s scent close to the caves by the Strange Lake Falls waterfall. It was faint. The vampire had come in this direction, but it had been a while ago. He could be anywhere. Laws was determined to find him and kill him. It was still another two hours before the sun set. If he could find him before that, the vampire would be weakened and it would put them on a more even playing field as far as strength.
He had hoped to find him earlier in the day and call his pack for backup, but now time was running out. His wolf was with him, though, in the desire to eliminate any threat to their mate.
“Look what I found, a lost puppy,” a male voice suddenly said behind him.
He turned to find two male werewolves there, with the scent of a vampire on them. “Who are you?”
“That’s the question we were going to ask you. Who are you?” Two more werewolves stepped forward. He was now surrounded, four against one, completely outnumbered. One of them moved closer to him, sniffing his scent.
“I was just hiking. I’ll be leaving now.”
The other werewolves closed in on him. “Sorry, pup, you aren’t going anywhere. The Master wants to talk to you.”
“Master?”
“Prince Vladrinski, he says to bring you to him.”
Laws looked for a sign of bespelled silver collars, but he couldn’t find anything. “Why would you work for a vampire? Does he have something over you?”
One of the werewolves snorted. “He pays us a lot of money to guard him during the daylight.”
“I’m a werewolf, too. You’re betraying your own kind.”
“Like you are betraying your own kind? I can smell that vamp bitch all over you. Did you actually mate her? That’s fucked up, man.”
Laws growled as he tried to leap past them. One of them had a knife and managed to cut him on the side. He ignored the pain and pushed forward. He sent a mental link to Ric and the rest of the pack. He managed to make it twenty feet before a silver net was thrown over him, and then he went down in a web of burning pain. He couldn’t contact his pack with the silver on him—it blocked his powers. He was definitely in deep shit now.
Chapter 22
“No!” Lila screamed as she felt the pain of a knife going through her side. But it wasn’t her side that had been stabbed, it was Laws’. He was hurt and in pain. Then it felt like darkness surrounded her, she could no longer tell where he was.
“Mistress, are you okay?” Adrian was sitting next to her, one arm around her holding her steady. He had come over as soon as she called for him mentally. She was worried for Laws and now she knew for sure that he was in trouble.
“It’s Laws. He’s been hurt, stabbed. I think they have silver on him because I can’t connect to him at all. I’m scared for him.” Her lip trembled.
“We’ll find him. I’m just waiting for Ric. He said that Laws tried to contact him earlier through their mental link. They too got disconnected.” At that moment, the apartment door was flung open and Ric entered, followed by five other wolf pack members.
“He was near the waterfall, we need to go for him now. We can’t wait,” Ric told Adrian.
Adrian stood and headed for the door. Some of his vampires were outside waiting. “Wait!” Lila stood up to follow. “I’m coming, too.”
Adrian shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
Lila glared at him. “That is my mate out there. I am not staying here like some helpless human. I am a 2,000-year-old, pissed off Vampire Mistress. Move out of my way!” She stepped around Adrian. The other men jumped out of her way.
The wolf pack prepared to shift into their wolf forms to run through the woods. It would save them time. The vampires were fast and would be able to keep pace. She looked over at Adrian.
“The waterfalls have caves. Vlad could be anywhere, but I think I can find them.”
“If they’re using silver on Laws, you won’t be able to link to him.”
“I mean I will be able to sense Vlad.”
“If you sense Vlad, then he will sense you,” Ric pointed out.
“I know,” she said defiantly. She was going to have to be the bait. Adrian paced back and forth, hating the idea of her being in danger. “Adrian, if this was Jacqueline, would you sit back and do nothing?”
“I would turn the world upside down for her.”
“I can do no less for my mate,” she told him. Adrian finally nodded that he understood.
“Let’s go save him so you can kick his ass later.”
***
Laws was strung up by his hands. For a moment, his mind flashed back to when the hunters had him. This was similar, but he knew that he wasn’t with the hunters anymore. But he was once more a prisoner. He had to find a way to escape to protect Lila.
“How does it feel, dog, to know that you failed your woman?” Vlad asked, walking toward him with a whip in his hand.
Laws didn’t say anything. He looked around him to see every detail of the cave they were in. It looked like the other vampires and werewolves weren’t there. It was just him and Vlad.
“Where are your henchmen?”
“Don’t worry about that. They’re off making sure we don’t get interrupted.” Vlad allowed his claws to extend as he stopped right front of Laws. “Are you screamer? Let’s find out.” He swiped at Laws’ chest, leaving deep gashes.
Laws fought to keep from growling or howling in pain. “You’ll have to do better than that. I’ve been tortured by worse than you.”
Vlad looked angry when he didn’t get the response he wanted. “Do you really think that you are good enough for Lila? She is a princess, pure born. I will tear you limb from limb and feed y
our pieces to my wolves, then I will finally claim Lila as is my destiny.”
“You’re too late, Vladdy, she has already been claimed. Thoroughly.” Laws grinned at him to rub it in.
“You bloody dog!” Vlad launched himself at Laws, clawing and biting. When he pulled back, Laws could no longer stand, remaining upright only because he was hanging by his hands.
Vlad was breathing hard. He had let his anger get out of control and he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. His whole focus was on Laws. But Laws was aware that they were no longer alone. He lifted his head and felt panic. Lila was here.
Chapter 23
“Enough, Vlad. Let him go.”
Both Laws and Vlad turned their heads towards the entrance of the cave. Lila stood there like an angel, her pale skin glistening. Vlad smiled a triumphant smile.
“I knew if I held your pet, you would eventually come.”
Lila moved further into the cave. Laws wanted to shout to her to leave, but he couldn’t get his throat to work. She turned and walked deeper into the cave, toward the side. Vlad followed her. What the hell was she doing? Then movement near the entrance caught his attention. He watched as a small white wolf approached him, keeping to the shadows. It was Roxanne. She moved behind him, then shifted to her human form.
“Shh…” Roxanne whispered for him to keep quiet. He would have snorted if his throat had allowed him to. She removed the chained cuffs and his body slumped to the ground. Then she knelt next to him and worked on removing the silver collar that was keeping him from healing and using his werewolf powers. The skin of her hands burned as she fumbled, but she finally got the collar off. “Shift to your wolf so you can heal.”
Finally freed from the silver, Laws called to his wolf. It took a few seconds before his body started to contort. Finally in wolf form, his body started healing. He sniffed the air, scenting to pinpoint Lila and Vlad’s location. He had to protect her. He followed after them.
***
“I can’t believe you would let that pup touch you. You are a princess! He is beneath you,” Vlad said to her.
Lila smiled at him. “He’s my mate and the best man I know.”
“He’s not a man, he’s an animal!” Vlad was pissed now.
“Well, he certainly is all animal in bed, anyway,” Lila commented, knowing it would rile him even more.
“You belong to me!” Vlad grabbed her arms and pushed her to the ground. One minute, his body covered hers, hard and brutal; the next, Vlad’s weight was gone from her. She sat up and turned to find Laws in wolf form with his jaws around Vlad’s jugular. Vlad didn’t move, as the slightest twitch could cause the wolf’s teeth to sink into him.
“Wait!” Lila called out.
Leave us while I take care of him, Laws sent to her through their mental link.
“I have unfinished business with Vlad,” she said out loud. She stood over Vlad’s prone body. “I have dreamed of doing this for so long.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a stake. “I, Princess Lilia Drakenaska, of the Drakenaska Vampire Dynasty, pass sentence on you, Prince Vladrinski, for the murders of King and Queen Drakenaska and for killing my dear friend Anthony.” She knelt beside Vlad’s body. She didn’t look away from him as she placed the sharp point of the stake directly above his heart. “Release him,” she ordered. Laws hesitated for a moment, but then removed his teeth. As soon as he was clear, Lila shoved the stake into Vlad’s heart, a direct strike. Vlad looked at her for a moment in shock. Then his body turned to dust.
Lila breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over. She felt large hands reaching for her. She found herself pulled into the lap of her mate, her very naked mate. She looked him over and saw small scratches and bruises, but he was healing.
Lila wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t ever go off on your own like that again.”
He growled. “Don’t ever use yourself as bait again.”
“Let’s go home. I want to check you over. In detail.”
“I like the sound of that. Does that mean that I won’t have to be punished for my earlier behavior?”
“Nope, you’re still going to pay. Big time.”
“God, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
Two months after Vlad’s death, Lila and Laws had a quick mating ceremony. He had moved into the apartment with her and taken a bartending job at the club so he could work when she did. Life was starting to get back to normal.
Tonight Lila was working her hostess position at the nightclub and she was the happiest she had ever been. She glanced over at the bar and laughed as she caught sight of Laws. He glared at her and went back to getting some beers for the gaggle of girls at the bar.
“You know that is not exactly an appropriate uniform,” Adrian commented as he stood next to her watching Laws.
Lila smiled. “I know, but he owed me and I am making him pay.”
Jacqueline and Mary walked up to them laughing. “High five, girlfriend!” Jacqueline held her hand up high. Lila stared at her hand in confusion. Mary helped her by raising her arm and making her slap Jacqueline’s hand.
“That t-shirt is awesome! You picked a great revenge.”
Lila smiled and winked at Laws. “I wasn’t sure about it, but I had help picking it out.”
Laws growled as he turned his back on his mate and her friends, all staring at him. He immediately caught his reflection in the mirror and cringed. He had on a black t-shirt, which wasn’t so bad, but the front was emblazoned with the words “Team Edward” and an image of vampire teeth. He was young enough to know what this was in reference to, but he knew that Lila had gotten this idea from Jackie’s daughter Samantha.
Now he had to deal with these ridiculous girls who hung by the bar and giggled at his t-shirt. This was horrible, just horrible. But he would wear it the whole week, just as he had promised Lila. It made her smile and that was a beautiful sight. He was brought back to his task at hand when Jackie stepped up to order a drink.
“Shot of whiskey, please.” Jackie was bobbing her head and moving her shoulders to the beat of the music.
Laws nodded as he grabbed a shot glass and poured the whiskey. He leaned forward to hand the glass to her, but suddenly got a scent that made him freeze. He pulled the glass back.
“Hey, that’s my drink!” Jackie complained.
Laws took another deep inhalation and frowned. This couldn’t be right. He came around the side of the bar and stepped closer to Jackie, taking in her scent.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jackie demanded.
“You should not be drinking alcohol,” Laws told her.
“Even as a vampire, I can still eat and drink just like humans.”
“But not in your condition,” Laws told her, turning to look for Lila.
“What condition?”
“You don’t know?” he asked, confused. She shook her head. “You’re pregnant.”
“I’m what?”
“Pregnant.”
Jackie reached for the bar behind her to keep her up. Pregnant? That couldn’t be right. She was a forty-something vampire. She was past the having babies stage, way past. Surely Laws was wrong. But the expression on his concerned face looked pretty sure. Damn, she was feeling light-headed. Could vampires faint? If they could get pregnant, they sure as hell could faint. Her knees buckled. “Adrian!” she screamed as she slid to the floor. She was going to kill that man of hers.
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Excerpt for Desolation
(Warning: For mature readers only)
“Mmm . . . oh God, yes.” Her head tilted back and she felt the ice cream and chocolate slide down her throat.
“I like the sounds you make,” Liam said. He was fighting every instinct he had to take her in his arms and claim her. The sounds she was making reminded him too much of the noises he imagined she would make during sex. Every moan seemed to stroke his shaft. He moved closer, taking the spoon so that he could feed her the cake and ice cream. “Do you like that, Maggie?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want more? You have to ask me.”
“Please, give me more Liam.” Her eyes seemed to glaze over.
“Take it from me, Maggie.” Liam put a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth and leaned over to kiss her.
The flavor combination of Maggie and sweet ice cream was his undoing, and hers.
“Liam, I want more.”
Get your copy of Desolation here.
AMAZON
About the author:
She is a single working mom following her dreams of becoming a writer.
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