by Alexx Andria
Table of Contents
Copyright
She felt no fear. Her
Excerpt:BOUND TO THE BEAST.
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Cassandra and Tieran find themselves facing threats from all angles in the final epic love story between two destined mates but the worst threat is the one they never see coming.
Caught in the ever-tightening web foretold by The Breeding Prophecy, Cassandra and Tieran must become as one to protect all they hold dear. Cassandra must give herself to the power of The Prophecy if she and her babies are to survive to fulfill their destiny.
THE DESTINED
(The Breeding Prophecy 6)
By Alexx Andria
Copyright 2012 by Alexx Andria
*This erotic story is intended for mature readers only. If you’re not 18 years or older, find something else to read.
The following short story of approx. 12,900 words
is an original work of fiction and the final installment of a 6-part series.
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***
She felt no fear. Her bared fangs dripped with saliva as she hungered for Ulster’s blood. Beside her Tieran, her Alpha and One True Mate, stood on all fours beside her with an identical snarl as Ulster and his clan advanced like a dark, evil force invading every crack and cranny, seeking out weakness. Cassandra and Tieran were outnumbered but stared death in the eye without flinching. Ulster would hound them until he snatched victory from their jaws and that would likely mean the death of one of her pups.
A new and frighteningly powerful emotion swept through Cassandra as she held her ground, refusing to yield in the slightest to the rival clan. I will not surrender my babies to you. I would rather die first.
Ulster’s thoughts, harsh and guttural, poked at her brain, intruding. I will take what is mine. Kill the other.
The growls echoed in the forest as Ulster’s clan closed in.
A howl ripped through the air. Tieran answered with a sharp, answering howl. Within seconds the males of Clan Barrachius appeared from within the dark canopy like one solid wall of coiled muscle and pelt to flank Cassandra and Tieran, bulking their numbers and increasing their odds of survival. he could ,C
Cassandra’s wolf lips twisted in a parody of a smile as Ulster lowered his rangy head with a growl, surveying the increased numbers. Turn tail and run, you bastard so I can run you down like the rabid dog you are.
But Ulster didn’t run. No, he’d come too far to surrender the fight. He had blood lust in his eyes fueling his brain. And his bright gaze was centered on Cassandra with obsession and wild lust.
Mine! The crazed yowl resounded in Cassandra’s brain seconds before Ulster launched straight for her, crashing into Tieran in the process. Snarls ripped through the still night air as wolves tore at one another, crunching bone and tearing sinew. Cassandra leaped into the air, landing on Ulster’s back and sinking her teeth into the scruff of his neck. His fur tasted dirty, as if he’d rolled in something disgusting and rotten only moments earlier but Cassandra didn’t let go. Her babies gave her strength above and beyond the rest of the clan and within seconds Ulster yelped as she tore out a chunk of his flesh with her sharp canines. He threw her off and she landed on the ground with a clumsy stumble, nearly losing her footing and rolling to her back. Another beast clamped his jaws around her neck, intent on snapping it, but Cassandra used her mental skills to tear into his brain, causing unrelenting pain. The beast howled and let go, dropping to the ground in agony but another took his place. Sharp teeth bit and sheared into her flesh, causing her blood to run in a thousand different places but she refused to give up or stop. Too much was on the line to give into the pain and fear. Another beast clamped onto her leg and she howled in pain as the bone threatened to crack but within seconds Cassandra sent the beast to join his brethren, writhing in agony as she shredded his mind with the power of her thoughts. She heard a pained snarl and she whirled around, afraid for Tieran but she skidded to a halt when she realized Tieran had things well in hand — or well in teeth — as Tieran tore into Ulster, the sound of breaking bones like music to her ears. Ulster deserved every moment of pain he received. She remembered the poor, abused women stuck in Clan Janus and she k>
The battle raged around them as bloody spittle and fur flew but Cassandra bristled with dangerous energy, daring anyone to take their chances. She fairly pulsed with raw power, her babies squirming in her belly, their soft kicks and pummels inside her womb felt as if they were trying to aid in the fight from the safety of their birthing sacs. Cassandra watched with grim satisfaction as Ulster gasped, his paws jerking as his lifeblood poured from Tieran’s mouth to stain the forest floor. She felt no remorse, no guilt. The old Cassandra — Cassi as she’d been known to her friends and adoptive family — would’ve recoiled at the violence, been horrified by the carnage. Cassandra felt nothing in common with the person she’d been. In fact, it seemed light years since she’d been that soft, sheltered, nerdy girl who’d been more focused on getting good grades than engaging in life. Now, she was life.
Cassandra padded over to Tieran and peered into Ulster’s eyes, catching his dying gaze. You lose. I will raise both babies as equals and they will never know about you. She pushed the thought into Ulster’s dying brain and took great pleasure in watching the light die out in his eyes. Tieran released Ulster from his powerful jaws and Ulster’s body crumpled to the ground with a soft thump. Dead.
Tieran and Cassandra surveyed the scene, growling in warning to anyone from Ulster’s clan that if they dared challenge either, they would die like their Alpha, gurgling in the ongoing series.
A scattering of yips and howls filtered through the moonlight as the battered remnants of Ulster’s clan melted into the forest, running for their lives.
Within minutes all that remained were the dead, injured, or exhausted Clan Barrachius. Victory was bittersweet.
Tieran padded over to a fallen wolf and nudged the large body with his muzzle. A whine of sadness followed. Cassandra felt Tieran’s pain as he checked the bodies littering the forest floor. Blood stained the pine needle carpet and filled the air with the scent of death.
With an anguished howl, Tieran changed from beast to man until he stood before the scene smeared in blood, both his own and others, and Cassandra followed suit.
“How many?” she asked quietly.
“Ten,” he answered, looking to the large wolves licking their wounds. “We must get them back to the compound or else that number will increase.”
“Are they able to run?”
“Doubtful and it is too far to walk in our human form.” Tieran’s grim expression told of his worry for his clan mates. He would not leave them behind. Cassandra could see his dilemma and knew what she had to do.
“I will go get help.”
“No, I will not chance that one of Ulster’s band will wait for this exact opportunity to retaliate for their fallen Alpha. I will send someone else.”
“Who?” Cassandra asked, exasperated by Tieran’s stubbornness. “Besides, it’s my fault that they are injured in the first place. Let me do this. I want to help.”
“I will not risk your safety,” Tieran disagreed, dismissing her as he walked away to discuss the situation with
one of his clan mates who wasn’t as badly injured as the others. Cassandra’s temper spiked at being relegated to the helpless female role when she was clearly the exact opposite. Cassandra growled low in her throat and Tieran’s head whipped around in surprise at her open defiance.
“For your own safety, I would suggest you stop underestimating me,” Cassandra warned before transforming back into her wolf form. The pain was fleeting as she settled into her familiar animal skin before Tieran could stop her. She bounded away from him and the clearing, easily putting distance between her and the others. She followed the scent lodged in her nose of the compound and she went unerringingly along a dizzying path, her padded feet eating up the miles as if they were mere yards.
She burst into the compound grounds and went straight for the sentries guarding the entrance. Her chest heaved from the exertion but she managed to transform into her human form to gasp the words, “We were attacked. Tieran needs help.” She projected the image of the clearing into their brains and their startled eyes told her that she’d succeeded in not only freaking them out, but also of communicating the location of their fallen clan mates.
Exhaustion from the run and the fight left her without the energy to explain further and simply limped, naked, bruised and bloody into the house to go straight to her room to collapse.
But immediate rest was not in the cards. A woman that made her hackles rise and a growl pop from her chest, though she’d never seen the woman before in her life, waylaid her on the way.
“You,” the woman breathed with sharp disappointment, the sound of that single word laced liberally with hatred and dismay. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in a waterfall of beauty that would’ve made a supermodel jealous and it certainly didn’t make Cassandra feel like a pageant queen but even as her dark eyes glittered like jewels at midnight, her heart burned with jealous heat. Cassandra sucked in a tight breath as understanding washed over her. “You weren’t supposed to come back,” the woman said tightly in a low, private voice meant only for Cassandra to hear.
“Serra,” Cassandra said. “What are you doing here?”_ iad I was
“This is my home. I was born here. You are the one who doesn’t belong,” Serra said bitterly. “Where is Tieran?”
Cassandra ignored Serra’s question, her mind moving at a frightening clip that was probably nearing delirium and knew somehow that Serra had been responsible for Ulster’s sudden appearance. “I need to rest,” Cassandra said brusquely, moving past Serra. “If Tieran wishes to see you, that’s his business. Not mine.”
“His heart belongs to me,” Serra said to Cassandra’s naked backside as she ascended the long staircase. Cassandra kept her pace and refused to react even though the hateful comment sliced at her own heart as if it were a raw-edged blade.
Iona appeared at the top of the stairs, her careworn expression focusing like a laser on Cassandra’s belly. “You have exhausted yourself and put your pups at risk,” she warned with a narrowed gaze. “Come. You must eat to replenish your strength and then bathe the blood from your skin. You stink of death and misery and that cannot be healthy for the pups.”
Cassandra was too tired to argue and too heart-sore to do more than nod in agreement. Perhaps after food and a scrub, she’d feel less ready to cry. Her warrior strength that’d filled her during battle had apparently been used up, leaving her pathetic and sad, ready to sob like a dumb girl.
Iona ran the water in the massive Jacuzzi tub and set the jets to bubbling. She wasted no time in getting Cassandra into the heated water. She sank into the bubbles with a grateful sigh, forgetting for the moment of her heartache and confusion and simply allowed Iona to scrub the filth from her body. Before too long, Iona was pulling her from the tub and wrapping her into a thick white terry cloth robe that enveloped her in warmth and security. A large, steaming plate of nearly raw meat awaited her and Cassandra began stuffing her mouth with the juicy protein. As strength returned to her body, Cassandra’s brain began to work again. She chewed and swallowed, an image of Serra in all her aching beauty intruded on her quiet moment, and she hated her. An irrational urge to smash her fist into Serra’s pretty mug was shockingly hard to ignore. She’d never been the jealous type before — not that she’d actually dated all that much but she’d always been mystified by her girlfriends who’d been the jealous types.
Now she totally got it because the knowledge that Tieran’s first love was in the house, awaiting his return, made her want to commit murder. someone else.”
“Why’d she return?” Cassandra asked Iona, hating herself for sounding so pinched and bitter but in her heart she felt cheated of the new beginning that’d just begun between she and Tieran. She’d mistakenly believed the biggest threat was Ulster. Now, she had the sinking feeling that a more insidious threat was downstairs waiting for Cassandra’s Alpha. With Serra between them, how could she hope to command Tieran’s love? “I thought she’d been asked to leave for the sake of the clan.”
“I fear Serra brings trouble with her,” Iona said, combing the snarls from Cassandra’s hair. “She arrived without notice, bursting into the house, claiming she’d seen Ulster’s band closing in on our territory. She claimed that’d she’d barely escaped with her life as she came to warn us.”
“Do you believe her? Seems coincidental, don’t you think?”
“It is not for me to say,” Iona said, shaking her head. “But I would caution you to be wary around her. She has a vicious heart and you are a threat to her. It is in our nature to challenge our rivals. She will try to find a way to put a wedge between you and Tieran.”
Iona’s warning only served to intensify Cassandra’s own fears of having Serra back.
“You have what she desperately wants,” Iona said, pointing to Cassandra’s growing belly. “Take care that she does not put her own needs before yours and your pups.”
Cassandra crossed her arms protectively around her stomach, furrowing her brow at the implication in Iona’s words. Serra was more than a threat to her and Tieran — she was a threat to the babies.
Geesh, why did everyone want to hurt her babies?
***
The minute Tieran burst through the front door, his mind centered on Cassandra and her blatant disregard for his commands as Alpha, skidded to a stuttering halt as a familiar scent washed over him. The minute the recognition hit, Serra was in his arms, sobbing her relief that he was unharmed. Her arms wound around his neck as she buried her nose against his chest and for a blinding second he was _ iad I was elated beyond measure to feel Serra against him again.
But there was a false note to the joy that he might never have recognized if he hadn’t met Cassandra and it was this realization that caused him to gently pluck Serra’s arms from his neck. “Serra,” he said, plucking her arms gently from his neck. “What are you doing here?” Serra’s wounded expression cut at him but his first thought was of Cassandra. It was then he realized Serra was wounded. Blood seeped from an angry laceration on her forearm. He gently lifted Serra’s arm. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing. All that matters is that you’re unharmed,” Serra said, attempting to pull her arm free but Tieran wouldn’t let go until she’d explained. She shrugged with a subtle motion though she winced as she answered, “I must’ve cut it when I was running to get here. I found Ulster’s band encroaching on our land and knew if I didn’t come to warn you, the clan would be in danger. I couldn’t ignore the threat to my clan. Or to you,” she added quietly.
“You are so loyal,” he said warmly, approving of her actions. “Without your warning, Cassandra and I might’ve easily been overrun by Clan Janus. Ulster brought all of his warriors and they were out for blood. Where is Cassandra?”
At the mention of his woman’s name, Serra visibly bristled and her eyes flashed with open resentment though she knew well enough to tamp it down before answering, “She mentioned needing a bath. She was covered in filth.”
“Thank you,” Tieran said, giving Se
rra’s hand a soft squeeze. “Have Iona look at your wound before it festers. I will return after I’ve checked on Cassandra. We will talk then.”
Tieran took the stairs two at a time and strode into Cassandra’s room, dismissing the women tending to her needs and closing the door behind him.
“You are unharmed?” in the ongoing series.
“Of course.”
His gaze skimmed the rounded curves barely concealed in the gauzy outfit meant to be forgiving of her expanding waistline and his gut tightened at the full, lush roundness of her body. It was as if the babies grew exponentially each day, shortening the gestational period by half of a regular pregnancy. He longed to put his hands on her belly to feel them squirm beneath the smooth silk of her skin but there was something in her eyes that kept him at a distance, which served to remind him that he needed to address her actions. “You disobeyed me,” he said.
“You will find that I will often disobey you if you insist on giving out ridiculous orders,” she retorted, not the least bit apologetic. “It made more sense for me to go for help in case Ulster’s stragglers attempted to double back. I was better at running and you were better at fighting. Seemed the most logical solution.”
Tieran paused. Put in that light, Cassandra was right but he could not abide Cassandra undermining his authority as Alpha. Yet, Cassandra also had the strength of an Alpha and she was unlike any female their species has ever seen. Under normal circumstances, he’d have to punish anyone who disobeyed a direct command from the Alpha. But his instincts warned him not to go there with Cassandra. “Your disobedience cannot be tolerated,” he bit out, growing frustration at his predicament sharpening his words. “Without a firm grasp on the hierarchy of the clan, chaos will destroy everything we’ve built over the centuries with Clan Barrachius. You are new to our ways but you must learn them if you are to teach our pups the right way.”
“Why is Serra here?” Cassandra asked, ignoring his firm reprimand and going straight for the jugular. “Did you bring her here?”