Flames of Chaos

by Amelia Hutchins

  “On it.” Kinvara didn’t sit around. She booked it to the booth where the DJ stood watching the party with a bored look on his face.

  I stood there among the couples, awkwardly alone, turning to look at where Knox watched me with Lore at his side with a heated glare. Knox wanted me to see his date grinding against him, hoping it would piss me off. He’d wanted me to be jealous, and maybe I was a little, but I was about to remind him who the fuck I was and how much better I looked alone. He could keep his whore, and I’d stay by myself because I wasn’t afraid of being on my own.

  Chapter 41

  The music started, and I smirked as Kinvara, and the others stepped closer while the couples cleared off the dance floor. It wasn’t our song, though; it was Pop Evil’s Be Legendary. It was, however, an excellent warm-up song. My body swayed to the song, moving with my sisters as we found the beat and danced to it as if no one else watched. It fit us. In fact, it fit perfectly since we were here to learn how to take the places of our parents or those who had ruled the covenant before us. We were here to be a part of it and voice our opinions on how to make the covenant more efficient.

  Kinvara and Callista were laughing while the crowd watched us, moving as the song ended. She screamed over the music, and I reached up, letting my hair down to stop the ache the pins had caused in my head. It was perfectly timed as Rob Zombie’s Pussy Liquor started. Howls erupted in the crowd as men hollered and howled loudly, knowing that we were about to give them a show.

  Witches were notorious at parties for letting loose. It didn’t matter who watched; it wasn’t for them. It was a sensual thing we did, swaying to the music that drove us. My body swayed slowly, turning and twisting seductively to the beat. I felt sexy; I felt compelled by a deeper need by the music’s sexy beat. I was a woman, sexual, and fierce.

  My sexuality showed in every sway of my hips and every move I made as I gave in to the music and closed out the world. Men watched us as we all moved, dancing as our hands lifted, and our asses lowered slowly to the floor. My hands pushed through my hair as I slowly twisted back up, moving them into the air before I let them drop to my side as sweat beaded on my brow.

  My eyes slid open, locking with Knox’s possessive stare, I noticed the mere slits that followed every sway my hips took. He was tracking me, watching every subtle move I made as I rocked my curves, holding his gaze. My hands lifted above my head, exposing more cleavage with the V-line, and then dropped them down to run over my thighs, exposing them with the movement. I brushed my fingers over his name on my thigh before slowly twisting back up.

  He didn’t look away, and neither did I as I reminded him of what he could have had, but lost. I fucked him hard without touching him, rocking my hips, trailing the tips of my fingers over his name to be sure he was receiving the message I was sending him.

  The heat in his eyes made sweat run down my neck, and my body responded to it. I danced slower, erotically, as I imagined I was with him, moving as I needed to against his hard muscles. My eyes invited, beckoning him to me with the siren’s song that sang within my soul. My hands pushed against my breasts, heat banked in my core, and I closed my eyes against the intense stare that consumed my mind.

  Everything and everyone else faded from the room, and I parted my lips, imagining him, touching me slowly, and learning me intimately. Opening my gaze, I found him smirking at me as if he knew exactly what I’d been picturing. I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth, stopping the tremble of it as need rushed through me violently causing my core to clench achingly.

  I danced for several songs, using my body as a weapon against him, pushing myself to remain there, even though my legs burned, and sweat dripped down my spine. When the next song ended, I moved to the bar, leaning over it to grab my glass, bringing it to my nose, frowning as I caught a whiff of something in it other than scotch.

  Knox was a few seats over now; Lore was in the opposite direction, talking to a nymph. I held the glass in my hands, watching my sisters who continued to dance, now with men who had decided it was time to pick one for the night. No one approached me, and I had a feeling it was because of what Dimitri had said: Knox’s scent still lingered on my flesh, even though it should have expired by now.

  I brought the glass to my lips, turning and pouring it out beside me before I set it back on the counter. Lore noticed and frowned, staring at me before he walked over, lifting the glass to his nose, before placing it back down.

  “Someone wants you badly enough to dose you with narcotics, but after watching you dance and knowing damn well you didn’t leave one single dick limp in the place. I don’t blame them for resulting to petty tricks,” he uttered, dismissing me to move back to the nymph who gyrated and touched her breasts, unable to stop herself as sensual music filled the room.

  I turned, silently taking in the bartender before staring at the cup that still held the narcotic’s toxic scent. Knox’s date was still grinding against him, yet his eyes didn’t move from the dancefloor. The tick in his jaw beat slowly, yet it was visibly ticking away as his eyes remained on the spot I’d been dancing in. I wondered which sister he was watching since, apparently, it hadn’t been me, after all. Either that, or he had been so stunned by my moves, he’d yet to be released from the trance. I wanted to go with the second option, but with my luck, it was the first.

  Dismissing the dancers, I sat on the barstool until a growl erupted behind me. The hair on my neck rose, and I shivered at the sound. Slowly, I turned to find Fallon standing behind me; his teeth were bared while a loud growl reverberated from his chest in a challenge. Claws had extended from his hands, and the entire room had gone silent at the growling alpha and what it meant.

  “I’m sorry, Aria, but I am the alpha, and you belong with me now.”

  “Don’t do this, Fallon,” I whispered as sweat trailed down my neck.

  “You are mine!” Growling rose from his chest as he lunged at me without warning.

  I dodged the attack, moving just barely in time to escape his claws as I fell from the barstool and got back up to my feet while he prowled around me. My eyes slid to Knox, who smiled coldly, watching me without offering help.

  Thanks, asshole.

  The problem was, if I won this fight, Fallon would have to accept challenges from the other alphas in his pack. Losing a fight to a woman wasn’t something they would look kindly on, and they would see it as a weakness.

  “You can stop this still,” I begged, knowing he wouldn’t. He growled, lunging again, and I punched him hard. His head flew back as I moved around him, getting to the dance floor where I had more room to move. I was awkward in heels, but I also had no plans of going down to this bastard.

  “You will give me strong sons, Aria. Every alpha here wants you, and you will be mine first before you are theirs.”

  “I was your son’s friend, Fallon. Don’t make me fight you.”

  “He’s dead, and he is the reason why I am claiming you. I need strong heirs to hold my throne when I ascend. You will give them to me.” He lunged again, and I backed up, skirting around him easily.

  “I am a Hecate witch, I will only bare females,” I reminded, but he hissed, showing his fangs in a move alpha wolves used to scare their females into submitting without a fight. A sane bitch would cave at the elongated teeth that could shred through flesh as easily as paper.

  He attacked, and I once again moved out of the way, hating that I wore heels, making it even more challenging to move as I dodged his attacks. Fallon’s hand, sliced out, cutting through my arm, and I hissed as it burned, blood dripping down my shoulder until it slid off my fingers, hitting the floor. He smiled coldly, sensing he was winning.

  I slowed my heartbeat, watching him through narrowed slits as he began to walk me in a wide circle, trying to get me to come closer so he could take another shot at me. He opened his arms, inviting me to make a move. I wasn’t falling for it, but I could smell the other alphas closing in, waiting to see which of us prevailed.

>   It was a dance of dominance. If Fallon won, I’d be thrown onto the floor and raped by him, and after he’d finished mounting me, any alpha he found worthy could take me afterward, maybe even all the alphas. If I won, he’d be challenged for alpha and slaughtered by the ones who hadn’t earned his throne outright; by his command, it was law.

  He moved forward to grab me, and I lifted my foot, hiking it up into his nuts as hard as I could. When his face dropped, I threw an uppercut before dropping my body to a crouch, sweeping my leg out to dislodge his feet from beneath him. Fallon dropped to his stomach, and I launched myself onto him, landing on his back before I ripped the shirt away from his shoulder and sank my teeth into it as deep as I could, scraping against the bone. He bucked, refusing to submit even though he had to be in excruciating pain.

  His howl filled the room, turning from angry to plaintive cries. My claws sank into his sides, demanding he submit to my bite as blood dripped from the wound around my mouth. I bit into his shoulder harder, pushing my razor-sharp claws deeper, snarling around the meat I had in my mouth. I rattled loudly, sensing the room as my power filled it while I held him down.

  Fallon whined, whimpering as his hips started to pump against the floor violently. He succumbed to my demand to yield and submit. I smiled around the mouthful of flesh I had, relishing his submission as something within me preened and rattled loudly.

  My eyes lifted from the floor, staring at the other alphas, who gazed at me in lust and something else. Intrigue? Intrigue that a female who wasn’t an alpha wolf, because I’d taken theirs down, sealing his demise with the bite of one stronger than him. I rattled in warning against the other alphas testing me.

  Watching them, Knox stood from his chair, pushing his date away as one of the alphas stepped toward me, pushing his hand into his pants, whining as he observed me. Fallon continued moving his hips against the floor, whining until the scent of semen filled the air, and I recoiled from what I had done, releasing his shoulder. I pushed away from him, staring at the mutilated shoulder that exposed the bone from where I’d ripped it apart.

  Chapter 42

  I stood up on shaky legs, watching as the other alpha wolves moved forward as a joined pack while Knox and his men moved to intervene. I rattled my chest violently, baring my bloodied mouth to them until they stepped back. Knox watched me, his gaze filling with something akin to dark lust as a smile curved his lips. His rattle echoed mine, and the pack turned, staring at him before sliding their gazes back to me. His eyes told me he’d known I wouldn’t lose the fight, but he couldn’t have known the outcome.

  I stepped back, wiping the blood from my mouth as angry tears filled my eyes. I’d taken down the leader of the alpha pack, and I’d done it easily. I lifted my hands, staring at the claws that had pierced my fingers; they were razor-sharp and mirrored talons, and I had pushed them into Fallon’s flesh like a hot blade cutting through butter. The rattle in my chest filled the room, echoing as Knox’s sounded as if he sought to calm me.

  Spinning around, I stared at my sisters, watching the horror that played out on their faces as they took in my bloodied mouth and hands. I backed up slowly, staring at each one that gaped at me before stepping back as if they feared what I was. Mouths opened and closed as if they searched for something to say—but I didn’t wait to hear the judgment or horror.

  I started for the stairs, rushing from the room as the sound of alpha’s tearing into Fallon filled the air. I felt on fire as if, at any moment, I’d erupt and implode. Wet screams tore through the room as I rushed out the doors into the cool evening air, not stopping until I was at the creek, diving into the water as everything within me erupted.

  Beneath the water, I watched the bubbles rising as the water begun blistering around me. I didn’t leave the depths until my lungs burned and forced me to the surface as a scream ripped from my lungs. My chest rattled with the screams, causing my entire body to tremble violently as if the thing within me felt my pain and cried out with me. I clapped my ears over the rattling noise that thumped up from my chest. It was violent, raw, and horrifying as it filled the night with my pain. I didn’t stop until the trees felt the rattle from within me, staring at the moon as I shook in horror at what I was becoming. Steam rose around me, and a sob tore from my throat.

  I was a monster.

  I wasn’t safe to be around my family.

  I screamed until my lungs ached, and tears rolled down my face as sobs rocked through me. I slapped the water, hating everything that had happened since we’d come back to this town. My screaming ebbed, and I exhaled, sucking air into my burning lungs as tears slid down my cheeks.

  My dress floated on the surface of the water that bubbled around me. I held my hair, closing my eyes as everything inside of me started to become too much to bear. I could still hear the alphas relishing the kill of one of their own. The howls of victory ignited, filling the night as they signaled Fallon had succumbed to another alpha who had claimed his position.

  Rattling started around me, and I turned, finding Knox and his men watching as they set up a perimeter around me, and I wasn’t sure if they did so for my protection, or for the safety of others. My sisters stood with my aunt, watching my mental breakdown playout.

  Music started, and I turned, listening to Breaking Benjamin’s Ashes of Eden. Luna stood on the balcony, staring down at me as she cradled her stomach with her hands. I shook my head as everyone remained silent. Water splashed, and I knew without looking that Knox had entered the creek and stood behind me, close enough that his power slid over my flesh.

  If I moved, he would subdue me because he was something bigger than I was. I knew because I carried his mark on my flesh. I had felt it in the alphas’ house, the beast within me had known right where he was through the entire fight. The entire night, I’d felt him on a deeper level than I could understand.

  Someone rushed through the backyard, stopping at the edge of the water, and I lifted my gaze to Dimitri. His blue stare took in the sodden dress that clung to my curves, exposing the marking on my shoulder, where Knox had bitten me when I’d been incoherent, and a monster had been leading my body around.

  “Are you okay?” Dimitri asked softly.

  I didn’t look away from him as he stood there, covered in blood and other body fluids from the wolf’s celebration of their slaughtered alpha. It covered his mouth, along with his claws. My own claws had mirrored his, and yet I wasn’t like him. I was something strong enough to subdue a high-born alpha.

  The man who had dominated an entire pack of alphas violently had fallen to my fangs. I’d made him look weak like he was beneath me as he’d gyrated into the floor until he’d come on it from the intensity of my bite. My beast had made his submit in the most basic form. I’d violated him.

  “Dimitri,” I whispered through tears as I searched for the words I needed to say.

  “He’d have raped you, Aria. He’d have thrown you down and taken you by force and then let us all have a turn when he’d finished with you. It’s a tradition he ensured remained from the Nine Realms.”

  “I made him…” I couldn’t say the words past the lump in my throat.

  “You dominated him, and you saved yourself. No woman has ever dominated the head alpha, but you did tonight.”

  “You need to leave, little boy,” Knox hissed behind me as his mouth brushed against my shoulder, touching his bite. Hatred dripping in his tone made a shiver race through me.

  “I’ll leave in a minute.”

  “You’ll leave now. I am the King of Haven Falls and I just gave you a fucking order,” Knox warned barely above a whisper, which was definitely a threat.

  “You may be the king, but Aria isn’t your queen, now is she?”

  “Who is the new alpha?” I asked, interrupting them to end the argument.

  “I am. You’re not to be touched or hunted by the alpha pack, sweet girl. I have issued a warning for anyone stupid enough to try for you. Normally, you’d become a challenge we craved
, but I forbid it tonight when I took the throne. I just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

  “I am,” I said what he needed to hear, even though I was anything but okay.

  “Leave, I won’t ask again,” Knox growled, and his men turned from their posts, waiting for the order to kill the new alpha.

  I could see the intent in their posture. The way their heads tilted down, hiding the fangs I sensed had exploded from their gums. Knox grabbed me, pulling me against him as his lips brushed my shoulder, where his bite was no longer covered by the makeup I’d applied to conceal the mark.

  “Aria,” Dimitri whispered, watching me. “You know where to find me, and if you need me, just say it.”

  “She doesn’t need you, mutt,” Lore growled.

  “I’m okay, Dimitri. Thank you for checking on me. I will be all right.” He nodded his dark head, staring over my shoulder with a glare before he turned, moving through the yard.

  No one moved, not until I turned and pushed Knox away from me. He hadn’t prevented the fight from happening. He had known if Fallon had won, I’d have been legally his until he chose otherwise. Knox had let it play out and decided to place Fallon’s death on my soul.

  I glared at him, shaking my head. “Get away from me. I’m sure your date is waiting. Go enjoy her.” I started back toward the bank.

  “You wouldn’t have lost to Fallon, Aria. You’re stronger than he was.”

  “You don’t know that!” I screamed, turning back toward him, and the water began to bubble around me.

  His eyes dipped to the water before he turned to Aurora. “Take them inside now.”

  “No fucking way, she’s our sister,” Kinvara snapped.

  “I concur, no fucking way,” Sabine hissed.

  “She’s also experiencing an emotional overload, and we don’t know what happens when it goes off. She’ll be inside soon,” he returned, watching me. “Aurora, please. Aria would never recover from murdering her sisters, even though it would be an accident. I won’t hurt her.”