“They’re Fallon’s women,” Aine stated, settling next to me in her nightgown as she leaned over, watching Dimitri as he fucked the woman’s mouth. “Tradition states they are fucked until it appeases the men, and all alphas are well sated. Had you not killed Fallon, it would have been you they fucked without care of your needs. As the alpha to the House of Alphas, Dimitri has to fuck each one of them first. They’re then given to the others, who will rip them apart if the need strikes. It is brutal, and without a male claiming a female as his mate, it is still legal.”
“There are over fifty women down there.”
“Which is another sign of weakness for Fallon,” she snorted, speaking softly. “An alpha will keep enough bitches on hand, so more than one is always in heat to carry his offspring. The alpha in charge fucks them for days, and if they don’t breed his seed, they are then given to the others to see if her womb will accept another’s child. If she cannot be bred, she is abandoned or murdered because she carries no use for them at that point. They’re vile creatures, Aria. It’s why I am here and not with them. They breed and feed, and don’t always care what happens to the woman, nor are they treasured once they become pregnant. A true alpha will not collect a child, not until it becomes useful to him.”
I studied the speed and motion of Dimitri’s hips as he pumped his cock into her mouth. He growled and then grunted, slowing as he threw back his head and howled into the night. She slowly stood up, grasping his shirt as he pushed her into one of the vehicles, turning to stare up at me where I watched him. His hand came up to run over his mouth as he found me watching him with her.
A shadow moved in the street, and I followed it, watching as Knox stopped next to Dimitri, handing him a suitcase. Dimitri opened it, and I frowned, seeing stacks of cash.
“Well, that explains them leaving.” Aine leaned against the rail, watching the shit unfolding before us.
Knox’s eyes lifted to mine, holding them briefly before turning back to the girl who had jumped out of the car, holding on to Dimitri, creating a scene. Dimitri pushed her softly away from him, but she sobbed and spoke low, inaudibly.
“What do you mean?” I refused to take my eyes from Knox, who had dismissed me and was walking away from the chaotic scene in silence.
“As the top wolf, he is entitled to their lives. He can either slaughter them or breed them. It’s unheard of for an alpha to release the breeding mates. I assume Knox paid Dimitri to release the women. Knox just saved their lives, yet he had no reason to do it since they are all wolves and cannot mate with him.”
“Dimitri may have kept the women to mate with. Knox, though, why would he buy wolves? Not unless he is one, maybe a hybrid of some type?”
“It’s worse when they do keep them to breed. The women go from being cherished to the lowest member within the household. They’d be nothing but a cunt to fuck, and a womb to fill. They’d be given scraps to eat, and more than likely, they’d waste away. It’s brutal, but they knew there was a chance when they agreed to be with the alpha as his breeding mates. Also, I don’t think Knox is any type of wolf, sweetie. I think he’s something you and I have never seen or dealt with before.”
A car door slammed, and I peered down, watching Dimitri as he started for our house. Swallowing hard, I watched until he stood at the protective barrier, staring up at me.
“You’re being summoned,” Aine said. “Guess that mouth didn’t scratch his itch. If I was you, I’d keep my distance.”
“It isn’t like that.”
“He kissed you on the dancefloor, Aria. He was adding his scent to you when Fallon called him over and demanded as alpha that he stay away from you. It wasn’t by his choice he left you there. Dimitri found you the moment he’d removed the alpha’s head. He had planned to fuck you, and he was denied in a big way. I assure you, as a wolf, we don’t enjoy losing a mark. If he craved you, it hasn’t lessened yet, and it won’t until he has you beneath him. My suggestion? Don’t get beneath him, because he intends to claim you and whatever you are. I don’t think you can be claimed by one of our kind. I don’t want to deal with another king being crowned in this lifetime. I miss sleep, do try not to kill him.”
“That can’t happen, and I miss sleep too.” I left Aine standing on the balcony to head downstairs to meet Dimitri.
Stepping through the door, I made my way to where he stood, tracking me, watching the sway of my hips in the thin camisole top and tight boy-cut shorts I wore. I stopped in front of him, sucking my lip between my teeth as I noted the dilatation of his pupils. The pheromones he exuded slammed against my senses, but the stale stench of women did as well, and I recoiled physically. He smelled of sex with multiple partners; their scent still clung to him, which caused me to pause and step back further.
“You enjoy the show?”
“I was watching the women exiting the house in curiosity.” I folded my arms over my chest and studied the way he walked impatiently in front of me.
“I imagined she was you on your knees, and then I smelled you, and there you were, watching me fuck her mouth.”
“Ahh, well,” I stammered. “That is…blunt and not awkward at all, Dimitri,” I muttered uneasily, staring at the way he prowled. There was also the way his pupils were fully dilated. It wasn’t a normal gaze; it was that of a predator, staring down something it wanted to devour.
“You don’t play with words, so why the fuck should I?”
“Listen…” I started, but he grabbed me, pulling me against his body.
“No. You listen, Aria. I have thought of nothing else but you since I kissed you. As alpha, my duty is to my pack, yet I forbid any of them from hunting you down to claim you. You are what we call a trophy bitch. You’re an alpha female with the capabilities to take down another alpha, which causes us excitement at the idea of claiming you and fighting you for your submission. The moment I gave that order, I slaughtered three alphas who argued it. I fucked every one of those females, and you were the woman I wished I was inside of the entire time. I crave you,” he growled, brushing his mouth against mine as I turned my head to deflect the kiss.
I shoved him away and rattled in warning as anger spiked through me. I stepped back into the protective barrier, and he watched me silently as his nostrils flared with rage. He began pacing in front of me, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared me down.
“Stop this shit—and you fucked them thinking about me? How fucking flattering. Go home, Dimitri.”
“I am the alpha!”
“You’re not my alpha!” I watched as he stopped, staring at me as his nostrils flared with his anger. “You don’t own me, and I won’t be one of your whores, Dimitri. I am worth more than that. You chose to claim the kill; you chose to become the alpha, fucking deal with it. You don’t get to have me because you demand it. I’m not one of your fucking bitches that you can mount at will, remember that because it might save your fucking life.”
“No, I am not your alpha yet. You reek of Knox. You let that monstrous beast fuck you, and yet you won’t allow me to even kiss you? I can smell his claiming scent over every part of you, even those pretty red lips, Aria. He’s tasted every part of you, and then he threw you away like last night’s leftovers. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“It isn’t like that, Dimitri. I am unsafe. Do you understand me? Whatever sleeps within me wants to fight for dominance, not of me, but of anyone who tries to subdue me. You wouldn’t win, and I cannot live with your death. I’m not a wolf. I couldn’t be one of your breeders, and you will be forced to breed with many women they bring home to you. It is expected from you as the alpha to basically have an entire harem of bitches waiting to be bred. I couldn’t accept that. I wouldn’t, I am worth more. Your traditions are barbaric and unfair. I’d want you to myself.”
“You’d have me, at least for now.”
“I’m not the girl who does one-night stands, wolf. I won’t just fuck because I have the itch to get fucked. I am not an average witch. I�
��m a forever girl, Dimitri. I’d want you, and to be the only one who you bred. You can’t give that to me. It isn’t something you can ever promise me, and it doesn’t matter, because my beast would slaughter yours. The entire conversation is pointless, don’t you see that?”
“I’m changing the laws for the pack. I’m working on it.” He lifted his hand to cup my cheek, but I jerked away from him. “I have to sire sons, though.”
“And I can only give you daughters.”
He smiled sadly, staring at me before he exhaled. “Just because you’re a Hecate witch doesn’t mean your other half isn’t more dominant. You could surprise us more than you already have and bring boys into your line.” He stared at me for a moment longer before he moved away, heading back to the House of Alphas.
“Dimitri,” I called, watching as he turned around. “Turn down the noise in your house. Some of us need rest.”
His arms lifted in the air, and he howled, causing the men in the house to howl back. Dick. I would never get an entire eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. I turned, staring at Knox, who waited in the shadows, watching me through narrowed slits. I lifted my fingers to my lips, blowing him a kiss as he watched me. My heart raced at the sight of him, and then he melted into the shadows, and I frowned, wondering if he’d overheard anything we’d said. With my luck, he’d heard it all.
Chapter 44
Screaming woke me from a dead sleep. I stared at the alarm clock on my nightstand, sitting up in bed. I was covered in a subtle sheen of sweat as I slipped on the silk robe that stuck to my flesh and started toward the screaming. My sisters stood outside Luna’s door, and I frowned as I pushed through, finding her bed covered in blood as she shrieked in pain, her legs red from the blood gushing out of her.
“We need a healer or a doctor. Aria, go to Knox and ask for his healer, now,” Aurora cried, staring at me before Luna howled in pain again.
“Shouldn’t we get the alpha’s healer?”
“Get Knox’s healer now, he is skilled in all breeds!” she snapped, and I turned, running through the house until my feet touched concrete as I barreled toward the dark mansion on the corner.
I pushed the intercom button on Knox’s gate and waited, pushing it several more times before Greer hissed into the speaker in a strained voice.
“Yes?”
“Greer, I need Knox. We need help,” I demanded, watching the gate slowly open as I slipped through, running toward the house. At the door, I paused until Greer opened it, fixing his robe to glare at me.
“Do you realize the time, peasant?”
“Not now, Greer. I need a healer.” Power slithered over my flesh as the scent of a carnal male slammed against me. My gaze moved to the staircase as Knox slowly walked down, shirtless and covered in sweat that made his flesh glisten in the light of the chandelier. His hair was a mess. It was a mussed mess that my fingers itched to run through, and even though my brain reminded me of why I was here, my hormones or something deeper wanted him.
“I need a healer, please.”
“For?”
“Luna, something is wrong with the babes, and she’s bleeding out.” He stared at me as if he was considering telling me to get out, and I shook my head as the plea left my lips. “Knox, please.”
“Greer, go disturb Brander and his newest bed companion and tell him it’s an emergency.” Knox’s voice was filled with sleep, raspy, and it slipped around every nerve in my body.
I closed my senses off and began pacing aimlessly in the entrance hallway. Knox vanished and then returned, pulling a shirt on as he made his way to where I stood. He stopped beside me, watching me as my hands balled into fists and then released them repeatedly. My feet tracked dirt over his pristine floor, and I didn’t stop until he grabbed me, placing his hands on my shoulders as Brander came into the hall naked, swinging a massive sword between his legs. My eyebrows shot up in shock, and Knox growled from deep in his chest.
“Get your dick covered and grab your medical bag. Luna is experiencing difficulties in her pregnancy.” Knox didn’t ask for details, Brander did.
“How many months along is she?” he asked, uncaring that I was staring at his overly large weapon. “Aria, fucking focus, how many months along is Luna?” I shook my head, dispelling the raw need that was playing hell inside of me.
“I think four months or so, she got pregnant the first week we got back into town, or so we assume. She’s part alpha wolf, and she took a male the first night we got here behind the store. I don’t know for sure, but there is so much blood. It’s all over the bed, and she’s just screaming and howling. I don’t know what to do to stop the bleeding.”
He turned to Knox, staring at him as if he couldn’t believe he was helping us. “I’ll get my stuff.”
“Calm down and shut your hormones off, woman.” My eyes slipped to Knox’s heated stare, and I shook my head while fighting the rattle that escaped my lips. His chest rattled, and my hands pushed through my hair as my head rolled, stretching to alleviate the heat it created.
“I feel like my skin is crawling, and everything is falling apart around me. My body is perpetually soaked from sweat, Knox. I can’t shut it off, it’s stifling. It’s like I’m in heat, yet I know I’m not. So tell me, how do I fix it?”
“Listen to your body’s needs before you end up burning the entire town down, Aria.”
“That isn’t happening, considering I would probably murder someone and end up fucking a corpse. Dead bodies are a huge no-no around here.”
“You wouldn’t kill me.” He crossed his arms, staring me down.
“I’m fine.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Let’s fucking do this,” Brander said, interrupting us.
My hands pushed through my hair as I internally screamed in frustration, following Brander out of the mansion, and started finally toward my house. I was acutely aware of Knox following us and didn’t want to waste time arguing it. We entered the house to a room full of worried faces.
“Brander is the doctor? I thought he was the electrician?” Aine’s hair was a mess from pulling it out as her twin screamed endlessly in pain. I shrugged, uncertain if he actually was. He seemed to be a jack of all trades.
A howl sounded from upstairs, and I moved toward it while Brander issued orders. I didn’t stop running up the stairs until I reached the bedroom and threw the door open, gasping at the sheer volume of blood she was losing. I left the room, grabbing my phone to call the vampires to get blood to heal her.
Kerrigan Montgomery answered on the first ring and listened as I spoke. “Five spells for one bag,” he negotiated. Greedy fucking bloodsuckers.
“Done—we need it now,” I stated, hanging up before moving back to the room. “Vampires are sending blood.” Brander looked up from where he stood beside Luna with a thankful look in his eyes.
“Good, we’ll need it. Luna will lose the babes without it.”
I nodded, stepping out of the room to lean against the wall, sliding down it silently while I pulled my knees against my chest and exhaled. Someone settled beside me, and I turned, staring into oceanic eyes.
“You cannot be running down the block half-naked, woman.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“You have bounty hounds tracking you by scent, and you’re covered in sweat; it is about you. You’re not safe; next time, send someone else, Aria. Ignore my warning, and I will put you over my knee and spank your pretty little ass.”
“Is that supposed to be an incentive or a deterrent?” I asked huskily, and his eyes dipped to my lips before they slowly rose, locking with mine. I frowned, realizing what I had said. “I can’t believe I just said that.” I shook off whatever the hell was happening to me.
Screaming erupted, and Aurora stepped out of the room, staring at us where we waited for her to speak. I wanted to clamp my hands over my ears and pretend my sister wasn’t inside that room, screaming in pain as Luna lost her babies. I wasn’t stupid; th
ey were too tiny to live.
“I have to go get the blood.” Aurora moved down the hallway with her shoulders slumped in defeat, and sadness washed over me with what she hadn’t told us.
“Luna carries boys. Fuck.” I wrapped my arms around my legs to lean my head against it.
“I need help in here!” At Brander’s demand, I turned to look at Knox, who had a haunted look in his eyes as he stared at the wall opposite of us. I frowned, standing, and moving into the room. “You need to help me deliver the babes. If they’re viable, they will need help breathing until the blood arrives.”
“They won’t be viable, save Luna.”
“You don’t fucking know that!” Luna cried.
“They’re boys, Luna.” I fought the tears that burned my eyes as she began to scream and wail against my words.
“No! No, they’re not. We don’t make boys!”
“No, Luna. We don’t give birth to boys. We lose them before they can sustain life outside our bodies. Hecate witches don’t birth boys; we lose them because of the curse which refuses to allow us to bring them into the world alive. I’m so sorry, honey.” I ignored Brander, who glared at me as if I was being an insensitive asshole.
She pushed for what felt like hours, and I held her hand as she screamed and bore down with each contraction until the first son was born. I accepted his limp body, staring at the faceless creature as tears slipped free of the hold I’d held on them. Grabbing a blanket, I wrapped him in it as Brander stared at the lifeless boy.
“It doesn’t have a face.” Brander’s tone held horror, and worse, accusation as if we had agreed to be cursed, when in fact, we were born with it.
“It’s the curse. It ensures no male is born to the line, though I didn’t realize this is what it meant.”
He sat back down, delivering the second babe, and I took him too, placing him on the bed with his brother beside their mother. Once I’d wrapped both of them, I cradled them in my arms and lifted my gaze to their mother, finding Luna staring at the wall.
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