I recoiled as if Luna had hit me as I imagined her with Knox, and then frowned as the realization hit me. “Oh, Dimitri?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, my bad,” I frowned. “I didn’t sleep with him.”
She lunged, and I backed up, watching as her mouth formed into fangs before I spun around, rushing down the stairs. The problem with this situation was that the House of Magic didn’t protect us from each other. I busted out the front door, turning to look over my shoulder as she followed on my heels.
“I didn’t fuck him!” I snapped again, watching as she cracked her neck. “Luna, stop!” Her head swung toward the altar that was still covered in flowers blooming with the hold of magic we had placed on it.
“I will rip you apart!”
“No, you won’t. I’m your sister, remember? Bitches before tricks and dicks? Hoes don’t need hoses? Okay, I may have made the last one up, and it’s utterly terrible. I didn’t know you had been with him. You didn’t say anything!”
“I shouldn’t have had to! You are my sister.”
Voices sounded behind us, and I didn’t dare turn to see who it was. My heart raced, and my fingers burned. My gums were raw with pain, and I slowly stepped back, giving myself enough room to dodge her attacks.
“I heard him talking to you! He thinks of nothing else but you! What do you have, a magic fucking pussy?”
“Uh, no, but I mean, maybe?” She lunged again, and I did a backflip from a standing position, twisting to miss her other hand before glaring at her. “Luna, stop!” I shouted, swiping my foot the moment I landed, unseating hers from where she stood. “I am your sister! I didn’t fuck Dimitri, nor do I intend to. You need to stop this now!” I dodged her attacks until I stepped outside the barrier, and I was shoved behind a firm back.
“You! Our sons are dead, and you protect your whore?” Luna snarled.
“Dick move, Dimitri,” I growled, hiding behind him.
“I didn’t know she was a witch when I fucked her.”
“In an alleyway behind our damn shop? She’s not trash, dick. No one bends my sister over a garbage can!”
“Aria, she’s about to tear you to shreds.”
“Pssh, she wishes. I was just avoiding hurting her. How is it you failed to mention you were my sister’s baby daddy?”
“She’s a wolf, and she was oozing her scent. Luna bent over, and I just aided a bitch in heat.”
“You don’t get to call her a bitch.” I glared at his exposed back and yelped as we both jumped back to avoid her nails.
“Aria, shut the fuck up for a moment, sweetheart.”
“How do you turn it off?” I asked and then snorted when he vanished from in front of me. “Fucker!” I tripped backward as she lunged, only to watch her being pulled back as Dimitri sank his teeth into her shoulder.
She calmed, her eyes turning lethargic with a hint of lust banked in the deep blue depths as she lost focus. Dimitri’s eyes matched Luna’s but glowed with the strength of the alpha and his pack. Blood dripped from the bite, and yet his eyes never left mine, kissing her shoulder as he subdued her while healing the damage at the same time. She slowly began pumping her hips, rubbing against him as his hands slipped around her body, steadying her. It was erotic, and I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth as I wondered if I did that too?
“She’s still healing.”
He growled at me, and I frowned, dusting off my hands from the tiny pebbles that stuck to them. Slowly, I stood. I wondered if I looked like that with Knox, with his mouth against my flesh as he brought me that sweet inner peace.
Sweat beaded on my brow, my clothes clung to my body, and I peered down, realizing I was dressed in a sheer nightie that didn’t cover the top of my thighs fully. Dimitri’s eyes slid down my body hungrily with the alpha glow banked within their sapphire depths. I stepped back, watching as his mouth released her shoulder, and he pushed her away from him.
“Fuck,” I snapped, turning and running in the property’s direct line, but the moment I moved to enter it, it slammed me backward. “The fuck, I’m a witch!” The sound of feet pounded on the road, and I kicked up onto my feet, rushing toward Knox’s house, barely hitting the gate when it opened, and I slid through it, slamming it closed behind me.
“Mine,” Dimitri hissed.
“Nope! Not today, puppy,” I chuckled. I leaned over to catch my breath as I watched him pacing right outside the gate.
“Is there a problem, peasant?” Greer asked, standing beside me as he watched Dimitri pacing in front of the large wrought-iron gates. Greer had come out of nowhere, causing me to jolt back into a fighting position.
“Jesus, Greer the Vampire! You need to announce your presence to the ladies first. I could have died from a heart attack.”
“Pity that you didn’t suffer one, peasant.”
“You do know I’m royalty back home, right? That I’m not actually a peasant?” I asked, watching as Lore and the others strolled up the driveway, looking through the fence to where Dimitri paced, agitated that he couldn’t reach me.
“You’re not home, and neither am I, Aria. Here, you’re just another peasant, just as I am.”
“Thanks, man, love you too.” I tapped my heart before flipping him deuces.
“Someone taunt an alpha and not enjoying the chase?” Lore asked.
“You fucking whore!” Luna screamed, coming toward the gate.
“Oh, damn. I should have made popcorn,” Greer chuckled.
“She shouldn’t be out of bed yet.” I turned at someone’s voice, watching Brander walking through the gravel without a shirt on. The man was built to be worshipped.
“Yeah, I know. The thing is, Luna is currently trying to murder me, so I didn’t actually have time to ask her to stay in bed and be a good patient.”
“Why would she murder you?”
“I didn’t say she could, I said she’s trying.”
“But why would she be trying to murder you, Aria?”
“She thinks I slept with Dimitri, but I didn’t. Turns out he’s the father of her boys. I went into her bedroom because she was throwing shit!” I glared pointedly at her. “She threw a lamp at me the moment I opened the door, called me nasty names that really hurt, and then tried to rip my face off. All because I unknowingly kissed her baby daddy,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.
“Because you’re a whore,” Luna screamed.
“Name-calling, it’s unkind, asshole. You can’t take them back either, so be nice!” I demanded.
“I will rip your throat out, slut.”
“Really mature, Luna! I have fucked one man and one man alone in my entire life. I don’t even meet the criteria for being a whore or a slut, you little bitch. I still love you, but I really don’t like you right now! Sorry about the names, jerk face!”
The sound of clothing ripping drew my attention to Dimitri as he removed his shirt. My gaze slid over the rippling muscles of his abdomen, and my brow lifted. He moved his hands to his jeans, flicking the button before pushing them down. He was packing some serious swagger in his jeans. My gaze lingered on his cock before rising back to his eyes. He watched me, waiting. He was a mass of solid muscles, covered in sinful tattoos that looked pleasantly placed. Swallowing, I frowned in frustration.
“What are you doing? Put your clothes back on this minute, bad puppy!” I stomped my foot and stared up at the moon while pointing my finger at him, or in his general direction. “What the hell is he doing?”
“He’s waiting for you to approve of the size of his dick,” Lore chuckled.
I dug through the pocket of my nightgown and picked out my lucky dollar bill, moving to throw it through the gate. Dimitri watched it fall to the ground before lunging. “Bad puppy, bad, sit, or something!” I yanked my hand back and turned to the men behind me.
Lore covered his mouth before he bent over laughing. Brander’s shoulders shook silently as Greer shook his head. And then Lore lost it, howling with laughter as I glar
ed at him.
“I think he wanted you to exit the protection of the yard so he could fuck you with it, peasant. Not throw dollars at him like a stripper. You could have at least offered him a twenty; he’s worth at least that much.”
“Oh, Greer, you got a naughty side, and that was my lucky dollar bill!”
“Why the fuck is the alpha naked outside my gate?” Knox demanded, half-naked as he walked toward us. I turned slowly at the timbre of his voice, letting my eyes slip over his chest to the gray sweatpants he wore and back up to his angry gaze. “Explain, Aria. Now!”
“My sister is trying to kill me.”
“Not my fucking problem, snap her fucking neck.”
“Seriously, she’s my sister!” I glared at him as he watched me cross my arms over my chest, digging my heels in.
“Why the fuck is there a naked alpha outside my gate, Aria?”
“I guess they’re like peacocks or something?” I shrugged, scrunching up my face. Knox glared at me, and I swallowed. “I was on babysitting duty for Luna. It’s been hell for the last week. Something crashed in her room, and I went to check it out. She was in a rage and informed me that I’m a whore. I unknowingly kissed her baby daddy, who happened to be Dimitri. I ran from her because I didn’t want to hurt her, then he showed up to protect me. He subdued her with his bite, but I may have watched it too long because he got over her and chased me. I tried to run home, but the House of Magic bounced me to the curb, just like you did. I came here, and Greer let me in. Dimitri started stripping, I tossed a dollar at him, and now we’re here.”
“Get out,” he said, and I frowned, nodding.
“Yeah, sure,” I exhaled, turning to look at Dimitri and Luna, both who wanted me in entirely different ways. I puffed out air and started forward, watching as Dimitri smiled, inching his way directly in front of the gate I had to escape through.
I closed my eyes and started to open the gate as Dimitri’s claws extended, but a hand landed over mine, holding it shut.
“Ask for sanctuary,” Greer snapped.
“Greer,” Knox warned.
“Sanctuary?” I peered back at Knox and watched him shaking his head.
“Sanctuary isn’t something I grant to witches anymore.”
“It was worth a shot, Greer.” I smiled tightly to Greer, slipping through the gates before I slammed my knee into Dimitri’s groin. I reached over him to grab Luna by her hair, shoving her down with him before I ran like the hounds of hell were on my heels. I broke through the barrier of our property, turning to find Knox walking directly behind me, glaring. “You’re a dick, you know that, right? They could have kicked my ass together.”
“You made it home, didn’t you? You won’t always be able to rely on other people to save that pretty little ass.”
“What about my sister?” I asked, watching him as he followed me slowly.
“Luna is being taken to the medical ward you were held in, where Brander can help her.”
“So, I’m safe?”
“Not even a little bit, woman.”
“Oh, well…” He captured me by the arms, stopping my words as a violent tremor of need rushed through me at his touch.
“The entire pack of alphas is watching us as I speak. You will turn toward them and expose your shoulder to me and submit, understand? If you don’t, I walk away, and you spend the rest of your days running and fighting them because Dimitri just broke his fucking word, and it cannot be undone now. Turn,” he snapped, and I did.
I pushed my hair away, giving him my shoulder, which he took, moving the thin strap from my skin as his mouth lowered, and he kissed over the delicate curve of my throat. His breath made my nipples harden with arousal. The moment his lips touched my neck, I whimpered with a violent need. Knox slid his lips back to my shoulder, pushing his teeth through my flesh painlessly, and I moaned, instantly rocking my hips with need.
This bite was different; it was slow, methodical, and it felt like he was marking me for ownership. His hands slid down to my gown, pushing it up, before slipping his hand into my panties as the alphas emerged from the shadows, watching him claim me. I exploded violently, coming undone with two simple strokes as he held me there against his rock hard body slowly running his fingers through the wetness of my core.
He’d made me undulate against him as he pushed his teeth down further. He was hard beneath his sweatpants, and I wanted him in the most basic fucking way a woman could want a man.
“Knox,” I whispered breathlessly.
Somehow I was able to make the name sound like a benediction to the gods of old. Like the heavens had opened up and touched me, but it was Satan, and I’d given him the keys to my paradise to play within my garden.
“Shut your mouth, or this turns dark real fucking quick, woman.” He made a pained noise in his chest, and then the rattle started.
It wasn’t the normal little one, it bordered on a loud purring noise and then turned into a deafening rattle that echoed through the streets until the alphas knelt down and bowed. Dimitri bowed before Knox, his naked body bare and exposed, and yet he was on his knees with his head bowed in a show of respect to Knox.
I turned, rubbing my jaw against him as he pulled his fingers out of my panties and then shoved them into my mouth when I opened it to speak. I sucked against them, feeling him tensing behind my back as my tongue worked circles around them until he withdrew them. He continued rattling until something within me followed, low at first, building until it escaped, and he chuckled against my neck.
“That’s my good girl, Aria. Now make your pretty pussy stop begging me to fill it. There is only so much pheromone influence I can withstand, and you’re pushing my fucking limits. This beast is fucking starving for you, little lamb.”
His rattle lowered but didn’t stop. The wolves lifted from the ground, slowly backing away as they watched him with me. I exhaled, leaning into his body. I wanted to stop my body, but it wasn’t like there was a valve I could just shut off. Knox waited for the alphas to slip into the House of Alphas before he stepped back, releasing my shoulder. His mouth brushed against his deep bite, licking it, causing it to tingle, and I knew without looking that he’d healed the flesh with his saliva.
“Get inside, Aria. Your sister is fine, she’s being tended to. You’re safe again.”
“Why do you keep saving me if you hate me?” I asked, watching as the tick in his jaw hammered, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“Get into the house, woman.”
“You saved the women from being brutalized by the House of Alphas, and you keep helping me. You could have made me dominate Dimitri, but you didn’t. You aren’t the monster you want me to think you are.”
“No, I’m way fucking worse.”
“I think you do good things because you’ve been hurt. I think you’re still in pain, and I wish there was a way to take that pain away from you.”
“You know nothing about pain, Aria.”
“I know enough to see it in your eyes,” I countered, and his teeth elongated as black claws slid from his fingers. “I’m not a fucking martyr, but if killing me brings you some kind of peace, do it.”
“Get the fuck in the house!” I watched as his eyes filled with embers. “Get her into the fucking house, now!” he snarled, but it came out on a powerful purr, and before I could argue, Lore hefted me over his shoulder and booked it. I lifted my head, staring as Knox expanded his arms and lifted his head, rattling until it felt like the earth was shaking. Car alarms sounded as car windows shattered, and the power did a rolling blackout, keeping whatever was happening hidden in the darkness.
“You got a fucking death wish, Aria?” Lore snapped, shoving me into the house as he followed me, closing the door behind him. “Good God, you could have fucking died, and what a waste of a damn talented throat that would have been.”
“What?” I asked, and he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.
“I just mean that when a man tells
you to run, and he means it, fucking run. Don’t stand around oozing that scent, because right now everything inside of him wants to toss you down and go to pound town. I mean barebones, soul destroying I-can’t-get-deep-enough-into-that-tight-pussy-let-me-break-her-to-get-there kind of fucking.”
“That’s deep.” I frowned as he nodded his platinum head, turning burning amber eyes on me.
“So fucking deep,” he chuckled. “You got anything to eat? I’m hungry.”
Chapter 46
Aria/The Creature Within
I sat on the balcony, letting the cool air calm me as the ache in my shoulder burned. It burned, the same way as I was burning from within, and yet I couldn’t stop it. I had tried everything, and nothing worked. I grabbed the railing as a wave of heat shot through me, and I moaned as it ripped me apart inside. Staring down at my hands, I gasped, releasing the railing where it had caught fire. I grabbed the large cup of water and splashed it on the wooden railing.
“That can’t be a good sign.” I lifted my gaze to the mansion across the street before slowly looking toward Knox’s house, noting the light and silhouette that stood within the room on the top floor. I hissed, shaking my head as I dispelled the image of Knox in his room, taking off that fucking shirt, while showing that dick off in those gray sweatpants that failed to hide his impressive package.
Damn, he was built, and if that wasn’t enough, he was the most virile, pigheaded asshole because he knew it. The man knew he was the epitome of male sexual perfection, and he strutted and paraded it around unabashedly.
Smoke rose from my hands, and I exhaled, jumped to the ground, and then peered up at the balcony, which was three stories up. Oh wow, that wasn’t okay! I could have died!
“Holy shit, why would I do that?” I squeaked, up until my body started toward Knox’s mansion. “No, absolutely not! You don’t get to do this to us,” I growled, shouting at the creature within me, but my feet were moving, and they were moving toward Knox’s house. I dug my feet in, tripping mid-step, and righted myself, rushing forward. “I better not wake up next to him naked!”
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