by L. L. Raand
“They can’t simply kill Nicholas.”
“The Timberwolves will demand justice, and Were justice is simple. Associating with Nicholas now is inviting death.”
Veronica turned and threaded her arms around Luce’s neck, arching her throat in a gesture so automatic now she couldn’t remember a time when the promise of pleasure wasn’t the center of her existence. Offering herself was as natural as the control she used to exert over others. Now all that mattered was the explosion of heat and unbearable ecstasy that was hers as often as she wanted, as long as she had Luce—or any of the other Vampires. “I suppose I should be grateful to have you all to myself for a few days.”
Luce cupped Veronica’s breast and ran her tongue over the pulse in Veronica’s throat, Veronica’s ever-present desire stirring her bloodlust. Veronica’s blood pulsed hot and strong, and as long as she was careful not to take too much and saw that Veronica received restorative supplements, she could feed from her many times a day. And Veronica’s need was endless. “The Regent values your loyalty and support. And she has promised to provide you secure facilities to carry on your work. There are many ways your association with us can be mutually beneficial.”
“Yes,” Veronica said, most of her mind focused on the instant when Luce would take her. But the part of her that still hungered for a different kind of power sorted possibilities and dismissed the advisability of working with Nicholas again. His plans had become too dangerous, his obsession putting them all at risk. And their agendas no longer intersected. She had been right to approach the Vampires, so much like humans only so much more powerful. Allying with the Vampires would afford her endless resources, and she would finally be able to neutralize the animals amongst them. “Your Regent is most kind, and I am grateful.”
“A few more days with me would not be so bad, would it?” Luce murmured.
“Any time with you is heaven.” Veronica writhed against her, forgetting for the moment her ambitions, forsaking her driving desire to find the weaknesses in the Were genome that would allow her to eradicate them. Now all she wanted was the bright point of pain and the oblivion of orgasm. She curled her fingers in Luce’s hair and pulled Luce’s mouth to her throat. “Make me come.”
“Yes,” Luce whispered, allowing herself the sweet satisfaction of bloodlust before reporting to her mistress that Veronica Standish was theirs.
*
Lara stroked Raina’s back as she slept, trying to reassure herself that the burns and torn muscles were gone. She leaned down and kissed the unblemished skin between her shoulder blades, then glanced across the room at the still-sleeping cubs. All those she cared about were safe. Dawn was coming, but she did not want to wake Raina, even though she might soon be lost to the day.
Raina rolled over, her eyes open and clear. “Did you think to let me sleep past your feeding time?”
Lara kissed her. “You need to rest.” She gestured toward the crib. “You might be healed, but they need you strong. I need only blood.”
“I’m fine, and you need more than a human servant’s blood.”
“You lost a lot of blood.” Lara pressed her forehead to Raina’s shoulder, blocking out the image of the big beautiful cat lying bloodied and broken, her body sprawled over the Alpha and her mate. So much bigger than the others, Raina had taken the brunt of the flaming debris. “I was terrified.”
Raina stroked her hair. “So was I. You didn’t go undamaged yourself.”
“It takes more than a few shards of metal to destroy me.”
Raina tightened her arms around Lara’s shoulders. “You know as well as I what could have happened if one had struck your heart—”
“None did.” Lara raised her head. “You must be at full strength if I have to leave. When the Timberwolves seek retribution, I will join them.”
Raina’s eyes hardened. “As will I.”
“The law will mean nothing now, and once we strike, the humans will retaliate.”
“What do we care about laws that do not recognize us to begin with?” Raina sat up. “We were attacked, and we must defend ourselves. Only if we unite all the Praeterns will we be able to survive.”
Lara took her hand. “I know what you say is true, but I cannot lose you. Before you, I didn’t care about surviving. Now you are what I live for.”
“I am your mate and I will fight by your side.” Raina kissed her. “And one day, we will win.”
*
Sophia knelt by the red-gray wolf where she lay in the tall grass staring at the Alpha’s den. She stroked Niki’s head and buried her fingers in Niki’s ruff. You have to eat. You need rest. Please come home.
Niki turned her head and licked Sophia’s hand. I’m not leaving her. I’m all right.
Then we need to do something. The Pack is agitated, even the dominants are frightened. We need you all back in the Compound. We all need your strength.
I’m waiting for her orders.
Sophia sighed and stood. We can’t wait any longer.
Don’t, Niki warned. She is dangerous now.
I know. But rage is often only the reflection of terrible pain. Sophia slowly approached the huge silver wolf lying on the porch of the log cabin in front of the open door, staring at her with flat gold eyes. A wave of fury struck her, nearly bringing her to her knees, but she pushed on. Icy terror streaked along her spine. Her wolf quivered, wanting to flee, but Sophia ignored the primal urge to run from a near-feral dominant. She slowly climbed the three broad wooden stairs, her head lowered. She forced herself to speak aloud through a throat tight with fear. “Alpha, we need you.”
Sylvan growled. The blood that had caked her massive shoulders and back when she’d returned from the city was gone. She had shifted sometime after the explosion to heal her wounds, but no one had seen her out of pelt in three days. Her absence had thrown the Pack into a panic.
Sophia slowly sat on the top step, put her back against a post, and folded her hands in her lap. Sylvan’s eyes tracked every motion.
“The centuri are not enough to still the alarm spreading through the Pack. You are our heart and our strength. We need to see you. Everyone needs to hear your voice.”
Sylvan did not move except for a slight twitch in one ear.
“I know your pain and your rage. We all do. We all mourn.” Sophia raised her head. “Do not make us mourn alone. We need you now more than ever.”
Sophia had only the barest impression of the air shimmering, and then Sylvan stood above her, her eyes still wolf-gold and as cold and remote as Sophia had ever seen them. Carefully, she stood but did not meet Sylvan’s gaze.
“Come inside.” Sylvan disappeared into the cabin.
Sophia quickly followed, crossing the dimly lit living room to another doorway where she paused. She sensed them first—strong, quick heartbeats. Tears filled her eyes.
From the shadows, Drake said, “It’s all right. Come closer. Let me introduce you.”
Sophia crossed to the broad bed, aware of the Alpha watching her with the focus she usually reserved for prey.
“Meet Kira and Kendra,” Drake said softly.
Sophia knelt. “They’re beautiful.” She laughed softly. “One silver, one black. Like the two of you.”
“Yes.” Drake laughed. “I wonder what that portends for sibling rivalry.”
“So young to shift—so strong,” Sophia murmured.
“They’re healthy Were young of a powerful Alpha,” Drake said softly.
Sophia met Drake’s shining gaze. Drake was not a born Were, but turned, like her. And Drake’s pups were perfect. “The Pack wants to celebrate with you, Prima.”
From behind her, Sylvan said, “It is for me to decide.”
Drake looked past Sophia to Sylvan. “It’s time, Alpha. The Pack needs joy now, and they need us.”
Sylvan snarled. “I won’t risk any of you when I don’t know who I can trust.”
She turned and stalked from the room.
“I’m sorry,” Sophi
a said, “I didn’t mean to intrude—or to make her pain worse.”
“I’m glad you came. She needs comforting, and you may be the only one who can give it to her. Losing Andrew is a deep wound, and she’s too worried about me and the pups to hear me.”
“We all bleed when one of us is lost,” Sophia said.
“It’s more than Andrew’s death. It’s that Enoch, one of her wolves, betrayed us all. Her heart grieves.”
“With your permission,” Sophia said, “I’ll talk to her.”
“Remind her of what matters—she needs the Pack as much as the Pack needs her.” Drake grasped Sophia’s arm, and for the first time since the single blackened and burned Rover returned to the Compound bearing Andrew’s body, Sophia felt the strength of the Pack fill her.
“She has you and the pups,” Sophia said, “and we will all die before any harm comes to any of you.”
“I know,” Drake said, “and so does she. Help her remember, so we can all heal.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Sylvan’s wolf padded into the bedroom, a huge silver beast radiating authority and effortless dominance. She nosed the crib, rumbled quietly. The pups stretched and mewed contentedly, as if sensing they were safe with her near. Seemingly satisfied, she turned to the bed and studied Drake intently.
Drake held out her hand. “I’ve missed you. Were you hunting?”
The wolf delicately climbed onto the bed and stretched out beside Drake, who wrapped her arm around the broad shoulders and cradled the magnificent head against her breast. Power washed over her, and Sylvan pressed against her, skin to skin.
“I was running,” Sylvan whispered. “How are the young?”
“Sleeping. They shifted again for a short while.”
Sylvan smiled against Drake’s breast. “They are impatient young alphas.”
Drake laughed. “Of course they are. They’re yours.”
Sylvan delicately brushed her mouth over Drake’s nipple, placing a reverent kiss against the inner curve of her breast. “Ours. They’ll have your wisdom, your strength.”
“And your purpose and honor,” Drake murmured, stroking Sylvan’s hair. “Did you find what you were looking for on your run?”
“The forest pulsed beneath my pads, the clean mountain air teased over my tongue, and wildlife whispered in the underbrush. My wolf was at home.”
“Mmm. All the things that define our world.”
“Yes.” Sylvan pressed her face to Drake’s neck. “And then I called the centuri, and they appeared out of the forest where they had been shadowing me, to run by my side. Lara is here. And Niki and Max. Jace and Jonathan. And now Dasha—in Andrew’s place.”
“You ran to honor him, and remember.”
“Yes.”
“What will you do now?”
“I’ve tried to follow in my father’s footsteps, to live my father’s dream. To see his vision realized.”
Drake waited, softly, continuously, stroking Sylvan’s back.
“But while we petition to be accepted and wait for humans to pass judgment on our worthiness, the groups that want to destroy us are allowed to grow strong. Our young are violated, our territories disregarded, our strongest struck down.” Sylvan raised up on an elbow, the blue of her eyes shot through with shards of gold, her wolf ever present now. “I will no longer ask for permission to live, to rule our territories, and to raise our young in safety. And I will remind those who make war against us that we are not easy prey. We have been predators for millennia, the strongest of the strong. And we still are.”
“I agree that those who make war upon us cannot go unpunished, but if you strike back, they will hunt you.”
“No one can beat us on our own land.”
“You know I will support you in whatever you decide,” Drake said, “but we must fight as wolves have always fought—swiftly, stealthily, and as one. What cannot be proved cannot be used against us.”
Sylvan lifted Drake’s hand to her mouth and kissed her fingers. “As I said, you are wise as well as strong.”
“I am a wolf Were, Prima of the Timberwolf Pack,” Drake said fiercely. “We will not rest until we have justice for our violated and our dead.”
“Jody and Raina will stand with us.”
“Yes.” Drake kissed Sylvan and sat up. “It’s time to take our young to meet their Pack.”
Sylvan rose, pulled on pants, and strode to the crib. Lifting her young into the curve of one arm, she held out her hand to Drake. “Come with me, Prima, and gather our wolves for the hunt.”
About the Author
Radclyffe has written over forty romance and romantic intrigue novels, dozens of short stories, and, writing as L.L. Raand, has authored a paranormal romance series, The Midnight Hunters. She is an eight-time Lambda Literary Award finalist in romance, mystery and erotica-winning in both romance (Distant Shores, Silent Thunder) and erotica (Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments edited with Stacia Seaman and In Deep Waters 2: Cruising the Strip written with Karin Kallmaker). A member of the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, she is also a RWA/FF&P Prism award winner for Secrets in the Stone, a RWA FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold winner for Firestorm, and a RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner for Blood Hunt. She is also the president of Bold Strokes Books, one of the world’s largest independent LGBTQ publishing companies.
Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series
The Midnight Hunt
RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt
Night Hunt
The Lone Hunt
“Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write
“Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multicharacter storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online
“The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write
“Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online
“Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews
Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction
In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary
Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews
Lambda Literary Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in
many, similar anthologies… well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine
2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write
In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online
Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs
Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader
Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer