But that didn’t mean a human – or shifter – couldn’t find a way to contact Bareiijnr. It had been done before when the Veil was thin.
Leaning closer to Derek, I cupped my mouth to whisper in his ear, and he sat rigid with expectation.
“He is mutilating wings of powerful Seelie and selling them to try to start a war with the Unseelie.” Pulling back, tingles slid down my spine at the scowl that took over Derek’s expression, and I squeezed his hand gently. “Why do you make that facial contortion? It does not matter here in the human realm. The Unseelie war cannot spill beyond the Veil – it takes too much magic to get even a single person across. That is why Muss has no physical form.”
“If this Bareiijnr guy is that powerful, though…he could come after you.” Even now, I couldn’t deny Derek’s point, and I nodded hesitantly. His eyes narrowed into slits, his scowl growing into a dark sneer, and he released my palm to wrap his arm around my waist. “What would happen then?”
“He would not come after me without going after Kaslni first – she is much more dangerous than I am…but…if Bareiijnr did cross the Veil, he wouldn’t do it alone. He would need power to sacrifice to get back to the Unseelie realm. I do not believe I could hide from him, just as he could not hide from me. There is not enough wild magic to disguise us. I would have to fight him.” Turning to stare at my half-empty plate, I twiddled my fork between my fingers as I contemplated that notion. “It would be difficult to beat him.”
‘You mean it would take what the humans call a ‘miracle’…’ Twisting around to find Muss perched on the back of my chair, I frowned deeply even while Derek tightened his grip on me. His five eyes watched me closely, sparkling with concern, and I pursed my lips tightly. ‘I have news from Kaslni, as we are on the subject. She wants to give you this.’
Excitement raged through my chest, and I reached out my hands greedily as Muss began to heave. His body shimmered in protest of his regurgitation, but the object inside him traveled up his throat.
“Kaslni has allowed you back?” Ruffling his wings in a silent answer, Muss held the tiny object in his beak, and I flexed my fingers in anticipation. My mind raced, eyes narrowing as I tried to figure out what he’d brought me from my master.
My former master – who might now be considered my friend.
‘No. She has not. I was only instructed to deliver this to you, Linne. Kaslni said nothing more.’ The solid object Muss dropped into my palm was opaque, a cloudy grey that swirled like contained atmosphere. From under furrowed brows, I frowned slightly as I rolled the smooth thing in both my hands. ‘I do not know what it is.’
“Me either – ” Looking to Derek, my frown deepened when he only shook his head, and I sighed softly in discontent. “It does not feel like magic.”
“Maybe that’s the point? Maybe it’ll help shield you. If things are getting bad in your realm, maybe your old master is worried this Courtier guy will come after you. She banished Muss, but still thought you needed whatever this thing is.” Humming softly, I ducked my head in a nod as my eyes went back to the object. “What are you supposed to do with it? Keep it in your pocket or something?”
“No.” Rolling the little thing between my fingertips, I pulled down my shirt to press the cool surface to my skin. “It will reside inside me – pockets are not necessary.”
The object dissolved into my body easily, and I rubbed the spot absently before turning to Muss.
‘I will leave you now. The stupid female is awake, and I will keep one eye on her – although I do not think she deserves even that.’ Disgust laced Muss’ tone, and I nodded a second time before he disappeared. For just a second or two, my mind turned to Rachel, and a frown dragged down my lips as I turned back to my plate. Loading my fork with the leafy, drenched greens, I glanced over at Alpha Jackson before opening my mouth.
“I should kill her – it would be the merciful thing to do. She will be of no use to you now.” Alpha Jackson only grimaced at my declaration, and I shoveled my forkful beyond my teeth to hum in satisfaction. “Your weak minds cannot endure my ability.”
“I’ll consider it.” That was the only answer I would get, and Alpha Jackson swiftly changed the subject as the atmosphere became light once again. “So, is there anything you want to know about the clan?”
“Yes – ” Swallowing roughly, I stabbed a piece of what was called chicken before continuing. “Why do you live in such diversity? How do you maintain order with those equal to you when it would be easier to eliminate them?”
“Safety and convenience is what it boils down to. Up until recently actually, shifters were segregated by type – wolf, lion, avian, and all the others – but it’s getting harder and harder to find ample space. Humans are creating overpopulation, which makes it difficult to keep ourselves secret unless we find places like this town. The humans here know we’re shifters, even if they choose not to acknowledge it, and for the most part, they’re fine with cohabitating.”
Leaning back in his chair, Alpha Jackson cast his gaze out to the tables around us, and I did the same. People sat and chatted happily, some inebriated, some fostering arguments, but they all were comfortable. “There’s two ways to deal with leadership. One way – the way we use – is that the alphas in the clan choose who’s best to lead the group, and they advise and assist as needed. I make the final decisions, but I take Derek’s thoughts and contributions into consideration.”
“But you do not suffer from power disputes?” Alpha Jackson’s explanation boggled my mind, and I twisted to Derek with brows high in surprise. “You do not get frustrated when he makes a bad decision? When he orders you around?”
“Yeah, I do – but I don’t want to lead the clan. I can suffer with the few things Jackson wants me to do, like patrolling the park the other night, because he’s better at leading a group than I am. He’s a wolf – he’s built to do this on a larger scale than I am.”
Derek’s words pulled an ‘oh’ from my mouth, and he reached to brush my jaw as affection blazed from his eyes. “This clan is unique in that I am the only person Jackson has to contend with. There are no other alpha males. The wolf pack that you destroyed had several, including the Alpha Female Liza, and her twin brother. That’s not even considering the rest of the clan.”
“That’s the second type of leadership…” Drawing my gaze, Alpha Jackson stroked his chin thoughtfully as disdain painted his expression. “Having a council – a group of alphas all with equal power in decision making. It’s honestly a terrible idea, especially if the clan is big and has many kinds of shifters. The wolf pack that you took down acted on their own, without consulting the council, and essentially crippled the clan.
Now, they went from 250 members to just over 100 in one night. We could easily wipe them out and take all of this land for ourselves.” My eyes widened at that, and Alpha Jackson offered me a grim but blood-hungry smirk. “Since we’re on the subject, too – Jordan is refusing to meet with me, and gave his permission to execute his pack members.”
“He sounds like Bareiijnr.” The observation just slipped out of my mouth, and I frowned deeply under furrowed brows. Alpha Liza’s brother was much too similar to the Courtier for my liking, and my fingers flexed around my fork while my mind raced. “He must be dealt with before he becomes a problem.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Derek
Rubbing Linne’s smooth skin with my palm, I ground my teeth absently as we stood staring behind the glass window into the hospital room at the dozens of wolf shifters lying in beds. She stared up at me in anticipation and I nodded my head for her to go ahead, and her body started forward as she left my side, slowly making her way towards the door and into the room behind the glass. She walked down the main aisle and stopped and stood in the middle of eight dozen occupied beds. There were so many bodies that the tiny hospital that served the town had to convert the basement to hold them all. Luckily, this place didn’t see much action, so there were enough beds and a few to spar
e. Respirators hissed and sucked, and the beeping of heart monitors trilled in the still, deathly heavy atmosphere.
Behind me stood all of the clan that had been at the party, all cautiously curious as if seeing a dangerous animal at the zoo. It was honestly pathetic, but I couldn’t really complain considering Linne had agreed to let them watch. Leaning on the window sill, I licked the roof of my mouth heavily as Linne’s wings enlarged and spread elegantly.
Even the fact that she was about to murder a hundred people didn’t make her any less beautiful; in fact, I found her more attractive. She stood facing the window, naked from the waist up, and her perfectly small breasts combined with that confidence blaring from her eyes sent desire flooding into my veins.
“Are you ready?” Linne’s naturally husky voice washed down my skin to leave goosebumps in its wake, and I jerked my head in a nod. Spreading her wings wide, she took a deep breath, and my gaze flickered down to watch her perky, rosy nipples harden.
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could go on like this.
But any sexual thoughts that threatened to dominate my mind disappeared with the ringing that trilled in my ears, cancelling out all other sounds. Tearing my eyes off Linne, I stiffened at the dead, still bodies that surrounded her, while every heart monitor gave off a shrill, monotone beep that rang above the blood pounding against my ear drums. Every wolf showed different signs of death – one close to the window was bleeding out of his eyes, ears, and nose, and the human form next to him bruised as if he had internal bleeding.
She killed them all instantly, and no two deaths were the same.
“What the actual fuck…” Breathing heavily, my awe swept through the crowd of onlookers as they edged closer to the window on either side of me. Flying to Linne, my eyes widened at the wicked smirk that tilted her lips, and her wings twitched as magic flowed between the axillar like electricity flowing between metal conductors. My mind flung back to the night she’d trapped the wolves in their minds, and my heart stuttered slightly.
Not from fear, but from anticipation.
“Get out of the way – move!” Hammering in my chest, my heart pumped with adrenaline as a low, powerful growl burst from my throat, and I pushed my way roughly to the door only a dozen feet away. The atmosphere bore down on me before I even flung open the barrier and entered the room, but Linne’s magic didn’t work on me. Running down the aisle between rows and rows of dead wolves in both forms, I threw myself at my mate to send us both tumbling to the ground.
The shock of it, of rolling into the metal legs of a bed, snapped Linne out of her destructive daze, and she gasped and arched. Her powerful wings beat against the linoleum, pushing beds and sending bodies toppling to the floor with sickening thumps. Straddling her waist, I held her cheeks in my palms until her eyes focused on me, and I leaned down to rest my forehead against hers.
“Relax.” Purring heavily, I brushed my nose to Linne’s as her chest inflated sharply, shivering as her nipples grazed my shirt. “You need to learn to control yourself, Linne.”
“It is difficult…” Murmuring softly, she exhaled softly onto dry my lips, and they tingled with the urge to connect with hers. “You are so weak minded…”
“Mmm – your powers don’t work on me, though.” My declaration only earned me a sultry giggle, and my cock jumped against my jeans. “I’m going to kiss you…”
Nuzzling Linne’s cheek gently, my hands moved to tangle with hers, and my heart squeezed when she didn’t protest. Brushing my lips against the corner of her mouth, I held myself rigid above her, and her thighs pressed against the sides of my waist. Blood rushed into my ears, and the smell of her overwhelmed the stench of the hospital room, and the wolves and men alike.
The slightly creepy notion of dead bodies around us lay forgotten for a moment.
Linne’s plump lips were soft, faintly tasting like grilled chicken and collard greens, and I couldn’t contain my groan. Shivering, I ground against her belly, and her mouth parted in a gasp to make way for my tongue. Magma replaced the blood in my veins, and my cock strained against my jeans as the smell of her own arousal slithered up into my nostrils.
“Good…” Grinning wickedly at her moan, I tangled our tongues to taste her, and a tickling sensation slipped down my left arm. Linne’s feathers rustled as her wing folded, caressing the ugly blotches on my bicep down to my elbow, and I broke the kiss to pant harshly. Her eyes sparkled brightly with desire and something else – something deeper – and I bumped my nose against hers to sigh.
“You’re beautiful.” Whispering softly, Linne lifted her hand with mine to touch the back of my palm to my chest, and my smile turned tender. “I like your kisses.”
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever kissed – the only one I’m ever going to be with.” Muttering my deepest secret, my lips trembled, and my heart squeezed tightly at the unbound happiness that raged across Linne’s face. Her smile was so bright, it threatened to blind me, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “Want to get out of here? Go somewhere without a carpet of bodies around us?”
“Okay. Where will we go?” Expectant confusion dribbled from Linne’s tongue, and I held her hand to my chest as I straightened atop her. “Is it the same place the human Chad’s little cousin takes dates?”
Holy fuck – really? Shaking my head even as incredulous exasperation flooded my veins, I tightened my grip on Linne’s hand.
“No – we’re not going to a motel, Linne.” Climbing off her, I helped her to her feet, but her wings didn’t shrink like I expected them to. Pushing back the curiosity, I led her by the hand down the aisle and out the door, but the only people waiting for us were Alpha Jackson and five hospital nurses. “Follow me.”
Alpha Jackson must’ve sent everyone else away in the few seconds I had been in the room, but that didn’t stop the questioning looks from the nurses. The two females were green with nausea, and the three men weren’t doing much better. Still, I didn’t stop to entertain whatever shocked confusion they’d fling at me.
“Okay.” Heading towards the elevator with Linne padding behind me, my body thrummed with the urge to shift. I never wanted to voluntarily shift in front of anyone before, but she wouldn’t look at me like I was a freak. She wouldn’t see my black fur and wonder why I hadn’t offed myself after my first shift.
She would understand the pain of being abandoned by her parents because of what she was.
“Do you think your clan will accept me now that they know I am not a threat?” Posing the question as we entered the elevator, Linne stared at me with those sparkling, hazel eyes of hers so innocently that she took my breath away. Wrapping my free arm around her waist, I nodded curtly, and she let out a sigh of relief to smile broadly. “Good. I do not want to kill them.”
“Why?” Even though I’d only witnessed it once, I wasn’t an idiot; something akin to euphoria took Linne over when she fought. I had a feeling that what I saw only scratched the surface, though. The more powerful the enemy, the more intense the desire she had to exterminate him or her. Shrugging at my question, she stared at herself in the reflective walls as we headed to the ground floor.
“They are your clan. The people that took you in when your own parents did not want you.” Reaching to stroke the discolored, smooth blotch on my forearm gently, Linne turned her gaze to me to inhale sharply. “You are beautiful, and someone here saw that. Just like the human Chad gave me a chance, you were given a chance. I will protect the human Chad, and I will protect these people just as they protected you.”
“That’s very noble of you, Linne.” Mumbling softly, I pressed my lips to her crown even as she snorted delicately.
“It is not noble. It is sensible. The human Chad can hardly be considered an ally, and if Bareiijnr does come after me, I will need help.” Even as she tried to justify her decision, Linne blushed up to her ears, and affection wiggled into my heart. “It is common sense.”
“Sure it is.” Smiling up at me bashfully, Linne licked her lip
s before the elevator trilled and the doors came sliding open. “You just want them to like you.”
“I want you to like me.” Linne blurted out the desire, and I couldn’t help but laugh when she went beet red. Squeezing her to my side, I guided her out of the elevator and through the lobby while she just stared at her feet, intending to take her to get dressed.
I never could’ve imagined the kind of person she was while I kept watch over her during her coma. I never could’ve imagined the changes she would put me through even when she wasn’t trying to do anything more than articulate her wants and thoughts. She really was childlike in this way, and I hoped it never faded as she got used to this realm.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Linne
Holding myself very still, I held my breath as Derek led me through the front door of his home. The building was only a single story tall, and I craned my neck to see everything there was to see. He had a couch, a table in his kitchen – things I did not see the point in having. The bare walls were painted a neutral cream, and the carpets matched.
“You have a lovely home.” Speaking the words automatically, I smiled when Derek twisted to catch my eye. “It is very homely.”
“Thank you.” Flames licked my face at his low, smooth tone, and my eyes widened when he tugged me to his hard chest. “I was hoping you’d like it. I want you to stay the rest of the night.”
Blood drummed in my ears at the promise in Derek’s voice, and I nodded dumbly as my mind failed to make words. Gasping when he picked me up with a strong arm under my backside, I wrapped my arms around his neck as my wings fluttered. The appendages never shrunk like they were supposed to, but I couldn’t think much on it, being distracted when he kissed my lips roughly.
Moaning loudly as electricity crackled along my face just under my skin, I buried my fingers in Derek’s hair to hold him closer. His tongue slithered sweetly into my mouth, and his saliva coated my taste buds as air filled my skull. The sensations battering my brain were overwhelming, and I didn’t try to fight them as I tucked my wings against my back.
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